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Edward Powell
Oud Junkie
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my laptop just bit the dust AGAIN! Same problem. . . . got it back in the ciaro repair shop. . . . .
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Edward Powell
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Just got my laptop back...
Here is a clip of the gig I did with Mohammed Antar. The volume is very low because we played acoustically. Very nice feeling at this gig. I'm really
happy about it. We have a couple more totally duet concerts coming up in 10 days or so here in Cairo. A nice way to finish off this adventure :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4rBrlBkYHE
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nayoud
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Location: Cairo, Egypt -Berlin, Germany
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Edward Powell
Just got my laptop back...
Here is a clip of the gig I did with Mohammed Antar. The volume is very low because we played acoustically. Very nice feeling at this gig. I'm really
happy about it. We have a couple more totally duet concerts coming up in 10 days or so here in Cairo. A nice way to finish off this adventure :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4rBrlBkYHE |
Edward
I really enjoyed this video .... I hope you can post the upcoming duets as well !
Hisham
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Edward Powell
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Hi Hisham
yes, this is the plan...
and I really want to thank YOU for introducing me to Antar. He is a great man and musician! ...and it looks like Antar and I will be continuing our
collaboration in future - he also has a interest in raga as well, so we both think strongly in terms of strengthening and also expanding (NOT in a
12TET direction!) the makam system...
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nayoud
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Edward Powell
Hi Hisham
yes, this is the plan...
and I really want to thank YOU for introducing me to Antar. He is a great man and musician! ...and it looks like Antar and I will be continuing our
collaboration in future - he also has a interest in raga as well, so we both think strongly in terms of strengthening and also expanding (NOT in a
12TET direction!) the makam system... |
Thank you Edward
I'm definitely looking forward .. good luck and thank you for the good music!!
Peace
Hisham
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SamirCanada
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very nice piece Edward.
excellent playing
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charlie oud
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Hey Edward, Lovely playing, thank you. Arab & Turk aside, dont lose sight of that sincere bluesy style you show in the taqsim intro. Our roots
give foundation to all we play. Some styles of oud playing can sound a bit "plonky", a blues background prevents this as expression & syncopation
comes naturally. If you cant fathom out the origins you are seeking on your trip then go your own way, a path which will prove well worth the
journey!, dont you think? C
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Edward Powell
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Bluesy???!!! NO NO, that was a momentary stop on SABA ZAMZAM ) (therefore it is "allowed"  )
...in fact, what you say about "going our own way", is right on. I had been playing oud for many years my own way, but several years ago woke up and
understood that i NEEDED to get seriously in touch with the origins of the oud if I want to use it.
however, the ULTIMATE goal is "to go our own way"... and although I am just at the beginning of 'getting in touch' with the oud, still, life is
short, and I know that now is the time to finally consolidate everything I've learned and finally focus on somehow regurgitating this out into
something that can organically emerge from all of it.
Thanks
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JT
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Sounding great Ed!!!!
Proud of you man...you're getting more and more Egyptian my friend...
All the best,
JT
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Edward Powell
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...they say, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears". I think this was the case that day you walked into my mosquito ridden hotel room. Arab
oud had been growing inside me for 15 years, and then when I saw you playing up close, something said "OH YEAH!" ...and I realised many many things
in that moment.
Now a new batch of seeds have been planted in my musical soul, and of course they will take time to grow..... but grow they will.
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Ararat66
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Its great to see YOU playing live at last whilst creating this wonderful meadering thread. I enjoyed it - you could afford to cut loose a bit, your
own voice will always come out anyway so you might as well ... and that can only be authentic.
Lovely stuff
Leon
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Edward Powell
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Yes, you have a very good point regarding the "cutting loose" issue
I think, as with other styles I have learned, I first like to get me feet really solidly on the ground, then slowly start taking off...
for sure, I was holding back like crazy this gig. . . but my experience is better that than butcher ) ...although that is arguable. At least when it is Antar's gig it was better to be safe.
But this is really the point you mention - LETTING OUR VOICE COME THRU, even when this voice is fundamentally Western. Starting as a rock and blues
musician, then shifting to classical music like indian and oriental, this blues voice is often looked down upon in these circles.
Another thing is that I find that if I don't consciously concentrate on raga or makam style then the blues comes thru too strong.... however, I must
admit that this does not happen when I play indian classical music - I guess because I have been doing that for 20 years now and it is almost as
natural to me as the blues.
In fact, what I am trying to do is get enough authentic oriental style in me so a taksim will sound very natural and oriental. I feel I am getting
pretty near - a bit more confidence and vocabulary........
I met a great painter in Varanasi many years ago who showed me fotos of his art - and I was just blown away, I had never seen anything like it. I
asked how did he do it. He told me that the secret to creating a new art form or style is to become very good at 3 different styles.... and then
combine them into one.
So since this time I had it as a goal to eventually combine blues, ragas, and makams into something new. ---well, that's why I am still studying
at the age of 45! )
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Ararat66
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Hi Edward
I totally agree - I didn't really mean go completely Hendrix on the gig (now I'd love to see THAT on you tube you playing oud with your teeth ... only joking, keep your friends), and I can absolutely see how you are building up
your 'oriental' sense so you can begin to draw on this instinctively - I guess lots of us with Western or mixed roots come to this realisation soon,
especially (as with me) you play guitar first.
Its like playing oud as an oud as naturally as you play guitar as a guitar. I've noticed my guitar playing really change since playing oud, it may
sound a bit daft but it has gone from square to diagonal in dynamic and become far more organic. I don't know if you find this. I sense you are a
man who has challenged you own belief quite strongly as to what comprises of authenticity and integrity (I could be wrong:shrug
Making music and art throws this up because one quickly comes up against the wall of 'style' and 'culture', and riding these fantastic resources can
be exhilerating and frustrating in equal measure ... we try to conform to them because we feel safe to ground our quest, but it also puts out ladders
so we can climb the walls and be tempted beyond.
I've had wise teachers keep reminding me that the path is beneath my feet ... I tell them my feet are very smelly LOL
This is a very interesting thread
Leon
I seem to remember Joe describing his mixture of roots ... now we can all agree that there's a man with an oud voice!! his 'style' is eclectic but
totally authentic.
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Edward Powell
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I think that musically we always benefit from knowing other instruments... but technically we can get into difficulties. for example I play electric
guitar/bass, sitar, and oud, and now fretless guitar. I have experienced problems with my right hand technique because of ingrained ways of stroking
learned as an electric guitarist/bassist. These stroking techniques don't translate at all to oud and sitar, so this causes me a lot of trouble until
I finally figured it out.
yes on this taksim I am glad I didn't make any mistakes (wrong notes etc) however what I felt I did "wrong" was to sort of wimp out somewhat when I
was developing the octave area. And also I was not "spacing out " the phrases well towards the end. In fact, what I will try to do next time is to
leave longer spaces between phrases, and in fact play louder and a bit more aggressively in the high area development, rather than more quietly as I
did there.
here is a clip of the last piece we played... starting with Nay Taksim....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvvKp3--OzU&feature=email
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Edward Powell
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Incredible FIRE today in downtown Cairo - I filmed the whole thing, 60min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-GHmghvoT0
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Edward Powell
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another FIRE today near my hotel... (small one this time) But seems that there is a lot of arson going on now in Cairo, partly as a protest agains
the gov't -- or done by developers who want to buy the burnt buildings cheap.
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Edward Powell
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Hi Friends
I'm outta here... 730am, gobbling breakfast and now off to get the airport bus.... no time to write much of a farewell.
I have to admit that I learned as much or morre from this Forum than on the ground here in Cairo - - but still, without actually coming here I would
never have focused so intensively for so long on this subject, and just BEING in this place has allowed me to FEEL something we can never feel thru
the Internet.
I recommend it to anyone. . .
...I wonder how this place will be different the next time I pass by?
thank you all for your help in my research and for tolerating my sometimes stubborn viewpoints 
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Edward Powell
Oud Junkie
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...back home in one piece
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Edward Powell
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Now I am back... I am finishing the voicing process of the new RAGMAKAMTAR that I build before coming. This instrument is sort of a combination of an
oud and a sarod in one guitar body...
On this new instrument, now, the sarod part sound amazing, but I am struggling with the oud neck. It is impossible to get it really sounding like an
oud - and to try, and reach half way seems foolish. So I have spent the last 3 days changing strings and tweeking this and that and this and that....
and finally, with the oud side have started to get some good results with very light steel strings instead of nylon - - - and also making the double
courses octave whereever possible. ---this is really opening up the sound -
- but taking the instrument away from the oud. I am glad about this because "an oud is an oud", and shouldn't be messed with too much. I did NOT want
to squeeze and oud and a sarod in together and compromise both - I wanted to create a new unique sounding instrument ("inspired" by oud sarod).
The main point is to be able to play both ragas and maqams on one instrument.
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ibn sina
Oud Maniac
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Hi Edward,
I've been off list for a while, busy teaching (college, not oud) in NY. Now the semester is over. I'm taking lessons regularly here, have two great
teachers (one goes out of town a lot).
But I need oud repairs, or something, there's a lot of buzzing in the D strings right now. Sigh. I'm coming along, but it takes a while.
Where are you? How's your playing? I think they have some pretty good oud instruction on the West Bank, if you can get there. Try the music
conservatory in Birzeit.
best,
Kiki
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Edward Powell
Oud Junkie
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West Bank?? ...no, actually more like the West Coast ...I arrived back
here in Vancouver B.C. last week and am settling in for a 3 month stay here.
In fact I don't even have an oud here with me - but I have my 'ragmakamtar' which has a lot of similarity...
Nice to be back here, I have been digging out some of my old wood that I have here, and also just today found a bargain on some excellent ceder wood
which one day will probably be about 30 new ouds - - -
I really love the incredible abundance of great soft wood in this area :-)
Also while I am back here I will be selling a lot of my old instruments --- get rid of the clutter... I will be posting some of them here
also...
keep in touch!
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