What is the difference between an oud and a lute

The impulse response of the tanbur body for three orthogonal force impulses applied to bridge are shown in Fig. These responses include the effects of driving point admittance of the bridge, the vibration of body and neck, and the directivity of the radiation pattern. These responses were recorded in an anechoic room Erkut et al. A modal shape represents the motion of the guitar in a normal mode of vibration.

Optical methods give the best spatial resolution of a given operational deflection shape ODS , which in many cases closely resembles a normal mode.

Optical methods include holographic interferometry, speckle-pattern interferometry, and scanning laser vibrometry. Another technique for obtaining modal shapes, called experimental modal testing, excites the guitar body with a force hammer and uses an accelerometer to. Resonance frequencies and Q-values a measure of the sharpness of the resonance are given Richardson and Roberts The force hammer is moved from point to point in a grid, and a frequency response function FRF determined for each point of excitation.

The resulting FRFs are processed by a computer and the modal shape is determined by use of a curve-fitting program. A player can alter the tone of a guitar by adjusting the angle through which the string is plucked. Not only do forces parallel and perpendicular to the bridge excite different sets of resonances, but they result in tones that have different decay rates, as shown in Fig.

When the string is plucked perpendicular to the top plate, a strong but rapidly decaying tone is obtained. When the string is plucked parallel to the plate, on the other hand, a weaker but longer tone results. Thus, a guitar tone can be regarded as having a compound decay rate, as shown in Fig. The spectra of the initial and final parts of the tone vary substantially, as do the decay rates.

Classical guitarists use primarily two strokes, called apoyando and tirando sometimes called the rest and free strokes. The fingernail acts as sort of a ramp, converting some of the horizontal motion of the finger into vertical motion of the string, as shown in Fig. Although the apoyando stroke tends to induce slightly more vertical string motion, there is little difference between the two strokes in this.

In the apoyando stroke, the finger comes to rest on an adjacent string; in the tirando stroke, it rises enough to clear it Taylor However, the player can change the balance between horizontal and vertical string motion by varying the angle of the fingertip Taylor Sound radiation from a guitar, like most musical instruments, varies with direction and frequency.

Even with sinusoidal excitation at a single point such as the bridge , the radiated sound field is complicated because several different modes of vibration with different patterns of radiation may be excited at the same time.

The solid curve is the sound spectrum; the dashed curve is acceleration at the driving point. Also shown is the mechanical frequency response curve acceleration level versus frequency. The mode at Hz radiates efficiently through the sound hole.

The modes at and Hz radiate quite efficiently in all directions, as would be expected in view of the mode shapes see Fig. Radiation at Hz, however, shows a dipole character, and at Hz a strong quadruple character is apparent, as expected from Fig. The output spectrum of a guitar may be calculated by multiplying the bridge force spectrum by the frequency response function of the guitar body.

This is greatly complicated, however, by the rapid change in the force spectrum with the time after the pluck see Fig. Caldersmith and Jansson measured the initial sound level and the rate of sound decay for played notes on guitars of high and medium quality.

They found that both the initial sound level and the rate of decay replicate the frequency response curve of a guitar, as shown in Fig. At strong resonances, however, the initial levels are slightly lower, and the levels decay faster than predicted by the frequency response curves. Rating the sound quality of classical guitars and how the quality depends on design and construction details have been studied by several investigators. According to Jansson , most guitar players feel that tonal strength or carrying power is the most important single quality criterion, with tone length and timbre being the second most important.

In the previous section, we mentioned how the initial sound level and rate of sound decay depends upon the resonances of a guitar body. Tones from recorded music were analyzed in the form of long time average spectra LTAS , and it was found that better guitars have a higher level up to 3, Hz.

Comparing two guitars, it was found that the less good guitars tended to have a lower level below 2, Hz and above Hz Jansson The oud is the oldest of them all, going back thousands of years.

The oud also called ud typically has strings, is unfretted, and is played with a feather. It is an Arabic instrument often featured in middle eastern music as well as Turkish music. It is unfretted so the musician can play quarter tones--the notes in between the 12 notes we get in the western scale.

Maqam refers to the system of melodic modes typical of Arabic music. Two methods of left hand fingering are in current usage. The older, more traditional Classical Arabic approach uses all four fingers for stopping the strings, one for each semitone much as a guitarist; my teacher used this method but it seems more people play with a style more akin to baglama saz or sitar technique, using the first and second fingers for as much as possible, with less use of the third and little use of the fourth fingers.

At this time I find myself borrowing from both styles and employing the method that renders the musical result easiest. Hakki Obadia's book used a mixed fingering system that uses finger 1 for several notes, finger 2 for some but not all strings and finger 3, not using finger 4. I tend to use a similar method but use finger 4 and use finger 2 on all strings. It seems that Arabic players are more sparing and judicious in the use of ornaments than Turkish-Armenian stylists, although cross-influences occur often.

One other factor may be the longer scale length of Arab ouds, which makes use of a wider left hand stretch facilitating the use of the guitar-type fingering. One other facet of left hand usage is the employment of the fingernail to help stop the string, giving a clearer tone and more pronounced ornaments than use of the fleshy tips alone.

This is common to several other fretless instrument, among them the sarod, shamisen and san-xien. All the method books I've seen have no mention of this practice, calling for the fleshy padded tip of the finger alone. Again, like fingering systems, I borrow from both and use the nail for special effects, often using the fingertip alone for a more basic sound. Let the music dictate the sound. Choosing an Oud Finding a quality oud is easier than it was years ago. First, more people are playing the instrument so more of them are in circulation.

Ouds are made in many places in a variety of similar but significantly different styles, and your preferred music and ideal of sound should be the first consideration in selecting which type of oud to buy. Generally, two main types of ouds are made; Turkish ouds, with manufacture centered in Istanbul, are very finely crafted of very light wood favoring a bright tone, and Arab ouds, made somewhat larger and heavier to favor a deeper tone color at the lower pitch tunings used. The main cities for oud crafting are Cairo, Egypt and Damascus, Syria.

Generally Arab ouds are a bit rougher crafted, but fine specimens of all sorts are available. It was first brought to Spain from Iraq in the 9 th century, and eventually inspired the creation of the lute and the guitar. For this concert, we are lucky enough to work with Ronnie Malley, a Palestinean-American who specializes in Middle Eastern music and teaches Arabic music workshops for Chicago Public Schools.

We asked Malley to give us a little more insight on the origins of the oud and what audiences can expect to hear in our upcoming concert. Q: How did you get exposed to Middle Eastern music and how did you learn to play the oud? I started playing music professionally at age 13 on guitar and made a switch to keyboards at age The family band played at weddings, clubs, and festivals around the country for Middle Eastern, Greek, Egyptian, Assyrian, North African communities, and more.

That was how I mainly honed my skills in music from these regions; I was fortunate to perform and have apprenticeships with older master musicians of the craft.

I came to the oud when I was about 16 years old, but it was mainly to satisfy myself in learning a traditional instrument from my own heritage, Palestinian. I thought to myself, here I am playing this music on guitar and keyboards, Western instruments, and it only seemed right and respectable to learn a traditional instrument.

A: The oud is basically like the great, great grandfather of the guitar. Hence, el oud is lute. The shape of these two instruments is similar with some tuning differences.