hisham
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 2-24-2004
Location: Bierut\\Jeddah
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Mood: Mesalten
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STRING TENSION
I just wanted to know what is the importance of knowing the tension of the strings? I have never thought of this when i buy strings for my oud or my
guitar.
Professor elie and other members have talked about this topic many times, and I still do not get what is that they are talking about.
So if someone could explain the idea of the string tension and how could it affect the sound of the oud? And what makes a good string set for my oud
or for my taste?
Regard
Hisham
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Elie Riachi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 582
Registered: 4-9-2004
Location: Kansas
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Mood: Gebran Tueni Lives For Ever, 12-12-05.
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Hello,
Here is what I think. The more tension in the string the more force is applied when it vibrates the sound board, this leads to larger vibration
amplitudes which is associated with louder instrument sound. You have to have enough tension to suffeciently vibrate the soundboard.
Too much tension may not be desired since it may cause damage to the oud, such as peeling the bridge or peg box, pulling the neck towards the bridge
and raising action making playing difficult. The more tension the stronger one has to push down on the string when fingering also may have to pluck
harder.
Since not all ouds have the same scale length, tensions in the same string sets are different when tuned the same on different oud of different scale
lengths (longer requires higher tensions.) Poorly made ouds may require higher tensions to sound loud, provided they do not collapse, making them
harder to play. Well made ouds (light soundboard, light and strong bracing and proper dimensions) may require less tension to produce desired sound
levels, which makes them easier to play.
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hisham
Oud Addict
Posts: 38
Registered: 2-24-2004
Location: Bierut\\Jeddah
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mesalten
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Thank you elie for this useful information.
Know after I understood the idea of string tension. How could I determine that a particular set of strings is high or low tension?
Are there any figures I could use to find out the tension? I have seen many string set that include the diameter of each string. Is that enough?
I have tow ouds. Fat’hi Ameen made one and the other one is a Shehata.
So I need two different sets of string. One is low to medium tension and the other is high.
Any recommendation would be much appreciated.
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Elie Riachi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 582
Registered: 4-9-2004
Location: Kansas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gebran Tueni Lives For Ever, 12-12-05.
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You would likely have to go with the available string sets in the market labeled Arabic Oud for the tuning that you want. I use Aquila for Arabic
Tuning. Each set will indicate the tuning it is intebded for. Some sets indicate the tensions in pounds or kilograms for the intended tuning, but
indicating the tension without the scale length is useless.
If you want to order specific tensions for each, one company to deal with is Pyramid, call them up or send them an email specify the scale length
(vibrating string length), tuning and tension of each string.
If you want to know what the tensions are on your oud from pre-configured sets of strings, then I have derived a formula to compute tensions in
strings but you must know density and gauge or linear density of each string. You may want to search the forum for the posts regarding the formula
and some other quick shortcuts that I posted.
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revaldo29
Oud Junkie
Posts: 418
Registered: 6-24-2004
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Hey Elie,
So what you're saying is that I can tune my arabic oud to any tuning I want provided I get the proper strings. So if I want to use Iraqi
tuning on a classical 61cm arabic, I just have to calculate the proper tension and order a set from pyramid. Is this correct?
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Elie Riachi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 582
Registered: 4-9-2004
Location: Kansas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gebran Tueni Lives For Ever, 12-12-05.
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You specify a tension that you think is ideal for your oud and playing. And specify the tuning of each string and the oud's scale length. Based
on your specifications they will figure out which of their strings to use. Tension could be from 30 N to 45 N. Ideally you want all strings to have
the same tension or close. A good starting point may be to specify a tension of 39N for all strings, try them out and decide whether you like to go
higher or lower. The plain strings stretch out after a while, redistributing the mass so they may be ordered 1 to 2 newtons higher than desired.
When you specify the tuning make certain to indicate the note and the octave for each string, for example C2 means C from the second ocatve, C4 is a
fourth octave C.
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Ronny Andersson
Oud Junkie
Posts: 724
Registered: 8-15-2003
Location: Sweden
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| Quote: | Originally posted by revaldo29
Hey Elie,
So what you're saying is that I can tune my arabic oud to any tuning I want provided I get the proper strings. So if I want to use Iraqi
tuning on a classical 61cm arabic, I just have to calculate the proper tension and order a set from pyramid. Is this correct?
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Off course you can - I use Pyramid lute strings and I buy my strings from Matthias Wagner string shop Music Strings He calculates for any string lenght your oud comes with. The Iraqi tuning is not limited for ouds with 57cm string lenght.
Best wishes
Ronny
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