The Oud

The Oud is one of the most popular instruments in Arabic music. Its name derives from the Arabic for 'a thin strip of wood', and this refers to the strips of wood used to make its rounded body.

 

The neck of the Oud, which is short in comparison to the body, has no frets and this contributes to its unique sound. It also allows playing notes in any intonation, which makes it ideal for performing the Arabic maqam. 

The most common string combination is five pairs of strings tuned in unison and a single bass string, although up to thirteen strings may be found. Strings are generally made of nylon or gut, and are plucked with a plectrum known as a risha (Arabic for feather). Modern strings are made of steel wound over nylon. 

The instrument has a warm timbre, low tessatura, and is often intricately decorated. The oud used in the Arab world is slightly different to that found in Turkey, Armenia and Greece. Different tunings are used and the Turkish-style oud has a brighter tone than its Arab counterpart. The European lute is a descendant of the oud, from which it takes its name (al-oud).

 

The Origins of the Oud

The Oud has a mythic status,its origins hidden in antiquity, legends stories and myths.

Most accounts trace The Oud’s entrance into Europe through North Africa and into the Iberian peninsula with the Umayyad Caliphate of Al-Andalus in 711 AD. The instrument eventually grew frets and became le-oud, the French definite article, resulting in lute.

It was in the courts of Al-Andalus that the oud became the subject of legends and elevated to mythic status.We remember the paradigmatic player of Al-Andalus as Ziryab or Zyriab, who founded the first music school of Spain and added the fifth course to the instrument.

Mythic genesis stories of The Oud go back to the Bible, where the oud is traced back to Lamech, the sixth grandson of Adam who mourned for his dead son by suspended his body in a tree and the shape of his skeleton became the model for the shape of The Oud.
 

In the archaeological record, an instrument similar to the oud has been found throughout Mespotamian sites and ancient Egypt. It continues today to be one of the most popular instruments of the eastern Mediterranean and middle east. - James Stone Goodman.

     Parts of the Oud

The oud consists of a large pear-shaped body (or soundbox) attached to a short neck. The front (or face) of the oud's body is flat and contains one or more soundholes, whereas the back is bowl-shaped and constructed from around twenty thin strips of wood known as 'ribs'. Strings are attached to a brige on the face of the oud and pass over a nut at the other end of the instrument. Tuning is achieved by turning a series of pegs contained in a pegbox, which is set almost at a right angle to the neck of the oud. Notes are produced by stopping the strings at some point on the front of the neck - this area is also known as the fingerboard. The main parts of the oud are shown in the diagram below:

Styles

The strings of the contemporary O'ud are twisted, or spirally reinforced. They are plucked with a plectrum (risha, 'quill') made of an eagle's feather and held between thumb and index finger; a shell or plastic plectrum may be used instead. The technique calls for suppleness of the wrist as the plectrum strikes the strings in a simple fall, or combines risings and fallings.

There are two schools of performance. The first, or 'Ottoman', bases itself on the ornamentation of sound, produced by delicate glissandos of the fingers and slight vibratos. The touch of the plectrum on the string sets off a vibration which, in turn, gives rise to an effect of resonance, volume and controlled intensity. The plectrum does not interfere with the resulting sound. This produces an intimate style of playing, making the interiorized O'ud a path to meditation. This approach was first promoted in Istanbul by Ali Rifat Cagatay (1867-1935) and Nevres Bey (1873-1937), then by Refik Tal'at Alpman (1894-1947) and Cinucen Tanrikorur (b 1938).

 

The second aesthetic approach is Egyptian. The volume is amplified by firm strokes of the plectrum, which makes the strings resonate; the result is a curiously dulled sound, akin to the nasal effect of Egyptian song. This calls for virtuosity in performance, which is conceived of as an exteriorizing factor. The finest proponents of this school have been Safar 'Ali (1884-1962), Muhammad al-Qassabji (1898-1966) and Farid al-Atrash (1907-75), who, despite his melodramatic style, breathed a new vitality into the instrument. 

.

Basic Information about Oud Music - http://www.saedmuhssin.com

Range

Intermediate                          Advanced

Due to to the shape of the oud, fingering the top B and C might be difficult in larger bellied ouds.These ranges are given based on Arabic tuning. Turkish musicians tune their instrument one whole tone higher. Transposition for Turkish musicians is also different.

Characteristics

 The oud is a melodic instrument. Although it is possible to voice some chords harmonically on the oud, the resulting sound is not convincing. The lack of frets, the narrow distance between strings, the tuning and the shape of the neck make it impossible to voice many chord positions harmonically. The oud's sound is delicate and rich, and is relatively a soft instrument. Amplification if often required for oud even in smaller quieter venues which wouldn't require amplification say for acoustic guitar.

Strings and tuning

Ouds have 6 strings (more precisely, 11 strings, but five are unison tuned pairs). The highest pitch string is tuned to middle C  and the others are G3, D3, A2, E2*, C2*.

*Some players tune the last 2 strings differently. Professional musicians usually use either the tuning given above or, F2, C2.

Turkish musicians tune their ouds one tone higher.

- http://www.oud.eclipse.co.uk/history.html      http://wrightstuffmusic.com/2008/12/03/the-oud/                    www.oudcafe.com   http://www.arabinstruments.com

images -  oudmusic.wordpress.com       ketenjian.com