Four Voice Consolation in Nihawand

Four Voice Consolation in Nihawand -- for Oud, Six String Fretless Bass, Harpsichord and Sampled YayliTanbur. A traditional Arabian Taksim is an improvised piece for a solo instrument, based in a particular scale/mode, or Maqam, and modulating into others to finally return home. It's a beautiful form that lends itself to all sorts of adaptations. The Nihawand Maqam is close to the baroque Harmonic C Minor scale. In this piece an oud improvisation homed in Nihawand was recorded, then extended harmonically with three more tracks, also improvised in real time by the same person.

Arabic Oud by Ibrahim Sukar (Syria)
Harpischord by Zuckermann (USA)
Fretless 6 string Bass by Douglas (USA-China)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Taksim
• Taqsim
• Taxim
• Nehawand
• N'eha
• Niha
• Nihawand
• Nahawand
• Hijaz
• Heejaz
• Ajam
• Adjam
• maqam
• makkam
• maccam
• maqqam
• Arabic
• Arabian
• oud
• al'ud
• ud
• aoud
• electronic
• Anthony
• Milosz
• Sukar
• Sukkar
• lute
• sting
• nuendo
• pro-tools
• logic
• bowed
• yayli
• tanbur
• multi-track
• improv
• improvisation
• harpsichord
• Zuckerman
• gnostic
• Sufi
• Zuckermann
• Z-box
• douglas
• rosewood
• fretless
• bass
• six
• string
• jazz
• fusion
• baroque
• classical
• folk
• clavecin
• basse
• meditative
• cordes
• plaintive
• meditation
• modulation
• عود

[209jay]

Hi, very well done! I would love to see a video of the finger position on this piece to help me understand the nihawand maqam better. I do not read music and have been learning basically just by watching youtube videos. very nice composition.. there is something to be said for combining old instruments with modern technology! thank you for making this video.

Jay

[FernandRaynaud]

Thank you, Jay. For those learning Arabic music theory, maqamworldDOTcom is a great site. The DVD "Learn Maqamat on Oud" by OudProf has the sorts of videos you want.

[valdae]

Was your instrument custom made - I couldn't help but notice the Western peg head.

[FernandRaynaud]

No, this is a Syrian oud, Ibrahim Sukar's Model 1. They can be found via e-bay & probably the best instrument under $500. The oud has only been pimped with French Polish on the soundboard and a hard Tung Oil coating on the fingerboard. On my Saba Taqsim clip I used an Egyptian oud from a Cairo shop. Most ouds sold to tourists were mainly intended for decoration.

[FernandRaynaud]

Ah, Valdae, now i understand. You thought there was one instrument. There's a Syrian (fretless) oud, seen from the front, a fretless six string bass, seen from the back, a harpsichord and a yayli tambur (not seen on camera). For those who have never seen one, a harpsichord is an 18th century keyboard whose strings are plucked rather than struck like on a piano.

[hillpolecat]

Thank you for sharing this adventurous oud video. I have always thought that no two instruments blend as well as oud and fretless upright bass ala Brahem. I was wondering if you did anything special in order to use fretted bass. Perhaps you could add frets like microtonal guitar of John Schneider.

[FernandRaynaud]

Thank you. A fretless electric bass WAS used here. On a fretted bass, when half-flats are part of a maqam, it's easy to bend up e.g. Bb to make B 1/2 flat, etc.

[algainia]

nice work boddy

[209jay]

@FernandRaynaud Thank ou for the info, i will check those out as soon as possible, hopefully I can pick up something that will help me along my oud journey. We are neighbors of sorts.. you and I. I live in the valley near modesto and frequent the bay area for various reasons quite often. if you know of any cool oud ( or middle eastern music at all) concerts or jam sessions in the area I would love to hear about them. Thanks again! Jay

[lxlt2666]

very pretty sounding stuff. yours looks like a solid piece. any idea where i can get one like that? all the ones ive seen were made of cheep wood. either way ive enjoyed the video. thanks for the upload

[ironwolg]

Very cool, I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like this. What exactly would you call this type of music? It's very interesting. I'm getting a douglas 6 string bass soon, which is actually what led me to this video. Very nice sound from all instruments, I'm happy to be getting the bass.