Effects chain:

[PART ... FX:INSA, FX:INSB] --> [BUSSED (ANY PART) FX:REVERB, FX:VARIATION] --> [MASTER (ALL PARTS)]

So if the distortion is available at a different level you could put it there.  I'm not sure it would change much - but you can give it a shot. 

I think since every drawbar has a different element maybe you're "overdriving" on the front end just due to how All 9 Bars! is constructed.  There are plenty of organs that are sampled and don't use so many elements to create an organ.  All 9 Bars! has the "benefit" of simulating drawbars where most of the other organs are a snapshot of the drawbars (percussion, chorus, etc) at a certain setting.   

The other idea would be to put a compressor before distortion so when you hold down multiple keys the signal doesn't get louder.

All 9 Bars! on the MODX + Delay + Distortion effects got me there to 90%, the only thing that still doesn't really work out though is that if I play chords (multiple keys at once, which Powers most likely does during that part), the distortion gets worse / adds up.

On the Montage M8X the 'All 9 Bars!' performance has two parts and both of them use a Multi-FX Distortion effect for InsB and send ALL of their elements thru that effect. That means each key will have distortion applied to it individually.

It also uses a compressor as a master effect - which is after the insert effects have done their thing.

You might try changing InsB to 'thru' to hear what it sounds like without any distortion effect at all and then work from there.

Without knowing specifically what TNAF did,  I'd look at from a different perspective. 

Overdrive and Distortion FX basically add dispersed "Harmonics" to the original spectrum of whatever signal is being input. 

In an Organ,  apart from the Fundamental,  the Draw Bars are adding specific Harmonics (Sine Waves) under and over the fundamental.  The Volume of each of those additional Harmonics depends on the DrawBar's Level setting.

Picture this... 

With just the Fundamental DrawBar open,  then playing 1 Key is playing 1 Note.

With all the Drawbars open,  playing 1 Key is playing 9 Notes.

Playing a basic 3 Note Triad, with all Drawbars open is playing 3x9 = 27 Notes.

If that 3 Note Triad is fed into an Overdrive or Distortion Effect,  then each of those 27 Notes will generate its own additional Harmonics. 

What you are likely going to have output is a "Harmonic Soup"... aka "Harmonic Saturation" or just "Saturation".  

Although the Soup may "taste nice",   it's hard to taste its individual ingredients separately.  

"Saturation" has another side-effect... Compression.  Adding more Distortion,  does not increase volume,  and therefore distinct Note Attacks and Decay "get lost" in the soup.  Adding more distortion only adds more Harmonics, and therefore increases Saturation. 

As an analogy with Guitars.  There are a maximum of 6 Strings, therefore a maximum of 6 simultaneous Notes.

"Fuzz Pedals" are generally regarded as the most "aggressive" Distortion Type. They immediately "saturate" when fed a normal level guitar signal. 

With a Fuzz,  if a Guitarist is playing "Single Notes",  in a Riff or a Solo Lead,  then the Fuzz can sound very good. It offers the Guitarist a much thicker "singing voice" than he'd normally have available.  It also offers a lot more sustain due to the Compression.  The Guitar can begin to sound more like a "Violin" or "Cello". (trivia -  Fuzz was originally marketed as sounding like Trumpet).

The problem with Fuzz,  is that as soon as a Guitarist starts trying to play Chords, it can suddenly turn into a nasty sounding mess (although some do like that chaotic sound).

To combat this, a Guitarist will turn down the Volume Knob on his guitar,  then some semblance of "normality" will return to the Guitarist's Chordal Rhythm playing.  

Turning down the Guitar Volume (i.e. the Input Signal Volume) restores clarity,  and what we guitarist's describe as "Note Separation".  We can hear each individual Note in the Chord. 

With a Fuzz Pedal,  turning down the "Drive" or "Gain" doesn't really achieve any "clarity", it only alters the level of Saturation.  The Gain of a Fuzz circuit is so High,  that even when turned down, it is still very High.   The only way to "clean up" the Mess, is to turn down the Input Volume.  As it happens, Fuzz Pedals (Fuzz Amplifier Circuits) respond very well to the Input Level.  They are "Input Sensitive". 

This is a classic example, from within a musical subject/science that is widely known as "Gain Staging".  You can Google that term, and learn more about it on the Web. 

In your case,  what I would be tempted to do is Reduce The Input Level of the Elements going into the Insert FX Overdrive/Distortion. Either reduce All the Elements/Drawbars,  or just reduce certain Elements/Drawbars. 

At least this needs to be a factor in trying to sculpt the Tone you seek, and not just altering the Effect Parameters, or the Effect Type itself.

There's another Quality of Distortion you should watch out for to help your search. 

You may hear Distortion being described as "Rough and Coarse" vs "Smooth and Creamy".  Very often that is a characteristic that emanates from the circuit design of the Effect (or Amplifier). You'll hear terms like "Symmetrical" vs "Assymetrical" Distortion,  or "Hard Clipping" vs "Soft Clipping"  to describe the distortion circuit behaviour. 

What's important is that you recognise the difference in "texture" as this can often be key in achieving the sound your after.  

Good luck finding your tone. 

• You may hear Distortion being described as "Rough and Coarse" vs "Smooth and Creamy".  Very often that is a characteristic that emanates from the circuit design of the Effect (or Amplifier). You'll hear terms like "Symmetrical" vs "Assymetrical" Distortion,  or "Hard Clipping" vs "Soft Clipping"  to describe the distortion circuit behaviour.

In the meantime I've almost given up on my attempt, or at least I've given up for now as I came to the conclusion none of the samples / distortion effects seem to really come close to the really crunchy / dirty and electric distortion texture heard in Girls Like You.

Your suggestion from above gave me a bit more hope though... Thanks for pointing this out. I'll do some research of my own.

It's hard to accurately describe a song with words alone, so could you perhaps take a listen to the last few minutes of the track? The guitars begin much sooner, but from 4:00 onwards there are no longer any vocals present and you can hear the "lead out" guitars very clearly.

I would post links to YouTube if I could, as I cannot due to forum restrictions you'll have to Google the title ("The Naked And Famous – Girls Like You") yourself unfortunately...

If you could give it a quick listen and report back what kind of terms I could look for to archive that specific distortion / how / if it's possible to create it on the MODX *somehow*, then I'd be REALLY grateful to you.

Thanks!

Posted by: 90110n

↑

If you could give it a quick listen and report back what kind of terms I could look for to archive that specific distortion / how / if it's possible to create it on the MODX *somehow*, then I'd be REALLY grateful to you.

I'm guessing its the "Album Version".

What I hear is either "Fuzz" or "Big Muff" style Distortion. I also hear what sounds like a Rotating Speaker Effect.

On the MODX, Insert FX you may want to look at:-

Amp Simulator 1 -->> Type: Distortion 1, Distortion 2 or Fuzz

Comp Distortion Delay  -->> As previous

US High Gain --> Experiment. This will likely be a "Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier" type Amp Sim.

British Lead --> Experiment. This will likely be a "Marshall JCM800" type Amp Sim. 

I suspect TNAF will have used external Pedal FX... thousands to choose from, so hard to nail. 

You could try watching YouTube demos on variants of  "Fuzz Face",  "Big Muff", "ToneBender", "Rangemaster", "PowerBooster". (Fuzz Effects).

Distortion:-  Proco RAT, Boss DS1, Boss HM2, Boss MT2. 

The Rotary sim on the MODX is pretty good.  Without buying a real Leslie Cab, you can also have a look at the Boss RT-20,  Strymon Lex or the Dawner Prince Pulse. 

Summary...

Organ Type --> Fuzz Type --> Rotary Type.

I would post links to YouTube if I could

Just disguise it so it isn't an active link - add extra characters as needed such as a hyphen between each character

-h-t-t-p-s-:-/-/-y-o-u-t-u-.-b-e-/-B-p-x-X-I-K-H-V-a-O-E-?-t-=-2-3-2

Just an afterthought...

As per my earlier post regards "Gain Staging"...

It sounds to me that the Organ has relatively few "Full Open" DrawBars.

I'm not an expert on Organ, but I'd hazard a guess at 16 Foot, 8 Foot, and maybe a little 5+1/3 Foot, and 4 Foot. 

You can probably find Single Element Waveforms with these basic Drawbar settings already "baked in",  which will keep things simpler using just 1 Element, rather than 8 or 9 Elements.  

It will also save you heaps of polyphony. 

btw...

It's not a Guitar, its definitely a Keyboard playing some form of Organ sound. 

Search on YouTube

"JORB The Synthesist's Guide to Drive Pedals"