Posted on 04/02/2009 6:08:32 PM PDT by forkinsocket
'We Arabs export two major things, oil and ouds," says a laughing Najib Shaheen, this city's most respected oud maker, restorer and dealer. The oud is a stringed Arab instrument that, after it was brought to Andalusian Spain in the eighth century, spawned the European lute, guitar and mandolin.
Today's ouds are usually walnut or rosewood, and have a pear-shaped shell, a short neck with no frets -- allowing the musician a broader tonal range -- and typically one single bass and five double strings. When expertly plucked, the oud emits an earthy sound with a hint of melancholy, eliciting an emotional response similar to that of the cello. Played in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey for centuries, it continues to be integral to Arabic orchestras and ensembles. It's also used as a composing tool.
"I am most interested in the acoustic aspects of oud making," says Mr. Shaheen, a 62-year-old with salt-and-pepper hair and a matching mustache. In his booming, authoritative voice, cascading with rolling R's and articulated consonants, he explains that the oud's soundboard comprises seven "braces," pieces of unvarnished spruce wood. The thickness, placement and age of the wood all contribute to each oud's particular sound. They are attached underneath the instrument's face. "There are rules where they should be placed, but it's really up to you, the feel of it. What you don't want is a hollow sound with echo."
Oud work is meticulous and requires patience. It's a surprising vocation for a man of his temperament -- he quickly shifts from gregarious provocateur, to nihilist, to erudite, old-world charmer.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
That is a pretty good description of islamics in general.
> ‘We Arabs export two major things,
things that go boom?
Despite all the nasty remarks this thread will accumulate — thank you. I’ve long enjoyed Middle-Eastern music, and the oud is pleasant to listen to.
Cool!
That is some wicked inlay work!
“Despite all the nasty remarks this thread will accumulate — thank you. I’ve long enjoyed Middle-Eastern music, and the oud is pleasant to listen to.”
A good friend of mine, a Greek, is a renowned oud player. The music is wonderful and the instrument is used and enjoyed throughout the Levant. It certainly beats the sound of knuckles dragging on a floor which seems to have caught on in some quarters of late! :)
A modern instrument that is still relatively unknown even after its introduction 30 years ago is this.
Anyone familiar with the band King Crimson will recognize this from their early 1980's "primary color" albums.
They also have the “neck saw”.
Did the Greeks get their mandolin tradition from the Muslims? Tell me it isn’t so. I like Greek mandolin playing.
The mandolin is a big favorite in bluegrass America. Playing their Christian Gospel tunes, they are not going to like it if their instrument came from the Muslims.
Thanks!
Except for the difference in the types of string (Oud has singular bass sting and the rest are doubles; the Lute has all double strings) and the resultant difference in style of play-—yeah, you’re right.
“Did the Greeks get their mandolin tradition from the Muslims? Tell me it isn’t so.”
A base canard if ever there was one...........(actually, I think we did, from the Turks).
The origins of the outi (oud) go back far earlier than the Mohammedans and of course the Greeks and Christian Arabs raised the playing of the outi to a level never attained by the barbarian Mohammedan dogs whose taste in music runs to screaming women sounding like someone killing cats.
beautiful instrument, thanks for the pic.
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