Mystic World Drums

‘Oud’ literally means ‘from wood’ in Arabic. An Oud is an 11 or 13 string pear shaped wooden instrument. It has double strings, usually down to the lowest string which is single. The Oud is a restless instrument with a neck that is generally thinner than a lute’s neck.

The earliest known description of the oud comes from 9th century Arabic philosopher Yaʻqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī.

The oud is considered to be one of the central musical instruments in many Arab cultures and can be found played in Egypt, Syria, Israel, Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, Somalia, Yemen, Arabia and Iran, among other places.