Mehmet Caymaz : 

“It is not just wood that has been cut, dried and assembled together, it is a part of the craftsman’s soul and the light of his eyes.” Said Mehmet emotionally when I asked:” how do you make this soulless dry wood speak like this?
He was born in 1963 in the village of Nigde in Turkey, started working at a very young age in the manufacture of shoes which was his profession and his only source of income for twenty years in the Unkapi area of Istanbul near the old walls of Constantinople. He was attached to music so much that he used to go to music clubs and musical associations to learn and play, after that he decided to make his own instrument .

After making his first instrument one of his friends who had a shop selling musical instruments, admired Muhammad's baglama, encouraged him to manufacture more , and opened the way for him to take this path as a permanent livelihood and craft for him because of the energy, determination and creativity he saw in him.
He learned all the details of the instrument making process himself, as he did not have a teacher, but he was known for his intense passion for knowledge, experiment and discovery, he says, commenting on the first baglama he made: My friends in the musical instrument store did not believe me when I told them that I made a baglama, I just bought woods, cut and dried them then started to go to the shop to examine the ready instruments and copy their dimensions , after a while I came to them with the instrument that I’ve made in my hand and they really liked it and expressed their admiration that made me think that this may be my next profession.

After five years of working on the bouzouki, baglama and Turkish instruments, Muhammad Usta wanted to transfer this experience to the Oud and start a new journey with another instrument...
He’s really different from many other makers, as he has a different way of thinking and point of view in terms of understanding musical instruments, believing that it has spirituality and a special energy that will not be acquired unless if the maker deals with it on that basis, in the end it came from a living creature and it is like us from the Creation of God the Great he says .

We visited him in his workshop in Istanbul, and here are some of the interesting conversations between us about the oud instrument

- I tried now some of your ouds, and to say the least that they are excellent and well balanced, how did you reach this degree without a previous experience or a teacher?
- After all these years of experience and repeated attempts, researches and in-depth studies that I carried, I gained some deep understanding of the nature of the oud instrument, how to get the maximum performance from it, how to enhance and level up its details, I had the opportunity to repair a lot of well known ancient master oud makers like Manol, Ali Ghaleb and more I was able to analyze, conclude and build on what I see from their works, so I built on that, also I repaired and dealt with the new generation master oud makers and became a benefit to them even in their works , some of them started exchanging ideas with me and cooperating in the industry and development.

- what made attached to the oud this much ?
- First, it is a different instrument in terms of sound and structure, found in the depth of history, having a unique character and elegance, its sound is the closest to the souls. And I like that it requires special care and attention while it’s being made, as a maker you have to be aware of the nature of wood, its properties and its acoustic capabilities, and each type of wood forces you to discover the appropriate way to deal with it in order to get the best sound from it, which made it a permanent research trip and a learning path that attracted me.

- as i see your workshop is big, and you neef extra hands for help , who worked with you , on who do you relay most ?
- ow , it's my daughter actually , her studies are little related with this field so she chosed to work with me for 3 or 4 years , she gave me a lot of help and rplaced at least three workers actually , i taught her well , and she showed such great skills , after completing her studies i left her to get better job and shase her own dreams

- How do you evaluate your ouds and your search results?
- I always ask myself the following question: Have you really touched the heart of the player and reached the voice he asked for? As you know ,a professional player is familiar with and interested in many details in the instrument, such as the ease of playing, clarity of sound, its rarity and cleanliness, and its balance also vertically between the strings and horizontally on the same string, and this is precisely what I focus on. First, I evaluate the players ’reactions when they try to play. This does not mean that the form,the look or the shape does not matter. On the contrary, the musical instrument addresses the eye first, then the ear, then the mind, then the heart as you know.

- What is the part you attach most importance to while trying to get the desired sound?
- it’s absolutely the bridge system, they are the braces that we place under the soundboard to support it , let me simplify the matter for you, let us assume that the back of the oud is the abdomen of the human being, and the soundboard is the diaphragm, as for the bridges here they are the muscles of the diaphragm, as far as the muscles are in good health and strong, the breathing of the human is as well And vice versa,. It is also the case with the oud, and as these bridges depend on physical theories and engineering measurements, the more accurate they are, the better their performance, of course.

- What did you add to the oud making process, what’s the fingerprint you left?
- I have made different designs over the years based on the traditional designs, to which I have added additions that are in line with the changing requirements of musicians.
I also designed a mechanical machine to reproduce and copy the historical old molds, and it was truly a great experience that allowed us as makers to reach the actual formal reproduction of Manol ouds and Ghaleb etc..
I have also made other mechanical devices that facilitate the process of oud making and reduce the time and the effort of the manufacturer. It is also worth mentioning that I am the first Turkish maker to sell the oud accompanied by an identification document as an identity from in the outside and not inside the bowl.
I also played a big role in designing and manufacturing the Aurora Strings,

- to be continued - Aymen Rahmeni