Jax, it's true there is distortion on hitting the mics and
more from there on. So your rationale is, there is already plenty of distortion
so let's cake as much more on as possible?
If that's what floats your boat, sure. I don't think I'd call it "
distortion" because of the negative connotation I think you are taking
advantage of to argue against it. Sure it is that by definition, but then so is
the actual recording.
You are heaping it on whether you like it or not just by playing it on your
system in your room. It will ALWAYS be distorted in some way, there is no
way around it. And ultimately, and perhaps most to the point, it doesn't
matter one wit!
The "Painter" metaphor just doesn't work for me because there is
a difference between "art" and "craft". The sound
engineer is a craftsman (IMO of course), the performers/songwriters are the
"artists". Yes, you could argue the contrary since the engineer
does indeed interpret the music, but for me I'd make the distinction that way.
The metaphor also doesn't work for me partly because music is temporal, it is
not an object. It takes up time as opposed to space. The painting is an
object that takes up space. In the case of a painting it is appreciated by a
different sense (vision) altogether than music is (aural). It is apples to
oranges.
Marco