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Alternate Tunings

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:51 pm
by archlilim
I've just started experimenting with some alternate tunage. What would you guys recommend for noisy, drony stype stuff? What are you favorite tunnings?

Re: Alternate Tunings

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:01 pm
by basti moon
Droning!
Here's my thoughts.
Stereotypically, you should get it as low as you can without loosing all the sustain on the top two-three strings. Or as low as you're comfortable with.
Then you need some strangeness, noisy things.
In droning it's all about textures so while the strings have to relate to eachother it's important that they do so in interesting ways. You can tune them to slight dissonance, for example the highest strings tuned to almost the same note, which of course makes the normally highest of them wobbly thus adding more texture.

I don't have any keys I normally use, I tune while listening to what's going on and think about what colours the tones make, what they can paint.

Btw, just had a thought: Isn't drone and noise the opposite thing? I know what you meant by noise and I use it that way too, but properly speaking noise is the absence of structure and relation between the sounds, the opposite of music kind of. And while drones don't usually have any strict rules about structure, they certainly have notes that are related.
I'm not grammar nazying you, like I said I use it the same way usually :hug:

Re: Alternate Tunings

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:33 am
by archlilim
Thanks, that helps lots. Yeah interesting about the relation between those two, I originally didn't mean to use set them in the same category. The way I play is usually noise leads and drone rhythms, so that's kinda how I meant it.

Re: Alternate Tunings

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 1:48 am
by diwanna
One of my favorite alternate tunings (and normally I stay completely away from them) is a classic from Sonic Youth. low to high F# F# G G A A It's been a while, but I believe that the pairs are all unison. The Gs might be octaves, but I think they are all unison. They used this tuning alot on the Sister and Daydream Nation albums.

Re: Alternate Tunings

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:29 pm
by glitch
Oh man, I love this sh*t. :omg:

Well, first of all, I keep one of my axes -- the FrankenVox -- permanently tuned to Arabian Oud tuning (D-G-A-D-G-C) with doubled courses since it's an 11-string (so I guess that would actually be D-G-G-A-A-D-D-G-G-C-C). That tuning's great for drones, and lends itself to a lot of interesting chord shapes. Beware: the first time I retuned and kicked in the distortion, I found myself cranking out Led Zep's "Kashmir" for 45 minutes straight. ;)

I'm lucky enough that most of my axes have GK pickups on them, so I can use my VG-99 to completely switch tunings on the fly. Lately I've been poking around with variations of D Modal (D-A-D-G-A-D) or Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D). Both are good for ringing and ambient stuff, especially with a capo or slide for easy transposition.

Another one I've worked with a bunch in the past is using open fifths -- what I regularly refer to as "Stick" tuning, since it's one of the things that contributes to the Chapman Stick's distinctive sound. I'll frequently tune to C-G-D-A-E-B, since that doesn't go so far afoul of normal tuning that it sounds strange.

Open fifths is also great for two-handed tapping (er, duh). However, keep in mind that I'm doing this electronically, so I don't have to worry about inappropriate string tension. As always, YMMV(!).

Most important thing with alternate tunings, though, is to have fun. You can play mind games with these things until you drive yourself nuts. Instead, experiment: find something that moves your heart and your butt, then crank it for all it's worth. :yay:

-- glitch.@#$%!