hans - 3-6-2015 at 03:25 AM
Greetings to you all!
I am sure this has been mentioned somewhere but i couldn't find it as a subject: i have a turkish oud, and the a course is pyramid lute strings pvf
0.63. I would like the a course to have some more high frequencies. Would thinner strings make a difference? Can anyone recommend a brand that sounds
brighter than the pvf pyramid lute strings? Many thanks for any suggestions!
Edit: i found a thread that went into differences between brands, pvf versus nylon etc, many posts but no clarity. I hope someone can shed some light
:-)
Hans
hans - 3-6-2015 at 05:17 AM
Hmm, i may have partly answered my own question. I lowered the d course to a, two 0.54 strings, and that makes the a less fat sounding. Obviously the
tension was much too low, but if i move from aa 0.63 to aa 0.59, for instance, i maybe closer to what i want
franck leriche - 3-6-2015 at 10:59 AM
The strings dealed by ömer from Hand Made Strings sounds brighter but i had some issues with the tuning.
You may try Kurschner too.
But anyway you are right, I use the same tension as you do, and i'm sure you can use a thinner one without loosing too much power.
But you may have to use a thinner one for the first course too, otherwise the tension may feel too much different under the mizrap.
hans - 3-6-2015 at 11:51 AM
Yes i'll try that, i just ordered thinner strings fot both the dd and aa from pyramid lutes, both pvf and rectified nylon
franck leriche - 3-8-2015 at 07:34 AM
You can also think about changing your mizrap, i went back to my 20 years old horn mizrap recently and exactly found what i was looking for since
months with the plastic one....
hans - 3-9-2015 at 04:27 AM
My teacher won't allow it 
). He says it's not for an oud and dislikes the
clicking sound when it hits the strings!
franck leriche - 3-9-2015 at 04:47 AM
I remember your teacher is Mehmet Polat, but you don't have to play exactly the same as him...you might know different students of Cinuçen
Tanrikorur, they all play very different from him.
I 've been quitting the horn one for the clicking reason too, but after a long time i went back to it...you just have to be patient and find the way
to avoid clicking.
I'll record something so you can hear the difference.
And also when you play with other instruments, the oud is more present without being louder.
hans - 3-9-2015 at 05:40 AM
I intend to master as many different sounds as i can, including the sound of the cow horn mizrap. I'd be eager to hear you play it without clicking
sounds! Because i haven't been able to do that yet. I did notice how much more present the sound is with a harder mizrap. I even had one made of bone,
but the clicking really was too much
franck leriche - 3-10-2015 at 10:38 AM
Hans,
here's a short recording i made with a horn mizrap.
For my ears it sounds ten times better than the plastic one...and i feel like being more precise and able to have more subtle nuances.
Mine is a short one. It's exactly the size of my palm so it doesn't come out of the hand and allow small movement from the thumb and first finger.
It's as soft as the white plastic one that most turkish players use.
https://soundcloud.com/franck-leriche/beyati-pesreviseyfettin-osmano...
hans - 3-10-2015 at 11:32 AM
Hi franck, that sounded wonderful! Can i ask, how did you get the horn as soft as plastic? Mine are very hard, i can get them flexible by sanding
until they are very thin, but they never become soft
franck leriche - 3-10-2015 at 01:07 PM
Well, i don't really remember how i got it so soft, i bought two moroccan horn mizrap in Paris about 20 years ago, and i've been playing them on and
off....i remember having sanded one of them a long time ago.
One is a bit hard and the other is softer. I prefer the softer one...now that i went back to it, i feel a bit scary of loosing it as i have only one
which is so good.
I've seen they get softer the more you play them. When i choose to play it again about 10 days ago, i loved the sound on treble strings, but i wasn't
feeling very comfortable with the wounded strings. After one week i'm completely in love....again with the bass string too.
I reshaped the tip like an almond a few days ago.
I will try to find a place to get them since i live in Morocco now.
But i'm pretty sure it will be in the north...and i m living in the south...
hans - 3-11-2015 at 11:52 PM
Maybe moroccon cows have softer horns :-)
Brian Prunka - 3-12-2015 at 09:05 AM
Could be goat horn or buffalo rather than cow?
franck leriche - 3-12-2015 at 11:32 AM
You're right Brian, it may be goat horn, i should ask for a piece of horn to my neighbors or to the butcher, they are so many goats here!!!