Re:Analog Spring Reverb: How it works
by squeaky-clean on Tuesday August 27, 2019 @10:59AM
(#20810254)
Fun fact about the origin of flanger, it was originally made with tape machines and got the name because you'd do it by running two tape machines side by side, and press your finger against the metal "flanges" of one to make it slow down relative to the other.
> The finished music track is recorded simultaneously to two matching tape machines, then replayed with both decks in sync. The playback-head output from the two recorders is mixed to a third recorder. The engineer slows down one recorder by lightly pressing a finger on the flange (rim) of one of the playout reels. The "drainpipe" or subtle "swoosh" 'flange flango' effect "sweeps" in one direction, and the playback of that recorder remains slightly behind the other when the finger is removed. By pressing a finger on the flange of the other deck, the effect sweeps back in the other direction as the decks progress towards being in sync.
The story goes John Lennon coined the name. Ken Townsend at Abbey Road had worked out a way to mimic vocal double tracking without actually recording the singer twice using this technique. They called it Artificial Double Tracking, or ADT. But Lennon would just call it "Ken's Flanger" and the term stuck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanging#Origin
> The finished music track is recorded simultaneously to two matching tape machines, then replayed with both decks in sync. The playback-head output from the two recorders is mixed to a third recorder. The engineer slows down one recorder by lightly pressing a finger on the flange (rim) of one of the playout reels. The "drainpipe" or subtle "swoosh" 'flange flango' effect "sweeps" in one direction, and the playback of that recorder remains slightly behind the other when the finger is removed. By pressing a finger on the flange of the other deck, the effect sweeps back in the other direction as the decks progress towards being in sync.
The story goes John Lennon coined the name. Ken Townsend at Abbey Road had worked out a way to mimic vocal double tracking without actually recording the singer twice using this technique. They called it Artificial Double Tracking, or ADT. But Lennon would just call it "Ken's Flanger" and the term stuck.