ALAMI
Oud Junkie
Posts: 645
Registered: 12-14-2006
Location: Beirut
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Flatened bowl young girls oud
This oud was a gift to a friend's 14 year old daughter wishing to learn oud.
It is an interesting design made by George Bitar, the bowl depth is around 12 cm (walnut) with a pronounced overall pear shape, this oud is small,
very easy to hold but still the string-length is 61 cm (may be I should have ordered it shorter)
The sound is very honest and clear and the action is low with no buzz, a nice learning oud with a nice design.
btw I still need to find her an oud teacher in Paris,
allez les gars, un petit tuyau
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SamirCanada
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thats a nice oud Alami,
it looks like he used the Lute making design and mold to make shallow.
very nice work.
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Jason
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 9-17-2005
Location: Louisville, KY
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Mood: Loving my oud
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Is it just the perspective of the picture or does the bowl get a little larger towards the bass side of the oud? That seems like a great idea and
something that would take considerable skill to do consistently.
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ALAMI
Oud Junkie
Posts: 645
Registered: 12-14-2006
Location: Beirut
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I don't have the oud to check the bowl, I checked the other pictures and I cannot be sure.
George Bitar is a very simple guy, he is from Ras Baalbak, the same village as Nazih and many other luthiers. His grandfather Mikhail Bitar was a
famous luthier and I know he is using his molds.
Samir I think that the guy never saw a european lute, he doesn't speak French or English and probably never touched a computer.
He has in his modest shop 2 ouds with smaller bowl and long unfretted neck, some call it Nashaat Kar but he calls it "oud Akkar" (Akkar is a region in
Northern Lebanon).
I think that all he knows about oud is what he learned from his grandfather (a good thing), his ouds are fairly priced and sound good and well
balanced, they can be among the best student ouds.
I told him that he could grow his business by making a website and trying to sell online... he gave me that look.. you know...like when you're from
Mars
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gregorypause
Oud Addict
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Registered: 10-20-2007
Location: Hungary
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That is a very nice oud, Alami. I hope my little girl will be interested in ouds when she grows up, so I can get her one like it.
I don't think 61cm string length is too long for a 14 year old girl. It's better if she gets used to the usual scale right away.
It's a pity that many oud makers don't consider selling their ouds outside of their country. Players who do not live in the Middle East only have
limited means of getting a quality instrument. Hopefully this will change with time.
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Thanks for posting images of the oud ALAMI. Very nice looking instrument - lucky young lady.
Interesting for me to make comparisons with the oud and the flattened bowl lute (liuto attiorbato) that I am currently making.
Oud or lute, the solution to making a flat section bowl is the same but the exact rib geometry will, of course, vary dependent upon the degree of
flattening and geometry of the bowl.
A bit of a challenge for the first one - due to the curved, asymmetric rib profiles - but, no doubt, a bit easier after that.
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