The oud has been played for at least 3,000 years. Its name comes from the Arabic word for wood, and every part of it is carefully made by hand - the curved wooden back, the flat spruce top and the strings, which were once made from animal gut but are now usually nylon. A skilled oud maker can spend weeks building a single instrument.
Playing the oud takes years of practice. Players use a small plectrum - sometimes made from a feather or a piece of plastic - to pluck or strum the 10 or 11 strings in rapid patterns. Because there are no frets (the little metal bars on a guitar), the player's fingers can slide between notes to create smooth, gliding sounds that feel very different from Western string instruments. This gives oud music its distinctive floating, dreamy quality.
In Sudan the oud often plays alongside singers performing long, emotional love songs and praise songs called madeeh. Famous Sudanese oud players are celebrated like pop stars. Children learn the oud in schools and music clubs across Sudan, carrying a musical tradition that stretches back thousands of years. The oud also inspired the European lute, which later inspired the modern guitar.