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billkilpatrick
Oud Junkie
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risha specifications
i just bought a pair of risha ("pyramid") on ebay germany which are hopelessly thin. last year, i bought a set of 12 risha from an on-line vendor in
turkey and these are the ones i use: they have a good width to them; are comfortable to hold but the nylon is soft - producing a slightly muffled,
"mushy" sound.
does anyone know where i can buy (on-line) flexible risha with a smooth, hardend surface - a bit like what one finds with guitar picks?
considering the amount of technical refinement that goes into the making and classification of them (guitar picks) might risha manufactures be
persuaded to follow suit? ... in mm. thickness or simply even "light - medium - heavy?"
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MatthewW
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hi billkilpatrick! It would be a good idea for sellers of these ready made rishas such as Pyramid to use a similiar system of thickness classification
as found with guitar picks. I have noticed that the pyramid ones come in different colours, and I wonder if this is anything to go by regarding
thickness? With the pyramid rishas I have used, I have noticed the brown/red ones seem to be a bit thicker than the white/pearly white ones, but I
don't know if these colours always have the same thickness. Have you tried the mizrite rishas that Jameel sells? These are the ones that you can sand
down to the thickness you like, are able to take a thin profile if you like them on the thin side,and perform nicely. let us know if you come up with
anything- The endless quest for the right risha seems to be a favourite subject amongst oudies!
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Oud Freak
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MatthewW. Who is Jameel and where does he sell these plectrums. Any available in Lebanon?
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MatthewW
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Hi Oud Freak! check out his website: http://www.khalafoud.com/accessories.htm
It's the Jameel who is making the oud in this thread:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=6237
I'm not sure who in Lebanon has them, maybe Nazih might have something on this, or other members of the forum who live in this part of the world.
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billkilpatrick
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Oud Freak
MatthewW. Who is Jameel and where does he sell these plectrums. Any available in Lebanon? |
ciao oud freak -
i had a look at jameel's site and it seems there are three "blanks" of this "new tortis" stuff on sale. if you're not interested in buying them,
please let me know - even with the possibility of additional, european import duties on goods from the u.s. and the chaos of the italian postal
service at christmas, they're well worth getting.
please let me know - bill
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Oud Freak
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billkilpatrick
I am interested to try the mizrite but not the mosaic colors, but I wonder how they can be bought from the US. In fact I have a relative there and
I'll ask her to choose me some. And you, what are ur feedbacks about the mizrite and the mosaic color? OF
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billkilpatrick
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hard to tell from a photo but i think i have 12 of the mizrite plectrum - they're what i normally use. the only complaint i have with them is they
tend to muffle the tone a bit - instead of making a clear, crisp note.
the two "pyramid" mosaic risha i have are red and grey - the red being the finer of the two.
i wanted to try them out on other instruments - mandolin, 1/4 guitar and charango. they work well on the charango but not the mandolin.
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Oud Freak
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Ok. Thx Billkilpatrick. I once bought by coincidence the red Pyramid plectrum from a music shop near Beirut. It gives a good tone (I Have a floating
bridge oud), rather clean, playability is ok too, and despite all its qualities, I am not fully satisfied. I admit that I still didnt find the perfect
plectrum, and I am completely lost in their world and without a single knowledge about them. I can't even give the specs of my ideal plectrum! Regards
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Franck
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risha
Hi, what I use are tie wraps, my master told me to try them and they are the best plastic to produce all kind of tones. They are all different so I
suggest you try many. You have to sand them down to your preferred thickness and polish them so they will not make a scratchy noise when they hit the
strings. Better then plastic is horn, but they wear down quickly. I use horn in studio recording for the sweetness of the sound it produces and
plastic for concerts and practice. Hope I've helped. Good luck.
Franck
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zoukboy
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Bill,
I'm using rishas made from the white plastic slips that Jameel sells on his website. They are a good deal thicker than the Pyramid rishas and since
you have to shape them yourself it's easier to get just what you want. I clip the corners off the slip with a pair of fingernail clippers and then
used the padded fingernail sanding boards of various grit to shape and smooth the risha.
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Oud Freak
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Zoukboy, interesting idea. Now as for smoothing the risheh, which kind of sanding paper do u use? I think the black one 400 would be good. What do u
think?
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MatthewW
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Oud Freak
Zoukboy, interesting idea. Now as for smoothing the risheh, which kind of sanding paper do u use? I think the black one 400 would be good. What do u
think? |
Also get something finer than 400 grade mate! That's OK for sanding down a block of wood or for giving that risha a good start, you then want a real
smooth finished edge on that risha- I use 1000 grade. your local hardware or DIY store or auto parts supply shop should have some. Jameel sells a
special sanding tool for these mizrite blanks which is nice, but I still finish 'em off with 1000 grade. check it out
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abusin
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Risha
Hi Bill, OudF and MatthewW
For me the risha has always been an ongoing worry, never happy and you always want to try new ones you havent tried and I keep asking people what
risha's they using and what the best ones.
Now I am using the Jameel Ibraham's white mizrite one's and the tortis which I am happy with since Jameel sent me a set of files to tweek them to my
specification, I find them very durable and easy to use and reshape.
I have also got some eagle feather, pea<b>rooster</b> and precubine shafts dipped in olive oil since early August and I think when I get
to try those then I don't think I'd left a stone unturned.
just now I came across three brands on an ebay item, one called Galli made by Italian pick company, a white pearloid is plain and the other is YISSI.
and guess what I placed a bid!
the link to the Galli is: GALLI RISHA's
the ebay one's:
Cheers,
Awad
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MatthewW
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Hey Awad, with the eagle feather, pea<b>rooster</b>, precubine ( what is precubine?) and olive oil, just add a bit of salt and pepper and
you got yourself a real dish!  keep us posted on the ebay rishas, and what you
think of them. I've use the mizrite ones from Jameel and they are nice, and you can shape them how you like
Do you know the thickness of the Galli rishas?
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abusin
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Hi Matthew,
Sorry mate it was my spelling (to much text and instant messaging), its procupine I meant, I was sent the shafts a while ago and because the texture
is similar to that of feathers I thought I try making a resha out of them and see if any better.
I am using the same technique used to prepare the eagle resha, so wish me luck and in few months I will be testing them inshaAllah.
here how they look, they should make a handsome rishas 
Cheers
Awad
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abusin
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| Quote: | | Do you know the thickness of the Galli rishas? |
Sorry mate, I am waiting for a query I placed regarding shipping costs, if reasonable I'll by the set it's only a fiver but if shipping costs are
higher I'll buy it directly from Galli.
best regards,
Awad
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billkilpatrick
Oud Junkie
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awad - i tried using porcupine quill as well - some split in half and some whole. even cured them in olive oil for a while.
in my experience they're terrible ... and extremely painful if you happen to "find" one in the darker confines of your oud case. they look like quill
but in fact they're made from something fiberous. mine quickly fell apart when they came in contact with the strings.
they do look great, however.
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abusin
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Hi Bill,
Damn, I was looking forward counting the months to try them , do you think the
duration in olive oil may be an issue or may be how they put in the oil? mine are in a covered plastic tube, to be honest I don't know the exact
process for the olive oil bit if any spices or stuff to be added to it
 or should the pot used be open for air to get in, I just read the
eagle risha process and thought it would be the same
Let me know please if you learnt any thing new, I am going through some native American techneques to find out ways of avoiding a dry breakable risha,
they use them for making decorative traditional stuff, google procupine quill and you will find out more.
I thought I was going to have a pretty risha
best regards,
Awad
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billkilpatrick
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all i know is that they when they fell apart, the individual strands looked a bit like fibreglass. i think ... i repeat, i think ... they form by
compacting tiny hairs together with something adhesive - not grown like a finger nail or a bird quill.
the real kicker, however was our tuscan cleaning lady. don't know if you're susceptible to ooga-booga or not but she informed us they bring
"mal-fortuna" into the house.
'nuff said ...
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abusin
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| Quote: | Originally posted by billkilpatrick
all i know is that they when they fell apart, the individual strands looked a bit like fibreglass. i think ... i repeat, i think ... they form by
compacting tiny hairs together with something adhesive - not grown like a finger nail or a bird quill.
the real kicker, however was our tuscan cleaning lady. don't know if you're susceptible to ooga-booga or not but she informed us they bring
"mal-fortuna" into the house.
'nuff said ... |
Yes Bill you're correct, I just read that the shaft of the procupine is actually the hairs of their bodies they formed at some point into a shaft.
if the risha can bring magic into my playing then I don't mind puting up with the ooga-booga
cheers
Awad
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abusin
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Old links Discussing Risha
Found this old threads on the risha subject, interesting.
Knife risha
Clorox Bottle risha's
Eagle Risha's
best regards
Awad
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samzayed
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abusin, how would you compare the Galli risha? Are they more like the Pyramids or the Yissi brand rishas?
Thanks for your help in advance. . .
-sam
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Melbourne
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Hmmmm further to all the comments above...
I think Jameel's pyramid Rishas are amongs the finest you can get and the closest in texture when comparing to guitar plectrums. However, I find that
the tortoise patterend once in Jameels range, are the smoothest and most flexible. This is comapred to Jameel's straight black and straight white
rishas, they are a bit more stiff for those who prefer that.
However, I have this risha, which is my favorite when it comes to lower arabic tuning, it is 130mm long and 14mm wide, wich complements well my round
hands. The plastic is rather soft and very flexible, and the thickness is about 1.5 mm which is quite heavy. Like I said I really like this risha
for the low arabic tuning, as it produces a low boomy more traditional sound. Though it wont do a good job say with a high iraqi tuning. I might try
and contact Jameel to see if he knows anything about such risha, it is a pyrmaid, but I found it lying around in a violin maker's workshop, and he had
no idea how it got there! So I havent had much luck in trying to track down where it can be purchased.
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oudplayer
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hey guys
Awad : when i was hiking in israel there were alot of pokipine niddles. so i picked them up adn after poking my self 100 times and bleeding i sanded
them doen to pics and they worked very well if you like it really stiff, if not then u need to get used to them and if you want them to bend soak them
for a few hrs but keep an eye on them they het soft.
thx sammy
we are lost camels in the desert and wanna find our way to water and the water is in aden
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pauldata
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A few months back I purchased several risha made of some kind of real buffalo horn, they are rather stiff and give a very sharp attack unless they are
sanded quite thin. I read somewhere that these real horn risha benefit from being soaked in olive oil for a period of some months, but I haven't got
around to trying this yet. Has anyone here got any experience with this process???
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