D Tuning, also called One Step Lower, Whole Step Down, Full Step or D Standard, is an alternate tuning for guitar. Each string is lowered by a whole tone or two semitones resulting in D-G-C-F-A-D. It is used mostly by heavy metal bands to achieve a heavier, deeper sound, by blues guitarists, who use it to accommodate string bending and by 12-string guitar players to reduce the mechanical load on their instrument. Among musicians, Elliott Smith was known to use D tuning as his main tuning for his music. It was also used for several songs on The Velvet Underground's album The Velvet Underground & Nico.