ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how to recognize, by ear, what sounds, instruments, and effects are regularly heard in music videos. Both of these uses of the electric guitar—as chord and melody layer—rely on an effect known as distortion that makes the sound angular, sharp, and fuzzy. Distortion is by far the most common effect added to the electric guitar. The particular cymbal on which the drummer plays often correlates with a song’s form: quiet closed hi-hat cymbals at the beginning of the verse; washy hi-hat sounds as the track gets louder; and ringing crash cymbals in the chorus. Synthesizers (or synths) can either mimic traditional acoustic instrument sounds, or create new ones for which there is no analog in the real world. Finally, the chapter examines the most common effects used to enhance and modify the instruments heard in a recording because modern pop music rarely uses unprocessed “natural” sounds.
