Misplaced Pages

Makai

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain , producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly used with the electric guitar , but may also be used with other electric instruments such as electric bass , electric piano , synthesizer and Hammond organ . Guitarists playing electric blues originally obtained an overdriven sound by turning up their vacuum tube -powered guitar amplifiers to high volumes, which caused the signal to distort . While overdriven tube amps are still used to obtain overdrive, especially in genres like blues and rockabilly , a number of other ways to produce distortion have been developed since the 1960s, such as distortion effect pedals . The growling tone of a distorted electric guitar is a key part of many genres, including blues and many rock music genres, notably hard rock , punk rock , hardcore punk , acid rock , grunge and heavy metal music , while the use of distorted bass has been essential in a genre of hip hop music and alternative hip hop known as " SoundCloud rap ".

#411588

119-427: Makai (born 27 August 1979, stylized as MAKAI ) is a Japanese house DJ. He is well known for his collaborations with Japanese vocalists, such as "Garden of Love" with Thelma Aoyama , which topped the iTunes Japan internal charts. This article about a Japanese musician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . House music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by

238-508: A Real Hip House compilation on his label, House Records, in 1990. The early 1990s saw new Chicago house artists emerge, such as Armando Gallop , who had released seminal acid house records since 1987, but became even more influential by co-founding the new Warehouse nightclub in Chicago (on 738 W. Randolph Street ) in which he also was resident DJ from 1992 until 1994, and founding Warehouse Records in 1988. Another important figure during

357-399: A Roland TR-808 , TR-909 , or a TR-707 . Claps, shakers, snare drum, or hi-hat sounds are used to add syncopation . One of the signature rhythm riffs, especially in early Chicago house, is built on the clave pattern. Congas and bongos may be added for an African sound, or metallic percussion for a Latin feel. Sometimes, the drum sounds are "saturated" by boosting the gain to create

476-644: A trance -like effect on dancers. Frankie Knuckles once said that the Warehouse club in Chicago was like "church for people who have fallen from grace". House record producer Marshall Jefferson compared it to "old-time religion in the way that people just get happy and screamin ' ". The role of a house DJ has been compared to a "secular type of priest". Some house lyrics contained messages calling for equality, unity, and freedom of expression beyond racial or sexual differences (e.g. " Can You Feel It " by Fingers Inc. , 1987, or "Follow Me" by Aly-Us , 1992). Later on in

595-496: A "dirty" or "gritty" tone. When asymmetrical, it produces both even and odd harmonics. Electronically, this is usually achieved by either amplifying the signal to a point where it is clipped by the DC voltage limitation of the power supply rail, or by clipping the signal with diodes. Many solid-state distortion devices attempt to emulate the sound of overdriven vacuum valves using additional solid-state circuitry. Some amplifiers (notably

714-531: A DI jack on the guitar amp, or from the Line Out jack of a power attenuator. The output transformer sits between the power valves and the speaker, serving to match impedance . When a transformer's ferromagnetic core becomes electromagnetically saturated a loss of inductance takes place, since the back E.M.F. is reliant on a change in flux in the core. As the core reaches saturation, the flux levels off and cannot increase any further. With no change in flux there

833-438: A clear, undistorted bass sound, professional bass players in these genres use high-powered amplifiers with a lot of " headroom " and they may also use audio compressors to prevent sudden volume peaks from causing distortion. In many cases, musicians playing stage pianos or synthesizers use keyboard amplifiers that are designed to reproduce the audio signal with as little distortion as possible. The exceptions with keyboards are

952-401: A clipping "overdriven" condition; as such, the musician will get the distortion from the fuzz which is then distorted further by the amp. During the 1990s, some Seattle grunge guitarists chained together as many as four fuzz pedals to create a thick " wall of sound " of distortion. In some modern valve effects, the "dirty" or "gritty" tone is actually achieved not by high voltage, but by running

1071-536: A completely clean amplifier to generate the whole overdrive/distortion effect. With care—and with appropriately chosen pedals—it is possible to "stack" multiple overdrive/distortion pedals together, allowing one pedal to act as a 'boost' for another. Fuzz boxes and other heavy distortions can produce unwanted dissonances when playing chords. To get around this, guitar players (and keyboard players) using these effects may restrict their playing to single notes and simple " power chords " (root, fifth, and octave). Indeed, with

1190-478: A different way. Power amplifier distortion may damage speakers. A Direct Inject signal can capture the power-tube distortion sound without the direct coloration of a guitar speaker and microphone. This DI signal can be blended with a miked guitar speaker, with the DI providing a more present, immediate, bright sound, and the miked guitar speaker providing a colored, remote, darker sound. The DI signal can be obtained from

1309-496: A distorted or "dirty" tone. Later, around 1945, Western swing guitarist and member of the Bob Wills band, Junior Barnard , began experimenting with a rudimentary humbucker pick-up and a small amplifier to obtain his signature "low-down and dirty" bluesy sound which allowed for more "fluid and funky" chords. Many electric blues guitarists, including Chicago bluesmen such as Elmore James and Buddy Guy , experimented to get

SECTION 10

#1732787601412

1428-512: A drum machine and a reel-to-reel tape player so he could create new tracks, often with a boosted deep register and faster tempos. Knuckles said: " Kraftwerk were main components in the creation of house music in Chicago. Back in the early 80s, I mixed our 80s Philly sound with the electro beats of Kraftwerk and the Electronic body music bands of Europe." Ron Hardy produced unconventional DIY mixtapes which he later played straight-on in

1547-401: A fuzzy and somewhat distorted sound gained widespread popularity after guitarist Dave Davies of The Kinks used a razor blade to slash his speaker cones for the band's single " You Really Got Me ". In May 1965 Keith Richards used a Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone to record " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction ". The song's success greatly boosted sales of the device, and all available stock sold out by

1666-522: A group produced by Kevin Saunderson, in 1988. Another major and even earlier influence on the Detroit artists was electronic music in the tradition of Germany's Kraftwerk. Atkins had released electro music in that style with his group Cybotron as early as 1981. Cybotron's best known songs are "Cosmic Cars" (1982) and "Clear" (1983); a 1984 release was titled "Techno City". In 1988, Atkins produced

1785-400: A guitar solo with warm overtones created by his small valve amplifier . Pat Hare produced heavily distorted power chords on his electric guitar for records such as James Cotton 's " Cotton Crop Blues " (1954) as well as his "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" (1954), creating "a grittier, nastier, more ferocious electric guitar sound," accomplished by turning the volume knob on his amplifier "all

1904-453: A guitar sound that paralleled the rawness of blues singers such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf , replacing often their originals with the powerful Valco "Chicagoan" pick-ups, originally created for lap-steel, to obtain a louder and fatter tone. In early rock music , Goree Carter 's "Rock Awhile" (1949) featured an over-driven electric guitar style similar to that of Chuck Berry several years later, as well as Joe Hill Louis ' " Boogie in

2023-647: A house music style. Key labels in the rise of house music in the UK included: In March 1987, the UK tour of influential US DJs such as Knuckles, Jefferson, Fingers Inc. (Heard), and Adonis on the DJ International Tour boosted house's popularity in the UK. Following the success of MARRS ' " Pump Up The Volume " in October, from 1987 to 1989, UK acts such as The Beatmasters , Krush , Coldcut , Yazz , Bomb The Bass , S-Express , and Italy's Black Box opened

2142-428: A house track to be played in clubs may make a "seven or eight-minute 12-inch mix "; if the track is intended to be played on the radio, a "three-and-a-half-minute" radio edit is used. House tracks build up slowly, by adding layers of sound and texture, and by increasing the volume. House tracks may have vocals like a pop song, but some are "completely minimal instrumental music ". If a house track does have vocals,

2261-399: A midsection, and a brief outro . Some tracks do not have a verse, taking a vocal part from the chorus and repeating the same cycle. House music tracks are often based on eight-bar sections which are repeated. They are often built around bass-heavy loops or basslines produced by a synthesizer and/or around samples of disco , soul , jazz-funk , or funk songs. DJs and producers creating

2380-504: A misaligned valve (tube); see below), which has been emulated since the 1960s by a number of "fuzzbox" effects pedals. Distortion, overdrive, and fuzz can be produced by effects pedals , rackmounts , pre-amplifiers , power amplifiers (a potentially speaker-blowing approach), speakers and (since the 2000s) by digital amplifier modeling devices and audio software . These effects are used with electric guitars , electric basses ( fuzz bass ), electronic keyboards , and more rarely as

2499-422: A mix. In the post-disco club culture during the early 1980s, DJs from the gay scene made their tracks "less pop-oriented", with a more mechanical, repetitive beat and deeper basslines, and many tracks were made without vocals, or with wordless melodies. Disco became so popular by the late 1970s that record companies pushed even non-disco artists (R&B and soft rock acts, for example) to record disco songs. When

SECTION 20

#1732787601412

2618-635: A more aggressive edge. One classic subgenre, acid house , is defined through the squelchy sounds created by the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer. House music could be produced on "cheap and consumer-friendly electronic equipment" and used sound gear, which made it easier for independent labels and DJs to create tracks. The electronic drum machines and other gear used by house DJs and producers were formerly considered "too cheap-sounding" by "proper" musicians. House music producers typically use sampled instruments, rather than bringing session musicians into

2737-461: A musical effect, there are some musical styles and musical applications where as little distortion as possible is sought. When DJs are playing recorded music in a nightclub , they typically seek to reproduce the recordings with little or no distortion. In many musical styles, including pop music , country music and even genres where the electric guitars are almost always distorted, such as heavy metal, punk and hard rock, sound engineers usually take

2856-411: A number of steps to ensure that the vocals sounding through the sound reinforcement system are undistorted (the exception is the rare cases where distortion is purposely added to vocals in a song as a special effect, mainly in industrial music genres). Sound engineers prevent unwanted, unintended distortion and clipping using a number of methods. They may reduce the gain on microphone preamplifiers on

2975-568: A power-valve distortion pedal. Such effects units can use a preamp valve such as the 12AX7 in a power-valve circuit configuration (as in the Stephenson's Stage Hog), or use a conventional power valve, such as the EL84 (as in the H&;K Crunch Master compact tabletop unit). However, because these are usually placed before the pre-amplifier in the signal chain, they contribute to the overall tone in

3094-422: A recording studio. Even though a key element of house production is layering sounds, such as drum machine beats, samples, synth basslines, and so on, the overall "texture...is relatively sparse". Unlike pop songs, which emphasize higher-pitched sounds like melody , in house music, the lower-pitched bass register is most important. House tracks typically involve an intro , a chorus , various verse sections,

3213-772: A repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago 's Black gay underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat. House was created and pioneered by DJs and producers in Chicago such as Frankie Knuckles , Ron Hardy , Jesse Saunders , Chip E. , Joe Smooth , Steve "Silk" Hurley , Farley "Jackmaster" Funk , Marshall Jefferson , Phuture , and others. House music initially expanded internationally, to London , then to other American cities, such as New York City , and ultimately became

3332-542: A small recording or rehearsal space, many solutions have emerged that in some way divert some of this power valve output from the speakers, and allow the player to generate power valve distortion without excessive volume. These include built-in or separate power attenuators and power-supply-based power attenuation, such as a VVR, or Variable Voltage Regulator to drop the voltage on the valves' plates, to increase distortion whilst lowering volume. Guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen have been known to use variacs before VVR technology

3451-540: A special effect with vocals. While distortion is often created intentionally as a musical effect, musicians and sound engineers sometimes take steps to avoid distortion , particularly when using PA systems to amplify vocals or when playing back prerecorded music. The first guitar amplifiers were relatively low-fidelity , and would often produce distortion when their volume ( gain ) was increased beyond their design limit or if they sustained minor damage. From 1935, Western swing guitarist Bob Dunn began experimenting with

3570-418: A strong influence on the distortion created by that stage. The output level of the guitar's pickups, the setting of the guitar's volume knob, how hard the strings are plucked, and the use of volume-boosting effects pedals can drive this stage harder and create more distortion. During the 1980s and 1990s, most valve amps featured a "master volume" control, an adjustable attenuator between the preamp section and

3689-421: A tempo of between 120 and 130 beats per minute (bpm) ; synthesizer riffs ; deep basslines ; and often, but not necessarily, sung, spoken or sampled vocals. In house, the bass drum is usually played on beats one, two, three, and four, and the snare drum, claps, or other higher-pitched percussion on beats two and four. The drumbeats in house music are almost always provided by an electronic drum machine , often

Makai - Misplaced Pages Continue

3808-418: A tone input progressively begins to resemble a square wave which has odd number harmonics. This is generally described as sounding "harsh". Distortion and overdrive circuits each 'clip' the signal before it reaches the main amplifier (clean boost circuits do not necessarily create 'clipping') as well as boost signals to levels that cause distortion to occur at the main amplifier's front end stage (by exceeding

3927-409: A weak instrument signal to a level that can drive the power amplifier. It often also contains circuitry to shape the tone of the instrument, including equalization and gain controls. Often multiple cascading gain/clipping stages are employed to generate distortion. Because the first component in a valve amplifier is a valve gain stage, the output level of the preceding elements of the signal chain has

4046-486: A worldwide phenomenon. House has a large influence on pop music , especially dance music . It was incorporated into works by major international artists including Whitney Houston , Mariah Carey , Janet Jackson , Madonna , Pet Shop Boys , Kylie Minogue and Lady Gaga , and produced many mainstream hits such as " Pump Up the Jam " by Technotronic , " French Kiss " by Lil Louis , " Show Me Love " by Robin S. , and " Push

4165-432: Is a non-linear process that produces frequencies not originally present in the audio signal . These frequencies can be harmonic overtones, meaning they are whole number multiples of one of the signal's original frequencies, or "inharmonic", resulting from general intermodulation distortion . The same nonlinear device will produce both types of distortion, depending on the input signal. Intermodulation occurs whenever

4284-401: Is a distortion process known as "volume adjustment", which involves distorting the amplitude of a sound wave in a proportional (or 'linear') way in order to increase or decrease the volume of the sound without affecting the tone quality. In the context of music, the most common source of (nonlinear) distortion is clipping in amplifier circuits and is most commonly known as overdrive. Clipping

4403-539: Is associated with a complete freedom of expression. One of the primary elements in house dancing is "the jack" or "jacking" — a style created in the early days of Chicago house that left its trace in numerous record titles such as "Time to Jack" by Chip E. from the Jack Trax EP (1985), "Jack'n the House" (1985) by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk (1985) or " Jack Your Body " by Steve "Silk" Hurley (1986). It involves moving

4522-421: Is considered a classic in both the house and techno genre and shows the connection and the "boundary between house and techno." It made way to what was later known as "techno" in the internationally known sense of the word, referring to a harder, faster, colder, more machine-driven and minimal sound than house, as played by Detroit's Underground Resistance and Jeff Mills . With house music already important in

4641-629: Is credited with having been the first to use the TB-303 in the house music context. The group's 12-minute "Acid Tracks" was recorded to tape and played by DJ Ron Hardy at the Music Box, supposedly already by 1985. Hardy once played it four times over the course of an evening until the crowd responded favorably. Club play of house tracks by pioneering Chicago DJs such as Ron Hardy and Lil Louis , local dance music record shops such as Importes Etc., State Street Records, Loop Records, Gramaphone Records and

4760-706: Is impractical; instead, most pedals use solid-state transistors, op-amps and diodes. Classic examples of overdrive/distortion pedals include the Boss OD series (overdrives), the Ibanez Tube Screamer (an overdrive), the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (a fuzz box) and the Pro Co RAT (a distortion). Typically, "overdrive" pedals are designed to produce sounds associated with classic rock or blues, with "distortion" pedals producing

4879-445: Is known as "sag", and is sought-after by some electric guitarists. Sag only occurs in class-AB amplifiers . This is because, technically, sag results from more current being drawn from the power supply, causing a greater voltage drop over the rectifier valve. Class AB amplifiers draw the most power at both the maximum and minimum point of the signal, putting more stress on the power supply than class A, which only draws maximum power at

Makai - Misplaced Pages Continue

4998-418: Is no back E.M.F. and hence no reflected impedance. The transformer and valve combination then generate large 3rd order harmonics. So long as the core does not go into saturation, the valves will clip naturally as they drop the available voltage across them. In single ended systems the output harmonics will be largely even ordered due to the valve's relatively non linear characteristics at large signal swings. This

5117-487: Is only true however if the magnetic core does NOT saturate. Early valve amplifiers used unregulated power supplies. This was due to the high cost associated with high-quality high-voltage power supplies. The typical anode (plate) supply was simply a rectifier , an inductor and a capacitor . When the valve amplifier was operated at high volume , the power supply voltage would dip, reducing power output and causing signal attenuation and compression. This dipping effect

5236-404: Is pushing the tubes beyond their normal rated maximum. Valve amplifiers—particularly those using class-A triodes —tend to produce asymmetric soft clipping that creates both even and odd harmonics. The increase in even harmonics is considered to create "warm"-sounding overdrive effects. A basic triode valve (tube) contains a cathode , a plate and a grid. When a positive voltage is applied to

5355-426: Is regarded as hugely influential in the history of Chicago house music, and has been described as "ghetto house's Motown ". One of the prototypes for Dance Mania's new ghetto house sound was the single "(It's Time for the) Percolator" by Cajmere, also known as Green Velvet , from 1992. Cajmere started the labels Cajual Records and Relief Records, the latter combining the sound of Chicago, acid, and ghetto house with

5474-472: Is relatively closer to disco than other dance styles. As Chicago house gained international popularity, New York and New Jersey's music scene was distinguished from the "house" umbrella. In comparison to other forms of house music, garage house, and Jersey sound include more gospel -influenced piano riffs and female vocals. The genre was popular in the 1980s in the United States and in the 1990s in

5593-904: Is the Key " (1985), have also been referred to as the first house tracks. Starting in 1985 and 1986, more and more Chicago DJs began producing and releasing original compositions. These compositions used newly affordable electronic instruments and enhanced styles of disco and other dance music they already favored. These homegrown productions were played on Chicago radio stations and in local clubs catering mainly to Black, Mexican American , and gay audiences. Subgenres of house, including deep house and acid house, quickly emerged and gained traction. Deep house 's origins can be traced to Chicago producer Mr. Fingers 's relatively jazzy, soulful recordings " Mystery of Love " (1985) and "Can You Feel It?" (1986). According to author Richie Unterberger, it moved house music away from its " posthuman tendencies back towards

5712-540: The Hammond organ as used in blues and the Fender Rhodes as used in rock music; with these instruments and genres, keyboardists often purposely overdrive a tube amplifier to get a natural overdrive sound. Another example of instrument amplification where as little distortion as possible is sought is with acoustic instrument amplifiers, designed for musicians playing instruments such as the mandolin or fiddle in

5831-628: The Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone in 1962, one of the first commercially-successful mass-produced guitar pedals. Shortly thereafter, the American instrumental rock band The Ventures asked their friend, session musician and electronics enthusiast Orville "Red" Rhodes for help recreating the Grady Martin "fuzz" sound. Rhodes offered The Ventures a fuzzbox he had made, which they used to record "2000 Pound Bee" in 1962. In 1964,

5950-523: The UK singles chart in 1986. Around that time, UK record labels started releasing house music by Chicago acts, but as the genre grew popular, the UK itself became one of the new hot spots for house, acid house and techno music, experiencing the so-called second summer of love between 1988 and 1989. In Detroit during the early and mid-1980s, a new kind of electronic dance music began to emerge around Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson , known as

6069-537: The audio console ; use attenuation "pads" (a button on audio console channel strips, DI unit and some bass amplifiers ); and use electronic audio compressor effects and limiters to prevent sudden volume peaks from vocal mics from causing unwanted distortion. Though some bass guitar players in metal and punk bands intentionally use fuzz bass to distort their bass sound, in other genres of music, such as pop, big band jazz and traditional country music , bass players typically seek an undistorted bass sound. To obtain

SECTION 50

#1732787601412

6188-440: The heavy metal sound through a combined use of high volumes and heavy distortion. The word distortion refers to any modification of wave form of a signal , but in music it is used to refer to nonlinear distortion (excluding filters) and particularly to the introduction of new frequencies by memoryless nonlinearities. In music the different forms of linear distortion have specific names describing them. The simplest of these

6307-412: The torso forward and backward in a rippling motion matching the beat of the music, as if a wave were passing through it. Early house lyrics contained generally positive, uplifting messages, but spoke especially to those who were considered to be outsiders, especially African Americans, Latinos, and the gay subculture . The house music dance scene was one of the most integrated and progressive spaces in

6426-522: The "high gain, scooped mids" sounds associated with heavy metal; fuzz boxes are designed to emulate the distinctive sound of the earliest overdrive pedals such as the Big Muff and the Fuzz Face . Most overdrive/distortion pedals can be used in two ways: a pedal can be used as a "boost" with an already overdriven amplifier to drive it further into saturation and "color" the tone, or it can be used with

6545-541: The 1980s dance club scene, eventually house penetrated the UK singles chart. London DJ "Evil" Eddie Richards spun at dance parties as resident at the Clink Street club. Richards' approach to house focuses on the deep basslines. Nicknamed the UK's "Godfather of House", he and Clink co-residents Kid Batchelor and Mr. C played a key role in early UK house. House first charted in the UK in Wolverhampton following

6664-476: The 1980s; the black and gay populations, as well as other minority groups, were able to dance together in a positive environment. House music DJs aimed to create a "dream world of emotions" with "stories, keywords and sounds", which helped to "glue" communities together. Many house tracks encourage the audience to "release yourself" or "let yourself go", which is further encouraged by the continuous dancing, "incessant beat", and use of club drugs , which can create

6783-399: The 1990s, independently from the Chicago scene, the idea of Peace, Love, Unity & Respect (PLUR) became a widespread set of principles for the rave culture. One of the main influences of house was disco, house music having been defined as a genre which "...picked up where disco left off in the late 1970's." Like disco DJs, house DJs used a "slow mix" to "lin[k] records together" into

6902-511: The Belleville Three . The artists fused eclectic, futuristic sounds into a signature Detroit dance sound that was a main influence for the later techno genre. Their music included strong influences from Chicago house , although the term "house" played a less important role in Detroit than in Chicago, and the term "techno" was established instead. One of their most successful hits was a vocal house track named " Big Fun " by Inner City ,

7021-1077: The Coldcut-produced " The Only Way Is Up " by Yazz. One of the early club anthems, " Promised Land " by Joe Smooth , was covered and charted within a week by UK band The Style Council . Europeans embraced house, and began booking important American house DJs to play at the big clubs, such as Ministry of Sound , whose resident, Justin Berkmann brought in US pioneer Larry Levan. The house music club scene in cities such as Birmingham , Leeds , Sheffield , Wolverhampton , and London were provided with dance tracks by many underground pirate radio stations. Club DJs also brought in new house styles, which helped bolster this music genre. The earliest UK house and techno record labels, such as Warp Records and Network Records (formed out of Kool Kat records), helped introduce American and later Italian dance music to Britain. These labels also promoted UK dance music acts. By

7140-530: The Feeling On " by the Nightcrawlers . Many house DJs also did and continue to do remixes for pop artists. House music has remained popular on radio and in clubs while retaining a foothold on the underground scenes across the globe. In its most typical form, the genre is characterized by repetitive 4/4 rhythms including bass drums , off-beat hi-hats , snare drums , claps , and/or snaps at

7259-461: The Marshall JCM 900) utilize hybrid designs that employ both valve and solid-state components. Guitar distortion can be produced by many components of the guitar's signal path, including effects pedals, the pre-amplifier, power amplifier, and speakers. Many players use a combination of these to obtain their "signature" tone. The pre-amplifier section of a guitar amplifier serves to amplify

SECTION 60

#1732787601412

7378-555: The Music Box: "I wasn't even into dance music before I went to the Music Box [...]. I was into rock and roll . We would get drunk and listen to rock and roll. We didn't give a fuck, we were like 'Disco Sucks!' and all that. I hated dance music 'cos I couldn't dance. I thought dance music was kind of wimpy, until I heard it at like Music Box volume." A precursor to house music is the Colonel Abrams hit song " Trapped ", which

7497-964: The Park " (1950). In the early 1950s, guitar distortion sounds started to evolve based on sounds created earlier in the decade by accidental damage to amps, such as in the popular early recording of the 1951 Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm song " Rocket 88 ", where guitarist Willie Kizart used a vacuum tube amplifier that had a speaker cone slightly damaged in transport. Electric guitarists began "doctoring" amplifiers and speakers to emulate this form of distortion. Electric blues guitarist Willie Johnson of Howlin' Wolf ′s band began deliberately increasing gain beyond its intended levels to produce "warm" distorted sounds. Guitar Slim also experimented with distorted overtones, which can be heard in his hit electric blues song " The Things That I Used to Do " (1953). Chuck Berry 's 1955 classic " Maybellene " features

7616-530: The United Kingdom. DJs playing it include Tony Humphries at Club Zanzibar, Larry Levan, who was resident DJ at the Paradise Garage from 1977 to 1987, Todd Terry , Kerri Chandler , Masters at Work , Junior Vasquez , and others. Distortion (music) The effects alter the instrument sound by clipping the signal (pushing it past its maximum, which shears off the peaks and troughs of

7735-442: The Warehouse club in Chicago from 1977 to 1982, worked primarily with early disco music with a hint of new and different post-punk or post-disco music. Knuckles started out as a disco DJ, but when he moved from New York City to Chicago, he changed from the typical disco mixing style of playing records one after another; instead, he mixed different songs together, including Philadelphia soul and Euro disco . He also explored adding

7854-442: The Warehouse" in the store, shortened to "House". Patrons later asked for new music for the bins, which Chip E. implies was a demand the shop tried to meet by stocking newer local club hits. In a 1986 interview, when Rocky Jones, the club DJ who ran Chicago-based DJ International Records , was asked about the "house" moniker, he did not mention Importes Etc., Frankie Knuckles, or the Warehouse by name. However, he agreed that "house"

7973-687: The acid house subgenre. Juan Atkins , a pioneer of Detroit techno , claims the term "house" reflected the association of particular tracks with particular clubs and DJs, considered their "house" records. At least three styles of dancing are associated with early house music: jacking , footwork and lofting. These styles include a variety of techniques and sub-styles, including skating, stomping, vosho, pouting cat, and shuffle steps (also see Melbourne shuffle ). House music dancing styles can include movements from many other forms of dance, such as waacking , voguing , capoeira , jazz dance , Lindy Hop , tap dance , and even modern dance . House dancing

8092-404: The amplified signal are proportional to the input signal—so long as the voltage of the input signal does not exceed the valve's "linear region of operation". The linear region falls between Multiple stages of valve gain/clipping can be "cascaded" to produce a thicker and more complex distortion sound. In layperson's terms, a musician will plug a fuzz pedal into a tube amp that is being "cranked" to

8211-551: The answer lies with him." Chicago artist Chip E. 's 1985 song "It's House" may also have helped to define this new form of electronic music. However, Chip E. himself lends credence to the Knuckles association, claiming the name came from methods of labeling records at the Importes Etc. record store, where he worked in the early 1980s. Bins of music that DJ Knuckles played at the Warehouse nightclub were labelled "As Heard at

8330-455: The backlash against disco started, known as " Disco Demolition Night ", held in Chicago , ironically the city where house music would be created a few years later, dance music went from being produced by major labels to being created by DJs in the underground club scene. That is until several years later by 1988, when major labels would begin signing acts from this new dance genre. While disco

8449-415: The centre midrange (750 Hz) results in what is popularly known as a "scooped" sound (since the midrange frequencies are "scooped" out). Conversely, decreasing the bass while increasing the midrange and treble creates a punchy, harsher sound. Rolling off all of the treble produces a dark, heavy sound. While musicians intentionally create or add distortion to electric instrument signals or vocals to create

8568-409: The circuit at voltages that are too low for the circuit components, resulting in greater non-linearity and distortion. These designs are referred to as "starved plate" configurations, and result in an "amp death" sound. Solid-state amplifiers incorporating transistors and/or op amps can be made to produce hard clipping. When symmetrical, this adds additional high-amplitude odd harmonics, creating

8687-657: The development of house were audio mixing and editing techniques earlier explored by disco, garage music and post-disco DJs, record producers , and audio engineers such as Walter Gibbons , Tom Moulton , Jim Burgess , Larry Levan , M & M , and others. While most post-disco disc jockeys primarily stuck to playing their conventional ensemble and playlist of dance records, Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy, two influential DJs of house music, were known for their unusual and non-mainstream playlists and mixing. Knuckles, often credited as "the Godfather of House" and resident DJ at

8806-471: The doors to house music success on the UK charts. Early British house music quickly set itself apart from the original Chicago house sound. Many of the early hits were based on sample montage, and unlike the US soulful vocals, in UK house, rap was often used for vocals (far more than in the US), and humor and wit was an important element. The second best-selling British single of 1988 was an acid house record,

8925-526: The early house sound, such as the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer and minimal vocals, as well as a Roland TR-808 drum machine and a Korg Poly-61 synthesizer. It also utilized the bassline from Player One's disco record " Space Invaders " (1979). "On and On" is sometimes cited as the "first house record", even though it was a remake of a Disco Bootleg "On and On" by Florida producer Mach. Other examples from around that time, such as J.M. Silk 's " Music

9044-729: The early to mid-1990s and until the 2000s was DJ and producer Paul Johnson , who released the Warehouse-anthem "Welcome to the Warehouse" on Armando's label in 1994 in collaboration with Armando himself. He also had part in the development of an entirely new kind of Chicago house sound, " ghetto house ", which was prominently released and popularized through the Dance Mania record label. It was originally founded by Jesse Saunders in 1985 but passed on to Raymond Barney in 1988. It featured notable ghetto house artists like DJ Funk , DJ Deeon , DJ Milton, Paul Johnson and others. The label

9163-557: The electronic circuitry of his amplifiers so as to achieve a "brighter, louder" sound and fuller distortion capabilities. Also in 1966, Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd created the song Interstellar Overdrive , a song made entirely in electric distortion. It was released a year later in modified form on their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . In the late 1960s and early 1970s hard rock bands such as Deep Purple , Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath forged what would eventually become

9282-684: The end of 1965. Other early fuzzboxes include the Mosrite FuzzRITE and Arbiter Group Fuzz Face used by Jimi Hendrix , the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi used by Hendrix and Carlos Santana , and the Vox Tone Bender used by Paul McCartney to play fuzz bass on " Think for Yourself " and other Beatles recordings. In 1966, Jim Marshall of the British company Marshall Amplification began modifying

9401-498: The end of the 1980s, UK DJs Jenö, Thomas, Markie and Garth moved to San Francisco and called their group the Wicked Crew. The Wicked Crew's dance sound transmitted UK styles to the US, which helped to trigger the birth of the US west coast's rave scene. The manager of Manchester's Factory nightclub and co-owner of The Haçienda , Tony Wilson , also promoted acid house culture on his weekly TV show. The UK midlands also embraced

9520-413: The genre prior to the album's rediscovery in the 21st century. According to Hillegonda C. Rietveld, "elements of hip hop and rap can be found in contemporary house tracks", with hip hop acting as an "accent or inflection" that is inserted into the house sound. The constant bass drum in house music may have arisen from DJs experimenting with adding drum machines to their live mixes at clubs, underneath

9639-399: The harder sound of techno. By the early 1990s, artists of note on those two labels included Dajae , DJ Sneak , Derrick Carter , DJ Rush , Paul Johnson, Joe Lewis, and Glenn Underground. While house became popular in UK and continental Europe, the scene in the US had still not progressed beyond a small number of clubs in Chicago, Detroit, New York City, and Newark . In New York and Newark,

9758-453: The input frequencies are not already harmonically related. For instance, playing a power chord through distortion results in intermodulation that produces new subharmonics . "Soft clipping" gradually flattens the peaks of a signal which creates a number of higher harmonics which share a harmonic relationship with the original tone. "Hard clipping" flattens peaks abruptly, resulting in higher power in higher harmonics. As clipping increases,

9877-415: The keys; however, the performer can still control the volume with drawbars and the expression pedal). Heavy metal music has evolved around these restrictions, using complex rhythms and timing for expression and excitement. Lighter distortions and overdrives can be used with triadic chords and seventh chords; as well, lighter overdrive allows more control of dynamics. Power valves (tubes) can be overdriven in

9996-423: The kind of music you play down at the Warehouse!" In self-published statements, South-Side Chicago DJ Leonard "Remix" Rroy claimed he put such a sign in a tavern window because it was where he played music that one might find in one's home; in his case, it referred to his mother's soul and disco records, which he worked into his sets. Chicago house artist Farley "Jackmaster" Funk was quoted as saying, "In 1982, I

10115-463: The late 1980s house scene with illegal parties and raves and more legal dance clubs such as The Hummingbird. While the acid house hype spawned in the UK and Europe, in Chicago it reached its peak around 1988 and then declined in popularity. Instead, a crossover of house and hip-hop music, known as hip house , became popular. Tyree Cooper 's single "Turn Up the Bass" featuring Kool Rock Steady from 1988

10234-429: The lush" soulful sound of early disco music. Acid house , a rougher and more abstract subgenre, arose from Chicago artists' experiments with the squelchy sounds of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer that define the genre. Its origin on vinyl is generally cited as Phuture 's " Acid Tracks " (Trax Records, 1987). Phuture, a group founded by Nathan " DJ Pierre " Jones, Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr., and Herbert "Herb J" Jackson,

10353-537: The main singles chart. The same month also saw Raze enter the top 20 with "Jack the Groove", and several other house hits reached the top ten that year. Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) expensively-produced productions for Mel and Kim , including the number-one hit "Respectable", added elements of house to their previous Europop sound. SAW session group Mirage scored top-ten hits with "Jack Mix II" and "Jack Mix IV", medleys of previous electro and Europop hits rearranged in

10472-412: The most extreme fuzz pedals, players may choose to play mostly single notes, because the fuzz can make even single notes sound very thick and heavy. Heavy distortion also tends to limit the player's control of dynamics (loudness and softness)—similar to the limitations imposed on a Hammond organ player (Hammond organ does not produce louder or softer sounds depending on how hard or soft the performer plays

10591-509: The only film or video to capture a young Frankie Knuckles in this early era, right after his departure from The Warehouse. In the Channel 4 documentary Pump Up the Volume , Knuckles remarks that the first time he heard the term "house music" was upon seeing "we play house music" on a sign in the window of a bar on Chicago's South Side . One of the people in the car joked, "you know that's

10710-422: The ordinary input signal amplitude, thus overdriving the amplifier) Note : product names may not accurately reflect type of circuit involved - see above. A fuzz box alters an audio signal until it is nearly a square wave and adds complex overtones by way of a frequency multiplier . Vacuum tube or "valve" distortion is achieved by "overdriving" the valves in an amplifier. In layman's terms, overdriving

10829-698: The peak of the signal. As this effect is more pronounced with higher input signals, the harder "attack" of a note will be compressed more heavily than the lower-voltage "decay", making the latter seem louder and thereby improving sustain . Additionally, because the level of compression is affected by input volume, the player can control it via their playing intensity: playing harder results in more compression or "sag". In contrast, modern amplifiers often use high-quality, well-regulated power supplies. Guitar loudspeakers are designed differently from high fidelity stereo speakers or public address system speakers. While hi-fi and public address speakers are designed to reproduce

10948-437: The plate, a current of negatively charged electrons flows to it from the heated cathode through the grid. This increases the voltage of the audio signal , amplifying its volume. The grid regulates the extent to which plate voltage is increased. A small negative voltage applied to the grid causes a large decrease in plate voltage. Valve amplification is more or less linear—meaning the parameters (amplitude, frequency, phase) of

11067-517: The popular Hot Mix 5 shows on radio station WBMX-FM helped popularize house music in Chicago. Later, visiting DJs and producers from Detroit fell into the genre. Trax Records and DJ International Records, Chicago labels with wider distribution, helped popularize house music inside and outside of Chicago. The first major success of house music outside the U.S. is considered to be Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's " Love Can't Turn Around " (feat. Jesse Saunders and performed by Darryl Pandy ), which peaked at #10 in

11186-416: The power amp. When the preamp volume is set high to generate high distortion levels, the master volume lowered, keeping the output volume at manageable levels. Demo of a Big Muff Analog overdrive/distortion pedals work on similar principles to preamplifier distortion. Because most effects pedals are designed to operate from battery voltages, using vacuum tubes to generate distortion and overdrive

11305-404: The power section hard. Many valve-based amplifiers in common use have a push-pull output configuration in their power section, with matched pairs of tubes driving the output transformer . Power amplifier distortion is normally entirely symmetric, generating predominantly odd-order harmonics. Because driving the power valves this hard also means maximum volume, which can be difficult to manage in

11424-516: The recent powerful and "fat" Gibson humbucker pickups, and controlled "feedback" ( Larsen effect ). The resultant sound can be heard on his highly influential 1958 instrumental , " Rumble " and Rawhide. In 1961, Grady Martin scored a hit with a fuzzy tone caused by a faulty preamplifier that distorted his guitar playing on the Marty Robbins song " Don't Worry ". Later that year Martin recorded an instrumental tune under his own name, using

11543-819: The records they were playing. In the early 1980s, Chicago radio jocks Hot Mix 5 from WBMX radio station (among them Farley "Jackmaster" Funk), and club DJs Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles played a range of styles of dance music, including older disco records (mostly Philly disco and Salsoul tracks), electro funk tracks by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa , newer Italo disco , Arthur Baker , and John Robie , and electronic pop . Some DJs made and played their own edits of their favorite songs on reel-to-reel tape, and sometimes mixed in electronic effects , drum machines, synthesizers and other rhythmic electronic instrumentation. The hypnotic electronic dance song " On and On ", produced in 1984 by Chicago DJ Jesse Saunders and co-written by Vince Lawrence , had typical elements of

11662-487: The same faulty preamp. The song, on the Decca label, was called "The Fuzz." Martin is generally credited as the discoverer of the "fuzz effect." The recording engineer from Martin's sessions, Glenn Snoddy , partnered with fellow WSM radio engineer Revis V. Hobbs to design and build a stand-alone device that would intentionally create the fuzzy effect. The two engineers sold their circuit to Gibson , who introduced it as

11781-439: The same way that pre-amplifier valves can, but because these valves are designed to output more power, the distortion and character they add to the guitar's tone is unique. During the 1960s to early 1970s, distortion was primarily created by overdriving the power valves. Because they have become accustomed to this sound , many guitar players favour this type of distortion, and thus set their amps to maximum levels in order to drive

11900-408: The sessions, arguing that "that guitar sounds like a nice horn section". In the late 1950s, Guitarist Link Wray began manipulating his amplifiers' vacuum tubes to create a "noisy" and "dirty" sound for his solos after a similarly accidental discovery. Wray also poked holes in his speaker cones with pencils to further distort his tone, used electronic echo chambers (then usually employed by singers),

12019-413: The signal processing chain, including multiple stages of preamp distortion, power valve distortion, output and power transformer distortion, and guitar speaker distortion. Much of the distortion character or voicing is controlled by the frequency response before and after each distortion stage. This dependency of distortion voicing on frequency response can be heard in the effect that a wah pedal has on

12138-497: The signal waves), adding sustain and harmonic and inharmonic overtones and leading to a compressed sound that is often described as "warm" and "dirty", depending on the type and intensity of distortion used. The terms distortion and overdrive are often used interchangeably; where a distinction is made, distortion is a more extreme version of the effect than overdrive . Fuzz is a particular form of extreme distortion originally created by guitarists using faulty equipment (such as

12257-509: The signal. Some speakers are designed to have much clean headroom , while others are designed to break up early to deliver grit and growl. Guitar amp modeling devices and software can reproduce various guitar-specific distortion qualities that are associated with a range of popular "stomp box" pedals and amplifiers. Amp modeling devices typically use digital signal processing to recreate the sound of plugging into analogue pedals and overdriven valve amplifiers. The most sophisticated devices allow

12376-416: The sound with as little distortion as possible, guitar speakers are usually designed so that they will shape or color the tone of the guitar, either by enhancing some frequencies or attenuating unwanted frequencies. When the power delivered to a guitar speaker approaches its maximum rated power, the speaker's performance degrades, causing the speaker to "break up", adding further distortion and colouration to

12495-422: The subsequent distortion stage, or by using tone controls built into the guitar, the preamp or an EQ pedal to favor the bass or treble components of the guitar pickup signal prior to the first distortion stage. Some guitarists place an equalizer pedal after the distortion effect, to emphasize or de-emphasize different frequencies in the distorted signal. Increasing the bass and treble while reducing or eliminating

12614-520: The success of the Northern Soul scene. The record generally credited as the first house hit in the UK was Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's "Love Can't Turn Around", which reached #10 in the UK singles chart in September 1986. In January 1987, Chicago DJ/artist Steve "Silk" Hurley's "Jack Your Body" reached number one in the UK, showing it was possible for house music to achieve crossover success in

12733-508: The successor of the Warehouse, the Music Box (reopened and renamed in 1983 after Knuckles left). Like Frankie Knuckles, Hardy "combined certain sounds, remixing tracks with added synths and drum machines", all "refracted through the futurist lens of European music." Marshall Jefferson , who would later appear with the 1986 house classic " Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem) " (originally released on Trax Records ), describes how he got involved in house music after hearing Ron Hardy's music in

12852-523: The terms " garage house ", "garage music", or simply "garage", and "Jersey sound", or " New Jersey house ", were coined for a deeper, more soulful, R&B -derived subgenre of house that was developed in the Paradise Garage nightclub in New York City and Club Zanzibar in Newark, New Jersey, during the early-to-mid 1980s. It is argued that garage house predates the development of Chicago house, as it

12971-404: The track "Techno Music", which was featured on an influential compilation that was initially planned to be named "The House Sound of Detroit", but was renamed into " Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit " after Atkins' song. The 1987 song " Strings of Life " by Derrick May (under the name Rhythm Is Rhythm) represented a darker, more intellectual strain of early Detroit electronic dance music. It

13090-510: The trend of splicing together different records when he found that the records he had were not long enough to satisfy his audience of dancers. After the Warehouse closed in 1983, eventually the crowds went to Knuckles' new club, The Power House, later to be called The Power Plant, and the club was renamed, yet again, into Music Box with Ron Hardy as the resident DJ. The 1986 documentary, "House Music in Chicago", by filmmaker, Phil Ranstrom , captured opening night at The Power House, and stands as

13209-417: The user to customize the simulated results of using different preamp, power-tube, speaker distortion, speaker cabinet, and microphone placement combinations. For example, a guitarist using a small amp modeling pedal could simulate the sound of plugging their electric guitar into a heavy vintage valve amplifier and a stack of 8 X 10" speaker cabinets. Guitar distortion is obtained and shaped at various points in

13328-472: The vocal lines may also be simple "words or phrases" that are repeated. One book from 2009 states the name "house music" originated from a Chicago club called the Warehouse that was open from 1977 to 1982. Clubbers to the Warehouse were primarily black gay men, who came to dance to music played by the club's resident DJ, Frankie Knuckles , who fans refer to as the "godfather of house". Frankie began

13447-698: The way to the right until the speaker was screaming." In 1956, guitarist Paul Burlison of the Johnny Burnette Trio deliberately dislodged a vacuum tube in his amplifier to record " The Train Kept A-Rollin " after a reviewer raved about the sound Burlison's damaged amplifier produced during a live performance. According to other sources Burlison's amp had a partially broken loudspeaker cone. Pop-oriented producers were horrified by that eerie "two-tone" sound, quite clean on trebles but strongly distorted on basses, but Burnette insisted on releasing

13566-451: Was DJing at a club called The Playground and there was this kid named Leonard 'Remix' Rroy who was a DJ at a rival club called The Rink. He came over to my club one night, and into the DJ booth and said to me, 'I've got the gimmick that's gonna take all the people out of your club and into mine – it's called House music.' Now, where he got that name from or what made him think of it I don't know, so

13685-412: Was a regional catch-all term for dance music, and that it was once synonymous with older disco music before it became a way to refer to "new" dance music. Larry Heard , a.k.a. "Mr. Fingers", claims that the term "house" came from DJs creating music in their house or at home using synthesizers and drum machines, such as the Roland TB-303, Roland TR-808, and TR-909. These synthesizers were used to create

13804-524: Was an influential breakthrough for this subgenre, although the British trio the Beatmasters claimed having invented the genre with their 1986 release " Rok da House ". Another notable figure in the hip house scene was Fast Eddie with "Hip House" and "Yo Yo Get Funky!" (both 1988). Even Farley "Jackmaster" Funk engaged in the genre, releasing "Free at Last", a song to free James Brown from jail that featured The Hip House Syndicate, in 1989, and producing

13923-715: Was associated with lush orchestration, with string orchestra , flutes and horn sections , various disco songs incorporated sounds produced with synthesizers and electronic drum machines, and some compositions were entirely electronic; examples include Italian composer Giorgio Moroder 's late 1970s productions such as Donna Summer 's hit single " I Feel Love " from 1977, Kraftwerk's "' The Man-Machine " album from 1978, Cerrone 's " Supernature " (1977), Yellow Magic Orchestra 's synth - disco-pop productions from Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978) or Solid State Survivor (1979), and several early 1980s productions by hi-NRG groups like Lime , Trans-X and Bobby O . Also important for

14042-537: Was invented. Lower-power valve amps (such as a quarter-watt or less) , speaker isolation cabinets , and low-efficiency guitar speakers are also used to tame the volume. Power-valve distortion can also be produced in a dedicated rackmount valve power amp. A modular rackmount setup often involves a rackmount preamp, a rackmount valve power amp, and a rackmount dummy load to attenuate the output to desired volume levels. Some effects pedals internally produce power-valve distortion, including an optional dummy load for use as

14161-417: Was produced by Richard James Burgess in 1984 and has been referred to as a proto -house track and a precursor to garage house . The electronic instrumentation and minimal arrangement of Charanjit Singh 's Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat (1982), an album of Indian ragas performed in a disco style and anticipated the sounds of acid house music, but it is not known to have had any influence on

#411588