What does distortion hide?

[Horkor]

Distortion is a funny thing.
Some people say it helps hide sloppy playing, others say it doesn't. Some people say you should practice playing clean to hear the mistakes that you wouldn't hear with distortion, others say you should practice with distortion to hear the mistakes you wouldn't hear while playing clean.

So, what does distortion REALLY hide, and what does it reveal? The following is my personal opinion, your mileage may vary.

Distortion Hides:

1. Fret buzz, low action "fake sitar noise". A guitar with buzzing action that sounds horrible clean is OK when played with distortion.

2. Sloppy editing. Clicks and pops from amplitude changes when pasting together riffs poorly are obvious when listening to the raw DI, but distortion can mask it. My guess is that it drowns out the high frequencies where the clicks are, especially on the palm mutes.

Distortion Doesn't Hide:

1.Timing issues.
A sloppy riff still sounds wrong when played with distortion.
It may be that distortion can help mask sloppy pick attack on individual notes, but it's not going to quantize your playing for you.

2.Tuning issues.
If the fundamental's off, adding more harmonics is not gonna fix it.

Distortion Reveals:

1. Fret squeaks.
2. String ringouts.
3. Unwanted guitar resonance.

I guess these three are more the result of high gain, but gain and distortion go hand in hand.

Any opinions?

 

[SentencedToBurn]

distortion is just an aesthetic choice for the music its being played with. you have to learn to play with it just as you would have to learn to play without it. its a whole other beast then "the clean channel".

 

[AStacy2]

I actually think distortion does help hide timing issues. I used to make bands come in and play pretty low gained so I could hear any mistakes and re-do bad takes. After I'd reamp it, I'd always be like "Hmm, that wasn't as sloppy as I thought it was." Now, I just dial in the final tone (or at least try) at the tracking stage but that's another story.

 

[Joematthews]

Too much distortion hides shitty playing, shitty timing and makes you suck ass at pinching when its time to stop using too much gain. I can always see someone who plays through too much gain at the studio as they feel lost without something to hide behind.

Joe

 

[Horkor]

distortion is just an aesthetic choice for the music its being played with. you have to learn to play with it just as you would have to learn to play without it. its a whole other beast then "the clean channel".

It is true that the use of distortion is an aesthetic choice, but so is choosing to play metal in the first place, or choosing to use guitars instead of, say, bagpipes.

 

[SentencedToBurn]

It is true that the use of distortion is an aesthetic choice, but so is choosing to play metal in the first place, or choosing to use guitars instead of, say, bagpipes.

yes but im saying it doesnt really matter if it covers up mistakes or not. It needs to be there (the distortion) for the sake of the music. You can have somebody play a metal song and make no mistakes and have somebody else play and have minimal mistakes and barely anyone would be able to tell.

BTW, im trying to think of a comparisson to metal music and distortion but i cant. lol. Is there any other instrument that has an "effect" that masks mistakes to the degree that distortion does?

 

[GarethSE]

yes but im saying it doesnt really matter if it covers up mistakes or not. It needs to be there (the distortion) for the sake of the music. You can have somebody play a metal song and make no mistakes and have somebody else play and have minimal mistakes and barely anyone would be able to tell.

BTW, im trying to think of a comparisson to metal music and distortion but i cant. lol. Is there any other instrument that has an "effect" that masks mistakes to the degree that distortion does?

Post-Rock type epic delays can mask really really bad tremolo picking.
Wouldn't really be the same without the shit tremolo picking though haha.

 

[mick thompson]

yea distortion will easily hide bad playing. people often tend to cover up sloppy work with loads of gain, dirt and distortion. its a lot harder to play clean then it is to play distorted.

gain will increase your dynamics but also will end up making you loose dynamics so use it wisely and dont over distort or you will already compress a compressed tone.

 

[GarethSE]

gain will increase your dynamics

nononononononononono D:

 

[Fox Mulder]

That's gotta be a typo. Distortion compresses.

 

[Horkor]

yes but im saying it doesnt really matter if it covers up mistakes or not. It needs to be there (the distortion) for the sake of the music.

Point taken. I just wanted an excuse to post that picture.

 

[Moonlight_Seeker]

Imho sloppy players have no where to hide except inside sloppy ears.

 

[John_C]

That's gotta be a typo. Distortion compresses.

i think he meant it makes you increase the dynamics in your playing. You need to play reaaalllyy quietly to make high gain clean up