The amazing stereo effect that no-one can hear
This video examines a spatial stereo effect created for Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time' by engineer/associate producer William Wittman. The effect was created using the Eventide Instant Flanger. The question however is, can you hear it?
Song credit: 'Time After Time' written by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, performed by Cyndi Lauper.
Instant Flanger photo credit: SoundGas
Transcript
So I received an email the other day from Eventide. That's the company, formally Eventide Clockworks, that in 1976 made the first flanger-in-a-box so you didn't have to mess about with tape recorders to get that swooshy swirly flanging effect.
Did I hear someone say they want me to make a tape flanging demo. I think I might be able to do that. I'll have to see if my tape recorder still runs.
Eventide is also famous for their Harmonizer H910, which wasn't the first pitch changer - that would be the Tempophon, which, like old-fashioned flanging, worked from tape. Pitch changing now is as common as bug fixes in a Pro Tools update. But back in the 1970s and into the 80s it was amazingly new and interesting. And sometimes a bit glitchy, but we accepted that as part and parcel of the effect.
But back to the Instant Flanger. One of its useful tricks was to take a mono source and give it a stereo effect. Yes there are loads of ways to do that now, but not so much back in history. Here's engineer and associate producer William Wittman who in 1984 used the Instant Flanger on Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time'. I'll put a link to the whole video in the description.
CLIP
This is exciting. We need to hear it. I'll play a bit from the beginning of the song and a bit from the end, which are where the cabasa is most prominent. You can of course listen to the whole thing on your favourite streaming service, which will probably be more accurate than what you hear now through YouTube's sound mangling process.
AUDIO
Wow didn't that sound amazing?
I can't hear it. I can hear a cabasa, but I'm damned if I can hear any stereo effect on it. I hear it fixed just off-centre to the right. I suppose I could try isolating it a little with filters. And maybe look at it in a vector scope and see if I can see anything.
VIDEO
Nope. I still can't hear it. And I can't see any movement in the vector scope that I can conclusively link to the cabasa.
So what does this mean?
Well it could mean that I need to visit both an audiologist and an optician. I haven't seen either for years so that would probably be a good idea anyway.
Or it could mean that actually there isn't any movement in the stereo image.
Or, and this is my preferred explanation, you don't get to be the engineer and associate producer of a Grammy Award winning record, which this is, without having an exceptional degree of perception of music and sound. So with my average human perception I can't hear the movement that William Wittman can.
OK, so you can say it's too subtle, and most people won't hear it. But great engineering and great production is all about assembling masses of small details into a complete music and sound experience that people will love, whether they care about the cabasa or not.
So, crank up your favourite search engine and get to know the Eventide Instant Flanger, and take a listen to the whole of Time After Time too - It's 1984 in a bottle.
By the way - just for comparison here's my quick version. It's the LinnDrum cabasa with a little bit of auto pan and a tiny bit of reverb. As you can hear and see, it isn't as rich as the original.
CLIP
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David Mellor
David Mellor is CEO and Course Director of Audio Masterclass. David has designed courses in audio education and training since 1986 and is the publisher and principal writer of Adventures In Audio.
@RocknRollkat: Hello D.M.,
I was fortunate enough to be able to 'hang out' with the gang at Eventide Clockworks in the early 1970s.
Richie Factor was kind enough to mentor me back then, and we're still in touch.
Heady times they were !
Bill P.
@shpater: Thank You For your Video.
When I do a remaster from a mono source I use a tiny amount of "setreo simulation Effect" which is based on delay back and forth between the two channels. I adjust the effect level to such that the "Thin Needle" as shown on your Scope becomes to be with some very moderate thickness. The sound is still precisely located from a "Phantom center channel" (in a 2 speaker setup) but you feel some thickness or air around the center image. It Is not a "Mono" panned slightly left then Slightly right and back, it is constantly located in the center, however, when you switch to real mono you feel the sound becomes very narrow located. This Is what I felt from the sound taken from the song, Your measurement shows the "needle" (during instrument only periods) has some added thickness, similar in level to what I am using.
Thanks for these very interesting Topics.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @shpater: I 'stereoised' some recordings back in the 1980s using a graphic equalizer. From my perspective now, I wish I hadn't. DM
@shpater replies to @shpater: @@AudioMasterclass Thank you for your reply.
Yes, I hate the EQ stereo simulation method, It is unpleasant to the ear (oWhen listening on a stereo setup).
@mileswhitener4173: I discovered the effect - that the engineer THINKS he created - for myself in about 1978, when in fact I was processing a mono tape I had made of a live band performance, to create some stereo effect. I was doing actual physical tape flanging off of two open-reel copies of the mono source into a third stereo open-reel machine. I did not completely mix the two, so each of the mono copies ended up dominant on onr channel. I am not sure why I only partially mixed them, but I discovered a panning effect NOT DUE TO LEVELS. Perceived location is at least as much dependent upon delay as level. BTW I could not hear the effect either and even with my bad ears I placed it slightly right of center.
I should check, but I believe this is called the Haas Effect. Many years later I searched for a Haas Effect plugin, but I don't think I found one.
It is all completely logical. Source sounds definitely arrive at your ears with different delays. Binaural recording depends on that. Level-based panning is pretty bogus. Is there a mixing board that introduces delay along with level, on some its pan knobs?
Just discovered your excellent channel.
@meis18mofo77 replies to @mileswhitener4173: I know one VST plugin that does more realistic stereo positioning but it does more then just volume panning and Haas effect, it's called dearVR Micro or AMBEO Orbit, it's by Sennheiser and completely free
@morbidmanmusic: nicely explained. I can hear it, but that's my job.
@BoxerEngineSounds: Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
@marcelmolenaar5684: Well i can hear it very clearly.
I think you should buy better speakers man.
@stevejohnson1321: Dead Or Alive group used this effect on some versions of "my heart goes bang" and "lover come back to me." I hadn't found out the effect is flanging until just a few years ago.
@TintomaraAriadne: I wonder if that producer is synesthetic. That might explain it. I am, and can’t say that I can pinpoint it in my hearing, but I get a sense of swirling around that is sort of a mix of mental images, kinesthetics and audio.
@verstaerker: have to agree.. it sounds quite good and has a nice stereo-image.. but i couldn't hear any modulation or movement
@iainmackenzieUK: Yup. Didnt hear it on spotify. BUT Maybe he means the reverb only is flanged and swirls around for a couple of bars?? or its parallel FX with just a bit of it swirling.... I am grabbing at straws.
Anyhow. Still sound cool.
@drkastenbrot: This does remind me of xFer Dimension Expander when used with size at minimum and mix quite low. Its a very subtle stereo effect, it adds a tiny bit of stereo to the mono signal. But as subtle as it is, it very clearly does not sound boringly dead mono anymore than gives things a pleasant space on headphones. I do this on all drums and cymbals but the kick, and also on otherwise dry electric bass. It sounds dead centered, but it does not sound mono and I love the way it sounds.
@jamiepond replies to @drkastenbrot: This is a classic effect. I use the dimension expander like that on most mixes I do.
@dsanj4745: I only hear flanging on the guitar. Or is that a phaser? In any event the flanging on the cabasa must be quite subtle and the YouTube algorithms render it inaudible