I just want to let everyone know about what I think is the best and most affordable way to order Pyramid Lute strings for oud. It seems to me, after
trying from different sources, that ordering directly from the factory in Germany is the best thing you can do. They are very, very accomodating, and
also offer you a discount of 33% on your order total (not including shipping) for orders over 255 euros. That means, if you don't want to order that
much in strings, you can make a joint order with a buddy or two, and get what I think are the best strings on the market for oud.
Either way, I find them very pleasant to work with, and I love their product.
Just a note, Pyramid lute strings tend to give a brighter sound, enhancing the harmonic overtones of your oud. If you prefer an earthier sound, than
I can also recommend custom strings from D'addario, which have less metal elements in the wound strings, and more core material. Haig Manoukian, a
great player here in NYC and also someone who does wonderful oud repairs, orders these for himself and his friends/customers that prefer them.
Take care,
mavrothisLeeVaris - 10-24-2005 at 10:04 PM
Hey Mav,
Do you have any reccomendations for the Pyramid gauges for your Dincer oud for EABead tuning?mavrothis - 10-24-2005 at 10:38 PM
Hi Lee,
Here is my recommendation, which is not exactly the gauges that Udi Cinucen used and Dincer recommends. I think that these gauges for the trebles are
better, giving a more even tension across the strings, not an overly strong tension on the treble strings.
The Cinucen treble string recommendations were .55 for the d and .66 for the a as I remember. I think that's too high. The highest for a Turkish oud
tuned this way should be .52 and .62 I think. These were recommended to me by Haig Manoukian, who did some great work on my Turunz oud, and Periklis
Tsoukalas, an oud player and composer in Greece.
The tuning I currently use is the following, with the string types listed too:
.50(d) .60(a) 1009(e) 1016(B) 1020(F#) 1440(C#/B)
~ For the bam string tuned to C#, you might also want to try the lower gauge 1240.
These should work fine if you have low to middle action on a typical Turkish oud (58.5 cm string length).
Hope this helps!
Take care,
mavrothisGreg - 10-24-2005 at 11:47 PM
Mavrothis,
I am sorry that this question is a bit off-topic, but I am really interested to find out how you like your Faruk Türünz oud.
How does it compare with your other instruments in terms of feel, tone and projection.
Regards,
GregRonny Andersson - 10-25-2005 at 06:46 AM
One more good source to order various instrument strings is Saitenkatalog.de It's very easy to order from them but you need to know what you
want...
Here's the link saitenHank Levin - 10-25-2005 at 04:51 PM
On the topic of strings, I'd like to remind everyone about the MusiCaravan Oud Strings that I have been making available for some time now. (I've
posted this info in the past, but I don't really stay on top of it.) They are made to my specifications in collaboration with oud virtuoso Üstad
Necati Çelik, and I do supply him with these strings. There are two sets. One has a label bearing Necati's name, and is designed for the tuning that
he prefers, from bass to treble: B (or C#), F#, b, e, a, d'. The other set is called the MusiCaravan set, and is for the tuning E, A, b, e, a, d. The
sets are identical except for the two bass strings. The two treble courses are nylon.
The cost of either set is $15 US.
These strings compare very favorably to the Pyramids. The trebles are true and even, and the bass strings last many months without going out of tune
with themselves. When I change strings, it is because they are literally wearing out, or have lost too much brilliance to perform with an
ensemble---not because they are going out of tune. The only other strings I can say that of is the Pyramids, and they cost a lot more.
I find (as does Necati, and also maker Mustafa Çopcuoglu Üsta whom I also supply) that the modern ouds, with their powerful lower range, sound more
evenly with PVF trebles. Because the PVF trebles outlast the wound strings through several changes, MusiCaravan sells them seperately. A set of
trebles (a pair of firsts and a pair of second courses) sells for $13.
By the way, the PVF trebles are a bit thinner than the nylons of equivalent size. We find for most ouds that 0.52 mm for the first course and 0.62 for
the second course to me ideal for the PVF. For nylon, that's too thin in my observation, giving a weak sound, and so the nylons are about 10%
heavier.
$5 will cover the shipping for just about any size order. If you want to order some, call me at 415 492-0728, or email me at hank@musicaravan.com
(rather than posting on this site).
Unfortunately, at this time MusiCaravan only makes strings for Turkish ouds, and not for Arabic. Eventually, as time permits, I hope to develop our
website and our inventory to include other strings and instruments. However, for the time being, MusiCaravan.com remains an underdeveloped project
that awaits more of my attention and energy than is available from me.
By the way, if there are any luthiers out there who use hide glue, we are manufacturing some incredible little brass gluepots, designed specifically
for luthiers. We even have an electric warmer as an optional accessory. It will hopefully be available from Luthiers Mercantile International in the
near future; however if you're really interested let me know and I can email you a photo and some info. (I don't know where it would be appropriate to
post on this site!)
Best,
Hank Levin
MUSICARAVANmavrothis - 10-25-2005 at 05:33 PM
Hi Hank,
That sounds great. I will probably try out your strings before long too. I have an oud on its way before long that I will be tuning EABead.
Take care,
mavrothis
pvf or nylon
Lazzaro - 10-28-2005 at 01:53 PM
Hallo mavrothis, please what kind of pyramid strings you use, the nylon carbon PVF or normal, rectifed nylon? PVF are brighter and thin. Thank you
Lazzaromavrothis - 10-28-2005 at 01:58 PM
Hi,
I use the PVF, I really love the sound. Check out this link to hear these strings combined with a nice oud/venue - Noor Saaz - just click on the webcast link and you can hear some solo oud at the beginning and at ~ 18:00 in the concert. These strings are
really bright and strong, but with low tension, it's really something.
mav
PVF and plain
Lazzaro - 10-28-2005 at 02:05 PM
I prefer PVF on my 58,5 scale egiptian oud ( very mellow) and plain on my Saadettin Sandi turkish oud, sorry for my englishGreg - 10-28-2005 at 03:09 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by mavrothis
Check out this link to hear these strings combined with a nice oud/venue - Noor Saaz [snip]
Beautiful sound and beautiful playing Mav. Thanks for sharing.
And isn't it a delight to see a live venue where the organisers go to the trouble of using decent production values in the acquisition of their
streaming videos? Too often we see a single camera with a static wide shot, together with audio from a camera-mounted microphone set somewhere in the
middle of the theatre.
Regards,
Greg
very nice
sydney - 10-29-2005 at 03:09 AM
Mavrothis,
I was touched by your nice playing. Even thought it was not long enough but it has prepaired the listeners for Monika's performance.
Thank you for sharing.
Congratulations from the heart.mavrothis - 10-29-2005 at 03:00 PM
Thanks for the nice words guys. This isn't traditional music in any sense, but it's very pretty in it's own way. I enjoy playing with this group
very much.
But I think you can really get a feel for how the strings allow the oud to "play through" them. I don't feel like they temper the sound of an oud as
much as they allow the release of the sound. But also I'm biased b/c I prefer this type of tone and resonance, while others like the earthier, more
solid type of sound that other strings can enhance, and feel that is the most natural.
