frank - 12-11-2003 at 10:51 AM
Hello everyone,
I'm a new member. I've just bought a fairly inexpensive oud form Raafat at Egyptian lines.Can someone please confirm that the tuning should
be (from low to high) DGADGC.At the moment it appears to be DF#BC#GA. I have Mutlu Torun's tutor and would like to learn from this.Is it possible
to change the string gauges on this oud to tune to the turkish tuning F#BEADG (Western :C#F#BEAD)? or should I buy a Turkish oud as well!
Incidentally I play a lute back hurdy-gurdy If anyone would like some photos of this remarkable instrument,let me know.
TruePharaoh21 - 12-12-2003 at 10:14 AM
Hey Frank... welcome to the forum!
DGADGC is a common tuning of the oud. Personally, I use CFADGC, as it gives me a wider range to work in. Afif Taian, who you may have seen videos of
on this site or on his site (http://www.afiftaian.tk), also tunes to CFADGC.
I know of others who tune to EADGC (without the bass string). Farid el-Atrache tuned his oud to this. It all depends on what you feel comfortable
with.
There is an interesting post going on in the Oud Home Page forum that deals with whether or not Arabic music can be played on a Turkish oud, and vice
versa. Rather than taking a side, I'll post the link here for you to decide:
Click here for the post
I hope this helps a little. You can tune it to Turkish, but will it sound the same? That's a question you have to ask yourself after trying it
out. To each his own (tuning 
).
There are many more knowledgeable people in this area on this forum about this than I. It's just a matter of time until you get a definitive
answer.
We hope to see you post more in the future!
TP21
samzayed - 12-12-2003 at 03:49 PM
I'd be very careful tuning an arabic oud (I am assuming) to the turkish tuning. That increases the tension against the soundbaord, and the oud
may not handle that, resulting in damage to the oud
norumba - 12-16-2003 at 05:13 PM
i keep mine ( a Turkish) at DABEAD whi i like a lot. this isa mionor third down form the Bahsir tuning, but its very friendly with a lot of other
instrumets...