Nautilauta: Dulab Dashti

This is a brief variation of the anonymous/traditional Iraqi “dulab“ (introductory piece) in the maqām (melodic mode) called Dashti, with some improvisation. The purpose is to show off the instrument a little — it’s called the Nautilauta; I (Eric Ederer) designed it over several years and Eugene, Oregon luthier Josh Humphrey built it in the spring of 2012. You can see more about that at but here I just wanted to thank Josh for doing such a great job on it! If you feel you may need a Nautilauta sometime soon (or some other custom-made oddity to pluck), do check out his work at: — Also thanks to Ya’ir Dalal for teaching me Dulab Dashti. Enjoy! PS: Now you can also see more on it at: