Sonic Youth is an American rock grunge band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore (vocals and guitar), Kim Gordon (vocals, bass, guitar), Lee Ranaldo (vocals and guitar) Steve Shelley (drums), Mark Ibold (bass, guitar).
Sonic Youth's sound relies heavily on the use of alternative tunings. Scordatura on stringed instruments has been used for centuries and alternative guitar tunings had been used for decades in blues music, and to a limited degree in rock music but Sonic Youth began using a variety of tunings more radical than nearly anything in rock music history. Azerrad writes that early in their career,
[Sonic Youth] could only afford cheap guitars, and cheap guitars sounded like cheap guitars. But with weird tunings or something jammed under a particular fret, those humble instruments could sound rather amazing – bang a drumstick on a cheap Japanese Stratocaster copy in the right tuning, crank the amplifier to within an inch of its life, and it will sound like church bells. —Michael Azerrad, Our Band ould Be Your Life, pg. 243
The tunings were painstakingly developed by Moore and Ranaldo during the band's rehearsals; Moore once reported that the odd tunings were an attempt to introduce new sounds: "When you're playing in standard tuning all the time ... things sound pretty standard." Rather than re-tune for every song, Sonic Youth generally use a particular guitar for one or two songs, and can take dozens of instruments on tour.
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