How do I make the second chorus bigger than the first?

Size is contrast

A section sounds big compared with what came just before it. If the first chorus already has every part playing at full width, the second has nowhere to go. Hold something back the first time, or strip the second verse down, so the second chorus arrives as an increase.

What to add

• Layers on the lead: a double, a harmony a third above, or an octave.
• Density in the drums: open hi-hats or a ride in place of closed hats, a tambourine on the off-beats, extra kick notes.
• Register: a pad or strings an octave higher, a bass note an octave lower or held longer.
• Width: double-tracked guitars or synths panned left and right, a wider reverb.
• A new part: a counter-melody or a rhythmic figure heard nowhere else.

One or two of these is enough. The third chorus can then take one more.

What to take away before it

Drop the kick and bass for the last bar of the pre-chorus, filter the top off the instruments, or leave a beat of near silence. Half a bar of less makes the downbeat of the chorus land harder than any added layer.

Level

Raise the chorus by 0.5 to 1.5 dB with automation on the group or the master, after the arrangement is doing its work. More than that and a limiter on the master pulls it back down, which costs punch for nothing.

In Zammoth

The engineer detects the song's sections and measures each one's loudness, tone and stereo width, so the lift between two choruses is a set of numbers and not an impression:

Automation lanes on any track or bus carry the level ride, and the engineer can write it for you. See the manual on automation.