AlNaba' walGhar النبع والغار

- This album was recorded using two ouds. Sincere thanks to those who made them:
- AlAbyad (The white): made by Albert Mansour and Sebastian Stenzel; which is featured in most of the album.
- AlDiwan (The Octavic): made by Albert Mansour; its sound is noticeably different due to its double octave sound, playing in two registers at the same time.

-The album's tracks are all improvised. This is why the tracks are listed without titles; they are only numbered according to their recording location and chronological order. The goal is that the listener is not distracted, linking a name to content, even if it is a mode name or rythim cycle. This approach aims to focus the listener's attention on the sounds of nature and its surrounding energy. The music here does not break the silence but responds to it; it is an intrusive melody responding to the nature authentic melody.

- At the spring: The sounds emanating from the oud sound box respond to the sounds emerging from the mountain's depths. This water flowed through the mountain before emerging from an opening it carved, flowing down an exposed slope, quenching the thirst of plants, animals, and humans. Some of it ascends to the sky, evaporating in the sun, descending as rain on a thirsty land.
- Besides the sound of water, one can hear the trees responding to the wind movement and sometimes sounds of creatures in the area as well. The oud tries to answer those sounds that never converge. Perhaps its sound reached those creatures as their sounds reached it.

- In the grotto: Every sound is amplified by its reverb from the rock layers where the grotto's cavity formed: ground, sides, and ceiling. An irregular cavity that may have been inhabited by our ancestors thousands of centuries ago. Now belongs, almost entirely, to bats that dislike sunlight and warmth. Only an adventurer exploring the grotto may disturb this kingdom.
- The Oud sound is either amplified by bouncing off solid rocks or softened by echoing the limestone columns formed by water droplets over hundreds of thousands of centuries. One can hear the sound of water droplets continuously falling since those ancient times to the present. The drops fall on the ground, the oud, or the microphone. The sound of bats is also heard, especially in the silence between musical phrases.

- Modern technology assisted us as the equipment brought into the grotto, despite its advancement and precision, was small and light. We did not rely, nevertheless, on these means to add any sound effects or clean up any imperfections after recording. The sound was left as it was recorded, as captured by the microphone.

Special thanks to everyone who participated:
- Mundher Al-Hashem: Recording and sound direction.
- Clara Sfeir: video and cover design.
- Alaa Al-Hashem: Expert guide in the paths of Aqourah grotto.