Sazi
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 9-17-2007
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Arabic Vs Turkish?
Hi everyone, reading various posts about the seemingly exhorbitant prices of some of the ouds on offer around the world has got me wondering ...
I have to wait 8 months to get a Turkish Ud made by Ramazan Calay as his instruments are so popular and prefered by many fine Turkish style players
the world over, yet I still cannot spend over 1000 euro for one of his top instruments! , so given that both Arabic and Turkish ouds/uds are composed
of roughly the same amount of timber, require approximately the same amount of work etc., I would be interested to know what people think about why it
is that Arabic ouds , or indeed, why any oud can be at least twice this price?
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gilgamesh
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Hy Sazi,
Perhaps there's another reason, but I think that's because of the cost of material, machines and manpower in Turkey. All the professional players I
know buy their aoud in Turkey, and my teacher is actually in Istanbul for buying a new one. Turcs prices are in generally cheaper than there are in
Western countries and turks luthiers are great specialists. contrary to my country , where a big music shop sold to me Turkish strings to put on my
Arabic aoud and where a big luthier put them on it. Nobody for save other!
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Sazi
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 9-17-2007
Location: Behind my oud
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Hmm, that's a good point, I hadn't thought of that one! thanks
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SamirCanada
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actualy in the scope of economics....
prices are dictated by 2 main things:
Demand and Scarcity
one could say.
Its easy to find a really good quality turkish oud...
and its conciderably harder to find a high quality arabic oud.
that being said. The latter exist and there are excellent makers alive today.
but the price of the oud is brought up because there are few.
On the other hand various factors play in when setting the price:
reputation, type of wood, age of the oud. etc...
so its not possible to compare directly each oud with another.
So in the end each oud has its own price.
which is comprised of too many factors to determine the true value of it.
so a oud is really worth what you feel it is worth to you.
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Sazi
Oud Junkie
Posts: 786
Registered: 9-17-2007
Location: Behind my oud
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Mood: مبتهج ; ))
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"So in the end each oud has its own price.
which is comprised of too many factors to determine the true value of it.- so a oud is really worth what you feel it is worth to you."
Wise words indeed!
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Brian Prunka
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I think that there a couple of things to consider. One is not whether the oud is "turkish" or "arabic" in style but where it is made and by whom.
Jameel makes "Arabic" ouds, but is in the US, and so his cost of living will be somewhat passed on in the price. The same goes for other US oud
makers who make "Turkish" ouds, like Dincer Dalkilic and Peter Kyvelos. Dimitris ouds are also not inexpensive, though he makes "arabic" style ouds,
his main focus seems to be turkish.
Also, consideration of a luthier's other skills affect prices. Many oud builders from outside Turkey and the Arab world come from a lute or guitar
making background, where charging less than $2000 for a custom built instrument is practically absurd, and prices frequently range upwards of $5000.
If someone comes from a violin making background, their expectations are even higher, since $10,000 for a violin is considered inexpensive for a
professional instrument (great violins are usually in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and often in the millions). Maybe someone likes making
ouds, but if they usually make $X for their time, they probably expect to get a similar amount no matter what the project.
Another factor is competition. It seems that Turkey has schools etc. training people to make instruments, leading to a lot of competent builders who
are competing for business, which drives the average price down. There are a number of excellent builders, and others trying to make a name for
themselves. Faruk Turunz ouds are as expensive as any Arab oud.
Unfortunately, most Arab ouds are of very poor quality. There are very few Arab oud makers who do good work, and even fewer who are truly excellent.
Consequently, those who are good can charge much higher prices.
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gilgamesh
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... and add to this package the story or history of the aoud. That can increase the price much more because of the rarity, as Samir says
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