Registral Shifts

 

When the 30-string Contra-Alto guitar was conceived and designed, it was based on an 18-string Contraguitar and a 12-string Alto guitar.  At that time, the Contra side was in E contra (one octave below concert E guitar tuning), and the alto side was in A alto (a fourth above concert E tuning).  

I used it in those registers for around 10 or 11 years.  About a year ago, I moved the register of the Contra side from E Contra down to D Subcontra.  It was richer, and more of what I wanted to hear for this instrument.  At that time, I left the alto side in A alto.  

As I looked at some log sheets from recording sessions over the past four to five years, I realized that I'd  been utilizing the 30 less than in previous years and recording sessions.  As I pondered this, it slowly occurred to me that it was because of the alto side.  Over those years, I'd been hearing alto less and less, and this caused me to greatly reduce my usage of the 30, even though I loved the contra side of it.

I decided to drop the alto side by a whole step into G alto tuning.  I wondered if I'd like that better.  I used it on a couple of recording sessions, and while I did like the G alto better than A at that time, I still wasn't using the 30 as much as in previous years and recording sessions.  

This week, I decided to reconfigure the alto side into a concert D tuning side.  This puts the 12-string side into a tuning that's one whole step below concert E tuning, instead of a fourth above it.  It's a big change.  I've been shedding with it daily since then, and I certainly like the D tuning better than an alto tuning.  I'm even planning on going lower than that, likely to A baritone, which is a fifth below concert E tuning.

It seems that over time, I'm hearing things in lower registers, as I've moved one of the other Contras into Subcontra D, and one into Subcontra C#.  I suppose it is merely part of an ongoing artistic evolution and development.  

More to come.

-kk