Oscarfalcini
Oud Admirer
Posts: 3
Registered: 1-16-2020
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Oud Soundboard resonance idea/question
Hello this is my first post on this forum... but ive been lurking around for many years as a reader. I’m happy to finally participate abit more
I have a nice Mustafa Copcuoglu Ud that Iam very happy with. I have kept it at Turkish tuning for the most, playing mostly in the kizney transp.
System ( dugah on B etc). However I just got the idea to sing against the soundboard to see where it resonated, and to my surprise it was on G that it
had the most sympathetic vibration. Does any one else have any experience with this thing? So basically I figure the Ud would sound better on
“Arab†level tuning, since then G would be perfect fourth or fifth mostly (Neva) . Instead Of being minor third or perfect fourth
(chargah)... feels like harmonic wise it would serve the whole instrument better being on “Arab†rather than “Turk†level.
I currently have a pyramid custom lute set on for Turk level and it sounds very nice on both tunings, though it’s really nice to have that Neva
resonance... I’m gonna put on Arab level ones and see what result it gives.
Do any of you have any ideas regarding this, have you tried the same thing to see where your soundboard resonates ? Do you think it was done
deliberately, tuned to G to fit better on Arab level ? Since it is a Turkish instrument I was surprised to discover this...
Best!
Oscar
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Guitarune
Oud Lover
Posts: 22
Registered: 8-15-2021
Location: Norway
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I'm not sure that having the body resonance hitting an exact this or that note is necessarily beneficial. It may also more easily result in feedback
when being amplified.
My favourite and most powerful guitar has a body resonance between G# and A. The next resonance is on the F above.
The lowest resonance on my new, first and only oud is around 155 Hz and the next one around 243 Hz. It has a flat back though, so I'm guessing full
depth ouds will have deeper resonances.
As an audio engineer I always measure resonances in acoustic instruments, as I'd likely need to attenuate those frequencies as gain is raised 
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Oscarfalcini
Oud Admirer
Posts: 3
Registered: 1-16-2020
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Yeah that’s true with the feedback, but I do think, and it seems beneficial for the overall harmonic aspect of the oud to have the body
resonate at a certain “central†pitches... I know that some luthiers spend a great deal of work in tuning the soundboard.
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Guitarune
Oud Lover
Posts: 22
Registered: 8-15-2021
Location: Norway
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Yeah, they definitely tune and listen to those soundboards. The good luthiers, that is. And they aim for pitches, but I don't think they aim for
certain notes, but rather in between notes. A note hitting an exact resonance will be amplified initially, but tends to die quickly.
Some knowledgeable people in here: https://www.classicalguitardelcamp.com/viewforum.php?f=11
Not an oud forum, but the same principles apply
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dusepo
Oud Junkie
Posts: 107
Registered: 2-6-2021
Location: London, Britain
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Mood: Dastgah-e Chahargah ?????? ???????
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You (and the other poster above) are correct that soundboards are 'tuned' by the maker. The traditional way is through tap tuning. I can't speak to
how much time they put into this with factory-made ouds, but I have used spectral analysis software on my ouds and adjusted the bracing and other
things to achieve a certain fundamental frequency and set of overtones to best compliment certain styles of playing and musical cultures.
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Kelly
Oud Junkie
Posts: 285
Registered: 1-30-2007
Location: Manchester, UK
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Mood: No Mood
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I’d agree also with Jo here. Sound boards (age) and the whole ‘box ‘ eg bowl sound holes etc all contribute to the overall
resonance and ultimately the sound projected by the oud ‘ (fiddle ,guitar, mandolin, harp , piano ......) what that frequency is depends on the
sound you want. Too flat is dull, too resonant in the wrong frequencies can result in echo or ‘wolf’ tones. It’s a fine balance.
Experiment and repeatability= time, sweat and tears! I’m just learning just wish I’d started earlier
Kelly
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