Anyone tune down a semitone?

[purpleplexi]

Tried it before and gave up - having another go. If you do why and if you don't why?

 

[Kutt]

You mean a half step down? Yeah, I do. I have a sizeable collection of guitars and like to leave a few of them in tunings other than E Standard. Some just "agree" with the tuning better which I attribute to the way the instrument resonates at a given frequency.

Now, I've read something about tuning to somewhere around, I think, 432 Hz. Somewhere in that neighborhood. Apparently it's "a thing". Haven't tried it though. Not the EVH / Lynch / Dimebag thing per se, but something about it being more mathematically harmonious and more common in nature. There are videos out the discussing the topic.

 

[10kDA]

I don't, because I don't see any reason to do it unless maybe the other players are going to tune flat as well. On all my instruments the sound is not noticeably different until they are tuned down at least a full step. I tune standard so if for example a keyboardist yells out a key, I don't have to transpose anything, I know where to go.

I get it that tuning flat makes bending easier. If it works for somebody, then it works. I was jamming one time with a bunch of people when a SRV Emulator (I could tell, he had The Hat With A Hatband Made Of Belt Buckles) snorted at my .009-.042 string gauges and sneered "real men play Tens" to which I replied "real men tune to concert pitch." which caused an uncomfortable glance away. Guess who played in F# while everybody else was in E?

I had a girlfriend well-connected with all things spiritual who told me about the A=432Hz thing. I tried tuning to 432Hz and recorded some freeform stuff with guitar and bass tuned to 432Hz. She said she couldn't discern any difference in the "feel" of it compared to 440Hz tuning. I figured she would have been the one to feel it if anyone would, so I guess I'm undecided on that one. In audio terms, the difference is not very much.

BTW in Indian music, there is no real "standard" for tuning stringed instruments to a certain frequency as a base. Everybody just has to be in agreement, and it's then all good. If a harmonium or bansuri flutes are part of the mix, the string instruments are tuned to fit with them because they are pretty much locked in. If the bansuri is out of agreement with the harmonium, one or the other sits out LOL.

 

[geddy]

Yes. Sometimes because the originals are down tuned, some times for vocals. Sometimes for other reasons. My 12 string varies between concert pitch and 5 semitones down.

not sure what there is to not get on with, although some tunes dont work in the wrong tuning and some are fine.

 

[10kDA]

... Some just "agree" with the tuning better which I attribute to the way the instrument resonates at a given frequency.

Yes, some instruments definitely respond different than others to differences in tuning.

 

[Maxbrothman]

You gotta do that, especially if you own Marshall amps.

Gun 's Roseys
Hendrix
Nirvana (in utero)
Ozzy
Van Halen

They are all Marshall except Nirvana which uses Mesa and Fenders, but it's grunge so no problem on a Marshall.

I mean if you buy a Marshall Jubilee and never tune to Eb Standard then... well... something has obviously gone wrong, haha.

 

[Rocktane]

Most of my guitars are tuned a 1/2 step down.

 

[RCM 800]

For performing I prefer it because it makes things easier on my voice. I dont understand the science or mojo of it but it works lol. For home playing Im usually in standard because most songs are and makes learning them easier.

 

[Bull Rock]

Yep. Half down is my go to usually.

 

[Australian]

Tried it before and gave up - having another go. If you do why and if you don't why?

These work well .

 

[Calebz]

At this point I don't think I have a single guitar in standard tuning.

Might have something to do with everything I play being in drop C

Usually play something LP shaped/scaled.

Recently tuned my jazzmaster clone to standard to sit in with a friend's band. That was weird, but it was also fun being able to really wail on a bend without it going too far - one of the traps in lower tunings.

 

[PelliX]

Yup, I do. Generally it's to play covers because the original is half a step down. Think GnR, SRV and so on. Obviously, the strings are slightly less tense and that has an affect on the feel/sound, too. Same as drop- and/or open tunings.

Now, I've read something about tuning to somewhere around, I think, 432 Hz. Somewhere in that neighborhood. Apparently it's "a thing". Haven't tried it though. Not the EVH / Lynch / Dimebag thing per se, but something about it being more mathematically harmonious and more common in nature. There are videos out the discussing the topic.

Yeah, that's - IMHO - an interpretation after the fact. If you actually do the math and look at the music in a spectrum analyzer you realize that overall it isn't really "harmonizing" around these frequencies when applying the 'magical' tuning. If you hit an A tuned to 432, you're still creating a spectrum that includes 440 as well as other frequencies in that range.

Music Theory: 432 Hz - Separating Fact From Fiction

In exploring the 432 Hz debate at Ask.Audio, we soon realised this topic wasn't going to be resolved in one article. Here Assaf Dar Sagol explores the fact and

ask.audio

 

[purpleplexi]

Think I'll stick with it for a while. I was learning since we've ended as lovers by Jeff Beck and I was trying to get all his little micro bends and stuff in and I was finding it hard work so I tuned down and that made it a lot easier. Downside it just feels weird but I'll get used to it. The other thing is I sometimes semi-inadvertantly let the open strings ring when I'm wailing and it sounds kind of cool in E or G or A or B but when you're playing a semitone up it sticks out like a fish in a tree.

 

[Kutt]

Yeah, that's - IMHO - an interpretation after the fact. If you actually do the math and look at the music in a spectrum analyzer you realize that overall it isn't really "harmonizing" around these frequencies when applying the 'magical' tuning. If you hit an A tuned to 432, you're still creating a spectrum that includes 440 as well as other frequencies in that range.

My comment about "harmonious" isn't a reference to music. I had read, and this is how far out some people get about 432, is that it's the same frequency or at least in harmony with the frequency produced by the vibration of the earth itself... something along those lines. No hit of the A involved, just the rotation of the earth. Far out, man!

 

[junk notes]

Guessing that scale length and type of string being used will define your string guage, by lowering the pitch.
Many players in the beginning were going one guage lighter.. If Fenders came from the factory with .009's they were changed out for the infamous Ernie Ball .008's. Same with LP Standards, 10's from Kalamazoo, changed out to 9's.
Eb is a fun key. Getting the strings to feel even will be a personal choice.

 

[mark123]

I dabbled with E flat when I used 13s back in the olden days. I didn’t see the point. And now with modern tech you can tune an mp3 to your guitar so i keep it at A=440. I’m usually a 10s guy now but I’ve been experimenting with 9s the past couple months. There’s no way I could drop down with 9s. They’re already barely there.

 

[purpleplexi]

I tried some of those Billy Gibbons 8s once. Weird. I think he actually uses 7s. Or so he says.....

 

[jamesband4]

I used to be big slayer/weezer fan, so yes at one point. But now im back in standard for my two main guitars and have a jackson RR tuned to D standard for Death/Gorjira/etc

 

[Andytones74]

1/2 step down works great for a thin sounding strat, gives it more beef