Ridiculous Ways To Describe Tone

[Gravedigger Dav]

I like a big, round fat tone with teeth. Seems sound men understand this because I usually get it.

 

[Snaxster]

Oh, and there is this, too:

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That is a copy of a piece attributed to Brian Eno, first published in Details magazine in 1992. I've been recommending it to musicians for years.

 

[mastertemps]

"Rhino farting in a trash can"

I remember reading this on some site about ZZ Top and thinking "This is EXACTLY what I want to sound like." I don't think this falls into the "ridiculous" category though. I think it is awesome.

Dusty was quoted as saying: "My sound is big, heavy, and a bit distorted because it has to overlap the guitar. Someone once asked me to describe my tone, and I said it was like a rhino farting in a trash can. What I meant is it's raw, but you've got to have the tone in there."

Hahaha! That's very... specific. And hilarious.

Once heard a guy on YouTube describing the tubes of an SVT head as "a shot of caffeine in the morning."

These are all fantastic. Thanks TB for helping me keep my sanity at work.

 

[Humbled]

I like a big, round fat tone with teeth. Seems sound men understand this because I usually get it.

A yelled conversation during the last act of another fourteen hour day at a festival FOH desk...

Me: "How's it sound ?, I can't tell anymore..."

John Neiman: "Like Dolly Parton's boobies".

Me: Huh?

John: "Big and Round!"

 

[flameworker]

I'm still not sure what "boomy" means.

 

[zontar]

If it makes sense to me, I'll use it.

 

[gfen]

I am the wine snob you are referring to. it isn't pretentious to those who are passionate about wine.

Yes, it is.

if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.

it isn't pretentious

No, it is.

 

[Sbassman Scratch]

Why is tone never buttery or greasy? After all, if your bass "plays like butta" shouldn't it have an oleaginous* tone?

*oleaginous: snob term for greasy, for those who prefer a more sesquipedalian vocabulary

 

[DirtDog]

Kinda reminds me of the wine snobs describing wine. "I'm tasting some woodsy tones with a fruity nose and a floral finish" lol! So pretentious.

In those situations, I always open with "Hmmm, a hint of sarcasm with an ironic finish". No one can top that!

 

[HoboCop]

Man, now I gotta figure out how to get a greasy tone? Thanks a lot.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

Someone on here was selling a bass whose tone he described as "pillowy". Another person described the EQ on a particular amp as being very "musical" - as opposed to what?

In that context, "musical" is probably generally more or less a synonymy for "usable." In other words, the EQ points are probably in sweet spots that bassists tweak rather than other frequencies that usually don't require much doctoring, like 500hz.

Sometimes the more fancy word gets used. Keep in mind that the classified forums here are full of statements about how a piece of gear has never been on on a gig, but has just been kept in the seller's "studio." I suspect that in many cases that "studio" is just a euphemism for "my spare bedroom that I keep my gear in." But hey, it sounds like the room is more important than it is.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

Here's a comment about Geddy Lee's tone from the isloated bass track to Red Barchetta:

"It sounds like a brass-coated fart. I want to like it. I really do."

Now THAT is how you describe tone, folks.

On this intuitive level, I totally understand that descriptor. It is descriptive of those melodic passages that he plays at the beginning and end. They're really nasally with what is obviously a lot of preamp breakup.

 

[Camaro69]

My old guitarist called my tone "meaty"

Now is that like a T-bone, Spam, or a ham sandwich?

 

[jamro217]

I like 'Gank.' I get what it means but it's funny to me. Also 'Creamy,' 'Buttery' and 'Polite.'

"Gank" should be the model names for Rics. Instead of 4001, 4002, 4003, 4004... Gank 1, Gank 2, Gank 3... No, wait, maybe not, sounds like the robots in a cheap '50's sci fi movie.

 

[Son of Wobble]

Must say that the term "buttery" always makes me hungry...

 

[jamro217]

Somebody described their bass tone as "a grand piano through a Marshall." That is so easy to understand compared to
"buttery, ballsy" (sounds like a Thanksgiving turkey) "dark and foggy" (sounds like the opening of a Sherlock Holmes mystery) or bright and articulate (sounds like a third grade honor student's report card.)

 

[Son of Wobble]

"Gank" should be the model names for Rics. Instead of 4001, 4002, 4003, 4004... Gank 1, Gank 2, Gank 3... No, wait, maybe not, sounds like the robots in a cheap '50's sci fi movie.

'Gank' is a great bit of onomatopoeia.

on·o·mat·o·poe·ia
ˌänəˌmadəˈpēə,ˌänəˌmädəˈpēə/
noun
noun: onomatopoeia

1. the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle ).
   • the use of onomatopoeia for rhetorical effect.

 

[jamro217]

'Gank' is a great bit of onomatopoeia.

on·o·mat·o·poe·ia
ˌänəˌmadəˈpēə,ˌänəˌmädəˈpēə/
noun
noun: onomatopoeia

1. the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle ).
   • the use of onomatopoeia for rhetorical effect.

HA! Haven't heard that in years. Was that on "Hermit"?

 

[Son of Wobble]

HA! Haven't heard that in years. Was that on "Hermit"?

Yep, that's from Todd Rundgren's 1978 album "Hermit of Mink Hollow." I saw Todd promote the album at the Roxy in L.A. that same year.
I was fifteen and it was one of the first club gigs I saw on the Sunset Strip, which was a fantastic drive in the late 70's what with the hot pants- and platform shoe-wearing street life. Beep beep toot toot!

 

[Jim Nazium]

I was recently reading descriptions of some different pickups, and I thought of "tone mad libs":

These pickups feature ______ lows, ______ mids, and _____ highs.

Fill in any of the blanks with any of the following words: smooth, round, deep, tight, creamy, articulate, burnished, defined, thick, crisp, buttery, extended, rich, warm.