Distortion

An audio effect that changes a sound’s waveform by clipping or overdriving it, adding new harmonics that make it sound louder, grittier, warmer or more aggressive. It ranges from gentle saturation, which emulates the warmth of analogue tape and tubes, through overdrive and fuzz, to extreme bitcrushing, which reduces digital resolution for a lo-fi, crunchy texture. In electronic music, distortion helps bass lines cut through on small speakers, gives kick drums punch and is essential to the aggressive tones of genres such as brostep, hardstyle, industrial techno and big room. Producers often apply it in parallel or in several stages to control its intensity.