regurgitator Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 What the hell are you talking about? If everyone is entitled to their opinion then so am I. Some guy is saying Slipknot and Korn are sweaty ass crack bands, meanwhile I bet a billion dollars he is playing his guitar in his bedroom, not on tour. Point being, just because a band is not playing blistering solos does not mean they are a sweaty ass crack band. Downtuning is here to stay for awhile, it just sounds better and heavier- deal with it. To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" You can say, "Sorry, got these sacks." -Jack Handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Hepworth Posted July 11, 2001 Author Share Posted July 11, 2001 To regurgitator: It seems you owe someone a billion dollars. I have been in a hard working band for 8 years. Although we're no household name, we have been what most people would consider succesfull. I'm not going to diss on anyone who is serious and into what they like or do, Slipknot be damned. I haven't been playing in my bedroom since highschool (10 years ago), are you still in highschool regurgitator? Korn had a good couple of records (back when they were believable), realized the industry created hundreds of their clones that are now more succesful than they are, and can maybe make a sincere record again. You don't have solos to be a good guitarist, just be creative. Downtuning has been around for easily 30 years, so don't think your new guitar heros invented it. Downtuning is not bad, it can be very cool. D-tuning can be cool, but USUALLY it's just a way for talentless people to pass as a musician for their highschool peers. Major labels kill artistry these days. Too bad. Matt I regret I stooped to the level of making this topic, but, I guess everybody needs to vent to people who can relate though. No matter how good something is, there will always be someone blasting away on a forum somewhere about how much they hate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 <> 30 years is being very conservative...um robert johnson and elmore james? that was 60 years or more! i say tune the guitar anyway you want to (sonic youth, albert collins), just make good music and be open to what other people have to say... -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Dropped D tuning is way cool. I see nothing wrong with the tuning itself. The detuning/7 string fad however, is getting old really fast because everyone's doing it. Remember the eighties when everyone had strat type guitars with humbuckers and a Floyd Rose. Everyone was wanking on that bar and tapping away. Eventually though, the good guitar players keep on making music and the bad ones go away......hopefully........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regurgitator Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 I agree about majors killing creativity. It is whatever sells. No I am not in high school. Been out for 10 years now like you.it seems to me you aren't making much sense in some of the things you post. You say you have respect for anyone who is serious- well Slipknot is pretty damn serious- they are scarry at times. Anyway, these new guys are far from my guitar heroes- I grew up in the age of heavy metal like you- but all that soloing is long gone...are you in a cover band? Hey, play whatever you want but you have to realize that things change and what you are really referring to here is not so much drop D tuning as the goofy ass 7 string rage- that is lame. People want to play 7 string just cause Korn does. Although I would rather have a bunch of Korn wanna-be's than a bunch of Metallica wanna-be's. At least Korn dosen't suck. The 7 string thing is pretty much on the downslide. Hell, even Wes Borland stopped playing the 7 string, he said he wasn't good enough on the 6 strings to be playing 7. I would second that statement... To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" You can say, "Sorry, got these sacks." -Jack Handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt.Hepworth Posted July 11, 2001 Author Share Posted July 11, 2001 To regurgitator: Slipknot are crazy bastards, but what gets me with them is they started the craziness to "eliminate the new trendy fans and lose popularity" (taken from a respected European guitar mag interview), actually a clever ploy to attract WAY more attention. As with most bands, they can write at least a good song or two. No, I don't play in a cover band. Alt band infulenced by Pixies, Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground, etc. Like you, (I don't want to bring the fires of hell upon me, but...)I don't care much for Metallica. AND my original sentiment was hatred for people who use dropped D style tuning in order to play powerchords easier. Enough has been said in this topic, this is my last post here. No hard feelings, I hope, regurgitator. Who gets the billion dollars? Matt "The truth is only the truth if it's your version of it." No matter how good something is, there will always be someone blasting away on a forum somewhere about how much they hate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regurgitator Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 your billion is on the way!! Anywhoo, I agree completely about the Slipknot thing- they act and dress like that so that they are NOT famous yet it made them huge. I think they look like WWF retards, but I dig their music- pretty bad ass. I would never wear a freakin mask on stage- that is stupid as hell but whatever. I am a huge fan of drop D(I tune to C flat), ever since Helmet. Of course I can actually play, even stupid fast solos, of course I dont anymore, I downtune and write that way. I guess from our point of view(being that we grew up with technically better players) downtuning seems to be easier but I do it simply because I like to keep my music grooving and heavy- the tuning helps me do that. But I see what you mean about young kids doing it just cause its easy- Of course most of these new lame bands are pop-punk which I find highly annoying. Oh well....sucky music will always be popular because most people have no taste. To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" You can say, "Sorry, got these sacks." -Jack Handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynx Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 As I read this thread I really wasn't getting it. I love D-tuning in it's many variations and have ever since I learned how to do it years ago. It has always been a popular tuning in folk and folk rock as well as everything mentioned here. (Open tunings , by the way, date back as far as stringed instruments themselves) Still, I use it sparingly and have only written a couple of tunes using it.But I could see how you could base your whole sound around it....IF...you had the talent and skill to diversify inversions, progressions, layer melodies, etc. So, anyway, last night there's a Pearl Jam concert on PBS and me being a sucker for any kind of live music(I HATE "produced" music videos) I tuned in. So they straggle onstage, strap on, etc. and start playing....yes , that's right, a DROPPED D CHORD! One chord, over and over, not even a high inversion behind it, let alone a melody, the lead singer/ rhythm player(I've never taken the trouble to learn these guy's names) head drooped over the guitar, droning away endlessly on this one dull chord. Eventually he sang a second rate melody and they managed to advance it to a two or three chord progression. Next song, D again, only faster. I will usually sit thru any live broadcast performance if only to see how the artists work it in a live setup, but these guys became unlistenable to me halfway into the 3rd song and I hit the remote.OK, now I get it.For a band that's been around for what must be at least 10 years now and has had the time, money and access to all professional resources available, they still sound like the same beer party crap band that they were when they started. They seem to be in their "San Francisco phase" now as everything they were doing guitar-wise sounded like it came from early Grateful Dead and Quicksiver styles-except of course that it sounded phony, dull, unoriginal and pretentious as usual. It is one thing to have a style of music that is very simplistic, but original and well executed, quite another to venture into an established form, genre and deliver substandard material. This band does not DESERVE a record deal and never has.Sorry, Pearl Jam fans, but this is the sort of band that makes me want to run through the crowd screaming "BUT THE EMPEROR ISN'T WEARING ANY CLOTHES! THE EMPEROR ISN'T WEARING ANY CLOTHES!.................................... Well, I wouldn't have responded to this except for the coincidence of that concert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat0124 Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 I think you may like Drop D more if you're able to manipulate whatever mechanism you use to drop it to, in a given phrase, kinda like a b-bender. Takes some trial and error, but damn it sounds cool. I like Jimmy Pages computerized tuner, sounds super cool, but damn expensive. The Hipshot Trilogy is pretty cool as well. Don't know what it does to sustain/tone (you string through the body guys). Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 < ...this is the sort of band that makes me want to run through the crowd screaming "BUT THE EMPEROR ISN'T WEARING ANY CLOTHES! THE EMPEROR ISN'T WEARING ANY CLOTHES!>> LOL! my thoughts exactly. -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 Everything sucks and rules at the same time somewhere. - Me ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 dropped D sucks! dropped C# rules! -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 I prefer D-flat. ------------------ KJ ------------------- bari man low KJ ------------------- "50 million Elvis Presley fans can't be all wrong" - John Prine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted July 14, 2001 Share Posted July 14, 2001 Originally posted by Chip McDonald: Everything sucks and rules at the same time somewhere. - Me Like the notion that heaven and hell could be the same place. Put someone in a room filled with gossipy old biddies forever and it might be like hell, but if you were a gossipy old biddy it would be like heaven. And, quite possibly, a place we might call heaven might be hell to a gossipy old biddy "DU-UUDE! WALL TO WALL MARSHALLS!!!". Then tie your hands and let some kid who's been playing for 2 weeks come in and play "Enter Sandman" cranked to 11 and it's like hell again... Uhhh...what was this about? "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted July 16, 2001 Share Posted July 16, 2001 BTW, to all the guys raving/slamming heavy alternative bands, popular today: The 7 string fad is just that. A fad. There are some great players doing fantastic things with that extra string, but chunking out chords off a B string instead of the E means nothing by itself. Next guitarists will turn to 6 string bass and there won't be a guitar player in the band. So what. Listen to "Never Going Back Again" by Fleetwood Mac, or better yet, take a listen to Chet Atkins and other pickers in that style. They tune E down to D to get octave bass notes for counterpoint, without adding a finger. It's arranging by tuning manipulation. Michael Hedges claimed he was more arranger than guitarist. (although if he were still with us, I'd argue that to his face.) Make interesting music with the tools at your disposal. As someone else mentioned, tunings are as valid a tool as the instrument itself. Just don't fool yourself into thinking you'll make quality music JUST because you use x guitar or Y guitarist's favorite tuning. (Yes.... I'm back! Appearing for a limited engagement at: HOME and online. In S-T-E-R-E-O!!! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Register complaints at.. %^%j .34%#$ %$.87*^&*J!@#... damn cell phones! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif ) ------------------ Neil Reality: A few moments of lucidity surrounded by insanity. It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosespappy Posted July 17, 2001 Share Posted July 17, 2001 Wow! Lotta flak over a tuning! Dropped D has been here forever. It is certainly not a new thing. 7 strings are new to me, but I wasn't around when the middle ages gave way to innovation and someone actually thought to create something new. As for me I love to play around with alternate tunings, they just give birth to a ton of new sounds, some of which I like well enough to use on stage. In which case I take an axe tuned to what I'm gonna use. Cause while I like a dropped D, I reeeally hate it when some poor schmoe fishes around for it between numbers! We've been talking about a compilation CD... My daughter put together a disc w/8 originals on it, backed by yers trooly, little bro john, and a very good lead pal. We also did the engineering on the thing. Well, she thought it was cool as hell until she took it to school and ran into the "That is so 80's" crap. Now she won't let me share it with anyone because it's stuffed chock full of old fart rock n roll! Smokin' leads are not in style? R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtrmac Posted July 19, 2001 Share Posted July 19, 2001 The king of "alternate" tuning is Arto Lyndsay the noise guitarist from NYC. He plays a Danelectro 12 string and doesn't know or care what notes the strings are tuned to. A friend of mine went on tour with him years ago as an engineer and knew nothing about his music. When they got to the hotel before the first gig Arto's guitar was mistakenly sent to my friends room. He took it out of the case just to check it out being a guitar player himself and finding it completely out of tune he figured he'd do Arto a favor and tune it up for him. When they went to the rehearsal/soundcheck he gives Arto the guitar and when he starts to play he says what the f-ck happened to my guitar? Roger the engineer tells him it sounds fine, he just tuned it and was playing it in his room earlier. Arto says it took years to get it to sound that f-cked up and he never bothered to figure out what notes the strings were tuned to, oh well. I did a couple of gigs with Arto and I can tell you it is quite a challenge to try and achieve the level of chaos that he can generate with the 12 string when you're playing a guitar that's in tune. It's a lot of fun though. I have been using dropped D tuning for some songs for many years and I think it's a very useful "trick". I use it with jazz chords on electric or with some fingerstyle acoustic stuff. I found the comment "I can really play, even stupid fast solos, of course I don't anymore" kind of humorous by the way. On the one hand criticising people for conforming to the style du jour but then demonstrating the conviction of a lemming. I say play whatever you feel like playing and and if it's good and you have the balls to do it in front of people they'll probably ask to keep going. As far as record deals go it seems pretty bleak lately. If originality and skill are liabilities why bother with major labels. Maybe an Indie is a better choice. Pretending you can't play the instrument is a pretty sad option IMO. ------------------ Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan My Music: www.javamusic.com/freedomland Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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