Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, my name is Ken. Welcome
to this course where I introduce you this
beautiful instrument here called the UHD. I hope to use this
course to give you a basic overview of
this instrument, how it sounds, but makes it
so unique, how to buy one. And the possibilities
it can bring you what started off as a
random interests for me, eventually blossom into an eight-year journey of
untold possibilities. I've made many new friends
through this instrument, perform music I never
imagined I would. And now, making a video course introducing it
whether you intend to eventually become
a new player or just simply interested in learning
about a new instrument. This course will definitely help you broaden your
musical horizons. So welcome to the
journey, and let's begin.
2. What is An Oud: Welcome back. So let's
start with what is an food? In short, is a Threadless
11 string loop instrument that can be commonly
found in the Middle East, North Africa, eastern,
Mediterranean, Armenia, and even
Southeast Asia. The word boot is actually Arabic in origin, which means wood. And different countries. They would spell it and
pronounce it differently. That would originated in some form in the Middle
East around four to 5 thousand years ago and has steadily evolved into
its current form. It is also the ancestor of other loop instruments that
you might be familiar with, such as the European loot
and also the Chinese pipa. And some even say
that the food could even be the predecessor
of the guitar. The way it is played is
very similar to a guitar, whereby you control the pitches using your fingers on one hand. And you produce the sound by striking the strings
on the other. Now you know what
an OU this did. You know that there are a few different
variations of wood? Let's talk about that
in the next video.
3. Different Types Of Oud: Let's talk about the
different types of roots. Traditionally and
commonly speaking, there are four different types. We had the Turkish, Arabic, Iraqi, and
Iranian routes. The Arabic code is generally used in the Arabic
speaking regions, such as the Levant, Arabian Peninsula,
Egypt, and North Africa. The Turkish food is commonly
used in places like Turkey, Greece, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan, Iraq. You hoods are most
commonly found in Iraq and the Iranian
owed. In Iran. They all vary in size,
sound, and tuning. And although they might look
and sound very similar, they are actually very
unique in their own way and they each help define
the sound of the air region. I'll include some video links of different food types down below so that you can check them out for your own reference. So I have two roots
on me right now. The one on my left
is a turkey shoot, and the one on my right is
an Arabic Turkish hybrid. So what this means is the one on the right is actually slightly bigger than
the one on the left. Not sure if you can tell
the difference on camera. Even though it looks
pretty similar, there's still a difference
between the two. Next, let's look at the
anatomy of the ODE.
4. Anatomy of an Oud: Like any other instrument, is made up of different parts. Generally speaking,
that's the headstock, the neck, and the body. The headstock is
where the strings are being held by
the tuning pegs, which looks very similar to the ones you find in a
violin or the cello. And then you have the
neck portion where you control the pitches by
pressing on the strings. And as you can see,
it is fruitless. So it allows the player to freely explore pitches that are not in the Western
12 tone system that most of us are used to. And lastly, we have the body, which is shaped like
a pair on the front. And it has a bowl shaped back. And the bowl is actually
constructed using strips of wood, we call ribs. So all these features
are what gives the ODE. It's unique look and sound. So now we know what
makes up a blue. Next, let's talk
about its tuning.
5. Oud Tunings: Like any other string
instruments around, have what we call
a standard tuning. And there are different types of standard tunings depending
on the variant of the food, the region, and whether if
it's traditional model. So for example, suffice to say, standard tunings vary
from region to region. So please refer to the
video links are included in the different types
of good video to listen to the different
types of tunings. So just to give you
some audio examples, this is what an Arabic
tuning sounds like. This is what a Turkish
tuning sounds like. Some good players may change
the tuning of some strings, usually the lowest one, depending on the key of the
piece that they're playing. So for example, if I'm
playing in the key of D, I would have my
lowest string tool to have it act as a drone to give my playing some
harmonic context. Oh, if I'm playing
in the key of C, then I can change the tuning of the lowest string
to see instead.
6. Oud Strings: Let's talk about strings. The standard modern
food has 11 strings, five doubles, one
single at the bottom. The string ties to the
bridge at the bottom, very similar to a
classical guitar, and fixes to the
pegs like a violin. The double strings are
doing exactly the same and they are what I call the
functional melodic strings. And they come in pairs to help in terms of
sound production, especially when playing
in an ensemble. The single one acts
as a base string, or what I call the drone string, because it's mostly used
as an drawn to accompany the melodic parts to give
it some harmonic context. Traditionally
speaking with strings are made with animal gut, which is very similar to
European stringed instruments. But nowadays, most goods strings are either made with nylon, which is most common, or a synthetic gut
string called Neil get. What's drinks in
general can last a really long time if you
take good care of them. For me, they can last between four to five months of
moderate daily use.
7. Oud Plectrums: As mentioned before,
we produce sounds on a good by controlling
the pitches on one hand on the
fretboard and striking the strings on the other
by using a plectrum, which is commonly
called Russia in Arabic and Miserables
in Turkish, would play. Drums are generally long, thin strips made of
various materials. Traditionally they
use eagles feather, and nowadays we have strips
made out of plastic, nylon, and animal horns, each giving a unique
sound quality. So here are some examples. Okay, Now we've
covered what and who does what it's made of
and how it's played. So how do we buy one? Let's talk about that
in the next video.
8. How o buy an Oud?: Say of watch my videos. And now you're inspired to be an old player and
you want to buy one. How do you do that? In this video, I'll be sharing some basic buying tips
for your reference. But please be aware that this is by no means a comprehensive
buying lists. So please be informed
when making a purchase. I would narrow down to three
channels to start with. This is what I would recommend
if you're a beginner. These online stores sell ready-made routes
for the most part, usually selling entry-level
to mid-range foods, and the price typically starts around four to 500 US dollars. They carry most of the
common variant types like Turkish and Arabic glutes. So you will have a lot to
choose from. As a beginner. What you really need to
decide if you want a Turkish or Arabic and how much
you're willing to spend. I personally bought
a few words on these websites and I would say they're actually
pretty okay. You get what you pay for. And they work really, really well for people who
are new to the instrument. Buying from Luther's
can be a good idea if you know exactly what you want and you can afford them. Because generally
speaking, they will be pricier than the
ready-made foods. You can look up the homemakers on their websites, YouTube, google, Instagram hashtags,
and check out their videos. If you're interested,
you can get in touch with the lutea
directly and discuss what you want and the price about this good shipped directly
from a Turkish lutea, who I found from
an online search. It cost about 1500 USD and because it is
handmade to order, it took about 90 to 100
days for it to arrive, but it plays great
and sounds great. Secondhand goods can also
be a very good option if you can find reliable
channels to purchase from. But personally
speaking, I would not recommend going for a
secondhand option if you are a total beginner because there's just so much that
can go wrong in the process, which I have on me, was actually bought secondhand
from a friend of mine. And I had actually
a loan this from my friend for a few months
before actually buying it. So that's what I mean by if you really want to get
a secondhand good, Make sure you know the
seller directly and get a chance to try and
inspect the instrument. If not, I would highly recommend just going for the
previous two options.
9. Opportunities with the Oud: So in this video, I'd
like to share with you what can you
do with the food? But before I do that,
let me just give you a brief background
about myself. I'm originally from Malaysia
and I picked up the eight years ago here in China
where I'm currently based. So I'm a non-Native as far
as the oldest concerned. Over the years, I got to do a lot with the wound
care for status. Very few people know or
play that here in China. So I get a lot of attention and requests for
collaborations and so on. So let me summarize in
a few points what I was able to do as a group
player in my experience. So you can get an idea of what you are able to do
if you pick up the load. So as I've mentioned, because so few people
know or play the flute, I had so many
opportunities to perform. I played and collaborated
with many people, mostly percussionist
and dancers. And I was also invited to
play in cultural events. As my own activities
increased over time, I was invited to share about
the wonders of the world. I gave workshops introducing the good on several occasions, mostly to dance and dance girls. What this experience
taught me was, You don't have to
be a grandmaster. Be able to teach as long as
you can play fairly well. You're passionate about the
instrument and the music. They will always
be opportunities for you to share your knowledge. So one thing that
would really did was expand my musical horizons. Coming from a Western
music background. I grew up not knowing the rich musical traditions that existed beyond the
Western Hemisphere. They're all opened up a
whole new world for me. Get introduced me a new musical
system called them AECOM, that is very different from the Western musical
system that we know. And it also introduced to me new musical forms
such as the SAS semi, the longer and the
pressure of that really changed the way how I
sought and made music. So what I've just shared
with you is based on my own personal
experience and I'm still excited to know whether
can pick me next. So wherever you are, I'm sure that can really open up a whole new world for you.
10. Conclusion: Now that we've reached
the end of the course, I'd like to thank
you so much for staying with me throughout
this entire journey. And a big congratulations to you for learning something new. I hope you've learned something valuable from this course that may add to inspire you to pick up this
incredible instrument. Or just broaden your
musical horizons and give you some new ideas. This is just an introduction
and there's so much more, but this instrument that
isn't covered here, if you're interested to
learn more about the good, please do not hesitate
to get in touch with me, and I'll be happy to
share resources with you. Thank you so much again
for taking this course and I look forward to
seeing you in the next one. Don't stop learning. Bye-bye.
Kian How Yoa
