Talk:Distortion (music)

message: http://www.geofex.com/
Jonathan F Dean (not logged in!)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.254.147.180 (talk) 06:25, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: From all evidence, Leo Fender was interested in maximum clean power, not distortion, and the majority of his circuit changes were in this direction.  Given that his test pilots were primarily Country artists in Southern California, notably Bill Carson, he would not have received many requests for a dirtier sounding amp.   None of these artists showed any interest in a distorted sound, the recordings they made would bear this out, too.
Jjourard (talk) 21:59, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Leo Fender and Distortion 

message: "In the world of electric guitar music and guitar amplification, distortion is actively sought, evaluated, and appreciatively discussed in its endless flavours."
Oh wow. Well, its gone now. Prepare to be Mezmerized! :D 21:39, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: POV

message: I don't think that a picture of a stompbox represents the full breadth of this topic, as there are many forms of distortion that all deserve representation in whatever image we choose to depict this topic.  Since we're dealing with a topic that's about audio, we should have some audio clips anyway, and I think that they would make a great main image for this article.  I've been thinking about what these clips should be, and I think it would be best if we recorded a guitar direct through a DI unit and then re-amp it through each of the various distortion-producing methods (pedal, pre-amp, power amp, speaker, as well as combinations), without reverb or other effects so the listener can distinguish the contribution of each to the overall tone.  Does anyone have the capability to do this?  My Twin is too loud and doesn't generate much pre-amp distortion.... Steve CarlsonTalk 02:34, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Main image - audio clips? 

message: Distortion, Overdrive and Fuzz are pretty different things. I'm not an expert, though i think the whole electronics system works different in these three.
Would someone edit it the right way?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.139.1.5 (talk) 17:13, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: No they are not. "overdrive" and "fuzz" are just terms for types of distortion derived from certain kinds of products enshrined in the guitar playing culture and vocabulary. To overdrive a circuit is to produce distortion in it.  Fuzz is just another term for distortion, which made its way into the name of the "Fuzz Face" distortion box that appeared in the 1960's. Guitarists use "overdrive" to mean "mild distortion", whereas fuzz is understood to be heavier distortion (with more higher order harmonics, making it sound buzzy or fuzzy).  In a high gain preamplifier, you get overdrive sounds at low gain, and fuzz at high gain (even from tubes). Simple as that.192.139.122.42 (talk) 20:36, 26 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Types 

message: This article is pretty disappointing considering the mass of people who play guitar with some form of distortion. It looks like a lot of it is written by musicians rather than technicians, which unfortunately means it has a lot of incorrect oversimplifications of things that get passed around on guitar forums. It also makes a lot of assumptions, I corrected one assumption that all poweramps are class AB push-pull amps, but I'm not going to proof-read and re-write the whole article. A lot of it's also written in poor English with one paragraph starting every sentence with "because". I'll probably do some editing soon on it and I encourage anyone else with some technical knowledge, especially of how valve amplifiers and semiconductors (or as the article calls them "computer chips") distort AC voltages, to do the same.--KX36 (talk) 21:09, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  A lot missing or wrong from this article 

message: * Info on Fender amps more relevant to history of Marshall amplifiers than distortion effects. While EARLY Marshalls were modeled on the Fender Blackface and Bassman, contrary to having anything to do with distortion these amps were noted for their clean tone. Marshall distortion came from that company's own unique innovations. See article citation, also: The Gibson Les Paul Handbook--Atlantictire (talk) 04:54, 8 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Nonetheless, it's true. For references for the first part, you'd need the schematics of several early fuzzboxes, plus a few later ones, but they're all out there on the internet for anyone who wants to look. For the second part, you only need do a quick search for boutique fuzzes to find a pile that use germanium transistors.Electricdruid (talk) 19:59, 13 February 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Please have a look at WP:OR. Looking at schematics and other WP:PRIMARY sources is not an ideal approach. It would be better to find a magazine article or book or even a blog that talks about this. ~KvnG 16:06, 16 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Removed from history

message: I've added a Todo template to this page and populated it with things I noticed during my recent edits. Feel free to add more stuff. If anything on the list strikes you as controversial, feel free to discuss it here. --Kvng (talk) 18:18, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Let's first try to reference the information already in the article. Searching for references is a good way to sift the original research from the verifiable info. I'd hate for anyone to write a lead for stuff that needs to be cut!--Atlantictire (talk) 20:27, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

text: Also, when you're using terminology that's new to a general audience, I think it's fine to repeat wikilinks. For example, some folks might just be coming to this page to read the history, and need to look up "gain". So, I'm in favor of terms specific to electronic components and properties having their own links in each section.--Atlantictire (talk) 20:32, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Todo 

message: "Harmonic distortion adds frequencies that are whole number multiples of the input frequencies, while intermodulation distortion produces frequencies that are sums and differences of the signal's frequency components."
The section was getting a bit bogged down in “the physics of clipping”, and I figure if people want this information they can click on the links to harmonic distortion and intermodulation distortion's respective articles.--Atlantictire (talk) 08:29, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: That information is completely relevant and central to the issue of harmonic distortion. It definitely didn't need to be removed. I reckon the basic principles of this kind of distortion are more even important than, say, who used the first fuzzbox.193.178.95.4 (talk) 12:57, 27 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Cut from Theory and circuits

message: i don't know where it would fit in the article, but i think it would make sense to mention power chords even though the article is essentially (and rightly) based on physics. because distortion is non-linear, combinations of notes produce more harmonics than the individual notes separately. so, many chords generate harmonics that spoil their non-distorted character (e.g. sounding muddy or unpleasant). power chords are simplified (generally three-note) chords that work well with large amounts of distortion. the complexity that is normally produced by having six or more notes in a chord is replaced by the complexity added by the distortion harmonics
:Power chords have only two notes. There is already a link and explanation in the article. It could possibly use improvement. --Kvng (talk) 16:47, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Power Chords

message: This section, and the reference (number 40), is wrong. It's such an oft repeated myth that many believe it.
The symmetry/asymmetry of clipping (and of amp topology) decides whether odd or even harmonics are created by distortion, not the hardness of the clip.
Also the tube/transistor difference is also bogus. A transistor topology, and a tube topology, can be made which clips symmetrically or asymmetrically. It's just that typical tube circuits happen to clip more asymmetrically (so even harmonics), by virtue of their topology, not because of the properties of tubes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mongreilf (talk • contribs)  10:27, December 29, 2012
:Your next step, then, is to find another author who corrects what you see as the myth put forward by Denton J. Dailey in Electronics for Guitarists. Binksternet (talk) 14:58, 29 December 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Can't be fucked. But to anyone with more interest in improving this article than me, look to authors who know some mathematics, in particular fourier analysis, for the causes of even and odd harmonics. Denton Dailey, though in print, is a pseudo-academic hobbyist with a part time teaching job in a community college.--Mongreilf (talk) 23:39, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Seconded. Any basic investigation into waveshaping synthesis will reveal the truth of what Mongreilf is saying. You'll find plenty of authors who repeat the usual "tubes sound better than transistors" nonsense, but it only stacks up if you look at why - asymmetrically clipping is the key. Marshall knew this and built it into their amps. And no, I haven't got reference for that either - go and check the schematics.Electricdruid (talk) 23:05, 13 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Soft/Hard Even/Odd clipping 

message: Clipping is a non-linear process that produces frequencies not originally present in the audio signal. These frequencies can either be "harmonic", meaning they are whole number multiples of the signal's original frequencies, or "'inharmonic", meaning dissonant odd-order overtones
440Hz and its (odd-order) third harmonic 1320Hz are far from dissonant. 1320Hz is in fact one octave above the perfect fifth - hardly dissonant!78.102.146.20 (talk) 07:40, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Lots of trouble there. Odd harmonics are not necessarily dissonant. Harmonic distortion can be either even or odd but is never inharmonic. I think what's trying to be conveyed here is the idea that odd harmonics sound subjectively more harsh than even ones. I don't have access to the citations so I can't be sure. -—Kvng 15:03, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dissonant odd-order overtones? 

message: I don't want to pick a fight by changing a sentence out of hand, so:
"Distortion effects are used with electric guitars, electric basses (fuzz bass), electronic keyboards, and in some cases with vocals."
I'm a cellist.  I don't own an electric cello (even though even that wouldn't be included in the above statement), but I have certainly had cause to use discortion effects, using analog and digital implements, in my own work.  A body or bridge mic and a distortion pedal makes everything good to go, and just about any acoustic stringed instrument can use it. Acoustic wind or brass intstruments can route a mic signal through a pedal as well, though it requires some tweaking through a mixer for optimal effect.
So no, distortion effects are not the sole domain of electric guitars and basses, or even only electric instruments.
:OK, but I assume you understand that adding cello to the sentence is probably not the answer here. Maybe something like, "Distortion effects are used with electric guitars, and other instruments, and in some cases with vocals." ~Kvng (talk) 00:25, 28 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unduly limiting statement? 

message: Please provide audio files as Examples for different kinds of distortions. 
Best will be, if wave-form of original-sound , and its distorted form, also shown. 
RIT RAJARSHI (talk) 08:21, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Please provide audio files as Examples 

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