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Using the Faze
3
This section defines phasing, and explains the functions of the
Faze's controls in greater detail. The technical information in the
next few pages will help you get the most out of your gear...it's
really pretty simple.
About phase shifting
Phase shifters have been among the most popular signal
processors since their introduction in the late 1960s. They provide
body and interest to guitars, keyboards, and voices. Phasing is
achieved by running the signal through a series of all-pass filters
that don't change the frequency response, but do change the phase
response. When this phase-shifted signal is mixed back together
with the original signal, peaks and valleys in the frequency
response occur, similar to a comb filter. When the center
frequency of the filter is moved up and down by an LFO (Low
Frequency Oscillator), the peaks and dips sweep across the
harmonic spectrum of the input signal to produce the classic phase
shifting sound. By feeding a part of the output of the filter line
back to its input ( i.e., regeneration), the sound becomes more
dramatic as oscillations begin to occur at different frequencies.
How the Faze emulates classic phase
shifters
Famous analog phase-shift pedals like the MXR Phase 90 and
MuTron Bi-Phase got their characteristic sound by using six filter
stages to make the frequency notches and peaks steeper. Because
they used analog components, they were limited in how many
stages they could have. These analog filters also had certain side
effects besides the phase shift itself that became a recognized part
of the sound.
Using modern DSP techniques, the Faze uses digital emulation to
recreate these classic sounds, and to go way beyond them. For
example, its DUAL MONO mode is like taking two six-stage
phasors and linking them in series on each channel. The LIQUID
METAL mode uses more than three times the number of filter
stages than analog pedals did.
Not only does the Faze gives you many more modulation options
than the classic units, its wide variety of stereo types can create
sounds with more depth than single-channel phase pedals.
Phase shifters vs.
flangers
The se two effec ts s o me tim es
s ou nd a lik e, bu t th e y ar e
a ch ie ve d in d iffe re n t wa y s.
Pha se rs us e s hiftin g filter s;
fla ng er s u se sh iftin g tim e
d elay s. I n b oth ca s es , the
c ha ra cte ristic so un d is
c re ated by p e ak s an d d ip s in
fre qu en c y re s po ns e whe n the
s hifted sign a l is r e co mb ine d
with th e u np r oc es se d s ig n al.
Fla ng in g h as a mu ch mo re
c om plex se rie s of a d ditio ns
a nd c an c ella tio ns ( p ea ks an d
tro ug hs in th e fr eq u en cy
r es po ns e ) th a n ph as ing d o es .
I t also slig h tly ch a ng es th e
p itch o f the so un d, wh ic h
p ha sing do es n 't. Pha sing ' s
fre qu en c y no d es a re
n on ha rm o nic, an d le s s
o btru siv e.
Try o ut th e Ale sis Phlng r to
h ea r on e o f the b es t fla ng er s
a va ilab le to d ay .
25
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