Distortion&Loud v/s Tuned&Atmospheric

[Guest djcl.ear]

This site:

http://emusician.com/ar/emusic_loud_louder...udest/index.htm

 

Easily shows an issue in masterisation that has been pervading Trance music a few years now.

 

It talks about how distorted sounds produce louder "perceived" sounds.

This is what you find in the typical Ibiza´s Trance (and sometimes in other mediterranean Trances).

 

In my view, stay away from distortion, you better fill your spectrum with proportional harmonics(whatever more difficult to attain) rather that adding a distortion effect that mangles the spaces and kills the atmospheres.

This is of course, a general rule and saturation could be momentarily utilized with interesting results.

 

The other path is get bigger and better amplification sound systems and then you obtain, clarity and volume ... and not only better sound, but also the audience ears wont feel tired after a little while(a known byproduct of distortion).

 

On the contrary if you just wanna play your egoistical set of a couple of hours, fire everybody's ears and leave the stage smiling because it sounded louder than everybody else... then you'll probably be doing what that distortion-in-sound school of trance(mentioned above) actually does.

 

A rather not middle or long term vission is it?

[Guest soliptic]

Interesting thread

 

Personally I love distorting some sounds to fuck and back. Some sounds are simply meant to sound hard and crunchy - like nasty bass sounds and grinding leads or whatever. But obviously on pads and atmospheres and smooth arpeggios and so on there is no need.

[Guest cielspacing]

Apparently human ears are more easily attuned in high Midrange (1Khz-5Khz) and the high frequencies(5Khz-). The distortion in those freqs is more easily discernable, noticeable and even if its subconcious, soon provokes a tiring experience.

To my taste, those crammed worlds are what give air, space and brightness, shine/veil to the music. Cimbals, metalophones, and also tuned high freq instruments sound much more pleasing than repetitive distorted high hats.

Check the thread "Different hats" posted 2003-12-06 14:25 at the Hallucinogen forum:

 

http://www.shpongle.com/hallucinogen/frame-main.htm

 

A good example of the use of those is the brilliant track "Skip it" by Silk(Koyote records) or "Shamanix".

 

This is complicated by the fact that the particularity of the timbre of each instrument(the difference of a violin with a flute playing the same note) is partially determined by the differing multiple waves out of "perfect" tune. those extra ways are summed up and give a particular envelope or ahape of a wave. And also take part the differences in fase and volume of the proportional ones.

However most of those unharmonic waves have their own proportional ones on the other notes that the instrument can play.

Effects applied on the sounds introduce extra fase and timing differences on the waves.

 

Therefore distortion is not completely avoidable stuff; inside certain limits, it could adds desirable quality to the sound. However the WAY OF generating that non-proportional waves is critical. You can finger or slap the chords of a guitar, or widly invent ways to do it... and as a result most different timbres will be more or less be tuned, whereas when you apply a slice of pink-noise or other out of range gross effect, the chosen freqs get saturated and leave not much space for anything else there...

 

... instead I could think of harmonizer types of effects, chorus, flangers,etc...(multimbral synths come to mind, with their separate processing) where many small proportional sounwaves could be added/substracted, allowing for cntrolled alteration of different aspects of them.

 

Other angle are Filters modelling different amps, that deal with harmonic distortion that introduces different "quality" to the original sound; using various combinations of the principal 2nd, 3rd, 4th and secondary 5th, soon harmonics. Some sound more metalish, some add character, warmth and others.

 

There're plenty more variables than what is said above. By getting to know, by discerning more closely it could bring sharper images; very much like by working with thinner pincels and being aware of the theories of colour, shadow/light, structure, sinthesys, etc more dimensions could be portrayed on a canvas...

Obviously radical new views, or genial views will change the methods and the results...which will later increase the alternatives available.

 

 

////////////And a little word on the places mentioned in the first post; yes itsn't fair to qualify a place for some examples of music coming from them. There's probably diversity there(even different music coming from the same musicians¡¡¡) and I see that using that to point something or to show an attitude, is very prejudicial from anyone. I didnt intended to do such.

 

Peace