Rud: Iran musical instrument

The rud which is a local language of Persia is a Persian stringed musical instrument. The word rud means “string.” The word has been mentioned in classical Persian works of literature that was done by Rudaki, Hafez, Naser, Khusraw, Sanai, Ferdowsi, Nizami and Qatran Tabrizi and many other unmentioned poets. The Arabic Ud whose etymology has not yet been well explained may have been derived from the Persian word rud as stated by the Persian poem Ferdowsi. 

source of picture: azerbaijans.com

Many researchers have found out that the first sample of this musical instrument were made of the pumpkin and that the strings were produced from silk and animal guts. The structure of this instrument differs from that of other stringed instrument as skin of fish is pulled over half of the body’s surface and other part is produced of pine. Primarily, the musical instrument was played the fingers but later, plectrum made from a softer material was adopted for playing the instrument. The body of the instrument is produced of the mulberry wood and apricot wood, the neck and head are made of nut wood and the pegs are of the pear wood. 12 frets are fastened to the fret-board of the musical instrument and the quality of the sound is very low. The instrument which has a total length of 860mm has the length of the body as 495mm, 335mm wide and 170mm high. The length of the neck is 285mm.