• Palestinian musician Tamer Omari's new instrument is designed to seamlessly mesh eastern melodies with western beats. The 38-year-old Palestinian's new instrument is called a udulele, which allows musicians to play Arabic maqam, using distinctive microtonal frets while capturing the simplicity of guitar strings. All photos: Reuters
    Palestinian musician Tamer Omari's new instrument is designed to seamlessly mesh eastern melodies with western beats. The 38-year-old Palestinian's new instrument is called a udulele, which allows musicians to play Arabic maqam, using distinctive microtonal frets while capturing the simplicity of guitar strings. All photos: Reuters
  • 'The instrument is built on the chord La, unlike the guitar which is built on the chord Me,' Omari said. The name udulele is a combination of oud and ukulele.
    'The instrument is built on the chord La, unlike the guitar which is built on the chord Me,' Omari said. The name udulele is a combination of oud and ukulele.
  • Musician and inventor Jowan Safadi plays the Udelele-Muria, a new instrument which combines elements of an oud with a guitar and allows musicians to play Arabic maqam music using simplistic guitar-like chords in Acre, Israel October 11, 2022. REUTERS / Ammar Awad
    Musician and inventor Jowan Safadi plays the Udelele-Muria, a new instrument which combines elements of an oud with a guitar and allows musicians to play Arabic maqam music using simplistic guitar-like chords in Acre, Israel October 11, 2022. REUTERS / Ammar Awad
  • 'The main thing I want to point out about this instrument, which is one of the things that makes it special to me, is that it is made in Palestine and as far as I know, this is the first Palestinian instrument – which you can’t find anywhere else in the world – that gives you the space to discover a new Palestinian sound that is connected, in a way, to Arab music and folklore,' Safadi said.
    'The main thing I want to point out about this instrument, which is one of the things that makes it special to me, is that it is made in Palestine and as far as I know, this is the first Palestinian instrument – which you can’t find anywhere else in the world – that gives you the space to discover a new Palestinian sound that is connected, in a way, to Arab music and folklore,' Safadi said.
  • 'It is something new that shows a promising future for music,' Safadi said. Omari, who is originally from the city of Jenin in the West Bank, built the instrument in 2017 and had it patented only last month. He says it will soon be available on the market.
    'It is something new that shows a promising future for music,' Safadi said. Omari, who is originally from the city of Jenin in the West Bank, built the instrument in 2017 and had it patented only last month. He says it will soon be available on the market.

MENA

Instrument meshes eastern and western melodies - in pictures

Two musicians combine elements of the oud with the guitar to create 'first Palestinian instrument'

The National

October 27, 2022

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Updated: October 27, 2022, 10:04 PM
PhotographyIsraelPalestineMusic