Wa'tar - "وتر", named after the Arabic word for "string" is an independent listening platform dedicated to recording and documenting unique oud performances from overlooked, unknown, and extraordinary musicians across the Arab world and beyond.

We actively preserve and expand an evolving archive of taqasim, recordings, luthiers, gatherings, festivals, and regional musical traditions connected to the oud. Our focus is not popularity, commercial reach, or algorithms — but the sound itself, and the people who keep it alive.

This platform exists as a quiet space for listening: free from advertisements, subscriptions, data tracking, and the noise of streaming culture. We do not sell anything. The archive is supported entirely through donations and community support.

Our goal is simple — to help preserve the oud and its living traditions, and to offer listeners, wherever they may be, a moment of presence through sound.

The oud emerged through centuries of musical exchange across Mesopotamia, Persia, the Arab world, Anatolia, and Al-Andalus. Its fretless neck allows for the microtonal phrasing central to maqam traditions, giving the instrument its deeply vocal character.

While regional forms differ in tone, tuning, scale length, and construction, the oud remains one of the foundational instruments of Middle Eastern and North African music.

This archive focuses especially on taqasim, historical recordings, contemporary underground players, and the living traditions carried by luthiers and teachers across generations.

The New York Oud Festival is a multi-day, multi-venue music festival that displays the oud and its versatility as it exists in New York's diverse musical culture.

The NYOF celebrates the oud and its wide-ranging influence on global music culture, showcasing artists from a multitude of traditions and contexts, and demonstrating why the oud continues to be one of the world's most beloved instruments.