Amer - 5-28-2008 at 11:34 AM
Hi guys :-)
Sheriene Tohamy -a graduate and teacher at the Arabic Oud House for those who don't know her- stated in a TV interview that they actually have a
designated Oud maker for their students.. She also mentioned that they have specific dimensions for Ouds (I know why that is after trying two Ouds of
different sizes)..
- What dimensions do they use? and who is their Oud maker?
Also,
- Doesn't the fact that Ouds are made in different dimensions make the Oud world "flavorful"?
- Shouldn't these different sizes also be standardized and defined?
- Can someone elaborate on these two issues?
Thanks all, and thanks mike for putting up this great resource website/forum..
Salam
amtaha - 5-28-2008 at 11:50 AM
You can search the forum for Ageeb Naseef (with different spellings: Ajeeb, Ajib, Nassif, etc)
For example,
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=6296
Some people also refer to it as a naseer shamma oud .. (there are many with reservations on the label "designed by naseer shamma", but that's a story
for another day .. )
I only recently played such an oud. It had a loud and clear sound, very playable. Personally, I found the neck width very comfortable to give
sufficient clearance. I would guess that this is to allow for chords, which are highly emphasized in shamma's technique. Not sure how much, but it has
to be ~40mm at the nut.
As for the open questions, I can't answer much. But for Bait Al-Oud being a school, unifying things isn't that bad of a thing. My issue is with
selecting one specific maker. At any rate, there are many, many, many good and great discussions on the forum regarding these very matters, so you
ought to give it a whirl ..
Cheers,
Hamid
suz_i_dil - 5-28-2008 at 12:45 PM
I remember there are 3 oud maker working with the school, maybe more now:
Ageeb naseef, Marco and Gaafar. I don't remind the full name and adress, but I can find them back to you a little later in the week.
The design of the oud follow Naseer Shamma specification, but those are not the oud Naseer Shamma actually play, he mostly uses Yaroub Fadel
instrument.
The nut is always 40 mm, but there are different size for the body I'll send you a bit later also.
I don't think those different dimension have repercussion on sound, as the ratio between length and wide seems to keep the same.
I think the best is to try, to know if you like them. On my point, I was bothered by the instrument I played, too big or too heavy, and not totally
satisfied by the sound. I also had the problem of a sounboard not enough resistant to support a floating bridge. I don't know how to describe in
english, the soundboard was getting down, but didn't broke.
Anyway, they are indeed really enough too begin and study, and probably the making improved since those last years.
To give you also an idea of prices, those instrument were sold around 150 euros 3 years ago.
Amer - 6-4-2008 at 08:10 PM
Thanks amtaha & suz for your precious responses 
Marina - 6-30-2008 at 10:42 AM
I got little Ageeb naseef oud. Easy to play. It's 66 cm long (all over). Sound is, ok I gues...but I like it. I do use it for performances even that I
have Kamil Mwez...
Marina - 6-30-2008 at 10:43 AM
I got little Ageeb naseef oud. Easy to play. It's 66 cm long (all over). Sound is, ok I gues...but I like it. I do use it for performances even that I
have Kamil Mwez...