Jameel
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 12-5-2002
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12th peg
If a single bass is always used, why an even number of pegs? Was the bass course in the old days double? Old Nahats and others have 12 pegs most the
time, but I never see them strung this way.
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revaldo29
Oud Junkie
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Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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I like to use 2 bass strings instead of just one. It gives me a richer sound.
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san3any
Oud Maniac
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Location: Washington D.C. Metro Area
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INDEED......I agree with Revaldo, thats what I do sometimes, when it doesn't give me hard time to balance them, and the sound is not "nashaaz". 
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
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My $.02:
When oud strings were first marketed in the U.S. (back in the dark ages before the www), they were made predominately for Turkish ouds. (I didn't
see any Arabic oud sets until THE '90's, but I expect to be corrected on this.) Turkish ouds are usually made with only 11 pegs for a single base and
built with thinner soundboards than Arabic ouds so a double bass would be too much string tension. So when the string manufacturers started to market
for Arabic ouds, they just sold 11 string sets, and some are only 10, (Pyramid). The Arabic ouds with their thicker soundboards can sometimes benefit
from a double bass if the face is strong enough. Indeed many Arabic ouds can benefit from custom guaged strings, since the structure of these ouds is
not as consistent as Turkish ouds. This results in variable response to the commercial sets of strings. Classical guitar strings are made in many
guages and can be substituted for weak strings to balance the volume of a non-responsive oud.
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Jonathan
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A lot of Turkish ouds (even older ones) do have 12 pegs, though.
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paulO
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I have a Karibian that has 12 pegs...I've just never used a double on the low bass...since I end up using the 6th for playing parts of melody lines,
etc...and I've just gotten used to it. Dr. Oud has a good point about
experimenting with guages, he introduced me to the idea eons ago, and it does make a difference !!
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habeebkum
Oud Maniac
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Location: newcastle, uk
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i think u can order a single bass string from pyramid.
habeebkum
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
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Thin Man String Company has single strings as well as oud sets. I use D'Adarrio classical guitar single strings. The oud bass is usually .041-.043
gauge.
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habeebkum
Oud Maniac
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Location: newcastle, uk
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pyramid is a company that sells lots of different kinds of strings for different stringed instruments. i bought some off them about a month ago and i
am very happy with them. they will have to ship it from germany tho. so u might want to find a closer place!but if you do a search for pyramid from
the top left of this screen u should find their website. nice playing by the way....very mellow. i like the sound of it. if i were you i'd just leave
ur oud the way it is. it sounds great
habeebkum
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JT
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1 Bass string
Hey Guys,
I only use one bass string, this is because sometimes from piece to piece I vary the tuning of that string, I normally tune it to F but I can also
tune it to G, D, E, Eb or Eb1/4 depending on maqam, nature of piece and what I want to achieve from the bass string that piece. If im on stage it
would not be logical to have 2 bass strings as it would take considerable time tuning them exactly to the right pitch, one is enough trouble.
Cheers.
JT
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Greg
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| Quote: | Originally posted by JT
Hey Guys,
I only use one bass string, this is because sometimes from piece to piece I vary the tuning of that string, I normally tune it to F ........
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Hey JT,
That is interesting. If your bass string is F, what is the rest of your tuning?
Oh! One other quick question ... If I tune my bass string to F will I start to sound just like you ?
Regards,
Greg
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JT
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Hey Greg,
Your very kind mate. Theres nothing flash hot about myt playing. Come and say hello if you come to Sydney soon huh?
F is a common tuning for the bass string, my oud playing friends in Egypt all tune it like this as far as I know. what do you tune it?
6 string: my oud is tuned from Bass to Treble
1. F(G, D, Eb, Eb1/4, E, F#) 2. A 3. D 4. G 5. C 6. F
On my Seven string it is tuned from Bass to High
1. C(D, B, A, Bb, C#, Bb1/4) 2.F(G, D, Eb, Eb1/4, E, F#) 3. A 4. D 5. G 6. C 7. F
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Greg
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Registered: 7-22-2004
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Joe,
I tune my ouds to what I thought was the standard Arabic tuning; C FF AA DD gg cc
I'm learning all the time.
I'll take you up on that offer next time I come to the "big smoke."
Regards,
Greg
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JT
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Ah, ok, I understand, you have opted for the Bass C, where my 6 string oud has a high F. My seven string is tuned like yours, except it also has the
high F.
Im learning to mate. Keep in touch.
Joe.
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Hank Levin
Oud Maniac
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I recently had a conversation with Peter Kyvelos about the string arrangements on old Turkish ouds. He asked me if our 1905 Manol (still for sale,
btw) still had the original single treble and double bass. It does not, although it does have 12 pegs, as did the Karabyans I've worked on and copied.
He explained that around the turn of the century it was common for Turkish ouds to use 11 strings, but the bass was doubled and the highest string was
single--much like lutes, and for similar reasons. The gut top strings were often hard to get into tune, as their diameters varied (as you have noticed
on lower quality nylon as well). The single top string gave a peculiar clear sound, which Peter says can be noticed on some old recordings.
Eventually, most of those ouds got converted to use one bass string (which does indeed get retuned often) and double trebles. But even in the
converted ones, you can still see the extra bass hole left empty. Of course, the nut must be redone, and the extra treble hole drilled. First I'd
heard of it, but it bears out on looking at the instruments. BTW, a Karabyan I've just restored has 12 strings, all double. --Hank Levin
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Jameel
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1672
Registered: 12-5-2002
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Very interesting. Thanks for all the responses!
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