Oud
- There are also several universities named UD.
The
oud or
ud is a small, pear-shaped, stringed
musical instrument, still in use in many
Arabic cultures such as that of
Egypt. Related to the European
lute, its name is derived from the Arabic word for
Wood which is probably the name of tree the Oud was made from. (
Al-'ud became 'lute'.)
The Oud is not fretted and was and still is used by many arabic composers for composition.
Live performances don't rely heavily on Oud, for another instrument the Qanoun can produce similar sound and is more pragmatic, mainly because of it's ability to produce wider range of sounds and with higher amplititudes.
The oud's features are similar to the guitar: a sound box, five to eight pairs of strings (except the lowest string which is usually just a single string) which are called Awtar (singular watar), a shorter neck (relative to the guitar) called al-raqeba, at least one hole (Some have several) called Al-qamaria, a bridge called al Ghazala, and keys for tuning the strings called mafateeh. The bridge and the strings are attached to the instrument in a similar fashion to the flamenco or classical guitar, i.e. knotted at the bridge. The soundbox of the Oud is parabolic or pear shaped, that is, it doesn't have a straight back like the guitar.
The pick for the oud is usually about the length of an index-finger, and is called the reeshe or risha. Traditionally it is made from a bird's feather (thus the name; usually an ostrich feather), but these days plastic picks are more often used.
The oud is very famous in arabic countries due to the fact that it's easy to improvise on the oud unlike other instruments which either require accompaniment or are too complex to play.
The oud was introduced into Europe by
Zyriab, where it evolved into the
lute and ultimately the
guitar which we know today.
Well known oud players include Munir Bashir, Farid al-Atrache, and Rabih Abou Kalil.
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Category:String instruments
