Deftones · Adrenaline · song 9
Engine No. 9 tuning.
Engine No. 9 (Deftones, 1995) is in E Standard, about 7 cents sharp (A ≈ 442), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
7 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +7 ¢.
Deftones · Adrenaline · 1995
About Engine No. 9
Engine No. 9 is a fast, aggressive track near the end of Adrenaline (1995), with a riff that pounds between a few low notes under Chino Moreno's shouted vocal. Stephen Carpenter played it on a six-string, and TuneLit lists it in E Standard (E A D G B E), the tuning of the most-viewed tab.
TuneLit measured the US CD about 7 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 441.7), and the song reads about 8 ¢ sharp, so it keeps the album value: E Standard +7 ¢. The Tune button sets that offset, so the open strings line up with the record instead of sounding a hair flat.
This is the song where tabs disagree most loudly. A Drop D version of the tab has about half as many views as the E Standard one, so many players learned it that way. The CD does not support it: the low notes circle F♯, and a low D never sounds. TuneLit's check from the audio is not sure about the neighbouring notes, so the listing rests on the main tab plus that missing D. If you play it in Drop D, your low string will ring a whole step under anything on the record.
Tip: Stay in E Standard: play the riff and listen for the F♯ it keeps returning to, two frets above your open low E.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +7 ¢, the notes Engine No. 9 was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Engine No. 9 sits 7 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Engine No. 9 along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 6 should ring together without a wobble.
Or the other way round
Move the record into your tuning
Rather keep your guitar as it is? Let Play along move Engine No. 9 instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E Standard +7 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Engine No. 9 moves down 6 cents, at its own speed. Slow it down or loop a few bars to learn it, and save the result as a WAV file.
Questions
What tuning is Engine No. 9 in?
E Standard +7 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.