One of the most recognizable electric guitar sounds present in modern-day music is the shimmering and warm sounds a chorus pedal produces.
No matter what produces these shimmering sounds, whether made by a modern-day chorus pedal or an old school effects pedal, what matters is the number of standard controls a classic effect involves.
These standard controls include rate and depth, and depending on a player’s requirements, these standard controls can be altered. On this page, we will explain to our readers ‘what does a chorus pedal do’.
You will also learn how to make use of chorus pedals when playing the electric guitar or bass. Several guitarists utilize effect pedals to obtain chorus sounds, but what does a chorus pedal do?
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What Does A Chorus Pedal Do
Producing wobbly and shimmering sound effects to recreate different sounds made by several instruments simultaneously is what the chorus pedal does. Creating these shimmering sounds gets done by making few alterations to the dry signal’s timing and pitch.
Most chorus pedals possess standard controls such as depth and rate, and they are responsible for controlling a modulation’s depth and quality, respectively. One thing we find interesting about chorus pedals is they produce stereo signals.
These stereo signals are produced by modulating affected sounds between the proper output channels and the left output channels.
Furthermore, chorus effect pedals were designed to recreate the high-quality sounds of a vocalist group, which perform the same melody simultaneously. The group vocalist might be similarly singing notes, but you will notice a difference in an individual’s timing and pitch, creating broader sounds.
These broader sounds can also be complex or lush compared to what a single singer can create. For a guitarist to obtain the effect he needs, a chorus pedal should manipulate a guitar’s audio signal before double the signal.
After manipulating and doubling the signal, the doubled signal gets processed using a combination of delay and shift, creating a broader and warmer tone.
What Type Of Guitarists Use Chorus Pedals?
It doesn’t matter whether you are a shredder looking for a way to make your screaming lead lines thick, or you are an acoustic guitarist searching for a way to make your sounds amplified, thick, and warm. It also doesn’t matter if you are a rhythmic guitarist that wants clean sounds, but getting yourself a chorus pedal means there is a good chance you will get the kind of sounds and tones you need.
You will have a chorus pedal at the top of your musical instrument shopping list if you consider recreating the 1980 oldies or famous pop guitar sounds.
Standard Controls On A Chorus Pedal
Mix, depth, and rate are the standard controls found on a chorus pedal. Other chorus pedals also come with shape and delay controls that are responsible for making additional sonic adjustments. However, all chorus pedals do not possess all of these parameters, and chorus pedals like the Electro Harmonix Small Clone and MXR Micro.
These Chorus pedals possess just a single knob used in adjusting the chorus effect rate. Shockingly, the BOSS CE-5 and Strymon Ola effect pedals feature every standard parameter, but precisely what do these controls on a chorus pedal do?
Chorus Rate Control
The rate control on a chorus pedal is responsible for controlling the modulation effect speed. A chorus pedal does this by incorporating an oscillator with low frequency, generating a modulating chorus effect at the end.
The rate control feature has a rate knob used in adjusting the speed of a low-frequency oscillator, and sometimes, you can substitute the rate for a speed setting. If you want a vibrato and fast tone, switch to a high rate setting, but slower rate-setting produces a gradual and subtle modulation effect.
Chorus Depth Control
If you want to control the amount of pitch-shifting produced by an effect, use the chorus depth control setting.
De-tuning the double audio signal ensures that the chorus pedal has a wobbly quality, and increasing the amount of pitch shift is obtained using a higher knob depth setting.
Chorus Delay Control
Controlling the amount of delay on an unaffected and dry signal and doubled and the wet signal is achieved using the chorus delay control. Each delay is measured in milliseconds, but on stompboxes, they are not labeled much.
The standard labeling of a chorus delay control is a maximum and minimum specific values indication.
You can also refer to the chorus delay control using tune, ambiance, and voice. Having an extended delay setting means more space between wet, dry, doubled, and original signals.
There are a few things you need to know about chorus pedals. Chorus pedals can create thick sounds from a single signal, and you can also trust a chorus pedal to play two sounds simultaneously because all it requires is finding a signal source, doubling, and setting the second signal to be a bit out of tune.
Various sounds can be created depending on how an oscillation rate, intensity, and depth is set, ranging from shimmering sounds to deep watery warble sounds. For so many years, the chorus effect has been a guitarist’s best effect, and we believe that you have an idea now of what a chorus pedal does.
