The Oud, or oriental lute, is « the voice’s shadow » in middle-eastern music. From its first dulcet tones, we are given passage from Persia to North Africa, calling to mind Yspahanid markets or dunes of the great erg shoring up to the Tassilis. Each country and region has its particular body shape, acoustic peculiarities and harmonic conventions. The ouds that I build have a very deep sound; the basses are brilliant and the high notes crystalline with a sound something like certain Egyptian or Iraqi ouds. I try to ensure that they have a recognizable personality by paying careful attention to the frets and body volume. My experience in the construction of concert guitars aided me immensely in the conception of my ouds. I take into account the fact that modern musicians have the tendency to play with a more profound plucking than before. Therefore, I believe that the oud must be viewed anew in light of recent evolutions. I imagined a bridge that, while preserving the particular sound and timbre of the oud, allows an adjustment of the strings by the addition of a « bridge gate » in bone that can be regulated in height. This gate has also the function of provoking an angle of constraint and compression by the strings, perfectly mastered. The sound comes out cleaner and more defined. The neck is reinforced by a graphite truss and the body juncture is specially designed to avoid deformations or the destabilization of these two parts, a tendency unfortunately all too common in instruments originating from the Orient.

Scale length : 600 mm
Body length: 527 mm
Body width : 390 mm
Weight : 930 to 1030 grs