All About Oud Instrument
A musical instrument with a big stomach, a brief and curved handle, a beam and a plectrum. Its curved back is made of 19 or 21 boards within the form of a circle. The body is hollow. In the middle of the entrance section 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 isn’t a native Turkish instrument but it has been played in Anatolia for at the very least 5 centuries. Besides, within the history, the oud has been played 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 great place in Turkish Artwork Music, Turkish urban 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, however long earlier than Farabi, there are oud and comparable instruments in miniatures and reliefs. The main 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 a kind of who gave essentially the most complete information in regards to the oud in his period, added the 5th string to the oud, which was a four-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 famous instruments. Tells technical information akin to chords and pitches with figures. While musical devices had been mentioned within the Ikhwan-i Safa tracts within the tenth century, it was said that the most stunning of these was the oud.
The frets on the handle of the oud, preserved within the Farabi interval, were abandoned towards the tip of the 10th century. The oud was beforehand played with a wooden plectrum. The famous Andalusian musician Ziryab (11th century) changed it with a plectrum made of eagle feather. Today, plectrums made of versatile plastic are generally used.
The oud instrument made its way to Europe via Spain. In the thirteenth century, the crusaders brought it back to Europe, and in time, it became the lute. That’s why lute takes its name after the oud (‘le ut’ in old French), however it’s been added different features from oud, like frets.
The oud, also which became the focal point in the Ottoman palace in the fifteenth century, gained an irreplaceable worth that the public started to make use of in classical Turkish music in the 19th century.
Oud instrument has a big soundbox linked to a short neck. The instrument has a pear-shaped 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, comprises one or , generally three sound holes. These sound holes may be oval or they are often ornamented relying on the lands they are performed on. There is a piece of fish-skin or leather between the bridge and the sound hole with a purpose 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 sixteen to 21. The tuning pegs of the oud are screwed to the pegbox.
The quality of the fabric used in the making of the oudis important. The more the fabric is diverse, 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 does not have any commonplace measurement or number of strings. But normally, all the types of ouds have 11 gut strings which are organized in 5 double-courses with a sixth, single bass string. Oud is performed with a plectrum. Its fretless neck allows 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 played according to 2 schools of performance. The first is “Ottoman” school and it accepts as principle 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 model requires another kind of virtuosity.
There are essentially six types of oud when they’re considered according to their origin. Those types of oud mostly differ of their timbre and there are small measurement differences between them.
Arabic oud is probably the most known oud instrument type and possibly the most popular because of its romantic, rich and deep sound. It’s heavier and slightly bigger comparing to Turkish ouds. Turkish ouds are employed in Turkey and Greece. They’ve a more treble sound. Syrian oud, which is a sub-type of Arabic oud generates numerous overtones. Iraqi ouds may additionally be categorised under Arabic ouds. Its strings are tied to the bottom of the instrument. Because of this feature, it is said that it has a floating bridge. Iranian oud, which can be called Barbat is more distinct and on account of its form, it has a bass, deep, Persian sound.