coyootie - 11-1-2009 at 07:36 AM
greets everyone. I'm almost done with the bowl for an Iraqi type oud. Soundboard question:
are these mostly flat or concave?
builders who've made these, do you do a uniform thickness? or thicker in middle and tapering towards edges?
I'm looking for a sort of cross between Nahat glued bridge and Iraqi construction and tone.
thanks for any opinion!
suz_i_dil - 11-1-2009 at 12:51 PM
I have 2 floating bridge to practice on,
one by the Belhaiba family, and this one seems to have a top which flatering to edges. The top is thicker under the bridge...I don't have anything to
confirm but it seems like an evidence under my fingers.
The other from Fadi Matta, the top is mandolin like, going down at the bottom of the oud.
The top seems to be uniform thickness, thicker than the Belhaiba.
Difficult to tell for the concavity with strings on it...
I try also to put words on sound...the Belhaiba has a sound more brilliant, percussive. The Fadi Matta oud sound is something like more round, less
agressive sound, but still powerful.
Then this difference may also come from the choice of woods ( rosewood versus a mix I guess of rosewood and mapple ). Out of the bowl, other
differences in making make the Belhaiba much more lighter (1 kilo versus 1.5 ), and I guess this explain also mainly the difference.
Hope this helps, and may you keep updating about your project?
thank you
coyootie - 11-1-2009 at 04:17 PM
this is some help ,I appreciate it! any more input from Iraqi style builders/players?