Three Things You Need to Know About Chorus Pedals

A chorus pedal is a great way to create thicker sounds from a single signal. By taking your source signal, doubling it and setting the second signal slightly out of tune and time with the first, a chorus pedal can create the sound of two instruments playing simultaneously. Depending on how you set the oscillation rate and depth, or intensity, of the effect, you can create sounds that range from shimmering rotary-speaker-like textures to deep watery warbles.

Chorus has been a favorite effect of guitarists for years, and in this video, “Three Things You Need to Know About Chorus Pedals,” Phillip McKnight explores the pedal in depth. He talks about what chorus is, why you’d want to use it and how to use it. (Side note: There are a couple of times in his explanation when Phillip describes two vocalists singing in harmony, when he actually means in unison—singing the same note together rather than harmonizing.)

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.

Latest

“Unlimited looping for endless ideas”: Can Zoom beat Boss and TC Electronic at their own game and conquer the compact looper game with its latest MultiStomp pedal?

See more latest ►

“There was a time you wouldn’t have touched a Superstrat, at least in my world – that was very illegal. It’s cool to be able to let go of those old feelings and those silly rules”: How Chris Shiflett learned to love his inner shredder

“The guitar can be your best friend one day and your rival the next – it keeps you on your toes”: London jazz ace Artie Zaitz on why the amp is your second instrument and how he learned to love mistakes

“This pickup could have come out of a late-’50s Gibson. If you had a guitar from that era with these pickups, everyone would be like, ‘Wow. That’s a badass-sounding Les Paul’”: How Adam “Nolly” Getgood and Bare Knuckle reinvented the P.A.F. for a new era

“From the first chord, we both thought, ‘Wow’ – I quit my band and moved to Denmark”: How husband-and-wife duo the Courettes became one of the most exciting bands in the garage-rock underground

“I won seven guitar contests in a row. When I went to enter again, they said, ‘No, don’t even enter – you’re going to judge the next one’”: Dimebag Darrell discusses his love of soloing – even when it was uncool – and dishes advice in his final interview

“I was having so much anxiety about getting a great sound that I wasn’t writing songs… I said, ‘I’m gonna stop thinking about it. This is going to be my sound’”: Tom Morello on his tone struggles and what he learned from teaching his son Roman how to play

“I have a Southern accent, and it’s the same on the guitar. I adapted the guitar to do the talking for me when I was too shy”: Marcus King on why your fretboard has its own language – and how mental health became his muse

“When we learn to improvise, the first thing we pay attention to is where to put our fingers… rarely do any of us pay attention to the rhythm of a melody or lick”: Can’t figure out why your improvised solos don’t feel right? Here’s how to fix them

“I played a 5-string with Lauryn Hill, but it didn’t feel like a real bass”: Raised on R&B, schooled by fusion, and empowered by punk rock, Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer remains a 4-string purist

“Zoom discontinued that pedal because nobody bought it – but bass players are always coming up to me wanting to know how I got those sounds”: Remembering jazz great Victor Bailey, who used an unsung multi-FX pedal for his cover of Prince’s biggest hit

Proggy Pentatonic! How to Use the Good Ol’ Pentatonic Scale in Cool New Ways

Get The Pick Newsletter

Most Popular