Drop D Bass

I think you'll find a lot of metal bands tune their entire instrument down a tone to D, not just the low E, so yeah if that's what the song demands - do it!

With regards mixing, obviouls you'll have to adjust your normal HPF cutoff point.
A low E has it's fundamental at 41.2Hz, a low D at 36.71 so be aware of that.

I recently invested in a 5 string bass with a low B going down to 30.87 Hz - shame my monitors start to roll off well before that.

Did this many times, never had a problem. The string has a lot more "slack", feels funny at first, never had any problems with the mix either. Go for it, you'll probably enjoy it and get a very different sound for the song you have in mind.

Later
Albert

Bass not being my first instrument, just a quickie.....is it common practice to use drop D for a bass guitar?

Yes it is. If thats what you want. Its just as common for guitar also. Theres no rules, use what sounds good and if a drop d Bass sounds good for this song, then by god use it
Cj

Low B?? That would really rattle your chest at high volume I bet.

Thanks all for the advice, great info.

Rob

...The string has a lot more "slack", feels funny at first...

If you are dropping the tuning, it will sound (and feel) a lot better if you use a heavier-gauge string.

"I wonder if any physics/acoustics experts here can explain it."

I think it's more appropriate to seek the advice of a psychiatrist or psychologist.

:-)

Spaceduck


There's something really cool sounding about dropping a string lower than it was meant to go. I wonder if any physics/acoustics experts here can explain it.

I'm not a physics/acoustic expert but I have been making guitar strings for about 20 yrs. With DR Handmade Strings and now with the Dunlop company (dunlopstrings.com). I can say that a lot of the tone comes from the instrument itself. The wood, bridge (straight or body thru) and scale length (34"/36"). Differant bass strings sound better on some than on others. I design bass string with the fundumental (a sort-of balance between highs, mids and lows) in mind first. Most of this is done with the core wire. If I'm designing for a band that tunes down or uses a drop D, I'll tend to use a heavier core to achieve a good fundimental at a lower tuning. The wrap wire will help define brightness and mids in the string as well as allowing it to reach lower frequencies. Its this lowend frequency, when its balanced correctly (has good fundimentals) that I'm looking for. It makes a tone that you can actually hear as well as feel, making it more musical and less precussive. For example, the low B tends to fall below frequencies that we are able to clearly hear and we tend to feel them more. But tune it to a low C or low D and suddely it becomes more musical to us. We can now clearly hear it. This might help explain at least part of it. But like I said, the instrument has a lot to de with it as well as the players themselves and what sounds good to them. Thats why I make many types and varieties of bass strings.
 
Les