Re: R: Indian/middle eastern sounds, microtonality

[Tim Nelson <tcn62@ici.net>]

At 11:15 PM 12/8/99 -0500, you wrote:
>> Do you guitarists/oudists generally adapt guitar tunings and right hand
>> techniques to the oud, or do you go the oud purist route?

Some of you into the oud/microtonal guitar thing might be interested in the
cumbus (pronounced "joombush").

It's ("its", Javier) an unusual Turkish instrument that combines an oud, a
banjo, a 12-string guitar, a formica countertop (the fretless fingerboard),
and an aluminum cooking pan (the body) into one strange package.

In the early part of the century, the cumbus all but replaced the oud in
certain settings in Turkish music (mostly in noisier places like bars and
chai gardens; the oud remained the instrument of choice for more
traditional settings...) due to the advantages in volume and projection,
and also to its ("it's", Javier) more durable construction.

My cumbus is pretty beat up, having lost a couple of its ("it's", Javier)
tuners, but it's ("its", Javier) still fun to play. The instrument is still
made, and is available in models simulating the scale length, string
configuration fretted/fretlessness and tuning of several instruments
including saz, oud, guitar and (I think) mandolin.

Oh, and you can loop it...

Tim