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jdowning
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Analysis of an Early Oud Woodcut
Browsing through a few of my old files the other day I came across this woodcut of what appears at first sight to be a rather quaint depiction of an
early oud. However, a preliminary analysis of the geometry of this illustration, assuming that it is not a rough drawing but an accurate and precise
representation of an early oud, has revealed some interesting and close correlations with early lute design that will be posted later.
First of all does anyone know the original source document from which this illustration is taken and its date (14th C?). The wood cut is unfamiliar to
me but may be well known to other forum members. Identification of the source should help confirm that the illustration is indeed that of an oud and
not some other closely related instrument
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ALAMI
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The title on top of the page is : ..?.. Al Oud.
So it is a oud.
No idea regarding the source, but the six branches star may be related to a jewish luthier. I've heard from a luthier of some Moroccan-Jewish oud
luthier old manuscripts he saw once in France.
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Peyman
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I have the exact image in a book on persian musical instruments. The only caption says that it's from old persian manuscripts, which might be
erroneous. The image is included with another oud picture from "kanzoltohaf" which I posted about in these forums some time last year. The pictures
from kanzoltohaf are rough and not as refined as this one but they are from about the same time period, which makes me think that this picture is
relatively newer.
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jdowning
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Thank you ALAMI and Peyman - this is a promising start to this little investigation. Using the search tool, I could not find references on the forum
to the "kanzoltohaf". Do you have a date for those pictures Peyman?
If the script at the top of the page reads 'Al Oud' then we might assume that the image is indeed that of an oud but, at the present time, the
provenance or historical time frame of the image is unknown.
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ALAMI
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I was sure that I've seen this before, I searched my bookmarks.
The same pic is on a website, it is a long page, the pic is around 20% down.
http://www.thecipher.com/viola_da_gamba_cipher-2.html
the legend says:
Oud-lute, 5 course, fretted, Arab music theory treatise, c.1334
and it seems to be scanned from page 81 of a book
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Peyman
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It seems like the posts have been deleted. I scanned it again. The oud on the left is from the Kanzoltohaf which is included with your picture. The
Kanzoltohaf image is about 6 centuries old. There are 4 copies that survive. It's unknown when Kanzoltohaf was written, but from the context, it's
estimated to be 6 centuries old. Just to point, the old ouds did have 4 or 5 frets and were strung with 4 or 5 single strings. This one being doubled
could be more mdern. Just my 2 cents.
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jdowning
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Interesting.
Both posted images appear to be identical in all respects (with the exception of the double line border) and there is at least some confirmation that
the woodcut image may date from around the 14th C.
So, starting at the top of the image, the drawing of the peg box is clearly not intended to be a 'real life' representation, but nevertheless conveys
important details of design. The oud is shown with 5 double courses and the pegbox, fitted as it is with 10 pegs, confirms this fact. (this is an
important detail as early illustrations of instruments sometimes do not show this agreement between the number of strings and number of pegs).
The peg box is 'sickle' shaped unlike the 'S' shaped form of modern oud pegboxes or the straight sided pegboxes found in lutes and some early ouds.
Sickle shaped pegboxes are also found in some early Western European plucked stringed instruments like the guitar shaped viola da mano, lute shaped
'gitterns' and citterns for example but with a difference - in all of these instruments the peg boxes are set back at quite a shallow angle to the
neck. The peg box of the oud , on the other hand, is represented in the woodcut as being set at an extreme angle to the neck so in this respect is
strictly oud (or lute) like. I am not sure of the purpose function of the sharp 'finial' at the end of the pegbox - simply decorative perhaps?
The fifth course on the oud was introduced by minstrel Ziryab at the court of Khalif Harun (d. 809) according to scholar Dr. Henry George Farmer
"Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments".
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jdowning
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Examining the image more closely, I have come to the conclusion that the print may be part woodcut and part engraved - but as I have little knowledge
about early printing technologies I am open to correction here.
Printing from wood cuts is a form of relief printing where the surface of a wooden block is cut away to leave raised areas of the design to be
printed. The surface of the block is then coated with ink and pressed onto a sheet of paper to leave an ink impression.
In intaglio printing the design is cut into a flat plate of stone or metal with an engraving tool. The surface of the completed plate is first inked
and then wiped clean - leaving ink in the fine engraved lines of the design. The plate is then placed on a moistened sheet of paper and subject to
pressure sufficient to force the paper into the engraved lines and pick up the residual ink to form a print.
The print of the oud may have been accomplished in two stages. The more precise line details are likely some kind of intaglio printing. Note the
criss-crossing of the lines representing the strings and frets on the fingerboard and at the corners of the border of the print which might be
difficult if not impossible to achieve in a wood cut. Note also faint traces of what seem to be layout marks made by a compass at the bottom of the
image - careless work by the engraver perhaps as the marks seem to be cut into the original plate (more on this later). One way to confirm if this
technique was used would be to examine the original print as intaglio printing normally leaves a distinctive depression of the plate in the paper.
The Arabic script and the cruder design of the pegbox may be a woodcut print overlay on the engraved printed image - the printing plates being
registered to ensure correct alignment of the components of the print?
Engraved intaglio prints were first used in Europe around the mid 15th C but the technique may have been adopted from other cultures (Middle East?)
where it was used at an earlier date than this?
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jdowning
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Continuing to review and comment upon details of the print, the oud is fitted with seven frets. It is generally accepted, from the research work of Dr
Farmer and others, that early ouds were fretted at least into the 14th C but that some oudists of the time - such as Ibn al-Tahan - had abandoned use
of frets because these players knew the place of every note on the fingerboard without need for frets. If the engraving is a precise representation of
the geometry of an oud then the fingerboard is wider and more lute like than is found today on modern ouds. Early lutes were usually fitted with seven
or eight frets but expert lutenists would often play with equal facility in higher (fret less) positions on the soundboard. No doubt oudists of the
era did the same.
Frets may be tied on the neck of a lute either as a single or double strand but is is not obvious from the engraving if the frets are single or
double.
The engraver has taken the trouble to represent binding around the edge of the soundboard which may possibly also serve as a datum point needed for
layout of the oud geometry.
The fixed bridge has decorative carved ends in a style similar to bridges found on some surviving lutes of the late 16th C.
It is a striking (and unusual?) feature that the oud only has two small sound holes. If it is to be argued that the engraving is an accurate
geometrical representation then perhaps this is how the oud was - without a larger main rose. However, it is possible that the main rose was omitted
by the engraver for clarity - to avoid visually confusing the string layout - however that is just speculation but an idea worth exploring a little
further later.
ALAMI suggests that the oud represented in the print may have been made by a Jewish luthier - because of the Star of David design in the roses.
Another possibility might be that the engraver of the plate was Jewish - perhaps a gold smith expert in engraving metals - working in a tolerant cross
cultural environment (Moorish "Spain"?). Interesting thoughts but speculation nevertheless.
Now to examine the external geometry of the oud.
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Peyman
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One interesting point is that the oud from kanzoltohaf is floating bridge but the other is fixed bridge. I'd be interested to know which type was more
prominent at the time. But it seems that the fixed bridge was more of a European tradition, because most persian miniatures (from the middle ages) I
have seen show the oud with floating bridge. Perhaps that gives strength to the idea that there is a good chance the print is of European origin.
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jdowning
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ALAMI - Thanks for the link to the R.E. Blumberg website on early European fretted instruments and the Cipher. It all looks very interesting and
informative so look forward to reading what the author has to say when I get time. Also, there are a large number of good quality images of the
instruments for information and for detailed study - most that are well known to researchers in the field but some that are not so well known.
Unfortunately, although an identical image of the oud currently under examination in this post appears on the site, the original source of the print
is not given by Blumberg - only that it is from an Arab music theory treatise of the early 14th C.
I am interested to know the title of the original source, when and where is was published and by whom
Peyman - I am a bit confused about the "kanzoltohaf" book. Is this the early 14th C 'Arab music theory treatise' referred to by Blumberg or is it just
a collection of early images and texts taken from a variety of original sources relating to early Persian instruments?
The images of the floating bridge instruments that you have posted do not look like ouds to my Western eye any more than I would regard a 19th C
American banjo to be lute. If the oud is the direct ancestor of the European lute - as I assume that it is (although some may disagree) - then I am
looking for and expect to find close similarities or correlation in structure and geometry between the two instruments in both their ancient and
modern classical forms. Both instruments should be unequivocally identified by characteristic defining features - including a wooden staved half-pear
shaped bowl, a braced wooden soundboard and a fixed bridge. The modern floating bridge oud would appear to be a very recent development dating from
the late 1950's(?) so is excluded from these historical comparisons.
Surviving gut strung European lutes - as far as I am aware - all have fixed bridges which I assume was an important feature adopted directly from the
oud rather than dictated by any European tradition.
I doubt if the source of the original print is European but remain open minded about that possibility. The possibility of the development of the
Arabic oud being in part influenced by European lute design is an intriguing thought
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jdowning
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The geometry of the oud will be examined in stages - for the sake of clarity.
The first stage is to look at the external geometry.
An exact tracing was made of the engraving of the oud and the geometry was determined - by trial and error - using dividers. The craftsman who made
the original engraved plate for the print made an error in engraving the contour of the bottom left quadrant of the oud profile (it is too large in
radius) but the right hand quadrant, like the rest of the profile, appears to be precise in its execution. The engraver also left faintly scribed
layout markings on the print plate but (fortunately!) did not take the trouble to erase them.
The first datum point to be established is the line XY drawn through the centres of the two small rosettes or sound-holes. Scribing the arc R1 from
the centre of of XY precisely defines the geometry of the bottom curve of the oud profile. Arc R2 is a curve of radius equal to the maximum
soundboard width and precisely defines the geometry of the upper part of the oud profile. R3 - drawn from a point where the circumference of radius
R1 intersects the centre-line of the oud and meets R2 at a tangent, defines the width of the neck at the end of the fingerboard (i.e. the width of
the neck joint).
The distance from the bottom of the belly to the front edge of the bridge (AB) is equal to a sixth of the overall length of the oud soundboard (AC)
i.e. a distance measured from the bottom of the soundboard to the neck joint.
The diameters of the small sound-holes are one fifth of the maximum width of the belly XY.
So far so good!
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Peyman
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The manuscript known as kanzoltohaf is a rare breed as far as music manuscripts go. For one, it was written in Persian and not Arabic. Also the author
goes in length to describe how several instruments are built and gives the ratios. The drawings are not to scale because that type of drawing was not
practiced at the time. The instrument drawings are also a unique feature to this manuscript as far as I know.
But this discussion makes me think that perhaps there were separation between different styles of oud, just like it exists today. There are a variety
of ouds now (Iraqi vs. Turkish and so on) and maybe that holds true for then. Just a thought.
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jdowning
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Thanks Peyman. So has the precise engraving of the oud currently under examination been taken from another original source (i.e. an 'Arab music theory
treatise of circa 1334'- a source yet to be determined and verified) and incorporated in the kanzoltohaf manuscript by its author? Is the script
associated with the engraving - ie the title and identification of the nut, bridge and strings - Persian or Arabic?
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jdowning
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Checking Dr. H.G. Farmer's work "Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments" he makes several references to the Persian manuscript "Kanz al-tuhaf" (that
I take to be the very same as kanzoltohaf).
In "The Structure of the Arabian and Persian Lute" chapter 5, Dr Farmer adds the following footnote about the Kanz al-tuhaf manuscript "Its date is
fixed by a chronogram which is either 1346, 1355 or 1362. Manuscripts are to be found in several libraries. In the present case it is the British
Museum copy, Or. 2361, fol. 261v, which has been used"
In his "Was the Arabian and Persian Lute Fretted" chapter 3 Farmer observes that out of hundreds of pictures depicting ouds dating from the 13th to
the 20th C not one shows any trace of frets but that Persian writers al-Shirazi (died 1310), al-Amuli (14th C) and Ibn Ghaibi (died 1435) all refer to
frets. He also mentions that the author of Kanz al-tuhaf was Muhammad al- Amuli and that almost every instrument depicted in the manuscript is out of
proportion whilst the strings are entirely omitted.
What is really puzzling is that Farmer makes no mention at all of the engraving of the oud currently under investigation in this thread which is
rather odd considering that here, apparently, is an early example of an oud depicted in proper proportions and shown with both strings and frets. So
what is the origin of this print?
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ALAMI
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This print seems to be fairly known, it seems to be commonly attributed to the Arab Music Treatise of Safi al-din Al Urmawi (1216-1294).
I have a scan of the manuscript of Kitab Al Adwar, I checked and it is not there (but I am not sure if the scan I have is complete).
What is sure is that in his work, Al-Urmawi is considering a 5 string oud as the common oud.
Al Urmawi wrote a second book ca 1265 called al-Risala al-sharafiyya fi al-nisab al-ta'lifiyya (The Sharafian Treatise on Musical Proportions). maybe
the drawing is from this book
I am attaching a long article on Al urmawi by Dr Fazli Arslan
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ALAMI
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After some googling around I found on the site of luthier David Van Edwards a reference for the same pic:
http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/Ud.htm
It is referenced as courtesy of lute player Davide Rebuffa who confirms that it is from Al Urmawi's Kitab Al Adwar. (but without citing a
reference)
This very drawing was also the subject of a discussion on the lute boards of Dartmouth College between Van Edwards and rebuffa and others.
Rebuffa insists on the Urmawi origin (BUT .... still without mentioning a solid source):
-------------
"the picture of the 'ud is from the book of Safi al Din 'Abd al-Mu'min b.Fakr al-Urmawi" Kitab al -adwar" written in 1333-34.
It is an important arab treatise on musical theory ( he also wrote onother
one) and it was written while Safi ad-Din was working in the library of the
Caliph al-Mustassim.
The oldest known copy ot the kitab al-adwar was finished in 633/1236 ( Ms
Nuruosmaniye 3653) when the author was only 20 years old.! ( did he write
it?) Cronologically it is the first scientific treatise on music after that
of Ibn Sina.
-----------------------
The full discussion link:
http://www.mail-archive.com/lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg01602.html
I also found out accidentally that Rebuffa posted once on these Forums in a topic about an old egyptian oud
Internet is still (sometimes) amazing
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Peyman
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Alami, thanks for posting the article on Urmavi. I know about his treatise on music but haven't taken the time to read it.
As far as the picture goes, I am pretty sure it's not from Kanzoltohaf. I also doubt that it would be from Urmavi's "original" book. It might have
been added to it later. The only way to find out is to see if any of Urmavi's actual hand writings survive.
I also wanted to add to the discussion on frets. I remember discussing (within the three of us) some persian words such as "Dastan" and "Pardeh" both
of which can be interchangeably translated to frets. Dastan, lit. "Hands" could also mean hand positioning. So one could think of these frets as Hand
positions rather than actual wrapped gut frets. (The repertoir of persian music is sometimes called Dast-gah, meaning hand positioning.)
The other point about Farmer not finding frets on ouds could also come from having different types of ouds. Abdolghader Maraghei wrote 2 manuscripts
where he discussed musical instruments. I have to re-read to be sure but he mentions different types of ouds some of which are: Oud-al-ghadim (old
oud), Shah-rood (king oud, some kind of a bass oud), Oud-al-Mokemmel (the Complete oud with 7 strings, I think). I am guessing that some musicians
decided to remove the frets. Anyway, I am curious to read more about your findings.
One last question I have is about the origins of the European Lute. At one point did the oud come to Europe? Is there a clear answer to this? Was it
through the Moors or was it from the East?
I have a cool Urmavi picture that I will post later...
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jdowning
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Thank you for posting the information ALAMI and for your additional interesting observations Peyman.
Farmer mentions both Risalat al-sharafiyya and kitab al-adwar of Safi al-Din in his research paper "Was the Arabian and Persian Lute Fretted" (Farmer
seems to prefer to use 'lute' rather than 'oud' for some reason). He was clearly very familiar with the original manuscripts as primary source
documents for he writes
" Indeed every other manuscript of the Risalat al-sharafiyya and Kitab al-adwar of Safi al-Din which I have examined contains a single line for each
string" and he then lists, in a footnote, each of seven manuscript sources that he consulted in his research. Yet he makes no reference to this
engraving of an oud when arguing in support of fretted ouds. Therefore, I would agree with Peyman in suspecting that the engraving does not appear in
Kitab al-adwar (or in al-Risala al-sharafiyya) - unless added to manuscript copies made after the death of Safi al-Din (in 1294).
Farmer in "Was the Arabian and Persian Lute Fretted" concludes that the absence of frets from iconographic sources of the period can only be explained
by recognising that by the 13th C. the use of frets on the oud had already generally fallen into neglect.
Farmer is convincing in his arguments in support of 'dasatin' being interpreted as tied on frets by quoting several original sources in support of his
arguments. In particular he quotes Ibn al-Tahan (14th C) as recommending that "four rolls of gut string were required to fret an oud". This, of
course, is Farmer's translation of the original text that I am in no position to verify.
The question about the origins of the European lute is a good one and may not be as clear cut as Western researchers in the past would have us believe
- i.e. simply that the oud was introduced through Moorish Spain. More recently others have argued that the lute came to Europe from the East via the
Balkans, Byzantium etc. I suspect that both possibilities may be valid but likely impossible to prove with any certainty a millennium later. No harm
in trying though!
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jdowning
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In stage 1 of the analysis the profile of the oud is precisely defined by arcs R1 and R2.
In retrospect, the construction given by arc R3 will now be discounted in defining the position and width of the neck joint. Currently the position of
the neck joint has been taken directly from the engraving - represented by a line drawn between the intersection points where the sides of the
fingerboard meet the upper curves of the soundboard profile. The total length of the body of the oud is then defined as the distance AC from the
bottom of the soundboard to the neck joint. Arc R3 does not determine this position. Also the width of the neck joint is dictated by the location of
the neck joint relative to the body of the oud not by arc R3.
So far there is no obvious geometrical construction that defines the exact position of the neck joint.
Moving on to stage 2 of this analysis. Turning to the faintly scribed lines visible at the bottom of the engraving, these appear to contact the inside
edge of the banding profile at the bottom of soundboard. By trial and error, using dividers, the best match is given by the arc R4 with its centre
located at the mid point of line ab drawn just above the two soundholes. We can speculate, with some degree of confidence, that the soundboard might
be supported in this area by a brace located on either side of the soundholes. Let lines ab and cd represent the positions of these braces.
Speculating further, we will conclude that arc R4 touches and defines the position of the inside edge of the neck block. We will also assume that it
touches and defines the inside edge of a shallow end block located at the bottom of the oud body. This feature would be better described as an end
plate - a thin reinforcement plate glued inside the bottom of the bowl. This type of reinforcement is the standard form of construction found in
surviving European lutes of the 16th and 17th C and is usually a strip of softwood about 2-3 mm thick - but can also be found in older ouds.
From this construction we can see that the distance measured from the bottom of the soundboard to brace ab (i.e. distance AE) is exactly 1/3 of the
total distance measured from the bottom of the soundboard A to the front edge of the nut G. Interestingly, if the length of the neck is defined as
including the length of the neck block (i.e. distance FG), then it can be seen that the length of the neck is almost exactly 1/3 of the overall length
of the oud - a ratio that, apparently, is often to be found on modern ouds (except that in the latter case the neck measurement does not include the
neck block).
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jdowning
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Correction! The neck length on a modern oud of traditional design is 1/3 of the string length - not 1/3 of total overall length as stated in the
previous post.
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jdowning
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Moving on to stage 3 of the analysis. In order to explore the geometrical construction possibilities further we must again speculate.
The oud engraving is shown with only two small soundholes but it would be interesting to investigate the geometry of an oud of this profile that has
three sound holes but how would we determine the location and size of this sound hole?
Those of you who have been following threads of this nature over the past year may recognise the geometric profile of the oud. It is identical to the
earliest known construction of a lute in a mid 15th C manuscript by Arnault de Zwolle - so let us use the Arnault geometry as a guide. (A search on
the forum for 'Arnault de Zwolle' will show the Arnault lute drawing for those not already familiar with it).
The single sound hole of the Arnault lute is located mid way between the "head" of the lute and the front of the bridge. The "head" in this case is
determined by drawing an arc R3a from the inside edge of the neck block (from the same centre point used for arc R3 in stage 1 analysis). This arc
intersects the centreline of the oud at point H which is the "head" location of the Arnault lute. Dividing line HB into two equal parts gives the
centre of the large sound hole at R (i.e. distance HR is equal to BR).
The diameter of the soundhole in the Arnault lute is 1/3 of the transverse line ef drawn through the centre of the soundhole. The lower edge of the
sound hole touches our first bar ab. Where the upper edge of the sound hole intersects the centre line of the oud is the location for the centre of
arc R5 which contacts the sound board profile at a tangent and defines the location of the neck joint - the missing geometrical connection!
We can now locate braces at ab, cd, ef and gh necessary to support the sound board over the area weakened by the sound holes.
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SamirCanada
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you are going really deep with this document.
Hopefully your curiosity leads you to reconstruct this oud.
wishful thinking perhaps but you are close enough that I would be tempted to try it.
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jdowning
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Sooner or later I shall get around to making a reconstruction of an early oud - based on evidence of this kind - possibly modelled after this
instrument, if the original source can be confirmed.
I do not recall having seen any European paintings or iconography that depict a lute with two (or three) sound holes in this configuration - which is
an indication that the the original source is likely not European. However, are there any examples of paintings from the Middle East (or Moorish
Spain) that depict ouds with just two small soundholes?
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jdowning
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A couple more observations before moving ahead.
The centre of each small sound hole - measured from the edge of the sound board is given by the distance from the front edge of the bridge (B) to
brace cd.
Although the position of the neck joint in this case is given by arc R3a, in practice the exact position would depend upon the width of the
fingerboard at the neck joint. In this case, if the width was to be made slightly narrower, the position of the joint would be repositioned a little
towards point H and the relationship found on modern ouds of the neck length (fingerboard length - nut front edge to neck joint) being 1/3 of the
string length would apply.
Having established possible brace locations from the external geometry of the oud engraving and the identical external geometry of the Arnault lute,
we can now examine how this compares with other historical lute bracing geometry.
Marin Mersenne writing in 1636 gives the precise basic barring layout of a lute of his time. Dividing the sound board into eight equal parts - the 8th
part being 'where the neck begins' - six braces are glued to the sound board on parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The centre of the rose is located in the
middle of part 5. The bridge position is determined by dividing part 1 and 2 into three equal parts, the bridge being glued upon the second part -
which is placed above the bridge. (In other words the second of the three parts defines the front edge of the bridge).
The 8th part is the inside edge of the neck block not the neck joint position - so Mersenne's barring placement refers to the length of the sound
board free to vibrate i.e. from the inside edge of the end plate to the inside edge of the neck block.
In our earlier analysis of the oud engraving we found that the arc R4, faintly visible in the original print, also defines the same vibrating length
of the sound board. Dividing this distance into eight parts - we find that the braces ab, ef, and gh are located on part 4, 5 and 6 and that the
centre of the main rose (if there was one) is in the centre of part 5 - all exactly as given by Mersenne. Mersenne calls for a brace on parts 2 and 3
but the oud only has a single brace cd located, however, midway between part 2 and 3. Mersenne also calls for a single bar on part seven to support
the area above the rose. Instead of a single bar at part 7, some surviving lutes have two bars located equidistant on either side of part seven.
Interestingly, on our oud, the distance between the centres of arc R3a and R5 is exactly 1/3 the distance between the top edge of the main sound hole
and the inside edge of the neck block giving the possible location of two more bars (represented here as dashed lines).
Dividing part 1 and 2 into three parts we find that the front edge of the bridge lies exactly on the second part of the three parts as given by
Mersenne.
This is probably about as far as we can go in speculating about brace positions on an oud of this particular geometry and might apply regardless of
whether the oud has one, two or three soundholes.
The correlation of the brace arrangement with that given by Mersenne is astonishing. The lutes of Mersenne's time were generally longer and narrower
in profile than that given by the oud engraving - which likely explains the substitution of two braces at parts 2 and 3 instead of the oud's single
brace in this location. Ouds of a later period having longer narrower profiles also have two braces in this location like the lute. Ouds of a later
period also often have a single bar positioned below the bridge (unlike lutes which do not appear to have this feature).
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