Distortion: The Ultimate Electric Guitar Effect

The electric guitar has the ability to produce clean harmonic sounds and beautiful, warm melodies. However, there is no guitar effect as powerful as distortion.

For newbies, distortion is an effect produced by increasing the amplifier gain setting to a high level. The result is a crunchy, cutting sound.

On the lower, heavier gauge strings, such as the low "E" string, distortion produces a "chugging" sound that resembles a deep growl or bark. This type of sound is commonly used in rhythm guitar.

On higher strings, such as the "B" string, distortion creates a "whining" or "crying" sound which makes a perfect effect for lead guitar.

I recommend you play around with some different distortion guitar pedals, such as the Boss Metal Zone. Screw around with the settings and find out what works for you. If you don't want something so intense, feel free to simply increase the gain setting on your amp. The effect works best when the treble and bass are high and the mid-tones are low.

Enjoy!

--
Ty Lombardi
Ty@ElectricGuitarBlog.com
www.ElectricGuitarBlog.com
Distortion Guitar Effect

Chorus Effect

Hey,

Tonight I was playing along with with a delay/chorus combo effect on my electric guitar. I put the delay to about 400 ms, with a 75% volume level, and combined that with a standard chorus at 20% max speed with a 60% volume level.

When combined with a high gain, compressed amp, the result was amazing! I was able to make the guitar cry for well over an hour to a beat that I created earlier today. The beat is a mid-pace rock/hip-hop combo percussion loop. I made it on Sony Acid Pro. I also put a reverb effect on the snare drum to really give depth to the overall sound.

I will be experimenting some more with many other new effects in the nearby future, so check back for some great recommendations on settings that you can use on your electric guitar.

Later guys.

--
Ty Lombardi
Ty@ElectricGuitarBlog.com
www.ElectricGuitarBlog.com
Guitar Chorus Effect

Fear Factory Rocks!

Hey guys,

I wanted to talk a little bit about a band that I recently rediscovered, Fear Factory. I used to listen to these guys about eight years ago, and when I was listening to Pandora the other day, the song "Shock" from their Obsolete album came on.

I find their aggressive style to be incredibly influential when I draw evil art for RottenToons.com. I am very impressed by their timing. On their Obsolete and Archetype albums, they do a lot of "running" or "chugging" on the bottom string. This sound creates a train effect, where the music is constantly moving with abrupt changes at random times.

The vocals are great. The guy can produce these powerful death growls that are so strong they make me want to destroy Innocent property! I also like how he sings as well to produce a melodic sound above all the low-pitch chaos.

The double bass drum is awesome. This guy really knows how to make that sucker rumble. I love how the guitar fits into place with the double bass.

Overall, these guys are great. I encourage you guys to check them out if you are into death metal music. They also make a great background music for games such as Counter-Strike!

See ya.

--
Ty Lombardi
Ty@ElectricGuitarBlog.com
www.ElectricGuitarBlog.com
Guitar Reviews, News, and Tutorials

Experimenting with the Digitech RP250

Hey guys,

I was experimenting with the Digitech RP 250 tonight and came up with some cool riffs. I put on a high gain heavy metal amplifier setting, and then set the special effects to what is called "IPS". Basically, IPS allows you to choose which key you want to play in, and it produces a note in the same key only further up in the scale. The produced note is played at the same time as the note you are playing. The result is a great harmony effect.

I threw on some delay and cranked up the bass and let that sucker roar! It's amazing how much shit you can come up with just from screwin' around. In my opinion, the best things in life are created from experimenting with new things. In this case, it was the first time that I really gave much time to the IPS effect.

I created a great drum beat using Sony Acid Pro 6. I'm going to use it when I record a song tomorrow. I am going to take the drumbeat, which is a calm rock beat at 120 BPM, and I am going to place a warm acoustic melody over it. The melody will consist of a four part chord progression, with only two notes of each chord plucked.

As the melody repeats, I am going to put a heavy gain guitar with delay on top of the acoustic guitar. This will produce the effect that the distorted guitar is in the background, and the acoustic guitar is in the front ground. However, I may swap the two, and put the acoustic guitar in the background with the distorted guitar in the front. Or, I may just stick them both in the background. It really depends on the mood that I'm feeling at the time. Creativity is a very controlling thing!

On another note, I realize that I haven't been updating this guitar blog lately. Therefore, I gotta get to it! In the meantime, check out my brand new cartoon logo website. There's a lot of great stuff on there and feel free to order a design if you are interested.

Later.

--
Ty Lombardi
Ty@ElectricGuitarBlog.com
www.ElectricGuitarBlog.com