Guide to the Chorus Effect and How to Achieve it Manually

A chorus effect can seem very mysterious for somebody who doesn't understand how it works. Here, I'll detail what it is, how it works, and how to achieve it.

First, what is chorus? You know that a choir is a group of singers, but what is the chorus effect? Put simply, the effect makes your audio signal sound like it is being played by several of the same kind of instrument. If you want to sweeten, thicken, or enrich your sound then chorus is the effect you want.

How does the chorus effect work? If you asked an amateur engineer to recreate the chorus effect they would most like duplicate one track and be surprised that it doesn't sound anything like the chorus effect. When two signals playing the same thing both have inconsistencies, then the chorus effect is born. The primary differences would be a slight alteration in pitch and rhythm. Even two of the most accurate performances will yield inconsistencies from each other, and in this instance inconsistency is not at all a bad thing.

So you've duplicated your track and now you need to make it sound like the actual chorus effect. The first thing you'll need to do is alter the delay. A simply delay unit on one track will work wonders here. Generally a very very short delay is the one you're after. Try just sliding the delay parameter very slowly and using your ear. When you have the sound of just a slight inconsistency that fits your tastes, keep it then let's move on.

You'll have to alter the pitch now. After you've opened your pitch shifter on the track you previously used the delay on, it's time to change the pitch. The important thing to note at this juncture is that a little bit of pitch shift goes a long way. Extreme amounts of pitch shifting will make your piece of audio nearly un listenable so it's important to use your ear and just go very slowly.

Now that you have activated both the delay and the pitch shifter on your duplicated piece of audio, marvel in your new chorus effect! So the signal chain you need to commit to memory is Audio > Duplicate Audio > Delay > Pitch Shift.

If you happen to go a bit overboard on your delay and pitch settings, you'll notice that you succeeded in getting a very flanger-esque sound. These two effects are quite similar, but both induce different feelings in your listener despite being so close. Generally, to achieve the standard flanger sound you'll want a very very short delay to get the ''jet plane'' effect.