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→Applied to Guitar
Distortion also tends to emphasize overtones. The most basic method of distortion is clipping, where the peaks of the waves are "cut-off" or flattened. If the guitar signal is a sine wave, it becomes clear to see that the greater the clipping that occurs, the more the signal resembles a square wave, which we know has high levels of overtones.
== Applied to Synthesizers ==
Synths can often start by synthesizing different waveforms such as triangle or square waves. These waveforms can be viewed as a composite of infinite number of sine waves along the fundamental frequency's harmonic series, with different relative volumes. For instance, a triangle wave's overtones appear to be less and less prominent as frequency and harmonic order increase, while a square wave has infinite overtones of equal volume.
Synths often have ''resonance'' and ''cutoff'' controls - these simply control a [[EQ_or_Filters#Common EQ's|low-pass filter]]. The cutoff control changes the cutoff frequency, reducing overtones beyond that point. Resonance affects the resonance at the cutoff frequency, possibly boosting overtones near the cutoff frequency relative to the fundamental. These controls are often automated or manipulated gradually over a repeated riff or progression to make it more interesting and/or to build energy into the next section.
[[Category: Sound]]
[[Category: Overtones]]
[[Category: Distortion]]