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Dr. Oud
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Kevork Mazloomian - mission improbable
This oud belongs to Johnathan Varjabedian. It loks pretty bad, but the damage is mostly in the back.
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Dr. Oud
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the front is intact, with some repairs
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Dr. Oud
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the interior looks good
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Dr. Oud
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The pegs are too deep in the box
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Dr. Oud
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and the pegboc holes have bushings, although they are cracked. Probably end grain dowels.
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Dr. Oud
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here's the label
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Dr. Oud
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and one from Peter Kyvelos who did some repairs
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Dr. Oud
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A new peg box block glued on
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Melbourne
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Ouch.......
Though I'm glad to say that at least the ugly pickguard is off! I'm probably going to lose friends saying this, but one thing that puts me off
Turkish ouds, and some Arabic ones; is an unproportional pickguard...i.e both sides dont mirror perfectly if cut in half. When I get a Turkish oud,
I'll definitelty design my own pickguard....
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Dr. Oud
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Melbourne
Ouch.......
Though I'm glad to say that at least the ugly pickguard is off! I'm probably going to lose friends saying this, but one thing that puts me off
Turkish ouds, and some Arabic ones; is an unproportional pickguard...i.e both sides dont mirror perfectly if cut in half. When I get a Turkish oud,
I'll definitelty design my own pickguard.... |
The main reason to make it asymetrical is to use the least
sound deadening material on the face while providing protection where it's needed. A decorative raqma (pickguard) is often ineffective in protecting
the face and many a good oud face is lost to damage from the mizrab/risha.
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jdowning
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Nice kit of parts Richard! Three questions.
- Interested to see the bushings in the pegbox. Would you reckon these to be original or later additions? I asked this question a little while back on
the forum but have you come across other ouds with pegbox bushings?
- The little blocks of wood under the bar ends are presumably for additional support but is this a feature commonly found on ouds? Seems like an extra
complication to me.
- Is the banding around the edge of the belly half the thickness of the belly or is it full depth? I do not see a sign of the banding from underneath
the belly.
Thanks
John
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Dr. Oud
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-The pegbox bushings are certainly not original. I cannot image why someone would go to the extra labor to install bushings in the original pegbox.
-The support blocks under the brace ends are unusual although I do believe they were used by Fadel on the original Bashir design.
-I'll have to check about the edge band depth.
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jdowning
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Thanks Richard - there would not be much point in fitting bushings except for repair work I agree - unless of course it was done as a decorative
feature by the original maker? After all many oud makers spend a lot of labour providing decorative features such as inlays etc. most of which likely
do not add to the functionality of the instrument.
However any plugging of a pegbox must introduce some weakness that is best avoided I suppose.
John
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Dr. Oud
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First step is to get those loose ribs glued back. The blocks are holding the rib down on the neck and tail blocks.
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Dr. Oud
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ah, that's a little better.
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Jonathan
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It looks a lot better, Doc.
I am really grateful that you were willing to take this project on. For a while, I thought the oud would turn out to be little more than over-priced
kindling.
The ribs are incredibly thin. They seemed like they were less than 1 mm. I know that there is shrinkage over the years, but do you think that they
started out that thin, or is it just from agressive sanding over the years? In the few old ouds that I have seen in this sort of condition, it seems
like the ribs are just amazingly thin, and I have never been sure if this was the intention of the luthier.
I wish I knew the date of this instrument. I can find no information at all on this Mazloumian guy. I am guessing that the instrument is from around
1920, but that is just a guess.
"No. 92"?? It seems hard to believe for a luthier that nobody has heard of, but I guess it is possible.
The top line, in Armenian, says "tiv 92". Tiv just means number, although on some craftworks (particularly carpets), I have seen it used to stand for
"year", often with the first numeral of the year omitted. So, Tiv 897 would mean year 1897, with the 1 just being understood. I have never seen the
first two digits omitted, however, so I doubt that the instrument is from 1892. I am going to keep asking around to see if I can find out any more
info on this guy.
When I first saw the face, I thought that it was probably new, but I am interested in your thoughts. There is a splice in it, which I am guessing
that Kyvelos put in there in 1974. So, perhaps the face was old at that time already (or else it might not have warranted salvaging it).
Interesting how the purfling surrounding the rosettes is right at the edge--not as common in Turkish ouds.
Finally, about the mizraplek. I don't mind the asymetrical look, but was that a later development? Don't almost all of the old Turkish ouds have a
simple oval? I am not sure how long this lasted, but it would seem unlikely to find a Turkish oud with an asymetrical mizraplek before the 1940s.
Again, Doc, thanks!
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Dr. Oud
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The ribs are very thin and I can't imagine anyone building this way. I would surmise that they were sanded down by refinishing over the years. The end
result will likely be a bit bumpy as it's no longer possible to sand the mating edges any more. I plan to build up the inside with parchment paper as
soon as the remaining loose rib is glued down. When the missing rib is replaced I'll have to take the rose up to get inside for the final seam
reinforcement.
I don't believe it is over 50 years old. It just doesn't have the look and odor of a 19th century instrument. But who knows?
It's possible from the color that Keyvelos replaced the whole face. perhaps you might write him for some more history on it. Especially the
rationale for the cut down rose.
Many Turkish ouds used the plain oval shaped pickguard and some more elaborate shapes, but they're usually symmetrical. antique Turkish ouds
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Jonathan
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You mean not before 1957?
No, I think it is a lot older than that. I am going mostly by the appearance of the label--the style of the writing, the manner in which it was
written. Not in ball point pen, but in ink (fountain pen? quill?)
And, Kyvelos' repair was over 30 years ago.
Still, it's anybody's guess at this point. Either way, thanks.
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Arto
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"Many Turkish ouds used the plain oval shape and some more elaborate shapes, but usually symmetrical. antique Turkish ouds"
Sorry for sidestepping the topic, but I looked at Veyselmusic link above and noticed the Armenak Kalfayan oud claimed to be from 1826. I´ve never
seen a bowl like that with radiating ribs - in yayli tanburs, ok, but not in an oud, a lute or a mandolin. Fascinating and beautiful, but difficult to
make I suppose, especially on a bowl that is not regular half-hemiphere like yayli tanbur´s. Is this oud a lonely example of this construction?
PS: The tanbur pictures I have seen with this construction have beem yayli tanburs with membrane tops. Has this been used in mizrapli all-wood
tanburs, too?
Arto
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Jonathan
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I have corresponded a bit with Ceniz Sarikus regarding that oud-- he says that it is the only oud with that construction that he has ever seen, and he
has a strong grasp on historic ouds in Turkey.
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Dr. Oud
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I removed the rose to get access inside and stored it in an old cd jewel case (with the center carved off)
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Dr. Oud
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This view shows the edge cut through for the banding
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Dr. Oud
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I cleaned the dirt and dust off the inside surface to prepare it for parchment paper reinforcement. The old paper lining is dried out and needs to be
scrapped off to get good adhesion for the parchment. The support blocks were added and the glue is different than the synthetic glue used to mount the
banding.
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al-Halabi
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Jonathan,
I share your sense, based on the label alone, that the oud is older than 50 years. I have some experience with French manuscripts, and although I
can't pinpoint an exact time period here, the hand and the various flourishes of the script (for example in the capital P in "Paris") reflect a style
that was common in the early decades of the twentieth century and earlier. Mazloumian was apparently an immigrant who must have learned to write in
one of the Western-style schools set up by communities and missionary groups in Anatolia and other parts of the Middle East, in which this style of
writing was taught in the late 19th and early 20th century. The label could very well be from around 1920, give or take a decade.
Have you checked for information on the luthier with Armenian communal organizations in Paris? The Research Center on the Armenian Diaspora in Paris
might be able to help or refer you to someone who could. Their web site suggests a developed program of research and documentation:
http://www.crda-france.org/0en/home.htm
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Jonathan
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It is interesting that you mentioned the Protestant/missionary schools in Anatolia. I actually have quite a few examples of this writing from one of
these schools in the central Turkey region from the early 19 teens and, yes, the script on this label resembles the script from that school somewhat.
Of course, I think this sort of script was not just taught in those schools, but that highly curved "fancy" style was a bit more the norm in Europe
and, perhaps, America during that time period. Not just a missionary thing, but the style of the times.
This particular oud also caught my eye because of the name of the maker: Mazloumian. It is not an uncommon name, but I knew that it was the name of
a family in my ancestral village in central Turkey, a portion of which settled in Paris in the early 19teens. I doubt that it is the same family--the
odds just seem against it, but I would love to find out more.
I think I will have to contact Kyvelos, as doc suggested. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that just don't seem to fit--the cut down rosettes
being just one example.
Thanks, al-Halabi for the tip--I will pursue it.
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