"concert tuning"???

NukeDOC

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saw this mentioned in another thread and got my wheels moving. ive also noticed that many bands play a half step flat when they play live. actually, ive noticed that even on some albums, the songs would be in a key of F# instead of G.

so why is this done?

personally i have done this or actually just transposed the whole song down to a key that i feel comfortable singing at (which i dont do that well to begin with hehe).

but im wondering why a song would be recorded on the album in one key, then performed live in a key of 1/2 step lower? other than for singing purposes, is there a reason for this?

im just wondering if i should get the whole band to just tune down a half step hahaha.
 
ha! I thought I replied to this, but I guess I hit preview instead of post :eek:

Anyways, it's probably related to the singing (bringing it down to a comfortable key, as you said)

I tune my ukes down a half step, just because I like the sound better. I think they sound mellower and have a little more sustain...I could be wrong, but that what I think I'm hearing! haha

But thinking along those lines, maybe they record in one key and perform live a half-step lower to compensate for the sound system at the venue...:confused:
 
Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan are two guitar players who tune down a half-step for both studio and live work. They tuned down for various reasons. It was easier on their voices, easier on their fingers for those blues bends, harmonics act differently, etc. Also, they just liked the sound of it better.

Bands who do it just for live shows do it for some of the same reasons, but the main reason is for singing. If you're playing 200 shows a year you need to be easy on your voice. Especially metal singers.

In the studio, they're free to do as many takes as needed to sing the song right. Live, they don't have that luxury.
 
Ka'au Crater boys had a ton of songs that were 1/2 step down...

I agree, it was probably done to ease the strain on vocals, and you still kept common chord shapes without jumping to the 2nd position.

Another thought is that maybe they came up w/ the song on guitar first playing lower than the 5th fret, so the easiest fix between an uke and guitarist was to detune the uke...

werd? word!
 
It can also help to tune down if you've got an instrument in the group that's not native to a certain key. Like the Velvet Underground used to tune the guitars down a half step for the sake of the John Cale's viola.
 
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