white noise distortion on guitar

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

White noise is the sound of all frequencies in the audible range having
the same intensity. Therefore, there can be no pitch content in white
noise. Having a guitar sound or distortion made up of white noise means
you would lose any sense of notes....it would just be pure noise
sounding exactly the same perhaps with some rhythmic variation.

That being said, perhaps you could mix in some white noise to the sound
of your guitar (already distorted or not). I guess this is the way
those white noise knobs on old synths work. Probably the easiest way to
do this would be to set up a white noise generator that is controlled by
a gate. The key input to the gate would be the guitar signal which
would only open the gate to the white noise when the guitar is playing.
You could mix the level of the white noise and the controls on the
gate to taste.

Cheers,
Trevor de Clercq

Dice_MAN wrote:
> Hi all I'm new of this newsgroup.
> I read your posts from a bit and i found them very interesting.
> I want to ask.. Do u know a way to obtain on guitar a distortion like white
> noise?
> A distortion similar to one produced from a synth, or a radio. I've heard of
> it on some Nine Inch Nails cds.
>
> Thank you bye!
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

that stuff you hear on NIN records is synth stuff added in. it's not
the guitar. Reznor has this dude that he works with to get his
processed sounds onto the album.

in fact the whole genre of "industrial rock" could be classified as
aggressive guitars and vocals with processed drums and keyboards/noises
mixed in.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

This is true.....that said, IMHO the closest you could get to that sound
with a single guitar effect is a fuzz box (not regular distortion), perhaps
with a "contour" or "phase" control. Good luck!

--

Jonny Durango

"Patrick was a saint. I ain't."

http://www.jdurango.com



<genericaudioperson@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112469121.960804.48270@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> that stuff you hear on NIN records is synth stuff added in. it's not
> the guitar. Reznor has this dude that he works with to get his
> processed sounds onto the album.
>
> in fact the whole genre of "industrial rock" could be classified as
> aggressive guitars and vocals with processed drums and keyboards/noises
> mixed in.
>

Just like fighting fire with fire, you can combat noise with noise. White noise, sound frequencies spread equally across a given bandwidth, can be used to block out everyday sounds.

If you use your guitar to generate white noise within a band context, the instrument would not be audible. It's frequencies would likely be canceled out.

The sound is NOT white noise, but I can see how you may be confused.
Preamps such as Big Muff, Distortion Plus, Fuzz Face, all produce this type of distortion from guitar. There are many available.