rex2009 - 8-28-2009 at 08:26 AM
Just back from Egypt. Thanks to everyone who helped me specially Mike and Naddad. Kelly thanks for your enquiry. The bowl is made from palduke,
fingerboard from rosewood, Soundboard from spruce and pegs from ebony. The sound is fantastic. I shall post a sound file in the near future. I am a
beginner though, so do not expect much. 
Rex
[file]10886[/file] [file]10888[/file] [file]10890[/file]
[file]10909[/file]
Congratulations
Luttgutt - 8-28-2009 at 09:18 AM
Lovely oud. Alf Mabrouk Rex
Play it well and a lot : )
fhydan - 8-28-2009 at 09:19 AM
congratulations!
SOUND FILE! SOUND FILE!
Christian1095 - 8-28-2009 at 01:03 PM
Nice, Mike helped me with getting my Shehata too... I had NO complaints at all...
Kelly - 8-28-2009 at 02:19 PM
Hi Tarig
A beautiful oud. Play in good health. If its sounding good now with playing it will open up and sound even better. Lets hope to meet up soon.
Best Regards
fernandraynaud - 8-29-2009 at 02:40 AM
Rex, how is it tuned, high course is ff ?
Is it always true that if an oud's bass course is double, then it's tuned up a 4th, i.e. FFAADDggccff ?
Does anybody use a double bass course on C? i.e. CCFFAAddggcc ?
rex2009 - 8-29-2009 at 03:48 AM
Thanks guys for your nice and encouraging comments. Fernand, it was tuned -high to low- FFCCGGDDAACC when I bought it hence the picture. However my
teacher tuned it CCGGDDAAGG.
Rex
SamirCanada - 8-29-2009 at 05:13 AM
Most people dont use a double base string for fixed bridge oud. ( low C) it causes to much rattle and its a lot more tension.
Personally I think that the oud should be tuned slightly lower then 440 especially whew the oud kept tuned up and one is using the bass string because
I believe over time the oud will suffer from all tension. I have witnessed this with many ouds I have repaired.
SamirCanada - 8-29-2009 at 05:21 AM
Typical Egyptian school tuning is: (Farid, El Sombaty, El Qasabji etc... all tuned this)
FF AA DD gg cc.
However some people change the bass note depending on their playing style and piece they are playing.
EE AA DD gg cc
or.
GG AA DD gg cc
when adding the single 6th bass string it is.
C FF AA DD gg cc.
Maurice usually has his ouds tuned higher using Labella strings usually. This is referred to as Iraqi tuning and is mostly used by soloists.
FF AA DD gg cc ff.
There are many other variations but these are the classical ones.
spartan - 8-29-2009 at 05:53 AM
Beautiful oud, piece of art, I own a Shehata my self.
Maurice use F to f tuning, but I change it to traditional C to c.
It sounds amazing at both tunings, I prefer the more traditional tuning.
rex2009 - 9-2-2009 at 03:28 AM
Thanks Spartan for your comment and Samir for your advise.
Rex
hama - 9-2-2009 at 03:36 AM
beautiful oud, alf Mabrook, look forwad to hearing it
Christian1095 - 9-2-2009 at 07:16 AM
Nice oud... I really like the pickguard....
rex2009 - 9-4-2009 at 02:01 AM
Thanks Chris. Hama I would like to meet with you( and your Farouk oud). Perhaps we could arrange to meet at Ehsan Emam flat in London the weekend
following 3eed.
Tarig (Rex)
hama - 9-4-2009 at 02:06 AM
No Problem Rex , will send you u2u
fernandraynaud - 9-4-2009 at 03:32 AM
That's indeed a beautiful "oud mascheen". What IS is about these instruments that you can't tire of LOOKING at them, even? I think it's the curve,
golden mean and all that, but then again Turkish ones with that squashed pear curve are also marvelous.
Ah, mabruk indeed, Rex, and I envy you people who live so close to each other and to the Sources. California is beautiful, but it's clearly the edge
of the world. So far away 
Yes, on the tuning, that's what I meant, that if the bass course is a C (or therebouts) it's a single, to keep tension down and so they don't flap
against each other.
ALL instruments sound better tuned lower than A=440 Hz. In the 18th century A=415 was common, i.e. approx a 1/2 tone lower, and even A=385, basically
a full tone down, was widely used. A=435 was introduced gradually in the 2nd half of the 19th century as symphony orchestras cranked up the string
section for more volume. In 1939 it became A=440. Sopranos and violin cases were practically exploding. And some conductors now demand A=445 !
Voice, harpsichords, woodwinds, everything just sounds richer in Baroque tuning, but it's a bit of a problem with pianos etc being stuck at 440, when
everybody's playing in D playing the piano in C# is a real pain. Many harpsichords have a way to shift the keyboard so you can play in A=440 or A=415,
and a lot of instruments (e.g. woodwinds) are now available in Boroque tuning, so if the oud were to be standardized on Baroque (A=415) that's not
outlandish at all. Good electronic tuners can be adjusted for any standard, and also offer different temperaments -- Some Violin players are
discovering that perfect 5ths between the strings is not what works best.
I've been experimenting with tuning my harpsichord to record with my oud, so I have E, Eb and EhalfFlat, and the same for B. The compromise half-flat
that sounds best is not 50 cents down, it's more like 70 cents down. And with virtual synthesizers on a computer, instruments that are actually
programs, you can create any scale you want. I'll post something one of these days if I don't get skinned for unorthodoxy.
rex2009 - 9-5-2009 at 12:56 AM
Fernand, man that was a lot of information up there! I really enjoyed reading it and I am sure most of the forum's members would agree. THANKS
Rex
Marina - 9-5-2009 at 01:31 AM
ألف مبروك !!!
rex2009 - 9-5-2009 at 08:22 AM
Thanks Marina. By the way I found your book very helpful and I enjoyed it very much.
Cheers
Tarig (Rex)
Ararat66 - 9-5-2009 at 12:12 PM
Hi there
Beautiful oud Tarig, I'm down in Portsmouth and have been in touch with Hama, I'll try and get up to London this Autumn to see you lot.
Play in good health and heart
Leon
rex2009 - 9-6-2009 at 07:58 AM
Hi leon
Thanks for your comment. Although I do not live in London, I frequently visit my parents there. I also take that opportunity to have a lesson by
Ehssan Emam. I would love to meet with you and the guys over one of the coming weekends.
Rex
Ararat66 - 9-6-2009 at 09:14 AM
Hi there Tarig
Where are you in the UK??
Leon
rex2009 - 9-8-2009 at 12:27 AM
Hi leon. I live in Skipton, North yorkshire.
Cheers
Tarig
Melbourne - 9-8-2009 at 05:06 AM
I really like the shape of this oud...as Fernand describes it - the squahed pear. Congrats rex
does anyone know if this is the only flat bottom bowl design Maurice uses - because I have my Shehata, which is flat at the bottom, but the overall
shape is more elongated...more like an almond....But this looks....squashed, like the gulf ouds.
Then again it may just be distortion in the pictures
abusin - 9-10-2009 at 03:20 AM
Mabrouk Rex,
Beautiful Oud, lets hear it 
rex2009 - 9-11-2009 at 07:55 AM
Thanks Awad. Insha Allah you are going to hear it soon. May be in Manchester you never know.
Tarig(Rex)