The Steel Guitar Forum

I’ve tried all the sweeteners I can find and although I always like the sound when I play by myself It never sounds right when I play with others. So I always go back to “straight” tuning, or whatever you call it with a Peterson and no sweetener. The other day on a whim I just tuned by ear using the tuner as a starting point. For some reason I’ve always hesitated to do that even though I do it on 6 string all the time. When I got back with my jam group I was VERY happy with the sound and of course I played better. Now I’ll have to see if I lucked into a magic tuning or if it’s repeatable!

Yes, it's repeatable. Always trust your ears over what the tuner shows.

That's exactly how I've been tuning for 30 yrs. Get the basics with the tuner and tune everything else to that by ear.

Every environment changes according to the musicians and instruments involved. I think I've adapted my thinking to tune to the situation using my ears.

Music:

If it sounds right, it is right

That's mostly what David Crosby's saying

https://www.fretboardjournal.com/featur ... urning-50/

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/thre ... rd-Journal

"If it sounds right it is right".....

I've heard it said, regarding performance, "If it sounds good to you, there's a chance that other's will hear it and feel it as you do. But if it doesn't sound good to you, there's very little chance it will sound good to anyone else"

This applies to all sorts of things in music...writing, recording, mixing, tone, intonation....

It's possible to be hearing completely horrendous sounds and loving it though, so subjective conviction on this issue is not the 'be all'.... It is a big part though.

Perfect. Trust your ears.

Andrew has it dead right. The listener is not obliged to ignore your shortcomings. Brahms told his composition students: "What you write doesn't have to be beautiful, but it does need to be perfect".

You might consider entering the values into your Peterson in case you're ever on a noisy stage in a club after the doors open. Tough tuning by ear in certain circumstances.

Just curious, what is your process for tuning by ear? There is a step-by-step method in the Winnie Winston book that I followed for a bit when I first started. It’s pretty much about “tuning out the beats”, but it kinda fell apart when I started playing with a band and now I keep some beats in here n there when tuning by ear.

Listening to me tune a pedal steel by ear was the last straw for my first wife. After the divorce, I bought an electronic tuner. True story!

Points taken Fred, and you can do that with any tuner...just compare and record your numbers with your ear tuned notes...that'll get you closer than not.....,

and b0b(wow!).

Concerning the noisy stage environment, I solved that problem with some powered headphones and/or having an amp with a headphones feature. Before I started doing that, I once had an old man at a club yell at me to ask
"can you please stop that?" so I know it can be annoying to some people sometimes if in close proximity.

I don't know if that would've solved your problem b0b, but it surely might have helped.

Don't tune in bed!

Jerry Overstreet wrote:I don't know if that would've solved your problem b0b, but it surely might have helped.

Tuning wasn't the only problem. A much better wife was the real solution. 43 years together now!

Tuning by harmonics works real well until you get to the F# strings. I had to add compensators until I came to the conclusion that a numbers-driven middle-of-the-road tuning would work better for me. I still touch things up with harmonics by ear when a string goes out.

If you've found your magic tuning, you chould check it on an electronic tuner and record it so you can use it in situations where it is not possible to tune by ear.

b0b wrote:...Tuning wasn't the only problem. A much better wife was the real solution. 43 years together now!

Congratulations!

b0b wrote:Listening to me tune a pedal steel by ear was the last straw for my first wife. After the divorce, I bought an electronic tuner. True story!

Look at it this way b0b; if you had bought the tuner sooner, you'd still be miserable!


But seriously, folks, being in tune is a skill, it's not something you buy! Tuning must be learned right along with playing in tune. And if you don't develop your "ear" and perfect your tuning without a meter, you will always be trying different offsets and "sweetenings". (And you will probably NEVER be "in tune".)

Playing out of tune is the #1 reason that steel players (and violinists) get fired. You don't need an expensive tuner, but you do need a good ear!

"Non est alius modus."

I tuned by ear, then programmed the final results into my tuner. I use a tuner to alleviate everyone trying to tune up by ear at the same time. Or, the jukebox conflicting with my ear. There is nothing more annoying than touching up the tuning by ear when on break. Years ago, I was ear tuning before the job and a lady got up from her table and complained that I was too loud?? Since then, I just quietly use my tuner. It's fast and accurate.

Being able to hear when you’re out of tune is the flip side of tuning by ear. They are both valuable skills and if you can do one you can probably do the other. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you tune (unless it gets you fired or divorced...), just get the bugger in already.

Here is something to ponder upon.

Buddy Emmons Harmonic tune up

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ph6dfa98fnwm ... So_Ta?dl=0

OR

The sound of a honky tonk bar is every musician just a little out of tune and helps provide that slightly raucous ambience that goes well with beer.

Back to the main story: I tune straight up but with pedals down. I guess I prefer strings going slightly sharp than slightly flat when cabinet flex is involved.

Definitely prefer dustcatcher style fretboards to silkscreen.