Mike's Oud Forums

Is this a...MANDOLIN playing in a Turkish song?

niceiraqi1 - 3-21-2012 at 07:42 AM

Hello everyone in this excellent forum,
The song is 'Yuh Yuh', written by Mahzuni and performed here by Ibrahim Tatlises.

I am a beginner to Turkish music but to my limited knowledge this appears to be a Baglama-driven song. However there is a faint oodling in the background that seems to resemble a...mandolin for me, or a ukuele.

it is just improv on the baglama? the sound quality seems to lack that sitar-like resonance characteristic of it. to me it sounds like a mandolin.

Can anyone help me realize what this instrument is? it is most audible at 1:20 and 2:06

Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cUbhDPorzI

Much thanks!

maran - 3-21-2012 at 08:57 AM

this is most likely part of the baglama and selpe grubu of erol parlak mentioned in the personnel at 2:47 of your clip.

here is erol parlak in another video:

http://youtu.be/7RjwLA_0mu4

it could be a cura saz (miniature size baglama), but not necessarily. the lack of sitar-like resonance comes from the selpe technique you see demonstrated in the parlak video

Jack_Campin - 3-21-2012 at 04:59 PM

Electronic keyboard, maybe?

adamgood - 3-21-2012 at 05:34 PM

I hear it too, does sound an awful lot like a mandolin back there in the mix. Wouldn't be too surprising, it was a very common instrument in Turkey for a bit in school systems. I don't know if it still is taught like that...like recorder is in grade schools in the US.

Sasha - 3-21-2012 at 06:04 PM

Another vote for cura saz.

em.20 - 3-22-2012 at 02:19 AM

It sounds mostly like a cura saz but can also be a balta saz or kopuz.

Giorgioud - 3-22-2012 at 12:30 PM

I can tell you that it's definetly NOT a mandolin, as the sound's too low in the register and too loose (denoting a low action which the mandolin hasn't got). It sounds like a baglama saz to me, played on the bottom string right up the neck. The notes played in the 1.20 and 2.06 bits are C and A bb, which could prove this theory, as I think the bottom strings on the baglama saz are tuned in C (which on the stave in Western notation is the third space from the bottom).....unless you're talking about a completely different thing, in which case I'm totally wrong.....

Franck - 3-23-2012 at 03:54 AM

cura

Peyman - 3-24-2012 at 07:54 AM

It's "double tapping the neck" technique in selpe. It's probably a baglama cura.

niceiraqi1 - 3-24-2012 at 08:27 PM

Thank you very much for your excellent replies, and thank you maran for introducing me to Erol Parlak; the link you put is amazing.