damascene_oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 143
Registered: 4-28-2007
Location: Damascus
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Mood: Obssessed by oud
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Inquiry about playability of oud!
Guys yesterday i played on my friend's oud and to be honest i ended up with stiff right arm.
The oud is the farthest to be playable. It is hard to move between the strings.
Also notes felt hard to press, and strings were causing my finger tips to soar.
This imposed a question in my mind, and i appreciate it if someone could help to answer:
what factors do determine the playability of oud making it easy to play on?
Maybe Master Faruk Turunz would be kind to answer!
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dubai244
Oud Junkie
Posts: 490
Registered: 3-8-2004
Location: Dubai, UAE
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Hi,
As far as i know, there is no standard factor that determine the playability of the oud. Every maker has his own strings action (highet of strings
above the fingerboard).
To determine the playability of the oud, simply play it and see how feel about it. Some people like high action and some people like low action. it is
totally personal preference.
My personal experience regarding strings action, I received Bashir Style oud from a maker and he made the bridge little bit high as result, i faced
some diffculty to play with oud. I removed the bridge and sand it little bit to reduce the highet bridge, since then i dont have any problem.
Remember, Every maker has its own measurements, as result, there is no standard measurements as all.
Thanks
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
Registered: 10-14-2009
Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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Hi!
Mainly the string's action and tension. In my opinion the action at the fingerboard's end (where it joins the body) shouldn't exceed 3mm.
Regarding the tension we shouldn't forget, the longer the strings, the higher the tension. But there are also different string's thicknesses on the
market.
On my oud, the mentioned action is exactly 3mm and the string length is only 58,5cm (bridge to nut) ... I use D'Addario strings designed for Turkish
ouds, but the standard arabic tuning CFAdgc, which lowers their standard tension.
So I'm lucky ... the playability is fantastic.
What string length and brand does your friend's oud have?
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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suz_i_dil
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 1-10-2008
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The size of the bowl and the stringlength are important to check:
Smaller ouds can make 35 cm x 48 cm, with a stringlength of 57 and you will feel a big difference of playability with an arabic oud which can go up to
62 stringlength and a 37 x 52 cm bowl.
Then as said before, action. More than 3mm and I'm really disturb for the playing.
There will be also I feel the high of the nut, the shape of the neck, and the material of the fingerboard.
So many things, so the better is to take the time to try.
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farukturunz
Oud Junkie
Posts: 569
Registered: 8-16-2005
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
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Quote: Originally posted by damascene_oud  | Guys yesterday i played on my friend's oud and to be honest i ended up with stiff right arm.
Maybe Master Faruk Turunz would be kind to answer! |
Hello damascene_oud!
Of course the action is a very operative factor that causes stiffness of an oud. Nevertheless, some may have experienced kind of stiffness when
playing an oud of which the action is quite normal. What causes the stiffnes in that case? Also those people who experienced that sort of stiffness
might have noticed that the sound was also somehow "tense": no sustain, no echo and no richness of overtones. These are clues that imply something
"stiff" in the construction of the oud. I remember that I had explained this "stiffness" phenomena once upon a time on the Forums but I could not find
that thread. I will try to write the mechanism of "feedback" takes place within the whole system represented by the instrument
(body+neck+soundboard+strings+the player), if I or someone can not find that thread. With regards...
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1162
Registered: 10-14-2009
Location: Germany / Ruhr Region
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Hi Master Faruk!
If you use the forum's search and search for "stiffness" and your username, you'll find 4 threads, where you answered ... one about soundboard design,
one about string buzzing and two about the bracing.
Maybe one of them is what you where searching for?
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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corridoio
Oud Junkie
Posts: 184
Registered: 3-11-2007
Location: Italy
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I think was this one
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=8921#pid581...
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damascene_oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 143
Registered: 4-28-2007
Location: Damascus
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Mood: Obssessed by oud
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Cok tesekkur ederiz usta Faruk...
And many thanks for your valuable input. I searched for the thread which you described in your answer, but in vain! 
Maybe you will be as kind as you always have been and explain this to me!
And a question:
If an oud for whatever reasons is not playable enough to the players liking or in general, can something be done in this case or is it a dead end
thing?
Thanks a lot
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farukturunz
Oud Junkie
Posts: 569
Registered: 8-16-2005
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
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Bir sey degil my friend. Thank you Chris and corridoio for your contributions. Yes, corridoio... it is one of those threads:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=2945#pid191...
I was saying:
"This must have been caused by thin soundboard and weak braces both attribute tendency to resonance by low frequency excitation."
It is true in the reverse direction as well: Stiffness is caused by thick soundboard and stiff braces both attribute tendency to resonance by high
frequency excitation.
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