Quick bass tuning question

[sgt.pepper]

Hey, i recorded guitars with the lowest string tuned -10 cents. Now i want to record the bass. How should i tune it? Also -10cents or maybe -20? Is there something like a rule?

Thanks a lot!

 

[darthjujuu]

why didntcha just tune it in key o_0

 

[muckypup1]

+1

 

[beyond dead]

so many people over complicate tuning.

http://www.endino.com/archive/tuningnightmares.html read this article, and other articles about tuning online. you are just confusing yourself. so many people think that freq. eg. A at 440, and cents are different. they are the same. I remember reading a thread where some dude was trying to say machine head tune to drop b at 430 hz lol

you want to tune guitar and bass the same. obviously the bass is lower, and sits in a different range. if your guitars strings are 10 cents flat, then your bass should be 10 cents flat too..... Im not sure why you would want to tune 10 cents flat, why not just tune down a half step?

 

[BLUElightCory]

He probably tunes 10 cents flat because if you play hard and dig into the strings, the initial pick attack will cause the note to go sharp. It's not that uncommon of a technique.

I think it's best to tune everything normally, play the part, and adjust the tuning by ear if necessary. Every instrument/part/player is different so sometimes it benefits the music to make subtle adjustments to the tuning.

 

[beyond dead]

It depends on how you tune. If he tunes to the initial attack, then he doesnt have to worry about compensating. I recommend tuning this way if using a low tuning and playing fast material. If there is more suspended chords, then you will want to tune the note after the attack.

with bass, this effect is more pronounced. luckily bass is usually not polyphonic, so It can be tuned easily.usually bass will sound a bit sharp depending on how hard the bassist picks, if you cant get him to lighten up with his pick hand, you may have to tune using melodyne. I would steer away from pitching down the whole track, cuz it will make some notes sound too flat.

I recommend bassists practice with a tuner and a level meter... Im not a very technical bass player, but I am pretty good at playing in tune. i find it is best to press close to the fret, and to try not to bend the string when fretting a note.

 

[beyond dead]

I think it's best to tune everything normally, play the part, and adjust the tuning by ear if necessary. Every instrument/part/player is different so sometimes it benefits the music to make subtle adjustments to the tuning.

only problem with tuning by ear is that the guitar is based around an equal tempered scale. the octaves arent pure, so if you tune to a chord or with harmonics, you will run into tuning issues in other positions.

sometimes with drop tunings, you need to punch in separate notes to get a perfectly in tune guitar track

Im hoping that melodyne DNA works as well as It is said to.

 

[BLUElightCory]

only problem with tuning by ear is that the guitar is based around an equal tempered scale. the octaves arent pure, so if you tune to a chord or with harmonics, you will run into tuning issues in other positions.

sometimes with drop tunings, you need to punch in separate notes to get a perfectly in tune guitar track

Im hoping that melodyne DNA works as well as It is said to.

All I'm saying is to tune normally (with a tuner) and then if a part sounds out of tune (player plays too hard, intonation is off, etc.) then adjust by ear. I realize doing this can require a lot of retuning and punching, but it's better than recording out-of-tune guitars. We can get as technical/scientific as we want, but the plain fact is that if it SOUNDS in tune, we're good to go. If it's out of tune, fix it. Simple as that.

 

[beyond dead]

edit: im a dink. lol I see what he`s sayin now.

I never really thought about it much like this, but I think the best thing to do would be to figure out what works for your guitar (like how many cents flat you need to go) then be consistent with this amount. same for bass