Arto
Oud Junkie
Posts: 120
Registered: 4-1-2006
Location: Finland
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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sound difference picking down and up
This is one (of many) beginner problems of mine: I think I can get a decent sound picking down, but pick up sounds thin, sharp and unpleasant. Sort of
"slapping" sound if you get what I mean. I suppose it has something to do with the angle and direction of the picking movement, and maybe also how I
grip the risha/mizrap. I´m using a softish Turkish pick (Yissi) and maybe a stiffer pick would be better for me, but I´m pretty sure to problem is
my technique and not the pick.
My background is mandolin and I like a heavy pick for that. I also often like to pick with a slight angle, downstroke in towards the face of the
instrument (rest stroke, if done "all the way") and upstroke a bit outwards. This doesn´t seem to work well on oud, and looking at Yurdal Tokcan at
YouTube, he seems to pick in a circular movement where the picking starts and ends farther away from the face, and the point of circle nearest the
face is where the strings are met (sorry, complicated, but hope you get what I mean).
The grip of the pick: it feels natural have the thumb along the mizrap, so the end of thumb is nearer the tip of mizrap than the forefinger. Is this
correct? If I grip this way, the thumb limits the pick´s flex when picking downward (makes it "more rigid") but the pick is more free to bend when
picking upward. Maybe this has something to do for sound difference?
Sorry for not being able to provide pictures, it would be easier to ask if I could do that.
thanks, Arto
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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Use your index finger to support the underside of the pick so you can control the amount of stiffness.
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billkilpatrick
Oud Junkie
Posts: 563
Registered: 1-3-2004
Location: italy
Member Is Offline
Mood: what?
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i found it useful to dig up into the strings on the up-stroke - as if the risha tip were a spoon - with a loose flick of the wrist.
a metronone will help develop rhythm and speed.
i also found it helpful to exit the botton end of the risha out between my index and middle fingers instead of trailing it along the length of my palm
and out under my little finger - the risha tip feels more like a conventional pick (to me, at least.)
what i can NOT do however - no matter how hard i try - is a nice, smooth ... sustained, mandolin-style cross picking on the oud (D-D-U.)
check out ronnie's video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59WNi75iiRM
... then disappear into a cave somewhere for about 10 years till you get it right.
courage - bill
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