Hens Werner Henze (hwh) ( July 1, 1926-present)
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Structure and Parts of the Oud
- G A D G C
- Intervals in Arabic maqamat
- Structural elements of the maqam
- The Two main oud schools
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Al- Oud (The Lute) 
“The oud, I believe, was created to reproduce conversation, for it matches the rise and fall of human speech interspersed with emotional emphasis.” Aron Benamy "places the temperament in equilibrium" and "calms and revives hearts.” Shihab al-Din Presentation date: 28/ 10 /2009 Presented to: Dr. Graeme Smith. Unit code: MUM4600 Student name: Ahmed Al-Radaydeh , ID number: 21788049 Faculty of Art, Music/Monash University/Australia
Introduction………………………………………………………………………..………………………………..3 History of the oud…….…………………………………………………………………………………..….….5 Structure and parts of the oud…………….…………………….………………………….……………..6 The oud in Europe……….…………..….…....…………..……………………………………………………8 Tuning……………………………………………..…….……..……………………………………....….…………9 Techniques……………………………………………..…………………………………………...…….………12 Arabic Rhythms……………………………………………………………….…………………….…….……..14 The Maqam phenomenon………………………………………..……………………….....…………..15 Intervals in Arabic music………………………………………………………….……….………………..17 Structural elements of the maqam ………………………………..…………………..…..18 The two main oud schools……………………..…………………………………..…….………...……..22 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………….…..…….28 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..……………….29 Introduction This essay will focus on the oud, an instrument as it is regarded as the cornerstone of Arabian Art music. Even today, it is considered as the main instrument for composing Arabic music and accompaniment with singing. The oud sound could be described in many ways, as a sensuous, nostalgic, complaining sound of human beings. The research will discuss the oud through its history and development, the manufacturing and playing techniques and will analyze the common maqamat (scales) used on the instrument sounds. Briefly, I will mention the main Arabic rhythms and how they associate with playing the instrument. As the oud is still considered the most popular instrument over the Arabic speaking countries, it is important to give an idea about the Arabian countries geographical location and a definition of the term Arabian music. The Arabian music is the music that belongs to the people who live in the Near East and North African part of the world. This includes 25 countries with different sizes of land and population, some with remarkably small populations of hundred of thousands, such as Qatar, and other with over eighty million inhabitants, like Egypt. They all share many things in common in different degrees, for example the Arabic language which is written the same all over the Arabian countries and spoken in different dialects from one Arabian country to the other. In addition to language, music has been always an important and basic part of shaping the Arabic culture, history, communities, folklore, customs and traditional dances. Whereas the main basis of this musical unity is the common use of maqamat (scales) and rhythms, which will be discussed later in this research. Needless to say, that there are different instruments, rhythms and maqamat in different Arabic speaking countries, whilst some are more famous in using particular maqamat and rhythms than others. All of these differences in dialects, rhythms and maqamat that are used in a song enable the listener to verify if this song is, for example, from an Egyptian or Moroccan origin. It is unfortunate that little of the oud music is scored or documented in a way that makes it clear and reachable for its own people or for an interested western musician or musicologist. Therefore, I feel obliged as many other musicians from all over the world in delivering the Arabian music in a presentable and organized medium to make it understandable to its audience. It is an interesting challenge, even if a relatively small contribution might be added. A new movement started in the middle of the twentieth century calling for westernizing the Arabic music, which caused a strong debate among the conservative old school. My contribution to this research is to discuss and explain the controversial opinions between the old oud school believers, whose ideas are based largely on improvisation and conversely, on the modern oud school supporters who believe it should follow the western European classical music clarity of scoring and documentation. History of the Oud  
The oud is believed to have originated in the valleys near the rivers Tigris and Euphrates in a great civilization known as Mesopotamia, more than 5000 years ago. Mesopotamia is largely corresponding to Iraq, northeastern Syria, some parts of southern Turkey and some parts of southern Iran. The earliest depiction of a primitive oud, was found on a clay seal where depicted a woman playing a wood-bellied oud next to other iconography and dates back to the late prehistoric period of the Sumerian city in Uruk (4500-3100 B.C). A later depiction of the instrument, which may have either two or three strings, appears on a terracotta plaque dating from the 17th century B.C. This is now housed in Baghdad Museum. It was “not until the end of the 6th century the Arabs of the Hijaz adopted the wooden-faced lute from the city of Hirah, Iraq, in place of the old skin-faced instrument known in pre-Islamic times by the names mizhar, kiran and muwattar” (Touma 1996, 111). In the Abbasid period (750-1258 B.C.), the oud was said to have been held in very high regard as a solo instrument within it’s Royal Court and capital at Bagdad. The basic design and shape of the wooden-faced oud was developed during the 8th century. The modern oud took its shape by the beginning of the 16th century, at which time it attained its perfection in form (Klivmora 2009).
At first glance, the oud is an instrument to be admired because of the beautiful ornamentation that decorates its front part. The length of the instrument is twice its width at its widest part and the breadth is twice the depth. The modern oud could be best described as a fretless, plucked short-necked instrument attached to a large pear-shaped body or soundbox. The Arabic word `Oud` means wood; simply it was given this name because it is made out of wood. In Afif Bulos words: “In ancient times the best instruments were made of a mixture of beech, walnut, elm and vine. Today the soundboard is made of apricot wood, since this produces sweetness and warmth of tone, while the back is made of harder wood such as walnut or beech” (Bulos 1968, 22).
As the above diagram shows, the front face of the oud`s body is flat and usually contains three soundholes. The back is bowl-shaped and constructed from 16-21 thin strips of wood, known as ribs. A bridge is connected to the soundboard, a net can be found at the end of the instrument`s neck and an angled pegbox is located at the right side of the instrument. Interestingly every Arabic country names their ouds after their makers. For example, in Iraq Mohammed Fadehl is a leading name associated with oud making, whereas in Egypt and Syria Fathi Amin and Ali Khalifeh are well known for their ouds. What makes these three countries ouds different from another are the tone and size of their instruments. For example, the Iraqi oud has a small soundbox, this results in more focus on the mid-range frequencies, which produce a tone similar to the guitar. On the other hand, the Egyptian and Syrian ouds are bigger in size and lower in pitch. The European strings instruments standard sizes ¼ ½ ¾ and full instrument. However, smaller instruments can be made especially for children as oud makers are highly skilled and can manufacture upon request. This can be expensive as a specially requested instrument can cost approximately one thousand US dollars. It is also possible to purchase a good quality oud for approximately two hundred dollar. Throughout the history of the oud making, it has always been a handmade instrument. Its makers compete to produce the best possible quality and tone. Manufacturers try to make their ouds as light as possible because the lighter the wood the better the tone. This is why the ribs used on the back of the oud are extremely thin and the bent back pegbox is also made as light as possible. Oud players are frequently asked the following question; why is the soundbox of the oud bigger than the soundbox of a guitar? To answer this question we have to consider some basic physics and sound acoustics terminology. Frequency can be defined as the pitch of sound measured in cycles per second (CPS) (see the diagram below). Needless to say, that this frequency has to be within the human range of hearing (20Hz-20 thousand Hz, or 20kHz) so we can receive it as an auditory sound. This frequency will cause a resonance that has larger amplitudes at some frequencies than at others. Amplitude is; the loudness of the sound which is measured in decibels (dB). The action of plucking any note on the oud`s strings will cause the strings to vibrate on different frequencies according to the pitch of that particular note. High notes will cause a high frequency, whilst other lower notes will produce a lower frequency. In conclusion, the great size of the oud`s resonance cavity allows the frequency of the vibrated string to enjoy more space and to produce more complex resonance. This ultimately will cause a warmer timbre and a longer duration of sound when compared to other instruments. 
The oud in Europe During the Middle Ages, the oud was finding its way to Western Europe through the returning crusaders as well as through Spain, where eventually it replaced another plucking instrument known as the gittern (Touma 1996, 110). In Italy, the the oud became known as il liuto; in German, it was the laute; in France, le luth; and in England, the lute (Benamy 1968, 28). Around the 13th century, the oud underwent remarkable modifications in Europe. For instance, instead of using the Arabic fashion quill plectrum the strings were plucked with the bare fingers to allow a polyphonic sound; the fingerboard was made wider and gut frets were introduced; its back was made shallower; and it had as many as 12 double strings by the end of the 17th century (Benamy 1968, 28). Needless to say, these alterations of construction and technique changed the timbre of the instrument. The first half of the 16th century was considered the Golden Age for lute music in Europe. Around more than 400 pieces were written and published specifically for the lute and many European lutenists, such as Francesco Canova da Milano, Alberto da Ripe and the Hungarian Bakfark, traveled for performances in different European countries. This resulted in the development of the instrument’s character and its greatly increasing popularity at that time. By the middle of the 18th century, the complexity of strings and variety of tuning caused the oud a complete demise from Europe. The guitar won the battle for popular favor because of its simpler construction and less cumbersome capacity for holding and playing (Benamy 1968, 28-29).
As Parts of the Oud diagram (1.2) in Structure and Parts of the Oud Chapter shows, the instrument strings are tied to its bridge on the face of the oud and pass over the nut to the pegbox at the other end of the instrument. Tuning is achieved by turning a series of pegs contained in the pegbox. Tuning the oud is considered to be a difficult task when compared to other instruments because the oud consists of five or more double strings. The number of strings could reach 14 in an exceptional 7 course oud, however this is not very popular. The strings of the oud were once made of gut and the plectrum was a quill made from the talon of an eagle. Nowadays, the oud’s first two strings are made of nylon and the other three bass strings are silver plated copper wound on nylon. The plectrum is made of nylon or a better quality plectrum is made of a cow horn. The oud’s gauge varies between light, medium and heavy and the thickness of the string is measured in millimeters (mm). Some oud players prefer light or even hard tension rather than a medium gauge. As a basic physics concept, the lighter the gauge is, the lower the tension. Therefore, I personally avoid using light gauge because that might not satisfy the audience with enough sound level, and at the same time I avoid a heavy gauge which might cause an exaggeration of the instrument power. To maintain a natural sound of the oud, I would rather to use a medium gauge strings, because that provides me with a reasonable flexibility and freedom while using the plectrum without losing the natural timbre of the oud. An example of medium gauge starting from the upper strings: C 2x .022w, G 2x .025w, D 2x.028w, A 2x .030w, G 2x.034w. There are many companies that produce good quality strings for oud, such as D’Addario and Thomastik. Personally, I have been using Thomastik strings for many years without any technical problems in live performance or studio environment recording. Through the oud’s history, there have been different modifications to the number of oud’s strings. The ancient oud had three to four double strings and in the 9th century a fifth string was added by a famous Middle Eastern polymath nicknamed Ziryab, who named this string ‘the soul of the oud’.1 The Greek oud player Nikos Dimitriadis discusses why there are different possible tunings for the oud, where he says: “The reasons for having different oud tunings is mainly because one oud is tuned low and another is tuned higher. Many times, the tune of the musical instrument can change accordingly to the desires of the artist and the style of the song. This means that many Oud players tune differently, some of them tune high and others tune low”.2 The current standard oud now used by most players consists of five courses of strings, tuned as G2, A2, D3, G3, C4. I too use this kind of oud. A six string oud is very common, particularly in Iraq. The tuning of the first upper four strings does not change as they are tuned in intervals of a fourth, while the other two low strings may differ in the intervals which separate them (in red color): D - G - A- D- G - C or D - E - A- D- G - C. The legendary Iraqi oud player, Munir Bashir (1930-1997), experienced different tunings for the oud, to adapt to the demands of the piece of music or his ideas in improvisation. In addition, to the two tuning examples shown below (1.3, 2.3) that Munir Bashir frequently used, Bashir ended up in the last quarter of his life with the most famous current Arabic tuning for a six string oud, which is: F, A, D,G, C, F. Bashir changed the tuning of the bass strings in the oud to have a wider range of drones and to associate these drones with different colors and melodies.3
A seventh string (low B) has been added to the instrument by some performers, in order to increase the range of the instrument. Due to lack of information about who first premiered this addition, I conclude that it is a personal contribution by some performers and does not have sufficient academic resources or music scores to be further discussed. Overall, it is considered a privilege for any oud player to have an instrument with a wide range, however this can cause some difficulty when playing and tuning. In the following Arabic oud tuning, all tunings are presented from the lowest course/single string to the highest course.
Arabic oud tunings 4
Techniques What makes one oud player better than the other? Is this favorability based on western European music standards or is it a different parameter? In western music a performer needs to understand in which period the piece was written, in order to deliver the composers’ ideas of the work. In Arabic music, there is more flexibility to perform a piece of music. For example, if it is a solo piece, the oud player can make changes in the tempo and the repeats in a way that suits his feelings and his interpretation of the work. In an ensemble, the conductor in many cases takes over the composers’ role and accommodates the work according to the occasion, the number of available performers and even the work might be fully rearranged. A listener may prefer the sound of one oud performer when compared to another. This may be a result of judging the performers’ choices in moving between the maqamat (scales), especially in how this particular performer chooses the order of these maqamat. In addition, the performer’s ability when using the plectrum, which is a vital tool in producing sound differences among performers, can attribute to a preference, as through the plectrum, the performer delivers his thoughts to the audience. For example, the tremolo technique and the ability to move between the strings is a very important parameter when judging oud performer’s virtuosity. As the oud is a fretless instrument, applying positions is a similar mechanism to western stringed instruments, such as the cello. Starting from zero/open string, half position and first position up to seventh or eighth positions, the higher the position the harder the control will be on tone and technique, which depends on the competency and virtuosity of the instrument player. As in other fretless instruments, the glissando makes the movement between positions easier and in this case, the glissando helps oud players to reach higher positions and even feel quarter notes (quarter notes will be discussed later). Applying the glissando whilst playing the oud, produces a genuine and sincere sound of the oud’s timbre. On the other hand, some oud players prefer to avoid glissandos because they consider it as a technical disadvantage, where performers do not show a competent level in moving between different positions. It is possible to play chords on the oud such as Cm, Fm, G, G#, A. The fourth, third and second strings on the oud are similar to the guitar, A, D, G. Therefore, any chords that are playable on the guitar within these three strings (fourth interval) can be also played on the oud. Arabic Rhythms In brief, I will talk about the Arabic rhythms and how understanding the basic rhythm concept will greatly help the oud player in performing. The basic concept in the Arabic rhythm is dom and tak. The dom is the bass sound and could be described as a kick drum in a drum set and the tak is the high frequency sound which could be described as a snare sound in a western drum kit. The dom is produced by hitting the middle of a percussion instrument with an open hand and tak is produced by hitting the edge by using the finger(s). The dorbakah and riq are both famous percussion instruments in the Arabic music. The first two strings (C, high G) of the oud are considered treble high frequency strings and the other three strings (G, A, D) are the bass low frequency strings. While playing the oud, a better sound could be achieved when the dom is simultaneously played with a pluck on a bass string. In this case, the dom produced by the percussion instrument alongside the oud’s bass drone will produce a clearer bottom end of the overall sound, in addition to a clearer pulse of the first beat of the bar. By doing this several times through the song, the listener would ultimately get a groove of the song. Through presenting my research, I will use Munir Bashir (Sama`ay Nahound , example number 5.5) score to demonstrate my argument in how to associated the rhythm with the oud playing. Drawings (1.4, 2.4, 3.4) shows the Riq instrument, Dom and Tak system and some examples of popular Arabic beats:
The exact history and beginning of the maqam is unknown, it is believed that it began during the Abbasid period in various cities in Iraq (8th-13th century A.D.). The main three Arabic polymaths who established the Arabic maqamat theory were Al-Kindi (801–873 AD) who was the first theoretician of Arabic music, and wrote fifteen treatises on music theory but unfortunately only five survived, Al-Farabi (872-950) wrote a notebook titled (The Great Book of Music) and his Arabian tone system is still used and Al-Ghazali (1059 – 1111) also contributed in establishing the maqam system in his book "Ecstasy means the state that comes from listening”. (Touma:17,38). Maqam (plural: Maqamat) in Arabic language means station. It is a rhythmically free system that implies melodic modes and certain sorts of melodic patterns of movements. Each maqam consists of certain important notes and direction of melodic movement or development that gives it its name. The maqam is similar to the scale in western music, however it is still more than just as a series of pitches. It is based on various particular pitch contents, specific melodic formulae and on ajnas (singular: jins). Ajnas serves as tetrachord in the Western music, and is defined as the main two parts that construct the maqam. The Jins convey a distinctive mood and consecutive notes that have a very recognizable melody. In other words, each maqam is based on ajnas and each jins has its own tonal-spatial/spaces between its notes (Touma:38). As we see in the following example (2.5), usually the first Jins determines the name of the maqam. Unlike as in Western music, notes can be individually named in the maqam. For example, in the Western music the note C is called C regardless of what octave it might be in, whilst the middle C in the maqam system is called Kaba Cargah and the same note two octaves higher is called Tiz Cargah. Some maqamat are similar to Western scales but have different names. For example, C Major Scale in Western music is identical to (Ajam al Do) in Arabic music. C Major Scale is based on two tetrachords, each has four notes and is connected to the other tetrachord through a whole note (see diagram 1.5 below). Ajam al Do is based on upper and lower ajnas, which may overlap or join and they have the same tone space between notes when compared to the C Major scale. If we compare these two scales, we can see that Western and Arabic musicians frequently produce similar sounds but through a different theoretical and analytical approached to their scale names. 
K
Intervals in Arabic maqamat While pitches in maqamat are often defined by tones and semitones as in western scales, quarter notes are also used. A quarter note, compared to a semitone, it is a shorter distance between the notes. For example, the distance between the note E and the note Eb is a semi tone. The note E half flat (  ), which can be played on any fretless instrument, sits between E and Eb, a shorter tone space which is called a quarter note.
When dealing with quarters, it is very logical to deal with (3/4) and (1 ½) tone spaces in the Arabic maqams tone system. The following example shows the use of three quarters (3/4) and one and a half (1 ½) tone spaces in the Hijaz and Thulathy Sika Ajnas. 
Structural elements of the maqam
In a maqam, long pauses split the melodic line into several melodic passages. Each new melodic passage presents a new musical idea. For example, if the oud player emphasizes the first tone of the maqam in the first melodic passage, then another tone of the maqam may be introduced in the second melodic passage. A third melodic passage would feature another tone of the maqam in addition to the previous tones in the first and second passages until the tonal space of the maqam is fully developed. However, there are no fixed rules for the order in which the tones are emphasized and the number of the melodic passages within the maqam.
These are established in the process of building up the piece until it reaches its climax. Habib Touma in his book ‘The Music of the Arabs’ describes the phase and the tone levels : “The melodic development proceeds gradually from phase to phase from the lower to the higher registers until the melodic climax is reached, at which point the form is completed.” (40:Touma). For instance, Mr. Bashir started the first variation in his (Sama`ay Nahound, example 5.5) on the tonic C, then in the second variation he moved up fifth to the G and prior the climax in the third variation he moved an octave higher to the C. After the last variation of the piece which is the rhythmic and livable climax he ended the piece by going back to the first variation. Sama`ay is a popular form of writing for the oud, usually slow in tempo with a main theme that is played after each variation. When I present my research, parts of Munir Bashir score will be discussed and played on the oud to demonstrate the phase and tone level.
During the first seconds of a performance of a maqam, the Arab listener can determine its mood or emotional impact. If we try to analyze maqam Saba (example 4.5), we realize that theoretically its tone level rests on the fundamental tone (D) and the tonal area from D to Gb is fully utilized (Touma:45). Emotionally, maqam Saba evokes a feeling of deep sadness and lament, it is one of the main nine most popular Arabic maqams (See below for the nine most popular Arabic ajnas table) that the muslim Sufit use in their prayer while saying frequently “God is the greatest”, aiming to reach a higher spiritual level and become United with God. Some maqamat evoke a feeling of pride and power, such as maqam rast. The maqam bayati, on the other hand, expresses joy while the sikah maqam is associated with the feeling of love. 
The Two main oud schools The history of the oud performance has been entirely based, without clear restrictions, on improvisation and the capabilities of its player. This has been known as the traditional old school. However, around the middle of the 20th century, a new oud school began to appear, challenge the existence of its counterpart and dignified itself as a systematic school. When talking about the old and new oud schools, or when comparing the two Arabic music schools, a strong debate and controversial arguments have arisen between both supporters. The old oud school fans defend their argument by saying that a spontaneous performance is a crucial aspect of Arabic music. They argue that it can`t be compromised and improvisation is an important part of creativity and communication between the performer and the audience. On the other hand, other people support a new oud school that is based on well organized oud music scores. They support the necessity of implementing Western horizontal melodies alongside vertical ones in order to enrich the main melody. The leader of the old oud school is the Iraqi virtuoso oud player, Munir Bashir (1930-1997). He was born to a Christian Arabian family in the city of Mosul. Bashir had to deal with multiple wars that Iraq went through and he eventually exiled completely to live in different countries around the world. Bashir relied, through his free Rhythmic improvisation, on his knowledge and sense of moving between the maqamat. He studied the Indian and European tonal art alongside the oriental music forms. His remarkable understanding and knowledge of the maqamat and his unique ability of moving between them, signified him as the master of the improvisation oud school. However, Mr. Bashir was considered by many musicologists as a leading scorer when documenting the oud music. As we saw in the previous example (5.5), Mr. Bashir has many documented scores on the oud that he wrote himself. Through his long musical career he generously delivered hundreds of concerts in the Arabic world and all over the world, especially in Hungary where his wife came from. Interestingly, he never performed the same piece exactly the same twice. 
In the 30s and 40s, the Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1907- 1991) was the first to establish the foundation of a modern Arabian music school. He used the oud as his main experimental instrument on which he built his theories. He was a famous singer, composer and an oud player and was described as a genius composer. Despite the fact that Abdel Wahab composed many songs and musical pieces in classical Arabic music form, he was always criticized because of his interest in writing music in a western form. For example, in 1941 he introduced in his song Al Gondol the waltz rhythm for the first time in the history of the Arabic music. In 1957 he composed a song for a famous Egyptian singer known as Abdel Halim Hafez, he included a rock and roll rhythm, and the song name is Ya Albi Ya Khali. During Abdel Wahab’s early career as a composer he started researching how to accommodate Arabic music with Western harmony theories. He started to establish his compositions on an orchestration system and began adding Arabic instruments to his score, especially oud and kanoon. To achieve his goal he emphasized any western scales that would produce an oriental sound. For example, playing a G minor harmonic scale with some extra vibrato alongside a mellow tempo (example 2.7 Min Gher Leh Score/ Audio). This resulted in an oriental sound. Abdel Wahab’s contribution saved the Arabic music from its monotony and from being described as a one melodic line played by one instrument, or by several instruments in unison. He enriched the Arabic music and added harmonic depth and color to it. Nowadays, Abdel Wahab’s adoption of European orchestration and harmonizing in Arabic music is considered a complete method that is used all over music institutes in the Arabic world and in the East. 
In example (2.8) and in the same song Min Gher Leh, Abd Elwahab refers to a traditional Arabic style of writing for various instruments in unison. Using maqam Rahet El Arwah which has F half sharp ( Overall, I support the existence of both schools, and encourage myself and other musicians to further research in how to accommodate the oud in more orchestral work. Interestingly, both schools ideas can be applied in the same piece. A cadenza, where the oud performer can play without any melodic or rhythmic restrictions, quarter notes can be applied freely. The performer can move between the maqams the way he wishes, improvise and end up joining the other orchestra members and following his own written scores. An audio example (Concerto Al Andalus) from the famous Lebanese oud player (Marcel Khalifeh), will be discussed through my presentation to explain how the oud cadenza could be integrated with a western orchestra.
1 Touma 1996,111 2 http://www.oud.gr/tunic.htm Copyright 2003-2009 (Dimitriadis: 2003) 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munir_Bashir Munir Bashir biography 4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oud 4 Yüklə 78,89 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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) and B half flat (
). An audio example of Min Gher Leh song will be presented.