Plugin and sample producer BurghRecords has released a brand new freeware flanger effect called PhatNoise Flanger, available as a 32-bit and 64-bit VST plugin for Windows.
PhatNoise Flanger is a pretty standard flanging effect which is part of BurghRecords’ freeware VST plugin series also featuring a phaser effect, a lo-fi bass filter, and a modulation filter. The plugin has pretty standard controls and a simple, easy to-use interface. The three most important controls on the GUI are the Depth knob, marked down in percentages, the Output knob in the center marked in Hz, and the Feedback knob which is also marked in percentages. Alongside these three controls, the plugin also features a simple bypass switch.
Loading up my DAW and running the plugin, I was happy to hear that PhatNoise Flanger is a rather decent sounding, if not a bit too “ordinary” flanger effect. It seems the plugin also applies a bit of saturation to the processed signal, resulting in a subtle warm analog feel. I’m guessing that the developers wanted to emulate the sound of old hardware flanger units and that idea turned out pretty well. Pushing the feedback knob to extremes produced some classic sci-fi swirling audio effects when applied to my electric piano patch, and I can see it potentially being a nice way to mangle some synths, guitars, and even vocals.
As far as flanger plugins go, you could definitely do much worse than using PhatNoise Flanger. It delivers an analog feel and quality that you would be hard pressed to find in most other free flanger VST plugins. The is available after free checkout from the BurghRecords website (user account registration and mailing list signup are optional). The download is a RAR archive containing DLL files, which is great for users who prefer installing their plugins manually.
PhatNoise Flanger is available for free download via BurghRecords (22.6 MB download size, RAR archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows).
