Nazarian
Oud Admirer
Posts: 2
Registered: 8-11-2009
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tuning and strings
Hi, i just got an oud and it came with 10 strings, and 12 pegs, how should i tune it?
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Nazarian
Oud Admirer
Posts: 2
Registered: 8-11-2009
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it came to me like this: http://es.geocities.com/jazzchiss/anuncio_oud.html
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francis
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 4-8-2008
Location: Saintes , France
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Hello Nazarian.
Arabic tuning with 10 strings is generally ( from bass to treble ):
FF AA DD gg cc ( FAFA LALA RERE solsol dodo )
You often add a single bass string : C ( DO )
You find also ( with 12 strings ) : FF AA DD gg cc + ff ( two high f and no bass ).
I hope it can help you.
You seem to be new on this great forum, so welcome, on which you can find many threads about tuning and sets of strings and more and more.......
Francis
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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Hi, Nazarian,
The short answer is (bass to treble): FF, AA, dd, gg, cc. I assume it's an Arabic oud with a string length (scale) 60-62 cm.
But welcome to hell. No other instrument has as confused a situation. It's not only that there are dozens of tunings, and a Turkish and Arabic tuning
and string length, plus strangely labeled commercial string sets, plus Turkish notation is transposed a 4th, plus everybody has a different
preference, different dogma, and finally the oud vendors generally supply cheap strings and in sometimes totally absurd sets.
Your bridge looks like it's got room for 11 or 12 strings, and you have 12 pegs. That's normal. The nut however seems notched for 10, they are spread
out OK. That's a perfectly valid Arabic stringing, though many people now prefer 11 strings, having that additional (usually C) bass string, or even a
(usually CC) bass pair, making 12.
This oud is 30 years old, it's been happy, and there's a lot to be said for NOT adding strings to it now. If you must have 11 or 12 strings, you have
space at the high end of the bridge, but not on the nut. You likely have to replace or at least make new notches in the nut, spread the strings out
properly.
As, is, you can best tune it as both Francis and I said, and that's a totally kosher Arabic oud.
But before you tune, be careful. You just about have to mike the strings if you don't have a "feel". I can't be sure looking at the photo, though the
thin strings look thin enough. If the thinnest string pair is something like 0.020"-0.025" (0.5-0.6mm), it's fine to tune that to a c (do), and the
others g,d,A,F. But if they are say 0.028" (0.7 mm) or more, and assuming the nut to bridge string length (the "scale") is something like 60-62 cm,
you would really strain the oud to tune that string to Do. My oud came with 5 courses, and I wrongly assumed the high strings would be Do (and the
rest downward g,d,A,F). It's a good thing I noticed. It sounded great, but the wound strings were already breaking windings. They had given me the
bottom 5 courses, with g (Sol) the highest note! Don't believe all the talk about "whatever you prefer", a Do at 523 Hz on a nylon string 62 cm long
probably shouldn't exceed 0.65mm in thickness, or you are likely getting into more tension than most traditionally made ouds can handle.
I'm just learning and stand to be corrected if anyone knows better.
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