A musical instrument with a big stomach, a short and curved handle, a beam and a plectrum. Its curved back is made of 19 or 21 boards in the shape of a circle. The body is hollow. In the midst of the entrance part called the chest, there are two small cavities on the sides called “roses”.
Oud instrument (written as “ud” in Turkish) is the ancestor of the European lute, name of which derives from “al-ud”. It is not a local Turkish instrument but it has been performed in Anatolia for at least five centuries. Besides, in the history, the oud has been performed by a number of civilizations in Central Asia, Mesopotamia, Iran, Arabia. Accordingly, there are a number of types of ouds besides Turkish oud. The oud instrument occupies a fantastic place in Turkish Artwork Music, Turkish city music (in fasil orchestras) and in arabesk music. Oud has been known from the paperwork and oral tradition because the king, sultan or emir of musical instruments.
History of Oud
In some sources, it is said that Farabi invented the oud, but long earlier than Farabi, there are oud and similar devices in miniatures and reliefs. The primary reason why Farabi is perceived as an inventor is that he is a musician who has mastered the oud and the tuning system he delivered to the oud. Farabi, who was one of those who gave probably the most comprehensive information about the oud in his interval, added the 5th string to the oud, which was a 4-string instrument till that time. About the oud, Ibn Sina (980/1037) from Farabi says in his book Kitabu’ş Şifa that it is likely one of the most well-known instruments. Tells technical information similar to chords and pitches with figures. While musical instruments had been talked about within the Ikhwan-i Safa tracts in the tenth century, it was stated that the most lovely of those was the oud.
The frets on the handle of the oud, preserved within the Farabi period, were abandoned towards the end of the 10th century. The oud was previously performed with a wooden plectrum. The famous Andalusian musician Ziryab (eleventh century) replaced it with a plectrum made of eagle feather. Right now, plectrums made of flexible plastic are generally used.
The oud instrument made its way to Europe by means of Spain. Within the thirteenth century, the crusaders brought it back to Europe, and in time, it turned the lute. That’s why lute takes its name after the oud (‘le ut’ in old French), however it’s been added completely different options from oud, like frets.
The oud, additionally which grew to become the center of attention within the Ottoman palace in the 15th century, gained an irreplaceable worth that the public began to use in classical Turkish music in the 19th century.
Oud instrument has a big soundbox connected to a short neck. The instrument has a pear-formed body which is a deep, striped bowl made from lightweight wood. The wood needs to be light because the bowl is meant to reverberate when it is struck. The soundboard, the front part of the body, incorporates one or , typically three sound holes. These sound holes could also be oval or they can be ornamented depending on the lands they’re played on. There’s a piece of fish-skin or leather between the bridge and the sound hole with the intention to protect the belly from the strokes of the plectrum. The bowl of the oud is formed by thin woods or ribs bent over a mold. The number of the ribs varies from 16 to 21. The tuning pegs of the oud are screwed to the pegbox.
The quality of the material used within the making of the oudis important. The more the fabric is various, the better it sounds. A high-quality oud’s face is made from spruce. The tuning pegs and fingerboard are constructed from ebony. Maple, walnut, palisander and mahogany are used for the bowl.
The oud doesn’t have any standard dimension or number of strings. Yet generally, all the types of ouds have 11 gut strings which can be organized in 5 double-programs with a sixth, single bass string. Oud is played with a plectrum. Its fretless neck permits the instrument to generate any intervals or microtones particular to the Center Eastern music. Oud instrument is suitable so that you can enjoy Turkish, Iran or Arab music by taking part in makams/maqamat.
Oudis performed according to two schools of performance. The first is “Ottoman” school and it accepts as precept the ornamentation of the sound, produced by delicate glissandos or the fingers and slight vibratos. The second approach is Egyptian approach, according to which the quantity is amplified by firm strokes of the plectrum, which makes strings resonate. This style requires another kind of virtuosity.
There are essentially six types of oud when they are considered according to their origin. Those types of oud principally differ in their timbre and there are small dimension variations between them.
Arabic oud is probably the most known oud instrument type and perhaps the most well-liked because of its romantic, rich and deep sound. It’s heavier and slightly bigger evaluating to Turkish ouds. Turkish ouds are employed in Turkey and Greece. They have a more treble sound. Syrian oud, which is a sub-type of Arabic oud generates numerous overtones. Iraqi ouds may also be categorized under Arabic ouds. Its strings are tied to the underside of the instrument. Because of this characteristic, it is said that it has a floating bridge. Iranian oud, which can also be called Barbat is more distinct and as a consequence of its form, it has a bass, deep, Persian sound.
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