Chorus pedals are designed to mimic the wavering, space-evoking sound of a choir. The difference is that a chorus pedal uses a longer delay between the two signals, which creates a more subtle effect than a flanger or phase shifter. Listen to Eddie Van HalenвЂ™s opening riff on вЂњUnchainedвЂќ for a great example of the flangerвЂ™s jet plane-like effect.ДЄ chorus pedal is very similar to a flanger and a phaser in that it creates two clones of the signal.

And hence, the flanger was born.ДЇlangers create a much more complex harmonic reaction in the signal than a phaser, resulting in a more saturated and dramatic sound.

The engineer then pressed his thumb against the вЂњflangeвЂќ of one to momentarily slow it down and take it out of synch. The effect was first discovered in the studio, where two identical reel-to-reel tape machines with the same track on each were synched to start at the same time. The delay time also changes at a constant rate, which can be manipulated with a knob. Like a phaser, the signal is split into two copies, then one of them is delayed in time very slightly, usually no more than 20 milliseconds. Check out Billy JoelвЂ™s piano sound on вЂњJust the Way You AreвЂќ for a great example of tasty phaser use.ДЄ flanger sounds similar to a phase shifter, but can have a much more dramatic effect on your tone. There are scores of recordings with these effects, especially in classic rock. Phase shifters are capable of creating subtle, submissive waves that donвЂ™t over-saturate your tone. These notches are then swept through the entire frequency band, creating a rippling, Doppler-like effect in your sound. As a result, notches (or particular frequency bands that are canceled out) are created, just like when you mismatch speaker wires in a home stereo unit. Phasers split the signal of your instrument into two exact copies, shift the phase of one copy, and then recombine the two as a single signal. To learn the differences between them, it helps to have a basic knowledge of how they work, examples of their use in popular music, and of course, your very own stomp boxes to experiment with.

These three pedals are also commonly confused because they sound very similar. Three very popular effects used to paint shimmering aural landscapes are phase shifters, chorus pedals, and flangers. Stomp boxes have been giving electric instrumentalists a sonic edge for many years.

Phaser vs flanger vs chorus