Flanger
Modulation effect that produces a jet-sweep sound.
Detailed explanation
The flanger is a modulation effect that mixes the signal with a slightly delayed copy of itself. The delay time modulates periodically, which produces the characteristic jet-sweep or whoosh sound. In DJing, use it sparingly and lock the timing to beat units. Overdone, it sounds cheap.
In practice
A flanger sounds like a jet flying through the track. It gets noticed immediately, and that is exactly its problem: what gets noticed wears out. It becomes useful where something is happening anyway — in a build-up, just before a drop, or to bridge four empty bars. Left running across an entire transition it does not make the mix more exciting, it makes it more tiring.
Assessment by the DJLearn editorial team — experience, not a sourced factual claim.
Related terms
Where to learn this
Using DJ effects properly
The guide that covers this topic in depth.
Explained in this phase
Phase 10: FX & Filter