kampanas
Oud Addict
Posts: 45
Registered: 6-14-2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
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Tuning down a whole/half step?
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone knows anything about a practice of tuning Arabic ouds down a whole or half step. I've seen videos of Michael Ibrahim playing
a Nahat oud tuned to what sounds like Bb-F-C-G-Eb-bb [ here ] and one of Farid Al Atrash [ here ] doing the same, but without the lowest drone string.
I've tried it on my oud and there seems to be a less sustained sound but more response from upper overtones. I'm curious if this is something
practiced more widely but generally undocumented.
All the best,
Nick
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2916
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Mood: Stringish
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There was no "standard" pitch for Arabic music until fairly recently, people just tuned to the range of the singer they were accompanying and it
varied regionally and over time. It's common to find old recordings where Farid or Abdel Wahab or others are tuned down a step, or up a step or more
(using strings that more or less matched the tuning they were going for). It's pretty well documented at this point I think that tuning varies quite
a bit. Some folks like Michael are possibly interested in a "historical" approach or he has simply found that that oud sounds better in the tuning it
was likely intended for. Many old ouds were made for and sound better in lower tunings (regardless of the strings used).
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Badra
Oud Maniac
Posts: 99
Registered: 2-26-2006
Location: NW USA
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Mood: No Mood
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Farid tuned his ouds to all three variations. Standard, half-step down, and whole step down, always 5 strings with virtually always a plain, not
wound middle string. I can give you a bunch of examples if you wanted.
Something else to consider. When listening to recordings before the digital age, you should be aware that the speed could be off. The most common
place you'll see this problem is in the Egyptian films, where virtually all are sped up, for whatever reason, 3-6%, which is a quarter tone to a
semi-tone too sharp. But it also happens in studio recordings. So if you are watching Farid playing the oud in a film, it is almost certain to be a
minimum 1/4 tone too sharp, and often a semi-tone too sharp. It's also why his voice often sounds high in films, but then totally different in studio
recordings. One of the big things I do on my channel is fix this issue when showing clips from Farid movies. So if you're watching a video on my
channel, chances are the pitch and speed are correct.
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