Hi Everyone,
I am a long time lurker but a new member. This is a great forum and I benefitted highly for the last year or so.
I am a beginner oud player. I know this is an oud forum and great one at that but I was wondering if anyone plays kanun here.
Although I very much like learning oud, I'm in love with the sound of kanun. Been thinking of start learning kanun
I have some general knowledge about it. Basics like tuning, use of mandals etc however I cannot wrap my head around how it is gonna be like learning
it. I'd appreciate If anyone could give me some direction.
I can practice one hour every day. What do you think? Is it too difficult to play? I would give up oud and switch to kanun if I knew I could pull it
off.
I think about this every day for some time now. I will continue learning oud if I'm convinced that kanun will be too hard for me. I have no idea how
hard it is.
Could someone shed some light before I decide to invest?
Thank you very much.
Baraka - 1-19-2019 at 05:31 PM
Bump, anyone?
ThanksDoggerelPundit - 10-6-2020 at 10:09 AM
Hi Baraka,
Better late than never I suppose. Having developed a shoulder problem related to playing oud, I started kanun in January of 2020. At first I felt as
daunted as you describe but I went at it any way. I can tell you the key to the instrument is doing the exercises. My source for these has been mostly
from Halil Karaduman's kanun method. His book and CD are generally to be found on Ebay for about $50. At first it all felt very clunky and awkward,
but things got better quickly.
The kanun is a wonderful instrument in that you can "throw your fingers at the strings" and make pleasing noises, but playing tunes is another matter.
My approach has been to faithfully do one half hour of exercises, then pick out the simple folk tunes I already know on the oud (and in my head). I
found it best to use tunes that are in one maqam, with no mandal changes - Lamma Bada and Uskudar are good examples. Eventually it will be good to do
the exercises and tunes with a metronome. I suggest setting it slow enough to play them without missed notes or faltering, and increasing by one click
each day.
As a side note, When the bridge punched through the skin on my kanun, I bought a second one from the EthnicMusic Co. in Izmir. Made by Mustapha Saglam
it turned out to be an excellent instrument for the price, which was less than half what you would expect given the quality.
Good luck!Jody Stecher - 10-6-2020 at 10:28 AM
Hey "Doggerel"--it's good to see a post from you after a long time. I just wanted to tell you that some years ago I put out my right shoulder badly
from playing a 7 course oud that was too big for me. By resting the shoulder for a few months and doing a few gentle exercises I was able to regain
full use. Pain has been gone for years. So you *can* get a workable shoulder again.DoggerelPundit - 10-6-2020 at 10:44 AM
Hi Jody!
Good to see you're still on the right side of the sod.
Good advice. Actually I quit playing for most of a year to give the shoulder a rest. Since February Covid has killed all my ensemble playing, so I
have been able to come back on the oud for a half hour or so a day without those 3 hour gigs to retard shoulder progress. And, as you see above, I
have been using this Covid time to come up on what is a great instrument.
Steve
PS - I arrived here looking for info in replacing the skin on the kanun. I think the procedure must be a State Secret of the Middle East; There is
nothing on it out there.Jody Stecher - 10-6-2020 at 01:27 PM
PS - I arrived here looking for info in replacing the skin on the kanun. I think the procedure must be a State Secret of the Middle East; There is
nothing on it out there.
Step one is to get you the right kind of fish skin or unborn lamb intestine or kid (goat) diaphragm. So the first question is what kind of bait to
use for the fish. Or which butcher shop to get friendly with. Step two is glue. is glue used? What kinda glue?
After that I dunno.DoggerelPundit - 10-6-2020 at 03:47 PM
Hi Jody,
Got most of that nailed already. Got the right skin, got the right glue and I have already done one successful test panel with a section of the old
skin. Though used, the test skin dried drum tight and the glue is solid.
I will put on the entire new skin in the next couple of days. The unknown rest of the story is just how to "sink" the bridge to the proper height
without breaking the skin; this involves tightening the new strings while slightly wetting the new skin so it stretches without tearing. The "sweet
spot" is where the strings cross the mandals not too high or low. Too high means buzzing. Too low means hard to move mandals, mandals pushing the
courses into sharpness, and excessive string wear. When this is done there will be a mongraph with pictures.
It took a month just to get the skin from Turkey, so you can see why I bought a 2nd kanun. ;>Jack_Campin - 10-6-2020 at 11:40 PM
The Syrian qanun player Maya Youssef is offering online tuition right now. She's based in London, plays in a wide range of styles.
