Guitar tuning hack that makes you sound better?
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2024
- I know some people do this when they record guitars; tune the guitar for each type of guitar chords to make it sound as sweet as possible. I call it Super Tuning. In this video, I experiment to see if it is worth it.
Here is Eric Valentine's video about tuning guitars: • Making Records with Er...
0:00 The goal
0:14 Why?
1:00 The problem
1:25 The experiment
2:47 Song A
3:21 Song B
3:55 Eric Valentine
4:16 Conclusion
5:30 Blind test answer
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#supertuning
![How to Tune Your Guitar Using Harmonics - Guitar Lesson [ES-012]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jFbwPZWJzmo/mqdefault.jpg)
DISCLAIMER: No bushes were harmed during the making of this film
it was a professional stunt double
😂😂😂
The super tuned version sounds so crisp. All the harmonics blend perfectly. But it does sound more robotic.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
It’s bothering me how much I more prefer the super-tuned one.
;)
This was a great video presentation! 👍💯
To me the supertuned version sounds correct but also boring. The normal tuned version has more movement and dirt perhaps because of intermodulations between not so perfect intervalls.
Interesting, Martin! Thanks for the feedback
All these years I've been tuning by ear and playing with people who just made sure an open E sounded not too different between us, after which point everybody would be free to sort our their tuning so that nothing would bother each player when they did their thing. Incidentally, I listen primarily to jazz and one musician I always loved was Jackie McLean whose intentionally out of pitch tone initially drove me crazy, but now I almost don't notice it, it just feels like a part of his expressive playing which made him sound as fierce as he did. Not to mention that there's music out there that does not stick to the equal temperament, and I think familiarity to such staff kind of affects how much importance we might give to things like absolutely "tuned" pitch. Hell, equal temperament doesn't deliver perfect harmonies just so that octaves can remain at the same pitch, so why the fuss? To me that slight difference between the two takes does not matter in the grand scheme of immersing yourself in any tune. I prefer to embrace the inherent imperfections of a guitar and take it as it is. Occasionally I may bend a string slightly to have a chord note not sound flat but that's as far as I bother.
Good Video man! Cheers from Venezuela 🤓👍🏻
Thanks!
Really enjoyed this video. It was well done, conclusive and concise. Personally, I preferred the super-tuned version in both scenarios (full mix & soloed guitars), but I will say that there was something raw/loose/punk about the standard tuning that I enjoyed, and that “x” factor became more apparent when we heard the guitars in solo. There was more tension and chorusing, and that made the guitars feel wider in the stereo image. That said, the super tuned felt more locked in in the full mix. I think the biggest reason why I personally prefer the super tuned version isn’t because the guitars sound more in tune with each other, but that it makes them lock in more with the bass. After all, the bass and guitars are supposed to sound like one, massive instrument and the super tuned version made them feel that much bigger. Like one, solid unit, pushing the speakers.
Again, thank you for this video! Huge fan!
Thanks a lot, Kamil!
Hi Erik! I enjoyed very much this video. A sounded punchier and probably more pleasant than B to my ears. However it’s more a feeling than an intellectual appreciation. More noticeable for me is the fading out, which is Achilles’ heel of many songs in my opinion. Thank you and keep doing such fresh videos!
Thanks, appreciate the feedback!
Supertuned sounds so good. It's almost sounds like the playing is tighter just because the pitch is so spot on.
i think that the difference for which you prefer depends on if you're listening to the song as a producer or as a guitarist, i preferred the super-tuned one because it manages to create a bigger sound wall than the normal tuned one
The bass guitar hides much of the tuning issue, for me anyway: I think my ear the ear assembles a kind of in-tune composite around the guitars + bass. FWIW, I initially thought the guitars were slightly out of tune with the bass at 3.11, even listening on good IEMs. The solo’d versions make the differences a bit more obvious. From a music production perspective, I would vote for ‘B’ in this particular context, I.e. in the middle of a mix, and also for this particular kind of punky track. As someone else has mentioned, they do add some dynamics. For other styles of music, the super tuning might make a bigger difference in the mix or suit the genre better.
And yes I know that Slash tunes his Les Pauls for specific chord shapes when he records the rhythm guitars, but we all know that’s a Les Paul thing! (I own a nice one and love it, so no roasting here).
Really interesting video, thank you.
Thanks for the input! Another thing that sort of hides tuning issues is double tracking the guitar. Would have been easier to hear if I didn't do that.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing this experiment !
To me it did not seem a lot différent. But the super-tuned version sounded bigger to me... And I so I thought it would be the other way round (silghtly out of tune sounding bigger).
thanks for checking out the video!
I liked B more as soon as I heard it, the only thing I wasn’t sure is that what version it really is. I guess that super tuned guitar is maybe crispier but too „square” sounding for my guitar ear. Cool video, thanks
My rythm guitarist has a special tuning too :
The Les Paul tuning.
stahhhp beating
@@LivingroomGearDemos I won't. Cause it's true. 😉
Yeah, I also noticed which one was which and sort of preferred the super tuned one. It sparkles. But, I'm not sure I'd notice consciously or unconsciously if I was subjected to two variants without knowing.
Cool video, I wished somebody did this since I discovered how different Scar Tissue sounds if you tune your guitar specifically. Song A sounds more "alive" and joyful in a noticeable way, no doubt, but there is really nothing wrong with song B.
I think Paul Davids did a video on the Scar Tissue tuning, specifically.
I liked B better, maybe I’m just used to that tuning and it sounded “normal” to me.
I think the Super tuning might be useful for a specific chord In a song, but there's no use for the extra work for each chord.
Good and interesting video 👍
I 100% liked the standard tuned song (song B) it just sounded bigger to me.
I liked B better and thus thought it was super tuned. And I thought you left the little “really” out of tune note at the end of B as a trick. However what I realized after the reveal is that I thought B sounded more normal & comfortable: what I am used to.
I couldn’t tell if one was more in tune than the other. But I honestly felt that normal tuning was sweeter and had that X factor. The super tuned version has something uncomfortable about it to my ears.
When I heard B in the blind test, I immediately felt kind of a relief 😅
It probably comes from being used to that normal sound.
Interesting! This is the first time using the drummer Max with the East Bay kit btw. Thanks for the tip!
@@LivingroomGearDemos ah it did sound like that :D
My upcoming demo for Vaderin pedals weil have it as well.
One other trick I’ve found that costs nothing: isolate the kick and the snare and print it. Now use the stock logic pedalboard plugin and put the RAT style pedal on it. Gain and volume low, filter to taste. Then mix it with the full drums. Kinda like parallel distortion on the cheap.
nice nice
I hear the difference between A and B. I like the super tuning sound very much. I hope this kind of trial will lead to another revolution in the instrument and the music.
haha can't tell if you are sarcastic or not
@@LivingroomGearDemos Oh. I am serious. I am nervous for tuning.
Normal tuning sounded so much better to my ears that I thought it must be the super tuned one. Crazy!
Interesting to hear all the feedback from you, guys! Thank you
I prefer the normal test but maybe that’s because I am a rhythm guitar player. Song B made it feel like I could finally breathe haha
Song A felt stiff and wrong
I'm guessing it depends on the style of music, but for straight up rock I feel like the regular tuned guitar sounds more "natural". The out of tune notes create a cool modulation on the chords that the super tuned guitar just doesn't have
To me A was like studio over produced, ultra nice and lush. Where as B sounded raw and natural, which I think the rawness strikes a better chord for me
Pausing after the songs, I would say Song A is the regular tuned, and Song B is super tuned.
But fucking hell the difference is next to nothing, and I'm listening through a studio headset. Is all that extra work worth it? Absolu-fucking-lutely not.
Edit: Oh look I was wrong, so yeah to me it really doesn't matter, and my point above is even clearer to me now haha!
Great experiment and great video as always!
It is strange because I definitely knew it was song A the second that song B kicked in but I also didn’t miss it once song B got going
I did a version of this before I could play at all but still had a desire to record. So I retuned the guitar to a open chord, the chord I wanted, for each chord, and recorded them separately. While this sounds good, it has no flow and makes improvisation impossible.
How did you go about recording the super tuned one to make the chord changes sound natural? Record a full take in each tempered tuning and then crossfade the changes in on each bar (does my question make sense)?
yup thats pretty much how I did it.
As a lover of keeping things organic/unique, I hate that I liked the super tuned version better. But fuck it sounds so so hyped and clear😂💪
haha, exactly!
I actually prefer Song B. I thought it sounded sweeter and easier on the ears. Song A sounded brighter and more abrasive (not by much, but noticeably), and I originally guessed that Song B was super-tuned. Is it just because I’m more used to hearing that sound? Quite possibly.
when you said the tuned version sounds sweeter, i knew which one it was. otherwise, it was just a tonal preference for me
I prefer normal tuned
Preferred the normal I'm supprised
Song A!
What tuner app did u use at the start?
Peterson iStrobosoft
I'm opening a Studio and we only record like this. I'm booked to record 2 albums for the next 30 years.
haha, it doesn't take that long to do when you are two persons
maybe my ears are faulty, but I honestly don't even hear that great of a difference between them, or at least B doesn't sound out of tune to me at any point. I think I'm also just used to the slightly out of tune-ness that you get playing different shapes in different positions, and it has just become how a guitar sounds.
Your ears are okay, the difference isn't very noticeable :)
Or you could just get a true temperament guitar lol
Is that a thing?
haha I could, but they are incredibly ugly
yes!
Oh ok, I didn't know that was what they're called.. I looked it up, seen em before. I think I'm about to fall down another rabbit hole...
Or just snap to pitch using Melodyne. Much quicker, same result. Or if playing live, use a guitar with a tuning offsets system like Buzz Feiten, etc..
Would that fix the relation between the strings/notes though?
@@LivingroomGearDemos Yes
I guessed wrong lol. I think maybe i would've caughgt something off in headphones, but in monitors i didnt catch it
;)
Ok now the guitar sounds great. But try to sing over G E7 Am D7 G.
In G the B must be flat. Hold that B. Now you must sing a flat E for a perfect 5th. Next the A must be flat and then the D. Finally the last G is very flat... this issue is well known to choirs. To avoid it you'd have to find a spot hidden to the listener where you slip to the pitches of the next chord. This lead to the modern tuning system...
I preferred song B 😅 Song A sounded a little sharp to my ears!
:)
Song A sounded a bit better but no guitarist will be willing to pay by the hour to record like this.
Slash was ;)
I liked song b better.
What is Super Tuning? its tuning the major 3rd or minor 3 note by how many cents?
I mention it in the video :)
@@LivingroomGearDemos I didn't hear it in the video
Around 1:05. Thirds should be 13 cents flat
@@LivingroomGearDemos did EVH Eddie van Halen tuned his major 3rd and minor 3rds to be 13 cents flat? Because EVH used this super tuning
Unsweetened tuning adds to the..."EXPERIENCE" you say? 😉 *cough* Hendrix *cough*
I might be crazy, but to me the normal sounds a bit sweeter. The super tuned version sounds good, but I prefer the normal one.
i thought the normal tuning was the super tuning until that last chord rang out
yeah that last chord is a dead giveaway
Super tuned sounded so much better man
Interesting!
B>A
Listening to this… suddenly those wiggly compensated frets don’t seem so silly…
I prefer the first one. Even though I suspect this is a non-perfectly-tuned one.
...aaaand it was super tuned. Interesting!
;)
Supertuned sounded one hundred times better. I am very sensitive to the imperfections of twelve tone equal temperament, it's so frustrating I often want to throw the guitar at the wall.
haha I feel you. It goes in waves for me, though. Sometimes I can't play the guitar because it pisses me off so bad.
Super tuned sounds like the corporate auto tuned bubblegum type stuff, while regular tuning sounds more organic and natural. Context seems to be key to the method choice.
Very interesting. Well done.
I thought the super tuned version was Song B. I also liked the sound of Song B the best.
I am deaf.
haha
Would a "True Temperament" fretted guitar solve this?
Yup. They look horrible though.
@@LivingroomGearDemos if it's for a recording, no one would ever know, haha. It seems like it would save some time and effort!
Indeed. Have you tried one? They seem hard to play
Eddie utilized sweetened tuning.
B boi here. More texture imo.
A sounds more produced, B sounds more lame. I think that way of tuning cold be good extra instrument to make what u want.
I prefer B which prob makes me weird
Play single note metal riffs so that you only have to super tune 1 string! 😃
B
Dude, stop beating the bush, please
B sounds better to me
I couldn't care less about "super" tunings. This is overthinking in my opinion, I prefer focusing on being a better player or composer. This kind of details are so distracting for so little reward.
agreed. level your frets when needed and intonate the guitar regularly, and everything will be fine
Sounds like you are angry about the video, lol. I'm just trying stuff out.
@@LivingroomGearDemos My Friend, your channel is amazing, and we're all very thankful for your time and effort. I think Jose just wanted to say that this isn't the most important thing in the world to focus on. especially for people who haven't covered the basic stuff yet
@@LivingroomGearDemos I'm not angry at all, english is not my language and I cannot express myself clearly. Just sharing opinions on internet
Gotcha, probably just the wording I read wrong then. I move back and forth whether I find stuff like this to have any value or not. At times, guitar tuning can be hell in the studio. It's different from guitar to guitar, and there are many other factors as well. So I genuinely think that this is something to be considered a tool, a long side of many other things that guitarists should know about. Of course, being a better player and writer is key. But sometimes details like these matters. If Eric Valentine does it sometimes, I bet there is something to it.
I think it isn‘t worth the effort. To me, Song B sounded more natural.
Song B sounds better to me. Maybe my ears are detuned from years and years of listening to out-of-tune music.
A sounds better
No need to hear song b
:34
This premise is nonsensical. Cords don’t “for sure sound bad” on a guitar in tune. They don’t. This isn’t a thing. What the hell is this video??
Get Evertune
Or a Gibson Nevertune
Junk science.
Just play.
example A sounds way more planted and pleasant from the first touch
yeah!