※This article is a review written on July 21, 2021 after being selected for the FX Collection 2 experience group run by ‘Samick’ and receiving product support for a certain period of time. I only received support for the product and wrote the rest myself.
Finally, the last plugin, Phaser BI-Tron.
This Phaser is a clone plug-in of a pedal effect called Mu-tron Bi Phase, released in 1974. It consists of two phasers, and the routing of these two phasers can be adjusted to provide various effects. It is said that many famous musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Grateful Dead, Smashing Pumpkins, and Lee Scratch Perry (dub) used it, and the Expression Pedal of the original hardware was also reproduced so that the amount could be adjusted.
Routing through Phaser can be intuitively understood at a glance. When you change routing within the plugin, it is also shown on the display.
Signal Flow may seem a bit difficult, but actually handling the plugin is not that difficult.
Basically, BI-Tron Phaser uses an LFO called Sweep Generator to adjust the degree of the Phaser effect. This can be given by a pedal, or by using both a pedal and a sweep generator, and the above Signal Flow can be seen as showing that it can be adjusted with various parameters.
I think you can roughly understand the rest if you look at it. The Phaser BI-Tron plug-in has more parameters that can be adjusted than you might think, so it’s a bit confusing, so let’s take a look at them one by one.
- Sweep Generators
BI-Tron Phaser has two LFOs. Adjusts the LFO that goes into Phaser A and B. As you can see, you can adjust the rate to sync or adjust it between 0.200 Hz and 20.0 Hz.
In addition, only Sweep Generator 1 can control the LFO rate with a pedal, and Sweep Generator 2 cannot be adjusted with a pedal. There are three LFO shapes to choose from: Sine, Ramp, and Square.
- Phaser
It’s quite ironic that the plugin name is Phaser, but the parameter name is Phasor, but anyway, there are two Phasors, A and B.
Depth 1 and 2 determine the extent to which Sweep Gen 1 and 2 enter, respectively. At 1, the LFO will not be used at all, and at 10, the LFO will be used at the highest amount.
Through Feedback, you can change the feel of the Comb Filter, and through the Sweep button, you can decide whether to give the LFO to the Phasor with Sweep Gen, control it with the Pedal, or use a combination of both.
The Norm/Rev switch on Phasor B is a switch that reverses the polarity of Phasor B. If you only invert the phase of Phasor B like this, the effect will be more noticeable.
Arturia’s manual tells you to use R.INV in Advanced Control to create a fun Stereo Phasing effect.
- Manual & Envelope
Manual Mode is a mode for manual control using the pedal. You can select it by pressing the button labeled MAN at the bottom left, and you can adjust it by pressing it with automation or the mouse.
Envelope mode is a mode that allows the pedal to operate according to the envelope of the audio signal. It will be easier to understand if you touch it a few times, but roughly speaking, you can think of it as trimming the envelope based on the input source and using it as a trigger for Phaser.
Right below the text that says Envelop Follower, there is a window where you can select the trigger source called SRC. Here, you can select the source that goes into A, the source that goes into B, a combination of both, or use Sidechain. You can also choose an external source.
You can see what these trigger sources sound like by clicking on the speaker shape on the right. However, what is a bit disappointing is that when you touch Comp, Input Gain, Attack Release, Delay, etc. below, you cannot hear the changing sound.
Delay is basically in ms units, but can be selected by beat through the Sync button, and the remaining units can be adjusted on a regular basis.
- Advanced Control
Phaser BI-Tron’s Advanced Control includes controls for Hi Pass Filter and Phasor A and B.
Hi Pass Filter is a 12dB/Oct filter. Filters the low range at the input stage so that only high frequencies are modulated. Arturia says it can be used to keep the low range of sounds with low registers stable, such as bass or kick.
The part written in Poles is a parameter for how much All-Pass-Filter will be used. The more you use, the stronger the Comb Filter effect will be and the less bandwidth it will require. It is said that the original hardware used 6 All-Pass-Filters.
Mix, like other plug-ins, is a parameter that determines the ratio of the dry/wet signal to be given, and R.INV is a switch that inverts the phase of LFO 1 and 2 entering Phasor A or B. If you press this switch, you can get a much wider stereo image.
- Samples
There are too many parameters in this, so it’s hard to know how to present it.
Phasor A, B routing can be done differently, and whether Depth 1, 2, and Feedback of each Phasor can be controlled with a pedal or Sweep Gen. If controlled with Sweep Gen, how to set the LFO shape and rate, and adjust it with the pedal. Whether to control with the envelope, select the Pole and R.INV buttons, and even mix…
Honestly, I think it would be very difficult to tell you about everything about the plug-in just by telling you a few of them. However, I can’t skip it without listening to the samples at all, so I’ll listen to one original track, one in the default state, and two that I’ve set up the way I want.
Honestly, I think it would be really difficult to judge based on this alone, and I also feel a bit disappointed, but I think it is an unavoidable limitation.
- Phaser BI-TRON overall review
It’s not bad, honestly, it’s okay, but the plugin is too heavy. It’s a bit lighter than the Bus Force I mentioned in the previous article, but it’s still heavy.
In particular, modulation-type plug-ins such as Phaser are mainly used for individual instruments or tracks, but the question arises as to whether this can be applied to individual instruments in a flashy way.
Therefore, if I were to use it, I would probably use it with the feeling that it would only be used for one or two instruments, a bit like MSG.
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