Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
does this bother anybody else?
- Thread starter remainthesame
- Start date
I only play shortscale 4 strings so am in the process of migrating to D standard to better play Country. That said there isn't any need for the guitars and bass to be tuned the same - and serves them right if they try to follow me instead of learning the songs on their own LOL.
Interesting . . . so let's say you are covering Lamb of God's "Redneck" which is in drop D and the next song is Metallica's "Fight Fire With Fire", which is in E standard. If you were only using one bass, I'd assume you'd have to use the drop D bass since you couldn't get the low D for Redneck from E standard. Would you use drop D for both songs or tune some other way?
One of the cover bands I'm in goes from Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" into "Hanger 18" without stopping. That is interesting because 18 is drop D for bass but the guitars are still tuned to E standard, though that is how Megadeth recorded it. I have to re-tune during the intro for 18 (tornada is E standard). I suppose that is what the gurus are talking about when they say you can be in different tunings but play in the same key. I would imagine though, that this is not necessarily a practical reality in some cases (such as the one in the paragraph above).
But in any case, when the lights starts flashing and you're having trouble seeing your fretboard because of the smoke, it doesn't matter how you are tuned, it only matters how tight you are and how you sound.
One of the cover bands I'm in goes from Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" into "Hanger 18" without stopping. That is interesting because 18 is drop D for bass but the guitars are still tuned to E standard, though that is how Megadeth recorded it. I have to re-tune during the intro for 18 (tornada is E standard). I suppose that is what the gurus are talking about when they say you can be in different tunings but play in the same key. I would imagine though, that this is not necessarily a practical reality in some cases (such as the one in the paragraph above).
But in any case, when the lights starts flashing and you're having trouble seeing your fretboard because of the smoke, it doesn't matter how you are tuned, it only matters how tight you are and how you sound.
Seems like a 5 string would solve the problem
In any case thanks for making me remember how kick ass of a song Hanger 18 is!
I solved this dilemma by being a jerk at practice once. (Sometimes you have to fight stupidity with stupidity.) When being told I had to tune to a B flat, I slid my finger up the neck of my fretless a hair and asked: "This B flat?" The reply was a vacant stare with a mind that matched.
*noob question*
When referring to drop d tuning, does that mean you detune the e string down to d, or the entire guitar down?
When referring to drop d tuning, does that mean you detune the e string down to d, or the entire guitar down?
"Drop" tuning refers to tuning the lowest string down a step, so "drop D" tuning means lowering the E string to D and leaving the others in standard tuning.
As many of you know, we are a classic rock cover band. Most of our songs are in standard tuning. The Hendrix should be downtuned 1/2 step, but we do it at 440, just because it works fine at that pitch, and I like to sing it that way. We have enough tuning issues.
We do a couple of Drop D songs, and my wife plays bass on them. She just tunes her E to D right there on stage, annoying the crap out of me. I always talk to the audience while she's tuning, and she'll say, "I could do it a lot faster if you weren't TALKING over me." I always give her a look, and explain to her after the show that I am covering for her unprofessionalism. Then we argue for awhile, unless we're tired.
I have a five string set up as D-G-C-F-Bb. I use it to play Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," as they play it in D standard live, and it sounds cool. I also use it when Arthur sings "Oh! Darling," because that whole step drop really makes the vocal a lot more palatable. He's got one of those pedals for his guitar where he can drop to any tuning, or bend pitches while playing; it's pretty cool.
The entire rest of the night, I play my standard tuned bass on every single song. I think drop tuning, and alternate tunings, and de-tuning, etc, are all fine, but I don't get doing it for an entire show. Some songs just sound better in standard tuning.
We do a couple of Drop D songs, and my wife plays bass on them. She just tunes her E to D right there on stage, annoying the crap out of me. I always talk to the audience while she's tuning, and she'll say, "I could do it a lot faster if you weren't TALKING over me." I always give her a look, and explain to her after the show that I am covering for her unprofessionalism. Then we argue for awhile, unless we're tired.
I have a five string set up as D-G-C-F-Bb. I use it to play Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," as they play it in D standard live, and it sounds cool. I also use it when Arthur sings "Oh! Darling," because that whole step drop really makes the vocal a lot more palatable. He's got one of those pedals for his guitar where he can drop to any tuning, or bend pitches while playing; it's pretty cool.
The entire rest of the night, I play my standard tuned bass on every single song. I think drop tuning, and alternate tunings, and de-tuning, etc, are all fine, but I don't get doing it for an entire show. Some songs just sound better in standard tuning.
Lots of close-mindedness in this thread. Down tuning has its place; a down-tuned guitar to C standard sounds different than a 7 string guitar. Same goes for B standard, A standard, etc. That extra fat string on a 7 string does not sound the same as a saggy set of 10's.
Drop tuning has its place and you cannot physically play certain chords or dissonant sections when in standard tuning.
Drop tuning has its place and you cannot physically play certain chords or dissonant sections when in standard tuning.
Forgive me if I am misunderstanding things, but it sounds like you are shooting your mouth off with a lot of unsubstantiated generalizations over a musician's decision to use an alternate tuning.
No forgiveness required, I'm shooting my mouth off with my opinion about what I think is a ridiculous obsession; who can sound darker. It seems that you got my point quite clearly and you don't like it. If you don't agree, deal with it. This is not a science journal. I do not need to substantiate anything and I certainly do not feel the need to make exceptions about my personal taste based on the false notion that all musical genres and styles are all equal and possess artistic merit. They are my opinions and you cannot, nor are you capable of changing my mind.
I do too... but every rule has an exception and mine is King's X. Gotta drop the who bass guitar a whole step or keep an extra pretuned DGCA
im neither agreeing, nor disagreeing with you. but i just have to point out, that has to be the greatest run on sentence i have ever seen. nice job
That is a lot of intensity there and it has helped me to understand where you are coming from. As I now see it, some people believe that every idea that pops into their head is like a diamond, a precious and unique object formed by the most profound forces of the universe -- each one, an immutable perfection for us to ponder.
To me, though, a person who thinks it is really important to talk about what they don't like is kind of like a dog that never stops farting. But it's cool dude, I'm sure there are people who are really into dog farts.
