The old luthiers (oud and lute makers) of the 17th C and earlier knew what they were doing so it is of interest to take note of the construction
methods and materials that they used.
The rib joints of an oud or lute bowl should be reinforced from the inside with paper (or fine fabric) strips glued over each rib joint with hot hide
glue. The glue saturated strips may be pressed into intimate contact with any slight longitudinal undulations or variations in the joint surfaces
remaining after smoothing the bowl interior with a scraper.
The hide glue, on curing, shrinks to pull the rib joints tightly together. Furthermore - in the case of early 16th C lute bowls made from wide ribs
(7, 9, 11 or 13 ribs) - the glue shrinkage causes the ribs to become concave in section i.e. 'fluted' - an attractive feature often seen represented
in the lute iconography.
The earliest historical account of paper strip reinforcement is mentioned by the 14th C writer 'Ibn al-Tahhan al- Musiqi' who says ' the bowls of best
ouds are made from 11 ribs, although 13 ribs are sometimes used so that the bowl may be nicely vaulted. The paper, fastened inside, which holds the
strips together, should be of the best 'mansuri' (Dr. G.H. Farmer translation in 'Structure of the Arabian and Persian Lute', 1939).
I do not know what kind of paper 'mansuri' was or is (does anyone on the forum know?) - but I may have a pretty good idea as will be seen later in
this thread
More to follow.jdowning - 10-16-2014 at 11:34 AM
The earliest paper making in Persia dates to the 8th C - established by Chinese captives who were 'encouraged' to set up a paper making industry in
Baghdad. However the paper made in Persia and later in every part of the Muslim world was not made Chinese fashion from the bark of mulberry trees but
from linen rags mixed with other vegetable fibres. In 1154 the first paper mill in the Iberian Peninsula was established near Valencia then under
government of the Moors. ( see 'The Traditional Crafts of Persia' by Hans E. Wulff - the MIT Press, 1966)
Paper made from linen rags (rag paper) is more durable than paper made from wood fibres and is said to last for centuries. This is most likely the
paper that was used for rib reinforcement of early oud bowl rib joints.
Linen based paper was available until very recently (so may still be possible to find). A readily available, low cost modern alternative would be
paper made from cotton fibres. These papers are available as a 25% mix of cotton with wood fibres or 100% cotton fibre. Like linen paper, cotton based
paper is strong and durable.
Note that paper known as 'linen textured' is made only from wood pulp and embossed with woven pattern to simulate linen fabric. It is not 'rag paper'
and does not contain linen or cotton fibres.
As an alternative to rag paper I have used fine linen cloth (once used for engineering drawings), fine cotton cloth and silk fabric (from my wife's
discarded dresses) as rib joint reinforcements. It is advisable to use the thinnest fabric for this purpose to avoid adding too much extra weight to a
bowl - the thicker the material the greater the amount of glue required.
There is another material that may have been used on lutes according to historical record. To follow next.abc123xyz - 10-16-2014 at 12:52 PM
As an alternative to rag paper I have used fine linen cloth (once used for engineering drawings), fine cotton cloth and silk fabric (from my wife's
discarded dresses) as rib joint reinforcements.
Another substitute might be paper bills, if one doesn't mind shredding a few dollars worth of the lowest denomination available, lol.
U.S. bills are supposedly made of a mixture of cotton and linen fibers. Although, whatever sizing they use might interfere with the absorption of the
glue, I don't know.
David jdowning - 10-16-2014 at 02:38 PM
Yes U.S.bank notes are (or were if they haven't gone plastic like Canadian bills) but 100% cotton writing/printing paper costs less than 10 cents for
an 11" X 8.5" sheet (500 sheets).
Note that cotton fibre was not used to make Islamic paper as far as is known.jdowning - 10-17-2014 at 05:10 AM
Thanks to forum member sidjones for providing the following information concerning Mansuri paper.
Mansuri paper was made in Egypt - well known for its paper by the 10th C. Like all Islamic papers Mansuri was made from linen (old rags preferred to
flax fibres) and/or hemp (from rope).
Egyptian paper Misri came in two types - Mansuri and ordinary. The Mansuri came in larger sheet sizes than the ordinary paper and was first sized with
vegetable gum or starch to seal the surface and then burnished or polished to make the surface smooth enough to write upon. The ordinary grade of
paper was not burnished.
The sizing and burnishing made the paper imitate the appearance of parchment that was used for writing upon before paper became more readily
available. Parchment is made from thin animal skins treated so that it may be written upon with ink.
During a transition period between the 12th and 14th centuries both paper and parchment leaves were often mixed together in the making of books. So an
important property of the paper made during this period was that it too could take the same ink as parchment.
The interchangeability of paper and parchment by the 14th C leads into the other possible material for rib joint reinforcement. Nextjdowning - 10-24-2014 at 12:13 PM
Dutch scholar Henri Arnault de Zwolle wrote a treatise on musical instruments in the mid 15th C - including the lute covering its geometry, bracing
and construction. It is written in Latin - so would have been incomprehensible to the average person of the time (Latin and Greek were used as a kind
of 'secret' language among scholars). Arnault de Zwolle was not a luthier so presumably obtained his information by talking to practising luthiers -
so inevitably his description may be incomplete or in error (as the geometry is). The geometry of the lute profile is identical to that of the
'Urmawi' oud a century earlier.
After describing the construction of the bowl - on removing the bowl from the mold Arnault de Zwolle says "Next, glue the joints inside with
parchment, scrape off the outside paper, and put on the braces and sound board as you know" (translation Ian Harwood). (The 'outside paper' here
refers to an ancient method of bowl construction - still used today by some oud makers - where the ribs are assembled on the mold with strips of glued
paper. The glued strips pull the rib joints tightly together and reinforce the completed bowl while being removed from the mold)
So Arnault de Zwolle specified strips of parchment for reinforcing the rib joints but was he correct and - not being a luthier - assumed that
parchment was used rather than paper (both being used interchangeably for books at this time)?
Judging from surviving lutes of the 16th to 18th C, the late Robert Lundberg in his book 'Historical Lute Construction' writes that the rib lining or
reinforcing strips were almost always paper. He writes that parchment and cloth was used on some lutes of the Baroque period and that sometimes
parchment was used instead of paper on bowls with ivory ribs. He notes also that parchment absorbs more glue than paper so results in a heavier
bowl.
Parchment is made from animal skin, de-haired with lime, thinned by scraping and dried under tension. It is not tanned so is essentially rawhide and
may be adversely affected by moisture and humidity changes that can cause buckling of pages when bound into books. In order for the surface of
parchment to be written upon it must be treated by de-greasing and with pastes to make the surfaces smooth. Due to the high cost of parchment it was
common practice in earlier times to re-use parchment. Perhaps Arnault de Zwolle just assumed that lining strips were made from parchment re-cycled
from books and manuscripts (although by the 15th C paper would have been a cheaper material)?
So, if parchment is essentially rawhide it may be converted to glue by just boiling it with water. Hard to imagine that it would be stronger or in any
way superior as a rib reinforcement than linen paper soaked in hide glue.
No early ouds survive so it is not possible to establish if parchment was ever used in place of rag paper for rib reinforcement on ouds.
