The View from 2005: This is another article whose verities have held true even while the technology has changed. Suffice it to say we’ve got a lot more toys now for you to use! Enjoy!!!

Our Story Up To Now

In our last Excellent Misadventure, we discussed some of the time and stereo clichés that fill our airwaves and jewel-boxes with auditory mayhem. In this issue we'd like to go ahead and fill out the picture with brief forays into the lands of frequency response, pitch and loudness. Hoo Boy! Time To Buckle Up And Get Down!

Frequency Response Clichés

Patent Pending

Distortion is no doubt one of the greatest rock and roll inventions ever. The addition of high frequencies according to that magic recipe known as overload distortion has rocketed many a guitarist to stardom. Said guitarist stands bravely in front of his/her amp and plays hair-parting riffs; said riffs are definitely not Scared'n Roll Clichés. They harness the profound energy of distortion, bring it under control and share it with us. Distortion is powerful stuff. You must keep an eye on it. Sometimes it gets unruly. You may have heard of or even witnessed distortion attempting to rebel and being reprimanded through the careful impalement of the guitar through the amplifier. We all must possess such valor if we want to live on the wild side – if we want to live with distortion.

When distortion behaves, the results include:

1. Big time record sales – rock and roll will never die!
2. The desire to make anonymous contributions to the collective scream of the crowd
3. The irresistible urge to crank it
4. Complaints from the neighbors
5. Random, seemingly purposeless jumping around
6. The solitary, motionless fist in the air
7. Chills down the spine
8. Air jamming
9. Arm waving
10. Bobbing heads (quarter notes)

Simply put, distortion conveys energy – pure, adrenaline-packed, you’re-driving-too-fast, mom-wishes-you-wouldn’t energy.

There is nothing quite like the sound of turning a tube amp up to the point of distortion. Affectionately called ‘breaking-up,’ it is perhaps the most used effect ever. Yet somehow, it remains acceptable and runs no risk of extinction due to overuse. It is among the most durable of clichés. Pushing amps into the realm of non-linearity is so appealing that it has inspired an industry of effects boxes and pedals, some of which emulate this tube distortion sound quite literally, and some of which have created and defined new styles of distortion (Jimi’s Fuzz Face, Stevie’s Tube Screamer, and Billy Gibbons’ Rat) with sought-after sounds of their own.

The distortion cliché continues to mature. It’s not just for guitar anymore. U2 recently furthered a now popular trend of distorting vocals through their heavy and creative use of an Eventide H-3000 on Achtung Baby. May I suggest that any track may be worthy of distortion. Use a SansAmp on your drums. Send your string patches through a guitar amp and/or a distortion pedal (watch your levels though – a line-level signal through a mic-level device may give you more distortion than you really want) and see, no, feel what happens. Go for it. You may find just the right spice for your mix. Your fresh approaches in the noble pursuit of distortion might separate you from the crowd and lead you down the primrose path to Grammyland.