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I don't like the way the strings feel loose and sloppy (I use 9s) but I like it even less to have to use 10s.
In fact I can't think of anything else that pisses me off more, everything just feels wrong.
Generally do one set in standard and the second set in Eb. So the only pro is pragmatic, for the singer's benefit. The con is that it feels like shit and the tuning isn't as stable, especially on the bottom strings.
Not a fan.
The main reason in a band would be to help vocalists.
Yep, me and my band play in Eb and although it irritated me to begin with, I prefer it to standard tuning now. Just sounds that little bit darker, and the tension is perfect with .10s for me.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
I can totally understand why dropping the key of a song helps a singer, but I can't see how 1 semitone makes much difference..
Or to put it another way, whenever our singer's deciding on a key for a new song (and doing first dances, there are a LOT of new songs throughout the year), I always try and get him to avoid # or b keys, but he always says it has to suit his voice.
I don't get why a song that is too high in E is fine in Eb but wouldn't be fine in D...? Does that extra semitone really matter?!
#clearlynotasinger
After playing in standard tuning for about 4 years in my band, about 3 months ago I suggested we go a semi tone down just to try it out on a weekend when we had three gigs in a row.
So the week before hand we tuned down and ran through our usual setlist. Fuck me, what a difference it makes. On the first run through I had to concentrate so hard to hit the right notes on harmonies - the muscle memory in my vocal chords and chest really had to be checked. The timbre of the entire band changed too - the sound was thicker, richer and more melancholy. On some songs it made a really positive difference , on some I wouldn't be able to say which tuning I preferred, and one song became totally shit - just way too muddy to the point that we dropped it.
Vocally, it's not just a question of whether or not you can hit that one high C# if you drop it down to C. Every single note for the entire set is a little bit easier, which means when you get to that C you can hit it with more confidence not just because it's a semi tone lower, but because your vocal chords are less strained in the 30 minutes leading up to it - makes a biiiig diference. You might even find that where before the C# would have been a struggle, you can go higher briefly because overall you've got more left to give.
So why not go a tone lower, avoid the # key, and make it easier to transpose? Sometimes that works, and sometimes our singer finds that he wants his voice to be strained just the right amount - too high and it's choked, too low and he can't throw the energy into the lines that he wants to. So it's very voice and song dependent, but sometimes that kind of stuff really matters.
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