Archive for June 23rd, 2010
These days, distortion is considered a fundamental part of rock music, basically the complement to a catchy pop hook. But in rock’s formative years, people considered dissonance to be a sign of musical weakness. It was all about the purity of pop songs and the technical virtuosity of jazz standards. Before long, however, musicians discovered that they could make a whole new range of interesting noises with the help of guitar amplifiers.
More than just a way to amplify sound, the amp can be used for creative purposes as well. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, the Irish shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine pushed the boundaries of what rock music could sound like. By implementing effects pedals, amplifier feedback and offbeat tunings, they cranked out sounds that might have originated in a whole different universe.