Mike's Oud Forums

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shayrgob - 9-23-2009 at 05:00 PM

Hey guys/gals!

My dad just bought me an oud from Syria and it's an absolute piece of junk! There's a piece of wood stuck inside and you can see the glue, the strings overlap, etc.

Anyway, needless to say I don't know much about the oud. I just started playing the guitar 2 months ago but I'm much more passionate about the oud.

I have a ? What is the difference between the oud and the lute. The only diff I noticed is that lutes have frets and ouds don't. Is that all?

thanks!!!

fernandraynaud - 9-23-2009 at 07:30 PM

pretty much ...

Christian1095 - 9-24-2009 at 07:47 AM

Yeah, for the most part...

Dude, post a pic of the oud... I've never seen overlapping strings... Perhaps it could be a cautionary tale.

shayrgob - 9-24-2009 at 10:17 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Christian1095  
Yeah, for the most part...

Dude, post a pic of the oud... I've never seen overlapping strings... Perhaps it could be a cautionary tale.


haha I will when I go back home next week....I'm so tempted to smash it

MatthewW - 9-26-2009 at 12:50 AM

hi welcome to the forum- if your'e in Chicago contact for oud info, etc-
http://www.issaboulos.com/

Franck - 9-26-2009 at 05:32 AM

Hi, the lute is played with the fingers and the thumb, while the oud can be played with fingers, it is mostly played with a long pick (traditionally made of an eagle's feather, hence the arabic name risha (feather), it can also be made of bull's horn. The Turkish name of the pick is mızrap (pronounced m'zrap)). The lute is used to play polyphonic music from the Renaissance while the oud is mostly a melodic instrument. The fact that the oud doesn't have frets allows the playing of micro tones used in oriental music.

Hope it helps.

shayrgob - 9-30-2009 at 04:16 PM

Quote: Originally posted by MatthewW  
hi welcome to the forum- if your'e in Chicago contact for oud info, etc-
[url]http://www.issaboulos.com/
[/url]

Issa is only available on a certain weekday at 4pm....which wouldn't work for me. I did find Ronnie Malley at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I'll be taking a class there soon!

shayrgob - 9-30-2009 at 04:23 PM

Chris:




In the following pic you can see that the single string isn't placed where it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be at the top???



one more for the hell of it:



Christian1095 - 10-1-2009 at 08:23 AM

Contact Jameel at Khalaf Ouds and get new strings.... that might be half the problem...

Also, it's not super critical for your bass string to be directly on the fingerboard... Meaning, it's certainly nice to have it, but since you mostly use that top string for drones... it's not the worst that could happen... and I'm guessing the thing is still playable... As long as the neck is straight, it holds together, it should make a sound...

I guess it would be like getting a cheapo guitar... the action might be super high -- but it's better than a picture and you can still have fun with it....

But I'd change those strings out right away....

fhalaw - 10-1-2009 at 08:56 AM

not necessarily,

Munir Bashir had the BASS fa string at the end.

dss - 10-1-2009 at 09:58 AM

Related question on the bass string pictured...

I've seen those "red strings" on other random oud pictures and was wondering who makes those? Are those one of the Pyramid packages?

(hoping not to hijack your thread here and good luck w/ the new oud)

shayrgob - 10-2-2009 at 06:56 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Christian1095  
Contact Jameel at Khalaf Ouds and get new strings.... that might be half the problem...

Also, it's not super critical for your bass string to be directly on the fingerboard... Meaning, it's certainly nice to have it, but since you mostly use that top string for drones... it's not the worst that could happen... and I'm guessing the thing is still playable... As long as the neck is straight, it holds together, it should make a sound...

I guess it would be like getting a cheapo guitar... the action might be super high -- but it's better than a picture and you can still have fun with it....

But I'd change those strings out right away....


Chris: Look closely and you will see two strings at the top where there is only supposed to be one. What's the deal with that?

fhalaw - 10-2-2009 at 07:15 AM

It does not matter..
just restring the oud that way you want it with new strings.

AS I said, Munir bashir had this type of set up

2
2
2
2
2
1 <- Bass FA

fhalaw - 10-2-2009 at 07:20 AM

Or maybe get the Daniel Mari set.. they are 8 bucks.
Search the forms for the link.

Cheers!

Yori - 10-2-2009 at 07:28 AM

Hi shayrgob ,

Could this be a left-handed oud?

Christian1095 - 10-2-2009 at 08:17 AM

It's just different... As I understand it, way back when, it wasn't common to see ouds with a drone string.. then it became common.... Check out some of OudProff's videos on Youtube... If memory serves me right, he plays with 6 double courses and no drone