Chorus

In the desktop app. Chorus is a device of the desktop app, arriving in its beta; the web studio does not have it. The examples on this page are made with a reference version of the effect, applied to sound from the studio’s engine: they show what each control does, and the device itself may differ a little in character.

What it is for

Chorus adds a copy of the sound that runs very slightly late, by an amount that drifts slowly back and forth. The ear hears not a copy but a second player who is never quite together with the first, which is exactly why a choir or a string section sounds bigger than one voice. The sound becomes wider, softer and gently moving.

Reach for it when a sound is plain, narrow or static: a synth pad, a clean guitar, an electric piano. It makes things wider and softer, so it is rarely right for parts that need to be solid and centred, such as bass and kick. See Two speakers make a stage.

Rate

How fast the copy drifts back and forth. Slow is a gentle, barely noticed widening. Fast is a wobble, like an old tape or a spinning speaker.

Depth

How far the copy drifts. Shallow only thickens the sound. Deep bends the copy’s pitch audibly, and the sound seems to swim.

Feedback

Sends some of the copy round again. With a very short delay this turns a chorus into a flanger: a sweeping, hollow, jet-like sound instead of a soft thickening.

Mix

The share of the copy in the result. The effect is strongest when the sound and its copy are equally loud; lower, it becomes a subtle widening.