Mike's Oud Forums

Prominent tone on oud

Mammez - 9-2-2012 at 07:43 PM

My oud has a slight issue where the pitch "G" (concert pitch) is much stronger/louder/resonant than the others, whilst I can compensate for this with my right hand, it does get a bit annoying. It is most noticeable when mic'd up. Are there any other fixes for this aside from EQ'ing out the offending frequency?

Thanks for your time!

Dan

Edward Powell - 9-2-2012 at 09:55 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Mammez  
My oud has a slight issue where the pitch "G" (concert pitch) is much stronger/louder/resonant than the others, whilst I can compensate for this with my right hand, it does get a bit annoying. It is most noticeable when mic'd up. Are there any other fixes for this aside from EQ'ing out the offending frequency?

Thanks for your time!

Dan


Hi Dan... welcome!
Sure there are some things you can do... but you need to post some pics of your oud, and also probably a short video showing us exactly what the trouble is. Can you upload a vid to youtube?

Probably what you have is a coupling of 2 resonance modes. Probably the AIR mode, and something on the soundboard. The fix might be to make the soundholes a bit bigger which will RAISE the AIR mode --- and then reach inside and sand down some of the braces - this will LOWER the resonance modes of the soundboard - - - so perhaps doing this will cause those 2 modes which are coupling to move away from eachother slightly, and thereby reduce the overkilling G.

Mammez - 9-3-2012 at 03:52 AM

Such a succinct reply! I don't know if it will be worth it as the instrument is quite cheap........perhaps I should have spent more money...i will try your suggested solution and notify of the results! Thanks for your time and advice, I sincerely appreciate both!

Dan

Mammez - 9-3-2012 at 03:57 AM

Such a succinct reply! I don't know if it will be worth it as the instrument is quite cheap........perhaps I should have spent more money...i will try your suggested solution and notify of the results! Thanks for your time and advice, I sincerely appreciate both!

Dan

fernandraynaud - 9-3-2012 at 04:07 AM

Yeah, welcome Mammez! Edward may be right, many ouds have a heck of a node around G-G#-A, but are you sure this isn't a string issue, or correctable with different strings?

Solution

Mammez - 9-7-2012 at 05:20 AM

After changing string gauges and tuning my Turkish oud up a 4th (FADGCF) the prominent tone is no longer an issue! I have since installed a pickup and the instruments strings are all evenly balanced! Thanks for your help/replies, after seeing Edwards site, I realise the immense amount of knowledge/expertise he has and I am very very grateful for his reply/time!

Mammez - 9-7-2012 at 05:21 AM

Thank you too to Fernandraynaud for your reply, your solution was the One that did it for me!