Does lower tuning make you heavier?

[HUGH JAYNUS]

Yes. Lower tuning requires thicker gauges which requires more material which is indeed, heavier.

Also I think it does add some heaviness. I play songs I write in multiple tunings and keep them in whichever sounds best. Usually lower adds that umph that is lacking in higher ones.

Also, I will refer to exhibit K: King's X Dogman album. By far their heaviest album, also the point in which they tuned to drop B for the majority of the album.

Ignore exhibit M: Metallica St Anger.

 

[TheBloodstained]

 

[tacotiklah]

I see tuning down as making things heavier, but with diminishing returns. Eventually it stops sounding nice and tight, and more like utter garbage. Makes sense since we're talking about sound frequencies. Eventually it gets so low that the human ear can't make out wtf is going on.

 

[Duosphere]

Nope, what makes a guitar sound heavy is the entire mix cause all instruments depend on themselves, you can have the heaviest guitar tone ever but the mix makes it sound dull, you can have a not so heavy guitar tone but, as the mix is heavy, it makes your tone sounds heavier.I'm tired of guitarists coming to my studio saying they got the heaviest guitar tone ever, when I record it and put it in a mix, it sounds like crap because they got that tone alone in their bedrooms, generally they add a lot of bass and scoop mids = total crap in a mix.

 

[b1-66er]

Yes. Lower tuning requires thicker gauges which requires more material which is indeed, heavier.

that was gonna be my answer

 

[lucasreis]

Sure!

 

[p0ke]

Depends on what you're doing with it. I like the kind of "roar" that a palm muted C in C-standard gives, you just can't get the same thing in a higher tuning, and 7-string standard tuning B also feels somewhat lighter for some reason. There's just something about C tuning that works.

 

[Lifestalker]

Lower tunings make music sound heavier due to it being lower in pitch, obviously.

To me, heaviness is all in the arrangement. I prefer as close to standard as possible.

Deftones are an excellent example of how lower tuning doesn't make your music even heavier. Their sound has always been consistent despite them lowering their tunings on pretty much every album.

 

[goherpsNderp]

some interesting things i've noticed in metal since low tunings have become increasingly popular:

-more riffs are being written that use one string at a time, ie: less drop D tunings that chug on those bar chords.

-a greater focus on the rhythms and percussive aspect of these single string guitar riffs. (ie: Monuments and anything by Browne, among others, really)

-a much better contrast/duality/etc. between melodies/harmonies on the higher strings against the rhythm sections played on the lower strings.

-a slow contraction from everyone using 8 strings to now tons of bands using detuned 7 strings.

-a much easier time discerning the differences between good creative writing in the low tuned heavy space and those that are just aping it to try and get an easy following. the phonies really stand out to me now.

 

[beerandbeards]

Well this explains my gut...

 

[Chiba666]

D Standard all the way, if it wsa good enough for Chuck its good enough for me.

 

[p0ke]

Oh and check out Gojira. They're only in D (or used to be anyway, I'm not sure about their latest albums), and they're pretty much the heaviest matter of the universe!

 

[goherpsNderp]

Oh and check out Gojira. They're only in D (or used to be anyway, I'm not sure about their latest albums), and they're pretty much the heaviest matter of the universe!

i think they're D flat (or whatever half a step down is from drop D), and yes, they're ultra heavy.

heaviness isn't impossible in not-so-low tunings, but now that the metal scene has ventured so far into the low tunings there's so much contrast that it's hard to listen to standard or even regular drop D and consider it heavy without the writing and play style being top notch.

 

[Friendroid]

C# sounded most evil and maintained a tonal balanced. To each their own.

 

[Bilbone Shaggins]

Go listen to Cattle Decapitation...their stuff is often only tuned down a half step and yet they sound heavier than plenty of bands using extended range guitars.

 

[Duosphere]

Heavy enough?
He uses "Big Mac" distortion pedal of McDonalds pedals

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I think we all know this, but I just wanted to say it, because I haven't seen it in so many words:

Yes, up to a point, then no.

I think the only argument any more is what is that point?

 

[vansinn]

C#...C# tuning is the sweet spot for metal in my opinion.

Hehe.. why do you think I have my Riot 8 tuned C# on the mid six strings..?

Very cool video by the way. I lost it when getting below C, and quite frankly, this specific piece didn't get heavier just because of lower - it's all a matter of the whole arrangement.

 

[Chi]

Tuning almost always goes with a certain riff. Many low-tuned riffs that sound groovy and good as shit sound sorta' off in higher tunings.

The video is gold doe.

 

[The Omega Cluster]

I'm tuned in sub-bass (infrasounds) A-1. That's akin to the drop Q tuning I guess.



#tryingtoomuch