How to Buy Oud in a Foreign Country : The Ultimate Oud Buyers’ Guide Part 3

 

Part 3: How to Buy an Oud in a Foreign Country

Some of you may wish to buy an Oud when visiting a Middle Eastern country. This is a great idea because you also get to see where the Oud comes from and get a sense of the culture, perhaps meet some musicians, and meet the person who made your Oud.

In most cases, you will probably buy an Oud from a music shop and not from a Luthier’s workshop, unless you have pre-ordered an Oud and going to pick it up in person. Here are a few tips and pointers when buying an Oud in a foreign country and then ordering an Oud from a Luthier.

The first rule when buying an Oud is to stay away from decorative items. You will find decorative Ouds in the tourist trap areas of a given city. They will be made of poor quality wood, and they may look very pretty, but don’t be fooled, they are not even worth a glance!

Only buy Ouds from stores that specialize in musical instruments. However, it is even possible that you will find instrument shops in tourist areas that are not completely professional. In this case, you are pretty much on your own to decide the worth of the instrument you are looking at.

If you find yourself in a reputable instrument shop and are serious about buying an Oud, always be careful, you may not be fully aware of all the cultural nuances that are involved when haggling. Read up on the country you are traveling to beforehand.

 

My Experience in Greece

When I was in Greece, I was met with a situation that was very embarrassing.

I went into a shop in a tourist area that had a lot of very nice instruments and my father was trying to get me to try and play an Oud. The Oud was a factory built Turkish Oud that needed to be tuned and played a lot.

I didn’t want to try it out because I wasn’t interested. The Baglamas in the shop were better quality and the quality of the Oud wasn’t great. Not to mention the fact that I was going to pick up my custom made Oud the next day so you could imagine I wasn’t interested in trying out this Oud.

My father insisted so I tried the Oud out and realized it needed a good 20 minutes of my time just to tune it, I was not used to the order in which the strings were attached, and the tuning was all out of whack. I began to tune it and the shop owner had a fit. He proceeded to be extremely rude, grabbed the Oud out of my hands and told us we are not serious about buying today. And pretty much kicked us out of his shop.

I did end up buying an instrument that day from another shop, it was a spontaneous buy, and maybe if this guy was a bit more encouraging he would have had our business.

 

So be careful, and it’s never nice to be a low baller!

Another thing: when you’re about to meet a Luthier who is building your custom Oud, don’t make spontaneous purchases of other instruments until after meeting the guy, because he’s going to find you a better deal and recommend you to people who have quality instruments for less money. I bought a Turkish Saaz that day, and it was a good instrument, but I paid a bit too much for it.

 

Negotiating guidelines:

1.) Know what you want, and how much you want it for, but be reasonable.

2.) If you are not serious about buying an instrument don’t waste the shop keepers time.

3.) Don’t go through a shop, asking to try playing this and that. After having a look around, if you are serious about buying, have a real conversation with the shop owner. Show them your interest, tell them what you are looking for, and ask them to show you what they recommend.

4.) If you are in the process of shopping around, don’t focus on one instrument too much, or you may get into a situation where you are forced to negotiate on that item.

5.) Always look them in the eye and tell them you will come back.

6.) When you are serious about a certain instrument, and you have started negotiating, be fair. If you are in reputable store that is not tourist oriented and the price is listed on the instrument, don’t expect to get the item for half the asking price. If you are lucky, you will get the instrument for 80%-90% the asking price. You should always try for less anyway, but be respectful in your delivery.

 

My Recommendation:

If you are serious about buying an Oud in person in a foreign country, start a thread on Mike’s Oud Forums and ask members for any local advice. There are many people active in the forum that may live in the country you are going to and can help you, maybe even willing to meet up with you to take you to a reputable instrument shop that won’t charge you tourist prices.

When you know someone, that is your ‘IN’ and you might be able to negotiate prices more easily than you would as an outsider. I did something like this when I was in Turkey and I wanted to purchased a Cumbus to take with me on a 7 month journey through South East Asia. I met up with a friend of a friend who was willing to meet up with me and take me to a music store with whose owner he was acquainted. The owner gave me a decent reasonable deal as a result.

I can guarantee your experience will be much more rewarding than just showing up and trying it on your own.

 

Ordering an Oud from a Luthier

Your first Oud doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money, and it doesn’t have to be made by a special Luthier. But if you are serious about the Oud, you should think about this option. I hope you will have as great of an experience as I did when I ordered my first custom Oud.

I ordered my Oud from Dmitri Rapakousious. I had been looking around a lot online, but was fortunate to be taking a short trip to Greece, and Dmitri’s prices were spot on. Even after checking out his website, seeing detailed pictures of all his Ouds, and listening to sound clips, I was still a little apprehensive about ordering an Oud.

But I saw a picture of Ross Daly on his website, and I was already a fan of his music, so I emailed him to ask about Dmitri’s work. Ross Daly gave him his “highest recommendation”. So I was set at ease, and proceeded to order an Oud.

I just emailed Dmitri explaining my situation, and that I would come and pick up the Oud myself. I told him I was looking for an unadorned Oud in the Syrian style, but asked him to make it as loud as possible. (I was using a Persian Barbat at the time, and would occasionally perform with Daf as accompaniment, and found that my Barbat wasn’t as prominent as I wanted it to be.)

Dmitri said he would make my Oud with his loudest woods. He then quoted a price, and I was very happy with it. He said it would take a few months to complete.

About a month or so before my trip, I contacted his again to see how the progress was going. He said he would complete it on time.

Next thing you know, I was in Athens, trying to figure out how to get to Dmitri’s workshop. That was an adventure. After several confusing transfers on public transit, I found Dmitri’s workshop.

It was exciting to finally meet this Luthier and my new Oud. I had no idea what my Oud would look like, and was surprised to see that it was a hybrid. It was a Syrian bowl size, with Iraqi style sound holes without rosettes.

When I first played it, I was amazed, it was the sound I had been looking for so long. I had always loved the Arabic sound and didn’t really know the difference between the Arabic Oud, and Persian Barbat. So this is what I wanted, and this is what I got.

I went in fully trusting Dmitri, and the whole process, so I didn’t ask for pictures to be sent during construction. I didn’t even know what my Oud would look like… My only requisite was that it be loud. Dmitri also delivered in that regard too.

But it might be a good idea to describe in detail how you want your Oud to look. In the end, sound is most important, trust your Luthier, he/she will make it look good, but you are looking for a particular sound, and that sound you must have!

 

What You Should Do Before Custom Ordering an Oud (And What I Didn’t Do)

1.) Know what style you like.

Whether it is Turkish, Arabic, or Persian. You have to LOVE that sound. I originally ordered an Arabic Oud not because I knew it was the sound I loved, but because the tuning of the Oud was similar to the Persian style and tuning I was already playing. I didn’t realize how different Arabic,Turkish and Persian Ouds were until after… I got lucky that I ordered an Arabic Oud, because once I played it I knew that was the sound I loved so much. So the sooner you know the difference, the better.

2.) Know the Luthier you are ordering from.

Use this guide to get a basic understanding of what kind of Oud a particular Luthier builds. Ask specific questions on Mike’s Oud Forums about the Luthier and their work/sound. Email people you know who have purchased Ouds from that Luthier, see what they have to say.

3.) Know how much you are willing to pay.

If you have a budget, make that known to your Luthier. If your best price is too low, they might be able to make some recommendations. In my case, I wanted a high quality Oud, that was reasonable, so I sacrificed the potential ornate designs that could have been provided.

4.) Determine How You Will Pay For and Recieve Oud

If you are dealing with the Luthier in person you may have to pay cash, or wire the money somehow. I had to go to the bank in Greece and deposit money into Dmitri’s account directly because I brought travelers cheques. Arrange this with your Luthier. Find out their expectations.

Also, if you are picking up your Oud, make sure you know your airline carrier’s policies for bringing instruments on board. You DO NOT want to be surprised when they force you to check-in your new Oud because they won’t allow it as carry-on. I have traveled by plane with my Oud many, many times, and I’ve only had a problem once. If you are having your Oud shipped, make sure you know how much it will cost you, if anything.

 

Play That Oud Like Crazy

Once you get your Oud home, play it like crazy, enjoy those moments. Your Oud will change sound, it will mature, and it will be all yours. The more you play, the better. Enjoy your Oud dude.

 

>> Now check out Part 4: Oud strings. →

 

 

 

Ouds in Bags Photo credit: Isabel Fagg on flickr

Oud Shop Photo credit: ArminFlickr on flickr

Dude with the Oud Photo credit by Klearchos Kapoutsis on flickr