nard
Oud Lover
Posts: 21
Registered: 7-20-2013
Location: Oakland, CA
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Question about Turunz ouds
Hello,
Does anyone know if Turunz oud with Arabic bracing can withstand F-ff tuning?
Thank you
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coolsciguy
Oud Junkie
Posts: 249
Registered: 5-14-2020
Location: Washington D.C.
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Hi,
Not sure about Turunz ouds but if total pressure from current strings are comparable with pressure from Ff strings you have in mind, I don’t see an
issue coming up. Others can correct me if I am mistaken.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: Stringish
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Tension is tension. Any oud can withstand any tuning if the strings are calibrated correctly (which isn't to say it will sound good).
String tension operates by a formula, where you have (very simplified) tension on one side, and pitch and mass on the other. As pitch or mass goes up
tension goes up.
So if you want to raise pitch without raising tension, then you have to lower the mass (i.e., use lighter strings) by an appropriate amount. If you
want to lower tension without changing strings, you have to lower the pitch. Etc.
If you're comparing different ouds, then we need another variable in the equation: Vibrating String Length, aka Scale. This is the length of the
string that produces the sound when you play, i.e., the length from bridge to nut.
This goes on the same side as pitch and mass: if it goes up, tension goes up, if it goes down, tension goes down.
The idea that some ouds can't "handle" F-f' tuning comes from a couple of common scenarios:
a) many F-f' sets are designed for the higher tension of a floating bridge oud, so are unsuitable for fixed bridge ouds
b) many ouds intended for F-f' tuning are shorter scale (57-59cm); people put strings for those sets on a fixed bridge oud with a longer scale
(61-63cm) and find the tension very high (longer scale length = higher tension)
c) some people naively take a random set of strings not intended for F-f' tuning and just tune it up much higher than intended (so higher pitch =
higher tension)
If you calculate a custom string set to have the same overall tension as your current set, it should be fine.
I would probably aim for an average tension of 3 to 3.4 Kg with no individual string over 3.7 Kg or under 2.8 Kg.
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Jaffa Road
Oud Maniac
Posts: 73
Registered: 1-30-2011
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Very useful info Brain, what tool are you using to calculate all the variables of scale, mass, pitch, to arrive at tension. Or do you just know the
formulars and plug in the numbers?
I would imagine that someone good at excel and equations could easily build an excel sheet for this or an on line calculator
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