Barbat: Iran musical instrument

The barbat which is also known as barbud is a lute instrument that is believed to have originated from central Asia. Many musical instruments have been derived from this barbat such as the Arabic oud. Today the barbat is almost a replacement to the oud, and is mostly played in the Persian tradition while the oud is mostly played in the Arabic tradition.

source of picture: orientalinstruments.com

The barbat is regarded as one of the oldest musical instrument in the world and is believed to have originated from the central part of Asia. The barbat is pictured to have dated back to the 1^st century BC from the oldest northern Bactria while a clearer picture representation of the barbat is discovered from gandhara and it dates back to 2^nd to 4^th century AD.  By the 7th century the musical instrument was adopted and put to use by the Arabs and modified into what is called oud and is said to be the oldest musical string after the tanbur. According to the Iranica encyclopedia, this type of instrument might have been introduced by the Kushans and later it was assumed by the Arabs. Due to religious fanaticism as rumored the musical instrument was banned in safavid until the recent time. The earliest oud was supposedly carved from a solid wood and by the Moorish period in the Spanish regions, the body was rebranded with staved wood vaulted back design. The staved wood is assumed to be the namesake for the oud as the meaning was also “wood” and the top was manufactured of wood as battled to the skin of the older lutes. As the barbat was taken to the Arab world they modified it and made the body to become larger and the neck was made shorter.

This musical instrument can be held almost the same way as the guitar and the player must be careful to have the face vertical so that it is not visible to him and to provide tangible support to the instrument with his thigh and right arm and the left hand is made free to move around the fingerboard. The player is advice to use the required muscle while relaxing all other part of his body and mind while he is playing the musical instrument as this will allow him to play as long as possible and easier as well as be much more creative while playing the musical instrument.

The following materials are used in the production of as complete barbat. The resonating body is made of walnut or maple, the string fastener made from boxwood, the top sheet made from deal, the neck made from walnut, the nut made from bone of an animal or as plastic, the bent-back peg box from the walnut, the peg made from walnut or ebony while the lattices of hole is being made from walnut.