G-A-D-E-A-E

• OVERVIEW •

Showcased by solo acoustic master Erik Mongrain on Equilibrium, the architectural title track of his 2008 second album. 6str is slackened to a super-low G, over an octave below the neighbouring 5str: removing around 66% of its tension, and thus risking high levels of low-volume buzz (without a restring). Read on for direct input from Erik himself!

 

Brings a harmonically stable structure, with a useful distribution of perfect 5ths close at hand (2>1str, 4>2str, 5>3str, 6>4str) – but curiously sparse and scattered in feel as well. You can make some interesting inversions with the off-kilter 6str – in fact, it can often be much more awkward to retain it as the root (if you see 6str as the b3, the tuning forms a fifthless Em7(11): the same tones as a B-less EADGBE).

Pattern: (2)>5>2>5>7

Harmony: Emin7(11) | b3-4-b7-1-4-1

• TUNING TONES •

• SOUNDS •

In Mongrain’s words, Equilibrium is “an ode to the balance and imbalance of life, human nature and our planet. The yin-yang that is to live”. The album take is an astonishing display of fingerpicking precision – dense layers of bass, melody, and percussion weave into a multicoloured, ever-flowing tapestry. It’s melodic, but avoids ‘vocalistic‘ flourish.

 

In a way, I’m glad that (as of writing) the only live videos of the track tend to be somewhat distant-sounding (phone cams, etc) – that way, it will amaze you all the more if you ever get to see Mongrain play it live (as a teenager, witnessing him perform instantly redefined my perception of just how virtuosic an acoustic soloist could be…go see his heavy-strung setup!).

 

---

• Equilibrium – Erik Mongrain (2008):

---

“Nirvana and grunge music…is what got me into guitar playing. I wanted to emulate all of it! I never took any lessons: learned everything on my own, and by watching and listening to guys that were better than me.” (Erik Mongrain)

---

—More from Mongrain—

I emailed Erik to ask how he seeks balance in life and music – including his oft-cited passion for video games: “I’ve always found the world we live in very noisy and alien. Music puts my mind in the ‘off position’ to some degree, but gaming fully absorbs me, and allows me to escape. I grew up with the early consoles, and it was always a big passion. Gaming has evolved a great deal: nowadays it feels as if I’m watching a series like Game of Thrones or reading books – but I have control over what’s going on.”

 

“I’m a gamer4life! Video game soundtracks help inspire the music I write even today, from old-school stuff to current-gen games: tracks from Witcher 3, World of Warcraft, Dragon Quest games from the 1990s…For me, it doesn’t matter where it is from – if it’s genuinely creative and harmonious music, it will have an impact on what I write.” (n.b. Read more about his tuning ideas my AirTap writeup: a track which, fittingly, has been ‘covered’ by virtual star Miku Hatsune, “the official anthropomorphism of a ‘Vocaloid software voicebank’ developed by Crypton Future Media”.)

 

---

• Equilibrium (Live) – Erik Mongrain (2009):

---

“This has been a gradual process, through learning countless open tunings and experimenting with them. It’s an intuitive thing, sometimes my mind has to work for it, and sometimes it just pours out…Like the great Michael Hedges said, ‘the secret of discovery is extremely sweet’.” (Erik Mongrain)

---

• NUMBERS •

	6str	5str	4str	3str	2str	1str
Note	G	A	D	E	A	E
Alteration	-9	0	0	-3	-2	0
Tension (%)	-65	0	0	-29	-21	0
Freq. (Hz)	49	110	147	165	220	330
Pattern (>)	14	5	2	5	7	–
Semitones	0	14	19	21	26	33
Intervals	b3	4	b7	1	4	1

• See my Tunings Megatable for further such nerdery: more numbers, intervallic relations, comparative methods, etc. And to any genuine vibratory scientists reading: please critique my DIY analysis!

• RELATED •

—Associated tunings: proximities of shape, concept, context, etc…

• Airtap!: a far narrower configuration, also by Erik
• Charango: same high side, but a much-raised low side
• Drop A (‘Slack Thwack’): maybe better-behaved bass

• MORE INFO •

—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…

• Mongrain’s innovations: see his listing in my Altered-Tuned Artists article – and also check out Mongrain’s website, tunings, and an Interviewtion profile (“nowadays I’m trying to go for higher tension tunings…sometimes I just fiddle with the tuners, and try to find a new arrangement…that feels right to the moment. There is more than one way to find new color!”)
• States of equilibrium: read about the word’s Latin etymology – and Nature‘s overview of the concept in the history of science (“it originates in mechanics, denoting a situation in which a balance of conflicting forces results in rest. It moves into physics as thermodynamic equilibrium…then crosses a new boundary, entering the social sciences as economic equilibrium…”)

---

Header image: Erik Mongrain’s fingerpicking wizardry