Flanger
A flanger creates a dramatic, "whooshing, jet-plane" sweep — built the same way as Chorus (a modulated delay), but with a much shorter delay range and a sweep shape that gives it a sharper, more metallic character. More extreme and attention-grabbing than chorus.
Reach for it when:
- you want an obvious, sweeping "jet" effect rather than a subtle thickening;
- a creative or stylistic moment calls for something dramatic — a transition, an intro, a deliberately unnatural texture.
FX inserts can be added and set up on Free, but they only affect the sound with Premium.
Adding it
On a channel's FX tab, click + Node ▾ → Modulation → Flanger. It drops into the chain just after the selected node. To edit it, pin one of the dock's two panels to it with ⇅, or set a panel to ⟳ Follow FX tab selection and click the node.
In Simple mode, add it from the Effects block's ⚙ instead — see Simple mode.
Where it sits in the chain matters: place it after tone-shaping and dynamics, near the end of the chain — it's a colour effect best applied to an already-shaped sound.
Reading the panel
The graph plots delay time against time, the same visual language as Chorus's graph — but the shape underneath is different: the sweep rides on top of a very short fixed floor rather than swinging both ways around a center point, and left and right are mirror images of each other (rather than a quarter-cycle apart, as in Chorus) — together these two differences are what give a flanger its sharper, more metallic character versus chorus's smoother shimmer.
FEEDBACK doesn't reshape this curve — it controls the intensity of the metallic resonance rather than the sweep's timing — so it gets its own readout next to the graph instead.
This panel is compact enough that it has no ⛶ maximize button; it always shares the dock.
Controls
| Knob | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIX | 0…100 % | 50 | How much of the effect is blended in against the original. |
| RATE | 0.05…2 Hz | 0.25 | Speed of the sweep. |
| DEPTH | 0…100 % | 70 | How far the sweep travels. |
| FEEDBACK | 0…95 % | 50 | Intensity of the metallic, resonant edge. Higher gets sharper and more pronounced. |
A good starting point
- Add it near the end of the chain and start with MIX moderate (30–50%) — flanger reads as an obvious effect even at lower mix levels than chorus does.
- Set RATE and DEPTH for how fast and how wide you want the sweep — slower and shallower for a gentler wash, faster and deeper for a more dramatic jet.
- Raise FEEDBACK for a sharper, more metallic resonance; keep it lower for something smoother.
Unlike chorus, a flanger rarely reads as "natural" — it's a deliberate, obvious effect. Use it when you want the listener to notice it.
Presets, bypass and reset
- PRESET ▾ in the panel header applies a saved setup, or saves the current one under a name. Once one is applied the header shows Preset: name — see Knowing what preset is applied. Ready-made setups can be found in the Workshop — Workshop ▸ Browse, filter chip Flanger.
- ON / OFF bypasses just this node — the quickest way to hear whether it's helping.
- RESET returns every knob to its default.
Related
- Chorus — the gentler, subtler sibling built the same way, for thickening rather than sweeping.
- Phaser — a different, filter-based approach to a swirling effect, smoother than a flanger's metallic edge.
- Effects Rack — adding, ordering and rewiring nodes.