![]() Low-quality basses will struggle to deal with this, and no bass will be able to handle this level of tension without being properly set up for it. A string of this size will put an immense amount of tension on the neck of a bass. The answer is that you need excessively thick strings and a thorough setup that ensures that your bass won`t become permanently damaged.įor drop E, it is common to use a string with a gauge of. ![]() Now, if this is needed when tuning down 1 and a half steps, imagine what happens when tuning down 9 whole steps. In my guide to drop C#, I mention that this is the point where you will require thicker strings and a setup to properly play the bass. Despite this, the bass is still able to fill a harmonic and rhythmic role in the context of the band on their song “Spasm”: This pitch has a frequency of 14.57 Hz and is well within the infrasound range which makes pitches hard to distinguish. This makes the thickest open string of the bass an A#-1. While they have played in a multitude of tunings, the lowest they have gone is double drop A#. The most well-known among these bands is Meshuggah. Some of the bands that have used unconventionally low bass tunings include the following: Band The lowest bass tuning used Pitch below E Standard Songs that use this tuning Glass Cloud Drop F 5 whole steps (Minor seventh interval) She Is Well and Nothing Can Be Ill Humanity’s Last Breath Drop E An octave Abysmal Mouth Loathe E Standard – Octave lower An octave East Of Eden Black Tongue Double Drop D An octave and a whole-step H.C.H.C Meshuggah Double Drop A# An octave and a tritone Spasm FRACTALIZE Double Drop A An octave and a perfect fifth Suneater While Drop A is considered a deep tuning, some bassists have tuned as far as an octave down from it. Let`s proceed by taking a listen to what this sounds like. This is because, in a band the open D string will still fill a harmonic role and feel like a root note, despite being in the infrasound frequency range.Īs a result, some bassists have tuned to tunings such as double drop D, and even double drop A# and double drop A. However, while an open D string on a bass tuned to double drop D doesn`t have a distinguishable pitch to us, basses have still been tuned this low. ![]() Pitch Frequency F0 21.83 Hz E0 20.60 Hz D#0 19.45 Hz D0 18.35 Hzįrom this point of view, Drop E and E standard an octave below standard tuning, are the lowest bass tunings possible. The limits start to get pushed at Drop F, and at Drop D# we have entered the infrasound frequency range. It is when we tune down below Drop G that this starts to become an issue. Thus, the full range of the bass guitar is discernable in standard tunings. The low E on a 4-string bass in standard tuning is 41.2 Hz. Frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasound and are so deep that most people can`t discern the difference in notes in this range under regular circumstances. In general, humans can hear pitches as low as 20 Hz. One way to look at what the lowest possible bass tuning is concerns at what point low pitches become indistinguishable to the human ear. This way, you`ll learn why most bands don`t tune to double drop A, and why we are yet to find what the lowest possible bass tuning actually is. I`ll also showcase some bands and bassists that have used the lowest known bass tunings. But if basses can be tuned this low, what stops us from going even deeper?īelow, I’ll show you why tuning this low already poses some challenges, and why tuning even deeper is possible, but difficult. Bass guitars can be tuned below this point, and some metal bands have tuned their basses as low as double drop A, which makes its lowest pitch an A-1.Ī-1 is more than an octave deeper than the standard tuning of a 5-string bass. So if a lower tuning can result in a heavier sound, what is the lowest you can tune a bass?Ī bass guitar can be tuned an octave below E standard tuning before the lowest pitch becomes indistinguishable to the human ear. Most commonly though, it`s done by rock and metal bands to sound heavier. ![]() Sometimes this is done to better fit the vocal range of the singer or to transpose a song. Tuning bass guitars down is a common practice.
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