Mike's Oud Forums

who is this luthier, please

billkilpatrick - 10-20-2005 at 01:17 AM

greetings -

could i ask one of the arabic speakers on site to please tell me who made my oud? it's always bothered me that i don't know the name of the man who ... not to be at all overly dramatic about it ... changed my life. i'd really appreciate it.

i don't know if the attached photos are sufficient to make an identification but here is what i have:

billkilpatrick - 10-20-2005 at 01:19 AM

and the second - many thanks - bill

David Parfitt - 10-20-2005 at 02:26 AM

Bill, looks like it was made my Mourad al-Turki, and I can also see the word 'Cairo' at the bottom. Maybe someone else could fill in some more details though?

Best wishes

David

SamirCanada - 10-20-2005 at 03:49 AM

It reads mourad al-turki.
It does read it was made in Cairo and it reads he makes oud and buzuq
Just to point out something. The middle easterners as a society identify themselves a lot by where there are. They do not have a melting pot kind of society. This guy could have been born there and his grandparents could have been in egypt for years and years. Thats why you'll encounter many people with names like (al-masry and al-turky) no mather how long there. I think it might have been common practice to change the family names when a family moved and they wanted people to know where they were from. This most likely was a trend during the ottoman rule.
I hope this makes sense
regards.

billkilpatrick - 10-20-2005 at 04:34 AM

blessyoublessyoublessyou ... both.

i have no idea how much it cost. it was gift from a friend who was living in cairo at the time and she WILL not tell me how much it cost her - no matter how often i ask.

there's a thing called "acquisition syndrome" (AS) which effects most everyone on the various lists i contribute to - mandolin (MAS), charango (CAS) and presumably, (CGAS) for classical guitar - but this is the only oud i've ever wanted. i have two other ouds - one a gift from my wife and the other an ebay cheapie i use when playing in the street - but they're both incidental. it, a lovely mandolin from mid-missouri mandolin company and one of the better made, "concert" quality charangos i own are the only instruments i've ever played which communicate back to me when i communicate to it.

many, many thanks for your help. it's very much appreciated - bill

sydney - 10-20-2005 at 06:24 AM

Hello,

It does say Mourad El Turki - Which I agree that "El turki" is how Samir explained but in addition - I'd like to explain that usually we used to finalize with "Cairo dd/mm/yyyy" in most of our writings. This is exactly what I see on that lable. (Cairo 10/05/year is cover). I guess this why David said it is made in Cairo.

If it is important for you and you wish to know what year, please take another shot on the last line where it has / / salshes.

I had one oud one day and it was made by Mourad El turki . It was actually well made and sounds so much better than many other ouds I have come across. So I guess yours sounds just as good.