Mike's Oud Forums

why are we here?

kwamethomas - 9-11-2007 at 01:30 PM

Hey everyone:wavey:

I'm a once and future ethnomusicology grad student in North Carolina, a professional guitarist, and a terrible oud player. (I'll post a taqsim this week, so you'll hear what I mean) I'm doing a paper on Mikeouds, and Mike said it would be all right if I asked a few questions.

At the moment, I'm curious: What role does Mikeouds play in your musical life?
-Do you play oud in front of people?

-Are you the only oudist where you live? Do you have other musicians to play this style with, or is the site your main source of oud companionship?

Living in Ohio, and now in central NC, I'll tell you- if it wasn't for Mikeouds, it would just be books and CDs for me!

Looking forward to hearing from all of you. Thanks!

Tom

Jason - 9-11-2007 at 01:46 PM

-Do you play oud in front of people?

Although I play live fairly regularly I've never played oud live. I need to get around to doing that :)

-Are you the only oudist where you live?

I just moved to louisville so I'm hopeful I can find some musicians in this area

oudplayer - 9-11-2007 at 02:51 PM

Hey tom

Un just to answer a few of yr questions.

mikeouds is a huge role in my oud life for many reasons, one b/c this is a huge family form all over the world and all differant ethnicities and religin. another great thing abotu this site is people get to share there songs or remakes of a song and they will get both ;positive and negitive feed back but with the negitive feedback you will always get how to do it better.
and a great place to show and to understadns about where a oud comes from and what contrys it comes from and the differ kinds of ouds.


DO i play play infont of people ?? yes and no when i play with my band we always play one if not 2 songs that has oud in it , bc i am a daf/ riqq player for my band they need me for perccusiions.

I dont have anyone that lives near me who can teach me so i play oud myself and get all my info at the bgreatist oud place int he world, mikesouds.com btw you rock mike malik {the owner}

thx sammy

Arto - 9-12-2007 at 03:00 AM

1) No, I don´t play before other people (I don´t think family members passing by qualify as an audience ;-)
2) Yes, I´m the only oud player where I live. They must be others, but I don´t have contacts, at least not yet. This forum is my first and foremost source of information about oud playing, and about Middle Eastern music in general. It is truly valuable - thanks for everybody here!

kasos - 9-12-2007 at 07:57 AM

Hi Tom. I play oud and lavta (a Turkish variant on the oud, with a longer neck and micro-tonal frets), and Mike's site has had a huge influence on my playing and musical interests, particularly during a period during 2005 and 2006 when I was in a fairly intense phase of learning about the oud and about Middle Eastern music generally. During that time, I read the postings daily, and put up quite a number of posts myself. In the period in question, I acted as composer and musical director for a music theatre show which featured a lot of Greek and Turkish musical references. Mike's site was a fount of knowledge, which I can only describe as invaluable to me at the time.

I don't spend as much time on the site now as I used to. As a general observation, after having acquired a basic level of knowledge, I am now spending more time playing, and listening to recordings, rather than reading or asking questions on this site (if that makes sense). I should mention that, as beloved as my oud and lavta are, they are only part of what is now a larger collection of world music instruments, which has grown like topsy over the past three years. Keeping up a basic competency on what are now over 30 instruments (a majority of which are bowed, rather than plucked) is a very time consuming process, even when you're playing on one or the other of the instrument two to three hours a night (double or triple that on weekends).

I'm originally a pianist and violinist, rather than a guitarist, and those instruments are still the ones I tend to play publicly, rather than the oud or lavta, although I have also played the Cretan lyra in concerts (a Greek bowed instrument very similar to the Ottoman classical kemence). However, because of my role as musical director for the above mentioned play, I introduced a number of "new' instruments, including the oud, to a number of my musical friends (like myself, they were not ethnically connected to countries where the oud is in general use, and had no prior playing contact with the instrument(s)). These friends then used the oud and other instruments repeatedly in concert (so I suppose you could indirectly credit Mike's site with having spread use of the oud in the case of my home community, a small mining town in Northern Canada).

I also have acted as a bit of an oud "missionary" if you will, in workshops or other settings intended for interactive exposure - in folk festival settings, or other opportunities as they arise. This summer, for instance, I did a week long stint with a Christian Bible camp which was doing a sort of role playing thing, recreating the ancient Middle East, with tents and costumes - a little cheesy I suppose, but with my oud and other instruments I was able to provide something a little more grounded in reality than the taped mishmosh of music they would otherwise have relied upon.

One more note. Although I no longer do music full time (after working full time as a pianist for about a decade, I returned to school and became a lawyer, then a public administrator), like you, I'm also a graduate of a university music program (Bmus, 1984, University of Manitoba), and had my first exposure to the oud (listening to it, anyway) in the context of an ethnomusicological segment of that program. I have to say that it's now a very different world, in terms of musical opportunities, than in the early 80's - I hardly had an opportunity to touch an oud then, recordings were almost impossible to find, never mind participating in an ongoing online talk group. How ironic that, just as means of bringing people of different regions, cultures and faiths together peacefully are becoming more and more technically possible (this site being an outstanding example), political forces still seem intent on driving us further apart. I pray for the day when better knowledge of, and more direct contact between ordinary people in different parts of the world, will make the cycles of violence we are currently enmeshed in a thing of the past. I am of course mindful of yesterday's tragic anniversary, and of all of the injustices inflicted by the West on the East which preceded and followed it.

All the best with your paper - Mark in Canada

cjmichael - 9-12-2007 at 08:13 AM

Hey Tom,

I just started playing this summer. I have only played in front of family and friends.

I am the only person I know of that plays oud here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I know of a oud player in New Orleans (an hour drive) who plays very well, but that's it. Other than that, I know people that own ouds but are scared of practice so I'm already past their level.

Honestly, I wanted to take up a musical instrument because my life and all my hobbies were so stressful. If I didn't stumble upon mikeouds in my search, I would have never even thought of playing. Both of my ouds were bought through connections on this site, and all my questions were answered here. There are many great oudists here to learn from, and they all seem to be nice people.

Brian Prunka - 9-12-2007 at 11:56 AM

What role does Mikeouds play in your musical life?

I check on the site a few times a week on average.
Mainly I like to see if there are any interesting conversations happening, if someone's posted some new music or video worth checking out, how the progress is on Jameel's latest oud (amazing, by the way), if I can assist in answering anyone's questions or if someone has some useful information they've shared, or if there are any interesting ouds for sale. I like the sense of community here and how it's connected oud lovers from all over the world.

Do you play oud in front of people?
Yes, I perform fairly often in clubs, concerts, etc. I've also played guitar professionally for over 10 years.


Are you the only oudist where you live?
No way . . . I'm living in New York! Lots of great oud players here.
Although I used to live in New Orleans, where there was only one other oud player, who mainly performed on lute.

Do you have other musicians to play this style with, or is the site your main source of oud companionship?
We have a pretty sizeable Arabic music scene here, so I'm fortunate in that I'm able to play with a lot of musicians on a variety of instruments.

best of luck with your paper.

-Brian

excentrik - 9-12-2007 at 11:33 PM

please email me for some specific q's- I'd be happy to help-

tarik


excentrikaz@gmail.com

and check out- myspace.com/excentrikaz

one love

abusin - 9-13-2007 at 01:43 AM

Hi Tom,

What role does Mikeouds play in your musical life?

Since my first click on the Mikeouds link a few years back, it became my knowledge base for everything oud music I access the pages on a daily basis browsing the posts and listening to oud music.
Since I joined the forum I appreciated the oud more and more, my playing have greatly improved. And best of all I now have many friends around the Globe.

Do you play oud in front of people?

Yes, as a front man and the main vocalist in a band also I gig as solo with oud

Are you the only oudist where you live?

No, but the only Khomasi artist and oudist in my locality.

Do you have other musicians to play this style with, or is the site your main source of oud companionship?

Yes I do have my band members to play this style with, but Mikeouds is my personl arena for its wealth in info relating to oud and music and oud makers

best luck Tom
Anything else I can help with please don't hesitate to jot me a U2U.

Thanks

Awad

Cyberquills - 9-13-2007 at 04:22 AM

Hi Tommo

Mikes Ouds has played a very helpful part in the ongoing (lifelong!!) development of oud skills, repertoire, and general understanding of ME theory and music. It provides an excellent network of likeminded people with whom I can share thoughts and finds AND gives me the opportunity to get hold of sheet music and other infor that I would otherwise not have access to.

Do I play in front of people? Yes I do. I have played in local restaurants, and halflahs, did the opening of a belly dance studio (sheesh, they are everywhere in Perth!!), and--more recently--did the media launch for the Egyptian exhibit at the Art Gallery of WA which was flown in from Paris, as well as some major corporate events. At the former gigs I often had a chum playing tabla. The latter ones, and restauarant ones, were all solo oud.

I know of a few oud owners in WA but I think there are only a very few actively performing here. West Oz players, please correct me if I'm wrong! I heard that there were a few ouds brought out by locals at one of JTs workshops when he was here but that is 2nd hand info...

Anyway, HOORAY for Mike's site!

CQ

kwamethomas - 9-14-2007 at 07:42 PM

Dear All,

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me! It's been great learning about all of you. Oh, and I posted that taqsim on the user recordings like I promised- yeah, haven't been playing for very long. :shrug:

Take care, and yeah, hooray for mikeouds!

Tom

omazuz - 9-14-2007 at 10:28 PM

Answering yr Q.- i dont play in front of people-exept my close freinds,family and my teacher (Ihab Nimer)-im a beginner (1 year) and its the only musical instrument i have ever played (im 39 years old).
There are more oud players in Israel and im starting to know and meet them-the better ill play the easier it wiil be.
Mike's site and forum is like the Oud- makes us close with out ethnic borders-i hope this trend wil grow bigger.
Soon (november) will begin the "Pestival haoud" (Oud festival) in Jerusalem and will take place for 3 weeks- people all over the world will come to hear oud and ethnic instruments- on the stage there are no borders - like the odience listening to music and like this forum.
May it will pass from us to all.
ofer

dandana - 9-15-2007 at 01:21 AM

Hello
as for me, I don't perform in public. But I follow however closely the news about other oud players from this forum who exchange their experiences.
The forum for me is a place where I can get a lot of useful information, technical and artistic.
More than that, it's n occasion to observe and enjoy many relevant discussions about a lot of subjects.
It's where I can get answers for my questions sometimes as well.
So it's more than a look-at thing for me.

Good luck
Dandana

Jameel - 9-15-2007 at 04:48 AM

Nice topic Tom.

I first though this was a thread about the bigger question "why are we here?" I don't have an answer to that question, although "southern fried chicken" comes darn close! :D

see my answers after the ****
Quote:
Originally posted by kwamethomas
Hey everyone:wavey:

I'm a once and future ethnomusicology grad student in North Carolina, a professional guitarist, and a terrible oud player. (I'll post a taqsim this week, so you'll hear what I mean) I'm doing a paper on Mikeouds, and Mike said it would be all right if I asked a few questions.

At the moment, I'm curious: What role does Mikeouds play in your musical life?

****The forum section is a great place to connect with other oud enthusiasts. I'm in a bit of an oud wasteland, so the forum really serves as a great platform for informational exchanges and collaboration. I've gleaned lots of knowledge from other luthiers and enthusiasts here.

-Do you play oud in front of people?

****Not really, other than among family and friends. I tend to focus what little time for oud that I have on building, so most of my playing is in the form of analysis of a particular instrument, and nobody wants to hear that....:D

-Are you the only oudist where you live? Do you have other musicians to play this style with, or is the site your main source of oud companionship?

****No. There are at least two or three others. But I've never met them.

Living in Ohio, and now in central NC, I'll tell you- if it wasn't for Mikeouds, it would just be books and CDs for me!

Looking forward to hearing from all of you. Thanks!

Tom

MatthewW - 9-15-2007 at 05:54 AM

Hi Tom, let me add my two-pence worth for your paper on Mikes ouds-
The forum has been a great source of reference and learning material for me, and it would have been hard going learning oud if it wasn't for Mike and the forum. I think any new comer to this instrument who came across Mikes Ouds forum will agree on that. It helped me get the oud basics together and pointed me in the right direction for all oud related things. It gave me inspiration to keep on learning and not feel down about what level I was playing at and also gave me a sense of not being alone in learning the oud, that I could ask anything or read up on any number of topics from a fellow oud player located in any part of the world, from Syria, to Italy to Canada to Idaho and back, and feel part of one large family with Mike as the Godfather ( or oudfather...see the relevant posting by Lintfree). Speaking of Idaho how the heck did you wind up there Jameel?
There are other oud players in the UK active in Mikes Ouds forum who I've not yet met but have exchanged U2Us with, the closet player to me is about 90 miles down the road. I did meet Ahmed Muhktar in London (a professional player and teacher) but I don't think he is active in the forum. I do play guitar in public but not in any Arabic or Eastern musical genre, but I hope to start using the oud in a more Arabic/Indian/world music crossover ensemble when I get some things sorted out with some like-minded musicians here. To make a long story short, Mikes Ouds website has been the best thing I have come across for all things oud. (by the way, don't forget to ask Mike about gamblers luck!) ;)