• 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.

Flat tuning on Pride and Joy??

C

Chief2112

Guest
Aug 31, 2011
113
0
Greenville, SC
#1
Just began learning SRV's Pride and Joy. It's supposed to tuned down a half step but I swear it doesn't sound right when I play along with the track. Not sure if it's my bass or not. I have a tuner but I just don't understand why it sounds so bad. It actually sounds too sharp but if I tune down any further my tuner tells me I'm no longer tuned to E flat, A flat, etc.

Kind of clueless as this is my first time playing something that's not standard tuning. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
#3
If your singer can handle it in E, then you should just do that. No re-tuning during a gig that way. Unless of course you use a 5 string, or if all of your songs are in Eb. We do this song in E and kill it, and no one ever asks us why we don't drop it a half step.

When I practice a song like this, I will tune my bass to the track (it could be 1/4 step flat after all), this way I can learn the song mechanically by playing to the record. Of course there are tools and software available now that will efficiently re-tune a song with out anything being lost. That could be a good route.
 
#4
lowfreq33 said:
That album was cut on tape. It wasn't uncommon at the time for the tape machine to be sped up or slowed down slightly at mixdown (the control for this was called, curiously enough, varispeed).
Click to expand...




^^^This...

Just listen to your recording....find the "Recordings" Eb...Tune your E string to that and "relatively" tune the rest of your bass to that string.
 
#5
We do that song also and more bands than SRV use "strange tunings" or get Varisped for the final release. I've read of the Varispeed method also being used to speed up a song slightly because it made it sound more energetic. We also do a few songs lower than the original b/c the vocals become less taxing. For ALL such tasks, I use software(Goldwave) to "fix" the song to the key we play it in.

In Goldwave it is a 2 step process.
First, note the song Total Length and then fix the pitch(Step and/or Fine Tune).
Second, use Time Warp to get the song back to its original length(preserves the timing/tempo).

The REAL PAINS are songs where obvious splices occur AND the sections are not in tune with each other. The better your internal pitch mechanism, the more this practice really troubles you. I always try to make a copy of the song in the exact key we play it in to learn from....otherwise it sounds wrong when we perform it.
 
#9
Commreman said:
Stevie Ray Vaughn used .11's on his strat. For those of you unfamiliar with these, they are high tension telephone cables! He tuned down to Eb to compensate.
Click to expand...

11's aren't that bad. I used to string my strat with those, standard tuning. Of course my hands are stronger from bass. 11's are considered light gauge on acoustic guitars, with 13's not being uncommon.

In the SRV biography I read it said he often favored 12's or 13's.
 
#10
Chief2112 said:
Just began learning SRV's Pride and Joy. It's supposed to tuned down a half step but I swear it doesn't sound right when I play along with the track. Not sure if it's my bass or not. I have a tuner but I just don't understand why it sounds so bad. It actually sounds too sharp but if I tune down any further my tuner tells me I'm no longer tuned to E flat, A flat, etc.

Kind of clueless as this is my first time playing something that's not standard tuning. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You are correct....it is a little off.

Use the free program BestPractice and tweak its key a little to get it to match a tuned bass. Most SRV stuff seems to be Ab in the first order but often seems another 1/8 to 1/4 step off.

This is pretty common. I was just noodling along with the Beatles Ballad of John and Yoko which seems somewhere between E and Eb.
 
#14
Tuning down a half step makes a guitar dominated trio sound fatter, Hendrix did it and Im sure he learned it from someone before him. Try it sometime in that setting and you'll see what I mean, it doesnt seem like very much but there is a noticable difference.
 
#16
lowendfriend said:
You are correct....it is a little off.

Use the free program BestPractice and tweak its key a little to get it to match a tuned bass. Most SRV stuff seems to be Ab in the first order but often seems another 1/8 to 1/4 step off.

This is pretty common. I was just noodling along with the Beatles Ballad of John and Yoko which seems somewhere between E and Eb.
Click to expand...

Was playing Ballad of John and Yoko today. Always sounds good in standard tuning for me. Cool bass line for a newbie like me.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back