Posted on August 21, 2019March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud, Part One Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud with Peter Kyvelos, Part One by R.M. Mottola previously published in American Lutherie #94, 2008 See also, “Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud, with Peter Kyvelos Part Two” by R.M. Mottola Here in the USA, interest in ethnic music of all sorts has seen an increase in recent years. Probably driven by immigration from many parts of the world and by the rise of so-called world music, this increased popularity manifests itself for us in an increased interest in the stringed instruments used in various ethnic musical styles. For instance, we’ve seen much interest lately in the oud, also commonly spelled ud or ’ud. Starting off with absolutely no knowledge of a subject (as I did with this one), it is probably always a wise first step to consult the experts. Of course, with no knowledge of the subject, even the process of identifying subject-matter expertise is a problem, but I’ve always found that persistent and wide ranging investigation into just who the experts are is a fruitful approach. Eventually it becomes obvious that the same handful of names come up again and again in these queries. During the process of identifying those individuals most likely to be experts on the subject of the oud, it was both unusual and interesting that only one name came up repeatedly. Whether I asked musicians, luthiers, or academics, in this country or in the Middle East, the person that was universally regarded as the foremost expert on the oud was Peter Kyvelos. Working out of his shop Unique Strings in Belmont, Massachusetts, Peter Kyvelos has built close to 200 ouds and other Middle Eastern instruments. The shop, located in a section that is home to many Armenian and other Middle Eastern immigrants, also repairs pretty much all stringed instruments, plucked and bowed, domestic and foreign. But Middle Eastern instruments have been the focus of the shop and of the lutherie of Peter Kyvelos for the last thirty-five years. This dedication has earned Peter the reputation as the expert in this field. It has also earned him a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 16, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips In Memoriam: Peter Kyvelos In Memoriam: Peter Kyvelos November 2, 1943 – April 2, 2017 by R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #130, 2017 Luthier Peter Kyvelos, one of the foremost experts on the Middle Eastern oud, died on April 2, 2017, after a series of illnesses. He grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, during the ’40s and ’50s. He credits his early interest in woodworking and other craft to his parents, who involved him in home repair and craft projects from an early age. He attended San Francisco State University, majoring in fine art and graduating with a BFA degree. He studied woodworking in college and completed his first oud in a woodworking class. He graduated in 1970 and moved back to Massachusetts to open his shop, Unique Strings, in Belmont in 1971. In over forty years he built hundreds of ouds by hand, using primarily hand building methods. As is often the case with luthiers that dedicate themselves to one particular instrument, Peter’s intense study of the oud resulted in worldwide recognition as the expert of that instrument. It also earned him a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001. Photo by R.M. Mottola I spent considerable time with Peter in his shop over the course of the two years I collected information for the two part American Lutherie article, “Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud with Peter Kyvelos,” that appeared in AL#94 and AL#95 in 2008. His shop was something of a clubhouse for the many Middle Eastern musicians that lived in the area. He sold and repaired both bowed and plucked instruments, but it was oud building that was his real passion. The highly prized ouds Peter Kyvelos built were of his own design, a design which was influenced by those makers he considered to be the best of the historical builders. He now has joined their ranks.
Posted on January 1, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud, Part Two Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud with Peter Kyvelos, Part Two by R.M. Mottola previously published in American Lutherie #95, 2008 See Also, “Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud with Peter Kyvelos, Part One” by R.M. Mottola The Top The top of the oud is “flat” and features ladder bracing and one to three sound holes with fretwork rosettes in them. However, the top is constructed to either passively encourage or actively shape the kind of bellied-in-front-of-the-bridge, humped-up-behind-the-bridge distortion common to all instruments with string anchors at the glued on bridge. More on this in a bit. Peter uses German spruce for his tops and he generally joins and then thickness sands tops well in advance of building, inventorying the joined tops for years before actually using them (Photo 1). Finished top thickness will average around 2MM, depending on the stiffness of the wood, so tops are thickness sanded accordingly at this point. The first steps in preparing the top are to cut it to shape and then mark and cut channels for the sound hole purfling (Photo 2). He uses a custom made fly cutter to cut the channels. His purfling scheme is pretty simple, and he generally uses black and white fiber violin purfling strips for this. The ends of the purfling strips are mitered and dry fitted before being glued. There is no fingerboard extension to hide the butt joint, so this work is a bit finicky (Photo 3). The purfling is glued into the channels and then scraped down once the glue dries. Then the sound holes are cut out. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
