Vitor Maciel
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Registered: 5-23-2023
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Can a 52cm body length oud be tuned arabic C-C?
Hello, oud friends!
I have a Turkish and just bought an arabic Zeryab oud (model Iraqi 19). After months waiting and a lot of money and taxes payed it finally arrived. It
was sent from Lebanon to Brazil, where I live. It is a beautiful instrument, but I'm kinda frustrated with the buying because the strings that came on
the oud are loose on the instrument, just like when I experimented the arabic tuning on my Turkish oud (which was not meant to be tuned like that).
So, I understand the Turkish (52cm body length/19,5cm neck lenght) does not support the arabic running C-C. This arabic oud has exactly the same
measurements, and I thought it should be 58cm or 61cm body length, at least to support the arabic tunning C-C. I bought a Kurschner String set medium
sized to see if it will be adjusted on the tension, but I'm yet waiting for it to arrive from Turkey. So, friends, with these medium tension strings
will my oud be perfectly tunned and tensioned in C-C, or have I committed a mistake on buying this Iraqi model?
This is the link of the model (I bought the model 19-04 but they ended up sending me the 19-10 which is also made for arabic tuning, so that's not a
major problem in the end):
https://zeryaboud.com/product/iraqi-19-4/
[file]46073[/file] [file]46074[/file]
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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The relevant measurement in discussing tuning and strings is *scale length*. In this context "scale" means the vibrating length of the string, that is
the length from nut to bridge. Plenty of Arabic ouds have the same scale length as Turkish ouds even though design elements measure differently.
Fixed bridge ouds may have various body, bowl and neck measurements and have the same scale. These measurements affect playing comfort, tone, and
visual appearance. But what mostly determines string tension is scale. According to the web page I found by clicking on the link you provided the
scale length of your new oud is 58.5 cm. That is just fine for C-C Arabic tuning WITH THE RIGHT STRINGS. This oud is described at an Iraqi model. I
expected to see a floating bridge oud but this has a fixed bridge. So my guess was that Iraqi tuning was intended (F to F, fa to fa) and of course
they would be very loose if tuned for C-c.
I was wrong.
The video and specs make it clear that C-c is the intended tuning. So my guess that your oud was strung with strings intended for F-f was probably
wrong. All I can offer is a reminder that the tension Arabic C-c tuning exerts on a fixed bridge oud is optimally
not very much. The strings should not be very tight. When you say the strings are loose, how loose do you mean?
I haven't found anything on the zeryab site that indicates 19-04 or 19-10. There are several examples of 19 with no dash or second number. So I don't
know what that means other than 19 seems to be what they call their "Iraqi" model.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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I just had a look at your photos. It appears that one of your ouds is a floating bridge model. That must be your new Zeryab. That changes everything
and makes some of my previous reply wide of the mark. The scale length of floating bridge ouds is often shorter than 58.5 and the intended tuning is
F-f. No wonder the strings are loose.
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Vitor Maciel
Oud Admirer
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Registered: 5-23-2023
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Hello, Jody Stecher. Thanks for sharing your time and views!
Indeed, it is a floating bridge oud. On the website, you can see that each model Iraqi 19 has many sub level models which are shown on the last number
of the website link:
https://zeryaboud.com/product/iraqi-19-4/
The most odd thing is that, with the strings that came on it, the higher C is perfectly tensioned, but all the others are loose, sounding like a toy
instrument.
A friend who plays the oud told me that the strings the come on a new instrument are quite often made to be changed immediately, because they're not
the proper ones. As you mentioned, I believe - and that's my greater expectation - that changing them the oud will come to a perfect tensed string
condition to be played on C-C.
I bought these from turkey and still am waiting to arrive:
https://www.ethnicmusical.com/shop/arabic-oud-strings-medium-tension...
These are the specs:
Kurschner Arabic Oud Strings – Medium Tension
The famous strings by Kürschner are world-famous for tone quality, durability, and precision. This set is for Arabic Oud. It features high-quality
premium carbon strings (PVF).
Tension: Medium (Arab 2)
Tuning: C – C / Do Do
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coolsciguy
Oud Junkie
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Location: Washington D.C.
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Hi Vitor,
I have a Zeryab oud very similar to yours (Iraqi model 19, floating bridge, 58.5 scale length) and it sounds superb with Kurschner Cc medium tension
strings.
As to why your current strings are not working for you, I suspect they were intended for Ff tuning (as Jody pointed out). The evidence for this is
that on your oud, your bottom 3 courses are all nylon (ff, cc, gg) typical with Ff designed strings. In Cc tuning, the bottom two strings are nylon
(cc and gg) and rest are wound. Also your top string is doubled which rarely is the case for Cc tuning (the low C is too thick for double strings).
What you can try is to tune the second course (from bottom) to cc and see if it sounds ok to you. This will confirm our suspicions.
Good luck!
-- Amir
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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The photos have changed from the original post. I had not seen the front of the two ouds when I made my replies. Amir has described the situation
accurately I think. These strings are intended for F-f tuning.
Try tuning your oud accordingly for the time being until your new strings arrive from Turkey. The oud is likely to sound a lot better.
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Vitor Maciel
Oud Admirer
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Registered: 5-23-2023
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Thanks, Amir and Jody!
I changed the pictures to make it easier for you to inspect visually, my friends.
Thank you very much. You just allowed me to keep my hopefulness alive. I also wasn't acquainted about the strings relation Amir pointed out for the
amount of courses on nylon and wound. Great to know that. I can rest better now.
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