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Alternative Arabic Tuning

DavidJE - 7-4-2014 at 12:10 PM

It seems that most people tune their Arabic ouds to either:

C, F, A, d, g, c

or

D, G, A, d, g, c

I started with a Turkish oud, tuned C#, F#, B, e, a, d, where all 6 courses are tuned in 4ths. Now I have an Arabic tuned oud too, and I started with C, F, A, d, g, c. But I was experimenting this evening with an alternative tuning:

C, E, A, d, g, c

I like this tuning, possibly because it's closer to the Turkish tuning I'm used to, with 5 of the courses tuned in 4ths instead of only 4. And, I don't notice any downside. It seems slightly "easier" or more intuitive to me. So is anyone else using C, E, A, d, g, c? Are there any pros and cons that I may be missing?

suz_i_dil - 7-4-2014 at 02:52 PM

Actually consider the tuning of your bass on the maqam you are playing
so you can use either C-F or D-G or C-E or C-G ... Unusual but you may even try a quarter note. I sometimes use B half bemol to explore sikah or huzzam from B half bemol. I love the result

then the others I never change
x - x - A - d - g - c

same system for the f tuning of course

hope this answer your question

DavidJE - 7-4-2014 at 11:27 PM

Thanks suz_i_dil. That makes sense, and I did/do realize that different bass string tunings make sense for different makams.

One of the reasons I like the C, E, A, d, g, c tuning in general though... My first Turkish oud teacher had me playing in Kiz tuning. So instead of playing Rast on D (bolahenk) I would be playing it a 4th lower, on A. In general, I really like the lower sound of playing on Kiz tuning. Maybe it's not standard at all with Arabic playing...but if I tune my Arabic oud C, E, A, d, g, c, then I can play Rast on G or Dugah on A...and I like that low sound. Although, for some reason, I like it more on my Turkish oud than on my Arabic oud.

Jody Stecher - 7-5-2014 at 06:01 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DavidJE

Although, for some reason, I like it more on my Turkish oud than on my Arabic oud.

Perhaps that's because your Turkish oud has been been built (and braced) to respond to that tuning and for playing in the low octave. If you tune your fifth course to F on your Arabic oud you will soon discover a harmonious response in the four treble courses. The F provides overtones that color many of the pitches that get played on the A-d-g-c courses. The "downside" of tuning the fifth course to E is that some notes on the treble strings (C, c, A, a, f, for instance) will no longer sound as full and rich and others (such as B, b, g#, and e) will sound bigger than you might want them to.

Brian Prunka - 7-5-2014 at 06:34 AM

E is a problematic pitch due to the different tunings of that note in different maqamat.
If you play 'Ajam on C, the open E will be much higher than the E of Ajam. It may also create interference when you play Rast, Bayati, or Sikah, as some notes will trigger sympathetic vibrations of the open E that conflict with the E/b.

The open E works for Kurd on A, Bayati or Saba on A, or Nahawand/Nikriz on D.

Due to the extreme subtle variations in pitches in the Eb to E range in many maqamat, it's not a good general tuning IMO. However, if you know you will be playing maqamat in A, it is a nice effect. So I agree with Suzidil that tuning it depending on the piece/maqam makes sense. I don't like it as a standard tuning, for the reasons that Jody mentions and that I outline above.

DavidJE - 7-5-2014 at 11:50 AM

Thanks guys!

So in theory I liked C, E, A, d, g, c. I tried it briefly yesterday evening before writing the posts in this thread, primarily to try playing in that lower range. But as I wrote, it sounded better on my Turkish oud. It just didn't sound "right" on the Arabic oud.

This morning I tried it a bit more and gave up on the lower range due to it not sounding so good, but even in the normal/usual range something just didn't sound right. I kept thinking the oud was slightly out of tune even though it wasn't (I double checked it with my tuner).

I know nothing about overtones...but that sounds interesting Jody. Maybe that's the reason it just didn't sound "right" to me. And Brian, what you wrote also makes sense. So...I will stay with C, F, A, d, g, c as my "standard" tuning.