Does lower tuning make you heavier?

[ghost_of_karelia]

In my view, heavy as an adjective describes the overall atmosphere and feel of a song, rather than specific elements of it.

Several posters have commented that the presence of the rhythm guitar in the mix contributes to the weight of the song, or how the tone of all the guitars is crafted. These are both pretty good suggestions, but I would argue that there is no one element that makes a song "heavy".

The description varies between listeners as well. It's as much a matter of taste as preferring snails to oysters (anyone who gets the reference gets a doffed cap and a pat on the back). The guys from Carcass playing tight dual-guitar harmonised melodies in B on 6s could be one British guy who works in a warehouse packing sex toys' idea of the heaviest, br00talest stuff ever - but a 43-year-old Swede who coaches the local ice hockey team might think that the delicate acoustic interludes of Agalloch's Pale Folklore create the perfect contrast to the crashing E-tuned distorted guitars and thus make it way heavier.

Point being, that if you're asking this question with the intention of writing and recording music that conforms as close to the general idea of heavy - don't put all your meat in one sandwich. Tune low (if it suits the key of your vocali-- oh wait, it's metal) if you want, but consider your other options. Get your rhythm playing tight as a nun's va- vestibule, analyse other bands' mixes that you consider heavy and try to replicate or even take their process to the next level, and collaborate with the other instrumentalists (or yourself, if you're one of those guys with an odin-given talent to play guitar, bass, drums, vocals and hurdy gurdy equally magnificently - yeah, we all hate you) to really get your stuff sounding as heavy as you can before you even go into the studio.

 

[Blackheim]

B and C sounded the best for me. I liked C# a lot too.

 

[jonsick]

I like C# personally. It's lower for the fun-ness and if I drop the C# to B, I'm not annoying a five-string bassist.

That said, I don't really like low tunings live. Every time I see a support band strap on 8-strings, I know full well that there won't be a single track discernible from the rest. In fact, I often wonder why exactly they needed 8 strings. I'm sure at the end of a couple of gigs, the bottom three strings are wasted while the top five are pristine and brand new.

It reminds me of Max Cavalera just having the four top strings on his guitars because he never used the bottom two.

 

[heineken_fretwalker]

No.

 

[TheStig1214]

I'm just going to try and turn this into the Rob Scallon thread. He released a pretty bitchin' 9 string song today.

 

[Hachetjoel]

i'd have to say while it didnt make that riff heavier if you took some riffs in low tunings and tuned them up theyd sound less heavy, i'd say tuning + riff =heavy

 

[The Omega Cluster]

I find it funny that he posts a video of him mostly proving that low tuning doesn't make you heavier, and just after that gets a 9 string and writes some of the lowest riffs ever created.

That being said, I like the song but I'd like it better with vocals on it, that octave riff is awesome.

 

[TheStig1214]

I find it funny that he posts a video of him mostly proving that low tuning doesn't make you heavier, and just after that gets a 9 string and writes some of the lowest riffs ever created.

That being said, I like the song but I'd like it better with vocals on it, that octave riff is awesome.

He did release one album with his own vocals, but it was not a metal album by any means. I think the issue is he doesn't have any metal vocalists at his disposal.

Also this song got it's inevitable mention on metalsucks. Say what you will about the website, but hey, publicity is publicity.

This 9-String Metal Song Actually Uses all 9 Strings - MetalSucks

 

[ThrashnBash]

This has been a question people have been wondering for awhile now, and I know Fluff did a Beard File on it.

So, does tuning low really make your guitar sound heavier? I don't think so either, and here's why!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0L1-rmgDi4

Not sure how to embed.

 

[loqtrall]

I don't think a lower tuning essentially makes your guitar sound heavier, but more the way you play.

Skeletonwitch plays in E Standard.

 

[ThrashnBash]

Right! So do Sylosis and they're heavier than a lot of modern metal bands that use 7 strings.

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...82831-does-lower-tuning-make-you-heavier.html

 

[A-Branger]

although a bit of low would seem sometimes heavier, but only a small amount, going LOOOOOOOw thats overkill.

also think the misconception comes too from the difference in scales. Everyone has a "favourite scale" they like to play on a guitar, there is always those "familiar" frets you like to go when you are doing a quick impro/jam. By de-tunning your guitar, you could still be playing "the same" but now you would be in a different scale


But yeah I agree going LOW doesnt equal heavier or angrier or more "metal" at all. And never understood the need to go into deep 8 string/bass territory

refer to Opeth


Prob a lot of you have seen it, but this is the best example Ive seen from Rob Scallon. Same riff played in every tuning possible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8S-F3DKA-8


Edit:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...82831-does-lower-tuning-make-you-heavier.html

he beat me to it

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I certainly think it can. For instance, the first time i heard "The thing that should not be", i was thinking goddamn that's heavy. And part of the reason for the heaviness is D tuning against an E tuned album, along with the heavy ass riff in general. It's just one factor that can affect the overall vibe of your song.

 

[Louis Cypher]

I don't think a lower tuning essentially makes your guitar sound heavier, but more the way you play.

This probably cntributes more to being "heavy" than simply down tuning. Sure down tuning helps but its not really as simple as do this 1 thing and you will be heavy, lots more elements involved.

 

[Duosphere]

A mix can make all instruments sound heavy or not, there are no heavy instruments all by themselves.You can have a tone you think it's heavy as hell but in a mix it could sound completely wrong, you can have a mid gain tone you think is not heavy but in a mix it could sound massive.Each instrument has its place in the spectrum, they complete themselves.The heaviest mixes are the cleanest ones cause you can hear each instrument separate.If it's not clean, it's not heavy, it's a mess.Lower tuning means you're playing lower, just it

 

[Steinmetzify]

I think it's always meant I played slower and that makes me come up with different riffs. Standard and drop D means thrash to me, drop C and lower makes me play doomy/sludge stuff, and that sounds heavier to me.

 

[Low Baller]

I have always seen it as lower tuning makes your guitar sound lower....not heavier that's what distortion and eq is for. Granted playing a riff in a lower tuning sounds more beefy and dark because it's in a lower register but the distortion EQed heavy and lower tuning adds more components to the heaviness but doesn't make it heavier IMO.

 

[bnzboy]

I think low tuning will certainly "help" your guitar sounding heavier but more importantly it depends on your playing style. Also things like EQing (ie. mid-scoop) and mixing (ie. quad tracking) will play a huge role making the guitar sound even heavier. I certainly believe that an E standard guitar can sound just as "heavy" as any low tuned guitars.

 

[jmvirgil]

Regarding the mix, it also depends on how many times you track the same guitar parts. Using envelope filters can help open things up to sound really beefy.