ABSTRACT
The tool that can help in both these scenarios is distortion, an effect widely used in professional mixing circles but pretty much ignored in a lot of small studios. Although people take great pains to minimize distortion a lot of the time in record production, that’s no reason to neglect its creative possibilities at the mix. The bottom line with distortion devices is that they add new harmonics to the processed signal, and because the frequencies of these are usually related in some way to the frequencies of the unprocessed signal, they retain a musical connection. In short, distortion allows you to change the timbre of a track without substantially altering its musical function in the arrangement. As such, its use is almost as widespread as EQ, and Rich Costey is not the only one who regularly distorts even lead vocal tracks: “[It’s] so commonplace nowadays that to me it’s the same as distorting a guitar or a bass. And much of the time when I’m mixing records for other people I’m distorting the vocal, whether they know it or not!”1 Probably the most commonly namechecked device for mix distortion is Tech 21’s SansAmp range, which can find its way onto just about anything in modern mix work, especially if your name’s Tchad Blake: “I actually have one for bass, one for kick, and one for snare…. It’s funny-a little distortion goes a long way.”2 The big challenge when using distortion in a mix setting, though, is restraining it so that it adds harmonics only at those frequencies you want it to. Here are some tips for keeping it under control.
