Distorted Reverb

Distorted Reverb

Now here's a technique I've stumbled across.

I don't know if others have found it before. They probably have. I don't claim to be the first. It seems to work best for sounds like acoustic guitars.

Here's the scenario:

Let's say you have an acoustic guitar sound. It's too clean. You want to add some distortion. But if you do, no matter how little you add it stops sounding like an acoustic guitar and starts sounding like metallica unplugged.

How do you keep that acoustic bite and vitality and yet add some body and warmth?

Well here's my idea:

1. Set up an FX send in your favourite DAW.
2. In the first slot, put a high pass and low pass filter and filter the hell out of the send. This is important. Possibly key to this process. You don't want any low or high end.
3. In the second slot put a distortion plug in. I like to use the amazing and under used QuadraFuzz by Craig Anderton, because it allows so much control, but i'm sure you guitarist folks have your own opinions.
4. In the third slot place your crisp reverb of choice.

Now you can make your acoustic guitar sound loud and proud whilst adding a bit of dirt and grit to only the reverb.
I'm not a guitarist. But this method seems to offer a great level of control over subtle distortion effects.

If done right it leaves the original sound and wraps it in a blanket of warm and fuzzy 'verb.

QuadraFuzz download from Steinberg ftp server

QuadraFuzz v1.0.1 update download from Steinberg ftp server