arturo864 - 3-27-2012 at 04:46 AM
Hi! My name is Arturo, I live in Mexico, and I love these instruments. Two days ago I bought one. It is a beautiful Samir Azar oud. I've heard a lot
of him in these forums. It has a floating bridge, and the strings are kind of weird. It has 14 strings, in eight courses, well, I'm new in this stuff,
but the tunning is: A D GG aa dd gg cc ff, I think. It is a beautiful instrument, and a little of help would be really usefull, as I am new in this
oud world.
Alan-TX - 3-27-2012 at 05:38 AM
Wow an 8 course oud 
. I think I saw a picture of that one.
Anyway checkout the FAQ page. Linked to the right at the top.
http://www.mikeouds.com/video/learn.html - There are videos linked there
http://www.oudcafe.com/oud_basics.htm - Posture, Risha holding, restringing etc.
Giorgioud - 3-27-2012 at 06:39 AM
Hello Arturo, and welcome to the forum,
congratulations for your oud: wow, an 8-course one! I'd love love love to get me one some day, can I ask you how much you paid for it? Imagine, in
order to get one I am quite prepared to give away in exchange my Fathi Amin Egyptian oud, my Mustapha Becicioglu Turkish oud and my Blue Moon
Arab-Andalus mandole (so if anyone is hearing this.....
)
Also, for the tuning, if you're new to the oud (as I am), I have found this tuning to be particularly useful: starting from the highest course ff cc
gg DD AA EE BB and the lowest string(s)either F# or tuned according to the piece you're playing. Also, many Arabic pieces could be played with the
usual ff cc gg DD AA and then FF CC and the lowest course either GG or according to the piece you're playing (you may want to tune it in FF again, but
an octave lower. A surprisingly high number of Arabic music is written in the key of F).
The most important thing is, I think, not to limit oneself to one set of tuning, but be prepared to spend some time in adopting and discarding, and
experimenting.
For example, very early in my oud-learning experience I decided that I wasn't overtly keen on Turkish tuning, and also the embellishments and
fluorishes typical of Turkish music (although I like listening to them), so I went straight for the Arabic tunings.
I tried Standard Arabic (cc gg DD AA EE or FF and C or B) tuning for a long time, then I got enamoured of High Arabic (ff cc gg DD AA FF) and its
relatives Iraqi (ff cc gg DD CC GG) and Lebanese (same as High Arabic but with the lowest corse EE instead of FF) tunings, and now I have dispensed
with the 6th course altogether and I am experimenting in the Egyptian style of 5 courses only.
A new universe is out there, an incredible wealth of beautiful music, and many many ways of playing and tuning. I am just enjoying it with fresh ears
and never am afraid of being able to change, even abandoning if you will, an old way or tuning in favour of a new one.
This is only my experience I am relating to you. I hope and I am sure you'll have your own one to relate soon to us.
Take care
Giorgio
P.S. Alan-TX's advice about consulting the Oud Cafe website is a sound one: it's a very good site and it has taught me a lot, and I go there regularly
for exercises, music, etc.
arturo864 - 3-27-2012 at 05:55 PM
Thanks a lot! I spent about 600 dollars on it, I think that it was kind of cheap, and I liked the ff cc gg dd AA GG DD tunning. I think that I'll play
a little with the lowest string, depending on what I play.
Again, thank you!!