Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?

--
Ross Vandegrift


A Pope has a Water Cannon. It is a Water Cannon.
He fires Holy-Water from it. It is a Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses it. It is a Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses the Hell out of it. It is a Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He has it pierced. It is a Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He makes it official. It is a Canon Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
Batman and Robin arrive. He shoots them.

I love it when it fits the song.
Steve
www.blacklinerock.com

It depends on the genre, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, it's perfect,
Christina, not so perfect. I kinda like it on the Strokes, it goes along with
the lo-fi indie rock thing.

JDN

Ross Vandegrift wrote:

Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?

--
Ross Vandegrift


A Pope has a Water Cannon. It is a Water Cannon.
He fires Holy-Water from it. It is a Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses it. It is a Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses the Hell out of it. It is a Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He has it pierced. It is a Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He makes it official. It is a Canon Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
Batman and Robin arrive. He shoots them.

"Ross Vandegrift" wrote in message
m...
Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?

Check out "Come in Closer" by Blue October. The female backing vocals in
that song are slightly distorted (at times) and it's done perfectly. I
couldn't imagine it without it.

In article writes:

Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

It depends on the genre. Since I listen to the type of music where
distorted vocals work only about 0.005% of the time, I'd go along with
you and more. When I hear distortion on vocals (really on everything)
on CD reissues of music I enjoyed in the past in spite of the
distortion, I cringe a bit (but still enjoy the music) because I've
become accustomed to better.

I a singer wanted me to record or mix his vocals with distortion, he'd
be working with the wrong engineer - because I wouldn't know what to
do with that distorted vocal in order to make it work. I guess I could
learn, but I'm not interested. There are others who do this work all
the time and I assume do it well.

On the other hand, (remembering a recent discussion) "distortion"
really means ANY change in the signal, which can include adjustments
in frequency response (EQ), compression, pitch change, and any manner
of other things. I assume you're talking about intentionally added
harmonic distortion or even clipping.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )

In article znr1064489587k@trad, Mike Rivers wrote:
In article writes:

Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

It depends on the genre. Since I listen to the type of music where
distorted vocals work only about 0.005% of the time, I'd go along with
you and more. When I hear distortion on vocals (really on everything)
on CD reissues of music I enjoyed in the past in spite of the
distortion, I cringe a bit (but still enjoy the music) because I've
become accustomed to better.

That's distortion that wasn't intended to be there. But deliberate distortion
on vocals has been around for a long time... at least since the Smothers
Brothers did a duet that was supposed to be two people, one calling on the
phone.

On the other hand, (remembering a recent discussion) "distortion"
really means ANY change in the signal, which can include adjustments
in frequency response (EQ), compression, pitch change, and any manner
of other things. I assume you're talking about intentionally added
harmonic distortion or even clipping.

Clipping. Dramatic clipping. Or the use of a microphone with deliberate
distortion characteristics, like a Turner communications mike.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

BlacklineMusic wrote:

I love it when it fits the song.
Steve
www.blacklinerock.com

The Flying Lizards did some great (IMHO) lo-fi distortion
stuff. Very odd sound that worked for me.
[YMMV]

On the other hand, I work with a lot of bluegrass and
distortion doesn't cut it there...

Ron Capik
--

John Lennon's voice on "I Am the Walrus" had distortion used beautifully.

Peace,
Paul

The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

oh god, thats a sore subject with me. the strokes vocal production is just
so unbelievably bad... it makes me cringe. it sounds like they compressed
and then distorted, so that the amount of clipping is constant. and it
sounds flat, boring.

If you listen to a classic Kinks record like Face to Face or Something Else
theres intentional clipping on practically every vocal track. but the
amount of clipping is not constant, the louder parts clip more. You can
think of clipping as a heavy duty limiter. the cool thing is that it
sounds different as you hit it harder and it clips more. as it distorts
more the tone changes. depending on the amplifier that you are using you
could get anything from buzzy mud to subtle saturation with a plesant
increase in presence that can fool your brain and make it sound like the
volume is actually increasing. It can seem that the dynamics are being
preserved when infact the signal has been pretty much flattened. If the
tone of the distorted vocals suits the music and you need to reduce the
dynamic range, it can be fantastic.

mike p

I don't know about the Strokes... I think their vocal sound was
intended to be "Old school" and analog.... I don't like how it
sounds....

I just finished mixing a Hardcore album from a really heavy band. The
singer really wanted distorted vocals... I wasn't too sure, neither
was the producer. We ended up using Bitcrushing (lowering vocals down
to 12 bits) and then distortion... sometimes on the actual tracks,
sometimes as a send/return effect... It sounded great for the genre,
at made vocals very explosive... But we are talking about really
heavy, dense, screamo music...

I don't see myself setting up a bunch of bitcrushers and distortion
boxes on every single mix at all... These guys wanted NIN, digital
distortion stuff... the worst it sounded the happier the band was...

my 2 cents

Manuel Jimenez

I don't know about the Strokes... I think their vocal sound was
intended to be "Old school" and analog.... I don't like how it
sounds....

I just finished mixing a Hardcore album from a really heavy band. The
singer really wanted distorted vocals... I wasn't too sure, neither
was the producer. We ended up using Bitcrushing (lowering vocals down
to 12 bits) and then distortion... sometimes on the actual tracks,
sometimes as a send/return effect... It sounded great for the genre,
at made vocals very explosive... But we are talking about really
heavy, dense, screamo music...

I don't see myself setting up a bunch of bitcrushers and distortion
boxes on every single mix at all... These guys wanted NIN, digital
distortion stuff... the worst it sounded the happier the band was...

my 2 cents

Manuel Jimenez

Ross Vandegrift wrote:

Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?


In general I think it can be a fun flavor to use in the right context,
and can really sound cool. I basically think this isn't the sort of
thing you want on every song, but should be used sparingly. And I
can't imagine wanting the SAME distortion on song after song. That
just doesn't make sense to me. On the other hand, there's something to
be said about consistency. The Strokes have their sound, which is very
distinctive, and it's based primarily on the way the vocals are
distorted (the same way every time) and the fact there are hardly any
chord changes. But an album full of songs that all sound alike sure
helps too.

What about the White Stripes? They're on the faux-retro bandwagon too
(it doesn't actually sound like anything old) but they have a lot more
diversity in their sound. I don't know if I like them any better,
because "what they sound like" doesn't spring to mind as readily.

Listen to some of Jeff Tweedy's vocals, especially on the Mermaid Ave.
album. His voice sounds really great with a little natural-sounding
overdrive and saturation. It's a much more "authentic" old-fashioned
sound.

And I don't think old blues records would sound as cool if the loudest
lyrics didn't have that distortion on them.

Or check out Link Wray's "Climbin' a High Wall." That's really a good
one. But not all of his songs sound that way.

ulysses

Ross Vandegrift wrote:

Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?


In general I think it can be a fun flavor to use in the right context,
and can really sound cool. I basically think this isn't the sort of
thing you want on every song, but should be used sparingly. And I
can't imagine wanting the SAME distortion on song after song. That
just doesn't make sense to me. On the other hand, there's something to
be said about consistency. The Strokes have their sound, which is very
distinctive, and it's based primarily on the way the vocals are
distorted (the same way every time) and the fact there are hardly any
chord changes. But an album full of songs that all sound alike sure
helps too.

What about the White Stripes? They're on the faux-retro bandwagon too
(it doesn't actually sound like anything old) but they have a lot more
diversity in their sound. I don't know if I like them any better,
because "what they sound like" doesn't spring to mind as readily.

Listen to some of Jeff Tweedy's vocals, especially on the Mermaid Ave.
album. His voice sounds really great with a little natural-sounding
overdrive and saturation. It's a much more "authentic" old-fashioned
sound.

And I don't think old blues records would sound as cool if the loudest
lyrics didn't have that distortion on them.

Or check out Link Wray's "Climbin' a High Wall." That's really a good
one. But not all of his songs sound that way.

ulysses

On 2003-09-26, Justin Ulysses Morse wrote:
Listen to some of Jeff Tweedy's vocals, especially on the Mermaid Ave.
album. His voice sounds really great with a little natural-sounding
overdrive and saturation. It's a much more "authentic" old-fashioned
sound.

And I don't think old blues records would sound as cool if the loudest
lyrics didn't have that distortion on them.

Thanks for the tips guys - I knew it was one of those "right time, right
place" issues, but I'm glad to get a few other examples to check out for
when that was.

Of course I was surprised to find quite a few gems mentioned that I
never thought about. How could I forget "I am the Walrus"? Who knows -
maybe now try it out at some point.

--
Ross Vandegrift


A Pope has a Water Cannon. It is a Water Cannon.
He fires Holy-Water from it. It is a Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses it. It is a Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses the Hell out of it. It is a Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He has it pierced. It is a Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He makes it official. It is a Canon Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
Batman and Robin arrive. He shoots them.

On 2003-09-26, Justin Ulysses Morse wrote:
Listen to some of Jeff Tweedy's vocals, especially on the Mermaid Ave.
album. His voice sounds really great with a little natural-sounding
overdrive and saturation. It's a much more "authentic" old-fashioned
sound.

And I don't think old blues records would sound as cool if the loudest
lyrics didn't have that distortion on them.

Thanks for the tips guys - I knew it was one of those "right time, right
place" issues, but I'm glad to get a few other examples to check out for
when that was.

Of course I was surprised to find quite a few gems mentioned that I
never thought about. How could I forget "I am the Walrus"? Who knows -
maybe now try it out at some point.

--
Ross Vandegrift


A Pope has a Water Cannon. It is a Water Cannon.
He fires Holy-Water from it. It is a Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses it. It is a Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses the Hell out of it. It is a Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He has it pierced. It is a Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He makes it official. It is a Canon Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
Batman and Robin arrive. He shoots them.

I dig the Strokes vocal distortion, I dunno just seems to fit the music well,
though it can sound a bit samey after a while. I think Sparklehorse has some
great lofi distorted vocals (thin granted, but absolutely appropriate and
necessary for some of the songs IMO). Someone mentioned Jeff Tweedy on Mermaid
Avenue, which just sounds fantastic, as does that whole record. Now a vocal
distortion I just can't stand is Neil Young's vocals on Southern Man when he's
hitting the louder notes. For some reason that just kills me, though the rest
of After the Goldrush is just pure brilliance.

"Funkybot" wrote in message
...
I dig the Strokes vocal distortion, I dunno just seems to fit the music
well,
though it can sound a bit samey after a while. I think Sparklehorse has
some
great lofi distorted vocals (thin granted, but absolutely appropriate and
necessary for some of the songs IMO). Someone mentioned Jeff Tweedy on
Mermaid
Avenue, which just sounds fantastic, as does that whole record. Now a
vocal
distortion I just can't stand is Neil Young's vocals on Southern Man when
he's
hitting the louder notes. For some reason that just kills me, though the
rest
of After the Goldrush is just pure brilliance.

Oh, that reminds me of a distorted vocal track that I HATE. Lenny Kravitz
on American Woman (towards the end). It sounds like complete ****e...and
they didn't even turn the vocals down to comensate for the volume change
while distorted. So, it's loud AND ****ty...and right in your face! It's a
really nasty distortion too...very unmusical IMO.

"area242" wrote in message m...
"Funkybot" wrote in message
...
I dig the Strokes vocal distortion, I dunno just seems to fit the music
well,
though it can sound a bit samey after a while. I think Sparklehorse has
some
great lofi distorted vocals (thin granted, but absolutely appropriate and
necessary for some of the songs IMO). Someone mentioned Jeff Tweedy on
Mermaid
Avenue, which just sounds fantastic, as does that whole record. Now a
vocal
distortion I just can't stand is Neil Young's vocals on Southern Man when
he's
hitting the louder notes. For some reason that just kills me, though the
rest
of After the Goldrush is just pure brilliance.

Oh, that reminds me of a distorted vocal track that I HATE. Lenny Kravitz
on American Woman (towards the end). It sounds like complete ****e...and
they didn't even turn the vocals down to comensate for the volume change
while distorted. So, it's loud AND ****ty...and right in your face! It's a
really nasty distortion too...very unmusical IMO.

Hey, don't blame the distortion. Blame Lenny. It's both truer and easier that way.

From reading about the sessions in an interview with the engineer, the
vocal sound was intended to sound like vocals going through a guitar
practice amp. Sounds like they were successful to me.

As for turning people away because of their aesthetic sensibilities or
lack thereof, I must be a slut, because I will do what the artist
wants. Laser beam guitars? octave fuzz $20 casio keyboards? yup... I
hope I never lose my open mind.

Erich

(Manuel Jimenez Arimaka) wrote in message . com...
I don't know about the Strokes... I think their vocal sound was
intended to be "Old school" and analog.... I don't like how it
sounds....

I just finished mixing a Hardcore album from a really heavy band. The
singer really wanted distorted vocals... I wasn't too sure, neither
was the producer. We ended up using Bitcrushing (lowering vocals down
to 12 bits) and then distortion... sometimes on the actual tracks,
sometimes as a send/return effect... It sounded great for the genre,
at made vocals very explosive... But we are talking about really
heavy, dense, screamo music...

I don't see myself setting up a bunch of bitcrushers and distortion
boxes on every single mix at all... These guys wanted NIN, digital
distortion stuff... the worst it sounded the happier the band was...

my 2 cents

Manuel Jimenez

It's too bad people can't heard for what they play, rather than some
labels placed upon them...

The Strokes impressed me because of their mature sound for a bunch of
teens (at the time).
The White Stripes impressed me because of their naked aesthetic.

Art can be very subjective, and I hear a lot of scientific objectivism
in this NG.

Erich

Justin Ulysses Morse wrote in message ...
Ross Vandegrift wrote:

Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?


In general I think it can be a fun flavor to use in the right context,
and can really sound cool. I basically think this isn't the sort of
thing you want on every song, but should be used sparingly. And I
can't imagine wanting the SAME distortion on song after song. That
just doesn't make sense to me. On the other hand, there's something to
be said about consistency. The Strokes have their sound, which is very
distinctive, and it's based primarily on the way the vocals are
distorted (the same way every time) and the fact there are hardly any
chord changes. But an album full of songs that all sound alike sure
helps too.

What about the White Stripes? They're on the faux-retro bandwagon too
(it doesn't actually sound like anything old) but they have a lot more
diversity in their sound. I don't know if I like them any better,
because "what they sound like" doesn't spring to mind as readily.

Listen to some of Jeff Tweedy's vocals, especially on the Mermaid Ave.
album. His voice sounds really great with a little natural-sounding
overdrive and saturation. It's a much more "authentic" old-fashioned
sound.

And I don't think old blues records would sound as cool if the loudest
lyrics didn't have that distortion on them.

Or check out Link Wray's "Climbin' a High Wall." That's really a good
one. But not all of his songs sound that way.

ulysses

this may be OT by a slight degree:
I have been digging the oldies lately, mainly because where I am,
there are 2 oldies stations, 1 "classic rock" (late 70's-80's cock
rock), 1 modern rock (heavy limiting), tons of country. I started
listening to the oldies stations as a source for different mixes and
sounds, and have been blown away.

Currently I have been mesmerized by some of the soul vox that sound
"warm" and distort as they get louder. I am really enjoying Aretha's
sound, like on "Think", and have been very curious as to how it was
achieved. I can definitely hear compression, but not sure about other
elements in the chain. I would assume due to the times, ribbon or LD
condenser (tube?) tube channel ???? tape

Anyone have any insight into the amazing recording of Aretha's amazing
voice?

danke,
Erich




Ross Vandegrift wrote in message om...
Personally, I absolutely hate them, 95% of the time. The constant vocal
distortions on the Strokes makes me hate them, regardless of any virtue
they might otherwise have.

But I've been listening to Beulah (www.beulahmania.com) a lot for the
past few months, and I actually like their vocal distortions a lot.
It seems less grating than any other distortions I've ever heard. On
their new CD Yoko, it's really quite beautiful in the one song that's
got it.

So what does everyone think? Are there other examples of good vocal
distortion out there, or is that it?

--
Ross Vandegrift


A Pope has a Water Cannon. It is a Water Cannon.
He fires Holy-Water from it. It is a Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses it. It is a Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He Blesses the Hell out of it. It is a Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He has it pierced. It is a Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
He makes it official. It is a Canon Holey Wholly Holy Holy-Water Cannon.
Batman and Robin arrive. He shoots them.

(deharmonic) wrote in message . com...
From reading about the sessions in an interview with the engineer, the
vocal sound was intended to sound like vocals going through a guitar
practice amp. Sounds like they were successful to me.


There's an interview with the producer of the Strokes album here...
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr0...donraphael.asp

The whole album was done with gear that just about any project studio
will/should have. Quite inspiring! It ain't about what you got, it's
about how you use it...