Oud Totally Explained

Everything about Ud totally explained

The oud (ʿūd; Kaban; Persian: بربط barbat; ; ;, Azeri: ud; Hebrew: עוד ud) is a pear-shaped, stringed instrument, which is often seen as the predecessor of the western lute, distinguished primarily by being without frets, commonly used in Middle Eastern music.

Name

The words "lute" and "oud" are both derived from Arabic العود (al-ʿūd), consisting of the Arabic letters ʿayn-wāw-dāl, meaning a thin piece of wood similar to the shape of a straw, referring either the to wood plectrum used traditionally for playing the lute(External Link

), or to the thin strips of wood used for the back, or for the fact that the top was made of wood, not skin as were earlier. However, recent research by Eckhard Neubauer (External Link

) suggests that ʿūd may simply be an Arabized version of the Persian name rud, which meant string, stringed instrument, or lute. Gianfranco Lotti suggests that the "wood" appellation originally carried derogatory connotations, because of proscriptions of all instruments music in early Islam.
The Arabic prefix al-, in al-ʿūd, which represents the definite article and can be translated as "the," wasn't retained when al-ʿūd, was borrowed into Turkish, nor was the ʿayn, as it isn't a sound existing in the Turkish language. The resulting word in Turkish is simply ud (pronunciation follows that of the word food without the f ), much as it sounds when pronounced in the English language.
The oud was most likely introduced to Western Europe by the Arabs who established the Umayyad Caliphate of Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula beginning in the year 711 AD. Oud-like instruments such as the Ancient Greek Pandoura and the Roman Pandura likely made their way to the Iberian Peninsula much earlier than the oud. However, it was the royal houses of Al-Andalus that cultivated the environment which raised the level of oud playing to greater heights and boosted the popularity of the instrument. The most famous oud player of Al-Andalus was Zyriab. He established the first music conservatory in Spain, enhanced playing technique and added a fifth course to the instrument. The European version of this instrument came to be known as the lute - luth in French, laute in German, liuto in Italian, luit in Dutch, (all beginning with the letter "L") and alaud in Spanish. The word "luthier" meaning stringed instrument maker is also derived from the French luth. Unlike the oud the Europen lute utilized frets (usually tied gut).

History

According to Farabi, the oud was invented by Lamech, the sixth grandson of Adam. The legend tells that the grieving Lamech hung the body of his dead son from a tree. The first oud was inspired by the shape of his son's bleached skeleton. The oldest pictorial record of a lute dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia - Iraq - Nasria city nowadays, over 5000 years ago on a cylinder seal acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon and currently housed at the British Museum. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right-handed. This instrument appears many times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long and short-neck varieties. One may see such examples at the Metropolitan Museums of New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and the British Museum on clay tablets and papyrus paper. This instrument and its close relatives have been a part of the music of each of the ancient civilizations that have existed in the Mediterranean and the Middle East regions, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Armenians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans.
The ancient Turkic peoples had a similar instrument called the kopuz. This instrument was thought to have magical powers and was brought to wars and used in military bands. This is noted in the Göktürk monument inscriptions, the military band was later used by other Turkic state's armies and later by Europeans. According to Musicolog Çinuçen Tanrıkorur today's oud was derived from the kopuz by Turks near Central Asia and additional strings were added by them. Today's oud is totally different from the old prototypes and the Turkish oud is different from Arabic oud in playing style and shape. The Turkish is derived from modifying the Arabic oud, whose development has been attributed to Manolis Venios, a well known Greek luthier who lived Constantinople (Istanbul) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Greece and Armenia musicians especially use the Turkish ouds and tunings. The oud has a particularly long tradition in Iraq, where a saying goes that in its music lies the country’s soul. A ninth-century Baghdad jurist praised the healing powers of the instrument, and the 19th century writer Muhammad Shihab al-Din related that it "places the temperament in equilibrium" and "calms and revives hearts." Following the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of the secular Hussein regime in 2003, however, the increasing fervor of Islamic militants who consider secular music to be haraam (forbidden) forced many Oud players or teachers into hiding or exile.

Defining features

Lack of Frets: The oud, unlike many other plucked stringed instruments, doesn't have a fretted neck. This allows the player to be more expressive by using slides and vibrato. It also makes it possible to play the microtones of the Maqam System. This development is relatively recent, as ouds still had frets ca. AD 1100, and they gradually lost them by AD 1300, mirroring the general development of Near-Eastern music which abandoned harmony in favor of melismatics.

Strings: With some exceptions, the modern oud has eleven strings. Ten of these strings are paired together in courses of two. The eleventh, lowest string remains single. There are many different tuning systems for the oud which are outlined below. The ancient oud had only four courses - five by the 9th century. The strings are generally lighter to play than the modern classical guitar.

Pegbox: The pegbox of the oud is bent back at a 45-90° angle from the neck of the instrument. This provides the necessary tension that prevents the pegs from slipping.

Body: The oud's body has a staved, bowl-like back resembling the outside of half a watermelon, unlike the flat back of a guitar. This bowl allows the oud to resonate and have a more complex tone.

Sound-holes: The oud generally has one to three sound-holes, which may be either oval or circular, and often are decorated with a bone or wood carved rosette.

Regional types

The following are the general regional characteristics of oud types in which both the shape and the tuning most commonly differ:

Arabic ouds: � *Syrian ouds: Slightly larger, slightly longer neck, lower in pitch.

*Iraqi (Munir Bashir type) ouds: Generally similar in size to the Syrian oud but with a floating bridge which focuses the mid-range frequencies and gives the instrument a more guitar-like sound. This kind of oud was developed by the Iraqi oud virtuoso Munir Bechir. Iraqi ouds made today often feature 13 strings, adding a pair of higher pitched nylon strings to a standard Arabic oud configuration. � *Egyptian ouds: Similar to Syrian and Iraqi ouds but with a more pear shaped body. Slightly different tone. Egyptians commonly are set up with only the 5 courses GADGC. Egyptian Ouds tend to be very ornate and highly decorated.

Turkish| Greek style ouds ("ud,ούτι") (Includes instruments found in Armenia and Greece): Slightly smaller in size, slightly shorter neck, higher in pitch, brighter timbre. It's known as outi in Greece and was used by early Greek musicians.

Barbat (Persian Oud): smaller than Arabic ouds with different tuning and higher tone. Similar to Turkish ouds but slightly smaller.

Oud Qadim: an archaic type of oud from North Africa, now out of use. Although the Greek instruments Laouto and Lavta appear to look much like an oud, they're very different in playing style and origin, deriving from Byzantine lutes. The laouto is mainly a chordal instrument, with occasional melodic use in Cretan music. Both always feature movable frets (unlike the oud).

Plectrum (pick)

The plectrum (pick) for the oud is usually a little more than the length of an index-finger. The Arabs traditionally used thin piece of wood as a plectrum, later replaced by the eagle's feather by Zyriab in Spain (between 822 to 857), other sources state that he's the first one to use the wooden plectrum (External Link

).
To date the Arabic players use the historic name reeshe or risha(Arabic ريشة), which literally means "feather" while Turkish players refer to it as a mızrap.. Currently the plastic pick is most commonly used for playing the oud being effective, affordable and convenient to get.
Like similar strummed stringed instruments, professional Oud players take the quality of their plectrums very seriously, often making their own out of other plastic objects, and taking great care to sand down any sharp edges in order to achieve the best sound possible.

Oud tunings

There are many different tuning options for the oud. All tunings are presented from the lowest course/single string to the highest course. The following tunings are from Lark in the Morning

and Oud Cafe

Arabic oud tunings

E A D G C Five Strings (Syria, Palestine and Lebanon) - by Eduardo Haddad Ribeiro

G A D G C Popular Egyptian tuning

D G A D G C older tuning

C F A D G C Currently the most commonly used tuning.

B E A D G C For certain classical music, similar to the classical Turkish tuning in all 4ths

F A D G C F high pitched solo tuning

G C D G C F

B E A D G C F,Seven strings oud tuning.

Turkish oud ("ud") and Cümbüş tunings

Old Turkish, Armenian and Greek Tuning: E A B E A D or D A B E A D

Classical Turkish and Tuning Variant: C# F# B E A D or B F# B E A D Note - Turkish classical music is written transposed, so that the written tuning for the above tuning is "F#BEADG"; also the Turks will transpose to other keys, too.

Standard Cümbüş Tuning: ABEADG actual pitch, written as D E A D G C

List of famous oud players

In Yemen:

Abu Baker Salem

Ali Alanisi

Ahmed Fathy

Ali Einaba

Alshameeri

Fasel Alawei

Fuad Alkibsy

Najiba Abdullah In Egypt:

Riyad al-Sunbati

Hazem Shaheen (1978-)

Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1907-1991)

Mohamed El Asabgi (1892-1966)

Sayed Darwish (1892-1923)

Sheikh Imam (1918-1995) In Iran:

Hossein Behroozinia (1962-)

Arsalan Kamkar (1960-)

Mansour Nariman (1938-)

Mohammad Delnavazi (1954-)

Mohammad Firoozi (1957-)

Ahad Goharzadeh (1958-?)

Jamal Jahanshad (1948-)

Yousef Kamoosi (1902-1987)

Mohammad Khansarian (1948-)

Hasan Manoochehri (1934-)

Shahram Mirjalali (1959-)

Akbar Mohseni (1911-1995)

Abdulvahab Shahidi (1921-)

Nasrollah Zarrinpanjeh (1906-1982) In United States

Ahmed Abdul-Malik (United States/Sudan)

Saadoun Al-Bayati (External Link

) (United States/Iraq)

Hamza El Din (Egypt/Sudan/United States)

Sandy Bull (United States)

Rachid Halihal (External Link

) (United States/Morocco)

Naji Hilal (External Link

) (United States/Lebanon)

Naser Musa (External Link

) (Palestine/Lebanon)

Levent Firat (born in Turkey) (External Link

)

David Lindley (United States) (External Link

)

Gayle Ellett (United States) (External Link

)

Basil Samara (United States/Lebanon)

Scott Wilson (United States)

Mavrothi T. Kontanis (United States/Greece (External Link

) � of Armenian descent:

   * John Berberian � * Richard Hagopian

   * Roupen Altiparmakian (United States/Greece) (born in Adana, Turkey) � * John Bilezikjian

   * Ara Dinkjian � * Charles "Chick" Ganimian

   * Marty Kentigian � * Haig Manoukian

   * Marko Melkon (Melkon Alemsharian) (born in Izmir, Turkey) � * George Mgrdichian

   * Harry Minassian � * Antranig Kzirian (External Link

)

In Turkey:

Ismail Fencioglu

Udi Yorgo Bacanos (1900-1977, also known as Georgios Mpatzanos) (ethnic Greek)

Münir Nurettin Beken

Necati Çelik

Mısır'lı İbrahim Efendi (1872-1933)

Samim Karaca

Udi Hrant Kenkulian (1901-1978) (ethnic Armenian)

Udi Bogos Kireciyan (ethnic Armenian)

Ûdi Nevres Bey (1873-1937)

Coşkun Sabah

Cinuçen Tanrıkorur (1938-2000)

Serif Muhiddin Targan (1892-1967)

İlyas Tetik

Yurdal Tokcan

Mutlu Torun

In Iraq:

Salman Shukur

Rahim Al Haj

Jamil Bashir

Munir Bashir (Iraq/Hungary)

Ahmed Mukhtar (Iraq/London)

Naseer Shamma

Ali Alemaam In Saudi Arabia:

Abadi al-Johar

Talal Maddah

Bashir Shannan In Morocco:'

Tarik Banzi

Ahmed El Bidaoui

Said Chraybi

Driss El Maloumi

Armand Sabach In Somalia:

Hudaydi

Omar Dhuule

Hanuuniye In Palestine:

Le trio Joubran

Simon Shaheen

Nizar Rohana

Samer Totah (External Link) In Tunisia:

Anouar Brahem

Amine-Hamza M'RAIHI

Dhafer Youssef

Ali Es-Sriti

Khmaies Tarnen In Lebanon:

Rabih Abou-Khalil

Marcel Khalife

Charbel Rouhana

Wadih Saffi In Israel:

Yair Dalal (Israel/Iraq)

Amos Hoffman

Taiseer Elias

Armond Sabah (Israel/Morocco) In Syria:

Farid Al Attrach (Syria/Egypt)

Alsiadi (External Link) (Syria/USA)

Muhammad Qadri Dalal

Abolrahman Jabakjl

Omar Naqishbandi

Afif Taian In Greece:

Tsiamoulis Christos (Classic Byzantine Music)

Michalis Tsouganakis

Periklis Tsoukalas

Alekos K. Vretos (External Link) (Greece)

Haig Yazdjian (Armenian descent)

Giorgos Alevizos (External Link)

Nikos Saragoudas

Nikos Dimitriadis In Kuwait:

Yousif Al Mutrif (Kuwait)

Rashid Al Hameli (Kuwait) In Sudan

Mustafa Said Ahmed (Sudan)

Mohamed Al Amin (Sudan) In United Kingdom

Robin Williamson (1943-) In Canada

Dikran Richard Sarookanian (of Armenian descent)

Gordon Grdina Others:

Ahmad Firdaus Baragbah (Jambi/Indonesia)

Zulkarnain Yusof (Johor/Malaysia)

Samir Zaki (Jordan)

Ali Bin Rogha (United Arab Emirates)

Joseph Tawadros (Australia)

George Farahat (Jordon)

List of famous oud makers
In Iraq:

Mohammed Fadehl

Yaroub Fadhel (making Iraqi ouds in Tunisia)

Ibrahim Hamody

Furat Ibrahim Hamody

Fawzi Manshad (Iraq-Basra) In Palestine:

Wissam Joubran In Iran:

Jafar Abedini

Nariman Abnoosi

Mohsen Ajdari

Mohammad Taghi Arafti

Mohammad Ashari

Hasan Manoochehri

Ebrahim Ghanbari Mehr

Mohammadi Brothers

Khalil Mousavi

Bahram Taherian In Egypt:

Fathi Amin

Abdelrahman Darwish

Gawharet el Fan

Gamil Girges

Maurice Shehata In Somalia:

Mohamed Mooge Libaan

Daud Ali Masxaf

Jiimi Sheikh Mu'min In Syria:

Ali Khalifeh

Nahat family

Ibrahim Sukar

Samir Azar In Turkey:

Ramazan Calay (Istanbul)

Mustafa Copçuoğlu (Istanbul)

Necati Gurbuz (Izmir) http://necatigurbuz.tr.cx/

Cengiz Sarikus (Istanbul)

Hadi Usta

Onnik Karibyan (Turkey, of Armenian descent)

Manol (Manolis Venios)(19th c. Greek maker, Istanbul)

Faruk Turunz (Istanbul)

Haluk Eraydin (Aydin)

Yildirim Palabiyik (İzmir) In The United States:

Mario Epstein (Idaho)

Peter Kyvelos (Massachusetts)

Viken Najarian (California)

Jameel (Khalaf) Abraham Other countries:

Faisal Alawy (Yemen)

Nazih Ghadban (Lebanon)

Salmeen (Kuwait)

Tasos Theodorakis (Greece)

Dimitris Rapakousios (Greece)

Michael Moussa (UK)
Note

Further Information
Get more info on 'Ud'.

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