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Wow and flutter
Gazillion Industries ·
Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
sounds like a childhood home video left in a hot car: every chord a little seasick,
every melody leaning slightly off the note. Much of that feeling is pitch that won't sit
still, and engineers have had names for it since long before anyone wanted it on
purpose.
Wow and flutter are speed variations in tape machines and turntables that make the pitch
waver. Wow is slow, a gentle swaying drift you hear as the pitch sagging and rising; flutter
is fast, a trembling shimmer on sustained notes. Hi-fi gear tries to keep both to a tiny
fraction of a percent. Producers add them on purpose to make music sound worn, nostalgic and
alive.
The short version
- Wow
- slow speed drift; the pitch sways
- Flutter
- fast speed variation; the pitch trembles
- Causes
- uneven motors, capstans, rollers, stretched tape, warped records
- Hi-fi goal
- as little as possible, fractions of a percent
- Creative use
- vintage, lofi, nostalgia, movement
- Watch
- bass and tight vocals
What causes wow and flutter
A tape machine only plays at the right pitch if the tape passes the head at exactly the
right speed. In practice, motors, capstans and pinch rollers are never perfect: a slightly
off-center capstan, a worn roller or tape that stretches and sticks all make the speed rise
and fall. On turntables, warped records and uneven platters do the same. Slow variations are
wow; faster ones are flutter. The names describe what you hear: a slow pitch sag that sounds a
little like the word, and a quick, fluttering waver.
What it sounds like
Subtle wow makes sustained chords feel like they're breathing. Heavier wow sounds seasick,
the whole track drifting in and out of tune. Flutter is harder to hear on drums and easier on
long notes, where it adds a trembling, slightly grainy quality. Together they're a big part of
why cassettes and old records sound old. A single, perfectly regular pitch wobble sounds more
like chorus; real wow and flutter come from several irregular motions at once.
How to use wow and flutter
- Put a wow and flutter or tape effect on pads, keys, samples or a whole loop.
- Start with the depth at zero and raise it until you just hear the pitch move.
- Set wow slow and gentle for drift; add a little flutter for texture.
- Prefer irregular or randomized movement over a single steady wobble.
- Check the result against the bass and vocal, and back off if they sound out of tune.
TRIPLE OG's
WOW FLUT is built from several motions at once, because one sine is just a chorus. There's a
demo on the page.
Where it works, and where it doesn't
Keys, pads, guitars, chopped samples and lofi loops take wow and flutter beautifully; see how to make lofi beats. Drums hide it. Bass and
808s are the risk: a wavering sub fights the kick and sounds out of tune fast, so keep low end off
the effect or use very little. On a lead vocal, a small amount can sound like a vintage record;
more than that sounds like a mistake.
Questions people ask
What does wow and flutter mean?
Wow and flutter are unwanted speed variations in analog playback that make the pitch waver.
Wow is slow variation, heard as drifting pitch; flutter is fast variation, heard as a trembling
quality on sustained notes.
What is a good wow and flutter rating?
For playback equipment, lower is better, and good turntables and cassette decks are rated at
small fractions of a percent. Differences at that level are hard to hear; cheap or worn machines
can be audibly worse.
Why is it called wow and flutter?
The names describe the sound: "wow" for the slow rise and fall in pitch, and "flutter" for the
fast, wavering tremble.
What TRIPLE OG does
TRIPLE OG is our cassette tape simulation, and wow and flutter are only the start.
WOW FLUT is continuous, bounded instability built from several motions at once.
AGE runs from nought to sixty years, darker, noisier and less speed-stable as it
climbs. CATCH is the machine failing on its own: it drags, jams and then recovers,
and BEND lets you do it on purpose by hand. TONE,
HISS, DRIVE and MIX shape the tape itself.
Leave the home video in the car a little longer. It only gets better.
Keep reading
- How to make music sound like a cassette tape — Softer highs, saturation, hiss, wow and flutter, channel mismatch and dropouts.
- How to make a tape stop effect — Why speed and pitch fall together, length and curve, and variations.
- How a tape machine works — The transport, the heads, bias, tape speed, and why tape sounds like tape.
TRIPLE OG — cassette tape simulation for Mac and Windows, with a transport
that drags, jams and sprints to catch up. There is a demo on the page.
Hear it — $29