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Wanna play in Drop A, but the singer can't handle it...
- Thread starter Thomas Kievit
- Start date
My general policy is that the band's there to support the singer. The singer inserts and extra chorus, repeats a verse etc, adds the ocaasional extra beat to a measure so do I.
Most people have a range and that's limited by a person physicallity, for lack of a better word.
Jack Bruce's high notes and Beverly Biven's are great as much because they are out of the ordinary as anything else.
Most people have a range and that's limited by a person physicallity, for lack of a better word.
Jack Bruce's high notes and Beverly Biven's are great as much because they are out of the ordinary as anything else.
I like being in drop a. If the song doesn't rely on a heavy use of the open root note in a different key you can play just about anything in a higher key if need be
Only problem is "that there" wasn't posted by the original poster. It was posted by someone taking the pi$$ and making fun of the op. Therefore there were no volumes spoke about any situation.
What exactly is his problem? cant go that low? just tell him he does not have to go in key with the guitars ALL the time or tune to drop A (AEADF#B) or do you guys tune to C standard with a drop A?
If I were you guys Id skip on drop tunnings and stop being lazy with the power chords!
If I were you guys Id skip on drop tunnings and stop being lazy with the power chords!
What exactly is his problem? cant go that low? just tell him he does not have to go in key with the guitars ALL the time or tune to drop A (AEADF#B) or do you guys tune to C standard with a drop A?
If I were you guys Id skip on drop tunnings and stop being lazy with the power chords!
It has nothing to do with ''being lazy on the power chords''.. It's about liking the sound and deepness of a alternative tuning. And the ''problem'' is, that our singer sometimes ''overshoots'' on the higher notes with singing and that he has trouble's singing when we down tune our bass and guitars..
Here's a random idea. Let singer dude sing, and let the dropped A guitarist dude growl the low stuff if that's what you want. Having two guys doing the "singing" will give each voice a little break now and then, plus dual lead vocals can make for a more interesting show.
This question sorts of starts at the end and tries to work back to the beginning. It's a question that has much more to do with arranging than it has to do with tuning. In particular, the thread title indicates a bit of a misconception, which is the whole idea of a singer being able to "handle" the way a band tunes their instruments. That doesn't really mean anything at all. It's like saying someone adding colour to a drawing can't handle the way the illustrator held their pencil. 
In other words -the tuning you use has (or should have) pretty much nothing to do with the range you're asking your singer to sing in. And although the key you choose for any particular song will mean the singer is singing in a certain range, another song in the same key is very likely to make different demands on their voice. It's not possible to generalise about tunings or about keys of multiple songs to make statements about what range is required of the singer. Nor does the tuning you use dictate what keys you can play in. And phrases like "he can't sing in drop A" or "we play our songs in drop B" are meaningless (but please note that saying "we use drop B tuning" is not the same statement at all).
Here's a guide to picking the right keys for your singer, which some folks in this thread have already hinted at but in less detail.
1) Find the lowest and highest notes your singer can comfortably/realistically sing. How far apart are they? This is called the vocal range of your singer. It might be, say, one octave and a fifth. Note that the actual pitch of the lowest and highest notes don't matter at this point, only the distance between them.
2) Pick a song from your set (any one). Find the lowest and highest notes in the vocal part. How far apart are they? This is called the range of the song. Again, note that the actual pitch of the lowest and highest notes don't matter at this point, only the distance between them. If it's less than the singer's range (one octave and a fifth in this example), then go to step 3. If it's wider than the singer's vocal range, you need to:
3) If the singer's vocal range is wider than that of the song, then you can pick a key in which to perform the song that doesn't require the singer to go outside their range. At this point, the lowest and highest notes your singer can reach become relevant. If the key you start with requires the singer to go above or below their range, then you'll need to change it. But there will be at least one key that will work, because the singer's vocal range is sufficiently wide to accommodate the range of the song.
4) The other musicians in the band should then do whatever they need to do to arrange and perform the song in the chosen key. You may wish to consider non-standard tunings during this part of the process, but that's totally optional. You can use pretty much any tuning for any song in any key.
5) Repeat steps 2 to 4 for the other songs in your set and each time you want to add a new song to your set. Notice that the keys you need to be playing in will most probably vary from song to song.
This process can be adapted fairly easily to get the right keys for backing vocalists to add their parts, too, as long as there is at least one key in which all the singers can perform their parts as required by the song, or, more precisely, by the vocal arrangement you want for the song.
Job done.
In other words -the tuning you use has (or should have) pretty much nothing to do with the range you're asking your singer to sing in. And although the key you choose for any particular song will mean the singer is singing in a certain range, another song in the same key is very likely to make different demands on their voice. It's not possible to generalise about tunings or about keys of multiple songs to make statements about what range is required of the singer. Nor does the tuning you use dictate what keys you can play in. And phrases like "he can't sing in drop A" or "we play our songs in drop B" are meaningless (but please note that saying "we use drop B tuning" is not the same statement at all).
Here's a guide to picking the right keys for your singer, which some folks in this thread have already hinted at but in less detail.
1) Find the lowest and highest notes your singer can comfortably/realistically sing. How far apart are they? This is called the vocal range of your singer. It might be, say, one octave and a fifth. Note that the actual pitch of the lowest and highest notes don't matter at this point, only the distance between them.
2) Pick a song from your set (any one). Find the lowest and highest notes in the vocal part. How far apart are they? This is called the range of the song. Again, note that the actual pitch of the lowest and highest notes don't matter at this point, only the distance between them. If it's less than the singer's range (one octave and a fifth in this example), then go to step 3. If it's wider than the singer's vocal range, you need to:
A - rearrange the vocal part of the song if you can
B - leave the song out of your set
C - go ahead and perform it with the singer not being able to hit some of the notes (bad idea)
D - find another singer.
B - leave the song out of your set
C - go ahead and perform it with the singer not being able to hit some of the notes (bad idea)
D - find another singer.
3) If the singer's vocal range is wider than that of the song, then you can pick a key in which to perform the song that doesn't require the singer to go outside their range. At this point, the lowest and highest notes your singer can reach become relevant. If the key you start with requires the singer to go above or below their range, then you'll need to change it. But there will be at least one key that will work, because the singer's vocal range is sufficiently wide to accommodate the range of the song.
4) The other musicians in the band should then do whatever they need to do to arrange and perform the song in the chosen key. You may wish to consider non-standard tunings during this part of the process, but that's totally optional. You can use pretty much any tuning for any song in any key.
5) Repeat steps 2 to 4 for the other songs in your set and each time you want to add a new song to your set. Notice that the keys you need to be playing in will most probably vary from song to song.
This process can be adapted fairly easily to get the right keys for backing vocalists to add their parts, too, as long as there is at least one key in which all the singers can perform their parts as required by the song, or, more precisely, by the vocal arrangement you want for the song.
Job done.
I'm not really an expert in all those tunings, how does it work if you already have a low B string? (sorry for my noobyness)
http://******.com/?q=Drop+B+Tuning
the short: all the fun of the low B with Drop-tuned power chord fun
. Peace,
Greg
http://******.com/?q=Drop+B+Tuning
the short: all the fun of the low B with Drop-tuned power chord fun
Peace,
Greg
Ah great! Will give a look at that!
This one did the trick
Still play some Drop A stuff now and then, let the leadvocalist sing ''normal'', the leadguitarist can growl and we will look if Drop B is a nice idea too Perhaps not as heavy as Drop A, but still dark sounding 
You're approaching things wrong if you can't make drop D/C#/C sound as 'dark' as drop A. Not that I don't enjoy a down tuned guitar, but just listen to Slayer (mostly E standard), Lamb of God (drop D) or Kyuss (C standard); they sound plenty heavy. Your tuning desire should not overshadow the desire to have strong lead vocals.
