aleos - 1-29-2011 at 03:23 AM
hello, my first post here.
I'm an oud loving canadian living in spain. I'll be visiting Morocco in a month and my aim is to make it a music centric visit.
I'm sure this question pops up alot, as I found some older posts, but some updated answers might be nice.
I would like to buy an oud in Morocco. Where?
As well I'd like to fill my stay there with as much local music as possible. Can anyone give me tips? I haven't bought my ticket yet so really I can
go anywhere in the country.
Thanks alot for any advice you guys can give me.
A.
suz_i_dil - 1-29-2011 at 04:10 AM
Did you heard about Khalid Belhaiba? He is a very well known maker from Morocco:
http://www.belhaibaoud.com/
aleos - 1-29-2011 at 04:30 AM
thanks. I've heard of them, they seem to make really beautiful instruments.
I have a feeling though that they will be out of my price range.
I noticed somewhere (but I could be wrong) that their oud's are 2000$.
That's a little much for me right now.
I'm hoping to get a cheaper, but good instrument.
I'm a composer/guitar player who wishes to peruse a lifelong desire to play the oud.
what are the price ranges for oud's in morocco?
I don't even know what I should be expected to pay.
zakiya_alali - 1-31-2011 at 08:06 AM
bro try the old market in casablanca there is this oud maker, he has a variety of morrocan oud
John Erlich - 2-24-2011 at 02:51 PM
My advice: Buy the VERY BEST oud you can reasonably afford--go into a bit of debt if you have to. When is the next time you will be in an Arab
country to buy a decent oud? I still kick myself for not shopping around, bargaining harder and spending more to get a decent instrument on my first
visit to Cairo in 1995.
Mehran - 2-25-2011 at 06:40 AM
Dont cross Khalid Belhaiba off your list yet. His top line ouds can be expensive like all other professional luthiers, however, when i was in his
workshop he also had a high quality student model which i tried as well. Drop by and see if he has anything, you never know.
aleos - 2-25-2011 at 06:42 AM
thank you everyone for your advice.
I'm very excited to go to Morocco
fernandraynaud - 2-25-2011 at 08:04 PM
Aleos, do you have any experience, so that you could feel reasonably confident in recognizing a good deal? It's nice when people say "go for quality"
but if you don't have some intrinsic know-how you are sentenced to accepting what they offer as "professional". Try to get some hands-on before you
go. When shopping for an oud, make certain the neck is straight/flat, that the soundboard is approximately in the plane of the fingerboard, and the
action is low, say under 3mm at the neck-body junction. It is easy to raise the action some, for instance by raising the loops at the bridge, but very
hard to lower it, and playing on a high action is very very discouraging.
Sam - 3-1-2011 at 10:05 AM
Morocco is a good choice for choosing a decent Oud. There are variety of professional oud makers, You may ask our friend Samir Abassi in this lovely
forum he might be your guide to choose a good quality in morocco.
aleos - 4-12-2011 at 09:11 AM
thanks everyone again for their advice. I haven't been getting notifications for this thread so I forgot to check it. Fernandrayaud, no I have no
experience with oud quality unfortunately, I am a very experienced guitarist however. I know it's a different breed, but we'll see what happens.
I'll be in Marrakech in 2 days. Any last advice?
I definitely don't have too much to spend, so I hope I have some good fortune. I hope my nice guy attitude and arabic apperance help out.
Also, although I'm going to Morocco, I've been led to believe by many trustworthy voices that the Turkish oud is more along my style.
Of course I am going to buy a beautiful Moroccan instrument, but does anybody know of any characteristics that might be closer to the Turkish style
that would be available in Morocco?
Much in the way as someone who was buying a Classical guitar, but wanted some aspects of a traditional flamenco guitar. A little brighter. Lower
action etc....
thanks everyone. I will bring back some info for you guys.
aleos - 4-14-2011 at 06:08 AM
It seems as though Khalid Belhaiba is the master oud maker in Morroco.
But his Oud's I think are just a hair out of my price range.
Is there any other talented luthiers who are maybe not quite as well known?
I have maybe 400$CAN/3253MAD to spend.