This is an highly experimental and atmospheric guitar tuning, famously utilized by Godspeed You! Black Emperor on their track "Storm" from the album "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven." It's characterized by its complex and unusual intervallic structure, creating a landscape ideal for drones, textures, and dissonant soundscapes rather than traditional melodic or harmonic progressions.

Verbal Analysis

The "GY!BE Storm Drone" evokes a sense of vastness and tension. The open strings resonate with a dark, almost unsettling quality, perfect for the expansive and often melancholic sound of post-rock and drone music. It's not a tuning designed for easy chord playing, but rather for exploring unique sonic textures and sustained, ringing tones. The significant and unusual pitch jumps between certain strings contribute to its abstract and avant-garde character, demanding a non-traditional approach to playing.

Technical Analysis

The open strings are tuned to D3#, A3#, C4#, F3, A4#, C5# (from low E string to high E string). Analyzing these specific pitches reveals a challenging and unconventional layout:

• String 6 (D3#) to String 5 (A3#): An Augmented 4th (or Diminished 5th), 6 semitones up.
• String 5 (A3#) to String 4 (C4#): A Major 3rd, 4 semitones up.
• String 4 (C4#) to String 3 (F3): A drastic drop of 11 semitones (a Major 7th down). This means String 3 is significantly lower in pitch than String 4, making traditional adjacent-string chord shapes virtually impossible and highlighting its drone-oriented design.
• String 3 (F3) to String 2 (A4#): An extremely large jump of 17 semitones (a Minor 6th plus an octave up). This further emphasizes the non-linear, textural nature of the tuning.
• String 2 (A4#) to String 1 (C5#): A Major 3rd, 4 semitones up.

Harmonically, the unique combination of D#, F, A#, and C# across these octaves presents an intriguing palette. The notes D#, F, A#, C# collectively form a D# minor 7th chord. However, due to the extreme octave displacements and non-sequential string pitches (String 3 F3 is lower than String 4 C4#), playing this chord openly or forming conventional voicings is highly impractical. This tuning is not geared towards conventional chord progressions. Instead, it invites exploration of dissonant clusters, sustained drones, and unique melodic lines by selectively plucking non-adjacent strings. Barre chords would be particularly difficult to execute effectively across the widely spaced intervals.

Important Note: The specified target notes (D3# for the lowest string, C4# for the 4th string, A4# for the 2nd string, C5# for the highest string) are significantly higher in pitch than what is typical for standard electric or acoustic guitar strings at their respective positions (e.g., standard low E is E2, not D3#). Achieving these specific high octaves may require extremely light gauge strings, a shorter scale length instrument, or could potentially put excessive tension on a standard guitar if taken literally. It is possible these octave notations are adjusted for specific recording or live performance contexts, or refer to a non-standard guitar setup where string positions correspond to higher octaves from the outset.

Here are the target notes for each string, from the lowest (6th) to the highest (1st):

String 6: D3#

String 5: A3#

String 4: C4#

String 3: F3

String 2: A4#

String 1: C5#

How to Tune (from Standard EADGBe)

To achieve the 'GY!BE Storm Drone' tuning from standard EADGBe tuning, follow these adjustments, carefully tuning each string:

• String 6 (Low E): Tune down 1 semitone to D#.
• String 5 (A): Tune up 1 semitone to A#.
• String 4 (D): Tune down 1 semitone to C#.
• String 3 (G): Tune down 2 semitones to F.
• String 2 (B): Tune down 1 semitone to A#.
• String 1 (High E): Tune down 3 semitones to C#.

All specified string movements are within common tension ranges for their respective strings, meaning a change in string gauge is generally not advised based solely on these semitone adjustments. However, as noted in the Tuning Description, the final absolute pitches indicated (e.g., D3# for the lowest string, C4# for the 4th string) are unusually high for a standard guitar and may warrant consideration for specialized string sets or alternative instruments if those exact octaves are the goal.