Tuning doesn't do too much if you don't have "newish" strings? And your instrument is "set-up" for those strings...

It's the whole package, 1) the instrument, 2) the strings, 3) the set-up, 4) the tuning...

If all are not present? The result will be substandard.

 About every 3 or 4 takes for me. One of my first Cakewalk purchases, back when I had Guitar Tracks 2.0, was the Strobosoft tuner that Cakewalk sells. It still shows up in the tool menu in Sonar. Still my favorite tuner after all these years.  

And now for an alternate view: "We tune to A-or somewhere around there. I never tuned; if you can find a strobe-tuner in the studio, I'll give you anything you want out of here.I'd just pick up the guitar, and whatever it was tuned to, I'd just tune the instrument to itself and have Mike tune to me, and we'd tune the synthesizer to it. Who made up the rule that an A string had to vibrate at 440, or whatever?" - Eddie Van Halen... of course HE can get away with that.

Some of us mere mortals need the whole schlimmozzle .....

You can tune? And it will fit what the tuner says? But when you play a chord? It's off... It's because the strings are dead, or the guitar has not been set-up correctly for the strings. It's not just tuning... The easiest way to tell that you have a problem is to tune, then play a bar chord, "it's off?" you have a problem... The harmonics need to be in? The open chords need to be in? And the bar chords need to be in.

bandontherun19


You can tune? And it will fit what the tuner says? But when you play a chord? It's off... It's because the strings are dead, or the guitar has not been set-up correctly for the strings. It's not just tuning... The easiest way to tell that you have a problem is to tune, then play a bar chord, "it's off?" you have a problem... The harmonics need to be in? The open chords need to be in? And the bar chords need to be in.

Correct intonation, that is. I'll typically set up intonation if I'm recording when I put on a new set of strings. I'll usually just leave it at that. Things may change a little as the strings age, but then I'll be putting on new strings for the recording anyway so it doesn't matter.


So my rule is - new strings - intonation - then tune every recording session. Once the strings get old, repeat.


I personally just do my intonation check at 12th fret. I don't know the 'proper' way to do it, but that's just how I do it.

jhughs


And now for an alternate view: "We tune to A-or somewhere around there. I never tuned; if you can find a strobe-tuner in the studio, I'll give you anything you want out of here.I'd just pick up the guitar, and whatever it was tuned to, I'd just tune the instrument to itself and have Mike tune to me, and we'd tune the synthesizer to it. Who made up the rule that an A string had to vibrate at 440, or whatever?" - Eddie Van Halen... of course HE can get away with that.

A-440 was well established as the standard before little Eddie was even a twinkle in his daddy's eye.  


And he may have done that..... tuned like that back in the day. If you wish, there is nothing preventing that now. 

Why tune to A-440 and not some random number... or just by ear?  Good question. And the answer is you can tune to whatever you wish to tune to. 


It's easier for me to answer why I tune to A-440.  All my midi synths are set to A-440. So if I tune to 440 on guitar and later add a string or a pad or a piano or anything that is midi, I will not have tuning issues. 


All my keyboards are set to 440 and all my tuners are calibrated to 440 as well. 


If you are not using midi, it matters not to which number you tune. However, if you are recording....lets say, a bluegrass band, which doesn't use midi or piano, you would still want the tuning from one song to the next to be consistent. 


Failing to tune to the same exact pitch between sessions would result in 10 to 12 songs on s CD that were not in the same pitch and to many listeners that would be noticeable. Something would sound off but they may not be able to tell exactly what the issue was. They would just know something wasn't right. 


As for me, I always use a tuner if there is one handy. While my ears are sensitive to pitch, it's easier for me to let the tuner nail it every time as opposed to me trying to decipher those last few cents. 


just my opinion..... tune as you wish. 

I need to make a huge sign that says "TUNE BEFORE RECORDING!"  then place it on the wall.  So many times I have been a little sharp or flat from A-440 ...which causes a mess when you layer midi keyboards.  I'm still guilty of it and get stuck re-recording things all the time.  Thanks for the reminder thread!

Never record an out of tune Guitar. Usally when I have a Songstructure ready, I record (or write) one string or synthpad with as little modulation as possible trough the whole song for reference. (no matter if I will use it later in the arrangement or not) Just the basic chords.
And then record the first guitarparts. That way I know the guitars will be in tune with all other parts I record later on (hopefully) 
Sometimes a guitartake can sound o.k. on it's own, but when its just a little off with e.g. a piano or string section,  it sounds horrible.

Anyhow that's my tuningmethod for recording.

regards,
Dan

Absolutely agree - tune as often as necessary.  Naturally, it depends on the instrument.

I got very lucky (and then very lazy) with my first bass.  This was a $150 Fender-copy Memphis, and it would stay in tune for weeks.  When I started playing as a young teen, I was terrible, but I was in tune!  But I got in the bad habit of not tuning.

Later in life, I bought my first electric guitar, a Parker.  I was tuning all the time, as it never sounded quite right.  For a long time I thought it was my technique, of not being able to put the right amount of pressure on the G string.  After having a set up done down at the local shop, and them fixing the nut, it sounded great.  And still does!  But I got into the habit of tuning as often as necessary.