Downtuning - What difference does it make?

[Cosmo Valdemar]

31 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

 

Yes I did, at Glastonbury. The best set I've ever seen at the festival. 

I also saw them on the Rated R tour supporting Foo Fighter with Motorhead at Hyde Park then on the Era Vulgaris tour at Bristol O2 and Reading Festival and then in 2011 at Bournemouth O2.

They were amazing live each time but I wouldn't see them again unless they make another heavy record. Songs for the deaf was their peak for me.

I saw QOTSA support the Foos at the Stratford Rex of all places, around the Rated R era. My main memory of them is Nick Oliveri playing a see-through Ampeg bass. I've never been a big fan but the Mrs likes them.

Anyway, getting slightly back on topic, my former cover band had No One Knows in their set when I joined, but didn't think it necessary to drop tune to C. It sounded terrible and I refused to play it without tuning down.

[Vin Venal]

I recently put a bass in D Standard, and love it. Lower tension, heavier sound, and closer to my vocal range if I ever want to attempt singing.

 

I only did it cuz I had a set of strings thicker than I like for that scale, but will keep it in that for the foreseeable.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that "standard" tuning ain't what it used to be. It's all based on a nominal standard of 440hz for the middle A, which was only standardised at the start of the 20th century, before which it was all over the place, but it had generally been creeping up for several centuries. Go back far enough and EADG was much heavier. 😁

[sykilz]

My originals band back in the 90's played metal akin to Metallica, Alice in Chains, and a healthy dose of Black Sabbath, and I used a five string as 50% of the stuff we wrote was in D, Db or even low B. However we broke up, then reformed in the  2000's and I only had a four string Warwick, I tried detuning but it didn't sound right for some reason, so I decided to channel my inner Geezer and Steve Harris and play in standard, in some cases an octave up from the original versions. Surprisingly it worked a treat, it added a kick to the music because the guitars were heavy enough already, several people told me they actually heard what the bass was doing for the first time (😆😆😆) . Saw Sabbath on the 13 tour and had a seat a few yards from Geezers side of the stage, and he plays well up the fretboard a lot, and yet the band retain their heaviness, so I guess there's an argument both ways, sometimes the extra low stuff will work, others you can rely on the heaviness of the guitar riffs to allow you to add more punch by playing higher up. IMO.

[ubit]

26 minutes ago, sykilz said:

My originals band back in the 90's played metal akin to Metallica, Alice in Chains, and a healthy dose of Black Sabbath, and I used a five string as 50% of the stuff we wrote was in D, Db or even low B. However we broke up, then reformed in the  2000's and I only had a four string Warwick, I tried detuning but it didn't sound right for some reason, so I decided to channel my inner Geezer and Steve Harris and play in standard, in some cases an octave up from the original versions. Surprisingly it worked a treat, it added a kick to the music because the guitars were heavy enough already, several people told me they actually heard what the bass was doing for the first time (😆😆😆) . Saw Sabbath on the 13 tour and had a seat a few yards from Geezers side of the stage, and he plays well up the fretboard a lot, and yet the band retain their heaviness, so I guess there's an argument both ways, sometimes the extra low stuff will work, others you can rely on the heaviness of the guitar riffs to allow you to add more punch by playing higher up. IMO.

 

 

So true, plus if a bass is taking up those low frequencies and a guitar is heavy on the low mids and bass frequencies, the sound can get muddied and messy. Coupled with high volume and you can be looking at a mush of noise.