Clipping distortion is the type of distortion achieved by clipping your Digital audio signal, or driving the levels into the Red in your DAW\u00a0Software. This arises because we’re trying to\u00a0achieve an output level that the system or device cannot handle, it doesn’t have the headroom.<\/p>\n
The waveform basically gets chopped\u00a0off and whilst technically it is ‘distortion’ -as anything where the wave shape\u00a0is changed from input to output is classed as distortion- it doesn’t actually sound very good and I would always refer to this as Clipping<\/em>\u00a0to avoid confusion. I do know some producers and mixers though who use Digital Clipping to achieve a certain type of sound.<\/p>\n Impedance miss-match distortion<\/strong><\/p>\n Distortion from pedals or plug-ins can sound harsh, brittle and fizzy, sometimes due to incorrect matching of impedance from a guitar pedal to an Audio convertor. This can be solved by using a Re-Amp box (the Radial<\/a><\/strong> Reamp JCR for example) making sure the pedal and the Audio interface (or Tape) play nicely together and are seeing the correct impedance signal in the chain.<\/p>\n One tip here if you still think the distortion is too fizzy is to roll off some high end with a Low Pass Filter or send it through an Amp Sim if you’re in the box. Re-amp it if a guitar amp is handy, as by the very nature of sending the audio through a guitar speaker (virtual or real) is automatically rolling off some brightness due to the non-full range speaker cone in the cabinet (or simulation).<\/p>\n Saturation<\/strong><\/p>\n If you were to drive your signal like you would in the example Digitally\u00a0Clipping<\/em>\u00a0but with analog<\/em>hardware, usually through the use of transformers on the output, your hardware would\u00a0gently flatten the waveform rather than abruptly cut it off. All transformers will Saturate\u00a0their Core at some point, and it is the variety of transformer designs by the likes of Jensen, Lundahl, Sowter and Cinemag that equipment manufacturers choose (or have custom made like AMS Neve) to do so in a way we think of as\u00a0more pleasing to the ear.\u00a0Some transformer designs can do Even-order in the mid and high end, with 3rd Order in the low end.<\/p>\n Saturation though, is most talked about during the art of recording to analog Tape. When\u00a0recording hotter signals the tape saturates in a very musical way (providing the Tape Machine is set up well) and this has become a ‘Holy Grail’ of reference for many hardware and software designs, trying to recreate the perfect Tape Saturation sound, if a real Tape Machine isn’t available.<\/p>\n \n \u00a0Odd-Order and Even-Order Distortion<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the type of distortion we’re after…Musically related harmonic distortion can work wonders on elements that sound a bit ‘flat’. Harmonic distortion can improve the sound by adding extra musically related Odd-order or Even-order harmonics to the original signal. This can be achieved in many ways and combinations through Valves\/Tubes or Tape and Transformers.<\/p>\n \n \n Harmonics above the original note (called the fundamental) are whole number multiples of this frequency, so Even harmonics are 2 times, 4 times, 6 times, 8 times etc etc and Odd harmonics are 3 times, 5 times, 7 times etc etc.\u00a0Odd and Even harmonics do sound different, but they’re both extremely useful when we use them in different ways to make them appealing to the\u00a0human ear.<\/p>\n Even-order harmonic distortion tends to sound weighty in the low end\u00a0with smooth sympathetic musicality\u00a0in use, but they can also sound muddy and warm. But these are sometimes tricky\u00a0to hear, and obviously when the signal changes so does the harmonic sound. But when they’re not there, and\u00a0taken out, we do tend to notice something is missing.<\/p>\n Odd-order Harmonic distortion, which is the kind tended to be produced by analogue tape tends to sound more edgy, and can add richness and depth.<\/p>\n Combining Harmonic distortion\u00a0and\u00a0Saturation in some way can give sterile digital tracks some depth and lovely character similar to the way Tape used to saturate and distort. Whether you do this on the individual elements or over the mix just make sure that the tracks aren’t just LOUDER. It’s easy to be fooled into liking louder\u00a0(and brighter) sounds especially if we’ve been up all night mixing…<\/p>\n \n \n I’ve taken 4 different designs\u00a0and recorded how they all add harmonic distortion\/saturation in one way or another.\u00a0The\u00a0settings on each unit I chose based upon what I felt sounded right, rather than trying to emulate each other, as they’re all different designs.<\/p>\n There is no use of any EQ or compression so hopefully this will give an idea of what each unit could offer to your sessions. The files are a\u00a0variety of :<\/p>\n So…the weapons of choice :<\/p>\n \n Rupert Neve Designs 542 Tape Emulator – \u00a3629 inc vat<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"CLIPPED](\"https:\/\/www.kmraudio.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/CLIPPED-waveform.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWhat Are Odd-Order And Even-Order Harmonics?<\/h2>\n
So How Does It Sound?<\/h2>\n
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