christos - 8-23-2009 at 01:27 PM
hello,
I'm a beginner in oud (6 months) and i'm playing with a turkish oud with tuning E C# bead
I'm going to play rebetiko songs with a band
the thing is that I'm going to play with instruments (mainly bouzouki)that are tuned D A D and most of the songs are in key D
so I thought that it would more easy and logical to have a an open D string but more low
I had the idea to make a tuning like this : D E adgc
taking an arabic tuning DG adgc (I heard it is possible to find arabic tuning with a good tension for a turkish oud)
and find a E (dont know where...? have an idea?)
I have two questions :
what brand of string makes arabic tuning for turkish tension?
what do you think about my idea? do you think it is a strange idea?
do you know oud players playing rebetiko and if yes, what kind of tuning does they use?
thanks a lot
Sazi - 8-23-2009 at 09:02 PM
Hi Christos, I once played some Rebetiko, using La Bella strings E A B ead...sometimes, depending on the oud, the E can tune to D without being too
loose, good luck, S
nasrudinjeh - 8-24-2009 at 01:30 PM
Giasou, Christos -
Congratulations on connecting with a rebetiko band and with a vreally magical instrument. I've only been at it the oud myself for 11 months or so, but
if it's not presumprtupous, I'd encourage you to follow Sazi's good suggestsion about giving the EABEAD tuning a try for the musical pruposes you
describe. I'd also hazard the further suggestion that you check out Udi John Bilezikjian's very hospitable instruction book and record published by
Hal Leonard, which unlike some other sources, will help you to read for this tuning and also includes a very slick "chord" chart that might give you
some ideas for arpeggios and the like when you're playing with your fellow mangas. If I may, I'd also highly recommend to you the EABEAD MusiCaravan
string set sold on Mr. Hank Levin's website for $15 US. On my own Turkish oud, they have a beautiful sound and feel. (I must also add that Mr. Levin
is a helpful and highly principled person to do buysiness with),. Hope this help you out a bit, and that you will keep us posted on your oud
adventures to come.
Best wishes,
John
arsene - 8-28-2009 at 11:37 AM
Hi Christos,
I play lots of Greek music on the oud, including rembetiko, I usually use D A B E A D. Its quite a versatile tuning I've found, also (especially) for
songs in D. Hope this helps!
christos - 9-13-2009 at 02:59 AM
thanks guys for your suggestions but I think I will give a try to the arabic tuning
one shop in paris have D G a d g c kurschner strings , and the guy tells me that they have specially good tension for turkish oud
do you know these strings? what do you think about?
I wanted aquila strings but they are hard to find here
David.B - 9-13-2009 at 05:19 AM
Salut Christos,
Tu es allé chez Wolfgang au point d'accroche ?
I use to play with these strings, I use to play with the middle tension but I tried the high one because Wolfgang was running out of the middle one
pack... It was a bit tiring for my fingers but they sound very well : my favorite, and I think the best quality for the price (Pyramid bought one by
one seems to be a better brand but it costs more than double !).
If you want recordings with Kürschner strings tell me, I've got some.
A really good product, indeed, you can try with eyes closed, after it's a question of taste...
christos - 9-14-2009 at 03:16 AM
salut david
non je ny suis pas allé mais c est en effet lui que jai contacté
a propos tu est sur paris?
Ok I think I will give it a try while I'm looking forward for aquila strings thanks a lot
ericzang - 11-23-2011 at 02:18 AM
I wonder how the kurschner set worked for you, did you get the high tension version?
I am using the Aquila "normal" set labelled 9O. It is usable but I am feeling I'd like to try a little more tension.
fernandraynaud - 11-24-2011 at 12:59 AM
Christos, salut! a useful discovery I made: nylon classical guitars and ouds can use the same strings. If you take a relatively light nylon guitar
string set, and double it, you will be amazed to realize you have a usable oud set. On the guitar they are tuned differently and pulled twice as
tight, but the gauges and materials agree. Now all this talk of Turkish vs. Arabic sets is marketing. The reality is that you're just dealing with
plains of nylon or PVF, and silvered copper alloy over nylon filament for the wounds. It's all a matter of weights, thickness and length. Much more
than the my$tery properties of boutique sets.
Unless you have fear of math, look up Arto's Java string calculator. It's all there. Though you cannot use it accurately for wound strings, it handles
the plains very well, and you CAN interpolate to use it for wounds in a pinch, if you have some tension data from the manufacturer for similar
strings. You want the tension to be around 3 kg for most ouds. If you buy a couple of string sets, get an inexpensive micrometer and then start using
the calculator, you gradually will develop the full confidence that allows you to stroll into a common guitar shop and cry out: "Jorge! I ride at
dawn! a pair of Spanish guitar 0.032" nylons for the third course, a single fat 0.053" Spanish guitar wound Angry Bull Flamenco bass string, and a
cello bow for my balding horse!" Ole! ;-) J'deconne pas!
adamgood - 11-24-2011 at 01:27 PM
If the songs are Ussak or Saba makam from D or Rast from C, those are not fun positions to play in Turkish tuning. It's doable for a few songs but the
whole night is tiring. And probably lots of the songs are indeed in that key.
As long as you aren't playing any other music that requires Turkish tuning I would for sure recommend to re-tune down a whole step.
Please make sure to use the Kuschner or send an email to Pyramid strings to get the correct gauges. I may have a good list for gauges for Arabic
tuning on a Turkish ud if you need.
Adam