Mike's Oud Forums

famous oud tunings

pinna123 - 11-30-2012 at 05:33 AM

it seems like no-one talks about what tuning famous oud players play? well let's see if you know about it...could you tell me the favourite oud tunings of: Dhafer Youssef, Taiseer Elias, Anouar Brahem? thanks

Brian Prunka - 11-30-2012 at 05:59 AM

I believe Anouar Brahem uses FAdgc'f' or GAdgc'f'.
Simon Shaheen uses CFAdgc'. I think Taseer uses the same tuning but I'm not sure.

juju - 11-30-2012 at 08:37 AM

Hi,
Hamza el Din uses a 12 strings tuning (from bass to treble) : DGADgc
Anouar Brahem uses a 12 strings tuning : FADgcf
Dhafer Youssef uses a 13 strings tuning : CFADgcf

Best,

Juju

baseelo - 11-30-2012 at 12:28 PM

I have a naive question.

Why don't most people use the follwoing tuning: BEAdgc
Which makes the intervals equal between all strings?

Jody Stecher - 11-30-2012 at 01:20 PM

The resonance is different. The bass strings color the timbre of the trebles. Even if the bass courses are never plucked the sound of the higher courses will be affected by how the bass is tuned. Saba or Bayati just wouldn't sound the same without the FF. And Rast loses color when the bottom string is B instead of C.

The tuning you give is the modern Turkish tuning, but a step lower. The voice of the Turkish oud is such that fourths all the way can work out nicely in that context.
Quote: Originally posted by baseelo  
I have a naive question.

Why don't most people use the follwoing tuning: BEAdgc
Which makes the intervals equal between all strings?

SamirCanada - 11-30-2012 at 04:02 PM

Adgc is are the standard melody strings on oud. Tuning on base strings are adjusted depending on the player's preference and for ease and tonality when doing Qarrar. "response"

fernandraynaud - 11-30-2012 at 07:34 PM

Some people do tune that way, but it's mostly a Western thing. Personally I like CEEAADDggcc, because of the equal intervals. But Jody is right, the bass strings do interact sympathetically with the trebles, it's what gives the oud such a fat sound, and neither B nor E are part of common maqamat. That makes the C bass a much much better choice. Then, in reality little melodic playing is done on the 5th course, so it's easy to adjust to FF instead of EE, and the open FF sounds much better.

You can experiment, nothing prevents you from trying whatever you like, just don't pull the strings up too tight. On an Arabic oud you can tune the single bass string down to a B, or C or even pull it up to a D because it's generally a 0.039" to 0.041", which is rather thin. The fifth course can be tuned EE or FF, as most sets are designed for FF by default. But pulling it up to GG requires thinner strings on that course.

baseelo - 11-30-2012 at 09:40 PM

Thank you Samir, Jody and Fernand for your responses.

This makes a lot of sense.

I'm so happy with this wonderful forum.

Luttgutt - 12-1-2012 at 03:27 AM

Well I use BEADgcf and I am very happy with it.
But as Fernand says, it is a "western" thing.. as I ONLY play with europian musicians, the B and E are perfict to have!

I agree that the general "timber" becomes "weeker" and sloppier if you tune DOWN the C and F to B and E.

But to my experiance, it is NOT because "the base strings would colour the treble corresponding ones" as it is suggested here,
but simply because the strings become too sloppy when tuned down!
(Just a litle parallelle: Guitars do not loose timber when one changes tuning! And guitar players change the tuning a lot!)

Now that I found the appropriate strings for B and E (I do NOT use the C and F anymore!), the timber is actually inforced by those strings, and my ouds (all of them) have become much lowder and richer.

Play well (now it is -5 degrees outside.. and thus a big pleasur to stay and play inside :-))

Jody Stecher - 12-1-2012 at 09:00 AM

The overtones of the bass strings on any string instrument always affect the sound of the treble strings. I did not say however that they affected the *corresponding* higher notes. Bass strings tuned to B and E will also give color to higher pitches, but it will be to different pitches than than pitches that C and F will. Same for D and F or D and G or C and G or whatever. This is basic physics. Anyone who doubts it, just gently lay your left hand on the the two bass courses so they don't vibrate and sound the open higher courses with your other hand. Listen to the timbre, to the tone color. Now release the bass string and play the trebles again. They will be different. Now retune the bass strings so they are nicely in tune to some other pitch. Play your trebles again. The tone is different. Now put your basses out-of-tune and play your trebles, making sure that each treble string is still perfectly in tune. They will sound horrible.

As for guitar tunings, all the trebles don't *lose* their timbre with lowered bass string tunings, but some do and some gain. Lower a guitar's bass string from E to D and play an open high E string. It will sound different than before, a little "thinner". Play a D on the third fret of the B string and it will sound a little "thicker" than when the bass was at E. Play an A on the fifth fret of the high E string and it will be remarkably fuller than when the bass was at E. That's because of the harmonics of the retuned bass.