pinna123
Oud Admirer
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famous oud tunings
it seems like no-one talks about what tuning famous oud players play? well let's see if you know about it...could you tell me the favourite oud
tunings of: Dhafer Youssef, Taiseer Elias, Anouar Brahem? thanks
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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I believe Anouar Brahem uses FAdgc'f' or GAdgc'f'.
Simon Shaheen uses CFAdgc'. I think Taseer uses the same tuning but I'm not sure.
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juju
Oud Junkie
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Hi,
Hamza el Din uses a 12 strings tuning (from bass to treble) : DGADgc
Anouar Brahem uses a 12 strings tuning : FADgcf
Dhafer Youssef uses a 13 strings tuning : CFADgcf
Best,
Juju
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baseelo
Oud Addict
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I have a naive question.
Why don't most people use the follwoing tuning: BEAdgc
Which makes the intervals equal between all strings?
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Jody Stecher
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The resonance is different. The bass strings color the timbre of the trebles. Even if the bass courses are never plucked the sound of the higher
courses will be affected by how the bass is tuned. Saba or Bayati just wouldn't sound the same without the FF. And Rast loses color when the bottom
string is B instead of C.
The tuning you give is the modern Turkish tuning, but a step lower. The voice of the Turkish oud is such that fourths all the way can work out nicely
in that context.
Quote: Originally posted by baseelo  | I have a naive question.
Why don't most people use the follwoing tuning: BEAdgc
Which makes the intervals equal between all strings? |
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SamirCanada
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Adgc is are the standard melody strings on oud. Tuning on base strings are adjusted depending on the player's preference and for ease and tonality
when doing Qarrar. "response"
@samiroud Instagram
samiroudmaker@gmail.com
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fernandraynaud
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Some people do tune that way, but it's mostly a Western thing. Personally I like CEEAADDggcc, because of the equal intervals. But Jody is right, the
bass strings do interact sympathetically with the trebles, it's what gives the oud such a fat sound, and neither B nor E are part of common maqamat.
That makes the C bass a much much better choice. Then, in reality little melodic playing is done on the 5th course, so it's easy to adjust to FF
instead of EE, and the open FF sounds much better.
You can experiment, nothing prevents you from trying whatever you like, just don't pull the strings up too tight. On an Arabic oud you can tune the
single bass string down to a B, or C or even pull it up to a D because it's generally a 0.039" to 0.041", which is rather thin. The fifth course can
be tuned EE or FF, as most sets are designed for FF by default. But pulling it up to GG requires thinner strings on that course.
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baseelo
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Thank you Samir, Jody and Fernand for your responses.
This makes a lot of sense.
I'm so happy with this wonderful forum.
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Luttgutt
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Well I use BEADgcf and I am very happy with it.
But as Fernand says, it is a "western" thing.. as I ONLY play with europian musicians, the B and E are perfict to have!
I agree that the general "timber" becomes "weeker" and sloppier if you tune DOWN the C and F to B and E.
But to my experiance, it is NOT because "the base strings would colour the treble corresponding ones" as it is suggested here,
but simply because the strings become too sloppy when tuned down!
(Just a litle parallelle: Guitars do not loose timber when one changes tuning! And guitar players change the tuning a lot!)
Now that I found the appropriate strings for B and E (I do NOT use the C and F anymore!), the timber is actually inforced by those strings, and my
ouds (all of them) have become much lowder and richer.
Play well (now it is -5 degrees outside.. and thus a big pleasur to stay and play inside :-))
The wood might be dead, but the oud is alive.
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Jody Stecher
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The overtones of the bass strings on any string instrument always affect the sound of the treble strings. I did not say however that they affected
the *corresponding* higher notes. Bass strings tuned to B and E will also give color to higher pitches, but it will be to different pitches than than
pitches that C and F will. Same for D and F or D and G or C and G or whatever. This is basic physics. Anyone who doubts it, just gently lay your left
hand on the the two bass courses so they don't vibrate and sound the open higher courses with your other hand. Listen to the timbre, to the tone
color. Now release the bass string and play the trebles again. They will be different. Now retune the bass strings so they are nicely in tune to some
other pitch. Play your trebles again. The tone is different. Now put your basses out-of-tune and play your trebles, making sure that each treble
string is still perfectly in tune. They will sound horrible.
As for guitar tunings, all the trebles don't *lose* their timbre with lowered bass string tunings, but some do and some gain. Lower a guitar's bass
string from E to D and play an open high E string. It will sound different than before, a little "thinner". Play a D on the third fret of the B
string and it will sound a little "thicker" than when the bass was at E. Play an A on the fifth fret of the high E string and it will be remarkably
fuller than when the bass was at E. That's because of the harmonics of the retuned bass.
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