Salman Shukur’s oud

…a relationship between player and instrument could last after the player himself passed on…

The oud as a luxury toy

By Rachel Beckles Willson When in 2006 Ritter Instruments made an oud in its ‘Royal’ series that sold at auction for $620,000, it pushed the so-called King of Arab instruments into new territory. The price was partly a result of its materials, but wood was not the deciding component. Rather, it was the 103-carat black…

Egyptian Ouds from 1800 to the 1930s

By Tarek Abdallah In the period 1800-1895, written and iconographic sources relating to Egyptian musical instruments describe one predominant model of oud, namely the seven-course instrument known appropriately as al-‘ūd as-Sab‘āwī. However, as discussed elsewhere on Oudmigrations, of the two 19th-century ouds that travelled from Alexandria to Brussels, one has only six courses, and a…

Why do we collect?

In 1974 the Italian writer Italo Calvino wrote an essay called ‘Collection of Sand…

About

Oudmigrations is dedicated to the journeys of ouds, their histories, and the stories attached to their makers, players, and owners.Research for Oudmigrations is led by Professor Rachel Beckles Willson, who holds a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust. Please follow the menus above to find articles about Journeys, Histories and Stories. The Oud Blog…