A DEVOTED LIFE: Artistry, innovation, evaluation and public opinion

Quote: Originally posted by shayrgob

what happened to the original post??

APOLOGY I had just wanted to edit the title and add a clincher but instead deleted the whole post temporarily and delayed to post it back. Here it is again:)

ARTISTRY, INNOVATION, EVALUATION AND PUBLIC OPINION



Dear Forums members!

I’ve seen it as a necessary task to say something about the concepts apposed in the title of this post and their attachment with the art of luthiery in general and “Art of Oud Making” specifically.

Artistic ability and artistic achievements of luthiers are endowments and it is meager how much they thank God. But again it is meager but obligatory for luthiers to search, to learn and to work with determination forever. As far as “Art of Oud Making” is concerned, the tasks grows considerably. While there is a vast background of “Art of Luthiery” in general, only some piece of art ouds have left behind the great masters as inarticulate witnesses. They say something of course but one must be intellectual enough and informed a lot to understand what they say. So the tasks and home works to do for an Oud Maker and secrets to be explored are incommensurable.

Most of the time “Art of Oud Making” is regarded as solely sort of fine woodworking art involved in some “secrets”. But recently some Artists started a “New Approach” in this Art.
It may be considered as an “Applied Mechanics” or “Applied Mathematics” and “Applied Physics” as well. This is an innovative approach which seems to dominate over this field in time.

Some may try to prevent this approach from becoming widespread in favor of “secrets” and they are always “opponent” ! They tend to assess the superbness of an instrument to the intuition of the maker. They are right to a certain extent: That maker may have the intuition for understanding where to refer. Still “Art of Oud Making” stays as full of “unknowns”. We the pioneers of innovations have been “nominated” for exploring those “unknowns”
This is a very long and arduous path efferent to the “perfection”.

Nonetheless, this story does not exist in the vacuum. It stands and evolves in the economic domain. An Oud Maker as an artist who has to spend time and funds for his/her art has to regenerate himself or herself every day for regenerating the products. An artist must not suffer poverty; on the contrary, he or she must feel accomplished for the upcoming productivities. He or she has the right to value his or her own work of art. Being in the knowledge of the determination of the “law of supply and demand” he or she values the “products” in question. Interrogation of that “value=price” is fulfilled by the “law of supply and demand”. In conformity with being “sold” or “unsold” of the product, artist may raise or drop the preset price. He or she never makes a “change” in the price by force of some “self-styled criticisms” but only by force of the “law of supply and demand”.

Knowledge of Economics may not compulsorily shape “the public opinion” as long as it stays in the pages of Economy Books but the “public opinion” can be shaped by the “prices in the market” If majority countenance that price and purchase that product for that price, the “investigator” may also countenance or may not purchase that product. It is a “free market”

There is a technique in the marketing known as “product differentiation”. If the manufacturer has put something substantially distinguishing property into a product for getting access to a “product differentiation” then it must deserve a better price. The range of price gap between the price of an undistinguished good and the price of a good having some distinguishing property can be examined and it may cause interest.

Every body who has visited my website must have noticed a “price gap” between the prices of my ouds.
Let me try to explain it: I started to manufacture ouds in 1984 and until March1996 I worked all alone. During those years I tried to achieve an “original method” for making the oud soundboards. Along with the progression of my “method” my ouds’ sound improved bit by bit. Every consequent oud’s sound started to be better than former ones. My ouds’ fame exceeded the borders of Turkey. I started to get orders from abroad as well. The construction period of one oud was longer than one month and I did not have the chance to start with many of them all together. In March 1996 the ordered ouds in my waiting list reached to 27 and I was feeling helpless. I decided not to accept any more orders until I finish the first 15 ouds. By the help of my good fortune I made partnership with my friend Suat who accepted working with me and making many gigs to facilitate and standardize the oud production process. We finished those 27 ouds within a couple of months and started to experience a surplus product. At that point we were making all the ouds in only one price category and all were made with “tuned braces”. Tuning of the braces is a time consuming process and cause to drop the amount of products. It was possible to develop a new model which would be less time consuming so we could sell it more easily if we priced it cheaper and we would solve the surplus product. We decided to copy the brace shapes and intersections of the “tuned braces” for making the braces of this model. By adding a wood differentiation for this new model we started to sell it for reasonably good price.
Recently we have introduced our “Double Soundboard Model” and we decided to price this model with a price that doubles the Grand Concert Oud’s price. Of course in addition the laborious and time consuming innovated tecniques we make those “expensive” models out of very expensive wood selections.

I believe these sort of explanations were not needed for many to presume and suppoze the said "price gap" to be "logical" and "explicable" . At least they have the understanding for not to be in doubt about justificability of our pricing policy. Because this trust is the requirement of good sense: A man who necessarily must have used his "logic" for the accomplishments in his career of art, would not fall into "unreason" in pricing and push strategy

[rquote=65395&tid=9835&author=farukturunz

I believe these sort of explanations were not needed for many to presume and suppoze the said "price gap" to be "logical" and "explicable" . At least they have the understanding for not to be in doubt about justificability of our pricing policy. Because this trust is the requirement of good sense: A man who necessarily must have used his "logic" for the accomplishments in his career of art, would not fall into "unreason" in pricing and push strategy[/ rquote]

I do believe you are right there!

I'm sure the majority here know your work and therefore know the pricing is both "logical" and unquestionable

All the best for the future and for your trip, Master Faruk.