Mandolute

A Mandolute is a North African instrument derived from the more traditional Oud. It is a fretted string instrument unlike the oud, sometimes called a mandoluth (French) or mondol (Morocco, Algeria). It is slightly bigger than the mandola. It combines a traditional oud string format with five courses (pairs) of metal strings, resulting in an instrument similar to a mandocello or flat-backed liuto cantabile.