fameeyyoud
Oud Lover
Posts: 16
Registered: 2-11-2020
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How much does the scale lenght actually affect the sound?
Hey guys!
So i recently found this video here on the forum where oud player Ghassan Alyousif plays a taqsim on Farid al Atrashs famous Emil Khoury oud.
https://youtu.be/9SINA5Dd8Fc
I always loved that deep, low sustain, „bassy“ sound the old ouds had. I did some „research“ and found out that all these ouds had a scale
lenght of 60+cm (more like 63cm) in common, while my zeryab has 58.5.
So i was wondering do all these amazing ouds sound so great JUST because they are aged masterpieces or would i get a similar sound if lets say a
luthier would build be an oud with these exact measurements?
Thanks in advance guys!
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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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It's really way too complex to reduce to a single factor like scale length.
Oud sound is influenced by:
Materials (mainly the wood of the face and the wood of the bridge)
Bracing design (this is a big one)
Bowl size & shape
Soundhole size (and number)
Scale length
Tuning
Age & condition
Being "played in" by a skilled musician.
Some of these interact, like bowl size, soundhole size, bracing, scale length and tuning all interact in determining the sound of an oud. I've
encountered several old ouds that sounded great tuned down to Bb or B but just didn't resonate well at C or higher tunings (regardless of the strings
used). And ouds that sounded great tuned high but just didn't project when tuned lower.
So the biggest factor is going to be the skill of the luthier and the sound that they are trying to get. Some luthiers, like Peter Sayegh, can make
58.5cm ouds that sound like bigger ouds, but this is because they understand the sound and what to do to make it sound like that, and how to choose
the right wood. Just taking measurements doesn't necessarily work because there is so much variability in wood. Also you need a lot more measurements
than just scale length: all the braces, the bowl shape and depth, the width and length and thickness of the face, the position,
height/width/thickness, orientation and materials of all the braces, the position and material of the bridge, etc.
There is something about an aged instrument that I don't think can be found in a new instrument, it's maybe that last 10% of the sound that just takes
time and a lot of playing to bring out. And an oud that survives a long time was likely made very well to begin with — badly made instruments tend
to fall apart after a while.
But those ouds were new when people like Sounbati and Farid were playing on them, and they sounded great then as well.
I think part of the tendency toward smaller ouds is that the C and particular high F tunings are more popular; in the old days it was pretty common to
be tuned lower.
Zeryab makes pretty good ouds but they are still "factory" instruments, not handmade by master luthiers like Nahat, Qandalaft, etc. There are some
great luthiers working now, who make excellent handbuilt instruments. I mentioned Peter already but John Vergara is also making stunning
instruments. I'm sure there are many others whose instruments I haven't (yet) had the opportunity to play.
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