MatthewW - 8-8-2007 at 09:08 AM
This may have been asked before, but can anyone recommend a well written maqam reference book for the oud for non Arabic speaking musicians, something
that has has a good selection of most maqams plus the maqam (if transposable) in it's different keys with notation, ie. maqam bayati in C, maqam
bayati in G, maqam bayati in A, and also with further reference to Arabic music theory, jinns, ajams, modulation and also a glossary of Arabic musical
termonology and idioms? - everything but the kitchen sink! Thanks! 
ALAMI - 8-8-2007 at 10:22 AM
Hey Mat, you've got a C on your homework of digging the treasures of this site.
The Greatest resource in English is the book of Dr Scott Marcus
Arab Music Theory in the Modern Period
(use save link as..., click may not work)
and yes the above line is in blue and it is available right in these forums thanks to our friend TP21 and with the permission of the author (a massive
1000 page), you're in business for the next 2 years.
Another handy transposition utility used to be on http://www.turath.org
the site ceased to exist but I still have the page saved as .mht file (will open only in internet Explorer not in Firefox or Safari)
MatthewW - 8-8-2007 at 11:15 AM
hey Alami, I was never too good at homework buddy! now where was this massive book hiding itself in this website?!
Just downloaded The Dr Scott Marcus book. let's see, at 1000 pages, if I do a page a day it'll only take me...
And the maqam transpostion chart is a real jewel!
1000 thanks my friend! 
Jack_Campin - 1-24-2008 at 05:42 PM
I get a dialog box asking for username and password when I try to get Marcus's book.
What's the secret?
MatthewW - 1-25-2008 at 10:48 AM
hey Jack, not sure what's up with Marcus' book, but in the meantime check this thread out, courtesy of rebetostar-
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7105
ALAMI - 1-25-2008 at 11:27 AM
Hi Jack, Dr Marcus Book is posted on an ftp server, a username and a password are needed so I embedded them in the link,
as I wrote before it is better to Right-Click on the link (or CTRL_click if you're on Mac) and choose "Save Link as" or "save Target as" and download
the pdf to the Hard disk instead to try to open it directly from the server.
I just checked using firefox and explorer and it's working normally.
On some internet connections (in some large companies) FTP port is disabled, try from another location.
Pls try the abv and let me know.
Jack_Campin - 1-25-2008 at 05:02 PM
I'm afraid the FTP userid and password aren't included in the link above - it expands to
ftp://clamato.dreamhost.com//Arab Music Theory in the Modern Period.pdf
I don't think that's legit as a URL - the blanks should be "=20". I guess something got lost in copy/paste operations.
Jack_Campin - 2-1-2008 at 04:09 AM
Finally managed to download Marcus's thesis by switching a to a different computer (an iMac running Firefox on Panther). No idea why that made a
difference, but many thanks anyway!
nayoud - 2-10-2008 at 01:37 PM
Hi all
here is another find on maqam theory (PhD thesis as well). I hope those of us who didn't know about it would find it interesting.
http://www.ozanyarman.com/misc/Ozan_Yarman_tez.pdf
cheers
Ararat66 - 2-10-2008 at 04:54 PM
Thanks for that Hisham - really interesting, I've just had a quick look through it and I find those 'tone circles' fascinating and revealing.
Cheers Leon
rebetostar - 2-11-2008 at 05:50 PM
Thanks Hisham!
What an intense scholarly undertaking. I'll bet lots of Qanunis are good at math. 
nayoud - 2-11-2008 at 06:54 PM
Leon and rebetostar
I'm gald that you found it interesting. Other sources with similar insight on scales but more inclined towards north Indian Raga based music would be
the books by Alain Danielou. The problem that I face is that you really don't find too much on Maqam theory.
Cheers