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  • Three Bassists, One Question - Part One

    Welcome to the new feature on Thunder Row! What we're going to be doing is posing one question to three different bassists on a rotating basis. Each time a question is posed, I will contact three different musicians from among our respected group of friends, and post their opinions on that question.

    We're not looking for "advice" from the musicians on specific bass lesson topics. Most of these people are trying to make a living with their talents, and we don't want our feature to be exploitive of those efforts. Our questions will focus more on their opinions of trending bass/music themes, or situations that arise in various forums or social media.

    Our first question reflects this general op-ed attitude, so we hope you like the new feature. If you have any ideas for questions, drop me a line elmeaux@thelearningdock.com and we can put your suggestions in the hat.

    Here we go!

    Our first question concerns a topic we've been reading about in various bass circles. It's all about the business of tuning one's bass to 432 Hz rather than the standard 440 Hz that most musicians use. What we learned from our three bassists is that while 432 Hz may have some experimental appeal, the general feeling is that it is not really necessary in the day-to-day playing of the bass.


    What do you think of tuning a bass to 432 Hz instead of 440 Hz, and have you ever tried it?

    Bryan Beller says: "I can answer this one quickly and honestly, albeit not very interestingly, and just say…I've never considered it. To me it falls into the category of 'life is hard enough, why make it more complicated?' "

    Adam Nitti says: "I've heard about players doing this before... Isn't that supposed to be a "truer" and more accurate way of playing pitches? Obviously I'm not too knowledgeable, and just like my swarthy compatriot Bryan, I've honestly never tried it before. Maybe I'll try it now! "

    Jauqo III-X says: "Just my opinion. Tuning the bass to 432 Hz is nice but of course, in a band setting, all the other instruments should be tuned to 432 as well. From my experience, the full band tuning does give the collective sound a little more looseness. I have tuned my bass to 432 HZ and there is a slight more midrange growl added, but it's not so much more to constitute keeping the bass tuned to 432."


    As you can see, the idea of tuning a bass to 432 Hz is not a mainstream concept. It seems it is still more of an experimental idea than a practical or usable tool.

    What about YOU? What are your opinions on this tuning concept?

    Stay tuned for more questions and more bassists!
    Comments 3 Comments
    1. TobiasMan's Avatar
      TobiasMan -
      Unless the whole band changed tuning (a bit difficult for our penny whistle player!) it seems like simply an interesting exercise/experiment.
    1. ArtLiestman's Avatar
      ArtLiestman -
      This is bunk. 432, 440, it doesn't matter. It's just a reference point for everyone to tune to. The 432 nonsense has been thoroughly discredited. See, for example http://www.miltonline.com/2014/01/07/hertz-so-good/. There are lots of other discussions online, but it's not worth the time to worry about this issue. Just get on with playing.
    1. TobiasMan's Avatar
      TobiasMan -
      Thanks for that fascinating article Art!

      In my view the difference would be a slight detuning of all the instruments. Detuning of stringed instruments would make the string tension slightly less, which might well change not only the frequency, but perhaps the tone/timbre a bit as well. Not sure just how the tone of a trumpet/sax/trombone tuned down would be.

      I know that there are discussions out there about some medieval music being written for instruments tuned lower than our current standards, and have heard some of the masters music played at what folks feel should be the "correct" tuning. Slightly lower and perhaps somewhat warmer, but as the article states, warmer is a relative term, that can be applied to any music that is somewhat lower than others.

      As Art says, "just play"!
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