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Stumbled across this list of old timey tunings from the online encyclopedia of tunings...
Fiddle tunings include:
a - d' - a' - e' ' (Old-Timey D Tuning)
a - e' - a' - e' ' (Cross Tuning, A tuning, Open A, High Bass, High Counter or High Tenor, for Breaking Up Christmas, Cluck Old Hen, Hangman's Reel, Horse and Buggy, and Ways of the World)
a - e' - a' - c# ' ' (A tuning, Black Mountain, Rag Tuning, Calico Tuning, Open A Tuning, or Drunken Hiccups Tuning)
a - e' - a' - d' ' (for Old Sledge, Silver Lake)
d - d' - a' - d' ' ("Dee-Dad", Dead Man's Tuning, D Tuning or Open D Tuning, for Bonaparte's Retreat)
e - d' - a' - e' ' (for Glory in the Meeting House)
e - e' - a' - e' ' (for Get up in the Cool)
f ' - c' - g' - d' ' (Cajun Tuning)
g - d' - a' - d' ' {"Gee-Dad" or G Tuning)
g - d' - a' - e' ' (Italian tuning or That 'Ole Eye-talian tuning - the standard violin tuning!)
g - d' - g' - b' (Open G Tuning)
g - d' - g' - d' ' (Sawmill Tuning)
Fiddle tunings are often also known by their four note names, so the standard is known as GDAE tuning, and so on.
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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Interesting stuff. I have to ask, though (maybe everyone knows this but me), but what do the apostrophes designate?
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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I think that'd be indicating how many octaves over middle C the note falls in.
Not being very familiar with violin/fiddle tunings much, I could be wrong on that though.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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I'm not sure about the notation - am sure about what most of these sound like... to try it, just go with the one closest to where your string already is... GDGD => G stays same, D stays same, G = A minus one step, D = E minus one step
BTW, good to check manufacturers notes on strings and where they can be tuned.
One not listed that I really like is tune everything a half step down. Totally stole that from a guitar player, sound bluesy.
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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tamlin said
One not listed that I really like is tune everything a half step down. Totally stole that from a guitar player, sound bluesy.
I can related to it as mine sounds better (to my preference, may not be to others) tuning half step down.
I did some research and what I gathered was that in 17th century and the Baroque period (when violin maker perfect their technique and design which are still adhere today, mostly) the tuning system was fA=415Hz, exactly a half step down from fA=440Hz (widely accepted tuning standard today).
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, thank you.
Best Regards,
Robert
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ratvn said
tamlin said
One not listed that I really like is tune everything a half step down. Totally stole that from a guitar player, sound bluesy.I can related to it as mine sounds better (to my preference, may not be to others) tuning half step down.
I did some research and what I gathered was that in 17th century and the Baroque period (when violin maker perfect their technique and design which are still adhere today, mostly) the tuning system was fA=415Hz, exactly a half step down from fA=440Hz (widely accepted tuning standard today).
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, thank you.
Best Regards,
Robert
I would also suspect it would have something to do with them using exclusively gut strings, and tuning just a tiny bit lower would lessen the damage done to them... just awild azzz guess.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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I like tuning down a bit. For guitar I may go as low as A430 and when playing in rock/metal bands, we often tuned to A435 (if not an entire half-step down for "slack tuning" as it is sometimes called). It is definitely easier on strings and maybe a bit easier on the fingers and one gets a slightly warmer tone.
A432 is one of my current faves.
When talking about sound or posting a sound sample on this forum of something I'm playing, I usually use A440, mostly to avoid any confusion and the well-meaning lectures on the evils of doing anything at all different. LOL
A443 is the highest I have ever tuned, and that was strictly for the group project "Bile Them Cabbages Down". I personally feel it is a needless strain on the instrument for the tiny bit more treble that a difference of 3 hz will give. But for a group project, an hour or so in the tighter tuning shouldn't hurt anything, I guess.
But even 440 has only been a "standard" convention since the late 930s, and what long term effects it may have on prized antique instruments may not be obvious for a century or so, for all we know.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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mess with AEAE occasionally... kinda fun, have one fiddle that it sounds good on, other 2 not so much.. funny the difference..
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Ha! Half step down... the dude I stole it from... surely stole it from Jimi Hendrix...
from eHow.com - How to Tune a Guitar Like Jimi Hendrix:
http://www.ehow.com/how_479860.....drix.html#
i love these here interwebs. working on my purple haze now...
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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fishnrodds said
mess with AEAE occasionally... kinda fun, have one fiddle that it sounds good on, other 2 not so much.. funny the difference..
What tunes did you test it on? Did you try Old Joe Clark in the AEAE??? What made it sound good - was it crisp and bright sounding?
(i can't tune my strings up per mfg suggestion)
Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker
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