Baldrick
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String buzz
HAve a lot of string buzz on a new oud.
What height should the action be?
It is Syrian so have tried tuning it to E2 A2 D3 G3 C4 but don't know what the strings were meant for.
Any advice welcome
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SamirCanada
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I had the same oud as you before.
you should change the strings before you play.
the strings that come with it are garbage
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Baldrick
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Your reccomendation for strings?
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marmarzamani
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String buzz is most frustrating, but just so you don't set yourself up for disappointment, changing to higher quality strings does not guarantee the
problem will vanish.
I have a Sukar I bought 2 years ago that buzzed from day one. Then I bought a better quality set of strings (Aquila) from Jameel a/k/a Khalaf but the
buzzing still persists, especially on the lower registers.
I suspect the issue with my oud is structural and may need adjustment by someone (other than myself) who knows what they're doing.
Though I can't offer you a solution, changing the strings may be the least expensive option and you probably can't go wrong even if the oud continues
to buzz.
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cjmichael
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http://www.khalafoud.com/strings.htm
There are the basic oud string sets. I think most people use either Pyramid or Aquila. I use the basic Pyramid 650/11 and they sound great once you
break them in. I must tell you that on my first oud, my strings buzzed against each other something fierce when I first changed them; but, the more I
played, the more the buzzing went away and now it's very subtle.
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MatthewW
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Hi Baldrick- stringbuzz is something many oudies have encountered in one form or another, Here is a link with more tips which might help, check out Dr
Ouds advice-
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=822#pid5720
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=4148#pid271...
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Dr. Oud
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Baldrick
...What height should the action be?....
At the top nut there shoud be 1mm(1/32inch) clearance. at the neck/body joint there should be 3-5mm(1/8-3/16inch) clearance. The top clearance can be
adjusted with shims under the top nut. The neck/body joint can be adjusted by tying the strings with the loop at the top of the bridge, and/or adding
a shim on the top of the bridge. If it still buzzes with these clearances (or higher ) the problem is usually a loose brace inside the face.
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carpenter
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My carefully considered (as always) opinion is, there's buzz and there's oudness. Real buzz would be indicative of a problem; oudness buzzing may be
"compared to what?" and it's possibly to the sound of a fretted instrument. I have both a fretted and fretless electric bass, and the fretless sound
is really different to me; not so much a buzz as a nice distinctive noting hum. My oud sounds different, in pretty much the same way, than my
nylon-strung guitar. (Also, when fiddling, I can hear bow noise, but it's right under my face - four feet away [somebody else playing], I can't hear
it. My oud sounds better "in front," too.)
Might be my soft cake-eater fingertips, deteriorating hearing, and crappy technique, but I think there's an element of native, distinctive oud sound.
Doc's action clearances are pretty nice. I'd think about what the objectionable-threshold of "buzz" is, and if a listener can hear it. (Also, my
Pyramid strings improved greatly over three months or so; at least they don't clang into themselves so much.)
I could be full of it, and it's just an opinion - there's enough qualifiers in there to cover me either way ... I'm sure somebody will let me know.
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jdowning
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Interesting observation carpenter. String "buzz" was a preferred sound in early harps - the strings were deliberately made to buzz with "brays" -' L'
shaped bits of wood set in close contact with the strings at the sound board. So sound colour is very much in the ear of the beholder.
There is some evidence to suggest that this sound may also have applied to early lutes. The author of the so called Vincenzo Capirola lute book -
dated around 1530 - now in the Newberry Library, Chicago makes reference to the critical importance of the height of the nut - too high a nut being as
bad as one that is too low - as well as the critical adjustment of string clearance over the frets. This clearance must be very close along the length
of the fretboard "because as the frets are nearer the string, the strings sound like a harp, and the lute appears to be better".
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carpenter
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Hmm. "... like a harp." I hadn't run across that. Interesting, and thanks for the tangent.
I was also thinking about the intentional buzz of sitars, etc., and went from there to slightly-too-wide nut notches. That could be a source of noise,
too.
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