Drop tune - why is it looked down on?

[dvil88]

Oh, gotcha. Corrected.

 

[Burlington]

i have a hard time caring what other bassists think about how i play. there's always someone who has a better idea, and bassists are quite often myopic yahoos who think their way of doing things is the only way to do it. but bass players are such a tiny part of my band's audience that their opinions are quite meaningless to me. if you like what i do, great. if you don't, then leave.

i suggest all bass players adopt this attitude more often, quit worrying about what others think of you, and for those who feel compelled to voice their opinions about what other bass players do that they don't like, nobody cares.

This.

 

[Ric5]

I don't use standard tuning on any of my instruments except my sax.

Seriously, my basses are all tuned D G C F (one wholetone down on each string),

If I played a 4 string bass it would be DGCF. That is the most logical tuning for a 4! The low D sounds so good on the bass!

I have expiremented with ADGCF but the low A is just too low for my ear.

 

[dystopiate]

I see the snobbery all the time... but only on forums, never when I'm actually playing music. Sadly, the snobbery I see usually comes out when a newer player is looking for technical information like, "What strings should I consider for a drop C tuning?" or, "Should I consider a longer scale bass if I'm going to drop tune?" People come out of the woodwork to tell a newbie to tune standard or find the nearest window. I took some choice quotes from the thread to highlight a few things:

I'm not even generalizing that guitarists who use dropped D suck, it's just the ones that do leave a bad impression on me. I don't want to learn a new tuning only to risk sounding like a mediocre guitarist, as it can be a pitfall of dropped tunings.

Weird non-sequitur in there, but that aside... if you learn a new tuning and you sound like a mediocre guitarist it's not a pitfall of dropped tunings, it's because you are a mediocre bassist. Seriously. No one can hear that you're in a different tuning.

The only people I see use drop tunings are teenagers who only know how to play power-chords and are doing it because it's brutal and their guitarist is doing it.

I want to keep the balance between my strings even and detuning one string ruins that. (I'm perfectly alright with standard tunings though)

Drop tuning is in my book just an excuse not to learn the fingerboard and follow the guitarist.

If the only people you see use drop tunings are power-chord hungry teens you should get out more. Maybe standard tuning is just an excuse to not learn more
theory and so you can follow the guitarist.

I was at a audition this week. And the gutarist asked me to tune to e flat which would have caused me to transpose what I had learned for the audition.

I said no problem and start backing up my bass.

Whats wrong?

Nothing guys, but I don't do the whole drop tune thing. I am not your guy, Good luck.

Yeah, I hear you. I was at an audition and they asked me to dial in some more low-end. I said no problem and packed up by gear. They wanted to know what was wrong. I told them it wasn't them, it's just that I don't turn my knobs for anyone. I am not your guy, I said.

I posted the thread about learning songs on a fours string that the previous bassist played on a 5....Its cool to learn something new, not crazy about the low end tone, I think it takes getting used to? I did research on drop tuning and a majority of the comments would be about Metal bands using it and the band I'm trying out for is a cross between Alternative and hard rock...I dunno its ok, I would never write songs in drop tuning.

Not sure why you would never write in drop tuning, but if you're not crazy about the low end tone I would try some heavier gauge strings. I've used d'Addario's tension guide chart to select strings for all kinds of different tunings -- I tend to buy single strings rather than sets as a result. I typically try to pick out a set that has fairly even tension across the fingerboard. The guys at Circle K are also really cool about helping you select a set for your tonal goals and tuning.

For my part it's taste rather than snobbery. I typically don't enjoy the music which I associate with drop tunings.

Well, alternative tunings is one thing. A band like Sonic Youth made a lot of experimenting with different tunings, which would lead into interesting open chords. However, drop tunings aren't necessarily avant garde as much as they are used to get a lower pitch.

Maybe it's not the tunings that are the problem, maybe it's your associations. You could always broaden your horizons and get some new ones.

Is there something wrong with a lower pitch?

I'm very open to different tunings. I play in a band that tunes to CFBE and DGCF in addition to E standard. I hope to one day own a 6 string and experiment with CGDAEG tuning.

Most of the bands/musicians I hear playing in CDCF and DADG use the low C or D as a crutch and play everything off of it, which I find very boring. I am not necessarily biased against the tunings, just the musicians using them.

I think you've touched on where most of the snobbery comes from -- a prejudice formed by dealing with subpar musicians who also happen to downtune. I'm glad some can separate the musicians from the tuning!

Drop tuning is for guitarists who need to play power chords faster usually. A bassist would generally play the same riffs one note at a time. Leaving no reason for drop tunings. They could just tune down to a standard or get more strings lower down. Depends on what it easier of the two. I prefer tuning to the standard, as I play a lot of open notes. But that isn't to say drop tuning is a bad thing. It can make playing some chords easier for a start.

Drop tuning is also used to create different chords and patterns. I agree that it's often not necessary, but sometimes it's necessary.

Hello, bass-players, look at your bass, now back to mine, now back at your bass, now back to mine.
Sadly, yours isn't mine, but if you stopped using all-fourths tuning yours could be like mine.
Look down, back up, what is it? You are tuned all-fifths, with the bass your bass could play like.
What's that in your hands, back at mine, I have it, its an string set with gauges set for all-fifths tunings.
Now look again, the strings are now flatwounds. Eveything is possible when your bass is tuned into all-fifths and not in all-fourths.

I'm on a cab.

This made my day!

 

[Burlington]

Well I have a few problems with drop tuning if you'd like to know.

The only people I see use drop tunings are teenagers who only know how to play power-chords and are doing it because it's brutal and their guitarist is doing it.

I want to keep the balance between my strings even and detuning one string ruins that. (I'm perfectly alright with standard tunings though)

Drop tuning is in my book just an excuse not to learn the fingerboard and follow the guitarist.

Now I'm sure I'm about to be flamed for all of that, but I really don't care. This is what I've observed to be the people who use drop tuning and I disagree with it and wouldn't do it myself. To each their own, and if you use drop tuning and you're and exception to what I said then more power to you man...

Like the other guy said, if those are the only people you see droptuning, you need to get out more.

And most string sets are not balanced anyway, so your point about one string being loose is moot.

I play in standard tuning, I am auditioning right now and while I have nothing against drop tuning as long as you don't involve me.

As a matter of fact I was at a audition this week. And the gutarist asked me to tune to e flat which would have caused me to transpose what I had learned for the audition.

I said no problem and start backing up my bass.

Whats wrong?

Nothing guys, but I don't do the whole drop tune thing. I am not your guy, Good luck.

I am thinking of picking up a staight 5 bass, nothing fancy I see Squire still has one, which is cool.I don't want to invest much $$ in 5 String gear.

I see you are open to new ideas and work well with others

 

[rockstarbassist]

If I played a 4 string bass it would be DGCF. That is the most logical tuning for a 4! The low D sounds so good on the bass!

I have expiremented with ADGCF but the low A is just too low for my ear.

Low A is as low down I can go and still get good results. My rig and bass can handle it (although I don't really if ever use an open low A) and is pretty crushing when done right.

I tried low G once and it was pretty . Mostly mush.

As far as only "real" players still playing in standard, go see pretty much any band nowadays that has had hits over the years and are still touring, and I can pretty much guarantee you they're at least dropped a half step to help their singer(s) out. But who cares? Nobody. Most people in the crowd can't tell. I saw Def Lep last year and i'm GLAD they took it at least half a step down. I'd much rather hear everyone singing consistently in key and pitch all night than playing it "true" to the records and straining and it sounding terrible. Hell Metallica$h has been playing half step down live since pretty much the beginning when they were young bucks even though they tracked in standard E.

Come to think of it, most people (or people who matter, anyway) playing in std. E nowadays are in the minority I'd surmise. And not just in "rock" or "lesser" forms of music...

 

[Joe_K]

The only time a band has ever cared about my tuning is when the guitarist wants "show" me his riff and play it in unison. This tends to be the metal crowd, where unison lines that pedal the open notes are very common. I don't mind it so much in that context, it is a different kind of mindset that works well in that genre. Is it controlling? To a certain degree, yes. But then I have to admit, it probably works best for that genre.

In other bands, where the bass isn't all about playing those types of unison guitar parts, no one is really all that concerned with what tuning I'm in. They just care about whether I hit out-of-time, bad sounding notes. Ultimately, I do with my instrument whatever I feel works best in the song. I might even drop-D when the guitarist hasn't. Or play a 5'er. No one has ever complained that I played a note on my B string when the song was written for 4. It should be the same with tuning.

 

[Dutchyman]

The first question should be, "what the hell am I doing at wal-mart looking for anything resembling the glory that is bass?"

 

[Burlington]

The first question should be, "what the hell am I doing at wal-mart looking for anything resembling the glory that is bass?"

 

[johnboy65]

I'll drop D every once in a while but I've never been impressed my tone or responsiveness when tuned down more than a half.
But say what you want about the "detuned shredders" those guys can play. Just because you don't like what they sound like doesn't mean that they aren't good.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Two reasons leap to mind...

* Most notes below the low B are nearly inaudible;
* Most drop-tuning is used in genres of music that not everyone likes

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

...
I see you are open to new ideas and work well with others

That post by BlueWine is about the silliest thing I've seen on TB in a long time - Guitarists who play in Eb are hardly doing a "Drop Tuning" thing - they play like Jimi or Stevie or a ton of roots players who just like to play a half step down.

I get the feeling that old Bluewine just like to stir the feces...

 

[zachoff]

It's a dumb animosity. I could hate on 5 string players & say "Why don't you just drop or re-string your 4 string bass to BEAD? Nobody plays the G string, anyway." but that would be dumb too.

Reason I don't play 5s... They're uncomfortable, it's easier to play the songs I write on a dropped 4 string, there are very few passive 5 strings basses, and there are no 5 string basses that sound like my Yamaha BBs.

 

[Metal Mitch]

This is what i find is the problem with people against drop tuning. Most of them just see it as only being used in Death Metal and things of the like, whereas its used in alot more genres than that.

Just to clarify, it's rarely used in death metal if at all. Death and thrash metal bands have always typically used a lowered standard tuning. I believe you're speaking of different genres such as nu-metal (i.e. pop), melodeath, etc.

what is she, a harmonica?

NICE!!!

Strangely, people who call on metalheads for doing it never tell Michael Manring or Adrian Belew how wrong they are.

Good point. And our buddy Jauqo III-X uses death metal tuning, he just does it an octave lower.

 

[rockstarbassist]

Just to clarify, it's rarely used in death metal if at all. Death and thrash metal bands have always typically used a lowered standard tuning. I believe you're speaking of different genres such as nu-metal (i.e. pop), melodeath, etc.

Good point. Most people (the same people who start or are wrong in these threads) can't or don't know how to differentiate between the two. Drop tuning =/= 1 or 1.5 step dropped std tuning.

 

[Burlington]

I'm in a deathmetal band and we play in drop C SO THERE

but we may be making the way to B standard instruments in the future...

 

[Dutchyman]

The first question should be, "what the hell am I doing at wal-mart looking for anything resembling the glory that is bass?"

Incorrect thread. Still getting used to the iPhone app. My bad, folks.

 

[rockstarbassist]

I'm in a deathmetal band and we play in drop C SO THERE

but we may be making the way to B standard instruments in the future...

We play in drop C and D standard so I hear ya- was just pointing that out!

We're about to test out drop B tho. My singer likes it so that's what we play.

 

[Burlington]

We play in drop C and D standard so I hear ya- was just pointing that out!

We're about to test out drop B tho. My singer likes it so that's what we play.

Oops, I should of used a quote, I was referring to Metal Mitch saying that dropped tunings are not used in deathmetal. He is correct though, just pointing out it's not 100%

 

[Metal Mitch]

I'm in a deathmetal band and we play in drop C SO THERE

but we may be making the way to B standard instruments in the future...

...so you keep saying. I've listened to your dramaspace songs and sorry, but you guys are not even close to the DM genre.