What is the tuning offset for this Suede song?

bingefeller · January 2023

I always have problems trying to get Suede songs to be fairly in tune with my own guitar. The guitar isn't tuned flat, but it's certainly not standard tuning either.

I have Transcribe! set to bring the pitch up 70 cents. It sounds alright, but not great. I just can't nail it and I'm not sure what's happening, I guess I'm getting a little frustrated by it. My guitar is in tune and tuned to standard.

The song is Obsessions -

mart · January 2023

A quick google suggests it's just down tuned a half step - Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. Sadly I don't have the ears or brain power to work out if that's correct or not.

bingefeller · January 2023

mart said:

A quick google suggests it's just down tuned a half step - Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. Sadly I don't have the ears or brain power to work out if that's correct or not.

unfortunately it's not correct. I'm 99.9% sure it's in the middle between standard and half a step down. I just can't get it to click!

euan · January 2023

The record my have been slowed down or sped up

Danny1969 · January 2023

It's tuned down a half step but the pitch has been altered slightly, so you a right about that.

Older music is often slightly flat or sharp .... mainly because things used to be recorded to tape and the RPM of the tape machine dictates the speed. Move the multitrack to another machine and the pitch could change. Then ofcourse the mastering 2 track tape machine could alter the pitch. The machines also had verispeed so sometimes a slight increase to create more energy was done intentionally by the producer

Go to a verse, tune the bottom E of you guitar so it is intune with the verse start when you an F# (2nd fret) or load in into Reaper and use the verispeed control on that to tune the song to your guitar

guitarjack66 · January 2023

Danny1969 said:

It's tuned down a half step but the pitch has been altered slightly, so you a right about that.

Older music is often slightly flat or sharp .... mainly because things used to be recorded to tape and the RPM of the tape machine dictates the speed. Move the multitrack to another machine and the pitch could change. Then ofcourse the mastering 2 track tape machine could alter the pitch. The machines also had verispeed so sometimes a slight increase to create more energy was done intentionally by the producer

Go to a verse, tune the bottom E of you guitar so it is intune with the verse start when you an F# (2nd fret) or load in into Reaper and use the verispeed control on that to tune the song to your guitar

Suede? Older music? I am not having that!!!!

downsideup11 · January 2023

I've just had the same issue with Suede's song Saturday Night. Couldn't get it in tune with my guitar at all but after much fiddling with Amazing Slow Downer I found that I had to raise the pitch by 1.4 (I think that's semitones) on the app to get it in tune with a standard tuned guitar. Very strange

Danny1969 · January 2023

Nothing used to be in tune, not really. There were no tuners so people used to tune to the studio piano in the sixties and seventies because it was pointless being in tune with a tuning fork if the piano wasn't.

By the eighties tuners were common but a songs tuning was still at the mercy of some things ... some analog synths wouldn't get to concert pitch spot on due to component drift and temperature. Tape machines didn't all spin at the same speed.

Some of the Van Halen stuff is slightly off because Eddie just tuned by ear a lot of the time and then Michael Anthony tuned to him. I mean years it's tuned down a half step but not a prefect semitone.

The Thin Lizzy stuff is all over the shop, like half way between a semi tone down and concert on some studio stuff, down a semi ish on Live & Dangerous near concert pitch on other stuff.

Some stuff on YT was originally on VHS tape so pitch will vary ... the later nicam players were better but none were prefect.

The trick is to listen to the song without a guitar and quite often you will hear something that tells you what positions they are playing in.

Sometimes it's good to tune down yourself and play the song in a different key from the rest of the band. A lot of Kate Bush's stuff is in Bb, Eb, Db etc .... piano friendly keys I guess. I do half the songs on a guitar tuned down a semitone and I just play the song in a key that's half a semitone up. Mainly because it allows me to use harmonics and open strings easier.

viz · January 2023

It’s just in F minor isn’t?

bingefeller · January 2023

viz said:

It’s just in F minor isn’t?

F# minor - there is an open string bit during the chorus which doesn't sound right unless you change the tuning.

downsideup11 said:

I've just had the same issue with Suede's song Saturday Night. Couldn't get it in tune with my guitar at all but after much fiddling with Amazing Slow Downer I found that I had to raise the pitch by 1.4 (I think that's semitones) on the app to get it in tune with a standard tuned guitar. Very strange

Very annoying too!

viz · January 2023

Ah, so F minor but down-tuned a semitone. got it.

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What is the tuning offset for this Suede song?

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