What is phase and how does it affect a mix? Find out with the latest Samplecraze production video, Phase.

The Phase video tutorial will help musicians and producers alike understand phase, how it behaves, and how it figures in to any sound production project. Samplecraze notes that phase finds its way into tracking, mixing, and sound design, yet it seems to be a confusing subject for many. To hear some deliberate examples of phase in action, listen to the musical works of Steve Reich.

According to the maker of the video, total and partial phase cancellation can result in all sorts of mixing anomalies, so knowing what it is and how to rectify such issues is crucial. Moreover, phase problems can result in summing and masking that can instantly kill your mix.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, thank goodness, since phase can be used for good, too. You can use your understanding of phase to create new sonic textures and change stereo width.

The 37-minute Phase video takes you through the madness that is phase, explaining in detail what it is, how and why issues happen, and how to correct them, both when working with individual sounds during the design process and with multiple tracks during mixing and production.

Phase topics (what you will learn):

• Sine waves: the relationships between frequencies and how their phase affects all audio
• Cycle counts: how the phase of one waveform affects the cycles of another
• Total and partial phase cancellation: how to detect and correct it
• Summing and cancellation of frequencies and their harmonics
• Aligning audio from mic recordings to correct phase
• Delay Compensation: using specific utility plugins, and realigning to correct timing errors
• Polarity Inversion: why it happens, how it affects mixes and summing, and how best to correct it
• Using phase cancellation in reverse to realign out-of-time audio
• Using phase in sound design: creating new textures through layering, canceling, and summing of frequencies
• Using math to determine cycles and frequencies: which frequencies get canceled and which are summed
• Using phase to create stereo width: examples used are snares, and more
• Using a spectrum analyzer to calculate summing and cancellation of frequencies

The new Samplecraze Phase video tutorial is now available for download for £3.99 GBP (approximately $7). For more details, please visit the Samplecraze Web site at samplecraze.com.