MoH
Oud Maniac
Posts: 50
Registered: 7-22-2018
Member Is Offline
|
|
More Questions from Music Noob
Hi everyone,
After giving it some thought I went ahead and bought my first oud! I found what I think is a decent Zeryab Oud on eBay, and after some initial
frustration and a string change, it's mostly going well. There is virtually no buzzing, the pegs work well, and the strings actually hold their tune
now. I have a few more questions:
1. The action is a bit high (around 4 mm). Is this acceptable, or do I need to get it looked at?
2. In an attempt to lower the action, I restrung a couple of the strings in a way similar to this video around the 15 second mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rABRnGQWDKU
I basically formed a bulky knot at the back of the bridge so the string wouldn't get pulled through when tightening it, and would travel straight to
the nut. The action is maybe 1/3 or 1/2 mm lower at the fingerboard, but could this type of stringing hurt the bridge? It seems the usual way
distributes the pressure more evenly than this way.
3. I have to press decently hard to get a clean note, especially on the higher tension strings. The notes still don't resonate as well as open
strings, though. This is also making my hand get pretty tired. Is this just my bad technique as a beginner, or is there something else?
|
|
|
Jack_Campin
Oud Junkie
Posts: 333
Registered: 5-6-2007
Location: Scotland
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
The oud in that video has an extension of the bridge behind the point where the tension is applied to it - this would mean that the pull would be
applied centrally to the bridge/soundboard glue joint. My old Syrian oud has something similar, so I'd guess knot-at-the-back ought to be safe on it
too (and maybe worth a go, its action is higher than I'd like). If the bridge is attached by a narrower glue joint you might be applying too much
pull along its back edge, at a point that would tend to peel it off.
|
|
|
Jack_Campin
Oud Junkie
Posts: 333
Registered: 5-6-2007
Location: Scotland
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Figured out why people don't do it. The strings aren't a tight fit in the bridge holes, so you get a weird sitar-like buzz. The conventional knot
acts like a solid bridge to form a definite endpoint for the vibrating section of the string.
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbprobrown/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
