Laud

The laud is a Spanish folk cittern. It has a flat soundboard and a flat back and has the basic shape of a teardrop. It is has 12 metal strings. Some laudes have a round soundhole (like a Spanish classical guitar) while others have two "f" holes and one or more small soundholes. I have seen teardrop as well as diamond shaped small soundholes--also I have seen lauds (spelled laudes in Spanish) with 4 small round soundholes.

The Spanish laud is similar to the Spanish bandurria. Both of these instruments are used in rondallas--which are fretted string orchestras which often also include guitars and mandolines. The laud has a larger body than the bandurria and the body meets the neck at the 12th fret; in contrast, on the bandurria the body meets the neck at the 7th fret. Both instruments are tuned in 4ths. The strings are grouped in pairs which are technically called courses. Both the Spanish Laud and Spanish Bandurria are traditionally tuned G# G#, C#C#, F#F#,bb, ee, aa--from the 12th to the 1st string. Since the scale is shorter, the bandurria is tuned an octave above the laud. If you play guitar and don't want to learn the traditional tuning, I suggest that you tune these instruments like the guitar at the 3rd fret: GG, CC, FF, BbBb, dd, gg (12th to 1st string). The Spanish laud typically has a scale length of 470mm. There is a Cuban version of the laud--the Cuban lauds I have seen have a scale length of 400mm. According to my friend Jon Griffin, the Cuban laud is typically tuned DD, F#F#, BB, ee, aa, dd.