Mike's Oud Forums

change the skin of my cumbus

sufi - 6-21-2007 at 09:29 AM

hi folks

i am playing cumbus as an amateur. i like my instrument but sometimes i wanna much more thick sound like oud. because generally i play hicaz sufi musics that makes me trans and fly. but this metallic sound of cumbus sometimes irritates me. so i thought on the ideas whta to do for a thick and bass sound.

may be i can change my skin of cumbus. it is a kind of paper now but strong. if i change it with a thin animal skin whta does it matter?

or i can cover the inside body with sth or from outside.

or i can change the lowest 2 string (a and d) with plastic guitar strings. my tuning is EF#BEAD.

i am looking for your SUGGESTIONS. and apologise for my bad english.

sufi

adamgood - 6-21-2007 at 11:09 PM

Try ud strings, that will mellow things out quite a bit. I've done that before. just get the gauges for whatever tuning you use.

animal skin will change the sound as well but give more tuning nightmares. you'll still have that metallic sound.

nouphar - 6-22-2007 at 07:11 AM

Hey sufi,

Cümbüses weren't invented for religious or classical music, and they sometimes do not simply fit a number of styles, that's why you are feeling irritated. The oud, saz (baglama and cura), tanbur (plucked and bowed), guitar and mandolin are the original instruments, the cumbuses are just versions of them and thought to be played in folk contexts. If you want to diversify your repertoire come on, buy a good oud, you won't regret. I purchased an oud from Haluk Eraydin and I am really satisfied.

Putting a natural skin head is an interesting idea though, since early cumbuses did came that way.

Here might be a nice link for your request.
Quote:

or i can cover the inside body with sth or from outside.

or i can change the lowest 2 string (a and d) with plastic guitar strings.


I wouldn't do that!

That's Ali Acar playing a natural skin headed standard cümbüs,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCrEZ3Gv3tM

By the way man, where are you from?

Cheers.

sufi - 6-22-2007 at 07:58 AM

hey adamgood may be it is the easiest way to change the strings with oud strings or may be guitar, because of the cumbus size may be it is better to put guitar strings, what do you suggest. because i love my tuninhttp://mikeouds.com/messageboard/images/smilies/sad.gif
:(g and dont wanna change

nouphar i am from turkey and i think you too. i ve played cura about 2 years before and just 6 months ago i bought my cumbus and started my south america trip. i am street musician and have no money:airguitar: so i can not buy an oud for now. but everyday i explore cumbus some more and think about ideas to make it much more close to my music interests, because an oud does not sound on the street like a cumbus, this is the plus side of cumbus for me and very important. but i want my cumbus to sound like oud many times, or close to oud and tambur. they have much deeper sound for me and for my music it is very important.

i still wait for more sugestions because i dont have chance to do all of them, i have to decide what to do:rolleyes:

thanks for the comments also

sufi

nouphar - 6-22-2007 at 08:32 AM

I'm spanish my friend. Nice to read you're travelling across South America, I envy you!

Well, if you don't have enough money just keep on trying different strings and so on.

Regards.

Peyman - 6-22-2007 at 04:02 PM

Try using a soft pick (tezene). I use the softest pick for a baglama. I get a sound that's close to the oud. You can also use a piece of cloth and push it in behind the bridge. I haven't tried it but that would dampen some of the harsher sounds, which might help you. It's the method they use on kamancheh. These are less drastic than the other suggestions.
Good luck

what I did with my cumbus

Laith - 6-22-2007 at 07:37 PM

One thing I did that gave a very interesting flavor to the sound of my cumbus was to use strings for a 12 string guitar. For one, the octave lower strings gave it a saz kind of sound while making the the two main treble strings, which are unison, very strong notes. I can see how some people wouldn't like the variety in sound, but I really like it. And perhaps coated strings might mellow out your sound too...

Lintfree - 6-23-2007 at 12:20 AM

A set of oud stings does make the sound softer but a Cumbus should have that sound. My friend Henry used to fret the unwound strings, press them down with his fingernails like an Indian Sarod is played. A Cumbus has a unique sound and a nature all its own. It's not a mellow instrument. Put a long neck on it like a Yali Tambur and you have something else. The clear plastic heads are good for sustain. Thin animal skin is a nighmare; Nile perch, unborn lamb like on a tar.

I thought of putting a wooden "head" on a Cumbus, gluing a thin wooden lining on the inside or outside of the Cumbus shell where the head `should be then gluing a very light round spruce "face" to the lining. No braces. Then put a piezo pickup (EKG film or seizmic sensors)underneath each foot of the bridge. Plug that sucker in and it would digest your food for you. Something to try. Good luck. D.L.

sufi - 6-23-2007 at 02:57 PM

hey friends,

thanks for the advices, i just try to put a piece of clothes behind the bridge and the sound is close to what i wanna know. it is simple and great. peyman thanks a lot for this simple info man. and i am using a soft tezene since i started playing cumbus, i like soft ones too. i solved the problem now but it decreases the amount of the sound, but not so much. i can take it out when i want high sound on open areas.

wow. i look that there are many ways to change the sound, this gives me new ideas.

thanks a lot again, i am following.

sufi

Peyman - 6-24-2007 at 08:54 AM

I am glad it worked out :buttrock:. The 12 string idea is also interesting. I might give it a try next time I change strings.

Brynley - 6-25-2007 at 11:16 AM

I,ve been using a couple of cannabalized sets of Dadarrio mandolin strings of different weights, selecting the guages that seem right .I like the idea of using 12 string guitar strings, so the lower courses are gemmated (octaved), could be interesting , or could sound like mud, I might try that sometime. Soft sounding it isn,t, but this instrument was designed to cut through an orchestra, the gypsies supposedly use it with brass bands, i haven,t found any recordings of that yet, but that must sound interesting . Then there,s the Ahenk, a virtually identical instrument made of wood and skin, (not sure which came first?), that does have a much mellower, less metallic tone and still seems to be used occasionally in Turkish classical music. I do find that I play my Oud more( expressive,mellow, sweet), much more often, than the cumbus, and it doesn,t empty the room!! Every instrument has it,s place ,just have to find the right place!