
Historical development, sound aesthetics and production techniques of the distorted electric guitar in metal music
The sound of the distorted electric guitar is particularly important for many metal music genres. It contributes to the music’s perception of heaviness, serves as a distinguishing marker, and is crucial for the power of productions. This article aims at extending the research
on the distorted metal guitar and on metal music production by combining both fields of interest. By the means of isolated guitar tracks of original metal recordings, ten tracks in each of the last five decades served as sample for a historical analysis of metal guitar aesthetics including
the aspects tuning, loudness, layering and spectral composition. Building upon this insight, an experimental analysis of 287 guitar recordings explored the effectiveness and effect of metal guitar production techniques. The article attempts to provide an empirical ground of the acoustics of
metal guitar production in order to extend the still rare practice-based research and metal-oriented production manuals.
Keywords: aesthetics; distortion; guitar; heaviness; history; production
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: Bielefeld University
Publication date: March 1, 2017
- Metal Music Studies is the journal of the International Society for Metal Music Studies.
The aims of the journal are:
• To provide an intellectual hub for the International Society of Metal Music Studies and a vehicle to promote the development of metal music studies;
• To be the focus for research and theory in metal music studies – a multidisciplinary (and interdisciplinary) subject field that engages with a range of parent disciplines, including (but not limited to) sociology, musicology, humanities, cultural studies, geography, philosophy, psychology, history, natural sciences;
• To publish high-quality, world-class research, theory and shorter articles that cross over from the industry and the scene;
• To be a world leader in interdisciplinary studies and be a unique resource for metal music studies. - Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- Intellect Books page
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content