| Subject: | [RESOGUIT-L] More on tuning | | Date: | Saturday, January 7, 2006 00:36:47 (-0600) | | From: | kbrown <kbrown @...........edu>
|
On more occasions than I count, I've been in a jam (or sometimes a gig), and the
dobro sounded way out of tune. I'd check it with the tuner and it would be dead
on. I knew then that it was somebody else that was out of tune. Often it's the
banjo. The 5th string is more difficult to get on pitch, and once the banjo
picker gets it where he thinks it's about right, he tends to tune the other
strings to it. Often this results in a feedback process where all the strings
creep upward and become sharp after repeated retunings. Sometimes it's the
guitar picker. Around these parts, we have an abundance of guitar players who
don't seem to be able to recognize when their own instrument is out of tune.
Fortunately, the advent of the electronic tuner has greatly reduced the
incidence of tuning fistfights. But I remember how it was before electronics.
One of the few instances where electricity has advanced music! Heh, heh!
About a month ago, I arrived at a jam, wanted to jump in a song, decided to
chance the dobro being in tune. It was in B-flat, and I guess I must have
played my entrie break without using any open strings. Anyway it sounded OK to
me, but after the song I checked it and every string was 20 cents flat! I guess
I must have been unconsciously adjusting the bar position, because it sounded on
pitch to me. Either that or I was one of those pitch-oblivious characters
myself.
Ken Brown
Austin, Texas
|
More on tuning
Reply to this message