Chaos Phaser Screen Shot
Web: http://www.errnum.co
Contact: errnum@gmail.com
License: GPL -
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
Download
and Installation
Overview
Controls
Audio Demos
Example Frequency Plots
ChaosPhaser is a Reaper jsfx Phaser plugin.
I like Phasers, Flangers and Chorus but my ear gets tired of the usual robotically repetitive sweep rate. With most such gadgets, regardless whether you set the sweep rate fast or slow, deep or shallow, it just keeps repetitively grinding on at the current rate. Which gets old to my ear after a few seconds.
Chaos Phaser Screen Shot
Chaos Phaser has two independent phasers. If you need/want robotic regularity then the dual LFO sweeps can be as robotically repetitive as any other phaser. However ChaosPhaser can also have slight random or chaotic staggering LFO rate, up to extreme blind-drunk staggering LFO sweeps. The input Audio Envelope Level can modulate either LFO Rate or Phaser Center frequency. All four parameters can work simultaneously-- LFO Random Rate, LFO Chaotic Rate, Envelope Modulation of LFO Rate, and Envelope Modulation of Phaser Center Frequency.
ChaosPhaser can have anywhere from 1 to 16 phase shifter stages and the two independent phasers can be flexibly mixed to the dry signal.
When the plugin window is sized bigger than necessary to display all the sliders, ChaosPhaser uses the remaining space as a scope display. Assuming that your computer screens are big enough, drag the plugin window bigger to see a bigger scope window.
The continuous top-to-bottom repeating traces display LFO waves. Left LFO is green and Right LFO is Orange. To help the eye make better sense of the information, each new scope sweep syncs to the next Left LFO positive zero crossing. When LFO sweep rate is very slow, occasional waits occur between scope sweeps, as the scope waits for the next Left LFO positive zero crossing to come along and trigger the next display sweep. At faster LFO rates, zero crossings come along often enough that the scope display always seems busy drawing new data.
ChaosPhaser always tries to automatically adjust the scope sweep rate to display several periods of LFO wave on the scope. It tries to draw the LFO wave periods wide enough to see clearly, but not so wide that we can't see at least a few consecutive LFO cycles in the scope screen.
To accomplish this, if the LFOs are running slow then the scope left-to-right sweep will also run slow. As the LFO rates increase, the scope left-to-right sweep gets faster, trying to keep several "pretty big and easy to see" LFO wave cycles in the scope screen. So please do not be puzzled if 0.1 Hz Center Frequency LFO waves happen to appear about the same width as do 1.0 Hz Center Frequency LFO waves. The scope is auto-adjusting display rate, trying to keep the display "as readable as possible".
The wavy traces which "grow from the scope bottom" are audio envelope levels. Green is the Left Audio Envelope and Orange is the Right Audio Envelope. We do not see the audio envelope traces when Reaper is stopped or when the track is silent. The envelope traces rise along with increasing audio level. As a track peaks to 0 dB its envelope trace touches the scope window top. A track peaking to -6 dB would trace up half-way in the scope window.
Dual Phaser Input Mode
Options: Stereo, Mono, Mid/Side
Stereo Input Mode: The Track Left channel feeds the Left Phaser Input and the Track Right channel feeds the Right Phaser Input. If inserted on a "true stereo" Reaper track, then each of the two Phaser filters receive different input.
However if inserted on a "mono" Reaper track (a track containing only one channel of audio) then Reaper automatically duplicates a mono track into both Left and Right. Therefore the Stereo and Mono Modes would behave similarly with Reaper mono tracks, except for any non-center Pre-FX pan one might set.
Mono Input Mode: The Left and Right channels are mixed to mono, and then both the Left and Right phasers are fed with this mono signal. However this only affects the phaser inputs. The phaser outputs remain full-stereo independent, depending on how the plugin Dry and Wet Mix controls have been set. For example in Mono mode the two phasers could be running at different sweep rates. In that case the mono signal would phase at one sweep rate on the Left plugin output and the same mono signal would phase at a different sweep rate on the Right plugin output.
Mid/Side Input Mode: This mode will be most useful on stereo tracks with a fairly wide stereo image. The Mid/Side mode will not usually be useful on mono or "barely stereo" tracks. The plugin Left and Right inputs are converted so that the Middle audio channel feeds the Left phaser and the Sides audio channel feeds the Right phaser. Both phasers operate independently of each other. The phaser outputs are mixed with the Dry mid/side input and then the result is converted back to Left/Right stereo on the plugin outputs.
What this does to a track with a good stereo image: If the Left and Right phasers are running at different rates, then the Left phaser rate is applied to the Middle signal and the Right phaser rate is applied to the Sides signal. So after the final wet/dry mix and decoding, you get the original plugin input's stereo image, except that the center is phasing at one rate but both sides are phasing at another rate. Depending on the input track stereo spread, can make a "startling" stereo image.
LFO Shape
Range: Sine [0.0] continuously variable to Triangle [1.0]
A continuous cross-fade morph between Sine and Triangle LFO shape. Sine shape may be better for medium-to-fast Phaser settings which result in significant pitch vibrato. Sine modulation tends to yield sine-shaped pitch variation wheras Triangle modulation tends toward square-shaped pitch variation (trills). This is a matter of taste. There is no hard-and-fast rule that Sine modulation always gives the musically sweetest vibrato.
Sine modulation tends to "hurry up" the sweep-up and the sweep-down sections, and then dwell with less change at the top and bottom peaks. Therefore with slow-to-medium sweep rates, which make more of a "whoosh" frequency sweep sound, rather than a vibrato effect-- On slow swooshing filter sweeps a Triangle may feel smoother. But not a hard-and-fast rule. Maybe sometimes slow sine filter sweeps sound better.
With a slow Triangle sweep, a hollow swoosh would smoothly march all the way to the top then turn around and smoothly march all the way to the bottom, rinse and repeat. With a slow Sine wave, the swoosh would "hurry up" to get most of the way to the top, then slow down and stay near the top for awhile, and then "hurry up" to get most of the way to the bottom, then slow down and stay near the bottom for awhile, rinse and repeat.
In some cases you may prefer a mutant mix between sine and triangle shape, setting this control somewhere in the middle.
LFO Wave Shape
LFO Rate Range
Range: [0.1 to 1.0 Hz] [1.0 to 10.0 Hz] [10.0 to 100 Hz]
A single LFO rate slider adjustable between 0.1 and 100 Hz would be hard to use. Many useful settings would be crowded down near the bottom of the control. LFO Rate is divided between two controls to improve/ease LFO Rate setting.
LFO Rate Range of
[0.1 to 1 Hz]: The LFO Rate Center slider value is divided by 10.
LFO Rate Range of [1.0 to 10 Hz]: The LFO Rate Center slider value is multiplied by 1.
LFO Rate Range of [10.0 to 100.0 Hz]: The LFO Rate Center slider value is multiplied by 10.
LFO Rate Center (Hz)
Range: [1.0 to 10.0 Hz] multiplied by LFO Rate Range
LFO Rate Range of
[0.1 to 1 Hz]: The LFO Rate Center slider can adjust LFO Rate from 0.1 to 1.0 Hz, which is
the same as a sweep period ranging from 10 seconds to 1 second.
LFO Rate Range of [1.0 to 10.0 Hz]: The LFO Rate Center slider can adjust LFO Rate from
1 to 10 Hz, which is the same as a sweep period ranging from 1 second to a tenth of a second.
LFO Rate Range of [10.0 to 100.0 Hz]: The LFO Rate Center slider can adjust LFO Rate from
10 to 100 Hz, which is the value of the slider multiplied by 10.
LFO Rate Right-vs-Left Offset (Octaves)
Range: -1.0 to +1.0 Octaves
One octave up is a doubling of frequency. One octave down is a halving of frequency.
LFO Rate Offset equals zero:
Both Left and Right phaser LFOs run at the LFO Center Rate.
LFO Rate Offset greater than than zero: The Right phaser LFO runs faster than the LFO Center Rate
and the Left phaser LFO runs slower than the LFO Center Rate.
LFO Rate Offset less than zero: The Right phaser LFO runs slower than the LFO Center Rate and the
Left phaser LFO runs faster than the LFO Center Rate.
For example with LFO Center Rate set to 1 Hz: A zero LFO Offset causes both Left and Right Phaser LFOs to run at 1 Hz. When LFO Offset = 1.0, the Right LFO runs at 2.0 Hz (double the Center Rate) and the Left LFO runs at 0.5 Hz (half the Center Rate). When LFO Offset = -1.0, the offset is reversed, with Left LFO running at 2.0 Hz and Right LFO running at 0.5 Hz.
Very small values of LFO Rate Offset cause the two LFOs to run nearly the same rate, slipping a bit further out of phase on each LFO cycle. This can make "stereo swoosh" effects where the Left-vs-Right stereo effect keeps mutating over time rather than staying forever a fixed relationship of Left-vs-Right.
LFO Rate Offset
LFO Random Rate (Octaves)
Range: 0 to 2.0 Octaves
Each LFO randomly and independently changes rate on each LFO wave cycle. For example if LFO Center Rate = 1 Hz and LFO Random Rate = 1 Octave then each LFO will continuously stagger somewhere between 0.5 and 2.0 Hz. It is more likely that a random LFO cycle will be closer to the LFO Center Rate. It is less likely that a LFO cycle will approach the max/min limits of 2 Hz and 0.5 Hz. So the average random variation will be smaller than the max limit would imply, with an occasional outlier LFO cycle close to the Max or Min random rate.
LFO random rate always changes smoothly. On each LFO positive zero crossing, the LFO rolls the dice to choose a new target LFO random rate for the current wave cycle. Then over the duration of that LFO cycle it gradually speeds up or slows down to exactly match the new random rate target by the end of the LFO cycle. Then as the LFO cycle ends and a new one begins, a new random target is chosen and the LFO repeats the cycle of "smoothly morphing to the new random rate target".
Therefore LFO random rate never suddenly changes. Each individual LFO wave cycle is always in the process of either smoothly speeding up or smoothly slowing down to hit each newly-chosen random rate offset by the end of a wave cycle.
Small Random Rate settings (less than about 0.5 Octaves) do not stagger so strongly as to "startle the ear". But small Random Rate settings can provide sufficient variation to help avoid the repetitive mechanical washing machine churning sound of typical fixed-rate Phasers.
LFO Random Rate
LFO Chaos (Octaves)
Range: -2.0 to +2.0 Octaves
Chaos frequency modulates the Left LFO Rate with the Right LFO output wave while also modulating the Right LFO Rate with the Left LFO output wave. Cross-modulation which causes the Left LFO to stagger the Right LFO while at the same time the Right LFO staggers the Left LFO.
Positive LFO Chaos: As Left LFO Output goes High the Right
LFO speeds up. As Left LFO Output goes Low the Right LFO slows down. The Right LFO Output has the same positive
modulation polarity. As Right LFO Output goes High the Left LFO speeds up. As Right LFO Output goes Low the Left LFO
slows down. Positive Chaos has positive cross-feedback in both directions.
Negative LFO Chaos: The Left LFO Output modulation is the same polarity as with Positive LFO Chaos.
However, Negative Chaos reverses the Right LFO Output modulation. In Negative Chaos, as the Right LFO output goes High
the Left LFO slows down and as the Right LFO output goes Low the Left LFO speeds up.
Both LFOs running at the same rate, with no
Rate Offset and no Random Rate Amount: Each different setting for positive or negative Chaos will tend to generate
single-cycle funky-shaped LFO waves. Positive chaos generates one family of funky-shaped LFO waves wheras negative chaos
generates another family of funky-shaped LFO waves.
Some Rate Offset or Random Rate added: This disturbs
the funky-shaped repeating single cycle, creating extended sequences of interlocked funky-shaped LFO patterns. Some combinations
will repeat the sequence of funky-shaped interlocked LFO patterns after only a few wave cycles and other combinations can
make patterns which seem to never exactly repeat, though you might find segments which look familiar to what has gone before.
The illustration below shows triangle to better-demonstrate the Chaos cross-modulation. Chaos works fine with any LFO shape but without Chaos, a triangle consists of straight line segments. Therefore it is easy to see that the illustrated curved lines are entirely caused by Chaos cross-modulation.
LFO Chaos
LFO Rate Env Follower Mod Gain
Range: -10.0 to +10.0
The track audio volume envelope can modulate LFO rates. Envelope Follower modulation is independent of the Random and Chaos features. Even when LFO rates stagger because of random or chaos, audio input level can make LFOs "stagger faster" or "stagger slower".
Envelope Follower works best with percussive or dynamic/expressive tracks. A relatively constant-level synth pad, string, drone or organ sound would not show much Envelope Follower variation over time. Envelope Mod on a "steady level" pad track would only tend to change the LFO rates in a fixed non-time-varying fashion which might not sound very interesting.
On the other hand with drums, piano, percussive guitar. Or "expressive played" horn, fiddle or synth where the volume swells up and down during the track-- In that case the LFOs can automatically run faster or slower over time according to the track's constantly changing audio envelope level.
Positive Envelope Follower Gain: The LFOs
run faster when audio is loud and run slower when audio is quiet.
Negative Envelope Follower Gain: The LFOs run slower when audio is loud and run faster when audio is quiet.
Phaser Num Stages
Range: 1 to 16
Stomp Box phasers often have four, six or eight stages. Some fancier phasers have as many as sixteen stages. Typical "classic" phasers only use an even number of stages.
For maximum flexibility, Chaos Phaser allows any number of stages from 1 to 16-- Both even and odd stage cascades. Odd-length phasers and especially the 1 stage phaser are "special cases" which differ from a "classic" phaser sound. But hey it is free to offer the special cases along with the ordinary cases so why not?
A phaser stage is a first-order allpass filter. An allpass filter has no effect on the frequency response (which is why it is called an allpass filter). However an allpass filter changes audio phase according to frequency.
At very low frequencies a single-stage of first-order allpass filter has minimal phase shift. At the filter's center frequency it shifts the phase -90 degrees and at very high frequency the filter shifts the phase -180 degrees which is the same as inverting the signal.
So a single stage is non-inverted at low frequencies and inverted at high frequencies, and passes all frequencies flat gain. Each stage is responsible for -90 degrees phase shift at the filter center frequency and -180 total phase shift from very low to very high.
Phase shift is cumulative for as many stages that we string together in a series cascade. For example, two stages have 0 degrees at very low frequency, -180 degrees (inverted) at the filter center frequency, and -360 degrees (also non-inverted) at very high frequency.
Four stages have 720 degrees total phase shift. Eight stages have 1440 degrees total phase shift. Sixteen stages have 2880 degrees total phase shift.
Naked un-modulated allpass filters can be subtle to detect by ear. For example if you set ChaosPhaser Wet Mix = 100%, Dry Mix = 0%, with zero Center Frequency Modulation-- If the filter center frequency stays fixed over time and the allpass output is not mixed along with the input, then the ear may be most likely to hear the filters with percussive sounds and long cascades of allpass filters. One might notice time-dispersion of audio transients-- Different harmonics of transients exiting the filter at ear-discernably different times.
Filter Output Mixed With Dry Plugin Input
When the allpass output mixes with the input signal
the ear can hear frequency response alterations, even with static un-modulated filter center frequency.
At frequencies where the input signal and allpass output signal are in-phase at 360 degree multiples, the two signals
reinforce making frequency response humps.
At frequencies where the input signal and allpass output are out-of-phase at 180 degrees, (360 + 180) = 540 degrees, (720 + 180) = 900 degrees, etc-- The input and allpass output cancel each other making frequency response dips. If the input amplitude is exactly equal to the allpass output at cancellation frequencies then the exact center of each notch is very deep. As input and allpass output are mixed less equally, the frequency response humps and dips become less extreme.
With even-numbered stage phasers, we get one notch for each pair of allpass filters. Therefore a two stage phaser has one notch. A four stage phaser has two notches. An eight stage phaser has four notches. A 14 stage phaser has seven notches. Because the allpass output is non-inverted at both very low and very high frequencies with even-numbered phasers, the very high frequency response of even-numbered phasers is usually flat unless the allpass filters are tuned rather high.
Phasers with odd-number of stages, the final odd-man-out allpass filter will invert very high frequencies. Therefore adding an odd-number allpass cascade with the input signal will have a lowpass characteristic at high frequencies. For example a six stage phaser, from low to high, would have a hump, notch, hump, notch, hump, notch, hump. But a five stage phaser, from low to high, would have a hump, notch, hump, notch, hump falling into lowpass in the high frequencies. So you could treat the odd-numbered phasers like synth lowpass filters except with multiple peaks as you crank the resonance (wheras an ordinary synth lowpass filter would only have one resonance peak below the lowpass region).
Even with Phaser Center Frequency un-modulated, the [Wet + Dry] mixed phaser can be used as a funky EQ or resonator. Adjust Phaser Center Frequency, Resonance and Mix parameters for many kinds of static EQ or resonator effects.
Modulated Phaser Center Frequency
The filter phase shift curve slides up and down tracking the center frequency. Moving phase can be heard
as true pitch modulation regardless whether Dry is mixed with Wet for frequency response comb filter effects. As
phase shift "moves downward" audio gets delayed surrounding the filter center frequency, temporarily lowering audio pitch in
that band. As phaser frequency modulation hits bottom, reverses and "moves upward" it decreases audio delay near the
filter center frequency, temporarily raising pitch in that audio band.
This can make a somewhat unusual vibrato because different frequencies can have different amounts of pitch shift at different times. At one instant perhaps a fat sound with many harmonics could get pitch shift mostly on high harmonics, then later in the LFO cycle it mostly pitch shifts mid-harmonics, only to be followed by a time when it mostly pitch shifts low harmonics. Sometimes this makes a fat "doubling vibrato" where some part of a sound is always temporarily a bit out-of-tune with some other part of the sound. Not quite chorus and not quite broadband vibrato.
Pitch mod sounds increasingly drastic at faster LFO rates and
also sounds increasingly drastic with higher-order phasers. For example, given 18 Semitone Phaser LFO Mod, a 2 Hz LFO makes
stronger vibrato than a 1 Hz LFO and a 4 Hz LFO makes stronger vibrato than 2 Hz LFO, etc. At slow to mid LFO rates and low-order phasers, you may need
to crank Phaser LFO Mod rather high and fine-tune Phaser Center Frequency in order to hear much or any vibrato. But with
faster LFO rates and higher-order phasers, you may find that sometimes even a couple of semitones Phaser LFO Mod makes
"excessive" vibrato intensity. Pitch shift intensity depends on phase rate of change. Faster LFOs increase the phase rate
of change and bigger phaser orders also increase the phase rate of change. For swooshy EQ effects you may have
better luck with lower-order phasers which allow you to more heavily modulate frequency without making excessive
pitch warble. For smooth vibrato you may have better luck with higher-order phasers and
relatively small amounts of LFO Phaser modulation. With a 12 to 16 stage phaser and LFO rates of 1 Hz and above, not much
LFO phaser mod is needed for strong smooth "broad band" vibrato. Phaser Center Frequency [Hz] This is the filter center frequency with no LFO or Envelope
Filter Modulation. For instance a 2 stage phaser mixing wet + dry will have one notch centered on the
center frequency. A 4 stage phaser will have a hump at the center frequency with a notch below and a notch above
the center frequency. A 6 stage phaser will have a notch at the center frequency and also a notch below and a notch
above the center frequency. As phaser stages are added, additional notches appear, spread out surrounding the center frequency. LFO modulation sweeps the phaser symmetrically both above and
below the center frequency. Envelope Follower modulation drives the phaser either above or below the center frequency,
depending on Envelope Follower modulation polarity. Phaser LFO Mod Amt [+/- Semitones] The distance of LFO frequency sweep centered on the Phaser Center
Frequency. Modulation is log/antilog as with 1 volt per octave analog synthesizer. That is why it is marked in semitones. Semitones have "equal distance as perceived by the ear" but
each increasing semitone spans a bigger absolute frequency increase. For example if the Phaser Center Frequency is set
to 440 Hz (middle A), then a +/- 1 semitone modulation would sweep the phaser between Ab and A#. The absolute frequency
step from Ab up to A is smaller than the absolute frequency step from A to A#, but the ear hears both semitone staps as equal. Perhaps a clearer example-- There are 12 semitones in an octave.
With a 1000 Hz phaser center frequency-- 12 semitone modulation would go one octave each way, sweeping from 500 to 2000 Hz.
24 semitone modulation would go two octaves each way, sweeping from 250 Hz to 4000 Hz. 36 semitone modulation would go
three octaves each way, sweeping from 125 Hz to 8000 Hz. With bigger modulation amounts it becomes more obvious that
musically equal up and down modulations, travel a bigger absolute Hz distance up than the Hz distance down. But it has
to be that way to remain "musically balanced to the ear". Given a center frequency of 1000 Hz, if we "linear sweep"
equal distances up and down, for example from 500 Hz to 1500 Hz centered on 1000 Hz, the ear would tend to hear a center frequency at the
Geometric Mean of 500 and 1500 Hz, perhaps about 866 Hz. The ear would tend to hear linear sweeps as "on average going flat". Phaser Env Follower Mod Gain Modulate the Phaser Frequency with the audio input Envelope Follower
(the audio input loudness). This will be most dramatic with percussive tracks or tracks which have wide dynamic amplitude
variations, musical expressivity in the track. Envelope Follower Mod will not be very dramatic with sustained organ or pad
or drone sounds that stay about the same amplitude thruout the play time. This can sound many ways, including reminiscent of the old
mutron envelope follower filter funky auto-wah. Envelope follower filter autowah stompboxes usually use lowpass filters
rather than phaser allpass filters. However envelope modulation of phaser frequency can sound like "lowpass filter containing
several peaks and notches" depending on the number of phaser stages and the phaser resonance. Max gain of +/- 10 is the same as a max 20 dB audio gain into the
envelope follower. This is because if you just want a little bit of envelope follower phaser sweep, set the gain enough for
that little bit your want. If you want a lot of envelope follower phaser sweep distance, then set the gain control higher. Also you need the gain range to compensate for track-to-track level
variations. An envelope follower output of 1.0 drives up the phaser frequency by 1 octave. An envelope follower output of
2.0 drives up the phaser frequency by 2 octaves. If your audio track is peaking at 0 dB then an Envelope Follower Gain of 1.0
will give envelope follower peak output of 1.0 for your 1 octave sweep. However if your audio track is peaking at -6 db (sample
peak values around 0.5) then you need Envelope Follower Gain of 2.0 to get your 1 octave sweep. If your audio track is peaking
at -12 dB (sample peak values around 0.25) then you need Envelope Follower Gain of 4.0 to get your 1 octave sweep. Positive gain makes the audio envelope sweep the phaser frequency
higher than the Phaser Center Frequency setting. Negative gain makes the audio envelope sweep the phaser frequency lower than
the Phaser Center Frequency setting. Phaser Resonance [Percent] As a general rule, increased resonance makes phaser frequency
response humps bigger and narrower and makes phaser notches deeper and wider. Nothing fancy, just simple feedback from an
allpass filter cascade output back to the same allpass filter cascade input. Positive resonance adds a percentage of the allpass filter output
to the allpass filter input. Negative resonance subtracts a percentage of the allpass filter output from the allpass filter
input. Negative resonance can tend to turn peaks into valleys and turn valleys into peaks. Resonance interacts with the polarity of
Wet Mix Level. For example any given Positive Resonance amount sounds different depending on whether Wet Mix Level is
positive or negative. And any given Negative Resonance amount sounds different depending on whether Wet Mix Level is
positive or negative. High resonance can get loud. With high resonance you may
need to cut plugin gain to avoid excessive output level. I do not know a bulletproof way for the plugin to automatically
adjust its gain according to resonance. Some high resonance settings could get real loud wheras other high
resonance control combinations might not get too loud. Therefore the easiest solution is just for the user to adjust
Phaser Output Gain if plugin output gets too loud or too quiet. Wet Stereo Width [Percent]
Negative Wet Stereo Width: -100 percent hard-swaps Left and Right Wet signals. All negative settings swap the channels except
that smaller negative values cause progressively narrower swapped stereo width. Narrower width settings give you two different modulations mixed
together at some percentage, routed to both stereo outputs. In other words you can hear some of both Left and Right Filter
in the Left plugin output and you can also hear some of both Left and Right Filters in the Right plugin output. Wider
settings will tend to feature mostly one of the Filters on the Left plugin output and mostly the other Filter on the Right
plugin output. Note that the Wet Stereo Width and Dry Stereo Width controls
are not connected and have no audible effect when the phaser is in Mid/Side Dual Phaser Input Mode. Wet Mix Level [Percent] Phasers typically use either Maximum or
Minimum Wet Mix Level. Typically either -100 or +100 percent. Zero Percent is a rather useless setting because
you can't hear the filters at all with a zero percent Wet Mix Level. Occasionally if you might find a nice-sounding modulation that
is unfortunately over-the-top too extreme when mixed 100 percent along with the dry signal-- In that case you can turn down the
wet output to dilute the extreme sound into something less weird / more useful. Mixing Wet with Dry: When both Wet Mix Level and Dry
Mix Level are turned-up-- Wet polarity affects the plugin frequency response, the filter shape of the [Wet + Dry] mix. Positive Wet Mix Level: ADDS filter outputs
to the Dry plugin input signals. Each additional pair of cascaded allpass stages adds a new notch to the
plugin frequency response. Each cascaded pair of phaser stages causes a new frequency to be phase-inverted against the input.
When we ADD two equal but opposite signals we get frequency dips at those frequencies. In-between the notches are frequencies
in perfect phase with the input. When we ADD in-phase signals it gets louder making frequency peaks in-between the notches. Negative Wet Mix Level: The filters are SUBTRACTED
from the Dry input signal. Usually this reverses any given Positive Wet Mix Level frequency response. A flat
low-frequency-response would become a highpass bass response. A flat high-frequency-response would become a lowpass
high-frequency response. A lowpass high-frequency-response would become a flat or highpass high-frequency-response. Notches
become Peaks, Peaks become Notches and Cats make friends with Dogs! Just like Superman's Bizarro World (not). Positive vs Negative Resonance combined with either Positive
vs Negative Wet Mix Level result in different-sounding "flavors" of high-resonant behavior. Some combinations are deeper,
more dramatic and noticeable to the ear wheras others more subtle. A sledgehammer is not always the tool of choice! Dry Stereo Width [Percent] At a value of zero, a mono Dry input mix appears equally
on both the Left and Right plugin outputs. At a value of 100 the Dry input stereo is as wide as its gonna get.
This control does not artificially widen the Dry signal. If a track's Dry input has a narrow or mono stereo field,
then 100 Percent Dry Stereo Width can only give exactly the same width of stereo image that is present on the inputs.
As Width is reduced below 100 percent, the control can only narrow whatever stereo width is already in the Dry audio input. Possibly sometimes it would sound good to collapse
a stereo dry track to mono and then mix-in the full-width of the dual phasers-- Deriving all of the plugin's output
stereo image only from the Wet signal. Note that the Wet Stereo Width and Dry Stereo Width controls
are not connected and have no audible effect when the phaser is in Mid/Side Dual Phaser input Mode. Dry Mix Level [Percent] With Dry Mix Level at zero, none of the Dry plugin input
signal comes out of the plugin. With Dry Mix Level at 100 Percent, the plugin output Dry Level is equal to the
plugin input Dry Level (assuming that Output Gain is set to 0 dB). Perhaps more significantly, if both Wet and Dry mix
levels are set to 100 percent, with zero resonance, then Wet and Dry signals have equal gain and you should
get "infinitely deep" cancellation notches exactly at out-of-phase frequencies. For "all pitch vibrato" with no frequency response
phaser swoosh: Try setting Wet Mix Level to 100 percent along with zero percent Dry Mix Level. With big resonance the Wet level typically gets louder
than the Dry level. In which case Dry Mix Level could be set to 100 Percent and then adjust Wet Mix Level until
the sound best pleases the ear. Output Gain [dB] Though some settings can be quieter than the plugin
input level, typical settings are likely to be at least modestly louder than the plugin input level.
Adjust Output Gain to a Goldilocks Zone which is neither too loud nor too quiet.
Ac Rhythm Guitar with 8Stage Phaser
[5888 KB] (C) 2019 James Chandler Jr
Clean Electric Guitars with 16Stage Phaser
[5399 KB] (C) 2019 James Chandler Jr
Wurlie Piano with 16Stage Phaser
[2979 KB] (C) 2019 James Chandler Jr
Distortion Guitar PowerChords with 12Stage Phaser
[3975 KB] (C) 2019 James Chandler Jr
Double 4Stage "Vintage" String Machine
[4603 KB] (C) 2019 James Chandler Jr
Vanilla Saw Synth with 4Stage Phaser Variations
[7949 KB] (C) 2019 James Chandler Jr Possibly to be filed under, "More than you wanted to know"
are various phaser example plots. All plots are tuned to 1000 Hz with no Frequency Modulation.
Cross-hairs near 1000 Hz hilite the center frequency. Some plots show repeating notches of different depth. This
is almost always an artifact of the spectral plot smoothing. When notches are closer together they are also narrower.
The spectral display smoothing causes narrower notches to appear "not as deep". But in reality most of the simple
no-resonance notches are "near infinitely deep" at some narrow frequency. But the "perfect cancellation" frequencies
can be so narrow that the frequency plot smoothing loses that detail. The alternative would be to show jaggy no-smoothing
plots. Note that in high-order phasers the interior notches
and peaks are closer together (in log frequency space) and the exterior notches and peaks are farther apart (in log
frequency space). That is because a single allpass
filter shifts SOME phase over the entire audio band but it does MOST phase shifting within a couple
of octaves either side of the filter center frequency. Ergo when you stack numerous allpass filters tuned to
the same frequency-- And each filter "bunches up" most of its phase shift in the vicinity of that common frequency--
Then notches near the center frequency are deep but narrower and more closely spaced. If you do not know how to install jsfx plugins into Reaper then here is an excellent instructional video--
How To Install JS Plugins Video First unzip jcjrChaosPhaser.zip yielding
the un-compressed folder jcjrChaosPhaser. Open the jcjrChaosPhaser folder to find a
jcjr folder inside. Contents of
the jcjrChaosPhaser/jcjr folder-- a) jcjr_ChaosPhaser : The jsfx effects code. f) jcjrChaosPhaser/jcjr/jcjrChaosPhaserManual folder
: Contains jcjrChaosPhaserManual.html plus graphics and audio files
required by the manual. If you do not already have a folder titled
jcjr in your Reaper effects folder, then copy the
jcjrChaosPhaser/jcjr folder into your Reaper effects folder. Otherwise, if your Reaper effects folder
already contains a jcjr folder, then copy the ENTIRE CONTENTS
of your new-downloaded jcjrChaosPhaser/jcjr folder into your already-present
REAPER/Effects/jcjr folder. This will add the new ChaosPhaser
files to any plugins already installed in the REAPER/Effects/jcjr
folder. For example if you have installed both jcjr RMSComp and jcjr
PeakLimit 2 plus jcjr ChaosPhaser, then the Reaper effects folder would contain one jcjr folder. That
single jcjr folder would contain all three plugins' code, all three plugins' required
files, and three folders for the three manuals, one folder for the RMSComp
manual, a second folder for the PeakLimit 2 manual and a third folder for the ChaosPhaser manual.
Similarly, given 1 Hz LFO and 18 Semitone Phaser LFO Mod, a 4 Stage Phaser makes stronger vibrato than a 2 Stage Phaser
and a 6 Stage Phaser makes stronger vibrato than a 4 Stage Phaser, etc.
Range: 40 to 5000 Hz
Range: 0 to 36 Semitones
Range: -10.0 to +10.0
Range: -99 to + 99 Percent
Note: There is a way to raise feedback resonance without getting outrageously loud-- Pairing a feedback branch
with a feedforward branch. Like wrapping the allpass cascade inside another resonant allpass loop. This can be great
in things like digital reverb. This flavor of allpass global feedback tested in ChaosPhaser was well-controlled in amplitude
but also sounded wimpy and generally useless. I could have added another control switch to optionally allow
this other resonance mode. However the plugin already has too many controls and the "allpass wrapped in an allpass"
resonance sounds too wimpy to be worth cluttering the plugin with another control. The current feedback-only resonance scheme
can get rather loud at some settings but at least it has some balls.
Range: -100 to +100 Percent
Zero Wet Stereo Width: Mix the Left and Right filter outputs to mono. The Wet Mix Level control adjusts how much
of this [LeftAllpass + RightAllpass] mono signal gets mixed to the stereo plugin outputs.
Positive Wet Stereo Width: +100 percent is the max non-swapped stereo width-- ie Left Filter ONLY goes to the Left
plugin output and Right Filter ONLY goes to the Right plugin output. Smaller positive values progressively narrow
the wet stereo width until it reaches mono at a value of zero percent.
Range: -100 to +100 Percent
Even-numbered phasers are non-inverted at very high and very low frequencies. When we ADD even-numbered phasers to the
dry signal, we get flat frequency response in the lows and highs and a series of peaks and valleys in-between.
Odd-numbered phasers have non-inverted low frequencies and inverted high frequencies. When we ADD odd-numbered phasers to
the dry signal, we get flat bass response, lowpass in the high frequencies, and a series of peaks and valleys in-between.
Range: 0 to 100 Percent
Range: 0 to 100 Percent
For "mostly pitch vibrato" with mild frequency response phaser swoosh: Gradually turn up the Dry
Mix Level to taste.
Range: -24 to +6 dBAudio Demos
First 20 seconds are dry then FX are added. At first only
Filter Frequency Envelope Mod (no LFO modulation), giving the phaser equivalent of a filter envelope
follower effect. Later in the demo, slightly irregular stereo LFO Mod combines with the Filter Frequency Envelope Mod.
And then proceeding to mutate thru some settings variations-- Settings changing every few bars.
Note: The source dry track was generated by PG Music's Band In A Box program.
First 18 seconds are dry before FX comes in. Filter
Frequency Envelope Mod plus RandomChaotic LFO Filter Mod. Various settings a few bars at a time to sample the
possibilities. Some variations sound better than others. Just trying to demo some possibilities.
Note: The source dry track was generated by PG Music's Band In A Box program.
First 10 seconds are dry and then FX ensue. Primarily Wet mix
to emphasize pitch vibrato rather than "phaser frequency swoosh". Envelope Follower LFO Rate Mod making the LFOs run
faster when notes/chords are loud. As notes/chords decay the LFOs gradually slow down. The LFOs also have some
random+chaos variation. Therefore the left and right LFOs run at slightly different constantly changing
rates, which "speed up" when notes/chords get loud.
Note: Played by jcjr on a V3 Sound Sonority XL synthesizer module.
First 12 seconds are dry. Settings change every few bars to
show a sampling of random-chaos stereo LFO Phaser sounds.
Note: The source dry track was generated by PG Music's Band In A Box program.
First 10 seconds are dry. A 2 oscillator Kawai K5 additive
synth string patch effected by two series 4Stage stereo phasers (two series instances of the ChaosPhaser plugin).
Each phaser instance has different LFO Rate, Random, Chaos, etc. Most old string machines such as Solina used multiple
LFO chorus units rather than phasers, but chorus and phasers have some overlap.
The Solina, dry and "in your face"
had a deep churning repetitive chorus that reminded me of laboring washing machines. But classic string machines
were typically drowned in reverb so that the disturbing overkill deep churn was smoothed out into "tasteful animation"
in the final mix. This patch tries for the same "overkill phaser churn" but because the LFOs do not run steady,
IMO it is not as repetitive or boring as were instruments such as Solina which would repeat exactly the same churning pattern forever.
Note: Played by jcjr on an old Kawai K5r synthesizer.
First 10 seconds are dry. Settings change every few bars,
covering many variations. Some settings are tacky and tasteless. This demo just tries to sample some of the possibilities.
Note: Played by jcjr on a V3 Sound Sonority XL synthesier module.Example Frequency Plots
1 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
2 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
3 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
4 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
5 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
6 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
8 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
12 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
15 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
16 Stage Phaser, Resonance = 0%
16 Stage Phaser, Various Resonance, Wet Mix = +100% 
16 Stage Phaser, Various Resonance, Wet Mix = -100%Download and Installation
Download ChaosPhaser Here--> jcjrChaosPhaser.zip