Mike's Oud Forums

Kabak Kemane info

SV_T_oud - 12-3-2014 at 02:47 PM

Hello, I hope you don't mind this brief departure from oud? They are close friends after all! (both fretless ;))

Is there anyone here who plays or used to play Turkish Kabak Kemane (KK)? I don't want to ask about Persian Kamancheh in order not to generalize the subject.
So, only Turkish Kabak Kemane, please.

I have a few specific questions but the first question is - Why is there so obvious lack of any instructional material on the subject? None I could find.

A few things you could clarify for me are:

- What is the benefit of the given tuning on the Kabak Kemane? A few web sites that describe the instrument in brief only mention that it's tuned D-A-D-G.

As far as I understand the D-A-D-G is low to high starting with the low D, then A a 5th above the D, then D an octave higher than low D and finally G a fourth higher than high D. Right?
It's similar to the DADG guitar tuning in respect to 4 lower strings.

Or, is it the vice versa like low G and high D ? That would be similar to violin tuning with the high D string dropped a whole tone from E.
In fact I see this would be even more logical in respect to the expected instrument's range but I could be wrong in respect to what I would expect.
- Is it in violin range? - GDAD low to high
- Is it in viola range? - DADG low to high

Anyway, in either case what is the benefit of it?

- What are the fingerboard logistics? I don't see many problems here because the fingering in either case is quite logical, be it 5th/4th/4th or 4th/4th/5th.
However I'd like to know if there are any idiosyncrasies of the fingerings caused by this specific tuning.
Any drone notes?

- Regarding the technique (assuming a right-handed person):

1. Left hand. Do I see it correctly in YT videos that the neck sits deep in the webbing between the thumb and the index finger and unlike on violin doesn't form the "mouse hole"?

2. Right hand. I see in videos that KK players have very stiff hand position in wrist joint. In other similarly held upright instruments like for instance Viola da Gamba or Chinese Erhu the wrist is quite flexible and changes its angle when starting the strokes at the frog and the tip of the bow.
KK players seem to have the wrist frozen in one position. Why is that so?

Any other relevant info or insights are welcome!

Microber - 12-10-2014 at 02:40 PM

Here is what I have found
http://youtu.be/7iqcPAjtPYY

Robert

sbj - 12-10-2014 at 04:43 PM
Quote:

The kabak kemane (gourd fiddle) is commonly used in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is the present evolution of the old iklig. Traditionally made from a water gourd, the body can be constructed of wood as well. The bow is strung with either horsehair or monofilament. It is tuned to D-A-D-G, and has a range of 2- 2.5 octaves.


This instrument has its origin in Azerbaycan.
Adalet Vezirov was a master of this instrument, look how the instrument is crying, I can recommend this piece to everyone for watching the whole video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkraaYU0tM4

In Turkey Ihsan Mendes is probably the most famous player.
Here you have some information, maybe you should get in contact with this young guy, who should be able to speak English.
http://www.ozgurcelik.com/kullandigicalgilar.aspx
and get his book:
http://kutuphane.ege.edu.tr/Satis/Detay.php#icindekiler

SV_T_oud - 12-11-2014 at 03:53 AM

Thanks for your replies, Kemane looks like a more conventional and comprehensive instrument.

Mollanazi - 11-20-2016 at 01:17 AM

SV_T_oud, G-D-A-D is the tunig from low side, like a violin with the high string one tone down. I think other tunings are ok too, like ADAD or GDGD or violin's GDAE. I haven't seen any tutorials for KK, but found recently a solo album by Cihangir Cam https://music.yandex.ru/album/2883516 . For most of zeybeks he playing you can found scores on http://www.notaarsivleri.com/ .

Adalet Verizov is playing azerbaijan kamancha, it is made of wood, and "kabak" means pumpkin.