In the 9th century, Andalusian great musician Zaryab (789 - 857 A.D.) replaced the Oud wooden plectrum with an eagle's quill, for both its flexibility
and strength. Thus he avoided the stiffness of the rigid wooden Mizrab and the damage it had caused to gutt strings.
Throughout history, Oud players have discovered that horn and turtle shield may also be used for plucking strings, so they used them as well, until
plastic was discovered in the early 20th century.
Since 1950's, plastic plectrum overshadowed its predecessors for its ease of manufacturing, low cost raw materials, availability and longevity, as
well as no need for maintenance whatsoever, except for adapting it for the personal requirements of the musicians.
Today, after 1200 years of absence, the wooden plectrum is re-emerging, thanks to the use of modern technologies and materials, carefully selected in
the world's first of a kind wooden pick.
In a joint venture of Eng. Philip Shaheen and Mike Miltimore from Riversong Guitars Company, the old/new plectrum is engineered like carbon fiber for
stiffness, while the wood grains promise soft core for feeling and tone. Philip's know-how as a luthier, who has built tens of carbon fiber bowl ouds,
together with his talent as an oud player and Mike's commitment to enovation have created this superior plectrums, available in various stiffnesses,
ranging from soft to.
Nevertheless, Philip has not said enough yet and continues to develop a multi hardness pick, which shall produce four different effects of its two
sides once flipped. Well, this sounds pretty much promising but we shall have to put a hand on it in order to believe.
For further information, you may visit both sites:
I have tried two of these and enjoyed the new feel that I had never experienced before. You'd still have to adapt it to your own taste with a super
fine sandpaper (1000 and up), but that's all. It's ready.
What do you think fellows ?
Yours indeed
Alfaraby MattOud - 8-25-2017 at 06:49 PM
Thanx for letting us know about these Alfaraby!
I am in the 'trying Oud rishas' mode currently, and these look neat.
but it looks like they only have 2 hardnesses, hard or medium. I am wondering if i would like soft and medium to try, because hard may be too hard
for my style. Regardless, i may try the medium one to see. Which two did you try?
Best,
Matt
ps: i love the idea of a multi-hardness pic...that would be something neat!majnuunNavid - 8-25-2017 at 08:35 PM
In conversation directly with Philip, he says it is forbidden to sand or shape the risha. You may ruin the Risha if you do so.
I like it. I will continue to use it when I need warmer tone.
I was surprised at the playability. I was expecting it to be more stiff. But it is flexible. I usually use a firm cow horn risha.
Philip says it is forbidden to sand or shape the risha. You may ruin the Risha if you do so.
Well, the pick is coated, so you may shape the tip the way you like: sharp, round, eagle head etc. conditioned you don't sand the coating.
This coating is still a trial version, and we need time to see what effect would continuous playing has on it. Phillip said also: I might make
stronger coating that will live much longer, but this would affect the playability and cause harm to the strings. After all the whole project is still
in the bud stage.
Let's try the product and get back once we have any new findings to share.
