The first thing I thought of when reading the original post was "there's gotta be a pedal out there that can do this." Glad to see that there is.
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.
Tuning to E flat for songs originally written that way -do you do it?
- Thread starter EagleMoon
- Start date
The first thing I thought of when reading the original post was "there's gotta be a pedal out there that can do this." Glad to see that there is.
A half step is a BIG difference when you are singing at the top of your range all night! I tune my guitar down a half step when I do my solo act for that reason (and I don't smoke).
I'm not crazy about drop tune on bass, but I have to do it alot with different rock bands I play with. I just have to remeber to tune back up for the jazz gigs!
why not do a whole set dropped?..no guitar switch in the middle of a set ...
Guess I won't bother repeating the tuning thing is more likely used for not messing with singers *heads* than for anything to do with ability. Heck, I don't have to sing it.....as long as I can play it in that tuning I dont' care about the key... Oh wait......I just did 
Eaglemoon: Ooooooo the sitting thing. I actually *can't* sit down and practice unless I do it half standing with the bass pretty much in standing position. Sitting position puts my right hand at almost a 90 angle and 30 minutes of that and i'm down for a week on that arm. I can lean...I can sit on a stool and hang the bass down...I can sit on my amp and hang the bass down...but putting the bass on my leg and it's no good.
As for the carpal vs tendonitis thing, the remedies for one often help the other. And my one doctor told me I had a bit of both and sometimes it's hard to tell the diff. because they overlap.
Defintely get someone to watch your technique, or record yourself. You may actually be doing a lot of wasted movements that you don't realize, and the more more movements the more stress on tendons!
If you have reallllly low action, it would be a pain to reset the bass to detune, you'd have to completly set itup. I've been told my action is a bit high, but I can detune my current main bass with no loss of playability , hrm, maybe the string height is part of the reason
Eaglemoon: Ooooooo the sitting thing. I actually *can't* sit down and practice unless I do it half standing with the bass pretty much in standing position. Sitting position puts my right hand at almost a 90 angle and 30 minutes of that and i'm down for a week on that arm. I can lean...I can sit on a stool and hang the bass down...I can sit on my amp and hang the bass down...but putting the bass on my leg and it's no good.
As for the carpal vs tendonitis thing, the remedies for one often help the other. And my one doctor told me I had a bit of both and sometimes it's hard to tell the diff. because they overlap.
Defintely get someone to watch your technique, or record yourself. You may actually be doing a lot of wasted movements that you don't realize, and the more more movements the more stress on tendons!
If you have reallllly low action, it would be a pain to reset the bass to detune, you'd have to completly set itup. I've been told my action is a bit high, but I can detune my current main bass with no loss of playability , hrm, maybe the string height is part of the reason
Guess I won't bother repeating the tuning thing is more likely used for not messing with singers *heads* than for anything to do with ability. Heck, I don't have to sing it.....as long as I can play it in that tuning I dont' care about the key... Oh wait......I just did
Eaglemoon: Ooooooo the sitting thing. I actually *can't* sit down and practice unless I do it half standing with the bass pretty much in standing position. Sitting position puts my right hand at almost a 90 angle and 30 minutes of that and i'm down for a week on that arm. I can lean...I can sit on a stool and hang the bass down...I can sit on my amp and hang the bass down...but putting the bass on my leg and it's no good.
As for the carpal vs tendonitis thing, the remedies for one often help the other. And my one doctor told me I had a bit of both and sometimes it's hard to tell the diff. because they overlap.
Defintely get someone to watch your technique, or record yourself. You may actually be doing a lot of wasted movements that you don't realize, and the more more movements the more stress on tendons!
If you have reallllly low action, it would be a pain to reset the bass to detune, you'd have to completly set itup. I've been told my action is a bit high, but I can detune my current main bass with no loss of playability , hrm, maybe the string height is part of the reason
It could be. I can always detune one of my other basses if need be, but I'd rather not carry around two basses if I don't need to. We've got several videos that have been made of me playing with the band, but I've not seen them yet. I'll have to watch them and see what I might be doing. And you sound like you do what I do. I can't just sit with my bass on my leg and play for more than maybe 10-15 minutes without pain., and that's on a good day. I've done the same thing. Put the strap on the bass while I'm sitting and let it hand off the side of my leg and that seems to help.
Keep in touch with the drummer, tomorrow never knows...in my experience, singers usually are the ones who take the band downhill. Both personally and musically. (bass setup wise too
)Keep in touch with the drummer, tomorrow never knows...in my experience, singers usually are the ones who take the band downhill. Both personally and musically. (bass setup wise too
Here's the problem: terrible singer, great guitar player. AND - he and the drummer are best childhood friends. Neither of them will budge on the issue of us needing a new, good singer. I can prety well say goodbye to both of them.
What about bands like Metallica or Jane's Addiction that now drop tune their stuff that was originally in standard? Should they stop playing their hits because they can't sing them in the original key?
Actually Rush does downtune on a few songs in concert now because Geddy can't handle the high notes like he used to. But I digress....
Actually Rush does downtune on a few songs in concert now because Geddy can't handle the high notes like he used to. But I digress....
Right, I just realized they do in fact downtune "2112" and deleted my post because it was, in fact, inaccurate. But really, what average male singer on earth can handle Geddy's high notes?
And The Who have since the 2000 tour detuned the song "Bargain" down 1/2 so that it's actually in A instead of A#.
There is no such thing as a bad key(theoretically). Bands I have had the most performance success with kept the tuning the same and played songs in the key that would best suite the vocals. I realize that some keys lend themselves to being played easier on different instruments, but that is only one element of a bands performance. Taking time to re-tune or swap instruments is not the end of the world but if you don't have to, even better. Play the songs in the key for your vocalist range. If not, it will be more noticeable than not playing in an original recorded key. Especially to the average listener.
Right, I just realized they do in fact downtune "2112" and deleted my post because it was, in fact, inaccurate. But really, what average male singer on earth can handle Geddy's high notes?
And The Who have since the 2000 tour detuned the song "Bargain" down 1/2 so that it's actually in A instead of A#.
2112 sounds really odd to me when they play it downtuned. I can't quite wrap my head around it. But it's better than not playing it at all, I suppose.
And I know some women who can't handle Geddy's high notes.
The guitarist in my band is also the lead singer, and he tunes to E-flat for everything, so I do, too. For the songs I sing, I just don't worry about it and stay in E-flat.
But... we just hired a new drummer who sings a lot too, and he prefers E standard. Oh, well...
But... we just hired a new drummer who sings a lot too, and he prefers E standard. Oh, well...
No, but what does?
Geddy has been losing his high notes over the past 10 years. I just hope they don't quit touring because of it.
