This custom guitar tuning, famously titled 'Darkness Of The Dream', is utilized by The Tallest Man On Earth. It's an adventurous and highly customized tuning for a standard six-string guitar, designed to create a unique sonic landscape.

Verbal Analysis

The 'Darkness Of The Dream' tuning presents a remarkably wide and complex open chord, giving an expansive and somewhat ethereal quality. The lowest notes provide a strong E and B foundation (E2 and B2), akin to an open E or B power chord. However, the higher strings then introduce C#4, F#4, B3, and F#5, creating a non-linear melodic progression across the strings (note that the 3rd string F#4 is higher in pitch than the 2nd string B3, an unusual but creatively powerful arrangement).

When strummed open, the unique combination of notes E, B, C#, and F# (with duplicates across octaves) forms a lush E6/9 chord without the major third (G#). This absence of the G# lends the tuning an open, slightly suspended, and modal quality rather than a definitive major feel, making it versatile for both melancholic and uplifting passages. The wide intervals between certain strings (e.g., B2 to C#4, B3 to F#5) suggest a tuning optimized for rich arpeggios, droning textures, and specific fingerpicking patterns that exploit these large melodic leaps.

Technical Analysis

The tuning notes are: E2 B2 C#4 F#4 B3 F#5. When ordered by pitch from lowest to highest, the unique notes are E2, B2, B3, C#4, F#4, F#5. This arrangement highlights a strong E and B drone. The presence of F# as a prominent note (F#4 and F#5) suggests a dominant or Lydian quality, while the C# (major 6th) adds brightness. The non-sequential pitch of the middle strings (F#4 on string 3, B3 on string 2) creates distinctive harmonic possibilities, allowing for inverted voicings and unexpected melodic runs even on open strings. This tuning deviates significantly from standard tuning, allowing for unique harmonic clusters and drone effects that would be impossible otherwise.

Open string chord possibilities include:

• E6/9 (no 3rd): Strumming all strings yields a wide-open E chord with added 6th (C#) and 9th (F#), creating a full, resonant, and somewhat atmospheric sound.
• Open Power Chords: The E2-B2 interval on the lowest two strings provides a solid E5 power chord base. The B3-F#5 interval on strings 2 and 1 provides a high B5 power chord.
• Drone Textures: The repeated B and F# notes across multiple octaves facilitate rich, sustained drone notes, ideal for fingerstyle accompaniment or melodic exploration.

6th String (Lowest): E2 (Standard Low E)

5th String: B2

4th String: C#4

3rd String: F#4

2nd String: B3

1st String (Highest): F#5