Aslan
Oud Admirer
Posts: 1
Registered: 10-31-2017
Member Is Offline
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Most versatile oud plus London teacher?
Hi,
I have a really terrible poorly made oud (the pegs need to be cranked all the time and I don't have the physical strength). Someone told me it was
Egyptian. I honestly think the terrible quality made it very difficult for me to enjoy learning. I haven't touched the thing since about 10 years ago.
I would like to buy a new one. I was wondering if you could help with the following criteria:
- an oud that I can learn both Turkish, North African and 'Arabic' music on without much compromise (so I can tune 'up'/down with out much
difficulty). Don't shoot me but my first love is the Saz but I cannot find a teacher (I cannot skype). I desperately want to learn Turkish melodic
structure.
- Something of solid quality. Not a beginner oud.
I live in London (UK). If you could direct me to any oud maker i'd be very grateful.
Lastly, could you recommend a teacher? I would prefer someone who is not so interested in sight reading but more playing 'by ear'.
I previously learned with Ahmed Mukhtar but I didn't quite connect with him. I did some lessons with Ehsan Emam but he's very 'read the manuscript'
oriented.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1373
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
Member Is Offline
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1) badly fitted pegs do not mean the oud itself is bad. Badly fitted pegs can be found on some otherwise very nice ouds, especially on older ones.
2) for your purpose an oud with a vibrating string length of 58.5 cm is best. Use strings designed for Turkish tuning. You can get viable sound with
these tuned down. Do not try to tune up strings designed for Arabic tuning, especially not on a long-scale Arabic oud. If you are lucky the bridge
will come loose bringing some of the soundboard along with it. If you are unlucky the whole oud will implode.
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MattOud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 298
Registered: 1-18-2017
Location: Ontario, Canada
Member Is Offline
Mood: Feeling Pretty G'Oud
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Jody tells the truth. This exact scenario happened to me. I bought my first OUD off a local buy and sell. I knew nothing. It was in a terrible shape.
I spent the first two weeks tuning it, which wasn't a bad experience in hindsight because it taught me alot about the oud. Anyways, the Oud was so
compromised from tension and also climate change i believe that the bridge snapped right off. Fortunately, in my case very little of the actual
soundboard wood came with it, but it was almost garbage but I DIDN'T give up.
Where i live, the only local Luthier is about 1.5 hours drive, but it was well worth it. I had brand new pegs and a nice new bridge put on and it
sounds lovely to me now. It took him 1 week to fix as well! I still consider it my 'learner' oud, but since i am a lifetime learner i feel i will
continue to play it as long as i can.
Here is a quick noodling to show how she sounds now: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0LimEJu3A9W
btw- vocaroo is cool for doing a quick recording using your PC, not best quality but it gets the point across.
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Chococumba
Oud Lover
Posts: 18
Registered: 11-23-2016
Location: London UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Curry
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Mike Cameron is an experienced oud repair person based in Camden. His number is07581425731
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Branko
Oud Junkie
Posts: 138
Registered: 4-14-2006
Location: Perth, Australia
Member Is Offline
Mood: !?
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Oud teacher in London https://www.rihabazar.co.uk/
Ich bin ein Balkaner!
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ChanningPDX
Oud Maniac
Posts: 96
Registered: 10-15-2016
Member Is Offline
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Baha Yetkin, a truly outstanding Turkish oud player, is also currently living and teaching oud in London, I believe. If I were you, he'd be the first
person I'd try to contact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKcOvHyaDPo
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Keith
Oud Admirer
Posts: 3
Registered: 10-12-2014
Member Is Offline
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Aslan: I teach oud: beginners to intermediate/advanced (reading not required) and am familiar with styles from Egypt, Iraq, Eastern Algeria/Tunisia
and pentatonic styles of Ethiopia, Sudan/Sahel. Studied with Khaled Bessa at the Rachidia Institute in Tunis, then in London with Essam Rashad
(Egypt), Adel Salameh (Palestine) and Ehsan Emam (Iraq). Played oud on Natacha Atlas' French top 20 hit 'Mon amie a rose' a few years back and
co-founded oud duo storywheel (http://www.storywheelmusic.co.uk). Also composer at the Royal Shakespeare Company 2001-2013 and used oud in various productions there (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpP6xqYd4FU). Currently involved in Iraqi Jewish music project 'Wolf of Baghdad'. Based in North London.
Interested?
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