Whisky Echo Papa - 5-20-2015 at 10:41 PM
Hi folks
I've just bought a new oud and will be learning it over the next few years. I live in Tauranga, New Zealand: does anyone know of any oud players in
Tauranga?
My oud's made by Bayly Music and has a nice sound, though at this moment I only know the sound of oud from Mavrouti Kontanis, Marina Toshich and John
Bilezikjian's methods, and of course Naseer Shamma's incredible virtuosity on some Youtube videos I've seen.
hans - 5-21-2015 at 12:34 AM
Kia ora w.e.p.! And welcome to the forum. I don't know any oud players in n.z. right now, but sometime in the coming years i and my wife will go to
live in your country for at least a year. By that time i hope to be able to play a worthy version of yurdal tokcan's Manolya. Are you trying to teach
yourself, or via skype lessons?
Whisky Echo Papa - 5-21-2015 at 02:18 AM
Thanks hans. You're welcome! Maybe you'll find me getting a tune out my oud ... 
It's actually Bavly Music, Cairo that made my oud; it is a bit rough, but the soundboard's thin enough and made of cedar. They went to town on the
bowl's decoration. But it sounds good to me, and has a sweet tone.
As far as previous music experience goes, my first instrument was the guitar. My second was the pedal steel guitar; third the bagpipe chanter; fourth
the violin. I play trombone in a local brass band, and am learning cello and trying to teach myself the cornetto/zink. I'm not really musical: it just
looks like it. 
Whisky Echo Papa - 5-21-2015 at 02:32 AM
And I forgot to answer your question: sorry, my bad. I've got Marina Toshich's The Basics of Oud, which comes with a DVD. I'll be using that to learn
the Arab Oud.
And listening to Issa Boulos, Naseer Shamma, Munir Bashir and Jameel Bashir, and any other oudist I can track down on Youtube ...
hans - 5-21-2015 at 05:11 AM
Sounds like you have a lot of experience with string instruments, that's good! I started with the guitar myself, many years ago, but the guitar
never really became my thing. Now the oud feels like an addiction. I was able to put much of my guitar technique into my oud playing, but: i feel very
strongly that, in trying to make the thing sound like an oud, i cannot do without my teacher. Whenever i haven't seen him for a while, invariably it
starts to sound like a spanish guitar. I need his influence, his background to make it sound like an eastern instrument (he is from eastern turkey). I
am probably not as versatile as you, and i don't want to sound pushy, but i would not want to do without a teacher and i would try if lessons by skype
would work if i couldn't find a teacher in my neighbourhood
John Erlich - 5-21-2015 at 07:20 PM
Hi WEP,
The only oud player I know of in NZ is Forum member Jonathan Gemmill. He's in Wellington, which, according to Google, is a longer drive than San
Francisco to Los Angeles. However, if you are serious, 6 1/2 hrs. driving would be worth it, because it's VERY helpful to have an experienced player
give you some pointers when you start out, to avoid some bad--and body-damaging--habits. I was a (jazz) guitar player; when I picked up the oud, I
quickly began to develop some repetitive stress in my picking arm, but this could have been avoided had I found some instruction earlier on. You need
to play an oud like an oud, not like a guitar.
Welcome to the wonderful and crazy world of the oud!
Though I am often jealous of the Middle Eastern music scene available to my friends in New York and Los Angeles, I need to see posts like yours from
time-to-time to remind me that, compared to many places in the world, the San Francisco Bay Area has an "embarrassment of riches," when it comes to
Middle Eastern music.
Good luck and peace out,
"Udi" John
Whisky Echo Papa - 5-24-2015 at 02:19 AM
Thanks John and hans
Well today I played at one of the local Returned Servicemen's Association's commemorations, for the Battle of Crete. There was a group of women
dancing Greek traditional dances, and I took the opportunity to introduce myself to them and ask about oud players in Tauranga. They told me that they
only knew of two oud players, and they were in Auckland - only three hours away, and sometimes visiting Tauranga - so they would let them know about
me.
Well, I've made a start.
Jono Oud N.Z - 5-29-2015 at 01:45 PM
Hi.
Send me a U2U if you want to be in contact.
Good to have more oud players in NZ.