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Ibrahim Kocabiyik, 61, a retired conservatory musician living in Sinop, a Black Sea coastal province in northern Türkiye, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital Ankara, has spent 31 years building traditional instruments after starting the craft on a bet with friends.
Kocabiyik runs a music house in Sinop, where he teaches students alongside his wife, also a musician, and continues making instruments, including the oud and the baglama.
He developed an interest in music as a child, influenced by uncles who were musicians. Between 1983 and 1993, he studied Turkish classical music at the Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Conservatory, in the neighboring Black Sea province of Samsun, and also took lessons in the ney, a reed flute.
In 1994, he passed an exam to join the Sinop Municipality Conservatory, where he held various positions for years.
Kocabiyik said his interest in instrument making began 31 years ago, after he noticed quality problems and construction errors in instruments used by trainees at the Sinop Conservatory.
He said he told colleagues he could build better instruments himself, and they responded that he could not.
"Even a relative told me, 'If you make one, I will change my name,'" Kocabiyik said. "So on that bet, I started planning it in my head and decided to make an oud.
I went home that day, and in the basement there was a two-meter plank of wood, a saw, and an adze. I said I would make a mold from that wood. I worked on it, and in 1.5 months I made the oud's mold and the rest of its parts."
He said his first instrument was well received, and he continued making ouds afterward.
"Until now, I do not know the exact number, but I have made at least 200 to 300 ouds," Kocabiyik said. "I still have ouds I made 20 to 25 years ago. They can still produce good sound and good tones. We do it because we love it, and that makes us happy. In this process, I also made two to three tanburs, one kanun, and three to four baglamas, along with many neys, which I gave to my students. I can make all acoustic instruments."
Kocabiyik retired in 2019 and opened his music house afterward, where he continues both teaching and instrument making.
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