Meshuggah · obZen · song 3
Bleed tuning.
Bleed (Meshuggah, 2008) is in F Standard, about 12 cents sharp (A ≈ 443), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
12 ¢ sharp
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string +12 ¢.
Meshuggah · obZen · 2008
About Bleed
The third track of obZen (2008) and Meshuggah's best-known song. The guitars are in the band's eight-string tuning, F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, and the famous riff is a relentless galloping figure on the open String 8, locked to Haake's kick drum, with accents that shift while the pulse stays the same. On the 2013 tour, Premier Guitar reported, Dick Lövgren played it on a four-string bass kept just for this song.
The album measures about 12 ¢ sharp (A ≈ 443), and the Tune button uses that value. Bleed itself reads lower, close to A 440: about 2 ¢ sharp on the 2008 CD and 0 ¢ on the 2023 remaster. The confidence is not quite high enough for TuneLit to give the song its own setting, but two editions agreeing is a good hint. The semitone check from the audio is unsure here; tabs and band agree on F.
So if the open F sounds a touch sharp against the record after pressing Tune, lower Fine-tune by about 10 ¢. The real challenge is stamina: the picking hand has to keep the gallop even for minutes.
Tip: After pressing Tune, try Fine-tune about 10 ¢ lower and compare the open F with the opening gallop; keep whichever setting stops the beating.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to F Standard, every string +12 ¢, the notes Bleed 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. Bleed sits 12 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Bleed 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 Bleed 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 +12 ¢. Choose F♯ Standard at A 440 and Bleed moves up 88 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 Bleed in?
F Standard +12 ¢: F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.