Raabiah - 7-22-2008 at 07:37 PM
does any1 in here own one???? they sound soooooo pure it almost kills me
hahaha
jaron - 7-22-2008 at 10:15 PM
I've played a bit of Pipa in my day. The playing technique is quite different- you wear finger picks and use a multi-finger tremolo. From a cultural
point of view, the Chinese instrument that corresponds to the oud is the gu-chin. It is the poet's instrument, introspective, profound, with an
ancient literature. The Pipa is bright and extroverted, but not quite as much so as a cumbus.
Cooper - 7-23-2008 at 05:52 AM
Gu qin and the oud? You know, I have never thought about that! That is a cool comparison!
Here is a good Chinese music forum that is in English:
http://starvoid.proboards30.com/index.cgi
It has a forum on the Pipa. I love this instrument too, but I am more of a gu zheng kind of guy when it comes to Chinese music.
I personally compare the sound of the pipa to the Persian Tar.
DanielH - 7-24-2008 at 05:56 AM
There is a Chinese restaurant in a nearby shopping mall that has a real pipa hanging on the wall as "decoration"... I swear I'm gonna walk out with
it someday... 
Reid - 7-24-2008 at 05:48 PM
Have you seen the band incubus use it? It's pretty cool to see it used in the mainstream 
http://youtube.com/watch?v=W5CTCH2bQ7E&feature=related
Tkoind - 7-27-2008 at 09:56 PM
I think the Ruan is also a good candidate to compare to Oud. The Zhong Ruan has a similar warm gentle sound as a good Oud. And it can be played like
Pipa and is often a second instrument for Pipa players. Check one out if you can. Lovely instrument and very under exposed outside China.