More modern units, including the Boss CH-1 shown below, often have knobs for EQ to control treble and bass, an Effect Level control to determine how much chorusing gets mixed with your straight guitar sound, and stereo outputs that let you run into two amps at once and create amazingly wide stereo chorus effects. The Rate knob controls the number of milliseconds of delay at any given time and the Depth control governs the intensity of modulation.Ī unit like this also operates in mono, one signal in and one signal out. How Do I Control It? BOSS Stereo Super Chorus Guitar Pedal (CH-1)Ī simple chorus pedal like the classic Boss Chorus CE-2 pictured above can have only two knobs. Even rock and metal players got into the chorus act back then and you can hear its distinctive sound on countless records of the period.
The 1980s were probably the pinnacle of chorus use by guitar players and their sound helped to define much of the music of that era in the hands of greats like Andy Summers of The Police. This can create sounds ranging from a subtle warble to an almost-12-string-guitar kind of shimmer to wild Uni-Vibe-style freakouts. It splits your signal into two parts and delays one by a number of milliseconds and is given movement, called Modulation, by a Low-Frequency Oscillator or LFO. Like tremolo, vibrato, and phaser/phase shifter, chorusing is a Modulation Effect. Update: The detailed guide to choose your most well-fitted chorus pedal. Now, chorusing is one of the basic effects guitarists are expected to be able to provide and just about every line of pedals out there includes at least one. It has been popular since first making the scene in the mid-1970s when the legendary Boss chorus units and Jazz Chorus amplifiers hit stages around the world.
It can be used to add subtle modulations to your sound or in more radical ways for more drastic effects. It splits your signal into two parts and detunes and delays one of them.
I show you how to customise the settings to achieve different sonic textures and end by creating different chorus effects that can be used on any vocal recording.Chorus pedals are one of the most essential and popular effect boxes for guitarists. I explain how a reverb effect processor can be used to create a chorus effect. I explain how each chorus plugin works making sure to explain all the various parameters on offer. In the Chorus Effect – what is it and how does it work video I use a vocal recording and run it through various chorus effect plugins. The result is interesting in that one channel will have frequency peaks whereas the other channel will have frequency dips. Stereo chorus is even more interesting and dynamic and works by inverting the polarity of the delayed signal and combining it with the dry signal in one channel whilst keeping the polarity the same for the delayed and dry signals in the other channel. Although chorus can thicken and widen a sound it can also push it into the background, so you need to be wary of the rate and depth of modulation particularly when using it for these purposes as opposed to using it for a specific colour. Whereas flanging will take the output and feed it back into the input (feedback) chorus does not adopt this process creating a far more subtle shimmering effect.Ĭhorus is often used on guitars, basses (mainly acoustic) and keyboard sounds like electric pianos and so on. A sine wave shape will give a smoother cyclic effect, and is the most common LFO shape for chorus and flanging, as opposed to a square or pulse waveform which will have an extremely distinct effect as it cyclically switches between two delay times. The modulator shape is also critical as the shape denotes the periodic (unless chosen otherwise) cycling of the modulation destination. The relationship between rate and depth is very important and it is about finding a good balance between the two when processing sounds. The rate can have a dramatic effect on the chorus as slow rates create a more undulating and smoother effect whereas fast rates will create a speeded up wobble effect. Too much depth when using chorus can sound as if the output is detuned whereas too little depth can make it sound less and less pronounced. The rate determines the speed at which these maximum to minimum shifts occur.
The modulation depth is defined as intensity which is the range between the maximum and minimum values. The pitch is modulated using an LFO as the source and both the depth and rate are used to create varying ‘colours’ or textures of the effect.
With chorus, an equal mix of the wet and dry signal is used with the wet signal being delayed and pitch modulated. With effects such as chorus, flanging, phasing and vibrato pitch modulation is used along with delay. Chorus Effect – what is it and how does it work video tutorial covers in-depth everything you will ever need to know about this wonderful effect and how to use it.