LUTHIER TWO CRAFSMEN FROM TWO GENERATIONS
TWO CRAFSMEN FROM TWO GENERATIONS
Born in Turhal district of Tokat in 1964, Mustafa Copcuoğlu completes his primary and secondary educations at Pazar. His passion for music starts when he is studying at primary school. After graduating from the engine technical department at the vocational high school in 1982, he decides to come to Istanbul where he receives music courses from Emin Ongan at Üsküdar Music Society. Although he is already a high school graduate, he starts studying, on the advice of his friend Fikret Işıkçı, at the high school section of Instrument Manufacturing Department at Istanbul Technical university, which was not at all on his mind. Having completed his high school studies there, he proceeds with and successfully completes his four-year undergraduate studies with a third degree of merits. After that, he has his postgraduate studies on “Folk Dances” at the same university. He opens his workshop in 1986, and has been manufacturing valuable oud instruments ever since. He raises very skilled native and foreign luthiers, Ramazan Calay, and Murat Yerden in particular.
Mustafa Copcuoğlu is sharing his workshop with his son Burak Copcuoğlu. Barak Copcuoğlu studied economics, gave it a try at corporate life but eventually found his dream job at his father’s profession. Two craftsmen of two generations told us about how they breathed life to oud.
Which trees do you use for making the oud?
I love mahogany. Apart from that, I use padauk, brazilian rosewood, african rosewood, plane tree and rosewood.
What are the import things for an oud player who wants to get the tunes he expects from the instrument?
Right selection of the wood matters in order to get the desired tune out of the instrument. The vibrating features of the wood used for the body of the instrument and its effects on the tone take a precise calculation. What is of secondary importance is the thickness of the grids on the body. The body needs to vibrate along with the cover. The elders would want to feel the vibration of the instrument’s body in their body as they played the oud.
How do you exchange ideas with the player when you are to make a customized oud?
They explain what kind of a sound they are after, and leave the rest of it to my experience and knowledge. Some too curious players choose the wood themselves but still in consultation with me.
What makes Copcuoğlu ouds different?
Our instruments are convenient for playing. There are a few factors for convenient playing: the range of strings, softness of bass and the range between the fingerboard and the strings. Measurement is everything for the oud. A miscalibrated oud never gives out the right sound. One cannot learn how to play oud if the right sound fails to come out of it. The absolute beginners should pay attention to these basic factors for a right choice.
Does a good instrument mean good performance?
The sound an instrument gives out affects mode-driven creativity for sure. If the instrument is good and the player gets the best out of the tunes the musical richness aroused on the brain increases, which, in turn, is particularly felt through improvisation, and performance and musicality. What makes it for real is the fine balance of the instrument, if it has any. I definitely want ultimate quality sounds no matter if I am playing it piano or forte. The bars placed under the sound slab - called the balcony system- must be calibrated impeccably. This is the very first condition. The bars in support of the sound slab set the characteristics of the instrument.
The sound an instrument gives out affects mode-driven creativity for sure.
The most important thing a professional player pays attention to is that the sound from the nut to downwards is strong for open and closed sounds.
What are the most important things a professional player pays attention to when selecting the instrument?
The most important thing a professional player pays attention to is that the sound from the nut to downwards is strong for open and closed sounds. It is equally important that the instrument does not tire the player out. The g often tends to crack, so the player feels nervous about it. It is the case with a few more frets, too. And a good instrument maker exhibits his difference at that point so that the player uses that fret comfortably.
How long does it take to make the oud once we decide what kind of an instrument we want?
We deliver the instrument in a month or so once you make up your mind. Once the oud is made, we check it playing for a week just to see if the instrument meets the expectations or not. Only after that we deliver it to its player.
With the advanced technological means, machines are capable of taking care of quite a lot of things down to the slightest bit. How is your profession affected by these advancements?
Old generation luthiers were better with theirhands, that’s why they were particularly skilled with their hands. Now that machines are commonly used, working with hands is not as called as it used to be. Technological progress is amazing. Machines do many things but the spirit. A luthier gives from his identity and character to a hand-carved instrument.
Who is the master of Mustafa Copcuoğlu?
It is Cafer Açın, the master of all luthiers in our country. Ramazan Calay was raised by me thanks to what I once learned from the great master Cafer Açın.
Oud is a globally recognized instrument.
We deliver oud anyplace on earth.
Any advice on the right choice of strings for the oud?
Kürschner strings of 9, or German Pyramid strings if you want something better.
How often should the player bring its instrument to a luthier for maintenance?
A period maintenance inclusive of replacement of strings should be repeated every 6 to 8 months.
How much does it cost to have an oud, a good one?
A good instrument that is pleasant to play would start from
1000 US$. But that does not necessarily mean that relatively cheap instruments should not exist. I accept that factory-made instruments also meet certain requirements. People should start somehow and somewhere after all.
Is it possible that a player, say, anywhere on earth, tells you what he has been looking for and gets his instrument delivered to address without having to come to Istanbul?
Internet is like a window to the world. We deliver oud anyplace on earth. They tell us what kind of an instrument they want, and they get it in a nice package nearly in two months. The instrument is delivered with guarantee until it is safely delivered to and received by the customer. I have been doing business in this way for twenty five years and there was only one time that it was damaged on the way. That time, the instrument was sent back to us and we replaced it with a new one.