bubbastain":2zc97ad4 said:
moronmountain":2zc97ad4 said:
C# for singing. I played around with some vocal melodies, and found I had to sing up an octave to comfortably sing over the A# version. In C# I could sing in the meatiest part of my voice, and I think it would actually end up sounding heavier overall with vocals added. I gotta say though, how do you play that low with those tiny strings lol? In D standard I use 10-52, and in A standard I use 13-65 with a plain 22 G string lol! It's so stiff that it "rainbows" over the saddle on the bridge.
This helps a lot. I would actually like to get a drummer, bass player and singer(bassist/singer ideally) and finish a few songs and maybe even play a gig or two. I have found a couple of times that vocalist and bassists aren't too interested in the lower tuning. For a 5 string bassist it would only be a half step down. For vocalists I had no clue and kinda thought lower would be easier. I really like the A# as long as it's still bright and defined. The higher tuning does have a nice grind that I really dig too. For some reason, I don't like to play in Drop C or B. Just doesn't sound right for some reason.
Yeah, 10-52 is definitely light for that tuning. I like the way it feels and sounds, and the EB Cobalts pretty much keeps the low A# pitch fluctuations in check. For me, the thicker low strings kinda kill the grind in the tone a little.
Just remember that an A# (down an octave the way you're tuning) is still an A# as far as a vocalist is concerned. Most singers have a certain key that the fat/meatiest part of their voice tends to like. Even though you're A# is that low, unless your singer has a REALLY bassy voice, (and most peeps on the planet don't, sans the dudes from Sha Na Na and the Oakridge Boys), the singer would likely sound better singing UP an octave in a "normal" (guitar tuning-wise) A#. All things being equal, if this is/was the case, the vocals would be higher than the guitar parts octave-wise, and A# is a high friggin key to sing in. Think old Judas Priest tuned UP a half step, and you'll see what I mean.
Personally, my voice likes C through E the most. I can do F ok, F# good enough, (but I'm starting to stretch), and I can do G if no one is watching. I get to G#-B, and I'm either having to sing so low that I can barely hit the notes with enough clarity that it's muddy, or I have to sing higher than my natural vocal range, and have to start reliving the 80's with some falsetto. Although at this point in time, I have so many nodules on my vocal chords that falsetto sounds like a squeaky, weak, cracking, pile of horse crap.
Having said all that bunch of crap, I do have two songs I wrote in A standard, (not dropped) so my bassist could use his low B string open, (we tune down a whole step, so his bass is always A, D, G, C, F, and my guitars are mostly D, G, C, F, A, D but A, D, G, C, E, A on the two A standard songs). The thing is, the two songs in LOW A are REALLY slow so I can TRY to enunciate while singing well below my range, and they have somewhat comedic lyrics, almost making fun of themselves. They are the only two songs I've written where the words rhyme, have clichés in them, and so simple that they are almost Re Todd It on purpose. Peeps still dig 'em though.
