Does lower tuning make you heavier?

[Kwert]

Hahahah awesome. To me, Eb (D#) sounded best.

 

[TheStig1214]

Can we get a dedicated Rob Scallon megathread over in Music Discussion?

Jeezus.

 

[Edika]

I found this really amusing. While I wouldn't mind the E tuning version of the riffs the lower tuning bass response made it sound fuller.

Oh and drop Q tuning? My new catch phrase!

EDIT: Mods if someone beat me to it, please delete this thread or merge it with the existing one!

 

[yingmin]

No.

 

[stevexc]

There's a decent discussion on this over in Off Topic

Drop tuning may make your chugs sound a bit "heavier" tonally, but you can't take a riff that isn't heavy to begin with, downtune it, and expect it to be heavy. The video actually proves pretty well that tuning down DOESN'T make you sound any heavier.

Dude's a funny guy, though.

 

[protest]

I think the vocalist actually has a bigger role in the "heaviness" of the band than the tuning you're in.

 

[stevexc]

I've found it's more compositional than anything. What makes you sound heavy is a tight synchronicity between the guitar(s), bass, and most importantly the drummer.

 

[Neilzord]

I personally base "heavy-ness" on the aggression/feeling the music contains / projects , which can be achieved through any tuning!

 

[Edika]

I agree that the lower tunings don't make that much of a difference. I mean there were a lot of heavy sounding bands in E tuning.
It is quite helpful for a singer (not a vocalist/growler). The only thing I can think of is the response of the pickups and the equing/mastering required. Maybe it's easier to ass mids in a lower registers in a recording sense than having higher registers and trying to fit more lower mids and bass frequencies, by maybe subtracting some frequencies.

But that "Q tuning", dear lord! Hahahaha!

EDIT: I mainly posted the video for entertainment purposes and actually having a sonar example of the differences in lowering the tuning. I write most of my stuff in E standard and have other guitars tuned in different keys for playing songs. I always thought of down tuning as the same sequence of notes with a different starting point.

 

[Zhysick]

[...]it's easier to ass mids in a[...]

Great!!

I think downtuning makes a little bit heavier but depends a lot on mostly the composition.

I have listened to a lot of "happy metal" with 8 string guitars tuned to C#(below standard F#, of course) and lot of really heavy metal in tunings like standard E...

But... I somehow love how Drop C sound in a standard 6, Drop A and Drop G in a standard 7 and specially Drop E in a 8 string.

I think that somehow there are a few tunings that sounds heavier but it depends on the guitar, amplifier, the way you EQ to have your own sound...

But a lower tuning is not proportional to a heavier sound.

 

[Edika]

Hahahaha wanted to say add but I'll leave it because it inadvertently came out funny!

 

[guitarfan85]

I think the vocalist actually has a bigger role in the "heaviness" of the band than the tuning you're in.

I agree. But if your vocalist is growling or has a good deep voice, then lower tuned guitars can compliment that very well. I always play in B or drop A because when I was getting I to Swedish metal a lot of bands are tuned as such..... So I just like it that way, but at the end of the day you can still be as heavy playing in E.

I wonder are there any bands that tune even higher? Does anyone play in E sharp?

 

[wat]

Yes.


It's not that E standard can't be heavy, it's just that C and B sound so much more so.

 

[oompa]

no in general. Things like drop D for example gives your chords a different resonance that can often make it sound more heavy to me, and one or two steps tuned down has a bit of an effect but it is diminishing and the effect is completely lost when you are down 4-5 steps/7-string, and I sense no difference in how heavy things are between a downtuned 8string and a regular guitar tuned down 4 steps even though there is almost an octave between them. Composition completely takes over. Is what I think/my taste at least

 

[Axayacatl]

meh... ever since I started down tuning I've gained approximately 25-30 pounds..... Damn you heavy metal!!!

 

[Chemical-Pony]

I think it does sound a bit heavier at lower tunings, but it's about diminishing returns the lower you go. Beyond a certain point with distortion it just sounds like noise and you can't hear the notes anymore. That's the problem I have with things like 9 string guitars. The bass needs to be clean to cut through the mud. Not that I have anytihng against noise. I like noise, but everything in moderation and in its proper place.

 

[no_dice]

I think it does to a point. I love listening to super low tunings, but for me when I'm playing, I don't like to go low to the point that your lowest power chords lose that sweet "chunk". I think it's around G or G#.

 

[Aviator]

I guess it really depends on the composition, mix and mastering. For example Teras by Sylosis is in standard tuning on 6 string and that song is really heavy. I can tell the same for Uneven Structure, they are using A# tuning or Drop G# and their songs sound heavier to me than songs written on 8 strings. And last example would be Periphery. Comapre Ji (8 string) to Luck As A Constant (Drop C). Luck As A Constant just sounds heavier to me because of the way the main riff/groove is written.

 

[fps]

Depends whether you're going for blades or hammers.

 

[Necris]

meh... ever since I started down tuning I've gained approximately 25-30 pounds..... Damn you heavy metal!!!

How big are the strings you're using?