Meshuggah · Nothing · song 2
Rational Gaze tuning.
Rational Gaze (Meshuggah, 2002) is in F Standard, about 10 cents sharp (A ≈ 443), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
10 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +10 ¢.
Meshuggah · Nothing · 2002
About Rational Gaze
The second track of Nothing (2002) and the song that introduces the album's plain eight-string tuning: F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, eight-string standard a half step down. On the original release Thordendal and Hagström played it on seven-strings tuned to the lowest seven of those notes, retuning every few bars because the slack strings drifted. The riff is a fast, stuttering pattern on the open low F with short jumps to notes higher on the neck.
TuneLit measured the original CD about 10 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443), and Rational Gaze reads close to that with good confidence. The semitone check from the audio hears the open F under the song and agrees with the tabs. The 2006 reissue is a different recording with new guitars and rebuilt drums; TuneLit measured the 2002 version only.
The most common trip-up is the step from Stengah, which drops String 8 to E: if you play the album in order, retune String 8 back to F before this song. The second is the low F itself, around 44 Hz, which small speakers and phone microphones barely hear.
Tip: If the tuner struggles with the open F on String 8, tune the 12th-fret harmonic instead, an octave higher and much easier to read.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to F Standard, every string +10 ¢, the notes Rational Gaze 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. Rational Gaze sits 10 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Rational Gaze 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 Rational Gaze 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 +10 ¢. Choose F♯ Standard at A 440 and Rational Gaze moves up 90 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 Rational Gaze in?
F Standard +10 ¢: F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.