(Translated from Turkish by Tolga Bektaş)

THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD “UD” AND THE HISTORY

The word “ud” is originally Arabic and it is derived form “al-oud”, meaning aloes-wood tree. The prefix “al” is a proposition which the Turks have discarded and transformed the word “oud” (consisting of the Arabic letters eyn, waw, dal) into “ud”, for the letter “eyn” is not suitable to their throat structure. The Western world has met the oud in-between the 11^th-13^th centuries, during the Crusades and has taken the oud along with them to Europe. Afterwards, they have named this instrument as luth (Fr.), lute (Eng.), laute (German), liuto (Italian), Alaud (Spanish), Luit (Dutch), all beginning with the letter “L”. The word “luthier” meaning instrument maker is also derived form the word “luth”.

It is indeed a very quick and a wrong decision to claim that ud is an Arabic instrument, due to to origin of its name. Actually, the Arabs have seen this instrument for the first time in the hands of Turkish workers who have came to Baghdad from Khorasan in the 7^th century. Although the Arabs named it “el-oud” due to its soundboard made from aloe wood (aloexyion agallocum), the instrument is no other than the thousand-year old Turkish Kopuz where the Turks have adopted this shorter name instead of the original one. As a matter of fact, beginning with the Huns, there was no Turkish army that did not have kopuz players (In the illiterate period, the Arabs did not know any instrument other than the ‘def’ and the single-stringed instrument ‘rababe’). The two most prominent musicologists of this century and the biggest Turkish literature historian have put this fact forward[1]. Ud is called as ‘kobza’ in Hungarian, a slightly changed version of the ud. Furthermore, in Dede Korkut epics, ‘kobza’ is used as a verb derived from kopuz, meaning ‘playing an instrument mutually’.

The ud, with its resemblers such as the Chinese ‘Pi-Pa’ and the Iranian ‘Barbud’, has traveled from Asia to Anatolia, and further to Rumeli under the name ‘kopuz’. It has even been mentioned as a sacred instrument in the poems of Yunus Emre, a well-known poet as well as a musician[2]. The ud and the şehrud, being different sized ‘kopuz’s, are seen in the foremost plan in the miniatures seen in the ‘surname’s, which are texts written for the occasion of Ottoman celebrations such as weddings. The number of ud players among the musicians of the Ottoman court in-between the 15^th and the 19^th century has been mentioned in the research of Uzunçarşılı, along with their names and salaries[3].

THE TECHNICAL STRUCTURE OF THE UD AND ITS FEATURES

The ud consists of five fundemental components: the body, the soundboard (belly, chest or face), the neck (fingerboard), the pegbox and the strings, where the body is made first in the construction process. The body is made by putting and processing single or double fillets of contrast colors in-between slices of 70 cm length, 2-4 cm width and 3 mm thickness –due to both aesthetic and strength purposes– onto a mould. This mould, which resembles a ship hull, is made by plastering pieces of 4-5 cm thickness breadth-wise and length-wise. The number of these slices is usually an odd number and made from woods such as mahogany, walnut, plum, olive and others. The slices are first heated using an iron and thin paper to give them the bent profile of the mould. Afterwards, the slices are taken off from the mould by pulling small assembly nails out and the concave surface is then strengthened by plastering thick paper along the axis of the fillets. There is a piece attached to the inner side of the body, along the opposite axis of the bottom wedge called the ‘top wedge’, which has a 12-14 cm of width, 7-9 cm of height and 8-10 cm thickness and it is used to increase the protection of the wide bottom end of the hull, formed by the sharp edges of the slices and fillets.  

The next thing to do after the body is taken out of the mould is to stick on a semi-circular piece sized 10-15 cm x 5-6 cm x 3-4 mm, along the symmetrical axis on the top part. This piece, of a similar color and material of the body is called a ‘mirror’ and is polished along with the body long after the soundboard is affixed. The function of the mirror is to cover of the dirtiness of the sharp ends of the slices and fillets, joined at the lower end of the body. The body, without the soundboard, neck and pegbox weighs surprisingly about 300-600 grams after it has been taken off from the mould. It should be pointed out that the more the slices of the ud (about 23-27), the more it will have a rounder shape and consequently better quality. Since sound is reflected just like light, it is important that the inner surface be non-broken and smooth, where the sound is reflected in and out through the soundholes. 

After constructing the 36 x 47 cm sized and pear-shaped body, it is now the turn for attaching the neck (fingerboard). The neck, made from hornbeam wood of 19-19.5 length, 36-40 cm width on the thinner part, 56-58 cm width on the wider part and shaped like a cut cylindrical cone on both ends  (13 cm thick on the thinner, 26 cm thick on the wider part) is attached to the body via an elliptic cone named ‘bottom wedge’. The aim of such a merge is to prevent the neck from rising upwards and raising the strings due to the tension of the stretching. Those who would like to buy an ‘ud’ should be aware that the distance of the strings from the soundboard should not be more than 3 mm’s at the point where the neck is connected to the body (the ‘tiz nevâ’ point). It is both difficult and expensive to fix the types of uds where this distance is about 4-5 mm. The reason for the makers or the players of the ud to prefer the strings not too close to the neck is the sizzling sound produced, which is actually a matter of the playing technique and not the making technique.

The flat part of the neck (fingerboard) where the fingers will play is covered with a board with a thickness of 2 mm on the wide front size and 4-5 mm on the narrow backside. The backside of the neck where the palm grasps is covered with fillets and coatings. A coating of 3 mm width and 0.5 mm thickness covers the round part where the neck is connected to the body. This coat is called a ‘metal ring/bracelet’ due to its shape and used to cover the dirtiness of the ends of the slices and fillets where they join. The bracelet is polished later on with the body and should be as slim as possible so that it seems elegant.

After attaching the neck, the body is covered with the soundboard. The soundboard is the most important part of the ud; it is roughly of size 20 cm x 50 cm x 3 mm and made from cutting the spruce wood lengthwise and symmetrical, where the fibres varying from 1-3 mm’s are plastered in such a way that the wider ones are in the middle and the slim ones are around the sides. The board takes a 36 x 48 cm pear-shaped form of 1.7-2.2 mm thickness after the smoothing. There are three soundholes on the board, one big (with a diameter of 8.5-9 cm) and two small (with a diameter of 4.2-4.4 cm), which let the sounds out with the same angle they entered the body. Under the board, there are 7 balconies, for which the inter-distances and measures vary from one luthier to another. These are made from spruce wood as well, with a 5-7 mm base size and 3-13 mm height and their function is to transfer the 85 kg / cm² tension that the strings apply on the board to the side walls of the body. The bent L-profile connection of the body and the board is covered with the fillets.

It is now time to attach the touché made from ebony wood with sizes of 36-37 cm width and 2-5 mm thickness. The fingerboard of the ud is traditionally lengthened to the place where the neck and the body are connected. The end of the wider bottom part is usually made from ebony wood in the shape of a heart (even today, most of the uds are made this way because it is cheaper). It should be noted that single, double or triple, light or dark colored fillets are the only ornaments of the elegant and noble Turkish ud. The uds made in Cairo and Damascus are decorated with rough nacre and ivory embossments on their body, neck and pegbox and are 2-3 times heavier than the Turkish uds. Because Turkish luthiers prefer their uds plain and consequently lighter, the Turkish ud does not have any kind of ornaments on either the body, neck or the membrane. A kind of contemporary ud is the one with the ‘long fingerboard’, for which the first application is due to the ud virtuoso Şerif Muhittin Targan, who is inspired by one of the three instruments he played, the violoncello. This is a commonly seen application for the expensive uds. Instead of the heart-shaped finishing part, the fingerboard is extended up to the big soundhole. Its function is to obtain sharper sounds in the forward positions near the hole, preventing the soundboard being deaf by the pressure of the finger.

The pegbox is made from lime wood of in a sinusoidal shape decreasing from 4 cm to 1.7 cm and the 5 mm thick cheeks narrowing down from 36-38 mm to 22-24 mm. It has a U cross section where the cheeks and the backside are covered with the same wood as of the body. 6 conical holes are created on top and 5 at the bottom, for the small pegs that will be inserted in. The tip of the pegbox is made from a round and carved piece called a “beak”, which resembles the violin scroll. Just like the pegbox and its fillets, the beak is one of the compontents, which gives an idea about the quality of the ud. The pegbox is connected to the neck by an angle of 40-42 degrees. While completing all these tasks, the soundboard, which has been sandpapered, should be covered with paper to prevent dirt. Now, it’s time for polishing.

 The body, neck and the pegbox, which have been cleared up in the previous stages should now be sandpapered over and over to have their surfaces really smooth. After the multi-staged polishing-sandpapering-polishing process, the body is left out for drying. The fingerboard is polished with a piece of wool after a lusterless polish has been put on. The soundboard is sanded and cleaned before the strings are put on, but not polished, for it to be left with its natural color and fibres.

After the polish is dried out, the ‘tension bridge’ is glued on to the soundboard, located 8.5-11 cm inwards from the bottom side. This piece has 11 holes on it for the strings and it is made from hornbeam wood with a width of 2.5 cm, a length of 14 cm and a height of 1 cm. For all the strings to be leveled out, the holes become closer to the board for the high-pitched strings since the low-pitched strings are thicker. Due to the same reason, the bridge is glued on the board so that the higher tip is 1 mm closer to the bottom side and not parallel, for all the string lengths to be equal. The leaking glue after the bridge has been glued on to the board should be cleaned up with a warm-watered clean cloth and later sanded with fine sandpaper. The small bridge, which is made from ivory with a length of 36-40 mm, a thickness of 3 mm and a height of 5-6 mm is set on the L-profiled gap between the pegbox and the neck. The locations of the strings are then set out on the ivory using a template and 11 gutters are carved in for the strings. To prevent the strings from breaking off while putting on or tuning, the gutters are rubbed on with dry soap.  

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STRINGS AND THEIR FEATURES

The string, being the 5^th main component of the ud, has been made from silk in the early dates whereas gut has also been used later on. In the modern era, the two lower pairs of strings are made from nylon of a 0.55-0.70 and 0.65-0.80 mm diameter. The other three pairs and the uppermost single string are made from silk covered with a very fine alloy made from copper, nickel and silver. The best quality strings are not “ud” strings, but lute strings made by a German Company named “Pyramid”. The “ud” strings are rather made for the Arab market and are too thick for the delicate Turkish ud, and can be harmful. Those who are interested in buying these strings should notice that it is “Laute Seiten” and not “Oud Seiten”, which is inscribed on the package,. The type of strings that the master musician Cinuçen Tanrıkorur uses –written in order from the lowermost pair to the higher most single string– are #0.55, #0.65, #1008, #1014, #1023, #1441. These strings are too fine for those who look for volume rather than deep vibrations in the ud. But it should be noted that, thick strings used to obtain high volume may result in bending the neck by loading a lot of pressure on the instrument. The thickness of the strings can be measured by using a “micrometer”.

DIFFERENT WAYS OF TUNING THE UD

The ud can be tuned in 4 different ways as shown below. The notes are given in the order of higher to lower pitches.

1. The traditional 5-stringed ud: G-D-A-E-D
2. Modern 6-stringed ud: G-D-A-E-D-A (Targan has sometimes changed the last A to G, according to the piece to be played).
3. Bacanos’ tuning system: G-D-A-E-B-F#
4. Tanrıkorur’s tuning system: G-D-A-E-B-E

THE PLECTRUM

The ancient plectrum of the ud which used to be made from the wing of a young male eager has now left its place to both flexible and strong plectrums made from plastic of good quality with a length of 11-13 cm, a width of 6 mm and a thickness of 0.6-0.8 mm. These plectrums have their tips rounded parabolically and are polished with felt (The plectrums made of thin plastic bag handles or such are not suitable for good quality-instruments and players.) Moreover, the plectrums made of the plastic material “I-20” and of average-flexibility are widely preferred nowadays.

The toughness and the flexibility of the plectrum may change according to the preferences of the player. There is no standard or stipulations on this issue, because some important players have preferred tough plectrums whereas others have preferred a soft and flexible type. For instance, Targan used a flexible plectrum of average-toughness and with a thin tip. Yorgo Bacanos, on the other hand, preferred a quite tough plectrum. Furthermore, the way that the plectrum is held and the angle are as important as the toughness issues, as they influence the timbre and the volume of the sound obtained from the ud. This is a critical issue for the beginners, as it would be quite tough to switch from the wrong way to the right one at later stages.

THE PLACE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF UD IN TURKISH MUSIC

Due to the superiority of the ney-tanbur duo in the Ottoman palace, the ud has lost its popularity in-between 16^th and 19^th centuries. On the contrary, it has been widely accepted in the Arap community, whom they named the instrument as “queen of the instruments”. The ud player, M. Abdulvehhâb, who tells that he learned music by listening to the records of Tanburî Cemil, and the others Muhammed el-Kassapçı, Riyâz el-Simbâtî, Ferîd el-Atrâş, Cemil and Munir Beşir brothers who helped training Turkish ud virtuoso Ş. M. Targan and Selman Şukur are the prominent ud players of the Arab society. As for the Turkish music history, ud has been an auxiliary instrument to the great musicologists such as Farâbî, Safiyüddîn and Merâgî, on their theoretical works.

FORMER UD PLAYERS 

Ud player and violoncellist Şakir Paşa is the one who has made the ud gain its respect in the Turkish society and the one who added the 6^th string to this instrument. Nevres Bey has followed him and later on came other ud players from various schools such as Ali Rif’at, Musa Süreyya, İbrahim Ziya (Özbekkan) Beyler, Şerif Muhiddin Targan, Selânikli Ahmed, Serop and Küçük Sarkis Efendiler, Şerif İçli, Yorgo Bacanos, Şekip Memduh, Hrant Emre and Kadri Şençalar. They are the ones who made the Turkish community accept and admire the ud. It is possible to investigate these musicians in three categories: Classical, progressive and popular. The classical group would include from Nevres Bey to Şerif İçli, progressives would be from Targan to Bacanos, whereas the popular group would compose of musicians beginning from Selânikli Ahmed to Kadri Şençalar. Excluding the classical group, the others still exist today even though their pioneers have passed away. The young musicians of the conservatories continue the progressive group. However, the last representative of the classical group, Câhid Gözkân, has passed away at the age of 93.

Among one of the schools of ud is that of Cinuçen Tanrıkorur, who has recently passed away (June 28, 2001). The way he plays the ud is plain and without agitation, which resembles the timber of tanbur. In his own words, it is “based on the manner in which tanbur is played”. His playing features can also bee seen in his genius instrumental and vocal works. He had many pupils and many of them continue his tradition today. His first student was Saim Konakçı, which passed away in 1996.

TURKISH UD PLAYERS OF TODAY

There are few players today, who have the ability to use the characteristics of all schools mentioned above. The most prominent one of them is Necati Çelik, who is not devoted entirely to one school but who can put into practice any kind of agitation and use all the features of classical, progressive and/or popularist schools skillfully. With his abilities of such, he is well known in many countries, especially in USA, where he has many students.

Other master players of today would include Mutlu Torun, Samim Karaca, O. Nuri Özpekel, Coşkun Sabah, Yılmaz Yüksel, Teoman Önaldı, Bayram Coşkuner, Sedat Oytun and Yurdal Tokcan.

FORMER AND CONTEMPORARY MAKERS OF THE UD

Like all the other Turk instruments, ud is hand-made, being difficult and requiring a long time to learn. All the masters have their own way of manufacturing, which is passed on from master to pupil or from father to son. For this reason, uds are usually referred to by mentioning the makers’ names. There are many luthiers around the world, especially in the Arabic states and USA. But it is without argument that, regarding their historical facts Turkish uds are masterpieces. The uds of Master Manol (1845-1915) and Master Ilya (1870-1930) are still of great value today. Some of the masters of today, which can produce uds of good quality include Ejder Güleç, Mustafa Arslan Biçicioğlu, Şinasi Özkan, Vasfi Çınlar, Nuri Tutpınar, Hadi Usta, Halim Özer, Sami Gül, Fevzi Daloğlu, Sabri Göktepe and Sadettin Sandı.

THE PROTECTION AND CARING OF THE UD

Ud needs to be well protected while not played. Hands must be clean, for it facilitates the movement of the fingers and prevents the dirt to damage the strings. The soundboard should not be touched with dirty hands as well. The place where the arm contacts the ud while playing should be covered with a cloth, or a cuff should be worn to keep it clean. Any kind of chemical such as soap, alcohol, furniture, automobile and metal polish should never be used to either rub or clean the soundboard and the body. A dry cloth should be used for possible dust and/or stains on the body. Stains on the board should be sanded or cleaned with such materials. For the cases where the pegs get stuck, it is not correct to apply materials such as lead, powder, soap, pastel crayons and/or lubricants. In such situations, the best thing to do would be to take it back to the manufacturer.

 Ud should be kept in a wardrobe not closed to daylight, and should be put in a position such that the soundboard is on the shelf. It is not recommended to hang the ud up on the wall. Attention should be payed that the ud is not under direct sunlight. Ud should also be protected from moisture and kept in a dry place where humidity is at a high level.

 The strings should be loosened a bit when the ud is not played. It is recommended that ud is carried in cases made from fiberglas, but not kept in them for a long time. It should be kept away from closed and hot environments, especially in summer.

 Like other Turkish instruments, there is no standard way of manufacturing the ud. This variation is seen both for the size and the sound quality. For those who are going to buy an ud, it is recommended that they take an advice from someone experienced in the field. There are many types of uds in the market, ranging from very cheap ones to very expensive ones. Although economically attractive, cheap uds are not recommended since they are made of material of poor quality, with bad timbres. Starting to learn with such an instrument of bad quality would be wrong and may result in not learning and even loosing the interest in the instrument.

 Ud has a wide sound range since it has a fretless fingerboard. Compared to other instruments of the same type, it is both technical and difficult to play. It should be learned under direct supervision of a master. There are several methods on the playing technique, and some of them would include those of Kadri Şençalar, Mutlu Torun, Onur Akdoğu, Şerif Muhiddin Targan and Cinuçen Tanrıkorur.

Prepared by Ali Tutan alitutan@turkmusikisi.net  

(Translated from Turkish by Tolga Bektaş)  tbektas@baskent.edu.tr