Has anyone tried "downtuning?"

Hi,
I've played the violin for a few years, and just tried this out yesterday:
I tuned each string a whole step lower- so the E string would be a D, the A would be a G, etc. And then I played with the same fingering on songs, so each song is also a whole step lower.

I really like the way it sounds! The instrument sounds much more resonant and I like the tone. The downside is that the open A (now G) and open E (now D) sound whiny and nasty, but you can just play the same note on a lower string.

Has anyone here tried it, and maybe there is an actual term for it? If not, I encourage you to try it out.

Rob L.

I've never tried it myself, but I think bass players have to do that from time-to-time. Also, the famous 1st violin in Saint-Saens "Dance Macabre". It surely makes a completely different sound.

I believe the term is "scordatura" tuning. There is of course the Danse Macabre which makes excellent use of the tritone chord. Many pieces use this tuning, Baroque to modern, and was used by a surprising number of famous classical composers.

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The particular scordatura tuning you have used is the "Cajun" tuning.

Thanks for the responses! It's a lot easier trying to find out info when you know the actual term.

yeah, you can tune violins cool ways. you can also octave tune a violin. all the strings are one octave from each other. sounds absolutely beautiful.