Berklee C.O.M.
Modulated Short Delay Effects
Chorus
Phaser
Flanger
Common Use of Phaser
Phasers are generally used on acoustic and electric guitar, electric piano, clavinet, strings, and synth pads.
Phasers have the most pronounced effect on sounds that have some high-frequency content, like bright vocals, bright sustaining pads, and whooshes.
It also sounds great inserted after long delays or reverbs, adding animation to the sound as it fades away (for ex. psychedelic records of the late 1960s)
Common Use of Flanger
Flanging works best on harmonically rich sounds such as bright string pads, as much as it can also be used on drums and cymbals.
What they are USED FOR...
Common Use of Chorus
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On 12 string acoustic guitar – Even before you think about any sort of modulation, the rich harmonics of a twelve string guitar almost sound slightly chorused by themselves. However, if you want to add a slightly richer and deeper sound, inserting a slow and subtle chorus effect will make the part sound like it’s being played by five different guitarists, creating a wall of 12 string chord strumming.
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To add shimmer to an electric piano – A Rhodes piano already has a shimmer to itself. If you are working with some other type of electric piano sound that sounds sort of dull and lifeless then adding a touch of chorus can brighten it up and make it shimmer.
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To add doubling to select phrases – Chorus can be used to double vocals pretty effectively, and even Waves have their own chorus effect plug-in in one of their bundles created especially for this purpose, the Waves Doubler. But if you already have a great vocal sound and don’t need to add chorus at every step of the way it can be a good method to add some sparse doubling to select phrases. Accenting the final words or phrases can give the sensation that you have two vocalists singing the part, forcing the meaning home.
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On snare – I tried this the other day and it was surprisingly effective. If you dialed in just the right amount of the chorus effect the snare just seemed to come alive. Just beware of phase issues, forcing the sound into mono can be a good way to get a cool chorus snare without phase problems.
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For a slow oscillating bass – If you are working with a slow song with a steady bass line that doesn’t involve too much acrobatics then a touch of chorus to the bass can add a new dimension to the sound. I used it when the bass player was playing steady whole notes and it just created this slow wave of bass which complimented the song perfectly.
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On the guitar bus – If you have a few different guitars grouped and sent to one bus you can spread them out even more with some chorus. Process each guitar with compression, EQ and panning; send them to one bus and insert some chorus on that bus. Instant Super-Bus!
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On backing vocals – This is very standard, and maybe not so creative. But it still works wonders. Using a touch of chorus to backing vocals can make it seem like there are more of them. The effect is called chorus for god’s sake, so it’s no wonder it works well on a chorus of vocals. Use chorus when you only have two backing vocals and you want them to sound like there’s four, five or ten of them.