Flanger effect on Cygnus X1 by Rush - comparing Flanger, Chorus, Phaser and Univibe

The other day I was in HMV browsing at albums, when I heard a track playing. I asked the girl on the counter what it was and she told me it was Cygnus X1 by Rush from the Farewell to Kings album. So I got a copy and I've been playing it all week. Yet what struck me (apart from it sounding good!) was the way that Alex Lifeson makes creative use of the flanger and reverb to get an "other worldly" feeling at the close. Just three chords, Cm, Ebm, Bm, but it sounds really effective. So, in this video I compare the sounds of the flanger (a TC Electronic Thunderstorm) with chorus (TC Electronic 3D Chorus), univibe (TC Electronic Vibroclone) and phaser (MXR Phase 90). I thought it was an interesting contrast, but the flanger seems the best at sounding "other worldly" in this context. Also, you could get all three TC Electronic pedals for just over a hundred pounds. If you got a Blood Moon instead of the MXR Phase 90, it would still be around £150.

[@jeffmotta]

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