Anything can be a distortion pedal...
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2023
- The song I made can be found here: manwomanchild.bandcamp.com/tr...
Support what I do on Patreon: / dhilowitz
Find my FILM & INSTRUMENTAL music here: davidhilowitz.bandcamp.com
Find my ROCK MUSIC here: manwomanchild.bandcamp.com
Never has an origin story made more sense to me.
ong
i was just about to comment this, right when i saw the pickups with the ductape all his other videos made so much more sense and i could see how it all started haha
literallyyyyy
extremely evocative of spider-man's spider of random chance
An ad for the new exorcist movie came on before the video and my knee-jerk reaction to your comment was that you were a fan of the franchise.
“Anything can be a distortion pedal”
*runs to toaster*
It can really distort a warm bath
A toaster is basically already a distortion pedal for bread. Soft, boring thing goes in, Awesome, crunchy things comes out.
It's been 3 days. Someone should do a wellness check.
@@bluechalk6275 I did it
@@tomney4460how did it sound?
building an electric guitar setup from old scraps. Now that's Rock'n'Roll.
and punk too (:
And metal 🤘
@@MetalKeith666 i think, metal is far too gear oriented. like, you have to have humbuckers and only in brigde position, you have to have a tight boosted hi gain amp, you have to use jumbo frets to shred like dime, etc.. Metal loves Subgenres. If you wanna sound like death metal, your sound has not much room to wiggle. The guitar tone defines Metal and separates it from rock in all its own subgenres.
@@antares4975 yes, but i love metal i dont care about these things
@@MetalKeith666 i love metal too, i'm just saying it is different than this
This guy straight up builds his own electric guitar at age 12. Respect
the guy finds anything in trash and it works perfectly fine. that's some LUCK
Almost sounds like destiny
@@kotbayun2207 And with strings it's not meant to handle.
Its almost impossible because you have to make a jack input and connect it to pickup with hardware. Idk how he did or if its real but its not that simple bruv
@@Kasikerim that's not that difficult, since you can often just put the pick up in the sound hole, and if you do want the input to be on the side, it's pretty simple to drill a hole, get the components in, screw it in, and then put the strings on.
i did a similar thing with a Hello Kitty karaoke machine when I was a kid. I had a cheap squier tele and no amp so i plugged the guitar into this hot pink Hello Kitty karaoke machine i bought at goodwill for a few dollars. The cool thing about that machine was that it had a quarter inch input rather than just some built in wired mic. Also, there was an "Echo" knob which sounded amazing.
Yup, we had a karaoke machine as well, that was like a cheapie CD/DVD player, with some discs with lyrics. It had an echo knob as well. I actually recorded some stuff onto a bookshelf system that you could stack up to 4 tracks by bouncing tape to tape, backing down on the input level on each pass. You could go further, but it was reasonably listenable after 4 passes, but more than that it was mush. 😁
Holy shit I’m not the only one lol.
I’ve used TWO karaoke machines so far, mainly as a bigger speaker for my orange crush mini.
The second karaoke machine has several effects, and I can get a pretty cool chug sound if I pair it with the crush mini
do you still have it? that’d be cool to see again
I HAD THE SAME ONE AND DID THE EXACT SAME THING. AND THAT ECHO SERIOUSLY IS THE DHIT
I had the same things as a kid and did the SAME exact thing lmao. And the echo really was a good reverb/delay substitute
as far as I know, this is similar to how the band Neutral Milk Hotel got that guitar sound on their albums, particularly the song Holland 1945 from In The aeroplane Over The Sea. They didn't use any traditional pedals, and instead just recorded an acoustic, overloaded the pre-amps and plugged straight into the mixer - and it sounds amazing. It's a great technique and I think it has such a unique sound, especially when used with an acoustic!
I think that's a big part of Jeff's tone. A combination of pre amp clipping and tape saturation. When he was performing live, I think he used a Soviet big muff and it got pretty close.
yeah, a green russian to be precise. Really unique sound. Think he used some sort of pedal (possibly the green russian big muff) to record avery island but I could be wrong.@@jeraldjoyce2995
The rolling stones did a similar thing, but way more subtle lol
Also the band, The Microphones!
on the single version of revolution, the beatles did a similar thing. just with an electric instead
Your endless tinkerings never fail to astound me. You've got such a musically creative brain, you're a younger Les Paul.
Big love, Mr Hilowitz ❤
Ah, thanks! Glad you’ve been enjoying the videos
hey btw, that song you played in combination with both devices, is it an actual existing song and if yes can you give me the name and if no, can you upload a full version? :D@@DavidHilowitzMusic
@@zeandro6403It's Tropical Storm by Manwomanchild! (Dave's band) It's on his bandcamp and there's a link in the description.
4:15 that one chord brings back late 2022 flashbacks 💀
I think it's better to call Saul
S'all good, man
skibidi lawyer moment
I had kind of a similar story. When I was 11, I was given a beat up 1960's Teisco electric guitar with no amplifier. I had a couple of random pieces of stereo equipment that I used as an amp, and eventually discovered distortion when I fed the output of one amp into the input of another. It sounded pretty gnarly, but I loved it!
We would get quarter inch input cable with RCA jacks plug into the back of a stereo if you use the phono input you can overdrive the circuit and get that tone
Ok that’s cool and all, but can it run doom?
underated comment
Your asking all the right questions 😂
Hah
The answer is always yes
it must doom or it must die... then doom.
Genuinely thought you were gonna start playing the Better Call Saul theme at 4:15. Nifty tape deck honestly! Always really liked the look of mid 1970s tech.
the A chord will never be the same again.
was looking for this comment
@@GarrionOne same
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THAT
Same here
One thing this video taught me is that you were more musically innovative at the age of 12 then anyone else I know at any age. Well done Sir.
The record/playback on that 45+ year old tape deck is EXCELLENT. Especially give its age.
Fun fact, the area under both curves on the distorted waveform is (almost) the same, the height is very different (which is part of what makes the sound interesting) but so is the phase of the zero-point and that kinda cancels out
:) one thing I love about your videos is not just your excellent musical knowledge... it's your masterful storytelling. Thanks for another great video.
Thanks! So glad you been enjoying them
Lovely recollection; I’m envisioning a story 40 years from now where someone describes finding an abandoned Ableton Push in an alleyway as a kid and that’s what started it for them.
but it's an acoustic ableton push, and they have to find some way to distort its output
i got my first ableton license from a friend i met at a concert, and found a push 2 used at guitar center for half price, sold it back to ableton for 200 more than i paid on a trade in for push 3
If you have a cassette deck without a mic input you can wire a 3/4" jack to the tape head and get the same result. And if you have a cassette walkman you can do the same, then use the headphone out to go to an amp and you got yourself a distortion pedal 😁
This is great, man. I love that the tone took you straight away to something pretty early-Weezer-y. That's where my brain immediately went too!
I totally got old rivers cuomo demos from this! Like something from the alone comps
rivers said himself that he used no pedals in the recording of blue album!
my brain went straight there too:D
That classical electric guitar thing was so cool!
Dude has been finding stuff in the trash since he was a kid, and made a career out of it! What an inspiration! Another reminder that real artists don't come from money. Art is borne out of need and wanting; it comes from longing. You can make a hell of a lot more with a little or nothing than if you had everything!
Okay, how much stuff do you find in the trash?
If you go around looking for stuff in the trash you make some incredible finds! I have a piece of furniture I use for my gear. My keyboard to be specific
so, so much…tape recorders, stereo systems, instruments. it’s one of the real benefits of living in a city
Yeah, I’m I’m always looking through garbage, and never find anything so useful.
@@KingfisherTalkingPictures same here, it's not always how you want it. :C
Put your request out to the universe, and you'll be surprised what turns up..( but yeah, being in a city helps).
Everytime I watch one of your videos I am blown away with how aesthetically pleasing, curiousity driven, inspiring, and simple (the best kind of simple) they are. The videos really, at least it seems to me, are a piece of your mind/creativeness that you have tapped into so incredibely well. Thank you for doing what you do and inspiring myslef and others!
This video has nostalgia, passion and talent written all over it. Amazing!
That combo sounded so good. I would love to have THAT in a pedal.
At least that sounded relatively decent...
My first "guitar amp" was also a radio shack stereo amp 😅 when I finally got a proper amp, it was just a head and we built a cab with old car speakers.
I think these kinds of experiences are actually really beneficial because you learn a lot along the way, and it creates a lot of extra creative pathways in your brain instead of getting railroaded along the "proper" track
Hey! Your story is imcredible and interesting! I am from Czechia and in/on every video I must have turn on subtitles to understand what anybody says but you are the first person which I understand without turn on subtitles - I enjoyed your video like as if I watched it in my native language. Thank you for made my day!
I can relate to this. When I was a kid I had just enough money to buy a 2nd hand guitar, but not enough for also an amp. So I ran the guitar through some weird record player preamp into the stereo. It sounded about the same.
Better Call Saul is at 4:14
I thought I was insane
It's crazy how good both distortions sound!
The story part of this is very rock and roll. You knew what kind of sound you wanted, then did the experimentation to invent it for yourself. There's something really wonderful about that entire approach to music-making and to life in general.
I'm mainly a percussionist. Anything that can resonate is a percussion instrument. Not gonna tell my poor-boy story, but if you know you're a musician at heart and you don't have a lot of money to spend on stuff, you find ways to make your music anyway.
Great song too.
I love everything about this.
I'm back to watch this again. I got all the how-to the first time I watched...but I like the story.
fun fact shoegaze artist astrobrite use this exact same method to achieve distortion on his recordings
this is one of my favorite channels on the entirety of UA-cam! always enjoy your videos David!
Yeah! Another great video, David. Fantastic synthesis of your memories, interests, and skills. And that song! Thank you.
That was wonderful. Great content, no waffle or timewasting and really well edited and presented.
Well done sir!
I looks forward to your uploads and you never disappoint. You’ve taught me a lot and I appreciate it!!!!! Keep up the excellent content.
The tone from the acoustic with the pickup and the preamp is awesome
people like you are such an inspiration
I really felt like I was supposed to make music like a formula to get success but people like you showed me there is sooo much freedom to music.
Who cares if my music will be listened by 10 people at a peak as long as it was fun and I poured in my soul?
Gear like this is so unconventional but sounds damn great. I love it.
This is awesome! Ever since I was a kid I've always loved messing around with abandoned gear and experimenting with how it can be used 😁
Another blissful moment with David. Love it ❤
Especially if you plug whatever preamp you have, into a tube amp, it sounds killer.
I found a free VCR with mic inputs, cranked the gain and plugged it into a vibroverb, it sounded like a very badass fuzz.
4:14 this chord has been ruined forever for me
Same lol, I thought he was gonna play it
NOOOO
Not only are you a fantastic musician but you're a fantastic storyteller. Every single video you make has me lost in your world and I love every chance I get to visit!
Your videos are so inspiring , educative and fun to watch! Keep up the good work! 👏
Keith Richards used a Phillips cassette recorder on the tracks "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Street Fighting Man". But instead of directly plugging in an electric guitar, he recorded his acoustic guitar (most likely his Gibson Hummingbird) with the included mic and then cranked up the volume
Keith Richards said he used his cassette recorder on "Street Fighting Man" because that was all he had at that moment. His acoustic would not have sounded as wild and rebellious had he used the "right" equipment. It was the perfect tone for that song.
My early guitar journey was very similar.
First guitar was an old Eko acoustic that my father found in a skip. I don’t remember what happened to it, but it’s no longer in my possession.
My first electric was a Fender Tele that got traded for a step exercises machine, that I originally paid £10 for.
I didn’t have an amp, of course, but saw that the old 70s tape deck my parents had, had a mic input, and it gave the exact distortion tone you speak of.
At the time, it sounded amazing to my ears.
as a guitar player, audio lover, and electrical engineering student, this is beyond awesome
Instead of a pickup, I used a speaker from a musical card (it was popular back in the day), and to get a distorted sound, I connected it directly to the tape pickup input of my player. Sounded crazy!
This tape deck tone is ridiculous! Nice work man - looking forward to what's next!
Dude building a guitar AND setup from trash has got to be one of the most punk things i've ever heard of
My favourite artist of all time, Phil Elverum, always used a tape deck as his distortion to achieve this crazy abrasive tone, you can hear it on the song "The Glow, Pt. 2" really well
Love what you do! Great video as always
The bass sounds awesome. Appreciate you sharing your innovations
As a non musician, I find your videos thoroughly entertaining and very well produced! Cheers!
Your rock-oriented videos are always my favorite to watch. I've been holding on getting cheap analog trinkets to complement my in-the-box setup, but I wouldn't have the space and time to take care of them (apartment living obstacle)
i love your music stuff/experiments
Fun fact: One of the earliest songs to use heavy distortion, "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks, was created by physically slashing the speaker cone with a straight razor. Distortion pedals were invented at least in part to stop people having to damage their equipment to get that sound.
Listen to the guitar solo from I’m Gonna murder my Baby from 1954 it’s the first
Awesome video! My experience was similar, my parents gave me a guitar but no amp or pedals. So I would plug it in the mic input of the stereo. For extra distortion I would take the output and plug it back into the other mic input, making the signal run twice through the preamp. Playing with the balance knob would give extra weirdness!
I can definitely appreciate the origin story in the struggle thereof. I wish more musically based charities were easier accessible to people who have that need to create. Cool track too.
Gosh this was really beautiful... well done!
That's real passion. I somewhat can relate to that story.
When i was 15 and got my hands on a used Strat copy, i at first had no amp.
My Granny's sorted out Tuberadio worked great for that purpose.
I used the Phono Input, some old guy gave me that hint.
Still remembering how i was, by try and error, sticking some wires in the holes of that input jack.
During lockdown i restored that guitar and the Radio is still here.
I just wouldn't run it anymore, the thing was built in the 1960s.
Love your vids!
David you must have been the most resourceful 12 year old kid. I really enjoyed watching this video. Really goes to show that expensive gear isn't everything. Creativity is much more important!
Thanks for sharing your journey and passion with us. You are one of the true artists out there. Keep the dream alive, man.
i get major early 2000s/ late 1990s vibes from the song, reminds me alot of what I would hear my dad play on the radio
Todas las grabaciones de bandas de rock en los 60s y 70s en Argentina de hicieron enchufando la guitarra directo a pequeños grabadores de cinta, era la única manera de conseguir distorsión porque no se podía importar amplificadores o pedales de guitarra. Manal, Almendra, Pappo's Blues, Los Gatos ❤
Interesante! Siempre me pregunté cómo lograban distorsionar en esa época de escasez.
@@miguelhinojosa5594 lo más popular era el grabador valvular Geloso g 257, Creo que para Artaud de Pescado Rabioso se usó un grabador National
@@pulpero666 buenísimo. Pescado es de mis preferidas de las bandas del flaco. Me vuela la cabeza lo genio que fue haciendo tanto con tan pocos recursos. Saludos desde Cuba 🙌
Все що ви робите, пане - це неймовірно.
Дякую вам
Love these videos of yours
This is great! Truly inspired now.
7:16 I was hoping you would combine them in series (as in, in one signal path to a single track); that could be interesting and way crazier than layering the two tracks as you did.
Btw, the tone of your childhood acoustic through the record player preamp was AWESOME! I want that now haha:D bangin lofi punk tone
For better distortion testing or anything saturation related, when plugging your distortion-device in to the amp, try plugging into the fx return (if your amp got one). That way you skip the preamp of the amplifier.
Edit: this way you can connect anything with a preamp built into, in to the amp. I do it with my acoustic instruments as I don’t have a dedicated amp for them
Very inspiring. Thank you.
I did experiments like that all the time as a teen, you brought back some fun memories with this video. My first "four track recorder" was made with two stereo cassette decks and one of those Realistic mixers.
This channel is one of the pearls of UA-cam. You combine science, experimentation and emotional stories, aka. The formula of really good stuff!
Can my toaster be a distortion pedal?
I absolutely love your videos and stories!
Beautiful!
This sounds great! And I love how the sound is produced. There's always something special to these kinds of approach.
I always try to use the tools on my disposal "the wrong way" because it gives different results. In my case it means VST's, but I like to tinker with those.
Putting drums through Amp SIms and whatnot. Many times the sound comes out kinda "basement" but I don't care as long as I like it.
*It's called an Electric acoustic Guitar*
That distortion from the mic preamp was so good. Idk if it was the editing you did on this video but it sounded very rich and smooth.
Thanks for the video, it's the second I watched now. Really interesting, with your sound experiments and the lesson's in sounds. And I like the music, also. Thank you!
This is why expensive effects pedals are actually a scam. They cost nothing to make and are extremely basic circuits with a lot of marketing behind them.
@@return2sender791thank you
@@return2sender791 Can confirm. A Fuzz Face shouldn't cost as much as it does but try and make an analog double chorus like a Liquifier and you quickly realize why they cost as much as they do. Also someone had to come up with the circuit in the first place.
That is SO COOL!
I have a similar story
I don't quite remember what it was but I remember having this radio-like device that I ended up discovering produced a BEAUTIFUL crunchy sound, nostalgic!
Subscribed before I even watched the video. I am so inspired!! Thank you!!!!
6 lines and 30 seconds @7:30 - @8:00 and now I'm addicted to your music.
I feel lucky I was suggested this video
Love your vocals!!!
Mind Blown!
Love the vid. I really dig your signing voice and the tune at the end!
That's fire honestly, huge respect!! ✨
So inspiring!
The bass running through the mixer sounded really cool
Very interesting! Thank you so much!
This is a quality content. Short. Interesting. Nothing too much. Good story telling. Thank You!
Love your inquisite mindset. We all may enjoy the fruit of this musical journey, thanks.
What a fascinating video, I loved hearing how you got into guitar - and that tape recorder gave a very cool distortion. Fun how you ended up with an Eels/Weezer style song too.
Wonderful video! Love the story, the sound and the song :) 👏
Educational, inspiring and moving. Thank you.
David, I can relate to (almost) every video you make ! Never stop making those...
Amazing film under 10 mins. Got so much from that thanks.
Great stuff made by an incredible person is a treat to watch everytime 👍✌️🙌
This is inspirational! Will try it with Dad's old stereo, Mam's old record player and 2 old tape recorders I've kept all these years👍