Is modulation dead?

I've been hearing recently that no one likes chorus, phaser, and especially flange, so do you think it's pretty much gone, until of course some pillock like Justin Bieber will bring it back in.

Why do people hate it so much anyway?

There are a lot of stereotypical sounds from these effects that folks rebel against periodically. EVH'smxr phase and flange sounds? The police synchonicity chorus sound? The cure's flange? Kurt's nevermind chorus? Smashing pumpkins clean tone phasing? Soundgarden's flanding and chorusing? Great sounds but very unoriginal in a lot of contexts? I got talked out of using much smallstone and mutron flange on my only big rock guitar record because my settings were too cheesey and dated. I thought they were more classic and had been tastefully sneaking them into the live set for years, but our engineers and some band members cut me down to modulation in 1 section of 1 tune. I miss it in places when i listen to that record, but the album isn't cheesey sounding at all.

I personally love modulation when a riff calls for it especially chorus. Chorus has to be one of my favourite effects. Wolf Alice who are a band from London use chorus on some songs, I've seen it on their pedal boards live and on the distorted Grunge esque riff on lead guitar on the song You're A Germ there's some modulation which I think is a bit of chorus too. From what I've seen on the singer/rythm guitarists equipboard on here they use a bit of modulation but I haven't listened to a massive amount of stuff by them

since reading this I decided I am going to record an album with a couple f my muso buddies of pop songs with tons of flanged guitar just to stick it to the haters.... I'll arpeggiate everything just to annoy people

Definitely. Make a SoundCloud for it as well, what songs are you thinking of?

Do it!

Definitely. Make a SoundCloud for it as well, what songs are you thinking of?

I'm just going to use some unused tunes from my own writing and maybe knock off a few extras today... kinda kicked out halfa guitarline in A minor already and another one with a real cool Bb6add9 to Am7 change but that's just chords and melody, no slickness yet.... maybe if I lay it on piano....

maybe I'll cover a gene Vincent tune or something similarly obscure and unflangey

warts and all demo of the song I wrote while I was yacking at you 2.... it'll be a tele and flanged when done.... might need a middle 8... and of course lyrics

Sounds brilliant to me! Nothing beats the twang of a tele so look forward to hearing that and with the flange of course :D

Sounds brilliant to me! Nothing beats the twang of a tele so look forward to hearing that and with the flange of course :D

the tele in question is really twangy too.... '59/60 copy, really spanky in the middle position when I play with my fingers

thanks for listening.... I never know when to keep going with stuff on the off occasion I have a song idea because I barely play anymore and really bite the big one technique wise now as a writer and performer

now for lyrics, so much to write about, so hard to execute

Lyrics is my downfall! I find it very hard to come up with them despite having plenty to write about. I just end up in a rant :P

I used to be somewhat better at it, but I stopped writing them all the time and now I am always confronted with a profound writer's block when it gets to that stage