What Exactly Is a Synth Sweep Effect?
Is it that sound of smoothly transitioning between notes (as done with a minimoog in Billy Joel’s ‘The Entertainer’). Just looking for clarification because if I search Youtube for it, I get guys playing "sweep" on guitar, and it seems to have nothing to do with it
A sweep is generally a "swoosh" or "swish" type of sound. On an analogue synth, it is achieved by turning a frequency knob clockwise or counterclockwise, thereby "sweeping" through the frequency spectrum, from either low to high, or high to low. There are many variables which will determine the sound of the sweep, such as waveform type, attack, sustain, release, decay, etc.. A couple of examples of sweeps are the beginning of "Tom Sawyer" by Rush, "Fly Like An Eagle" by Steve Miller Band, which has some spacey wind sounds throughout that are sweeps, and "Welcome To The Machine" by Pink Floyd has numerous swooshes and swirls that are sweeps as well. I hope this clarifies things a bit!
I think what you’re talking about is a flange, which you can definitely get for guitar.