THE EVOLUTION OF ANALOG DISTORTION

Started by admin, January 08, 2016, 05:50:58 PM

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Back in distortion's origin days, it was all about playing loud. Guitarists would crank the volume until an excess of electricity flowing through their amps' vacuum tubes compressed and distorted the signals produced by their guitars. There's no way to know which bold musician first turned it all the way up, but it wasn't until the mid- to late '40s that this heavy new sound was recorded for posterity.

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/specials/history-of-distortion/?linkId=18463759

Accidents and Mutilations
Before the advent of stompboxes, finding a heavier tone came down to two options: get lucky or get creative. No surprise, then, that the '50s were a decade of happy accidents and game-changing destruction. Songs now regarded as the earliest heavyweights of distortion were made possible by broken amplifiers.
ROCKET 88 (1951)

Recording as Jackie Brenston's "Delta Cats" — a made-up backing band — Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm laid down what is widely considered the very first rock & roll song. On the way to the studio, the band dropped their tweed Fender amp, shorting an output tube. Guitarist Willie Kizert didn't have a replacement tube, forcing him to stick with a fuzzy — but ultimately revolutionary — tone.

concordal


QuoteOn the way to the studio, the band dropped their tweed Fender amp, shorting an output tube.

The Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle (http://www.empmuseum.org/) has a recording of an interview with Ike Turner in which he talks about this famous incident.  Turner says in the interview that, in those early days they couldn't afford a vehicle that could transport the guys and the gear.  So the amps were strapped to the top of the car.  He went on to say that the amp in question wasn't dropped - it got soaked with rain one night and when they plugged it in, the sound was beautifully distorted.