Metro 2033 and out of tune guitars....

[MiracleOfSound]

If a string breaks, or stretches, or something happens to make it impossible to tune that string correctly, they can't exactly stroll down to Long McQuade and pick up a new one. It just adds to the cobbled together nature of their existence.

I'm guessing you're referring to the in-game characters and not the actual sound artists?

It's a good point, the guitarists in the game would have more than likely had to make strings form whatever junk they could mash together.

 

[Trolldor]

The guitarists in post-apocalyptia would find new strings no matter how hard they had to fight or how far they had to go.
Cause it's all about the music, maaan.

 

[Sweet Potato Vines]

There are other tunings than standard you know. The guitarist tuned the string(s) lower to get a lower, darker sound.

 

[Sixcess]

First STALKER, now this. What is it with post-apocalypse Russia that has everyone pulling out their acoustic guitars?

 

[s0m3th1ng]

The guitarists in post-apocalyptia would find new strings no matter how hard they had to fight or how far they had to go.
Cause it's all about the music, maaan.

OR just eat the cats and make new strings...

 

[nYuknYuknYuk]

Yeah I definitely hear it. Doesn't sound awful, though.

 

[Master Kuja]

First STALKER, now this. What is it with post-apocalypse Russia that has everyone pulling out their acoustic guitars?

Music soothes the soul and in an environment like that, I'd imagine an instrument would be one of the best methods of keeping yourself sane.

OT:
Most likely intentional, it's a beautifully atmospheric and eerie effect that fits in well with the general theme of the game, at first it grated on my nerves because...Anything out of tune pisses me off, but then the more I listened to it, the more pleasing it became, especially when compared to the setting of the game itself.

Anyway, I don't think a 2 minute acoustic would have been written like that without someone pulling the guitarist aside and saying "Hey, your guitar's a bit out of tune."

 

[MikhailGH]

First off, I had no idea, secondly, they spend thousands of dollars on making this, I guess they could have tuned it if they wanted to. Its 99% probably on purpose. And it sounds awesome.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

I'm sorry, but "COS IT'S ATMOSPHERIC" doesn't count when a recording is overproduced in that sort of manner. There's so many goddamn computerised effects going on in that track that it's passed being some sort of representation of cobbled together instruments, and the out of tune string makes it sound unprofessional.

My 2 cents.

 

[jovack22]

It's definitely intentional, like how violinists will make their E string slightly flat when playing in minor key. In this case, it makes the song sound dead and echo-y, pardon the Buffy speak.

I agree that it's intentional to make everything sound more bleak.

What you said about violinists playing their E-string flat though is not true. Unless it's a very specific case, in general, you play your instrument fully in tune.

A key becomes 'minor' when your 3rd note in the scale is played half a semitone flat, and then there are variations on the 6th and 7th notes depending on the variation of scale (such as melodic or harmonic minor scales).

If you are thinking of violinists who play at a virtuoso level, then you are probably thinking of "expressive intonation". But all that is, is a slight exaggeration of the notes to enhance the effect of a particular sequence.

The strings are still tuned in perfect 5ths -- unless a conductor or group purposely decides beforehand which is extremely rare, even in modern cases.

Just because something is flat, doesn't mean it's minor.

Also just to clarify, there is no perfect system for temperament, every system has to compromise, but tuning strings to perfect 5ths is the best general method. Since your E and G will never be played simultaneously, it's not a big deal that they are not in tune technically together. In segments that require full chords of 3 or even 4 notes, your fingers need to take this into account.

 

[Klepa]

The end credits music from Metro 2033:


Now what i could never work out was, is that guitar supposed to have one string tuned slightly flat?

If I'm not mistaken, the G string sounds like it has been tuned about half a semitone below its normal tuning.

Do you guys think this effect is deliberate, to imply something is wrong or out of sync in the Metro 2033 world?

Or is it just a brutally bad example of something that should have been re-recorded?

It's definitely out of tune, and I do believe it's intentional, it's extremely unlikely that anyone even remotely interested in music would miss that during recording.

It's not an alternate tuning, one string is clearly off-key and out-of-tune.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

There are other tunings than standard you know. The guitarist tuned the string(s) lower to get a lower, darker sound.

We all know there are more tunings than standard. It's just odd to hear one of the strings being tuned half a semitone out from the other instruments.

 

[Meggiepants]

I don't know if it's done on purpose or not, but I like it. I liked the soundtrack all through the game though.

Personally I think if you were creating a sound for post apocalyptia, you would probably include elements like this. These people might not know how to properly tune a guitar, if they grew up after the war. Or as someone already mentioned, they could be using scraps they find around. Maybe pig gut would be harder to tune?

 

[Gxas]

There's more than one way to tune a guitar.

BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FISH!!!!

...

I apologize...

 

[RobCoxxy]

Sounds intentional. I like it from a listener's perespective. But as a guitarist it hurts a little bit to hear that twang too.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

That music makes me feel depressed, and really does make it sound creepy, I'm pretty sure it's intentional. Anyway, one of my favorite music pieces ever

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

Freaky, I was just playing this game

On topic; I think it goes along with the whole post nuclear apocalypse setting of the game

Even more freaky, I just had the book delivered an hour ago.

Yes, at 7pm. That must have been intentional on the delivery-man's part to deliver it just in time with this me finding this thread.