Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with tune

Help me fix my G string!

metajc — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:55:57 -0800

Can I get my guitar fixed so that my G string is in tune with the other strings both when fretted or free-ballin? I have had a Hondo Deluxe Series 750 electric guitar since 1993. I bought it for $80. It's probably an awful guitar but it is now a part of me. I've never had or wanted another electric guitar.

The problem is the G string sounds in tune with other strings when it's played open but off when fretted. If I tune it so that it's in tune when fretted, it's out of tune when open. ACK!

I've asked a good guitar store tech if he could fix it and what the problem was but he wasn't sure.

It has pretty "normal" tuner posts, little hooks for holding down the string at the head, a plastic nut, and Dimarzio bridge that pulls the strings to the back of the guitar ... action is perfect. It's like a strat.

How do I get that G string in tune? If it's too hard to tell, please direct me to some guitar maintenance websites where I might learn more.

what is this Fabolous song?

tunestunes — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:52:44 -0800

what is this Fabolous song? the clip i put up is way slower than the actual song but you should be able to get the idea. what do you everybody think?

guitar tuning for kids

memebake — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:38:18 -0800

Can people recommend diagrams and electronic guitar tuner gadgets to help a 12 year old tune a guitar? My nephews have all the kit needed to become an awesome boy band (well, once they learn how to play, anyway) but currently the thing holding them back is that the electric guitar is always out of tune and no-one knows how to tune it. They have an electronic guitar tuner but it is totally crap and just seems to give random advice when you try to tune.

So, can anyone recommend:
1) simple instructions, understandable by kids, on how to tune by ear (e.g. what note is each string supposed to be, where do you hold the strings down to tune each one against the next, etc)
2) a decent electronic guitar tuner that actually works and is simple to use

(because even if you have (1) down, you still need (2) to get at least one of the strings right, to tune the others relative to it)

Printable instructions are preferable to videos, thanks.

Name that tune!

wsg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:40:02 -0800

What song is this, please? (youtube link) http://tinyurl.com/ykppwlo

Can anyone identify these songs by their melodies?

cdenman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:34:39 -0800

Can anyone identify one of these songs I have stuck in my head? (Links below) - Please help! Song 1

Song 2

Song 3

(1) is a demo song that came with my Yamaha P200 keyboard - it's quite plausible that it was composed for the keyboard, but if it is a 'real' song I'd love to know.

(2) and (3) are melodies that have got absolutely stuck in my head and I would love to know what they are if anyone can tell me! I suspect (2) to be a very old song and (3) to be a very recent one, but anything's possible.

Get this damn tune out of my head

hungrysquirrels — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:23:53 -0800

Any tips for getting a tune out of your head? There's this damn ice cream truck which makes several passes a day with like a 5 second loop of a tune, and it's been struck in my head for about a week. Can't concentrate on my work. I can only imagine how insane the poor driver is by now.

How do I tune something in French?

Gucky — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:23:40 -0800

The French way to say the verb "tuned" as in a piano or a chorus? I'm having the hardest time communicating the concept of "tuning" something with a French speaker. I mean it both in the perfecting and the musical sense - to make something harmonious, hit just the right notes, sort of thing. X has been tuned by Y.

I don't need a single word, but bonus points for a single word. Google Translate is less than useful.

This is a French speaker with a great deal of background in audio, but not an engineer.

What Is That Song They Always Use...?

jfrancis — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:23:09 -0800

What Is That Song They Always Use...? You know the one. I can't think of its name. It's the one they always use

When the vikings are killing everyone in slow motion
O Fortuna From Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

When it's a beautiful sunrise on the farm
?

When everybody runs around on the Benny Hill Show
Yakety Sax

When the other vikings are killing everyone in slow motion
Wagner - Die Walküre: "The Ride of the Valkyries" (Boulez)

When Howard Stern wants to stereotype Italians
Tarantella Napolitana

When a beautiful woman enters the scene and it's the 1980's
Yello - Oh Yeah (1985)

When Howard Stern wants to stereotype Chinese people
?? (I still want to know the name of the song)

So what are the songs I missed? And what are some other songs? You know the ones. They're the ones they always play...

Beatles cover song identification

machaus — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:51:31 -0800

Who sang the cover of the Beatles song 'Do You Want to Know a Secret?' where the lyrics were replaced with Japanese words and company names like sushi, jvc, sony and subaru?

Upbeat instrumental, piano or string music?

Andy's Gross Wart — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:15:41 -0800

Please help me find other songs that have a similar sound to the first 30 seconds of Vampire Weekend's M79. I am looking for upbeat, celebratory, instrumental music to use as background music for my brother's wedding video. I really like the combination of strings and drums in the Vampire Weekend song. I have found some of the Bela Fleck, Yo Yo Ma, Mark O'Connor, Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer tunes that are close to what I am looking for:

Etienne Et Petunia - Appalachia Waltz

BT - Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology

1B - Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology

Brooklyn Rider - Brooklesca - is another tune that sounds similar.

Are there any other songs or musicians that are similar to the M79 introduction?

Name that tune...or else I just might die from frustration.

Detuned Radio — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:05:29 -0800

SONGFILTER It's a good one. I consider myself a music aficionado, but I still am stumped on this one. My buddy thinks it's from a movie soundtrack, I' not too sure it is - but we both definitely recognize the hook. We transcribed it into notes for you all - more after the jump... SONGFILTER: My buddy and I were at Barnes and Noble and I got this particular tune in my head. I could hear it very distinctly and when I whistled it to him, he instantly recognized it. We are both pretty music-savvy, but we couldn't pinpoint this tune. He thinks it's from a movie, I'm not to sure about that. Anyway, we figured out the notes of this hook we have in our heads. It's either:

G (1/2 note) F (1/2 note) E (1/2 note) D (1/2 note) C# (1/4 note) D (1/8 note) E natural(1/8 note)
(It starts at that G, climbs down the scale, and goes back up for the last two notes - I don't know music theory, so sorry for the lame musical terms and explanation.)

My bud thinks that the third "E" note should be a D#.

Anyway, play it on a piano or whatever and tell me what you think. I seriously can't remember the last time I was this frustrated.

Pedal steel tune of mystery!

littlerobothead — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:58:31 -0800

Music in the background of the first 30 seconds or so of this video? It's driving me mad and I've asked everyone I know (including the video creator, to no avail.) It sounds so familiar, maybe because it sounds like an audio bed I used to use in my radio production days. But dammit if I can name it. Groinks.

Does such a song even exisit?

dawson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:31:22 -0800

A song that surely must exist. All we (dad and I) can recall is the line "but we were soldiers". This is not, and has nothing to do with the book/movie 'We were Soldiers". I am unsure of the title, but I believe the chorus begins with "but we were soldiers", as in the idea "but whatever, we, being soldiers, did what we had to do". Maybe a country tune, but I'm just not sure. Could be from a musical or whatever. Any ideas?

Wring music? How hard can it be?

grumblebee — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:33:27 -0800

Can I learn to create melodies? I love music, but I can't play an instrument. I can't read music. I don't understand the first thing about music theory. Though my life contains plenty of music listening, I've always been sad that it doesn't contain any music making.

I know that music-making is a hard thing to take up, especially for a middle-aged guy, but I have an impulse to make it even harder for myself: I want to compose. While -- in my wildest dreams -- I'd like to compose symphonies, I know that's not even close to realistic. I'd be overjoyed if I could gain the skill to compose "simple" melodies. Not for fame and fortune -- just to amuse myself and to learn a little about what it's like to "be on the inside" of music.

My guess is that even this is a pipe dream. Is it? One thing I've always wondered is whether people who come up with songs had melodic ideas before they ever learned about the mechanics of music -- just like someone might make up a story without knowing anything about the mechanics of writing. I certainly know of plenty of people, like The Beatles and Charlie Chaplin, who had melodic ideas without knowing how to read music. But what about people who have never even played an instrument?

I've never had an original song pop into my head -- or even a snippet of melody. Even if I learned how to read music and play an instrument, is there any reason to believe I'd be able to write music? I understand that to write music WELL, you have to be gifted. But is it more binary than that? Do you either have it or you don't? Can you become a music creator -- even just a so-so one -- by learning some mechanics?

(By the way, I know there are all sorts of looping programs out there. I've played with them. They don't interest me. I want to create original melodies. I don't want to mix a bunch of riffs and beats together.)

So have any of you ever go from having zero musical ideas to having some musical ideas? If so, what brought you from point A to point B?

Name that Tune

jak68 — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:06:20 -0800

Whats that song? In an advertisement featuring the Concorde, showing it taking off (in slow motion with heat fumes rising in the foreground), the ad played in the early 1990s, and the song went "(something) (something) with Jesus... the great (something) in the sky" and there was cowbell. (It sounds like ELO to me but I cant find or name the song). Thanks, Borg-mind ;)

Who's Singing This Gershwin Tune?

dbarefoot — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 07:05:59 -0800

Who sings the version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" on the latest episode of This American Life? It is incorrectly credited to, uh, Sting, on the TAL website. Between the second and third ‘acts’ of the episode, there’s a nice version of “Someone to Watch Over Me”. On the TAL website, it’s credited to Sting. He has a version of the song but it’s not this one (nor is it nearly as good).

I browsed through iTunes and eMusic, but couldn’t find anything promising. I tried a few Google searches, but unfortunately there’s another episode of TAL named “Someone to Watch Over Me”. In fact, there seems to be some weirdness, because that episode (#269) includes the same ’second act’ as the current episode.

If anybody happens to listen to it (the song is at about 45:30), let me know if you recognize the singer.

Guitar goes out of tune

tabulem — Thu, 03 May 2007 16:28:01 -0800

Is it normal for a guitar to go out of tune like this? I have a Martin guitar that ought to be decent, it cost $900 (supposedly new) reduced from $1500. However ever since I got it, I have been frustrated by how quickly it goes out of tune. The odd thing is that all of the strings go significantly *higher* in pitch over the course of a day or two, rather than generally slipping lower as I have experienced with other guitars.

I would say the magnitude of the pitch shift is about 5 Hz over a few days. It's considerably more than I've seen with other guitars, even cheap ones.

Is this normal, or does it suggest that something is wrong with this instrument?

Name that Tune?

tmcw — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:56:02 -0800

Name that tune: I need a game for iTunes / some other MP that will quiz me on track names & artists from a specific subset of my library. (on Windows) (also, advice on music memorization is welcome) That's pretty much it - this is actually for a test that I have in a while, where I'll need to quickly recognize works of music (mostly Baroque, Classical, etc), so any tips & tricks for that would be welcome too. I'm pretty good at memorizing track names of my current library, but this stuff is a little more subtle.

Name that evocative club tune!

reflexed — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:21:15 -0800

NameThatTuneFilter: dance song, no lyrics, makes me think of James Bond and white sandy beaches...and i can whistle it... I heard this gorgeous dance song at a beach party a few weeks back, then again at a bar in Lisbon over the weekend. Tried to use my phone to record a sample, but that didn't work, so I'm whistling the main theme as it shifts here [550 kb MP3].

I think it's fairly mainstream; I checked this thread about James Bond samples but nothing jumped out at me. Any ideas?

I want to sharpen the edges of my snowboard

MNDZ — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:42:03 -0800

Tuning my snowboard: I just got a Burton File Guide Kit to tune the edges of my snowboard. I am pretty sure i understand it; but just in case, does anyone know where to find directions for installing the files into the handpeice?

Name that rock tune

mmoncur — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 02:14:44 -0800

Can anyone name this tune? (MP3 file) This is my primitive recreation of a song I heard the other day. More information about the context inside. I heard a song on the PA at FYE (a music/books/etc. store) the other day. It started out as an instrumental rock number which sounded vaguely like ELO or maybe Queen. I've reproduced a bit of the melody in the MP3. The main melody was played on an electric guitar, probably in chords rather than single notes like I have done. The drums were acoustic and probably nothing like what I included in the MP3, but it was a typical driving rock rhythm.

After a minute or two of instrumental, a male vocal came in, singing to roughly the same melody. A moment later it seemed to transition into a different vocal and melody entirely, but that could have been the next song.

It sounded vaguely 70's but the production quality was better than it should have been so I suspect it was a more recent song with a bit of a retro flavor.

It's been running through my head ever since, and I'm hoping someone recognizes it before I go insane and listen to Amazon's entire catalog to find it. Thanks!

Name That Tune :: PBS ThirteenHD Promo

Jhaus — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 23:18:32 -0800

Name that tune please :: PBS is great, and the songs in their promos are actually just as good. Currently running is a promo that ends with the words; "Be More ~ ThirteenHD" (this is PBS Thirteen's High-Def channel which they broadcast in NYC & possibly elsewhere?). The music which accompanies it is a piece that I'd classify as sort of a Blues/Rock/Jazz instrumental. My Question: Name that tune!?! If someone knows where to get this song online, that would be great too! I haven't had any luck, but I did find these sites containing some different PBS promos:
- http://www.kqed.org/help/tv/music.jsp#bemore

- http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/international/us_pbs.html

- http://www.fallon.com

Some additional info:
The promo in question has some scenes of an old guy in a hat jamming on an electric guitar...he looks like your typical blues musician. The clip runs about 30 seconds, or so, long. Sorry for the limited info, but thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Name That Tune

Bugbread — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 19:37:20 -0800

What is the name of the piece that contains this melody, and who is the composer?

Name that tune

shannymara — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 18:35:05 -0800

Can anyone figure out the name/artist for this song. It's based heavily on the following piano riff. It's very recent and sounds like it's roughly in the genre of Train or Coldplay. Here's the riff. Hastily-written note pairs are listed below (A-D means play the A and D note together, D being the note three steps up from A). Each line is a measure.

A-D, A-D, A-D
A-C, A-C, A-C
G-C, G-C, G-C
G-B, G-B, G-B

Length of each note:
Dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter
Dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter
Dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter
Dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter

A more complex melody plays on the riff.

It's not obscure at all and I figure someone will nab it. Next time that'll teach me to listen to the lyrics and Google them.

Window essentials updates

ralawrence — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 07:59:36 -0800

I'm off back to the parents in a couple of days time for Christmas and will invariably need to tune up their Windows PC. My USB key-chain currently contains Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAware, Spybot S&D and ZoneAlarm updates as well as service packs and virus definition updates. What else should I include?