Mike's Oud Forums

do oud capos exist?

Jack_Campin - 6-19-2009 at 12:47 AM

Seems to me it ought to be possible to capo an oud (so as to take an Arabic-tuned oud up into Turkish tuning). You would need a fret under the strings in addition to the normal guitar capo setup.

Anyone seen such a thing? Anyone made one or know where to get one?

charlie oud - 6-19-2009 at 05:08 AM

Jack, The standard jim dunlop capo works fine. Ive used it often. There is no need for the fret effect as the hard rubber still gives a clear sounding open string.

acryl1 - 6-20-2009 at 05:48 PM

Hi,

This is it. Interesting trial not only in using capo but also how he plays and its tone.:applause:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjgjDrn95dk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbl...

patheslip - 6-21-2009 at 09:15 AM

acryl1
what a nice reference

Benjamin - 6-21-2009 at 09:55 AM

Interesting indeed, but I'm not sure the oud is tuned as a oud..
And anyway playing with a capo will give you a terrible "closed" sound, if you wanna play higher I recommend you to improve your technique or to change the tune of your oud.
I used to try to play with capo for singing, but it just sound ugly, and then you are just very limited because you can't play very higher (with a big amplitude from lower to high)

Jack_Campin - 6-21-2009 at 04:28 PM

I don't want to go anywhere near as high as that Brazilian guy, just one tone. (I have some instructional videos from Turkey, but my oud is an Arabic one; the idea of the capo is just so I can play along with them while learning, I don't want to use it that way in performance).

You can't tune an Arabic oud up to Turkish pitch without a risk of breaking it.

The idea of the fret underneath was to avoid the "closed" sound.

I'll experiment with a few different capos to see if any of them get the result I want (i.e. as close as possible to the sound of an open string).

Kelly - 6-22-2009 at 05:41 AM


Hi Jack

I've tried Shubb classical guitar (flat profile) capos for the same reason . they work ok but as Benjamin says they will muffle the sound a bit. It also depends on the height of action/string length as can cause buzzing!!

Peyman - 6-24-2009 at 03:02 PM

I haven't tried using capos before, not even on a guitar, but I couldn't help thinking about it. Is it possible to tie a nylon fret and put the capo before it? I am curious if that would be effective. The fret can be removed but then, it might take a few minutes to set up if one is moving the capo. Obviously nylon lines come in different sizes, so one would have to find the right action.

charlie oud - 6-25-2009 at 08:05 AM

Hey Peyman, Simple & brilliant suggestion. Im sure it would work fine. :applause:

Peyman - 6-25-2009 at 10:16 AM

Thanks Charlie. I am curious to see if it will work too.

rojaros - 7-1-2009 at 03:46 AM

so why don't you use a little bone bar as a removable fret? it certainly gets fixed by the pression of the capo...

best wishes
R.
Quote: Originally posted by Jack_Campin  
I don't want to go anywhere near as high as that Brazilian guy, just one tone. (I have some instructional videos from Turkey, but my oud is an Arabic one; the idea of the capo is just so I can play along with them while learning, I don't want to use it that way in performance).

You can't tune an Arabic oud up to Turkish pitch without a risk of breaking it.

The idea of the fret underneath was to avoid the "closed" sound.

I'll experiment with a few different capos to see if any of them get the result I want (i.e. as close as possible to the sound of an open string).

fernandraynaud - 8-19-2009 at 11:47 AM

How about what they call a cejilla, you could always file it down a little in width. I'd try adding a little piece of wood or wire at the edge to sharpen up the sound. Bill Ostrie sells some beautiful ones on http://www.ostriemusicsupplies.com/cejillas.htm



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patheslip - 8-19-2009 at 11:58 PM

I've used a guitar capo with a piece of 14lb fishing line as a fret. It gives a brighter tone, less oud like, more like a lute.

Just a thought: using a capo without a fret might show up any small irregularities in the fingerboard.