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Abdel Aziz El Lacy (el-lissi) update: sound clip

SamirCanada - 9-19-2011 at 12:24 PM

Hi everyone,
I am back from my trip in Lebanon and Egypt.

I will share pictures and stories of my trip shortly but first,

I need to know what our distinguished members know about an egyptian oud named Abdel Aziz El Lacy (el lissi, el lassy) he is a maker which worked in the 1930's.

regards.

Adel Salameh - 9-19-2011 at 12:54 PM

Hi,
Al Lacy is considered to be Egypt best maker by many oud players and Makers.....he worked alot with Qasabji, he was known for having a European influence in his oud making....qasabji has asked Lacy to make him and design ouds for him with 60 cm length... most of the ouds which we see in qasabji's hand are made by Lacy....
also his ouds are very small.... very very clean maker....
his ouds are very rare ....
best wishes,
Adel

SamirCanada - 9-19-2011 at 04:57 PM

Merci ya Adel !
This just made my day! I have one now, but it needs some work. the pegbox was knocked off and I think there is a detached brace.
It was passed on to me by wife's grandmother. Her husband was friends with Mohamed Abdel Wahab and he got this oud from him.
it was made in 1937.

I will post the pictures soon.

freya - 9-19-2011 at 05:10 PM

It would also be great if you could describe the bracing pattern - location, thickness, height, etc.

Many Thanks

ExtreamTarab - 9-19-2011 at 05:42 PM

WOW Samir, mabrook...

I've seen some AbdulAziz Al-Laithy ouds and his work is outstanding. Hope you get yours fixed soon and enjoy playing it

FastForward - 9-19-2011 at 06:13 PM

مبروك سمير. عبدالعزيز الليثي كان من افضل صناع العود في مصر.

Mabrook Samir and enjoy the oud. Once you get a chance please post some photos/sound file.

Also, If you remove the top to re-glue the loose brace, it would be great if you can take some photos and share them with us.

Regards.

SamirCanada - 9-19-2011 at 07:54 PM

Thanks for all the wishes everyone. The workmanship is unreal, he was a great maker indeed. This oud is really special to me and I hope to cary on the spirit of Gedo Shafik who use to play with it.

I have some pictures here for you to see. I prepared the hide glue tonight for the repairs. I wont be removing the top but I will see what I can do for pictures of the bracing. Maybe I can do Jameel's camera trick.
funny thing is they thought I was suspicious looking when I was staring at the xray machine display in the airport. you could see every detail of the bracing. It didn't look extravagant or out of the extraordinary.

ExtreamTarab - 9-19-2011 at 08:45 PM

magnificent, looks like the other Laithy ouds I've seen pictures of...I'm speechless...
I think I'll bee coming to Ottawa soon

Ararat66 - 9-19-2011 at 11:56 PM

Congratulations on this, lovely story. What a great looking oud - a little like Turkish style. I bet it has a sweet sound.

Leon

Alfaraby - 9-20-2011 at 12:19 AM

This is a treasure Samir ! How lucky you are !
In the center of the big rosette there's the name of the owner, or at least who used to be the owner or the man whom the oud was built for : Abdo Qatar !
Abdo Qatar is the last living musician of Om Kolthoum orchestra, who joined in after being invited by Riad Sunbaty to play the contra-bass in "Rabe3a Al3adaweiah" work. Then, Abdeolwahab, who was a well-known talent hunter, hired his services in 1959.
He was a colleague of Abdelhalim, Kamal Altaweel, Ali Isma3eel, Faida Kamel & Abdel3azeem Abdelhaq in the conservatoire & used to work with them all in their early recordings.
He was Baligh Hamdy's first oud tutor back in 1953 !
He wasn't OK permanent contra-bassist, but was hired only when her regular "3azama" contra-bassist couldn't.

I had a great opportunity to meet the guy in Cairo in 2008 or 2009, when he was honored by the Arabic Music Festival held there annually. He's a very gentle old-man and a highly sensitive musician. I've watched him working and was stunned by his high performance & precision.

Now, how did Abdo Qatar's oud roll to you hands, Ya Samir Affendy ?

Yours indeed
Alfaraby

SamirCanada - 9-21-2011 at 04:28 PM

AlFaraby, I have read this yesterday but I have taken a lot of time to respond since I am still in state of complete shock...
My inlaws told me they had a oud for me in Egypt to give me but I didnt expect anything like this.

I dont know how to thank you enough for this information ya ma3alem. Your wealth of knowledge is impressive sir.

any idea when and where Abdo Qatar was born?

Adel Salameh - 9-21-2011 at 11:13 PM

Lovely oud ya Samir, Mabrouk....
here is some info about Abdo Qatar

http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=87796&Iss...

Mike - 9-22-2011 at 08:09 AM

What an awesome story Samir!!! How much MORE do you love your wife now bro?

Other than the pegbox, the oud looks super clean. Can't wait to hear and see more of that oud. Show us how you fix this gem either here or on your blog.

Later man,
Mike

SamirCanada - 9-22-2011 at 08:19 AM

I didnt know it was possible to love her any more untill then

Can you beleive that they considered tossing it out since they thought it was completely broken.

Alfaraby - 9-22-2011 at 11:02 AM

Quote: Originally posted by SamirCanada

Any idea when and where Abdo Qatar was born?

Being a fellow of Abdelhalim, Taweel & others, he must be born in 1920-21 that means he's over 80 now. It makes sense because I thought he's 80 when I met him back then.
Thank YOU Samir for sharing this experience

Yours indeed
Alfaraby

repairs completed

SamirCanada - 10-5-2011 at 04:37 PM

hi everyone,
here are some pictures of the repairs I have completed on my wife's grandfather's oud.

First I glued back pegbox which thankfully was not broken but the previous glue joint had failed. So I made some new hide glue and went to work.

next there was 3 loose braces which were reatached by removing the rosette and using hide glue to reach in the corner.

some details about the construction of this oud. The braces are VERY thin (0.5 cm wide about) and scalloped at the ends where the meet the oud body they are not higher than 0.5 cm.
The number and placement of braces is not unusual other then that.

The rosetted was very tricky to remove because it had been glued before the top was glued to the body and the 2 short braces on either side were notched where they met the rosette so they could act as further support. There was no way to keep those notches when replacing the rosette so I had to file them down.

ExtreamTarab - 10-5-2011 at 08:54 PM

Nice Smir, good job...

Now let's put some strings on and hear it

Ararat66 - 10-6-2011 at 01:04 AM

Samir

This is fantastic - such a great thread ...I picture you still standing there holding the rosette in place whilst the glue sets whilst you beard grows and hair goes grey

cheers

Leon

DORADO - 10-6-2011 at 02:43 AM

Beautiful story thanks for the pictures i learned how put the rosette
i wish you will post a sound file soon
Best Regards

SamirCanada - 10-6-2011 at 04:44 AM

Thanks Ibrahim, Leon and Dorado.
I am still awaiting the strings for it! its killing me!

I ordered some Pyramid lute strings from oudstrings.com since it diserves the best strings out there. I tried them once before at Mike's house and I remember they were quite impressive. I dont usually spend that much on strings but for this oud I can make an exception.

Also, I appologize I didnt have an assistant that day to make pictures while i was working. Because it was detail oriented work I decided to work on my kitchen table where the lighting is better, this of course while my wife was away

My method to put the rosette back on is not the "traditional" way of puting it on. If you make a search on the forums you will be able to find pictures of the typrical method with of sticks to create the tension.

But in this case, because the rosette is soo small and fragile, i wanted to distribute the pressure eavenly. I used dental floss /for no particular reason, but now there is no gengivitis or decay on the shamsa

/ and i wove it through the thickest portions of the rosette design. For this method to work, you have to use hide glue which sets pretty much in under 2-3 minutes. Once I brought up the rosette to make contact with the oud face, the glue was reheated with a heat gun to soften it once again. Hide glue is magical... because as it dries and shrinks, it makes the joint tighter and in this case it made the rosette super thight with the top. Modern chemical glues are very strong but they dont have that advantage and need more clamping pressure.

Danielo - 10-6-2011 at 11:46 PM

Congratulations Samir for this finding and your repair work ! This is a great story with a happy ending :applause:

Dan

SamirCanada - 10-7-2011 at 04:32 AM

Hi everyone,
I finally got the Pyramid lute strings for this oud. I put them on late last night and I took a video in the morning. Words cant discribe what it felt like to make it sing once again. It had been silent for more than 30 years. And then it sung...

I have made a quick video to share with you this morning before going to work. Although it deserves better than my playing, I was in heaven when I heard it. So deep and ringing. Right now its only tuned a whole step down... I dont know if I want to tune it up to full pitch ever... the universe might implode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2BqK1g9Siw&sns=em

I feel so privileged to have this oud and I will cherish it for years to come.

Thanks for your comments everyone. God bless.

teslim - 10-7-2011 at 07:35 AM

beautiful sounding oud...incredible!! thank you for sharing with us...you have an amazing treasure.... may it inspire you for many years to come..