It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 3:04 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 16 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Some recorded songs "out of tune"?
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:33 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 600
Location: Central New Jersey
I've noticed sometimes when trying to play along with a CD, some songs seem to be off by a half step or even a bit out of tune. Why is that? Sometimes the half step puts the song in what I would think is an awkward key. Is this the result of production issues? Intentional? Just have always been curious about this and figured someone here knows the answer ...

_________________
http://www.bluesrepublic.org/

2008 Fender American Stratocaster
2008 Fender Deluxe Telecaster
Fender Power Jazz Bass Special 1987 (MIJ)
Egnater Renegade Head
Egnater Tourmaster 2x12 cab


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:59 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:10 pm
Posts: 2132
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas (San Antonio, y'all)
Everything Mance Lipscomb ever recorded sounds like that, but it's still awesome!

By the way, if you're not familiar with this great artist, check him out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51OmR04vc6g 8)

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm. :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:20 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:58 pm
Posts: 1348
Location: Motor City
Some people tune to standard pitch, some a half step down (for ease of play or for their singer), and some songs you'll find just a quarter staff off at times.

They're not "out of tune", they purposely do this for various reasons noted.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:23 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:47 am
Posts: 15336
Location: In a galaxy far far away
I'm rarely dead on E open. Im usually a bit below not as far as a semitone though. I've recorded several cd's like that with a band thats at concert pitch. Recordings can sound very sterile when everythings perfectly in tune. If you look at a symphony orchestra every thing is everso slightly off, it goes into producing that massive sound. Their timing is spot on, if the tuning was absolutely exactly the same it would sound loud not big.
As faras i can see unprecise tuning is a accepted part of music.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:46 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am
Posts: 7282
Location: Washington
Some tapes get speeded up, either on purpose or by accident.

One side of the classic Miles Davis album "kind of blue" had its speed changed when they mastered it to vinyl. When they fixed the problem on a later CD, people didn't like it!

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:36 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:00 pm
Posts: 281
Location: PDX
Norman Blake does this a lot. He says that he just hears the songs a little off from standard pitch.

_________________
If TERROR is the enemy,
LOVE is the hero.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:46 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:12 pm
Posts: 600
Location: Central New Jersey
What I'm describing isn't as much "inprecise" tuning of an instrument to achieve a more rounded fuller sound but rather the whole song being off from perfect tuning.

An example that come to mind is Santana's "Feeling You". If you try to play along with a perfectly tuned guitar, you have to play it in D flat (The second chord then is an E flat minor). That just seems awkward to me if that's the correct key. Either they're all tuned down a step or something was modified when it was recorded. The examples given for Davis and Blake seem to support this.

_________________
http://www.bluesrepublic.org/

2008 Fender American Stratocaster
2008 Fender Deluxe Telecaster
Fender Power Jazz Bass Special 1987 (MIJ)
Egnater Renegade Head
Egnater Tourmaster 2x12 cab


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:58 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2008 10:26 am
Posts: 319
About half of th guitar players I know are tuned to E flat, and I know one guy in a 3 peice band that is tuned somewhere between D and D flat. when I asked him about it, he said it made his vocals easier. I cannot sing worth ****, so I wouldn't know.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:09 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:37 pm
Posts: 4750
Location: My Piece Of Red Dirt
I follow you TomK. Alot of Live at the Fillmore( Allman Bro's) is just off enough to get to you. Fine live recording by the master Tom Dowd. I'm guilty of it myself from time to time. Happy Thanksgiving! 8) Mike

_________________
The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:23 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:37 am
Posts: 559
Location: Wildcat County, Kentucky
Hendrix was like that all the time, and a few of the Police's songs are like that (Every Breath You Take in particular).

_________________
"Music is really a way to reach out and hold onto each other in a healthy way." --Stevie Ray Vaughan


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:53 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 9:04 am
Posts: 715
Location: Marshfield, MA
guns and roses (my youngest is the big fan at my house), hendrix, are a couple that i know did it on purpose, i. e., tune 1/2 step down. comes in handy doing live shows and being on stage for an hour or two with the strings a little looser makes it a litte easier to play.

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:38 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:09 pm
Posts: 440
Location: Rochester, NY
My tuner (on my computer) has two settings - perfect, and "Close enough for rock and roll."


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 4:25 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:37 am
Posts: 559
Location: Wildcat County, Kentucky
FrankieTheKid wrote:
guns and roses (my youngest is the big fan at my house), hendrix, are a couple that i know did it on purpose, i. e., tune 1/2 step down. comes in handy doing live shows and being on stage for an hour or two with the strings a little looser makes it a litte easier to play.


I think that we're not speaking specifically about one tuning or the other; from what I've gathered, we mean like just below Eb or slightly higher than E. Take Stevie Ray's first performance at Montreux for example. He is without a doubt not in perfect tune. He was probably aiming for Eb, but the closest he got was like between E and Eb.

_________________
"Music is really a way to reach out and hold onto each other in a healthy way." --Stevie Ray Vaughan


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:23 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 9:04 am
Posts: 715
Location: Marshfield, MA
well, i guess alvin lee's "i'm goin' home" would fall into that category... started out in tune, but by the end of that song... holy smokes!!! ;)

_________________
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 6:08 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:48 pm
Posts: 2315
tomk62 wrote:
What I'm describing isn't as much "inprecise" tuning of an instrument to achieve a more rounded fuller sound but rather the whole song being off from perfect tuning.


That's what I thought from the thread title, and I of Big Brother and the Holding Company--but they somehow pulled it off anyway.

_________________
It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 16 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: