Pink Floyd · The Dark Side of the Moon · song 4
Time tuning.
Time (Pink Floyd, 1973) is in E Standard, about 23 cents flat (A ≈ 434), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard −23 ¢
About 23 cents flat (A ≈ 434).
Measured by TuneLit
23 ¢ flat
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string −23 ¢.
Pink Floyd · The Dark Side of the Moon · 1973
About Time
From The Dark Side of the Moon (1973): after the clocks and the roto-tom intro, the band comes in with David Gilmour on his Black Strat in standard tuning, singing the verses and playing one of his best-known solos.
TuneLit measured the first Japanese CD (Toshiba-EMI CP35-3017). The album sits at concert pitch, but Time is about 23 ¢ flat (A ≈ 434.2), and not only during the intro: the verses and the solo read the same. Tune keeps standard tuning and moves the reference down to about A 434. At A 440 your guitar sounds clearly sharp against the record, almost a quarter of a half step.
So the album needs three settings: A 440 for most of it, A ≈ 434 for Time and A ≈ 443 for The Great Gig in the Sky, about 11 ¢ sharp. If you play along with the whole album, move the reference rather than the tuning, and set it back for the next song.
Tip: Set the reference to A ≈ 434 before the band comes in after the clocks, and return to A 440 for the next song.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string −23 ¢, the notes Time was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Time sits 23 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Time 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 Time 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 −23 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Time moves up 23 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 Time in?
E Standard −23 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.