Van Halen · For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge · song 1
Poundcake tuning.
Poundcake (Van Halen, 1991) is in E Standard, about 13 cents sharp (A ≈ 443), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Song tuning
E Standard +13 ¢
About 13 cents sharp (A ≈ 443).
Measured by TuneLit
13 ¢ sharp
Measured on this song itself: Tune moves every string +13 ¢.
Van Halen · For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge · 1991
About Poundcake
Poundcake opens For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) with the sound of a Makita power drill held against Eddie's pickups. Wikipedia says producer Andy Johns had Eddie record the rhythm on 12-string, and two electric 12-strings sit under the main guitar. Everything is in E Standard, with the riff built around E and A.
TuneLit measured the song about 13 cents sharp (A ≈ 443.3), more than the album's 4 cents, so it gets its own setting. A guitar at A 440 sounds slightly flat against the riff; Tune sets the reference 13 cents up. The audio check hears E as the lowest open string, and every Songsterr tab of the song keeps it in E Standard.
The drill sounds are noise, not notes, so don't try to tune against them. If you double the riff on a 12-string, set it to the same reference: the octave strings make any offset easier to hear, and the doubled tracks on the record are tuned together. On a single 6-string, the main riff alone carries the song.
Tip: Tap Tune for Poundcake and check String 6 against the low E the riff keeps returning to between the drill bursts.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E Standard, every string +13 ¢, the notes Poundcake was recorded in.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Poundcake sits 13 cents sharp on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much flat against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Poundcake 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 Poundcake 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 +13 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Poundcake moves down 13 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 Poundcake in?
E Standard +13 ¢: E A D G B E, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.