Is it crucial to string my Oud such that it's tuned to the bowl? (Helmholtz thingy-majiger)
Good evening esteemed Oud community
I'm writing you because I'm having a mini quandry : After long exhaustive experimentation I (had) settled on stringing by my 60cm Sukar half a step
down --
(i.e. bb gbgb dbdb AbAb GbGb(<->EE) Db(<->B)) --
I did this because I found that - tuned to "standard" Arabic tuning, my treble nylguts - (my preferred strings) - sounded "pingy" (i e. bright,
shrill) at the desired tension sweet-spot. However, half a step down I found I could use gauges that have my desired tension sweet-spot, but in this
case the extra thickness eliminated the pingy-ness whilst also lending the trebles more body and fullness (not dull or stiff and good response also)
(NNG .73mm at gbgb is hands down the best 2nd course I've tried to date on this Oud)
Great, right?
But then as I've been using this configuration, I've been wondering - is something else missing? (I seemed to recall the days when I was tuned
standard that the instrument "sang" more - as a whole, that is - sympathetically).
At this point I can't be sure if it was just in my head..
So, at this point I'm feeling a bit stalled out on progress stringing my oud (I've been experimenting with all sorts of brands, gauges, materials etc
and it felt like i was getting close to the sound I'm looking for.. but now this mental roadblock:p)
I miiight just go order a whole other set of - custom - strings in standard tuning (cc gg DD AA GG/FF C/D) to find out ..(custom, cuz .. well my days
of dealing with tensions of pre-composed sets are over I think ... But it's gonna
be a bit pricey, and a bit time-consuming to hook that up.. and in the end its a whole other instrument than the one I'm falling in love with anyway -
on account of different gauges - so I was hoping to get some outside perspectives first, before I do that.. hear from people's experience in such
matters)
I've recently come to the conclusion - by singing into my bowl with the strings damped - that , though I'm no expert, I think it's tuned to A (same
octave as the 4th course would be in standard)
*(When I sang an A or a E (5th from A, below A though) the bowl vibrated very much noticeably more than at other pitches)
So now I'm wondering : If I continue developing my stringing based on half-step down - investing in expensive gut trebles and maybe fancy basses , as
I pretty much had the finger on the trigger to do - will I be really short-changing myself on some awesome extra resonance?
Anybody with experience on this?
I notice when I fret a "bowl note" that it sings, still..
Will I get that much more "singing" all the time - sympathetically - if the open strings are tuned to the bowl?
Is it maybe ok to have the sympathetic resonance of my strings be different than the bowl. I.e. to spread out the resonance over a greater degree of
pitches?? (Though, if so, I ask myself - why would they go through the trouble of tuning the bowl specifically to a note that's expected to be the
same as an open string...?)
I'm also wondering : Maybe I could find a luthier or somebody who could perhaps craft some rosettes for some/all of the - (now open/rosette-less) -
soundholes on the instrument, which - (could it be possible??) - lower the pitch of the bowl half a step?
Or.. I wonder if having a soundhole installed on the back ribs - on the portion closest my ear when playing - would be an option (always loved that
feature anyway, on instruments that have it - nice to hear myself play better)
Any thoughts?
Thank you for reading (!!) , if you made it this far
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