The bağlama (Turkish: bağlama, from bağlamak, "to tie", pronounced [baːɫaˈma]) is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia.

On my new album INCANTATIONS, I used my persian kemancheh to write a ritual piece called
"The Starlit Mire."



The kamānche (Persian: کمانچه ) is a Persian violin made from half a coconut and covered with sheep hide or fish skin). One to four strings pass down a long, un-fretted neck and over a small, spherical, wooden body covered with skin (sheep hide or fish skin). It is one of the predecessors of the medieval lute. (wikipedia)

The yaylı tanbur is a bowed lute from Turkey. Derived from the older plucked tanbur, it has a long, fretted neck and a round metal or wooden soundbox which is often covered on the playing end with a skin or acrylic head similar to that of a banjo. http://en.wikipedia.org

On vacation with my beautiful E-2000 electric oud made by Viken Najarian (www.oud.net)

The oud (Arabic: عود‎ ʿūd, plural:أعواد, a‘wād; ūd, Persian: بربط barbat; Turkish: ud or ut;[1] Greek: ούτι;) is a pear-shaped stringed instrument, which unlike many other plucked stringed instruments, does not have a fretted neck. This allows the player to be more expressive and also makes it possible to play the microtones of the Arabic Maqam / Turkish Makam systems. With some exceptions, the modern oud has eleven strings. Ten of these strings are paired together in courses of two. The eleventh, lowest string remains single. There are many different tuning systems for the oud.