Ronny Andersson
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Bashir oud
I think it’s appropriate with some historical facts about this particular oud and its inventor and creator Mohammad Fadel from Iraq – historical
correctness is so important. Mohammad based his creation on the classical Italian mandolin (Mandolino Napolitano). All the features from the mandolin
can be found on Mohammad’s Bashir oud, like the bent soundboard, the very high floating bridge and the oval shaped sound holes. What surprise me
most is that the bent soundboard is rarely found on ouds by other makers and I believe they make a mistake when they abandon the bent soundboard. This
type oud shall not be judged with the parameters of the classical oud and accordingly not being built after the classical oud concept. The classical
oud is too weak for the high string tension and the sharp angle the high bridge cause – it certainly adds some force on the soundboard that a
classical soundboard can’t withstand over any longer period. My dear friend and master builder Yaroub, have abandon the bent soundboard but as I
previously said, he uses his own reinforcement and also modern glues instead of the hide glue that is so sensitive to high humidity. The high humidity
was a problem for Munir Bashir in Beirut and also the high string tension he tuned his classical ouds to (concave belly etc). Inn fact this oud was
created due to humidity problem and the weak construction the classical oud has. So, if a modern builder now is unaware about some of the historical
facts what is then the so called Bashir oud based on and what is the worth then?
I have seen to many Bashir ouds with flat soundboards (Yaroub’s ouds are an exception) and weak construction that collapses after few years and then
is the whole concept with Bashir oud lost. Mohammad’s Bashir oud was before its time when it comes to strength and nowadays are some makers trying
to copying it without the necessary knowledge and the historical facts. I think that is devastating for this oud.
Best wishes
Ronny
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souhail
Oud Addict
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Ronny you lighted many aspects of the Bashir oud in your post, and what you said about the bent face is interesting, and its a mater for
experimentation and studie.
i dont know if mohamads bashir ouds are stronger than ouds made by Foued, Faouzi, Yaroub and other?
the face in yaroubs ouds are not bent as you said, a person who knows Yaroub told me that Naseer Shamma frequently send ouds to Yaroub to repair
because the face is damaged due to the tension and you know Naseer works a lot on his ouds.
Naseer oud made by Faouzi (the one you repared) was very good (tonely speeking) but you know with every day work and big tension applied on the
instrument someday the face will be damaged. the life of such oud depend also on the oud player, how long he use it, and how high he tune it.
so i don't think that Yaroub make ouds stronger than fawzi or other (serious) bashir oud builders, but it's true that he uses the best
materials(wood, glue..)
the other problem is that the process of construction is kept secret no one want to give or to teach how to construct such (as you said)
revolutionary oud. you know that Yaroub teach oud construction (he direct a workshop) in the "Conservatoire de Musique de Tunis" but he dont
give his students the most important things only general ideas about oud construction and this typical for all oud builders aroud the arab world.
i hope that yaroub or other builder close to mohamed fadhel publish a book describing mohamads building method but i think this is an impossible
dream.
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Zulkarnain
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nadir
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Ronny, I observed by teacher's Bashir ouds (made in Iraq) and I noticed that the two were different from each other because of a little raise in
the soundboard below the bridge, making an upwards curve. They also sounded completely different from each other! You could feel a different type
tension on the proper oud when you struck the strings.
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Ronny Andersson
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Nadir, it's a very interesting observation you are telling. This confirms also my own experience that the quality and construction varies a lot.
The bracing on some Bashir ouds are ridiculous to see - inventive? NO. Only the work by untrained luthiers.
Best wishes
Ronny
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nadir
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I looked at an Italian mandolin (antique) and it does look almost EXACTLY like the Bashir oud... I saw the picture here:
http://www.vintage-instruments.com/navigate/catidx7.htm
It's among the many mandolins there, but, this just goes to prove that Munir Bashir actually did use this instrument as his model for the oud...
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Ronny Andersson
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| Quote: | Originally posted by nadir
I looked at an Italian mandolin (antique) and it does look almost EXACTLY like the Bashir oud... I saw the picture here:
http://www.vintage-instruments.com/navigate/catidx7.htm
It's among the many mandolins there, but, this just goes to prove that Munir Bashir actually did use this instrument as his model for the oud...
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No because it was Mohammad Fadel who used the mandolin as concept for his oud.
Best wishes
Ronny
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nadir
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O really? WOAH! Well thanks for clearing that up! It's the whole concept too!
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