Vanhalen tuining info,cool!!!!

texwest · Post by **texwest** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:16 am

Tuning is a really interesting topic. Most of us probably take it for granted but it took over two thousand years of experimentation for musicians to finally settle on Equal Temperament. It all started with Pythagoras and ended with Bach.
Necrovore, I hope this is easy to understand. Tuning a chord so that the third and fifth are perfect, is pretty easy. If you use alot of distortion you can hear the beats very easily. The beats are the waves that occur when two notes aren't in tune. You can tune thirds and fifths so that they are perfect. They sound very harmonious. So put alot of distortion on your amp and play your A chord and tune the two A's together until there are no beats, then tune your three E notes to the A. One at a time until you have all the A's and E's sounding very smooth. Play them all together and make sure you don't hear anymore beats at all. When you play them all together make sure you don't add the C# yet. Tweak it until you get it right. Then lower the C# until it sounds very smooth with all the other notes in the chord. If you do this it sounds great. The problem is that there are four other basic chord shapes on the guitar, E,G,D and C. And none of them are going to be anywhere close to being in tune. Play your pretty A chord, then play the other chords and you will hear how they aren't nearly as smooth or consonant. So the problem with tuning is that if you get one thing perfectly in tune other things are not longer in tune. So temperament is detuning things slightly so that everything sounds fairly good.

So over the centuries several methods of tuning were used until everyone settled on equal temperament. Equal temperament is where you split the octave into twelve notes that have a half step between each one that is perfectly equal in distance. Unfortunately everything is ever so slightly out of tune.

The thing that causes the beats is the overtone or harmonic series. When a note sounds it is actually vibrating at many frequencies that match the overtone series. Of course, we all know that if you play harmonics you are bringing out notes higher than the fundamental note. When two notes sound and they are not quite in tune, the higher notes in the harmonic series don't mesh up between the two notes and we will hear beats. We will often hear these beats at a higher pitch than the actual notes we are playing. So we are actually hearing the harmonics beating against each other. Distortion really accentuates the hearing of beats in the higher harmonics. and I think power tube distortion from a cranked marshall accentuates it even more because it is more smooth than preamp distortion. This wil bring out the slight out of tuneness of equal temperament. Especially the third starts to sound sharp. I disagree with Van Halen, it isn't just the b string, its any third that will sound slightly sharp.

So in actual practice I think its just a good idea to get a damn good tuner and not worry about it. But if you can hear the difference, you may want to tweak your tuning a little for particular songs. But when I put my guitar in tunings like G tuning or E tuning I will tune the open strings to a perfectly tuned chord. I love that sound!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wes

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:59 am

I thought the beats were due to distorting wave interference where thirds and fifths only add together without any resonant addition or cancelation peaks or troughs. Whatever it is I prefer to tune to shapes I use most.

texwest · Post by **texwest** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:54 pm

Dan you are correct. Beats are interference patterns between two waves. And when you are playing rock and roll, its probably a good idea to tune to the patterns you use most.

I didn't state quite clearly what I was trying to say. The two notes of the same pitch have to be very close to create an interference pattern. But when you play an interval like a fifth, its the harmonics that beat against each other. The overtone series of a C note is C,C,G,C, E etc. the overtone series of a G note is G,G, D, G, B etc. So in the case of the interval of the fifth C-G, you will get beats between the the second overtone 'G' of the C note and the first overtone 'G' of the G note. So, the overtone series of more consonant intervals have identical notes in them. Therefore you will get beats on some intervals like fifths and thirds. It doesn't just occur on two notes of the same pitch.

Anyway, I think we've beat this one to death. Haven't we?

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jimmy_j · Post by **jimmy_j** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:36 pm

I've had good results with one of these on a Warmoth axe.
http://www.earvana.com/

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 2:32 pm

I follow you completely Wes though I think our conversation isnt just beat, its alos self serving at this point since I think were the only ones reading

Maybe someone in the future.

That earvana thing is no different then the buzz fiehten thing. Its just easier and less involved. You just replace the nut and set your intonation.

pongo316 · Post by **pongo316** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 2:22 am

fret wave is pretty cool

funk49 · Post by **funk49** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:07 pm

JimmyJ is right on the money with the earvana. The feiten system requires you to do some modifications to your guitar that most would not like to do. The earvana does not and as a result, is a much better option.

The only way to go with guitars in the 21st century is by one of these systems.