Xref: utzoo rec.music.misc:71046 comp.music:3419 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!vicorp!ron From: ron@vicorp.com (Ron Peterson) Newsgroups: rec.music.misc,comp.music Subject: Re: Guitar Sounds (Guitarists read this...) Message-ID: <1991Jun5.222900.4448@vicorp.com> Date: 5 Jun 91 22:29:00 GMT References: Reply-To: ron@vicorp.com (Ron Peterson) Organization: V. I. Corporation, Amherst, Massachusetts Lines: 36 In article esuvn@warwick.ac.uk (The Mugwump) writes: >I have been doing synth/guitar home recording for some time now, and have had >some big troubles getting the electric guitar sounding groovy. >There is a very standard 'smooth' distortion sound around, which as well as >obviously being very distorted, also has quite a 'pure' and 'clean' sound. No >matter how hard I try, I have not been able to get this sound. I have tried >DI'ing a distortion pedal, two distortion pedals, both the previous thru a >combo (miked up), and have still to try compression->distortion->DI or >miked combo. Haven't got a compressor lying about ATM. Has anyone got any >suggestions on these things? The best ways I have found to get a 'clean' distortion sound are: 1) Use a hexaphonic pickup and apply distortion to each pickup individually. This gives a seperate sound for each string making them easier to distinguish. If you're good with electronics you can make one for a reasonable price. If not, then buying six fuzz boxes can get expensive. Pitch tracking guitar synths sometimes have this feature. 2) Boost the treble out of the guitar before sending it to the fuzz. I find that a 'trebley' sound makes it easier to distinguish notes and cords. 3) Lower the amount of distortion or mix in more of the straight guitar. There are also probably distinctive fuzz sounds that can only be created by combining the right equipment. Like, "crank your Marshall to 9.7, then feed it into a Shure mike held 1.3 feet away and mix the resulting sound with about 20% of the direct guitar." I'd be interested in what people have to say about how to create particular guitar effects in general-with devices, synths and computer processing (any realtime DSP guitar effects devices that do new and interesting things out there yet?) ron@vicorp.com or uunet!vicorp!ron