Middle East Essentials - Strings

The Middle East Essentials series by Gio Israel sets the goal of bringing together Middle Eastern masters and prodigies, capturing the most diverse, high-quality, and unique musical material. Making ancient music, sounds and instruments accessible through state-of-the-art sound sampling.

The oud is probably the most iconic Middle Eastern string instrument, with origins going back thousands of years. Different variations of the oud are spread around North Africa, Central Asia, and the entire Middle Eastern region. The instrument has three main types: the Arabian oud, Turkish oud, and the Persian barbat.

The best musicians representing a range of backgrounds and origins gathered for this pack, each bringing their own unique sound and flavor from Yemen to Morocco, to Egypt, and Turkey.

Contributing musicians:
Zafer Tawil
Bashir Taha
Gilad Hazan
Shir Gadasi
Aviv Bahar
Ohad Elkoubi