A stereo chorus: a short delay whose time drifts slowly, blended with the original sound. It detunes and blurs a voice so a thin patch or a clean guitar sounds wider, without adding a single note.
The idea
As the delay time moves, the delayed copy bends slightly sharp and then slightly flat. Heard together with the dry signal, the two copies interfere, and that shifting interference is the chorus sound. Chorus runs one delay line per side, with the left and right sweeps moving in opposite directions, which is what spreads the sound across the stereo field.
Controls
- Rate is the speed of the sweep, from 0.1 to 10 Hz. Slow is lush, fast is seasick.
- Depth is how far the delay time swings, and so how much pitch wobble you hear.
- Delay is the centre delay time, from 1 to 20 ms. Below about 5 ms it starts to flange; above about 15 ms the copy stops blending and becomes a distinct double.
- Mix blends the delayed copy with the dry signal. Even at the top of its range the dry signal stays in an even blend, because the effect depends on hearing both.
The diagram on the panel shows the shape of the delay sweep on each side. It is a picture of the settings, not a live display of the audio.
Getting started
Play a clean guitar, a synth pad or a voice through Chorus and start from the default settings. Lower Rate and raise Depth for a slow, wide shimmer, or pull Delay down toward a few milliseconds to hear it tip into flanging.
