Not being judgemental

[Andy_D]

I've replied to a local Gumtree ad for a singist looking for a guitarist and so far so good. He's sent me some of the recordings (ambitious plans) and it's "okay".

I wouldn't say there's a catch or a hook that has really grabbed me, in fact the most attention grabbing thing is that he's tuned to 432hz.

How would you approach meeting up and progressing this?

[meloco_go]

IMO any advice here would be like fixing the car over the phone. Anyway, I found that if things click it's pretty clear from the start. And if it just "kinda" "sorta" works, then it won't get better over time.

[unitymusic]

If you're just not into it, you're probably doing a disservice to both of you by not just saying so and passing on it in a polite way.

If you see some potential to make things more interesting through collaboration then just be clear about that too. One thing I've learned from playing with a bunch of different people is to just be honest. Sometimes that means not working together on music, other times something interesting can happen where you didn't expect it to.

[Andy_D]

Thought I'd follow up on this and thanks for the feedback.

I met up with the fellow last night, its clear he's not a guitar player but had some good ideas that I can work with so I'm going to spend some time learning six songs and then we'll have a rehearsal/jam in a couple of weeks.

I discovered that he didn't write the music for several of the songs and didn't really know how to play them but he seemed opened to how I interpreted it so fingers crossed. A new chapter and back on acoustic for the short term so it should be interesting and toughen up my fingers again!

[Tim Halligan]

...and get back to 440 tuning.

That 432 malarkey has been pretty comprehensively debunked.



Cheers,
Tim

[Gronk]

...and get back to 440 tuning.

That 432 malarkey has been pretty comprehensively debunked.



Cheers,
Tim

Was it debunked? or was the comprehensive debunking debunked?
I can't keep up.

if only there was an internets audio expert...

[DPower]

...and get back to 440 tuning.

That 432 malarkey has been pretty comprehensively debunked.



Cheers,
Tim

Was it debunked? or was the comprehensive debunking debunked?
I can't keep up.

if only there was an internets audio expert...

We can invite Ethan!

[John Eppstein]

...and get back to 440 tuning.

That 432 malarkey has been pretty comprehensively debunked.



Cheers,
Tim

Was it debunked? or was the comprehensive debunking debunked?
I can't keep up.

if only there was an internets audio expert...

We can invite Ethan!

Please, no.

[DPower]

Please, no.
[/quote]

Why not? It would be fun! ;)

He's pretty much gone black (Digital black/Offline/Off the Radar/Disappeared from public view.. Just to be clear for the future public record) for the last year, or so... I wonder what's happened.

[Gronk]

... I wonder what's happened.

He realised that he was wrong?

[nobby]

Convicted for fraud?

[Gronk]

His forum is still going...amazing!

[Andy_D]

The chap's theory on the 432 thing was that it "felt better" singing to 432 than 440. I suggested tuning down a 1/2 step which is pretty close and he seemed okay with it.

Unfortunately as it turns out I'm now too busy to do this project anyway so have suggested he look for someone else. Turns out my passion is electric and a band situation as opposed to an acoustic duo.

[nobby]

The chap's theory on the 432 thing was that it "felt better" singing to 432 than 440.

And he wanted a longer microphone because a short one would be too far from his face

[Toonman]

I'm in a band with a singer (it's his project) that has all of us tune to 432. He says it's easier for him to sing tuned to that freq. Who am I to argue.

[weedywet]

You’re a musician

If it’s “hard” to sing in A, you try Ab
Not “flat” A

[nobby]

And if Ab doesn't work, try G#

[unitymusic]

You’re a musician

If it’s “hard” to sing in A, you try Ab
Not “flat” A

What's the difference really? What you decide to call 'A' is a convention and it makes sense to have that, but ultimately it is arbitrary.

I don't support any sort of idealistic reference point for tuning - to me it mostly comes down to convenience and context. I don't think there's anything special about A=432, but I also don't believe A=440 is any more 'correct'.

I think the same way when it comes to temperament, but that's a whole other discussion I guess.

[weedywet]

it's "correct" because every organ you try to overdub is going to be tuned to it.

it's been a 'standard' for a long, long time, even if people sometimes tune around it a bit (there was a fad amongst conductors to tune the piano to 445 to get the orchestra to 'chase' and feel more awake a bit)

But i think this whole 432 thing is kind of magical thinking

the singer didn't just 'accidentally' arrive at 432Hz "feeling more comfortable" out of the blue.

[unitymusic]

I agree that being fixated on A=432 is kind of magical thinking and has no basis in reality, but I still think that in the right situation it could be the right choice.

And while I do agree with your logic as far as the organ is concerned, not all songs need an organ. I think it comes down to whether or not everyone can get in tune with each other, regardless of instrumentation. If they can, then it doesn't really matter what your reference point for tuning is.

[nobby]

I think it comes down to whether or not everyone can get in tune with each other, regardless of instrumentation.

That's why it's a great idea to have a standard tuning.

The only time I ever tuned to something other than 440 was when we had an acoustic piano that was old and the tuna told us it would not hold for long at 440 without a retuning. I think it was tuned a semitone low, but I can't remember.

Why would/ how could any singer be more of a prima donna than a diva?

The entire orchestra has to be tuned to the same pitch as the piano because there's no way to tune a piano in a short time. If Cecelia Bartoli told the orchestra to retune several cps lower to make it more comfortable for her to sing, the orchestra would tell her to fuck herself. Okay, maybe not, but they'd be thinking it.

But that would never happen.

[unitymusic]

I think it comes down to whether or not everyone can get in tune with each other, regardless of instrumentation.

That's why it's a great idea to have a standard tuning.

The only time I ever tuned to something other than 440 was when we had an acoustic piano that was old and the tuna told us it would not hold for long at 440 without a retuning. I think it was tuned a semitone low, but I can't remember.

Why would/ how could any singer be more of a prima donna than a diva?

The entire orchestra has to be tuned to the same pitch as the piano because there's no way to tune a piano in a short time. If Cecelia Bartoli told the orchestra to retune several cps lower to make it more comfortable for her to sing, the orchestra would tell her to fuck herself. Okay, maybe not, but they'd be thinking it.

But that would never happen.

How many times have you performed - as a vocalist, or anything else - live on stage, with a full orchestra behind you?

[Bob Olhsson]

Hollywood scoring stages have had tuning tones since the 1930s that are set a cent sharp or flat from the last pass for stacking strings.

[nobby]

How many times have you performed - as a vocalist, or anything else - live on stage, with a full orchestra behind you?

I've played plenty of times as a keyboard player. The guitar player(s) and bass player would tune to my organ or electric piano and the singer never complained. If there were horn players, they never complained.

Musicians prefer to play in some keys with some instruments (I think the favorite for tenor sax is C) and you may want to transpose a song into another key to make it easier for the singer to sing and/or move it into the singer's power range (or alter the melody if it's a song you wrote) but only during the past few years and on the internet does a difference of 8 cps make any theoretical difference in a vocal delivery.

[nobby]

Hollywood scoring stages have had tuning tones since the 1930s that are set a cent sharp or flat from the last pass for stacking strings.

That makes sense. I knew people sometimes triple a part, say a vocal, and (with software) make one a cent sharp and one a cent flat to make it sound fuller. I didn't know that went back to the '30s.

They mainly did that for strings or was it ever used for other sections?

[Bob Olhsson]

I don't know. If my former boss at Motown hadn't had to repair it at Warner Bros, I'd never have known about it.