Out of tune instruments drive me nuts

Waltz For A Pig by The Who Orchestra sounds out of tune but it's just the Graham Bond Organization trying to sound like jazzbos.

Is I Will Return by Springwater out of tune?

 

Yup. Live and completely out of tune.

 

The bit after the rotating guitar solos in the Beatles' "The End" lurches up in pitch ("And in the end...", etc.)

 

Derek and The Dominos features sped up tunes so EVERYTHING is out of tune technically but they are in tune with each other on the record so I don't mind it as much

 

Absolutely... all the instruments being in tune with each other is what matters. There's a big difference between a song being actually "out of tune", and a song that plays at something other than concert pitch. The latter could be due to a number of factors... tape speed alterations, intentionally tuning the instruments up/down, etc....

If every song that played at something other than concert pitch was considered "out of tune", then a huge percentage of popular rock/pop songs would be horribly "out of tune"!

 

It sounds to me like two flutes (or flute-like wind instruments) that are out of tune with each other AND the track. It has sounded jarring to me since when I first heard it at about 8 years old. The upper note they hit is close to a C when it should be a B (the song is in B major).

 

Listened to the original Tubular Bells for the first time in nearly 40 years and man some of those instruments are out of tune, but you know what, I think it enhances the experience with it not being polished and perfect. It's also quite a crude production but this gives it charm.

 

the guitar in the left channel has always bothered me in an otherwise beautiful song...

 

It must have really bothered you!

 

I've played guitar for nearly 35 years, an instrument that's never in tune: if it's in tune at the first frets, it can't be in tune higher on the neck. 15 years ago veteran session guitarist Buzz Feiten invented the system that kept the guitar "perfectly" in tune wherever you played it on the neck. So I ordered a guitar made to those specifications, and guess what ? I sold the guitar immediatly, I couldn't stand the perfection of it, something was missing, my ears were accustomed to hear the little imperfections of a normal guitar.

So being out of tune for me is not that important, it adds "life" to music.

 

The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title was Riche Blackmore tuning his guitar for the first minute or so of "Lucille" on Deep Purple In Concert. And he does this while the band is playing! It's probably my favorite version of that song by DP, but man, that first minute is excruciating.

 

In Woodstock, it seems Joan Baez had no particular key in mind when she did her a cappella rendition of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot".

 

Right on. He clearly doesn't play recorder since he blows way too hard and that raises the pitch as tends to kill the flute-like tone. I hate that part of the song with a passion.

 

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet... but the soprano sax on "Listen To What The Man Said" is a bit sharp. I live with it.

 

No, it's not.
Unless it's 1% of a semitone sharp and you've got Donald Fagen's ears.

 

It's sharp enough for me to notice Donald did not give me his ears, but I do have perfect pitch

 

Soprano sax is notoriously hard to keep in tune.

 

I haven't listened to it in some time, but IIRC "Lady Jane" in particular has some jarringly out of tune guitar, particularly evident as the song goes into the chorus (such as it is). Out of tune guitars don't bug me much on more rockin' numbers, they can actually add a nice raw feel to the songs.

 

Ditto for 12-string guitars.

 

Not mentioned yet is Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman." Seems to me the bass that is prominent in the song's introduction is off more than a little. This may also be true of the horns.

I know that when the song was first put forth for release, there were howls from some Atlantic executives about what an out-of-tune mess it was. Obviously, the public wasn't bothered by it...and neither am I. Despite being played to death on Oldies stations, it's still a wonderful record.

 

I guess your avatar fits the thread title.

 

The chorus of "Ain't no mountain high enough" always sounds like the vocals aren't quit together to my ears. Drives me crazy (as does "All Summer Long.")

 

The guitar during the solo in A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)" always bugs me as it is quite flat (3:11-3:38):

 

Buck Dharma's solo on The Subhuman ( On Your Feet Or On Your Knees) is out of tune (and uninspired imho), and I don't know what passed through his mind at 3:19. Still love Buck !

 

I play 12-string very often, nearly impossible to keep in tune.