D♭ tuning
D♭ tuning, also called C♯ tuning, is an alternative guitar tuning. Each string is one and one half steps lower than in standard tuning, or one half step lower than D tuning. The resulting notes can be described as D♭-G♭-B-E-A♭-D♭ or (less often) as C♯-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯. "Extremely slack,"[1] it is very popular amongst alternative and heavy rock bands because it has a darker and lower-pitched sound compared to E standard.
Some bands use a tuning known as "drop B tuning", where they drop the low D♭ to B, so the tuning is B-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯ (or B-G♭-B-E-A♭-D♭). This is a "drop 1" tuning in the key of C♯ (i.e. tune the whole guitar down a minor third from standard tuning, then the 6th string is lowered an additional whole step down). As a result, it uses the same fingering as all other "drop" tunings. This tuning and other drop tunings are popular with a variety of genres of metal music, including Nu-Metal bands. The tuning's use was popularized by Slipknot on their self-titled album.
Used by
- A Perfect Circle - nearly all of their songs are in this tuning.
- Abbath (album only; live performances are on D tuning)
- Al's Band (on "My Bologna" and "Perform This Way")
- All That Remains (since Overcome and live performances since 2007)
- Annihilator (On their two albums; For the Demented And Ballistic, Sadistic)
- Architects (drop B, they also drop the low string to G♯/A♭)
- Arcturus (on some songs from their debut album Aspera Hiems Symfonia)
- Art of Dying (drop B)[2]
- Attila (drop B, they also drop the low string to G♯/A♭)
- Before the Dawn (on the song "The Black" from 4:17 am)
- Black Sabbath[3] - many songs from Master of Reality onward to at least Sabotage (because Tony Iommi had two damaged fingertips).[1] They still use this tuning on some songs from later albums and on live performances of Dirty Women since 1998.
- Black Stone Cherry (drop B)[4]
- Blink-182 (on the songs "Obvious" from their self-titled album, "Time to Break Up", and for live performances of "Adam's Song")
- Bloodbath (on songs "Breeding Death", Ominous Bloodvomit", and "Furnace Funeral")
- Bolt Thrower (since "War Master" and other live performances)
- Cannibal Corpse (in some songs on "Vile")
- Chevelle (on three songs from Wonder What's Next: "Comfortable Liar", "The Red", and "Don't Fake This")
- Children of Bodom (on their first album Something Wild, and on some songs from I Worship Chaos and Hexed where they've mainly use drop B)
- Coldplay (on their song "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face")
- Creed (on 4 songs from Full Circle, although most of the rest of the album has the low string dropped to B and, on one song, G♯/A♭)
- Cult of Luna (they also drop the low string to B or G♯/A♭)
- Death Angel (on the song "No" from the album The Art of Dying, since Killing Season and it's subsequent albums along with the E♭ tunnig)
- DevilDriver (drop B, on their self-titled and The Fury of Our Maker's Hand albums)[6]
- Dimension Zero (on their Penetrations from the Lost World EP)
- Dream Theater (on the songs, "Along for the Ride", "New Millennium", "Vacant", and "You Not Me")
- Epica (on some songs from Consign to Oblivion)
- Falconer (on the albums, Northwind and Among Beggars and Thieves)
- God Forbid (on some songs from Gone Forever)
- Godflesh (Used from Slavestate up to Songs of Love and Hate)
- Gorguts (first two albums)
- The Grass Roots (on the song "Let's Live for Today")
- Green Carnation (on their debut album Journey to the End of the Night)
- Guns N' Roses (on "Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Don't Care About You")
- John Prine (on most songs since 1998 until his death)
- Judas Priest (on "Jugulator", "Blood Stained", "Death Row", "Decapitate", and "Abductors")
- Kalmah (starting from For the Revolution and live performances since 2008)
- King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (used on I'm In Your Mind Fuzz, Polygondwanaland, and Infest the Rats' Nest)
- Kyuss (on Sons of Kyuss EP)
- Limp Bizkit (on most albums, along with drop B and 7-string guitars in the late 1990s)
- Machine Head (drop B, tuned 40 cents sharp)[9]
- Malevolent Creation (on most material since their 1993 album "Stillborn")
- Mark Tremonti (drop B, on many songs)[10]
- Microwave (band) (on "Something Right" from "Stovall" and multiple songs from their Much Love album)
- Monster Magnet (on "Melt" from God Says No, among others)
- My Dying Bride (on most songs)
- Nirvana (On certain recordings of Old Age)
- Omnium Gatherum (since New World Shadows)
- Pantera (Most of the album "The Great Southern Trendkill")
- Prayer for Cleansing (live performances and The Tragedy EP)
- Queens of the Stone Age (early live performances)
- Rivers of Nihil (along with 7-string G♯/A♭ and drop F♯/G♭ tuning)
- Rotting Christ (some songs)
- Saturnus (on most songs)
- Scorpions (live performances of "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Coming Home", "Can't Get Enough" since 2017, on "Send Me An Angel (2016 Acoustic Version)")
- Sentenced (on albums North from Here, The Trooper, and Amok; they switched to D tuning and drop C tuning for subsequent albums)
- Sinergy (on the album Beware the Heavens)
- Slash (on "Crucify the Dead")
- Slayer (on the song "Gemini" from Undisputed Attitude, the albums Diabolus in Musica (except "Perversions Of Pain", bonus track "Unguarded Instinct", and "Scrum"), God Hates Us All (Except "Payback", "Here Comes The Pain"), and the songs "Black Serenade" and "Cult" from Christ Illusion)
- Smashing Pumpkins (on various songs, including "Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans" and "X.Y.U.", and almost every song on Zeitgeist)
- Sodom (in several songs from "'Til Death Do Us Unite" and "M-16")
- Stone Sour (drop B)[16]
- Suffocation (since Breeding The Spawn and other live performances)
- Therion (on some songs and albums, and their death metal demos)
- Torture Squad (on the albums "The Unholy Spell" and "Pandemonium")
- Vader (2002-present)
- Winds of Plague (on the album Resistance; previous albums used standard E tuning and drop D tuning)
- Within Temptation (on most songs from the album Mother Earth and some songs from the albums, the Heart of Everything and the Unforgiving)
Sources
- ^ a b Hunter, Dave and F Gibbons, Billy (2010). Star Guitars: 101 Guitars That Rocked the World, [page needed]. ISBN 978-0-7603-3821-6.
- ^ "Greg Bradley of Art of Dying – Guitar Rig and Gear Setup – 2011". GuitarGeek. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ Wilkinson, Paul (2007). Rat Salad: Black Sabbath, The Classic Years, 1969-1975. ISBN 978-0-312-36723-7.
- ^ "Rig Rundown - Black Stone Cherry's Chris Robertson". All Axess. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ Bean, Perry. "Rig Rundown - Comeback Kid". Premier Guitar. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ^ "Jeff Kendrick & Mike Spreitzer Talk About Tuning". Fret 12. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ "Pepper Keenan of Down – Guitar Rig and Gear Setup – 2008". GuitarGeek. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ "Kirk Windstein of Down – Guitar Rig and Gear Setup – 2007". GuitarGeek. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ "Phil Demmel of Machinehead – Guitar Rig and Gear Setup – 2007". GuitarGeek. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ "Guitar tunings from Shiprocked setlist". Fret 12. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ^ Dirks, Rebecca. "Rig Rundown - Madonna's Monte Pittman". Premier Guitar. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ^ Connolly, John. "HELLo guitars and tuning explanation". John Connolly. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ "Clint Lowery & John Connolly Talk About Tuning". Fret 12. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ "Clint Lowery & John Connolly Talk About Alternate Tuning". Fret 12. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ "Jim Root of Slipknot – Guitar Rig and Gear Setup – 2004". GuitarGeek. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ "Jim Root Rig Rundown". All Axess.
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