Marcus - 11-4-2016 at 12:18 AM
Hi fellow Oudies
,
I know it is not a oud-question, but eventually someone out there can help me.
I just bought a blacksea-kemence on Ebay, looks like a good beginner instrument.
I searched the net for tunings but couldt find any.
Does someone know common kemence-tunings?
As I dont want to ruin the instrument or break the strings on the first try, I need to know what I do;-)
Thanks in advance + happy ouding,
Marcus
dario - 11-4-2016 at 06:41 AM
Hi Marcus,
According to a Greek page I found:
There's no absolute tuning as the black-sea fiddle usually plays solo or with drums. The tuning is in fourths, so you tune the high-pitched string
(called the zil, on the right as you look at the front of the instrument), then the middle (called the mesaion) a fourth lower and the left (called
kaba) a fourth lower than that. Start with G for the zil, then if the strings feel loose try raising everything by a semitone or even a tone.
Here's a tuning video using G for the zil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ha8Y8vwtg
Happy playing!
Marcus - 11-7-2016 at 06:19 AM
Hi dario,
thank you very much for your advise.
I think i`ll try G for the zil and than see if the tension is ok.
Cheers,
Marcus