So, although not as well known as its more famous stringed siblings, the oud may yet find a wider market and fanbase. Two months back, I even sold one to a person from Mumbai,” he said. “Connoisseurs of music contact me online. At any point, he has about 40 ouds ready.Īlthough the ouds do not sell as much as the other musical instruments, Zamiruddin has found many buyers online. Zamiruddin uses the backyard of his house as his workshop, where 30-odd workmen sit cross-legged on the floor, designing violins and ouds. Hence, every oud is unique, even if made by the same craftsman.” Spreading the music So, something that has been cut and carved by hand won’t have the precision of machines. Yet, despite the many pluses his ouds have, he has no immediate plans to export them to foreign markets, given the low returns.Īccording to him, no two ouds are the same, neither in dimensions nor the sound they produce. An oud made in Syria may cost Rs 80,000, but mine are Rs 18,000 a piece,” said Zamiruddin, who inherited the business in 1996 after his father passed away. India has a variety and better quality of wood compared to the Gulf, which is a desert. “ Ouds are made in the Middle East, but my product is better. His first oud was a success, after which we started producing them on a large scale-120-odd ouds a month,” reminisced Zamiruddin.ĭuring that time, the ouds were exported to Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and other Middle Eastern countries. He, however, chided me and said I should never doubt the skills of a master craftsman. “I advised my father against it, owing to the oud’s complicated design. Who had already made a name for himself by making quality violins, was up to They showed the stringed instrument to my father and asked if he could make it and said that every other craftsman in India had refused to,” said Zamiruddin. “Some people visited us with an oud in 1984 and introduced themselves as dealers and exporters of musical instruments. Then came the oud Zamiruddin shows an oud crafted at his workshop. Started assisting his father soon after finishing his graduation. Where music was a big part of the school curriculum. His violins had a big market in Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, The demand for violins soared so high that Haseenuddin gave up making furnitureĪnd concentrated only on the instrument, becoming an established violin-maker in “Along with chairs, tables, beds, and wardrobes, he started The joy on Ameeruddin’s face made Haseenuddin realise his latent potential in Using his skills and things available at hand, he made a Violin that had become a tangled lump of wood and strings, Zamiruddin told me.įather was a genius. Unable to see his brother in that state, Haseenuddin then studied the Heartbroken, he continued to become more and more miserable as the weeks He became so engrossed in playing it day inĪnd day out that he completely detached from his surroundings,” recalled Zamiruddin.ĭay, Ameeruddin accidentally dropped the violin and it shattered to pieces. Once a cabinet-maker in Rampur, the lyrical story of how Haseenuddin started making ouds goes back 70-odd years.įather and his younger brother Ameeruddin lived together.
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Instrument: Haseenuddin’s story Zamiruddin inherited the business from his father Haseenuddin in 1996 and named it New Slovakia Musicals. In his book Two Nations and Kashmir (1956), Lord Birdwood notes that it was during the rule of Zain-ul-Abuldin in Kashmir that musicians from the West Asian region came, and brought the lute and the oud with them. The oud came to India with the spread of Islam. When it came to be used in Persia, some 3000 years ago, it was called the barbat, while it was called the al Oud (wood, or specifically thin wood) by the Arabs.
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“Now, I am the only one…” How the oud came to India Zamiruddin, owner of New Slovakia Musicals. The oud is oft used in Middle Eastern and North African music.įather was the first and only person in India to make ouds,” said This is the only place in India where you can buy an oud, a short-necked, pear-shaped stringed instrument that produces a sound similar to that of the sarod. Stacked on the shelves and lofts in rooms around the house’s rectangular courtyard are ouds, a musical instrument dating back thousands of years to the time of the Pharaohs. Yourself transported, musically, to ancient Egypt. New Delhi, is as nondescript as they come. Zamiruddin’s old house in Purana Gunj, Rampur, a town 175 km east of