ChanningPDX
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 10-15-2016
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Question for Turkish oud players: What sort of mizrap do you use?
Lately, I've been focusing on playing my Turkish oud and improving my Turkish-style playing technique. When I got my second-hand Ali Nişadır
oud two years ago, it came with a silicone rubber mizrap the first owner had gotten from Ali's shop. This is broadly similar to the sort of mizrap you
see a lot of Turkish player use: narrow with rounded edges and thicker in the middle. Then I got a couple of rishas from Yaron Naor and used those for
a long spell. I also made a couple of rishas from cable tie with a more pointed end.
In the past few months, I've cycled through these (and others), and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. The silicone mizrap produces a very
"Turkish" sound, and I like the sort of "shock absorber" feel of the material as I play, but sustained tremolo and trill passages are more difficult.
When I switched to the harder more pointed cable tie, tricky trill exercises from the Enver Mete Aslan book almost play themselves. The tone is very
clear and punchy--perhaps a tad too much so. The Naor risha is also better for that, and I LOVE it on my Arabic oud, but it imparts a buzzier tone on
the Turkish oud...
I know that players like Mehmet Bitmez (and many others) use a very soft, flexible silicone mizrap. Some players like Zeynel Demirtaş and Tolga
Karaslan appear to prefer a harder material. Munir Beken definitely uses a harder mizrap. I love the varying tones all of these players get.
I also use light tension German (not Turkish) Kürschner strings (5049 high D string) and wonder what effect changing to medium-tension strings would
have on the equation...? Thoughts?
Not sure how audible the differences will be on these home recordings, but here are a couple of examples (apologies for bits of dodgy intonation): the
first was done with the soft silicone mizrap and the second with the cable tie.
1.) https://soundcloud.com/channing-dodson/huseyni-giris-taksimicecen-ki...
2.) https://soundcloud.com/channing-dodson/sega-h-saz-semaisi
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ChanningPDX
Oud Maniac
Posts: 96
Registered: 10-15-2016
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Hmmm... No bites? Perhaps the topic has been discussed to death, but it seems like most of what came up in searches didn't pertain specifically to
Turkish ouds in Turkish tuning...
At any rate, I wanted to clarify that after playing it more, I don't think the Yaron Naor risha sounds "buzzy" on my Turkish oud. After a few swipes
with fine sandpaper, I'm starting to like it more... The tone is certainly different from anything else I've tried so far.
Also tried a Riversong M1 risha and the tone from that was also pretty distinctly different. Not sure how I feel about it just yet.
I'd still love to hear about what sorts of mizrap/risha others are using on their Turkish ouds, whether they are manufactured or home made, etc. I
still haven't quite found the sound I'm looking for, but it has been interesting exploring the variety of sounds and playing characteristics of
different materials.
Anyway, here's a recording I made with the Naor risha for the sake of comparison.
https://soundcloud.com/channing-dodson/hu-seyni-saz-semaisi
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majnuunNavid
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 7-22-2013
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Mood: Dude, where's my Oud?
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I had a discussion about this on YouTube comments section with a Turkish guy who was semi-complaining that Turkish Oud players keep using plastic
risha. This commenter had tried eagle quill and said the tone completely changed and he loved it. Eagle quill is too high maintenance for myself
though.
That being said, with my Ouds I really think my Yildirim Palabiyik Turkish made one actually sounds more pleasing with these cheap soft plastic risha.
Cow horn really brings out the higher frequencies of the strings and my ear starts to get tired of it.
But it's cow horn or go home for my other Ouds.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1353
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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See earlier discussions on this site about eagle quill. A properly prepared eagle quill lasts for years with no maintenance. It is like leather.
Eventually it will shred but it will not crack.
I stopped using them when the friendly zookeeper at the eagle cage retired and the new guy said NO.
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majnuunNavid
Oud Junkie
Posts: 622
Registered: 7-22-2013
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Mood: Dude, where's my Oud?
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[/ rquote]
I stopped using them when the friendly zookeeper at the eagle cage retired and the new guy said NO.
[/ rquote]
That's rather unfair, lol.
Can you comment on the tone compared to cow/plastic?
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1353
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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Quote: Originally posted by majnuunNavid  | [/ rquote]
I stopped using them when the friendly zookeeper at the eagle cage retired and the new guy said NO.
[/ rquote]
That's rather unfair, lol.
Can you comment on the tone compared to cow/plastic? |
With a real risha, one soaked in olive oil and properly trimmed and shaped, there is less click than with other oud plectra. It is percussive but it
goes "tuh". It is punchy like spitting out watermelon seeds. (really).
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ChanningPDX
Oud Maniac
Posts: 96
Registered: 10-15-2016
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Welp, now that we're all quarantined, I've had lots of time to play oud and try different rishas.
I've come to a similar conclusion as Navid that on my Turkish oud, the cheap plastic/silicone mizrap I started out with is still best overall. Needed
to adjust the position of my thumb and index finger slightly, but now find tremolo and trills more consistent. I also switched to a slightly higher
tension set of strings, and this also improved the tone and response with multiple picks.
I bought a couple of cow horn rishas from Oriental Instruments last year, shaped them, soaked them in olive oil for a month, shaped them a bit more,
soaked them a bit more, and loved the tone and playability on my Arabic oud --on all but the high C strings. Again, I've currently got that oud set up
with a pretty light-tension German Kürschner set. (0.54 PVF on the high C, I think.) I might switch to medium-tension treble strings (say 0.56) the
next time I put in an order and see if that makes any noticeable difference. Definitely keeping those rishas though for use with different strings or
hopefully one day a better oud...
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