YediTekrar
Oud Admirer
Posts: 9
Registered: 12-29-2005
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas; U.S.A.
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Mood: No Mood
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New Here, and I'm Searching (An Introduction with Questions)
Hello there. My name is Michael. I'm an American; born in Arkansas, which is about as far away from any oud as one can get.
I've had an obsessive interest in Arabic music for the past two years, devouring various world music artists such as Solace, Tim Rayborn, Munir
Bashir, and the like. I've decided that my time is best spent studying for a Ph.D in ethnomusicology, focusing on the traditional and folk music of
the Levant; this includes the oud to a great extent. I'm dying to get ahold of a decent oud, along with a few drums.
I do have some questions, though. First, if my budget is $300.00 USD or less, where can I look to buy a decent oud? I've bought a few instruments (a
ney and a mijwiz) from Lark in the Morning's website, but I know nothing of their ouds and oud packages. What should I look for when buying an oud
online, especially if I can't listen to sound clips of the instrument?
Finally, what books and/or videos should I buy to help me get a good start in playing the oud? The doctor of ethnomusicology at my university is a
specialist in Indian religious music, so he won't be of much help. :P
Any help would be appreciated. I look forward to being a part of the community.
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madzub
Oud Addict
Posts: 34
Registered: 5-14-2005
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Hi Michael -- I was just about to list an Arabic oud in that price range, asking $350, as I've just purchased another instrument and don't need this
one. It's a good intermedidate instrument, excellent for a beginner. I've reconditioned the pegs and re-strung it, so it's ready to go.
You can find cheap Arabic ouds on E-Bay for about $150-200 plus 100 shipping. Generally, they are one fairly big step down from the intermediate
instrument I'm selling. However, you can sometimes get a deal.
Don't even THINK about buying an overpriced, usually lousy oud from Shark in the Morning.
If you're interested, please e-mail me at peterchloe@shaw.ca and I can send you some pictures.
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Jason
Oud Junkie
Posts: 734
Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
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Mood: Loving my oud
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try http://www.nileshop.net also
As far as literature...
From what I've gathered there does not seem to be much literature out there for the oud written in English. There is an introductory book often sold
on ebay and a collection of songs written by Marcel Khalife, but other than that I can't think of anything in English.
I think this is in large part due to the tradition of learning Arabic music aurally. I find it very similar to bluegrass music of the USA. Up until
recently it was very hard to find music showing melodies used in bluegrass written in standard notation. This is probably because, like Arabic music,
bluegrass musicians often embellish melodies however they like and few people would play the melody 'straight'.
Oh, and I'm about as white as one can be and from KY so I know where you're coming from. How many times have you had to explain to your family what
an oud is? Good luck
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Jonathan
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1582
Registered: 7-27-2004
Location: Los Angeles
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There are a few things available in English, but they tend to come from a Turkish, rather than Arabic, perspective.
This first is the VHS tape by John Vartan, which is available at Lark in the Morning. It is short, and limited, but a good intro.
Also, Hal Leonard Publishing is about to release the following book with an accompanying cd:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0634077864/qid=1135957186/sr=8-6/r...
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YediTekrar
Oud Admirer
Posts: 9
Registered: 12-29-2005
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas; U.S.A.
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Off of http://www.nileshop.net, which oud would you recommend, Jason?
Madzub: Send me a private message on the board and we'll discuss buying/selling. If you could record a short soundclip, that'd be great.
Why is Lark in the Morning so terrible, at least when it comes to ouds?
Is it an okay idea to buy a slightly more expensive oud ($300.00 - $400.00) off of Ebay?
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palestine48
Oud Junkie
Posts: 448
Registered: 6-9-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Free Palestine
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here are your recommended options for getting an oud and I highly suggest you dont stray from these options:
for your 200-300 options:
1. nileshop. I have one great decent oud, worth its price. what I mean by great is that its playable, but its not the best quality oud in the world
but it plays great. Get a walnut or rosewood one from the amateur ouds section. dont get the ash and olive wood ones as i dont know how good they
are for instruments. get one with as little ornamentation as possible becase in most beginner ouds, sound is sacrificed when ornamentation is
applied.
2. a beginner turkish oud by haluk eradiyen. many people have posted good comments and the price is right for the pleasure they seem to be having.
one guy, lebanon or syrianoud has one for sale now, along with a keybord so u can email him. hes in ca.
I must tell you turkish ouds can be tuned arabic, my uncle does it. but some people on the board dont seem to get the arabic sound they want on
turkish ouds so you might want to search the forum or ask em before u take this route. but this is the most affordable way to get a good oud.
3. in response to your question should u go higher on ebay. I would say no. because im assuming you dont know how a good oud is built and you may
see something that looks like a deal but it might not be so I wouldnt risk it if you dont have cash to burn. What I would do is increase my budge a
few hundred dollars to the 700 range and get from one of the several makers who make pro models for such a good price. really good ouds should be
costing upwards of a 1000 or so but there are some who make great models in the 400-600 range. its the shipping from overseas thats the gonna kill
your budget.
who are these people who make em:
a) there is maurice shehata in cairo, egypt. people on this board love his ouds and he can make you a basic model for an affordable price. email
yehia at nileshop.net, shehatas are displayed in the proffesional section but i would email him for a price list. or i think if mike is still helping
broker deals, you can email him for info. shehata has a website mauriceouds.com
b) then there is samir azar in syria. he has great ouds very simple very affordable. his prices fall within your higher budget but your gonna tack
on a few hundred dollars shipping also so thats whats really gonna stretch the budget. I just got a samir azar oud and I love it, i would really
recommend him.
c) ibrahim sukar has good ouds as well for the price. hes in syria too and i heard he is hard to get a hold of but some people arent too keen on his
so research this. he seems to be either u love his ouds or hate his ouds maker. makes great oud cases tho.
so there are your options. u can go for your budget including shipping with nile shop or you can stretch your budget and get a higher end affordable
pro oud from these makers. I wouldnt spend 300-400 on ebay because like i said, if you dont know what your buying you could get ripped off but then
again you could be getting a deal. but that all depends on if you know what your looking for. therefore id say the safest route is to get it direct
from the maker for its face value so u have assurance on quality control.
Another peice of advice, if your going to buy anything even the amateur ouds, dont just check into your shopping cart and purchase. I would probably
email the sellers , like yehia, first. middle eastern businessmen like to make transactions more personal and are very hospital once the proper
salutaions are exchanged. customer service is very high on our list of business ethics. ive emailed yehia and ive emailed samir azar and they are
both great guys.
mike the webmaster is also a great source for giving you info on how to buy an oud. so good luck and welcome to the forum and the culture of eastern
music. I hope you have a wonderful time.
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YediTekrar
Oud Admirer
Posts: 9
Registered: 12-29-2005
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas; U.S.A.
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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This will be a strange, complicated post. Bear with me.  I think I know what I
want my ideal oud to sound like. Take this clip: http://s47.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3FR9SLBPR8FI215XBQFYV3R9U4
I noticed that on the Al-Aseel Ouds website, they have a nifty "Construct an Oud" drop-down menu form you can fill out and email in. To achieve the
sound heard on that recording, what would I use to build the oud, do you think? If you can't be that specific, can you tell me how the parameters
(wood type, neck/oud length, size/mold, and number of soundholes) affect the sound of the individual oud?
The categories and choices are thus:
Size and mold:
-Egyptian with oval end block
-Large spreader jig
-Small spreader jig
Wood Kinds (Face)
-Cyprus
-Cedar
-Walnut
-Old piano wood
-Very old white pine
Wood Kinds (Back)
-Macassar ebony
-Black ebony
-Teakwood
-Sycamore
-Walnut
-Rosewood
-Pallisander
-Piano wood
-Soundhole Shape
-1 round hole
-3 round holes
-1 elliptical hole
-3 elliptical holes
-Octagonal hole
Length of oud and neck
-Egyptian: Neck, 20.5; oud, 61.5
-Egyptian: Neck, 20; oud, 60
-Iraqi: Neck, 16; oud, 57
-Turkish: Oud, 20; oud, 60
Thanks, guys. I know I'm asking loads of questions, but I've bought a lot of instruments, both online and offline, and I've been ripped off before.
I got ripped off with a pair of tabla I bought over the summer, and seeing as I paid $300.00 for those, I don't want to make another huge purchase
only to find the instrument to be barely playable.
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palestine48
Oud Junkie
Posts: 448
Registered: 6-9-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Free Palestine
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I would u2u dr.oud with this question as he is the resident oud builder and he knows much more about sounds and such.
I couldnt tell what type of music that is on the track.
What I can tell you is if you want to by an oud from shehata. Shehata makes egyptian ouds which have the largest bowls so they tend to have the
deepest sound.
Turkish ouds have the smallest bowls and so they have a brighter sound.
In the middle, you have the syrian and iraqi types.
I would u2u dr. oud, he posts on the forum often and I think he would be the best help.
You can also email Samir Azar who is an engineer and builds ouds in syria, He is more than qualified to answer this question. He makes great ouds
too. I just got one.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 2939
Registered: 1-30-2004
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Stringish
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The oud in the sample clip sounds more Turkish.
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