Lintfree
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 2-9-2007
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Tuning discovery
I have this new Sandii oud that I've been playing in and I took it out of the case and it sounded different, better, much better. The hollowness was
gone. I played it for about an hour and realized that it had slipped down in pitch one half step. I tuned it up to its regular tuning; EABEAD.
Tighter but not better.(And actually not as loud or resonant). So I tuned it back down. That's where it's going to stay; Eflat, Aflat, Bflat,
etc. And it's easier to play because the string tension is less.
Sabicas, the great solo flamenco guitarist used to tune his Ramirez up a whole step and lower the action. (Not a good idea for ouds) Andres Segovia
used to play solo concerts on his Hauser tuned down a half step because the instrument was very delicate and he liked the sound.
I figure that some ouds have an ideal tension and tuning where they sound best and it may not be A440, or A442. It may even be A438 or lower.
So it stands to reason that it's better to sound good than not so good.
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Jason
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I agree. Many people enjoy the sound of European stringed instruments tuned to 'Baroque' pitch, which is lower than the standard A440 we use today.
I think it's definitely possible great oudists of old also had a different concept of where 'A' lies.
The only problem with using altered tunings is when you play with an ensemble or recording hehe
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Jameel
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Most of the old players (Sunbati, Farid....) tuned their oud to A415, or in B (same diff, 1/2 step down). I keep my oud tuned in B, and it sounds much
better, although I have it tuned in C at the moment since I'm doing some string trials. I've found that almost all ouds sound better tuned to A415.
Better sustain, sweeter, more projection, easier to play, less "wah", everything you mentioned. I guess a tighter string is assumed to be louder and
more punchy. I've found them to be more annoying, more shrill, harder to play, with a quick decay. I don't know much about physics, but perhaps the
tighter string comes to rest much quicker than a looser one. I'm thinking here about a jumprope. Give it a shake and it will vibrate a lot, but pull
it taught and it will quit moving almost immediately.
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JT
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Hey Guys,
This is how most Arabic musicians in the Egypt tune their instruments, 1/2-1 tone lower. Famous Egyptian Singer Oum Kalsoum's Orchestra tuned down a
minor 3rd which is considerably lower than 440hz, a C played at 440hz becomes an A. The instrument seems to resonate better and have a more Arabic
sound at a tone lower. The 440hz tuning is used more when playing with musicians from a western background or more western instruments where there is
not much flexibility in tuning.
When it is tuned lower, we call it TAB'A SOUGAIYARAH (Small layer or Low tone).
Cheers,
JT
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jdowning
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I have the same experience with lutes - copies of instruments that originally would have been strung with gut. Gut strings cannot be raised as high in
tension as modern nylon strings without frequent breakage. So, although I am currently using Pyramid nylon strings (extreme humidity changes here
would cause problems with gut strings) - my lutes are tuned as if they were strung with gut i.e. down a full tone step with string tensions ranging
from 2.5kg up to 3.5 kg for the top string.
The response and projection at the lower pitch is more satisfactory to my ear than a higher pitch tuning.
Perhaps this is the reason why ouds based on traditional design criteria can also sound better at lower pitch levels - because they were originally
designed for gut stringing?
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carpenter
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One man's non-oud observations - I've noticed Norwegian Hardanger fiddles tuned any old way, but they sound great; tuned to where they 'ring.' I think
it comes from a solo tradition, not needing a common '440 A' or whatever. Non-ensemble playing shouldn't need much of a tuning standard, other than
self-tuning. Sounds good to you? Great!
I've used gut strings on other instruments, and a lower (1/2 - 1 step) tuning seems to yield improved results. Funny old world ...
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jdowning
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Of course, A440 as an international standard is modern (established in 1939) and arbitrary anyway.
For an interesting and comprehensive analysis of historical pitches in Europe from the 16th to 19th C see the chapter 'The History of Musical Pitch in
Europe' included as an addition by the translator in "On the Sensations of Tone" by Hermann Helmholz, Dover Publications.
Pitches ranged from A370 to A567 dependent upon a number of factors regional preferences, instrument or voice, performance indoors/outdoors etc. Take
your pick!
Each instrument has its own optimum pitch that gives best results (some much better than others!). I guess the problem for a luthier today is to be
able to build, consistently, instruments that responds best at A440?
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