CPG
Well-known member
Sometimes I get bored practicing whatever it is I'm working on and start experimenting with strings and tunings just see what happens. When I do this I record a playing sample for myself to listen back to.
Today I pulled my C string off my soprano and replaced it with a fremount soloist. Then I put the C string in the E string slot, the E string in the G string spot, and the G string in the A string spot, and tuned the whole soprano down. Just kinda wanted to see what would happen by dropping the tuning various degrees on such a small instrument.
I've been trying to learn Music Box Waltz so I'm playing an excerpt from that here. I'm still working on it so please be kind regarding my flubs, buzzes, and shifting tempo. Also, just as a note, given the sudden shifts in tuning the strings do go a little out of tune while I'm playing and at times these tunings did introduce some buzzes here or there especially on the wound 3rd string.
Here are the results from low to high.
dGBE: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bUsNEEUFif36yGMP6
eAC#F#: https://photos.app.goo.gl/h5ttXW7emCXpkXhw8
fBbDG: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z5MxUNcg2ygMzEDr9
For dGBE the tension was okay with these strings and tonally it was interesting, but not suprisingly the little soprano body just doesn't resonate well at this pitch. Volume was pretty low. It's interesting to note that the lowest note here is the same note as you would have in linear GCEA. The reason I decided to try going this low is I actually think low g can sound pretty good on some sopranos. Yeah it doesn't resonate as much as on a large body but I find that because of that it is less likely to overpower the other strings. However, this IMO is , not suprisingly, to low overall for this instrument.
I was pleasantly suprised with eAC#F#. This instrument maybe sorta can pull it off. Worth noting here that the lowest note in this tuning is the same as the lowest note in linear ADF#B tuning. I think that low A is about as low as you can go in this instrument and still get pretty decent resonance. It's still a little flubby sounding at times, but I think with the string experimenting it could sound pretty good.
Less suprisingly fBbDG tuning sounded quite nice. Just a slightly lower and slightly warmer sounding than my typical C. Even though this tuning is often reccomended for concerts and tenors, I like it here and wouldn't mind keeping a soprano setup in this tuning.
I will say that if I were to keep a uke setup this way I would probably settle on a slightly different set of strings and I will probably experiment with ditching the wound third for a thicker flourcarbon string as the wound string can be a little overpowering at times. I have a set of Martin tenor strings around which have a fairly thick 3rd so I may swap out the wound for that shortly.
Overall pleasntly suprised by this experiment! I had been thinking of getting a concert to keep tuned a step or two down, but this has me rethinking that.
Today I pulled my C string off my soprano and replaced it with a fremount soloist. Then I put the C string in the E string slot, the E string in the G string spot, and the G string in the A string spot, and tuned the whole soprano down. Just kinda wanted to see what would happen by dropping the tuning various degrees on such a small instrument.
I've been trying to learn Music Box Waltz so I'm playing an excerpt from that here. I'm still working on it so please be kind regarding my flubs, buzzes, and shifting tempo. Also, just as a note, given the sudden shifts in tuning the strings do go a little out of tune while I'm playing and at times these tunings did introduce some buzzes here or there especially on the wound 3rd string.
Here are the results from low to high.
dGBE: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bUsNEEUFif36yGMP6
eAC#F#: https://photos.app.goo.gl/h5ttXW7emCXpkXhw8
fBbDG: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z5MxUNcg2ygMzEDr9
For dGBE the tension was okay with these strings and tonally it was interesting, but not suprisingly the little soprano body just doesn't resonate well at this pitch. Volume was pretty low. It's interesting to note that the lowest note here is the same note as you would have in linear GCEA. The reason I decided to try going this low is I actually think low g can sound pretty good on some sopranos. Yeah it doesn't resonate as much as on a large body but I find that because of that it is less likely to overpower the other strings. However, this IMO is , not suprisingly, to low overall for this instrument.
I was pleasantly suprised with eAC#F#. This instrument maybe sorta can pull it off. Worth noting here that the lowest note in this tuning is the same as the lowest note in linear ADF#B tuning. I think that low A is about as low as you can go in this instrument and still get pretty decent resonance. It's still a little flubby sounding at times, but I think with the string experimenting it could sound pretty good.
Less suprisingly fBbDG tuning sounded quite nice. Just a slightly lower and slightly warmer sounding than my typical C. Even though this tuning is often reccomended for concerts and tenors, I like it here and wouldn't mind keeping a soprano setup in this tuning.
I will say that if I were to keep a uke setup this way I would probably settle on a slightly different set of strings and I will probably experiment with ditching the wound third for a thicker flourcarbon string as the wound string can be a little overpowering at times. I have a set of Martin tenor strings around which have a fairly thick 3rd so I may swap out the wound for that shortly.
Overall pleasntly suprised by this experiment! I had been thinking of getting a concert to keep tuned a step or two down, but this has me rethinking that.
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