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Glite Dictionary
🎸 To change tuning 🚗 To lower power 📻 To misadjust
to detune

to detune

1 6.6
To change a musical instrument so its pitch is different from normal
  • verb
  • /dɪˈtun/
  • Specialized
translation icon : desafinar
  • OK, now I'm going to detune the piano.

This is me playing something and detuning it.

Examples

  • And I started playing guitar by, like, detuning electric guitars and throwing the delays on there.

    Blog text (22)

  • The tuning in this part is quite interesting; I was looking for a bell-like timbre, so I detuned the strings at specific intervals and at different octaves.

    Blog text (16)

  • Before the performance, the musician decided to detune the guitar for a more unique sound.

  • In the studio, the producer suggested they detune the synthesizer to create an eerie atmosphere.

  • To achieve the desired effect, the artist chose to detune the violin slightly during the recording.

Synonyms

to untune
vsto detune
8.4

To make an instrument like a guitar or piano stop sounding in tune

changes pitch deliberately so it does not match standard pitch
to mistune
vsto detune
8.1

Make a musical instrument sound at the wrong pitch

changes pitch to a nonstandard pitch not only when someone errs

Antonyms

to tune
163 1.8

Adjust an instrument so it plays the correct notes

to standardize
  • US
83 4.2

To make things the same by using one set of rules

How Tuned

to tune
163 1.8
to detune
  • Specialized
1 6.6

Surface Forms

detune infinitive
detuned past
detuned past participle
detuning present participle
detunes third person singular

Morphology

detune = tune (transparent) = de + tune

The meaning is a clear reversal of 'tune', namely to make an instrument no longer correctly tuned.

Etymology

Detune comes from de- 'remove' and tune 'set the pitch'. So to detune a musical instrument is to change its tuning so it does not play in the normal pitch, giving a lower, higher, or unusual sound.