Tuning to E flat for songs originally written that way -do you do it?

[TRichardsbass]

I play jazz mostly. If the song is written in E flat I play it that way on my strandard-tuned 4-string. I've never had a bandleader in that sort of music arbitrarily tell me it's in E, unlike many other situations I've encountered.

As long as everyone's on the same page, it's all good though.

Now that I think of it, my comments aren't really based on songs written in a particular key, so my comments may or may not be on the mark. I agree with others, my blanket statement is not for all players and situations.

What I am trying to say is that whether the song is written in G, E, Eb, F, C or any other key, when playing live we don't transpose it, we just simply tune our guitars, basses and sometimes synths/keyboards down so its easier on our vocal chords, easier on the fingers and also gives the music some weight. So fingering notes and chords is the same, song structure is the same, et cetera. Its more of an experienced rock/punk/pop/electric musicians "trick".

Now that I read the original post, I'm hoping my comments are more on the mark. And this is what others posted here before about Metallica and Rush et al. They still play the songs with the same chord shapes and same bass note fingering, only the instruments have been detuned to make it easier to hit pitch. In my mind, as long as the changes have the same intervals it is almost imperceptible to hear the difference live between a real "E" and a detuned "E".

Hope that adds here and clarifies my position.

I hate it when songs are written in dropped D and I don't have my Kubicki Ex-factor with me. However, they don't normally require me to transpose anything, just find ways to play that low D higher and make it sound good. Hence why I sometimes have the octave pedal with me...

 

[rockstarbassist]

In my cover bands, we play songs as written. If the singer can't nail them and they sound good, not just "passable" like many acts out there, we find another one. You can ruin a whole set by having your singer reach beyond their limits and not make it sound like you know what you're doing. We used a different tuning for each full set (plus drops on the E string for C# and D) to not waste time and have dead space.

And depending on most singers, yes even tuning down a half-step is a big deal and helps out while singing full-on for 3-4 hours.

 

[MooneyDriver]

I did an audition with a classic rock band and learned a couple of the tunes with dropped tuning on my fiver. They played them in E during the audition. I just played them up a fret. No big deal... I do remember thinking I liked them better dropped. The female vocalist had no trouble at all. When I rehearsed a few of them using the original recordings, I dropped the tunning on my 4. Not only did I like the way it sounded, but I liked the way the strings felt as well...

 

[rockstarbassist]

I did an audition with a classic rock band and learned a couple of the tunes with dropped tuning on my fiver. They played them in E during the audition. I just played them up a fret. No big deal... I do remember thinking I liked them better dropped. The female vocalist had no trouble at all. When I rehearsed a few of them using the original recordings, I dropped the tunning on my 4. Not only did I like the way it sounded, but I liked the way the strings felt as well...

I usually like to give the original songwriters the benefit of the doubt that they knew what they were doing when they composed a certain tune a certain way...

 

[aborgman]

I usually like to give the original songwriters the benefit of the doubt that they knew what they were doing when they composed a certain tune a certain way...

I wouldn't...

On a lot of old recordings the tape was sped up or slowed down in final mastering to change the sound. Small speed changes can effect things dramatically.

Some things that are on tape in Eb were recorded in E, then slowed after the fact.

 

[greenboy]

Yep. Using tape, recording slower than playback to master was valued for saving vocalists among other things. Some examples of easing parts execution too. Lots of big names used tape studio techniques.

 

[AwkwardLoudness]

My band has about 25 guitars and basses combined (only 3 in standard tuning) so we just switch instruments for those songs and play down a half step if that's how the original song is played. We have a lot of oddball tunings on original songs too so it's no big deal.