Drop tune - why is it looked down on?

[KwinS]

Strange, indeed.

 

[KwinS]

If I could concentrate on nothing but playing bass I could play our songs on a 5 string. It was never my contention that one couldn't play our songs on a 5 string. Fact is, our songs aren't nearly as hard to play on a dropped 4 and it's a lot more beneficial for me to be able to sort of mindlessly play the bass parts and concentrate on singing.

Plus there aren't very many passive 5s and there are even fewer passive 5-string P basses... Fender is the only one I know of and they're way too much money.

My reply was not to this post. That's all I'm sayin'...

 

[fractiouslowend]

Not to brag, but I can play all of their metal, no matter how complex, on a regularly tuned 5 string bass, unless it is dropping below B.

Just the other night at orchestra rehearsal, they decided to spend 2 hours on 1 bar of music. It's a very hard bit of unison playing, and they isolated each string section. First violins, then violas, then cellos, and finally us basses.

With 5th tuning, the "riff" is very hard to play, but it is all in one position. In 4th tuning, it is almost impossible to play, as it requires 3 position shifts in the blink of an eye. (Anyone wondering, it is a part of strauss: Die Fledermaus.) Needless to say, the basses were the only ones who got it the most correct, though we were the ones with the harder part.

Had this been a modern heavy metal band, we would have tuned our basses in 5th so we could rock out with our cocks out, just like the lead guitar, I mean, Violins.

so you're saying this riff is easier to play in drop tuning and near impossible in standard?

i'm still not convinced you could play ANY metal riff, regardless of tuning. I doubt any player on earth could do that.

try learning 46 & 2 by tool. it's a very easy riff, but it centres around an open D in 2 octaves. I'm not doubting that you could play it on a 5ey, but it would sound very stilted as you don't have the open D ringing out.

 

[caeman]

I am curious, so I must ask. Could one take a 5-string bass, and change the Low B string for an E string, and then drop tune it to D. Then, the rest of your bass is still standard, and you don't have to retune. You end up with low E and D.

 

[Febs]

I am curious, so I must ask. Could one take a 5-string bass, and change the Low B string for an E string, and then drop tune it to D. Then, the rest of your bass is still standard, and you don't have to retune. You end up with low E and D.

I suppose you could, but why would you? A 5-string with an interval of a major second between strings doesn't seem to offer much in the way of advantages compared to a five-string in standard tuning or a 4-string in a drop-D tuning.

 

[lucas vigor]

I am curious, so I must ask. Could one take a 5-string bass, and change the Low B string for an E string, and then drop tune it to D. Then, the rest of your bass is still standard, and you don't have to retune. You end up with low E and D.

There actually is an instrument with that type of tuning. It's called a "cumbus".

 

[caeman]

That way you have that Open D and Open E. Having an Open D seemed to be one of the points of drop tuning, yes?

 

[BassNoob1]

I don't like it because anything below E just sounds bad, even on a five-string bass. It's just too low and even sounds dramatically sharp for some reason.

 

[Febs]

It's just too low and even sounds dramatically sharp for some reason.

That may just be a set-up issue. Make sure the intonation is adjusted properly at the saddle. Also, if the nut on your bass is cut too high, it will cause notes fretted on the first fret to be sharp.

 

[Febs]

lol ok then I see now that you just looked at it, and did not even attempt to play it.

I did play through it, both with and without the capo. Though I don't necessarily need to play through it to understand from looking at the music how playable it is.

 

[slipitin]

No opinion on this really, I'd love to be able to get everything I want out of standard, and maybe that would make me a better bassist... One thing I can say is I'm going off drop D for writing bass and guitar lines actually, I prefer standard or drop C.

 

[Hutzbordello]

i dont see how people would look down on different note patterns

 

[caeman]

i dont see how people would look down on different note patterns

Oh, it shouldn't surprise you too much. It is the same reason why some people hate solid state and pontificate about tubes. Or how it is only a real bass if it is a Fender P. Or preferring Pragu over Ragu.

Some people just stick to their opinions more vigorously than others.

 

[lucas vigor]

I can't speak for other people, but as far as I am concerned...learning ANY skill requires a solid foundation in the basics.....and from what I have seen, there are a lot of young metal heads that can only play in drop tuning or altered tuning...you hand them a standard P-bass with flats and no distortion, and ask them to sit in with you and they are lost.

Also, as I said before...the whole playing down super low is getting to be more and more passe' every moment. Just like P-nut, flea and all the slap happy guys during the 90's..it gets a little tiresome after a while......

After a while, you start to really feel the gimmick factor in all of this.

 

[SpartacusAudion]

After almost thirty pages, here's what I've learned(?):

1. Some music is easier to play if you tune your instrument to accommodate the song.
2. Changing your tuning can extend the range of your instrument (YMMV).
3. Changing your tuning can change timbre and the harmonic overtones produced by a note.
4. Musicians often engage in goofy "culture wars."

I'll stick with with standard tuning for the most part and do that scary "transpose" thing, since I generally think in terms of "Roman Numerals" instead of "notes" or "frets", and I love the way chords and modes extend from the diatonic scale.

I can't wait till the fretless folks bring quarter tones and non-diatonic possibilities into this mix.

 

[WarPhalange]

I can't speak for other people, but as far as I am concerned...learning ANY skill requires a solid foundation in the basics.....and from what I have seen, there are a lot of young metal heads that can only play in drop tuning or altered tuning...you hand them a standard P-bass with flats and no distortion, and ask them to sit in with you and they are lost.

What are the "basics" again? Just so we're clear.

 

[SpartacusAudion]

Is that a sincere question, just so I'm clear?

If it is I'll do my best, and I expect there are others here who can do even better.

That's why this forum is worth reading IMHO.

 

[KwinS]

I can't speak for other people, but as far as I am concerned...learning ANY skill requires a solid foundation in the basics.....and from what I have seen, there are a lot of young metal heads that can only play in drop tuning or altered tuning...you hand them a standard P-bass with flats and no distortion, and ask them to sit in with you and they are lost.

Also, as I said before...the whole playing down super low is getting to be more and more passe' every moment. Just like P-nut, flea and all the slap happy guys during the 90's..it gets a little tiresome after a while......

After a while, you start to really feel the gimmick factor in all of this.

I'll take the standard P, in standard tuning, with no distortion, but I would prefer rounds. Could ya fudge on your premise- just for me? It'll work just fine. I promise. Then we can do something dropped, also? It's really all the same notes, possibly with different timbre...maybe a little lower.

 

[fractiouslowend]

I can't speak for other people, but as far as I am concerned...learning ANY skill requires a solid foundation in the basics.....and from what I have seen, there are a lot of young metal heads that can only play in drop tuning or altered tuning...you hand them a standard P-bass with flats and no distortion, and ask them to sit in with you and they are lost.

Also, as I said before...the whole playing down super low is getting to be more and more passe' every moment. Just like P-nut, flea and all the slap happy guys during the 90's..it gets a little tiresome after a while......

After a while, you start to really feel the gimmick factor in all of this.

and i bet if you were handed an active warwick with brights and a big muff and i asked you to sit in, you would be lost.
just because someone doesn't play the same genre as you doesn't mean they can't play. bass is bass.

i'm still yet to read an actual reason for you not liking drop tuning. all you've said so far is 'standard is better' or 'most people who drop tune are metal heads who like to do one finger powerchords'

 

[WarPhalange]

Is that a sincere question, just so I'm clear?

It is a very sincere question, but I'm not sure you can answer for him.