Longa
Oud Lover
Posts: 20
Registered: 9-10-2005
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Mood: No Mood
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Turkish Ouds
Hello
I love it when people buy Turkish ouds and send pictures I’m sure it’s exciting
But for me so far I have never seen a Turkish oud that looks different from another.
It makes me wonder why are the Turks so reluctant to change even a little the way their ouds look. Worth investigating
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Haluk
Oud Junkie
Posts: 419
Registered: 2-6-2004
Location: Aydin-Turkey
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Mood: oud and saz producer
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Hello friend,
We are not reluctant.For example,I am making ouds with mechanical tuners for to modernize it.I can make ouds inlaided also when ordered.
Best wishes.
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jazzchiss
Oud Junkie
Posts: 217
Registered: 12-20-2004
Location: Madrid
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Mood: Improvising
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The mechanical heads is not an innovation, is a crime. 
I agree with Longa. The Turkish ouds look like all made with the same mold. I have never seen even a twelfth string or an oud of seven courses.
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Haluk
Oud Junkie
Posts: 419
Registered: 2-6-2004
Location: Aydin-Turkey
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Mood: oud and saz producer
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Why do you need crowd strings?You can play every kind of music all over the world with 6 course.
Is mechanical tuners also crime on a guitar?
As my thought,at the future mechanical tuners will be need for lasting tune.
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fyenix
Oud Junkie
Posts: 147
Registered: 3-5-2005
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fwd: look at the classical outlook of the violin famly instruments 
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JC1907
Oud Addict
Posts: 34
Registered: 6-13-2005
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I am open to new ideas as far as oud design goes. However, there must be point where we keep some traditional features of the oud. i.e rosettes, pegs
etc. example: I don't mind the look of the electric oud. 6 set of strings is plenty.
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will_oud
Oud Maniac
Posts: 75
Registered: 6-4-2006
Location: San Antonio Texas USA
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Mood: Good
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Hello all oud players. Question. If all the Turkish ouds were made from the same mold, wouldn't that mean that all the Turkish ouds would sound the
same, even down to the harmonic suddelties? Just a thought.
William F. Sparks
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Chris_Khouri
Oud Junkie
Posts: 183
Registered: 7-13-2004
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Hi guys,
I noticed that the Arabs very their design very often in regards to the oud, while the turks, despite their great craftmanship, like to stick to one
design. I noticed the same thing too. Turkish ouds are very profissional usually and are played with many great artists. I imagine how it would
look like if they tried to incroporate elements from their culture and vary the look from an oud to another.
Hilal
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Jonathan
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1582
Registered: 7-27-2004
Location: Los Angeles
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I don't know how fair it is to compare Turkish and Arabic ouds like this.
Turkish ouds tend to be a bit more understated than Arabic ouds. That is how it is. That is how that oud developed in that culture, in that region.
So, why add additional ornament when, for centuries, that has not been a part of how the oud developed in that region?
It is sort of like saying a holly tree should look more like an oak tree--it's pointless, and you just have to appreciate them as they are.
And, truthfully, I think that when you get used to looking at Turkish ouds, they do appear markedly different.
To a lot of people (myself included), the most simple of ouds can be the most beautiful.
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al-Halabi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 364
Registered: 6-8-2005
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I think Jonathan has put it well. To illustrate some of the cultural expectations that affect this kind of debate, an Arab luthier (whose name would
be familiar to many here) told me that Turkish ouds should not be called ouds at all because the term oud refers to an Arab instrument with a
particular sound, and Turkish ouds produce a sound that other than that of an oud and deserve to have a different name. He had praise for the fine
work of some Turkish luthiers, but the sound of their instruments was simply not an oud sound for him.
He and others who have their particular preferences are entitled to their opinions, but one ought to have respect for a culture that has successfully
produced ouds noted for their playability, workmanship, elegance, and resonance. Turkish ouds are not all the same, but they do share some distinct
proportions and aesthetics. Perhaps these shared features should be seen as a sign not of lack of imagination but rather of a culture basically secure
in its notions of what a good oud should be.
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SamirCanada
Moderator
Posts: 3405
Registered: 6-4-2004
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It seems like Turkish ouds have also evolved within a more structured system. When we think of the ottoman empire having a verry standardized aproach
to many things of the civil life. Education being one them.
Did the oud in turkey evolve with the colaboration of great virtosos and pioneer makers? Maybe in time of manol the oud was enjoying a sort of
renaissance in turkey at that time and his model was accepted as the best model and was standardazied in a way to make it specificaly turkish? The
schools that developped the playing techniques to render the beutifull ottoman peices probably contributed to this phenonmenon? Turkish ouds have the
right type of sound and playability level to play those peices.
But in the end we cant say that they both have the same sound just like we cant say that one is better then the other. There different but there still
ouds. Like a classical and a steel string guitar. Different playing techniques, different sound, Same name for the instrument?
Iam just throwing in some thoughts I have no historical information to suport what Iam saying. Thats why we have you Halabi to make some sence out of
this 
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al-Halabi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 364
Registered: 6-8-2005
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Samir,
Your speculation about the influence of Manol might have something to it. The oud was an important instrument in Ottoman classical music and in the
sultans’ court ensembles until the middle of the 17th century, when it was dropped. The instrument declined and was not played in Istanbul and the
core area of the empire until the end of the nineteenth century, when it was brought back into performances of classical music and grew in popularity.
That was the time when Manol built his ouds, which became models of fine oud construction and sound. Not all Turkish ouds have been copies of
Manol’s, but many luthiers until today have sought to imitate his design and sound. In general, the light construction and minimal decoration of
Manol’s ouds are characteristic of Turkish ouds until today. Contemporaries of Manol built ouds with a similar basic design, which he did not invent
but may have perfected. It’s quite possible that when the oud was returning into use, Turkish luthiers used Syrian ouds from next door as models
(in Syria ouds remained in continuous use). The old Syrian ouds from that period look very similar to the Turkish ouds.
The Turks have kept the traditional appearance not only of the oud but also of their other classical instruments (tanbur, kemence, kanun). At the same
time the saz, a folk lute, has been experimented with quite dramatically over the last century, and it doesn't look quite like specimens from a
hundred years ago. So the conservatism about instruments is not across the board.
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mustafa
Oud Maniac
Posts: 53
Registered: 5-19-2005
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Mood: oud moud
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If it's not broken why fix it?
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Microber
Oud Junkie
Posts: 853
Registered: 1-20-2006
Location: Belgium - Liège
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Jonathan
To a lot of people (myself included), the most simple of ouds can be the most beautiful. |
Myself included too.
I generally prefer turkish ouds.
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spyros mesogeia
Oud Junkie
Posts: 896
Registered: 9-10-2003
Location: WASHINGTON DC
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Mood: play my ouds
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I love them both
and I just can't say anything more
Regards
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