Chorus/flanger/phaser: Chorus and phaser units are essentially the same thing. Just like with reverb vs delay, the difference is an amount of time. A chorus pedal works by taking the incoming signal, copying it, and delaying the second signal before mixing them back together at the output. The second signal is 'out of phase' with the first signal. This is what gives chorus/phasers their wooshy sounds. By adjusting the amount of time difference between the two you can change the sound of the effect. Very useful effects, but watch out with bass. Because chorus/phasers are stereo effects they can really mess with the sonic content of your bass and it may not work well with the other track elements. The solution is to convert any chorus bass into a mono signal after applying the effect. For a more detailed article on what exactly chorus units are doing, click here.

Vocoders: Man. I love a good ol' vocoder. Do you want to sound like a robot? A demonic vacuum salesman from Ipswich? A vocoder is basically a synthesizer that you can put external sounds through. You strap a vocoder on the channel you are recording to, and that's it! Bbox or sing through one of those badboys and tweak the settings. You'll melt your own brain!

Orange Vocoder - Click for larger image

There are many and varied types of effects on the market. And a gazillion free ones available for download. Just jump on Google and type in "free VST plugins" or something similar, and you'll find loads of them. Alternatively, go out and buy a copy of Computer Music magazine. It comes with a dvd every month that is packed with free effects plugins and only costs about £6.

To infinity.....

So, you have a few hints and tricks to work with now. With just the above effects, you can utterly transform your sounds. The great thing about fx is that they work in real-time. That means they can process the audio as you do it. There's no need to wait until you've done the recording to slap a chorus on it. Set up fx until you have a sound you like, then beatbox through it as you record. The recording will be clean, but you'll hear the effected sound!

If you want to dirty up your sound, drop it through distortion and fuzz effects. For dancy type synths and wooshes, play around with filters. The list of plugins available is huge! Now go my children..... chbfgdildrejhgyn.....chiloksndufdredfignnen...

Coming articles:

• Part 3: Quantizing
• Part 4: Arrangement

Related articles:

• Layering with the Archangel: Part 1 - Getting started