As the strings of a lute are apart though they quiver the same music (Gibran)

In Professor Mundeign's Section on Musicology, the problems of combining lute and harpsicord were explored in a paper by Giuseppe Manceno (a follower of Gianfranco Lotti). The lute is not designed for large concert halls, and it is difficult to achieve a balance between the two instruments (despite the influence of the one on the other). The words "lute" and "oud" derive from Arabic al-ʿud (العود - literally means "the wood").Recent research by Eckhard Neubauer suggests ʿud may in turn be an Arabized version of the Persian name rud, which meant "string", "stringed instrument", or "lute".It has equally been suggested the "wood" in the name may have distinguished the instrument by its wooden soundboard from skin-faced predecessors.Gianfranco Lotti suggests the "wood" appellation originally carried derogatory connotations because of proscriptions of all instrumental music in early Islam.