Description: The oud is widely spread throughout the Middle East to Persia under the name barbat and then to North Africa, the Balkans this includes Greece (outi) and Bulgaria. In other directions the oud migrated eastwards to Malaysia and Indonesia the oud is sometimes referred to as a "Gambus" although the name gambus applies to a separate lute. Through another parallel journey the oud migrated to China under the name pipa and in Japan under the name Biwa who are’ both off-shoots of the oud. The oud migrated’ westward Morocco to Andalusia Spain the oud was called "al-ud" which evolved to the word we know as "lute". The oud is very popular from Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria to Morocco and in Somalia where the oud is called Kaban who only has 4 strings.  In Persian classical music the barbat is one of the major instruments.

Anatomy of the Oud: The oud varies in shape and size depending on the regions of where the instrument is from. In many Arabic countries, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq the oud has a wider body and slightly longer neck having 6 courses of strings. In Turkey and Iran the oud is smaller in size and the Greek outi is directly influenced from a luthier in Turkey who once lived in Constantinople (Istanbul) the end result is a shorter neck in length and a slightly smaller body. Originally oud makers would lay the soundboard on top of a flat piece of paper and join the two sides together. The body is then constructed in singular staves over a jig and then affixed to the sound board creating the chamber. The fingerboard, bridge, nut and saddle are created last. Many materials are used for the nut ranging from bone to plastics. For the bridge most ouds have a “fixed” bridge. The tuning pegs are of the wooden manual friction type they are made in a similar to a violin’s set of tuning pegs. In Iraq ouds may have up to 13 strings this is largely due to Munir Bachir who is accredited for making these alterations.