E standard vs alternate tunings

[Willy25]

What do you guys think about bands and artist like steve vai, dream theater, metallica, joe satraini etc. That use E standard tuning ( i know sometimes they use alternate tunings but more focus on E standard)
Vs detuning modern metal, djent bands etc..

I think standard has the best emotional compositions. And modern bands, djent bands, have a cool , mean headbang riffs ( my point of view)

Why do bands detune so low? And not just use drop D ( lamb of god sounds heavy in drop D) or why get a 7 string?

 

[Derpottsie]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

I drop tune to drop C for a few reasons. One being its more in my vocalists vocal range. Sits better in the mix. Two my SG's just sound so much better and crisp in drop C. I get more resonance and character out of my SG's in drop C. Three is you can get more ambient voicings. Bigger suspended chords and a larger scale to work with in certain situations.
Drop C is my personal favorite all around. It can be played either in a very melodic fashion or be completely brutal and face shredding.
And the 7 strings or even 8 or 9 string guitars go back to my points of bigger chords and voicings and scales. More strings to work with. Bigger sounds coming out of the amp.
But standard tuning can be all of those things too and the artists you named prove that point. But I personally chose to leave standard to the masters. It has its place in certain areas and in others it doesn't

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[Thundermtn]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

For me a detuned guitar is just easier and more comfortable to play. Unless you're only playing the wound strings between the 1st and 5th fret, notes are notes, you just move up the board more to get them where they are in E standard.

Plus you can get more flop and grind out of the guitar, if you want, by just digging in more.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

If I go all hippy I think C is my resonant frequency. It really feels just right for me. I like to have a guitar in Drop C...

Anyone use an actual alternate tuning other than just going downward?

 

[punchlinechar]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

I typically prefer more e standard stuff, but 7 strings seem cool, and so do baritones. Dimebag also wrote great riffs in drop G, so it really depends on the song.

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[Johnny the Kid]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

If I go all hippy I think C is my resonant frequency. It really feels just right for me. I like to have a guitar in Drop C...

Anyone use an actual alternate tuning other than just going downward?

I tune my acoustic to Open D, and double drop D a lot. As far as electrics are concerned, dropping is about the extent of it, although tesseract uses some lowered form of DADGAD for seven string and I like the sound of it (I think AEADEAE?)

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

What do you guys think about bands and artist like steve vai, dream theater, metallica, joe satraini etc. That use E standard tuning ( i know sometimes they use alternate tunings but more focus on E standard)
Vs detuning modern metal, djent bands etc..



Why do bands detune so low? And not just use drop D ( lamb of god sounds heavy in drop D) or why get a 7 string?

Cause they suck ass. Let's be real, why would you want to stick with riffs only instead of playing virtuoso licks like Vai or Satch?

No kid picks up guitar cause they want to be like Scott Ian or Keith Merrow...come on...

 

[2ndhandband]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

I wish they wouldn't. Tuning a guitar down as far as a lot of modern metal bands do is just pushing the instrument beyond it's practical design parameters, and it always causes problems. Forgetting about a scale length optimized for a certain range for a moment... you also have the issue of neither your pickups or your amp really being designed for those frequencies, and that of competing with the bass player for sonic territory. It might sound fine in your bedroom, you can make damn near anything work in the studio... live it's very very hard not to have the whole mix turn to mush. I used to be house engineer at a midsize venue and I saw dozens of these super-downtuned bands being mixed by dozens of guys. I never once heard such a mix that wasn't making serious compromises just to keep everything audible. Really the practical limit for a guitar's low note is C#... below that and you start running into problems. The instrument just wasn't designed for what you want to do with it. Right now I'm speaking as a soundman and not a guitar player. As a soundman I will sacrifice pretty much anything for articulation.

For me as a guitar player... insofar as possible I prefer to keep electric guitars at concert pitch with the occasional foray to drop D or drop G. But of course i am also a freelance guitar player so I keep some axes set up in some of the more common altered tunings; in particular i get a lot of call for 1/2 step flat. When I'm playing acoustic guitars it is usually classical or fingerstyle stuff, and for the latter I have a range of about ten different tunings I use... mostly I'm in standard but I also use a lot of open tunings and some of the dropped/altered ones as well.

 

[Willy25]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

Cause they suck ass. Let's be real, why would you want to stick with riffs only instead of playing virtuoso licks like Vai or Satch?

No kid picks up guitar cause they want to be like Scott Ian or Keith Merrow...come on...

idk but i have met some that prefer rhythm and writing riffs, and thats why they picked up the guitar. i think its all preference.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

I wish they wouldn't. Tuning a guitar down as far as a lot of modern metal bands do is just pushing the instrument beyond it's practical design parameters, and it always causes problems. Forgetting about a scale length optimized for a certain range for a moment... you also have the issue of neither your pickups or your amp really being designed for those frequencies, and that of competing with the bass player for sonic territory. It might sound fine in your bedroom, you can make damn near anything work in the studio... live it's very very hard not to have the whole mix turn to mush. I used to be house engineer at a midsize venue and I saw dozens of these super-downtuned bands being mixed by dozens of guys. I never once heard such a mix that wasn't making serious compromises just to keep everything audible. Really the practical limit for a guitar's low note is C#... below that and you start running into problems. The instrument just wasn't designed for what you want to do with it. Right now I'm speaking as a soundman and not a guitar player. As a soundman I will sacrifice pretty much anything for articulation.

For me as a guitar player... insofar as possible I prefer to keep electric guitars at concert pitch with the occasional foray to drop D or drop G. But of course i am also a freelance guitar player so I keep some axes set up in some of the more common altered tunings; in particular i get a lot of call for 1/2 step flat. When I'm playing acoustic guitars it is usually classical or fingerstyle stuff, and for the latter I have a range of about ten different tunings I use... mostly I'm in standard but I also use a lot of open tunings and some of the dropped/altered ones as well.

Live, I haven't experienced what you're talking about. I've heard plenty of bands that tune down and sound massive. Going direct helps a lot, because you're not making an amp or speaker cab try to go down to Drop Ab.

 

[AlexR]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

It all different strokes. But the tuning matches what you want to hear, and often the singing range of the vocals. Only 1 heavy band has ever detuned due to member limitations.....the initiator of the genre.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

I knew for a fact that Robert Johnson did NOT sell his soul to the devil in order to strum chords.

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

I only sound good in E standard.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

What is all this it's easier on the singer? The key is the key lol. You can play in any key regardless of what the guitar is tuned to.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

What is all this it's easier on the singer? The key is the key lol. You can play in any key regardless of what the guitar is tuned to.

Well if the riff is written in C and uses open notes, drop C or C standard is probably more useful than E standard.

As far as why get a seven? Well for me, I like having the lower range and still keeping the higher range of a standard 6 string.

 

[dave74]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

What is all this it's easier on the singer? The key is the key lol. You can play in any key regardless of what the guitar is tuned to.

^^^Yep exactly.


It's not like most of a player's stuff should be in the key of their open largest string. lol

I intentionally make riffs that are rooted at various frets/notes, not only to vary the mood, but also to ensure my frets get a more even wear.
Might seem silly to write with any regard to fret wear, but I've seen and played many guitars that are grooved heavily on some frets while others still look perfect.

I only have one full re-crown under my belt, and it honestly wasn't much fun in my book, although it came out well,,,,,,,maybe with more practice it wouldn't be so time-consuming lol.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

Ha. I actually do that too. When I'm playing I think "I should play over there since I wear those frets less." Fret jobs are tiresome. My last one took about 3 hours and I just took it easy and had Terminator 3 playing on the TV.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

^^^Yep exactly.


It's not like most of a player's stuff should be in the key of their open largest string. lol

I intentionally make riffs that are rooted at various frets/notes, not only to vary the mood, but also to ensure my frets get a more even wear.
Might seem silly to write with any regard to fret wear, but I've seen and played many guitars that are grooved heavily on some frets while others still look perfect.

I only have one full re-crown under my belt, and it honestly wasn't much fun in my book, although it came out well,,,,,,,maybe with more practice it wouldn't be so time-consuming lol.

I get that argument, but for metal, it doesn't necessarily work out that way. I mean Tool plays everything in Dm. Danny Carey tunes his drums to that key.

 

[dave74]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

Ha. I actually do that too. When I'm playing I think "I should play over there since I wear those frets less." Fret jobs are tiresome. My last one took about 3 hours and I just took it easy and had Terminator 3 playing on the TV.

3hrs is lighting compared to me. I was more like Fat Albert doing the Ironman Triathlon!

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: E standard vs alternate tunings

Standard tuning all the way, with an occasional drop-D.

Maybe it's my older ears talking, but guitars just don't sound right to me going for lower notes than that.