Estimated reading time 4 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you want to know what distortion is? Do you need to know how it’s used in music? The most obvious use of distortion is as an effect for guitar. However, there’s another, and more subtle, use when you’re recording music. Keep reading How to Inject the Power of Distortion into Music to learn what it is and how it works.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission from purchases made through the links. I’ll only recommend products I use, use in lessons, or ones my students or colleagues have recommended.
How to Inject the Power of Distortion into Music: What Is It?
What is distortion?
- It happens when an audio signal exceeds the headroom of a device which then causes clipping which creates a fuzz sound.
- Distortion can range from mild (e.g., as used with pro audio gear) to extreme (e.g., guitar stomp boxes).
What’re the different types of distortion?
- Tube distortion: This type of clipping produces a warm, musical sound that emphasizes the odd number harmonic overtones. Recording gear in the 1960s all had tubes.
- Transistor distortion: This type of clipping sounds harsh because it emphasizes the even number harmonic overtones.
- Digital clipping: When you exceed the headroom on a digital recorder, the signal inverts so that it creates unnatural sounding artifacts and so should be avoided. It should not be confused with the digital guitar distortion effect you get with amp modeling.
How to Inject the Power of Distortion into Music: How Do I Use it with Guitar?
There’s a range of distortions you can get from guitar stomp box pedals.
- For example, blues music has mild clipping, which sounds like the amp is just turned up too loud.
- Conversely, heavy metal has a heavy, crunchy sound that is an integral part of the identity of the genre.
- Most rock guitar styles will be something in between, which is why you have a wide variety of guitar fuzz pedals.
Having said that, there are many styles that use a clean guitar sound.
For more information on how to get a good guitar sound
How to Inject the Power of Distortion into Music: How Do I Use it in Recording?
Each type of technology has its upside.
- The big advantage of tubes is that they produce warm and musical clipping.
- The big advantage of transistors (i.e., solid state semiconductors used to amplify a signal) is that they produce a clean, clear sound.
- The big advantage to digital recording is that it’s very flexible, allowing you to transform the sound in useful ways.
Likewise, each type of technology has its downside.
- The big disadvantage of tubes is that they run hot and are heavy.
- The big disadvantage of transistors is that they produce harsh clipping.
- The big disadvantage of digital recording is that it can sound cold and clinical.
The secret is to mix technologies.
- For example, at a live performance, you can use tube preamps running into a digital mixing board going to solid state power amps.
- The preamps add warmth to the other two technologies by adding just a little distortion while the solid state amps avoid unwanted clipping.
- However, if you get a noticeable fuzz sound, you’re running your preamps too hot.
- Likewise, you can inject distortion into the mix by using tube preamps when recording instruments using a digital audio workstation (DAW).
- Also, tubes are used in a lot of other pro audio gear: compressors, EQ, mixers, mics, vocal processors, and channel strips.
Normally, you’ll avoid noticeable distortion when recording most instruments.
- You’ll do this by using limiters and compressors to control the volume of the audio signal.
- Also, you’ll need to keep your eyes on the level meters and attenuate the signal when necessary.
- Especially when recording onto a digital recording device, it’s a good idea to set a hard limiter to avoid digital clipping.
Mobile users: for best results viewing the video, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
Video: What Is Distortion?
Here Is Some Popular Music Gear.
Guitar distortion “stomp box” pedals
Pro audio equipment
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- Distortion is when an audio signal exceeds the headroom of a device which causes clipping, creating a fuzz sound.
- It can range from mild (e.g., pro audio gear) to extreme (e.g., guitar stomp boxes).
- You can inject it into the mix by using tube preamps when recording instruments using a digital audio workstation.
- The preamps add warmth to transistor and digital technologies by adding just a little distortion while the solid state amps avoid unwanted clipping.
- You do this by using limiters and compressors to control the volume of the signal.
Have fun playing and recording!
Glossary
Flexibility in Supplemented Equal Temperament’s Theory
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