Mortifying...

[iwannalearnbass]

Dude, I just got back from a gig where we tuned up with a lo-bat tuner and it gave us all the wrong readings. We were maybe a a quarter step off, but it sounded awful and we played through our first song trying to hold back the sweat before running off stage to find some fresh batteries. Worst experience of my life...

[bassophil]

Originally Posted by iwannalearnbass

(...)Worst experience of my life...

lucky *astard!

[dmq89]

No worries - that same thing happened to my whole band at a huge outdoor festival we were playing...

We all used a tuner none of us were used to, and it was calibrated differently for every one of us!

Trouble is, we didn't know it until the first chord of the first song! It was supposed to be a long slow build-up to an epic huge chord...

Build-up, anticipation... BONNNGGG!!! Train wreck. Sounded like a kindergarten music class.

Lucky thing is, both guitars dropped out and I carried the song to the end.

So it happens to all of us!

[AlembicPlayer]

Originally Posted by bassophil

lucky *astard!

I hear that!

[phatbass]

Originally Posted by iwannalearnbass

Worst experience of my life...

Worst experience of your life *so far*...

(Yeah, I know - a Simpsons reference)

[Spinal Tapper]

LOL well you live and learn - I've been there too...

Ask any guitarist/bassist - the Boss TU-2 is the most important pedal on the FX board.

Worth every penny of the $100 it costed me new because it pays for itself every single time I plug in.

[Stumbo]

+1 on getting a tuner with a wall wart. No more battery worries. Or how about a tuning fork?

[cutthroatmolloy]

My tuner is rackmounted and plugs into the wall... so i cant forget it and it cant run out of batteries.

[kcole4001]

I use a rackmount DT1000. If my tuner has no power, neither does my amp.
Batteries always let you down when it's most potentially embarrassing and there are no replacements available.
Murphy's Law is in effect 24/7 (or 31 for those who enjoy watching 2 1/2 Men ).

[NortyFiner]

+1 on wall warts. My Korg Pitchblack stays plugged in.

Anyway, as long as the whole band is out of tune together, most people in the audience won't really notice. This is why it's important to make sure you tune not just to the tuner, but to use your ears to make sure you're in tune with each other. I recall someone posting here once about playing a bar gig with a house piano that was noticeably flat. The band tuned by ear to the piano and rolled with it...except for the guitarist who used his tuner and refused to tune by ear. He ended up sounding like crap even though TECHNICALLY he was the only one "in tune".

Conversely, if it's a thrash or punk show, being a little out of tune and dissonant is just expressing your nonconformity, right?

[djembe]

Originally Posted by NortyFiner

Conversely, if it's a thrash or punk show, being a little out of tune and dissonant is just expressing your nonconformity, right?

No, it just means you sound like crap.

[PJSShearer]

Firstly, I always press the battery check button on my tuner before I do anything - for that very reason!!. Then I always ask the Keytard for an "A" and check my tuner against it. If there's no Keyboard in the band I get an "A" from the Gutiarist after he's tuned up - just in case !!.

This is an old habit that came about because of dodgy steam pianos, which usually end up flat, and hammond organs attached to a "dubious" power supply, which I've seen vary between 1/4 tone flat and about the same sharp.

And then there's the singers that play Blues harp, but you don't want to go there!! ....