When talking about "distortion," we often throw it into one of two buckets: an undesirable quality squashed as low as possible to impress fastidious audio engineers, or a revered sound transmutation that imparts mythical qualities to otherwise drab sounds. How can it be that these are the same animal?

This talk provides practical understanding for audio engineers, enthusiasts, and programmers of the two most fundamental types of audio distortion: harmonic and intermodulation. You'll learn what these distortions are and how they relate to basic math, dispel some common myths, better understand measurements, and gain conceptual tools to push your sound in new directions.