Registers, part 2

 

For years, I didn't give much thought to tuning scenarios, or registers, lower in pitch than Contra E tuning; Contra E defined as one full octave below concert E tuning for guitar.  I suspect that part of this unfounded mental boundary was that I assumed that a longer string scale length would be obligatory for anything lower than the Contra E register.  Or perhaps that Contra E tuning was at the physical limitation of the registers of these instruments.

One day about a year ago when practicing with C1 (Contraguitar model 1), I thought what if.... and cranked the low E tuner down to D.  Not only did it work, but it worked beautifully.  

I decided, for the sake of my own mental cataloging, to devise a new nomenclature for anything below contra E tuning, and have named these tunings as Sub-contra tunings.

Instead of all the Contraguitars being based in contra E tuning, here's how I currently have them pitched in registers in early 2023.

• C1: Sub-contra C#
• C2: Sub-contra C
• C3: Contra E
• 36-string Double Contraguitar: both sides in contra E
• 30-string Contra-Alto guitar: Contra side in Sub-contra D
• 24-string Double Sub-Contraguitar: both sides in Sub-contra D
• 25-string Double Contraguitar: both sides in contra E

So, this provides a set of both contra and sub-contra tunings, ranging from contra E down to sub-contra C.

Of course, the new sub-contra tunings required some adjustment to string gauges.  A rough point of reference is that as registers get lower, heavier strings are required.  I've not yet arrived at the perfect set of balanced gauges for the 24- and 25-string instruments, but am getting closer.  

I'm amazed at how well these instruments speak and perform in these sub-contra tunings.  The sub-contra discovery is exciting.  It feels as if I've discovered a new planet.  Or if I was a paint artist and have just discovered new, never-before-seen colors. 

The sub-contra tunings are dark, rich, resonant, and in some cases, mysterious.

I'm currently experimenting with and devising new individual tunings for each of the new registers.  In other words, though there is more than one instrument in sub-contra D, none of the sub-contra D tunings will be the same.  Same register; different tuning.  That will likely be explored in a future blog entry.

For now: onward and downward (in register).

-kk