Mike's Oud Forums

Kamil Gül oud from Ethnic Musical

RobMacKillop - 12-31-2021 at 08:57 AM

Hi folks. I haven't been here for a few years. I was studying the Turkish tanbur, but life intervened and I had to abandon my studies and website I had put together for it. But a few days before Christmas I ordered a Turkish Ud from Ethnic Musical as they offered free postage and a total of 41% discount.

It's always a gamble ordering online, and the only reviews I could find online came from here. One guy was ranting about how the luthier, Kamil Gül did not exist, and it was all a scam. Well, thankfully I ignored that, because the beautiful ud arrived in an Edinburgh warehouse two days later - but unfortunately the courier would not deliver on Christmas Eve. So it arrived at my door two days ago.

It is magnificent for the price I paid, came well boxed and protected, with a hard case, a free wooden oud stand which is very nice, and a leather pouch filled with a variety of mizraps. I made a video the next day (yesterday) having not touched an oud in 25 years, so forgive the intonation:

https://youtu.be/d0YQEJj2bOM

The flamed maple back is beautiful. I can't find a fault with the workmanship. You can hear the sound on the video. It is very easy to play. The guy who runs the store is called Daniel, and he seems honest and trustworthy, happy to answer any of my questions. I've asked him to locate me a tanbur, as they do not sell them from the website.

So, I have Mutlu Torun's book, the original version, but my Turkish is woeful, in fact non existent, so I'm struggling to understand the text. But I can read the scores, and listen to other players.

Anyway, it's nice to say hello again, and wish you all a better new year than the one just ending!

By the way, I have updated my tanbur website to include the oud, and changed its URL, which is now https://oudtanbur.art

Rob



smallUD.jpg - 25kB

John Erlich - 12-31-2021 at 10:23 AM

I suppose these things could always be faked, but he does appear on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3155812981358758&set=a.1384...

RobMacKillop - 1-1-2022 at 01:59 AM

And Instagram. But right now I'm delighted to have a really good oud at a really good price from an online retailer that speaks English very well. I hope one or two of you give it a listen.

ChanningPDX - 1-1-2022 at 11:42 AM

Happy to have you back, Rob! I was just listening to your "Auld Lang Syne--Mr. Beck's Way" yesterday.*

I got an oud from Kamil Gül about a year ago, and I've been very happy with it. I ordered it from Kamil directly as Ethnic Musical didn't have any of his ouds in stock at the time, but I've generally been very happy with the dealings I've had with Ethnic Musical. I'm especially happy that they now stock the Necati Çelik oud mizraps, which I really like.

I picked up the reprint of Mutlu Torun's tutor a while back and one of my resolutions for the year is to get back to working through it. I look forward to following your oud studies with great interest!


*The oud is a relatively recent obsession for me. In my other musical life, I'm a piper and spent a few memorably hazy months studying with Allan MacDonald while I was studying abroad in Glasgow more than 20 years ago. Loved your contributions to Matt Seattle's "Out of the Flames" book on the Dixon manuscript, BTW.

RobMacKillop - 1-2-2022 at 04:14 AM

Thanks, Channing. Nice to hear from you!

The list of "freebies" included a couple of those Necati Çelik mizraps, and yes they are very good. My website mentions how I came to study with him many years ago: https://oudtanbur.art/my-turkish-music-journey/

I believe Mutlu Torun has published the pieces from his Metodu in four A5-sized books, no text but a DVD is included with each volume. I'll be receiving them in a few weeks' time. The DVD will help enormously.

Thanks for reminding me about my papers for the "Out of the Flames" publication. That seems like a thousand years ago! My small pipes playing with the Montgomerie pipes lasted about a month!

hamshetsi - 1-13-2022 at 10:40 PM

Greetings! It's my first post on this forum. I have ordered my first oud today from Ethnic Musical. Daniel seems to be a nice salesman, helpful, tactful and professional. Rob, thanks for sharing your experience: I was watching your kemanche videos in the past and am subscribed to your channel. Blessings!

RobMacKillop - 1-23-2022 at 10:42 AM

Quote: Originally posted by hamshetsi  
Greetings! It's my first post on this forum. I have ordered my first oud today from Ethnic Musical. Daniel seems to be a nice salesman, helpful, tactful and professional. Rob, thanks for sharing your experience: I was watching your kemanche videos in the past and am subscribed to your channel. Blessings!


Good to know. I imagine you have your oud now. Do you like it? Please tell us about it.

Kemanche? I’ve never played one before. Do you mean tanbur? I’ve tried playing that a couple of times, but never got very far.

Rob