Getting D to speak quickly in drop tuning

[tplyons]

In my high school orchestra, our director (a guitarist) is a huge Kansas and Led Zeppelin fan. We're covering Song for America as well as Kashmir which requires drop tuning. None of the school's basses, nor mine have an extension. The low string is so loose, that I'm having difficulty getting it to speak quickly (the song is fast)

Any advice?

[rawgreenbean]

That has a lot to do with your strings. A heavier string will let you tune down more, so go for a bigger gauge.

[tplyons]

Unfortunately, the music department's yearly funding is just about completely depleted and all the strings are years old, but pretty heavy. Getting the school to buy new strings just isn't an option, and frankly, I can't go too much heaveier due to CTS.

[Bruce Jackson]

Your best bet is to place the bow closer to the bridge and really lay into it on the lowered string. I'm doing the same thing for lower notes and it's presenting me with the same problem. Eventually I'll just put a C on so it'll speak easier.