Craig Anderton
Well-known member
In the past, I didn’t use chorus effects much because they never sounded quite right. But then I stumbled on one reason why—and more importantly, how to fix the issue.
So far, so good—except that in the real world, when two instrumentalists play together they play to a song’s rhythm. Yet the chorus’s modulated path is always delayed compared to the song’s rhythm, by an amount equal to the chorus effect’s initial delay. Although the delay helps differentiate the two paths, it affects the song’s rhythm negatively because the modulated path always lags the beat. So, the dry path’s “player” follows the beat, but the modulated path’s “player” always plays a little behind.
Referring to the screenshot, here’s how chorusing can stay true to a song’s rhythm:
1. The original track to be chorused becomes the dry path.
2. Duplicate the original track. This will become the modulated path.
3. Insert the chorus effect in the duplicated track. Set its wet/dry control to 100% wet.
4. Choose the chorus effect’s initial delay time. For this example, assume it’s 12 ms.
5. Advance the duplicated track earlier on the timeline by 12 ms, or whatever you choose for the initial delay time amount.
The modulation effect can now move the modulated track slightly ahead of, or behind, the beat—the chorus’s rhythm isn’t always behind the beat by 12 ms. This tightens the timing, and makes a subtle yet noticeable improvement in a song’s feel. What’s more, you can choose long initial delay times without compromising a part’s rhythmic integrity. Granted, this technique requires an extra track—but the improvement is worth it.
To advance the modulation track, select Seconds for the Timebase, click on the clip, open the Inspector, and type in the new start time in the Start field.
The Guitar Modulated track starts at 00:00:01.834 seconds. This is 12 ms earlier compared to the Guitar Dry track, which starts at 00:00:01.846 seconds. Also, the Chorus Depth control (which determines the wet/dry mix) is 100% to provide wet sound only.
The Problem with Chorus Effects
A chorus effect’s intention is to create the sound of two or more instruments playing as an ensemble. Choruses use parallel processing, with a dry path and modulated path. The modulated path has a typical initial delay of 9 to 14 ms. Periodic modulation, from an LFO or envelope, varies the delay time around this fixed initial delay. Mixing the two paths together creates phase and timing interactions between the modulated and dry paths. This produces the chorusing effect.So far, so good—except that in the real world, when two instrumentalists play together they play to a song’s rhythm. Yet the chorus’s modulated path is always delayed compared to the song’s rhythm, by an amount equal to the chorus effect’s initial delay. Although the delay helps differentiate the two paths, it affects the song’s rhythm negatively because the modulated path always lags the beat. So, the dry path’s “player” follows the beat, but the modulated path’s “player” always plays a little behind.
The Fix
The solution is based on going back to chorusing’s origin story—two separate instrumentalists playing together. The only requirement for implementing this fix is that the chorus effect has a wet/dry mix control that can choose a 100% wet signal, like the Fender Chorus.Referring to the screenshot, here’s how chorusing can stay true to a song’s rhythm:
1. The original track to be chorused becomes the dry path.
2. Duplicate the original track. This will become the modulated path.
3. Insert the chorus effect in the duplicated track. Set its wet/dry control to 100% wet.
4. Choose the chorus effect’s initial delay time. For this example, assume it’s 12 ms.
5. Advance the duplicated track earlier on the timeline by 12 ms, or whatever you choose for the initial delay time amount.
The modulation effect can now move the modulated track slightly ahead of, or behind, the beat—the chorus’s rhythm isn’t always behind the beat by 12 ms. This tightens the timing, and makes a subtle yet noticeable improvement in a song’s feel. What’s more, you can choose long initial delay times without compromising a part’s rhythmic integrity. Granted, this technique requires an extra track—but the improvement is worth it.
To advance the modulation track, select Seconds for the Timebase, click on the clip, open the Inspector, and type in the new start time in the Start field.
The Guitar Modulated track starts at 00:00:01.834 seconds. This is 12 ms earlier compared to the Guitar Dry track, which starts at 00:00:01.846 seconds. Also, the Chorus Depth control (which determines the wet/dry mix) is 100% to provide wet sound only.