Let's talk drop-tunings

[JeffTD]

Yeah, on the Believe In Nothing song from DHIADW, the tuning is

- G# D# G# C# F# A# D#

EDIT - At least this is the tuning the tabs I have are in, this is the tuning for the distorted tracks, the acoustic tracks were just tuned down half a step.

When I have tested playing (what I can) of this song, it sounds right in this tuning.

It sounds lower because a lot of those chords are (haven't looked at the tab, but it's probably wrong) root-4th-octave, so you get an implied note one octave below the 4th. Dimmu Borgir does this a lot, too.

Biggest display of Nevermore noobery ever

Nope. You're still noobier! You only got an avatar like a week ago!

 

[shred101]

Nope. You're still noobier! You only got an avatar like a week ago!

Thats because I put more effort into mine. And its prettier.

 

[JeffTD]

Marcus, FWIW, I find the Drop stylings (C in my case) to just facilitate an entirely different style of writing, usually more chordal than riff based. It's a lot easier to hit 9ths and 13ths and stuff on a whim without stretching as far. The other cool thing is parallel lines on the 6th and 4th strings, but that tends to sound more metalcore than any of us want to admit haha.

 

[JeffTD]

Thats because I put more effort into mine. And its prettier.

Picking from a stock collection of forum avatars is not prettier and takes far less work than me pretending to beat off on chatroulette.

 

[shred101]

That makes mine look even prettier.

 

[Coprosatanica]

It's definitely worth trying out! I always favored standard tuning and only got into drop tunings because I ended up in bands that were already using them, but it definitely lends to writing riffs that would be too "stretchy" in standard. It's a pain to switch setups and string gauges all the time if you have floating trems, so it also justifies buying more guitars. win/win! sort of...

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

What???

Isnt Sell My Heart for Stones in this tuning as well? I could have sworn it was but I really don't remember.

 

[Lodge]

For what its worth, I have always played in a dropped standard tuning, usually just 1 step down (Enemy of God tuning, if I recall). Anyway, whenever I try to drop tune for riff writing, I tend to only be able to come up with "stock" or typical sounding riffs. I do the same thing on a 7 string, its like I pick one up and all I can do is churn out Loomis rip off riffs

 

[guitarguru777]

For me tuning to D in general just has a very "metal" heavy sound to it. I think Nigel Tufnel said it best when he stated Dminor was the saddest of all keys. D just has this presence to it to me that's foreboding. Dropped D just opens up a ton of cool chord inversions and linear (chromatic or diatonic) intervals that would make things impossible to play otherwise. Try playing Lamb of God riffs in D Standard and see how tough it is ...lol

 

[Rex Rocker]

I like drop tunings better than standard tunings, personally. I can pull off some chords that I like that I can't in standard tunings.

 

[Josh Burgess]

Loomis definitely uses Drop Ab on a few songs, and Believe in Nothing is one of them. It's because the chords in that song are way easier to play in Drop Ab. He does hit the low Ab in the song by the way... relisten to the whole thing and you'll hear him playing this chord shape a few times:

Eb------
Bb------
Gb--2---
Db--2---
Ab--0---
Eb--0---
Ab--0---

I play in Bb standard and Drop Ab on 7 strings.

Ron Jarzombek is another non-numetal/metalcore guy using drop tuning... he plays in Drop A on 7 strings on the Blotted Science stuff. I kinda prefer the drop tuning intervals on a 7 string because you still have the high 6 strings in standard intervals... kinda leaves you with more options...

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Just listened, and am still not hearing when he ever plays a note lower than a low Bb? In fact, the only time any kind of Ab chord is played is in the chorus, and you can definitely hear the root Ab is an octave above what it would be if the lowest string were tuned to the same pitch

Anyway, I think I'll follow through with my plans to keep my Jackson in drop-D for awhile, see where it takes my writing...

 

[Josh Burgess]

Just listened, and am still not hearing when he ever plays a note lower than a low Bb? In fact, the only time any kind of Ab chord is played is in the chorus, and you can definitely hear the root Ab is an octave above what it would be if the lowest string were tuned to the same pitch

Anyway, I think I'll follow through with my plans to keep my Jackson in drop-D for awhile, see where it takes my writing...

I think the bass is just in Bb and plays the 5th fret on the Eb string during those chords, so maybe the low Ab isn't noticed as much?

That's how it is on every tab on the internet by the way...

Loomis is known to experiment with drop tunings now and then though (Psalm of Lydia for example), so I'm not sure why you guys aren't believing us... haha

 

[spioraid]

I've usually kept my electrics in drop D, I usually play with heavier strings that djent it out. I'll be the first to admit it's mostly mindless wankery, but I'm not playing gigs or recording albums and pissing people off (which I know I would, heh heh!) But it's great to try new things out, get used to for it a while.

I've actually been LOVING playing my acoustic in open E. Awesome feeling when playing open E on an acoustic, a lot more power behind what comes out.

 

[JeffTD]

I think the bass is just in Bb and plays the 5th fret on the Eb string during those chords, so maybe the low Ab isn't noticed as much?

That's how it is on every tab on the internet by the way...

Loomis is known to experiment with drop tunings now and then though (Psalm of Lydia for example), so I'm not sure why you guys aren't believing us... haha

Psalm of Lydia and Seed Awakening are in drop C#, and both can be played on a 6 string.

I'm still not buying the Ab part - When I've seen NM live, they've never retuned to play the song. I'm convinced that it's the root-4th-octave chord, with bass implying the lower note, and not the guitar in drop Ab.

 

[Keregioz]

Psalm of Lydia and Seed Awakening are in drop C#, and both can be played on a 6 string.

I'm still not buying the Ab part - When I've seen NM live, they've never retuned to play the song. I'm convinced that it's the root-4th-octave chord, with bass implying the lower note, and not the guitar in drop Ab.

+1

Never, NEVER, trust guitar pro tabs (or any other tabs for that matter) you find on the internet. I honestly can't remember a single one that was 100% right.

To answer the original post, I'm a standard tuning guy. I have experimented with drop D in the past but I always return to standard tuning. It's ok to use it I guess to write a couple of cool riffs/songs. There are some really cool songs in drop D....dream theater's "Home" comes to mind (maybe the best DT song ever).

 

[Nebulous]

Picking from a stock collection of forum avatars is not prettier and takes far less work than me pretending to beat off on chatroulette.

LOL, I always thought that was you with a really dark necked guitar in your avatar.

 

[The Unavoidable]

I've always found that drop-tuning just kinda messes up my creativity, and makes it more difficult for me to write stuff I like. I got my main guitars in A standard, and while I every now and then tune to drop-G, I can never seem to write any really good riffs like that.

 

[Seth Munson]

i honestly dont think tuning matter at all, its all about your playing style

im not a WOP fan, but they have some fucking heavy riffs and breakdowns and they are in E standard.

 

[ahjteam]

tell me, do you dudes think it opens up any particular riff-writing creativity that you wouldn't have playing in standard?

Atleast it makes playing chords on three strings easier: sus2 (224--- instead of 244624), minor (225--- instead 244222) and major (226--- instead 244322)