Why does no one ever talk about the artistry of playing with Distortion?

jeztone2

I’ve just been watching a amp demo on YouTube. It was terrible because the guy had a really scratchy technique. It reminded me of when the singer in my old band, a really accomplished acoustic guitarist, tried to play my guitar into my rig with gain and it just shrieked. 

Playing with distortion properly and with power and economy is a skill in itself. But no one ever talks about it. 

Why? 

fastonebaz

I don't know why,  but you're right,  it's a real skill to play loud with high gain and keep things under control and play clearly and with a warm tone. 

steamabacus

Well, Andy Summers did in 1987  (at 30'17")...

You make a good point though.

monquixote

TPS covered it in their episode with Rabea as did Andertons when they did a show with Ola.

Sassafras

I find playing with distortion a lot easier than playing clean.
That's why so many people use shitloads of gain.

guitarfishbay

I think a lot of people aren’t really aware how noisy their muting technique is until someone points it out, or they try to record clean takes. 

Playing cleanly with distortion is hard, because any squeak or unwanted string vibration gets amplified by the distortion. The best players manage to get the notes out cleanly which requires good left and right hand muting technique. The mistakes are not masked by the gain 

roberty

It is quite a different skill. I went from playing indie and acoustic to playing rock music and had to relearn my whole technique pretty much. I underestimated it thinking high gain was like an easy mode. My playing got worse for a while until I was able to integrate my old technique with the new one. For instance I was depping in a ska band around this time and I dropped my pick once or twice on stage

RocknRollDave

Whilst I wouldn’t for one second pretend I am any good at playing with the higher end of the gain spectrum, this is something I notice with at least one guitarist who has made their name via YouTube (let’s not start naming names)…
The fancy runs and trick shots are all worked up to a high standard, but something is awry on a more fundamental level.

EricTheWeary

I’m not going to be able to remember his name but I do remember reading an interview with one of the chaps who depped in Saxon who also lectured at one of the guitar institutes literally just on playing with gain and at high volume. 

I also remember stories about Gary Moore and other people would try his rig and they would just get this explosion of sound because so much of Gary’s style was muting and controlling the instrument. 

So, I think it is talked about, maybe just not very much. 

Theleman

I am just a returning guitar newbie, but I don't like distorted guitar sound or sound going through over the top effects. I think they hide true guitar tones and tend to sound pretentious. So I don't listen to any music with lots of distortion or effects guitar playing.

 I just like guitars raw sound revealing their own voice and character.  I would go as far as liking light blues crunch or over drive with the amp and guitar cranked up occasionally.  But suppose this is down to personal taste on music.

LastMantra

Sassafras said:

I find playing with distortion a lot easier than playing clean.
That's why so many people use shitloads of gain.

I'd say it's two different things. I use distortion (gain/overdrive/fuzz etc) because I prefer how it sounds. It suits the music I like. I don't find it easier or harder, just a bit different. 

fastonebaz

My ascending legato runs do sound a wee bit thin without oodles of gain  

Danny1969

There's kinda 3 levels I think with high gain.  Learning to control the noise at bedroom volume which at that point is just electronic noise caused by excessive gain. This is mainly learning to mute the strings you don't want to hear. 
Then there's learning to control noise at pub gig volume, where there's now a bit of acoustic coupling between the guitar and speaker ... you can now work that a bit and get longer sustain without excessive gain. 

Then there's learning to play when mic'ed up through a giant PA ... with the acoustic coupling you have on big stages with thousands of watts of foldback you learn to use your volume like an on /off switch. If you're not playing then the guitar volume is off, you only roll it up just before you hit the chord / note 

I often have a go on friends guitars and their volume controls generally crackle because they generally just leave them on full as they only play indoors. 
I'm on my third or fourth  volume pot, they generally last about 3 years then they are worn out, not fixable with contact cleaner, the tracks actually worn away and the volume pot has to be replaced. 

Vibetronic

Gain can cover up mistakes and make playing seem easier, but using it and maintaining clarity and articulation takes a lot of practice and muting is absolutely key with both hands. Quite a lot of stuff that sounds cool with distortion is actually easier with a clean sound as a lot of the muting you need to do isn't quite as vital (although you'll need to adjust your playing a bit again to compensate for the lack of gain).

Cirrus

If you think distortion hides your bad playing I've got some terrible news for you 

Blaendulais

Playing well with gain is a massive skill. Muting is extremely difficult compared with playing clean

roberty

Theleman said:

I am just a returning guitar newbie, but I don't like distorted guitar sound or sound going through over the top effects. I think they hide true guitar tones and tend to sound pretentious. So I don't listen to any music with lots of distortion or effects guitar playing.

 I just like guitars raw sound revealing their own voice and character.  I would go as far as liking light blues crunch or over drive with the amp and guitar cranked up occasionally.  But suppose this is down to personal taste on music.

Definitely an preference, I'm bored by guitars that sound like guitars

p90fool

Blaendulais said:

Playing well with gain is a massive skill. 

It's a skill I don't have. Most of my playing is about dynamics and touch with very low levels of crunch, mostly so I can beat hell out of it or baby it and it responds like an acoustic guitar would. 

I can throw in the occasional wailing solo pretty convincingly, but players who can coax dynamic expression out of what is basically a totally compressed signal have my admiration, it's a totally different approach to mine and I'm shit at it. 

Bidley

High gain playing is spoken about, just not really on this forum (for whatever reason).

Kebabkid

Gary Moore always said that most people wouldn't be able to pick up his guitar and control it without it squealing away.

MentalSharps

Danny1969 said:

There's kinda 3 levels I think with high gain.  Learning to control the noise at bedroom volume which at that point is just electronic noise caused by excessive gain. 

Then there's learning to play when mic'ed up through a giant PA ... with the acoustic coupling you have on big stages with thousands of watts of foldback you learn to use your volume like an on /off switch. If you're not playing then the guitar volume is off, you only roll it up just before you hit the chord / note 

How close to that could you get playing at home if you were right in front of a speaker? Would the focused sound not work the same as if it was being reflected loudly from all angles?