Chorus: Add Width and Keep the Centre Focused

Listen to a held chord, not an isolated click

This original eight-second synthetic pad exposes slow changes across a sustained sound. Classic mode starts at Rate 0.65 Hz, Amount 45%, and Dry/Wet 40%. Feedback and Warmth are zero. The wet high-pass is on at 180 Hz, and Width is 100%. There is audible modulation from the beginning without needing an external instrument performance.

First compare Dry/Wet at zero and 40%. The original pad is the anchor; the moving copies change its texture and image. Now keep the mix at 40% and lower Amount to 20%. If the chord becomes more focused while retaining useful movement, keep the smaller value. If it becomes too static, move back toward 45%. Width alone cannot create the missing movement.

Amount and Rate are not interchangeable

Amount sets modulation depth, while Rate sets how quickly it cycles. In Classic mode the implemented delay excursion scales with Amount squared: moving from 25% to 50% gives four times the depth, not twice. This explains why the upper half of the dial can change character quickly. It is not a simple percentage of extra loudness.

Restore Amount to 45% and compare Rate 0.65 Hz with 2 Hz. Listen for the motion becoming more obvious within each sustained chord. Faster movement can be an intentional wobble, but it can also distract from the harmony. If pitch stability matters, reduce Amount first and then slow Rate. These examples use sine modulation. The panel exposes Shape only in Vibrato mode, so stay with Rate and Amount for this comparison instead of hunting for an unavailable Classic-mode knob.

Make the sides earn their place

Classic uses a left/right modulation phase difference in this example; its Offset setting is not exposed in the Classic panel. Width scales the wet stereo difference after the voices are combined. Compare Width 100% and 60% to find out whether a narrower wet image preserves the chord better. Reducing Width to zero centres the wet image; it is not an effect bypass.

Check the result on speakers as well as headphones if available. A dramatic left/right contrast may be less useful than a focused centre. Feedback adds recirculation and can emphasize a more resonant, hollow texture; leave it at zero while deciding on width. Warmth currently applies a wet-path low-pass approximation, not a documented analogue saturation model. Do not use that label as a promise of a particular circuit.

A bass variation: move the upper layer

The second original synthetic source uses Ensemble mode, Rate 0.8 Hz, Amount 35%, Width 80% and Dry/Wet 25%. Its enabled HPF starts at 350 Hz. This filter removes low energy from the wet path only, so the retained dry signal supplies a steadier low foundation.

Turn HPF off, then back on. Listen for whether the moving low layer distracts from the note. Try 600 Hz if it still feels unfocused, but lower the cutoff if the chorus becomes too faint or disconnected. HPF is not a bass crossover with a separate low-band mix; the single Dry/Wet control still determines the overall balance.

Ensemble uses a fixed multiphase structure, so Offset is inactive there. Vibrato is a different decision again: it uses one moving voice per channel and ignores Feedback and Width. At full wet it emphasizes pitch motion rather than the dry-plus-delayed blend of this exercise. Return to Classic or Ensemble when the goal is supporting width, and stop increasing the effect once the stable note loses its role.