Bass Effects - Chorus
In music, a chorus is a group of singers, like a choir. Other times, the term chorus is used to describe the part of a song where everyone sings together in between the verses.
Chorus Effect
The chorus effect was very popular from the late ’70s to the early ’80s. It was used by so many artists of that era, and you can hear it on some of the most iconic songs. It is still a common effect, that is known for creating fluid, watery tones.
Electro-Harmonix Bass Chorus
MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe
To achieve this effect on guitar, you would need two guitarists, playing in sync. The chorus effect sounds as if two instruments are performing the same part at the same time. The chorus effect brings out the subtle variations between the two parts. Even if two guitarists played in perfect unison, it doesn’t compare to the complex overtones created by the chorus effect.
The chorus effect was designed to give guitars a spacious sound. It works by taking a guitar signal, applying a short delay, then slightly altering the timing of the delay at regular intervals. It mixes this augmented signal with the original, unaltered signal.
Walrus Audio Julia Analog Chorus
It would be like playing a guitar, while someone is twisting the timing knob on a delay pedal back and forth. The pitch would speed up as the delay is decreased and drop as the delay is increased. This would create a sound similar to a jet flying by.
Electro-Harmonix Bass ChorusDr. J Bass Effects
Palmer PEBAZ Bazz Root Effects
Imagine the same sound, in very small increments, smaller than your hand would be able to pull off, with perfect consistency. This altered signal might sound like a simple vibrato. When it is mixed with a clean signal and spread out over a stereo field, it creates a watery, spacious sound. This is the effect that chorus pedals are known for.
I will explain it more detail. When one singer sings alone, you hear their voice singing many notes. When you break it down, you can hear each note that their voice sings, but a single note at a time. When a group of people sing together, at the same time, something interesting happens.
Keeley Seafoam Plus Vibrato Chorus
MXR Stereo Chorus
Even if everyone sings the exact same note, their voices won’t all sing that note the same way. Their voices will not be perfectly in tune with eachother. Some voices will be in perfect pitch. Some voices may be slightly sharp, or above the pitch.
Some may be slightly flat, or below the pitch. Some voices may even be completely off pitch, or out of tune. Since no two voices are perfectly alike, there will be slight variations in pitch, tone and phrasing. This combination of voices produces a voice that sounds thicker and fuller, than just one voice.
Palmer PEBFRO Frohlocker Bass
Caline G Series Chorus Bass
The differences between the voices “smear” the sound, resulting in an even bigger, more complex, overall sound. It sounds almost fluid. To expand that, you can add in more voices and spread them around a stereo field. The final effect is a huge, spacious sound;like a choir.
COOLMUSIC Guitar Pedal Bass
Some instruments create the chorus effect on their own. For example, when a piano is played, most of the hammers of can strike three keys, which are tuned almost to the exact same pitch.
A 12-string guitar works in a similar way. A standard guitar has 6 strings. On a 12 string, each of those strings are doubled. One string will be tuned to a note, and the second string will be tuned one octave higher. They are never perfectly in tune, which is what produces the lush sound of a 12-string guitar.
Chorusaurus Chorus Bass
Caline G008 Bass
Another interesting thing would be to place two speakers next to each other, and have them playing the same thing. If both speakers are playing the same audio but they are out of phase, you wont hear anything.
If you’ve ever hooked up a pair of speakers, and accidentally reversed the speaker wires. If you plugged in the wires wrong on one speaker of a pair, there will be a little sound or no sound at all. This happens when you reverse the polarity of one speaker. One wave hit its top while the other hits its bottom. This will cause the opposing audio waves to cancel each other out.
Chorusaurus V2 Bass Chorus
Ampeg Bass Chorus
The chorus effect isn’t only generated by singers or instruments. It can be produced electronically with a chorus pedal, or digitally with a chorus plugin. It can be applied to any sound source or musical instrument.
The chorus effect takes the source sound like your bass signal, copies it, and slightly alters the timing using a delay much like the flanger effect did. When the new sound is combined with the original, the “singing together” effect is produced.
MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe
Dunlop Vintage Bass
The difference between the flanger effect and the chorus effect is the length of the delay. A flanger uses a delay time of less than 10 milliseconds. Chorus uses between 10 to 20 ms. With the longer delay time, something interesting happens—the pitch is slighlty altered, or shifted
Doppler Effect
When the same audio waves are repeated and slow down, the pitch drops. If they speed up, they rise in pitch. This is due to what’s known as the Doppler Effect.
Wave Machine Chorus
EBS Sweden AB Bass Chorus
The Doppler effect is what you hear when an ambulance goes past you. As the ambulance approaches, the pitch goes up; as the ambulance moves away from you, the pitch drops. That’s due to the timing of the sound waves reaching you. The delay time of the chorus effect takes advantage of this audio phenomenon.
The choir-like sound of the chorus effect is a result of the slight pitch-shifting of the audio signal and the slight variations of start times of the delayed audio signal.
Fender Hammertone Chorus
Chorus on Bass
Chorus is one of the more popular effects for bass guitar. Some bass amps even have chorus built-in. There are also a number of chorus pedals from which bassists may chose.
MXR Sub Octave Bass Fuzz
EX-Gemini Chorus
When used tastefully, chorus can add a very melodic presence to a bassline. Using chorus on bass guitar can make the bassline sound like it is singing. Of course, it’s the playing of the bassline that really makes it melodic, but the chorus effect can enhance it.
Chorus is most pronounced on longer notes, but it can work on any sort of bassline.
Chorus on Slap Bass
For a time in the 1980s, using chorus on slap bass was hugely popular. Hearing someone slapping with a chorus effect, takes a lot of people, back to the 1980s! This happens sometimes with effects and technology. The chorus effect was used so much that it has a date associated with it.
Caline G010 Bass
Caline Bass Guitar
Be careful with pitch-altering effects on a crucial instrument like the bass guitar. One main role of the bass is to define the harmony, changing the pitch too much can get in the way or cause problems for the band as a whole. As with most effects on bass, a little goes a long way.
Basslines with Chorus
Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n Roses
You can hear the chorus effect clearly on Duff McKagan’s classic opening melodic bassline of Sweet Child of Mine.
Digitech XBC Bass Multi-Voice Chorus
Carl Martin Bass Chorus
Boogie Oogie Oogie by Taste of Honey
Janice Marie Johnson’s intro on Boogie Oogie Oogie also uses the chorus effect and backs it off afterwards.
Save a Prayer by Duran Duran
In this 1980s pop ballad, John Taylor plays a beautiful bassline using the chorus effect all the way through.
AZOR Chorus Bass
Recommended Bass Chorus Pedals
MXR M83 Bass Chorus Deluxe
The CEB-3 Bass Chorus pedal offers a split-frequency chorus effect capable of applying warm, rich chorusing to the higher frequencies without muddying up the lows. Effect Level, Low Filter, Rate and Depth knobs permit precise tonal shaping. It’s the perfect chorus pedal for bassists.
Caline CP-83 BASS CHORUS
CP-83 is original designed by Caline, bass analog chorus.
The mono/stereo outputs can be switched between Normal and Mixer output modes. Normal output mode is for connecting directly to the input of a bass amplifier. Mixer output mode is connecting directly to a mixing board or headphone preamp.
Electro-Harmonix Clone Bass Chorus
The Bass Clone chorus pedal’s core circuitry is nearly identical to the legendary Small Clone chorus, but with added features especially for bass. The Bass Clone effectively combines modulated and dry signals resulting in a tight, focused bass guitar sound with a well defined low end and shimmering chorus on top.
Walrus Audio Julia Analog Chorus
The Julia is a fully analog, feature-rich chorus/vibrato packed with a wide array of tonal landscapes begging to be explored.
Tomsline Bass Chorus
Tomsline ALR-3 Liner, ABY Line Selector Pedal. Signal path from A/B to Y, or from Y to A/B. True bypass.
MOOER Ensemble Queen Bass Chorus
Thunderball of Fuzz to Filter of Sweeper, nowadays, there is a new choice for your Pedal Board— Ensemble Queen, the Bass Chorus pedal.
