Is there such a thing: variable detuning pedal?

[mjcarp79]

Hi all,
I know that there are pedals that will pitch shift in half steps, for achieving alternate tunings. However, I am wondering if there is any kind of pedal that can detune in a continuously variable way, rather than in steps.

I am interested in this capability because I play along with a lot of recorded music (CD's, Youtube music videos, etc.) and many recordings are just a little off in pitch from my properly tuned bass. I would love to be able able to just turn a knob to "pitch match" rather than have to detune the bass.

A better long term solution, of course, would be to become proficient on fretless. I am working on fretless, but it will be long, looong time till I am really good at it (I wonder sometimes if I have a good enough ear to really ever become proficient.)

However, if there is anything available to allow me to "cheat electronically" in the meantime with a fretted bass, I would like to at least consider it as an option. Is there anything out there like this? Thanks!

 

[smeet]

I practice using an app called Amazing Slowdowner. It can change pitch and speed of a song independently, really a great tool.

 

[BlueRock]

Cheaper and easier to alter the pitch of the music with software and keep your bass tuned to pitch. Practicing playing with your bass out of tune isn't a great idea for a number of reasons.

 

[monti2889]

Whammy can do that sort of thing, or the Morpheus bomber.
I'm not sure if the sub n up would be able to or not...but that could be interesting. Assigning tuning functions to each dial, through the tone print editor. I would think, is a possibility. It might mess with your head a bit, until you got used to playing that way. The feel of the string and the sound it produces would be different.

 

[SteveCS]

...
A better long term solution, of course, would be to become proficient on fretless.
...

For the purpose you describe, fretless is absolutely not the best solution. You will essentially end up playing with really bad intonation and you will never develop good posture/handshape if you play this way.

For the purpose you describe it is better, as @smeet and @BlueRock noted, to adjust the pitch of the tracks.

 

[JimmyM]

For the purpose you describe, fretless is absolutely not the best solution. You will essentially end up playing with really bad intonation and you will never develop good posture/handshape if you play this way.

For the purpose you describe it is better, as @smeet and @BlueRock noted, to adjust the pitch of the tracks.

Totally. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of a worse reason to get a fretless. Not trying to offend but this is an idea I’d strongly warn off anyone from doing.

 

[JonathanPDX]

Hi all,
I know that there are pedals that will pitch shift in half steps, for achieving alternate tunings. However, I am wondering if there is any kind of pedal that can detune in a continuously variable way, rather than in steps.

I am interested in this capability because I play along with a lot of recorded music (CD's, Youtube music videos, etc.) and many recordings are just a little off in pitch from my properly tuned bass. I would love to be able able to just turn a knob to "pitch match" rather than have to detune the bass.

A better long term solution, of course, would be to become proficient on fretless. I am working on fretless, but it will be long, looong time till I am really good at it (I wonder sometimes if I have a good enough ear to really ever become proficient.)

However, if there is anything available to allow me to "cheat electronically" in the meantime with a fretted bass, I would like to at least consider it as an option. Is there anything out there like this? Thanks!

The above posters are right: teaching yourself to play fretless intentionally out of tune is a very bad idea. Similarly, trying to develop your ear on any instrument by matching it to detuned recordings is a recipe for disaster. You'll tune your ear to hearing things off, and when you actually play or hear them played correctly your ear is going to shift back to what you trained it to do: hear things at the wrong pitch.

Way back in the day I had to prep for gigs on old worn-out cassette tapes and I did downtune my bass a quarter step to play along, but only to write charts. These days you have so many better options:

Get some audio software like Audacity and learn how to use it to adjust pitches back to 440. You can also learn how to slow things down so they are easier to learn without changing the pitch.

Find material to practice along to that is in tune at 440.

Check your intonation to make sure it isn't your bass having some off notes that is throwing you and tricking your ear into going down this rabbit hole to compensate.

 

[Mostyn]

I say do it. Get a fretless bass, string it with one string only, use a blindfold, turn out the lights, randomly twist tuner peg, turn on ya fav tune to play along. Surely some skill will be learned.

 

[Jogobass]

I recorded a fretless bass part once for a guitarist/songwriter. His guitar was slightly sharp so I played slightly sharp on my bass. But I can't recommend it. It's better when the notes are where I expect them to be, so everyone should simply be tuned to pitch. In this case I should have just tuned the bass up because the voice and guitar were already pitched up.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Amazing Slow Downer is a great idea.

The Digitech Whammy is an overly expensive solution. But it will do what you want, so long as you can tune it properly with the treadle.

Having been down this road before, I submit that many modern musicians have developed their ear by learning how to tune to slightly off pitch records. There are also a myriad of tunings available to the instrument and "properly tuned" could limit you depending on the material.

 

[FullumMusic]

If you have a halfway decent DAW with warping/elastic audio, drop the songs into a track and pitch shift them a few cents up or down without changing the speed until they’re in tune with your standard tuned bass. Way easier than re-tuning the bass to a known note in the song, for every song, especially because you can save the session and they’ll always be in tune. You only have to get them in pitch once.

Obviously this only works for tunes you have sound files for, not ones you stream. But it beats the alternative which I used to do: re-tune for every song that’s slightly out of pitch. (Thanks Varispeed tape recordings) {snicker}

Right now I have an ableton session that’s just a bunch of tracks that are pitch shifted into tune so I can just solo that song and play along.

The problem with using a fretless to play songs that are just off-pitch is when you need to play open strings. They’ll still be out of tune with the song. Maybe it won’t bother you, in which case go for it. But that would drive me absolutely insane playing in tune fingered notes and out of tune open notes. You’d find me in a ball in the corner shaking and crying if I had to do that for too long.

I even started doing this for songs that are tuned to Eb. I pitch shift them up an entire half step so I don’t have to downtune, play all the Eb songs I like playing, and then re-tune. A good warping engine can do a half step no problem without sounding so bad you can’t play along with it or learn the song. It takes a bit of getting used to listening to it but it works.

 

[PMagers]

Or a pitch shifter with expression pedal? See the 7:00 mark.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Audacity can do this for free...

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Audacity will do independent pitch and tempo changes very easily. For frrrreeeeeee!

 

[KidAmnesia]

I agree that using a fretless to play slightly detuned stuff without retuning your bass is going to be hell for your muscle memory.

But I rather retune my bass than pitch shift the song or the bass. It's simply faster and cheaper. And tuning fast to a pitch you hear is a usefull skill to learn.

 

[bherman]

Fretless idea is a bad one in my opinion – I play upright and fretless bass guitar quite a bit, and, like most who do, I often use open strings as a reference point. Part of learning how to play in tune. I think if you could find a pedal with a dial that would work, otherwise, the software solution is the one that I use. Sometimes the songs are slightly off pitch, and I can turn them up or down, and other times it’s a song that I’m learning for my band and we’re doing it at a different key, and I can change the song to the key that we’re going to be playing it in and learned that way.

 

[Scotty4string]

I use the pitch shifter in my HX Stomp to detune to recorded music. It has a very fine adjustment.

 

[frankzap]

I believe that Eventide H9 has a few algorithms that can do that.

 

[Fernando Costa]

+1. Pitch shifter >>> Fine adjustment.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

+1 Morpheus bomber, it's also able to work polyphonically.