joseph
Oud Maniac
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string sets for FADGCF
Hello everyone,
Anyone knows of a string set I can use on a standard turkish or Arabic Oud to get the higher F course? I need this because I got Oud instruction books
by Charbel Rouhana which use the tuning above.
My apologies if this post appears more than once. I'm new to this forum and look forward to taking part in the discussions.
Thanks in advance, Joseph
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Elie Riachi
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This set from D'Addario tunned one step down looks like it should do it:
http://www.juststrings.com/dad-j95.html
Regards,
Elie
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Brian Prunka
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I don't think that will work . . . based on those gauges, the pitiches seem like they're off. Those gauges seem like they're for
standard C-c' tuning.
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spyrosc
Oud Junkie
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Tuning
First of all, there is something a little confusing about this. I also have that Charbel Rouhana book and there are several points in the book:
1) The oud shown has 13 strings (6 doubles one single)
2) The oud is a Bashir oud, which means the bridge is not glued-on and will not come unglued under high tension.
3) The tuning shown in the book from High to Low is
FCGDAE (doesn't say what the low single bass is)
The d'Addario J95 set is "intended" for
(High to Low):
GDF#BEA
Spyros C.
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spyrosc
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Mistake
Sorry... the d'Addario is indeed:
GDAEBF#
so it could be dropped down to meet Charbel's specification
Spyros C.
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Brian Prunka
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Spyros, are you sure the D'addario high string is a G? That would make it a fourth below or a fifth above regular arabic tuning . . . Those are
the same gauges (approximately) used in the Labella and other sets for regular Arabic tuning, so it doesn't seem to me like they would
effectively work a fourth down, and they would be way too tense tuned up a fifth. I realize that the packaging says that it's a G, but it seems
like a mistake. maybe i'm missing something here.
I don't have the Rouhana book, but I presume that the high F is above the C on a regular oud, not below. I'm pretty sure you can't
tune the D'addario strings a 4th higher than regular tuning, as there would be way too much tension. I think you could use the set and add an
additional pair of strings for the high F (gauged around .017 maybe?)
Incidentally, Rouhana will be teaching at Simon Shaheen's retreat this summer in Massachusetts.
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samzayed
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This is what I did for my cousin (who is studying the Rouhana method book): I got him a set of Pyramid Orange for the FAdgc', and then for the
high f' string, I ordered a set of lute strings, #0,475 (Plain Nylon)
I don't have first hand experience with this configuration, but he said it worked great. You can these strings from Max Junger at Pyramid
pyramid@junger.de
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Elie Riachi
Oud Junkie
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Calculating tension by using string gauge is not realy a good way.
It is more accurate and better to use linear density. Even though they are Nylon in general, there are different grades (an example would be Nylgut
to Nylon.) This is more appearant in wound strings.
It looks to me that you should be able to tune down a step or a half each of the strings in the J95 (if notes are marked correctly on the package) as
a result the tension will also be lowered.
Regards,
Elie Riachi
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joseph
Oud Maniac
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Hi,
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It looks like the set of lute strings is one way to get this higher tuning. I'll give it a try one day, but
I'm a bit skeptical because even the C strings can be a bit thin and troublesome on the Oud, so how would an even higher F fare? (Perhaps the
Lebanese conservatory where this book is produced expects students to have Bashir style Ouds?)
I also looked at the Daddario strings on the net as well, and I suspect that the highest G is really only a nominal G because in Turkish notation, the
music is notated a fourth higher than it sounds, so this G might be really a D, so the F is still a note and a half higher (Way too much stress on the
Oud, I think).
Incidentally, the book has much to recommend it,
and I can get by for a while by transposing some of the exercises, because very few Arabic pieces cannot be played on a traditional Oud in terms of
range. I have only been browsing through it, and I'm quite pleased that some of the pieces are similar to previous book by George Farah in the
same conservatory, so they're already familiar to me, but what this author does is add a lot of instructions to how some of the notes should be
played in terms of up or down movement of the plectrum or tremolo and finger positions. The method is similar to violin methods and there is
some western influence in the way the Oud is treated. I think one of the aims is to have the Oud
as an ensemble instrument and there is
intriguingly a piece for Oud and guitar where the
Oud has replaced the violin. (Perhaps one of the
reason for the higher tuning is to have this flexibility).
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