David Andrew Wiebe – Page 8

Chorus is a music production essential. It has a strong association with 70s and 80s guitar sounds, but the truth is that the effect complements most voices and instruments, especially in scenarios where you need to add some smoothness, dimension, and depth. The effect itself is just as it sounds. It’s like adding a choir (multiple voices) artificially to a track – a real-life choir or a string ensemble would be the more organic version of the same thing. Multiple voices singing the same thing or multiple instruments playing the same part sounds amazing. Listen to any music with heavy overdubbing (Queen for instance), and you’re sure to understand the power of double-, triple-, quadruple-tracking, and beyond. And while chorus can’t give you that, it can give your tracks some extra “pop” and presence when they need it. Here we explore the best chorus VST plugins. TriceraChorus by Eventide Simple. Beautiful. Luxurious. If you know anything about pitch, reverb, and modulation effects, then you’ve already heard the name “Eventide.” They are well-known for some of their effects pedals like PitchFactor and ModFactor, but they also have exceptional plugins, rackmount units, broadcasting equipment, and software. Knowing that one of my producer friends loved effects with an ethereal quality, I recommended the PitchFactor to him and he later thanked me for it. But this guide is not about pedals. Here we’re looking at the plugin. The TriceraChorus wants to bring us all the way back to the 70s and 80s, when stompbox choruses and tri-choruses were all the rage (especially the Dyno-My-Piano). Here, this chorusing effect has been paired with the signature Eventide "micro-pitch detuning” effect. This offers additional thickening and even stereo expansion. This allows for smooth, deep, rich chorus for a variety of applications – vocals, guitar, synths, strings, bass, and just about anything you can name. When you need a track to “pop” in a mix, this a great chorus to turn to. The TriceraChorus comes with a Bucket Brigade style stereo chorus with three voices (Left, Center, Right). CHORUS mode gives you access to a classic stompbox style effect, CHORALE mode gives you classic rackmount tri-chorus style sounds, DEPTH lets you control modulation, DETUNE can be applied to give the voices more variation. DELAY can be used to thicken the track, add a flange, or even a slap-back effect, SWIRL gives you stereo frequency shifting, Tone lets you shape the higher and lower frequencies, and RIBBON lets you sweep between two separate effect settings. Its UI design is simple and elegant, featuring a minimalistic but realistic look. The built-in presets are perhaps a little on the extreme side, but that is expected with most VST plugins. Tweak the parameters to suit your tastes and you’re sure to arrive at a happy medium. To me, the chorus is highly usable, and you can pull a lot of great sounds out of it. This highly rated dinosaur… I mean, Eventide’s TriceraChorus is available for Mac and PC as a VST, AAX, and AU plugin. You can also find it as an effects pedal, though, just saying. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Maserati HMX by Waves Donning the name of a luxury vehicle, the Maserati HMX, as you might expect, features a sporty looking UI, sharing more in common with a speedometer than a VU meter. Maserati, though, in this case, is the name of the creator. Tony Maserati’s Maserati HMX is a harmonic generator and has been described as an “all-in-one multi-effects” plugin with built-in chorus, width, reverb, and delay. Whether it’s for vocal tracks, strings, or keyboards and electric pianos, this chorus has what it takes to give your individual tracks presence, atmosphere, and added life. Maserati, in case you didn’t know, is a record producer and audio engineer that has worked with the likes of Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, Queen Latifah, and Mary J. Blige. He’s also been nominated for a total of 10 Grammys. There are two modes built into this plugin – MODAL, which generates harmonics in the brighter frequency range, and BOUNCE, which is more focused on effects and presence control. Overall, the plugin has a nice, natural, transparent sound to it. Although the effect is obviously controllable, what it adds is typically subtle and beautiful. If you’re looking for a non-intrusive chorus that always adds and never takes away, you’ll like this one. We do like the slightly worn, industrial look of the UI, and it’s realistic without being snooty. Nicely balanced and quiet. We must give it a high rating for that. Though most people think of the Maserati HMX as a keyboard effect (piano, electric piano, synth, etc.), it’s worth experimenting with this VST in other ways as well, to see what you can come up with. You can purchase Maserati HMX as a Windows or Mac plugin at Waves. Learn more: Waves MChorusMB by MeldaProduction Whether it’s their freemium bundles or their more premium products, MeldaProduction has usually steered us in the right direction, and has rarely disappointed. Their MFreeFXBundle is near legendary in terms of its usability and value. The MChorusMB is a multiband chorusing effect that can be applied to everything from guitar tracks to complete mixes. It gives you full control over 10 voices, six stereoizing algorithms (from panoramas to phases), dual user interface (default and advanced), one to six fully configurable independent bands, continuously adjustable oscillator shape, and four global modulators (LFO, follower, MIDI/audio triggered ADSR envelopes, pitch detector, or a combination thereof). You also get integrated tube saturation, up to eight channels of surround processing, full randomization, adjustable upsampling, and more. We could go on, but you’re starting to get the picture. The plugin’s UI design is simple and professional. MeldaProduction always does a good job at this without going overboard. They don’t aim to be fancy, just to be understated and elegant. MChorusMB gives you a lush, warm chorusing effect by default. But as you’ve likely gathered, it is very tweakable, giving you a strong range of options to get the desired effect in your mixes. MChorusMB is available for Windows and Mac. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Orchid by W.A. Production W.A. Production’s Orchid chorus has been praised by the likes of European DJ and producer Manene, as well as The Samplecast. In the developer’s own words, it’s “chorus on steroids.” Rewind back to the 1980s when chorus was thick and wet, taking flat, thin, and otherwise weedy tracks and dialing them up to 11. Chorus was so awesome for that. Orchid can give your basses, guitars, vocals, synths, or drums a punch in the gut to give them that harmonic structures and richness they deserve by quadrupling the audio signal. Take control of the effect by taking advantage of the speed and depth controls, as well as reverb, delay, shimmer, spread, and filtering. Orchid also lets you customize each of the four chorusing modules (to a degree). Orchid comes with multiple built-in presets for your tracks – bass, drums, synths, guitars, and vocals. Whether you’re going for subtle or over-the-top, there are presets suited to different needs, including special FX presets. The UI has a nice dark theme with glowing orange and yellow dials. Its design is balanced and eye catching. The plugin has a natural sound and can easily add more depth and interest to your tracks. Orchid is compatible with Windows and Mac and is available as a VST, AU, and AAX plugin. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Ensemble Snapin by Kilohearts Aside from preset variety, Kilohearts’ Ensemble Snapin has received a perfect rating from the community. It has all the appearances of simplicity, but it is quite powerful. As its name would suggest, it transforms a single voice into an ensemble. But on top of delayed replications of the original track, it also modulates the phases of each voice. Delay times are modulated to add a bit of detune. You can control the number of voices with the Voices control, fine-tune the detune with the Detune control, expand the stereo width with Spread, change the dry / wet mix with the Mix control, and select patterns of modulation with Motion. Its UI design takes the best aspects of flat vector, dark theme, and modern fonts. Simple but effective. It could be more, but it doesn’t try to be. Ensemble is available for Windows and Mac as an AAX, AU, VST2, and Snapin. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Analog Chorus by PreSonus PreSonus’ Analog Chorus is a hit among users, and would you really expect any less from PreSonus, prolific creators of the Studio One DAW, audio interfaces, controllers, microphones, mixing systems, sample and loop libraries, studio accessories, studio speakers, virtual instruments, virtual effects, and more. Not surprisingly, it took some inspiration from the past – mainly 70s analog guitar pedals as well as studio FX processors. Studio One users will already be familiar with this one (lucky you), but it’s nice that it’s available to the rest of us now. Analog Chorus can take you from subtle to saturation, with its one to three chorus / doubler emulation, analog-style saturation with state-space modeled drive stage, and vintage style UI. It’s compatible with major modern DAWs and is easy to use. Great for those hunting down a no-nonsense chorus effect. As advertised, the plugin does offer a classic 70s vibe chorus that would be perfect for your guitar tracks. Of course, it would be worth trying with other instruments too. Its UI is colorful and bright, and it features as design that’s reminiscent of a guitar amp faceplate. I’m fond of it. Analog Chorus works for Windows and Mac. Learn more: Plugin Boutique BLEASS Chorus by BLEASS With a perfect rating, BLEASS Chorus stereo imaging widening effect promises to be a thing of beauty. Whether you want to add a touch of depth or insane warble to your tracks, here you’ve got yourself a highly tweakable effect for all your chorusing needs. This two-stage chorus effect also gives you control over the stereo image with plenty of customization. It was inspired by classic chorus pedals and rackmount effect units (this seems to be a theme here), and that makes it a great choice for your guitar and synth tracks. It’s easy on CPU resources, and it comes with plenty of presets too. The effect is great. As advertised, there are plenty of great presets, and they’re all tweakable too. Have a listen to some of the sounds in the video below. You’ll see what this VST plugin is all about. The user interface is a little unusual compared to what else is out there. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s not a hard effect to control, and the visualizer is kind of nice. We still feel the user interface could have been better designed, but to each his own, right? After all, design is subjective, and what one person likes, another isn’t necessarily into. It obviously hasn’t factored into anyone else’s rating of the plugin, which is high. You can get BLEASS Chorus for Windows and Mac at Plugin Boutique. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Chorus DIMENSION-D by Arturia Right out the gate, Arturia’s Chorus DIMENSION-D sets itself apart with a unique rackmount style UI. It has a perfect rating by users except with regards to its limited presets, and it has been praised by the likes of producers Cecil Bartlett, Jacob Wilkinson-Smith, and Thiago Baggio. Of course, it was inspired by an analog studio classic chorusing unit – the Roland Dimension D. Artists like Kate Bush and Stevie Ray Vaughan apparently swore by it. This chorus comes with four modes, ultra-simple four-button operation, emulated BBD response, analog compression, filtering, and expansion detail, mono and stereo modes, four LFO oscillator shapes, dynamic color control for saturation and tonal response, stereo width, emulated send mode, dry / wet mix controls, and eight presets. To me, the chorus has a very natural, transparent sound, and it perfectly complements any track you might be thinking about adding some smoothness, warmth, depth, and maybe even warble to. While it might not come with a lot of presets, this plugin is worth checking out. Don’t skip over the video either before making up your mind. You can get this plugin for Windows and Mac. Learn more: Plugin Boutique EFEKTOR CH3604 Chorus by Kuassa With a guitar stompbox style inspired design, the Kuassa EFEKTOR C3604 Chorus is meant to emulate Roland Jazz Chorus amplifiers and the Roland Juno synthesizer. Having owned a Roland JC-120 and Roland AC-33 myself, I’m a big fan of the Roland chorus effect. Of course, I was curious whether this plugin could pull it off. EFEKTOR CH3604 Chorus features three modes – Dimension, Ensemble, and Tribunal. It also comes with an A/B compare button, BPM sync, as well as analog and stereo modes. For guitarists and synth players out there, this chorus is certainly worth a look. Each of the modes has a unique tone, but they’re all warm and pleasant sounding. Also check out the video below for a better sense of what this chorus can do for your instrumental tracks. Do I think it’s just as good as the JC-120 or other Roland products I’ve tried and owned? I think the plugin gets a lot right, and it sounds great, but I don’t think it can quite compare to the sound of the chorus coming straight out of an amp. That’s me though. EFEKTOR CH3604 Chorus is available for Windows and Mac machines. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Chor’X by XILS Lab XILS Lab’s Chor’X combines four vintage chorus effects based on Bucket-Brigade Delay (BBD) emulation. It also comes with a true stereo dynamic spatializer, which makes it easy for you to give your tracks depth, space, dimension, and certainly, sonic interest when you need it. The Legacy / Advanced feature lets you toggle between chorus models. The Advanced mode gives you access to even more tweakable parameters for full customization. The Legacy mode is for taking advantage of the built-in chorus models. The chorus’ four modes include Synthex, CS-80, Dim-D (we’ve seen that one already), and V+ 330. Each of these were modeled meticulously to be made as authentic as possible. The great thing about Chor’X, of course, is that you get to combine these four chorusing effect types for unique sounds you’d be hard pressed to replicate anywhere else. Chor’X lets you position all signals in a stereo image with their True Stereo engine. This makes it possible to place your track in front of the stereo field or place it further back as needed. XILS Lab took it a few steps further than that and added Impulse Threshold to help you retain the low end of your instruments, and Dynamic Modulations to add dynamic changes. Audio Central Magazine said Chor’X could enrich your signal. Nicely put. Although the UI may appear somewhat complex or intimidating, the plugin is quite easy to use. The chorus can really give your tracks a “bump” in the mix, a very strong presence overall. Personally, I’m a little torn about the rackmount-inspired UI design. It looks quite striking upon first inspection, with darker dials and switches set against a brighter beige background. Closer examination reveals what I can only articulate as pixelation and small artifact related imperfections that seem to detract from its overall beauty. I guess you can’t be too picky though. I love the concept of the Chor’X and it does sound great. It’s compatible with Windows and Mac. Learn more: Plugin Boutique EARevolve by eaReckon YouTuber AdmiralBumblebee named EARevovle the best plugin of 2018 (also see video below). And that’s saying something, given that chorusing effects aren’t hard to come by in this day and age. The user interface is nicely designed, but it gives off a rather sophisticated vibe, doesn’t it? So, what’s the deal with this VST anyway? What makes it special? Put simply, EARevolve is the meeting place of stereo chorus and a rotary speaker (mono or stereo). The stereo chorus module gives stereo width to a mono sound, and the rotary speaker module gives your track a sense of movement with the Doppler effect, natural filtering, and level variations. If that wasn’t enough, you also get the room simulation module, where you can control the rotary speaker’s “position” in a room. You can even choose microphone configurations (and each setting is going to give you a different sound). There are some presets, but you can even tweak each mic’s directionality, rear rejection, their angle, and their position. That’s an intense level of customizability! Given that the developer had to cram a lot into a small space, I feel the UI is nicely designed and well-balanced. Once you get used to it, it’s not that hard to use, but it is sophisticated, to give you as many options as possible to tweak your sound. That’s got to make you happy. Overall, I see this as a highly versatile effect. The rotary speaker is awesome on organ and guitar, obviously, but it’s great for a lot of other applications too. If you’re looking specifically for a chorus effect with endless options, then this is not the plugin, but if you’re interested in combining the warmth of chorus with a rotary effect, then this is the one. You can get this plugin for Windows and Mac. It is one of the more expensive plugins on this list, but it may well be one of the most complex as well, and it is one of a kind. That justifies it. Learn more: Plugin Boutique Top Chorus VST Plugins, Final Thoughts Chorus is a go-to studio effect. And that means there are more options available to the consumer than ever, at a variety of price points. No matter the type of chorusing effect you’re looking for, you should be able to find something you’ll be satisfied with. Use the above as reference and get to producing. The only way to know for sure what a chorus effect can do for you is by using it in your own projects! If you need more options, you can always purchase more. Happy recording!