Oud987 - 10-10-2008 at 01:32 PM
Question about tuning:
Is there such a thing as "Egyptian" tuning?
or does that fall under "Arabic" tuning since (Modern) Egypt is Arabic in culture?
I'm thinking of producing an album widely based on Egyptian scales and tuning. Something that sounds "ancient" and mysterious....
Any suggestions? 
Jassim - 10-10-2008 at 02:00 PM
yes
there are no egyption tuning for the oud
there are three tuning for the oud
arabic tuning : DO SOL RE LA ME DO
turkish tuning : RE LA MI SI FA# DO#
iraqi tuning : FA DO SOL RE LA FA
Oud987 - 10-12-2008 at 08:06 AM
Thank you!
Hatem_Afandi - 10-12-2008 at 08:19 AM
Actually, there is an Egyptian tuning;
It is:
F
A
D
G
C
High F
Everyone I met in Egypt tunes it this way.
For my 7 -course oud, I tune it as: C ,F, A, D, G, C, High F
Regards,
Hatem
SamirCanada - 10-12-2008 at 08:35 PM
I think the high F string is a new thing in Egypt.
traditionally they played with 5 strings.
nadir - 10-12-2008 at 09:10 PM
Yes, that is what I was thinking... if you look at old Om Kolthoum videos, you will see that they do play with 5 strings.
Danielo - 10-13-2008 at 05:46 AM
Hello to everybody,
as an aside I am wondering why the low F is so commonly used in arabic tuning... after all there are not so many common maqamat with F as a tonic or
dominant note, so it should not be so usefull as a pedal ?
thanks!
cjmichael - 10-13-2008 at 07:32 AM
The low F is useful as a drone when playing in Ajam Ushayran. The fifth note (mid F) is dominant, and that gives the low F drone many opportunities
to chime in and keep to the rhythm. I may be wrong, but I think Ajam is pretty ubiquitous in the East next to Nahawand. Just as a side to the side,
a lot of oud players will transpose to F to get better use of open strings and to squeeze out as many octaves as possible.
Danielo - 10-14-2008 at 12:51 AM
Yes, I agree with you for Ajam Ushayran. It is also probably usefull for Saba and related maqamat. But for many of the other common maqamat (Rast,
Nahawand, sikah,Hijaz...) a low G would be probably more useful? Or maybe as you say it is convenient to transpose the maqamat on F..