About Us


Mustafa Stefan Dill, photo credit Morgan Timms


About OudStrings.com

OudStrings.com  was started in 2011 by Brian Prunka in New York.  As the only string retailer owned and operated by a professional oud player, it was Brian's mission to help oud players find the ideal strings for their individual instruments and playing styles.

The OudStrings.com commitment to help oudists optimize their tone and playability was  - and remains -- hands-on and proactive. It spans the entire supply chain: from devising custom sets for individual players, various tunings and specialized ouds on the front end,  to working directly with major string manufacturers behind the scenes to improve and expand their products.

I acquired the business from Brian in 2021, continuing the tradition that the business be run by a professional oudist. Brian wanted to devote more time to teaching and performing, and while I am also an active performer/composer, I wanted to make sure the oud community still had a viable, knowledgeable resource.

Then as now, the passion that drives oudstrings.com - and what sets us apart -- isn't about merely selling strings: it's about constantly searching out and bringing to the oud community the best options and tools out there to help you make the most beautiful music you can.

Rest assured, I am already  continuing oudstring.com's  "quest for your best" and commitment to service, and will keep exploring options and pushing possibilities with manufacturers for all of us oudists.

If you don't see what you need, or are unsure what's best for your oud, please contact me using the contact form and we'll explore your options and develop a custom set if needed.

 

Mustafa Stefan Dill (owner)

Desert-born (with formative years in Montpellier, France) and from a multicultural ancestry of Lebanon, Mexico and Ireland, Mustafa Stefan Dill speaks several languages, but mainly music.

Dill has performed in solo concerts throughout Europe since 1992 in both improvised music , jazz and guitar circles at such venues and festivals as FMP’s Total Music Meeting, Nickelsdorf, Wirral Guitar Festival, Paderborn Guitar Festival, Zuid Nederlands Jazz Festival, Festival HispanoAmericano de la Guitarra, Erlbach, and others.

His initial music – an intense and unique convergence of traditional flamenco and Middle Eastern elements with free jazz and open improvisation – won critical praise with recordings such as Warning Clothed in Bright Robes of Dawn, Sangre Del Rio and Six Peaces (his debut on the oud).

He continues his hallmark approach of mashing up both modern and traditional improvising techniques within a deep immersion of his childhood cultural musical traditions in a variety of settings and volumes, from solo acoustic to high decibel electric.

Such projects  have included the Stefan Dill Trio’s release Run For Heaven (2002), Sama Duo (with whom he scored the soundtrack for the independent Bengali film Birth Of A Pillow), and the prog/word/funk trio Pray For Brain, which released its debut CD None Of the Above in 2014 on7D Media to critical acclaim, winning Best Jazz CD at the NMMA and a best producer nomination for MSD.

In addition to his own projects, he has worked and collaborated  with Cecil Talyor, Brahim Fribgane, Ramon Lopez, Guus Janssen, J.A. Deane, guitarist Karl Sanders of Nile, former students John Dikeman and Ava Mendoza, Jack Wright, John Jasnoch, hip hop duo K.Benally/Letsjustsb and others.

In 2018, he licensed solo oud tracks for the documentary “Facing History and Ourselves” and in 2019 composed and recorded the score for the Santa Fe Playhouse production of “The Happiest Song Plays Last.”

Current projects include the Middle Eastern jazz funk quartet Love Unfold The Sun ( where he wields a custom doubleneck oud/guitar), a new group envisioned as  "free jazz metal collides with a Turkish Persian chamber ensemble," and a return to acoustic solo oud work.

When not doing music, he has served as a freelance media/PR and internal/crisis communications consultant for various businesses.

He acquired oudstrings.com in 2021.



former owner Brian Prunka photo credit: Shelley Thomas