pjw, yes, i recall that discussion in this thread just recently. Each of those three descriptions has a different connotation for me:
Thick: rich, warm, beefy
Husky: thick with some raspiness added (kudos to frogman)Gruff: thick or husky with harshness/attitude added
For me, "gruff" crosses over into attitude and connotes a bit of unfriendliness or "pissed-offedness" (as in "he was gruff with me"), so I'm hesitant to use it unless I believe the player is intentionally expressing that (which they sometimes do). Thick and husky apply to sound. Gruff brings in mood. But that's just me.
What we each think of when we hear these terms is going to differ. That's one of the cool things about humans trying to describe the characteristics of musical sounds using words. YouTube certainly helps us better understand each others' vocabulary. Plus I can listen to all these tracks while writing posts!
Thick: rich, warm, beefy
Husky: thick with some raspiness added (kudos to frogman)Gruff: thick or husky with harshness/attitude added
For me, "gruff" crosses over into attitude and connotes a bit of unfriendliness or "pissed-offedness" (as in "he was gruff with me"), so I'm hesitant to use it unless I believe the player is intentionally expressing that (which they sometimes do). Thick and husky apply to sound. Gruff brings in mood. But that's just me.
What we each think of when we hear these terms is going to differ. That's one of the cool things about humans trying to describe the characteristics of musical sounds using words. YouTube certainly helps us better understand each others' vocabulary. Plus I can listen to all these tracks while writing posts!