Oud

The oud (/uːd/; Arabic: عود‎ ʿūd  Arabic pronunciation: [ʕu(ː)d, ʢuːd], plural: أعواد aʿwād; Armenian: ուդ, Syriac: ܥܘܕ ūd, Greek: ούτι oúti; Hebrew: עוּד‎ ud; Persian: بربط‎‎ barbat; Kurdish: ûd‎; Turkish: ud or ut;Azeri: ud; Somali: cuud or kaban) is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in Persian, Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Jewish, Byzantine, Azerbaijani, Armenian, North African (Chaabi, Classical, and Spanish Andalusian), Somali and Middle Eastern music. Construction of the oud is similar to that of the lute. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths. One instrument that has been suggested as ancestral is the Barbat. The oud is readily distinguished from the lute by its lack of frets and smaller neck. Alongside the lute, it is considered an ancestor of the guitar.

Etymology

The origin of the name oud (and its etymological cousin, lute) for the musical instrument is uncertain. The Arabic: العود‎ (al-ʿūd) literally denotes a thin piece of wood similar to the shape of a straw. It may refer to the wooden plectrum traditionally used for playing the oud, to the thin strips of wood used for the back, or to the wooden soundboard that distinguished it from similar instruments with skin-faced bodies.

Haig Yazdjian

Haig Yazdjian is a composer and a vocalist and an Oud player and a producer. He was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1959. His parents are Armenians from Caesarea, Cappadocia, modern-day Turkey. He has lived in Greece, which is where he began his interest in Eastern music. His first album BEAST ON THE MOON was not that famous. But the second one TALAR, showed up in 1996, accelerated his popularity.

Yazdjian played on Loreena McKennitt's 2006 album An Ancient Muse.

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