Meshuggah · Immutable · song 3
Light the Shortening Fuse tuning.
Light the Shortening Fuse (Meshuggah, 2022) is in F Standard, about 15 cents sharp (A ≈ 444), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
15 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +15 ¢.
Meshuggah · Immutable · 2022
About Light the Shortening Fuse
The second single from Immutable (2022), released a month before the album: odd meters, heavy breakdowns and riffs on the open low F. It uses the plain eight-string tuning, F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭; unlike Phantoms or God He Sees in Mirrors on the same album, nothing is dropped further.
Immutable measures about 4 ¢ sharp, practically concert pitch. Light the Shortening Fuse does not: TuneLit measured it about 15 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 444), 11 ¢ above the rest of the album, and gives it its own setting. The semitone check from the audio is unsure on this song, as on much of Immutable, where the bass dominates the bottom octave; the tab is in F.
If you play the album straight through, the change of reference between this song and its neighbours is the trap. The strings stay the same, but the tuner's reference moves, so press each song's button rather than tuning once for the whole record. The breakdowns are where it shows: the open F rings long enough there for an 11 ¢ error to beat against the bass.
Tip: Press this song's own Tune button: it sets F Standard with +15 ¢, about 11 ¢ higher than the rest of Immutable.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to F Standard, every string +15 ¢, the notes Light the Shortening Fuse was recorded in.
- From F♯ Standard: Every string down a half step. No tuner that knows F Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 1, tune to F♯ Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to F Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- Turn String 8 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Light the Shortening Fuse sits 15 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Light the Shortening Fuse along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 8 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 Light the Shortening Fuse instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in F Standard +15 ¢. Choose F♯ Standard at A 440 and Light the Shortening Fuse moves up 85 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 Light the Shortening Fuse in?
F Standard +15 ¢: F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.