Want To Jump Straight to the answer? Our choice for the Best Middle Eastern Samples is Middle East Essentials Vol. 1 by Gio Israel!
Some of the best and most renowned movies in history have been set in the Middle East and Arabian parts of the world. Movies such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Passion of the Christ, and Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Some of the best parts of those movies is the music and sound design that are included. Even modern electronic music has incorporated the beats and instruments from Middle Eastern styles into their tracks with Middle Eastern Samples. This again proves what is old will be new again.
What To Look For When Choosing Middle Eastern Samples
For our list we looked for mostly real instrument samples that could be altered as needed. Everything you hear in these Middle Eastern sample packs sounds great and is authentic. If you read the info on many of them, you will find that experienced musicians and instructors were recorded to make these packs for everyone to choose from.
Quick look
- Sounds of KSHMR Vol. 2 – Splice
- Arabian Vocal Hooks – Vocal Roads
- Palestinian Toots with Zafer Tawil – Splice Originals
- Mystical Flutes – Loopcloud Play
- Middle East Essentials – Rare Strings – Gio Israel
- Turkish Roots – Splice Originals
- Middle East Essentials Volume 1 – Gio Israel
Pricing
The price of many of these sample packs rises and falls depending on which you are looking at. The reason being that some of these packs are just smaller. There are some that you will see on this list that focuses specifically on one instrument so the list of samples will be shorter than others that are doing an all-inclusive type of pack.
Frequency of Use
With the unique beats and sounds in the Middle Eastern sample packs, you won’t run short on new combinations of sounds to create. You can always add in new sounds from outside this style for a creative mashup. Who knows, you could create a whole new genre.
Skill Level
To create an effective end song, it will take some work. Most of this music is very different from what most people outside of the Middle East are used to. There are different types of beats and combinations of pitches that will take some getting used to so be ready to put in some work.
7 Best Middle Eastern Samples
Without further ado, here are the packs I found to be the best Middle Eastern samples out there.
1. Sounds of KSHMR Vol. 2 – Splice
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Instrumentals
From Splice itself comes this killer pack with a modern twist of classic Arabian instruments and sounds. With over 1400 samples to choose from, there is no end in sight for what you can do with this pack.
Price: Included with Splice Subscription
What is included? 352 Loops and 1123 One-Shots including
- Drums
- Vocals
- Orchestral
- Claps
- Shakers
2. Arabian Vocal Hooks – Vocal Roads
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Vocals
This entire pack is focused around vocal hooks (which you can tell from the name. However, they do branch into instruments and include unique sounds that are key parts of Arabian music and culture.
Price: Included with Loopcloud Subscription
Available on Loopmasters
What is included? Over 500 Samples including
- Male and Female Vocals
- Percussion
- Strings
- Tabla
- Bass
3. Palestinian Toots with Zafer Tawil – Splice Originals
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Instrumentals
Zafer Tawil is an accomplished musician and instructor who works with Splice Originals to create this pack of live sounds. Using his skill with multiple instruments such as the oud and qanun, Zafer recorded this pack full of amazing and accurate loops and one-shots for anyone to use.
Price: Included with Splice Subscription
What is included? 291 Loops and 132 One-Shots including
- Dumbek
- Frame Drum
- Ney
- Riq
- Oud
4. Mystical Flutes – Loopcloud Play
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Flutes
Middle Eastern and Arabian music are full of flutes. The sounds of wind instruments add to the aura and foreboding nature of deserts. The breathiness of flutes matches the wind and openness of the wastelands.
Price: Included with Loopcloud Subscription
What is included?
- 30 Flute samples
5. Middle East Essentials – Rare Strings – Gio Israel
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Strings
With the help of Gilad Weiss and Aviv Bahar, Gio Israel was able to make one of the best (if not best) instrumental sample packs for Middle Eastern music. With creative playing on multiple unique instruments, you will get nothing but authentic sounds from this package. Gio Israel also has multiple other packs that focus on specific instrument types such as Percussion, Flutes, Bows, and even Vocals.
Price: Included with Splice Subscription
What is included? 446 Loops and 35 One-Shots including
- Kopuz
- Mandol
- Baglama
- Guitar
- Saz (Baglama)
6. Turkish Roots – Splice Originals
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Instrumental
As the title implies this music is focused around that of the Turkish culture and even has touches from Egypt and Iran. The rich music from these areas of the Middle East has tones that you will not find in many other locations of the world. This pack contains one of the widest varieties of instruments that you will find for this style of music.
Price: Included with Splice Subscription
What is included? 269 Loops and 131 One-Shots including
- Daf
- Kawala
- Davul
- Zurna
- Bendir
7. Middle East Essentials Volume 1 – Gio Israel
Who’s it for? Intermediate and above – Variety
This pack, which is from the same producer as the Rare Strings sample pack, is the perfect combination of modern and classic sounds with Middle Eastern themes. Traditional instruments and vocal stylings were combined to provide a perfect combination of samples for all users.
Price: Included with Splice Subscription
What is included? 310 Loops and 70 One-Shots including
- Tombak
- Oud
- Qanun
- Zither
- Darbuka
Experimentation with Imagination
The creators of many of these packs have more than one pack available in this style. If you look beyond this list you will probably find more gems to get you even further. We are all about encouraging creativity and learning especially when it comes to other cultures, genres, and sounds. Experiment with a new genre and find out where your strengths lie. A great example of combinations of genres comes from this video from Andrew Southworth where he shows how to make a Middle Eastern Trap beat. You could be better at coming up with an initial sound, or better at mixing and transforming the mix in the later steps. No matter what, you can always find ways to grow your creativity.
If you like to work with samples and are wanting to learn about other genres and instruments, we have a plethora of articles that look at many different genres and styles of samples here.
Wanna learn about plugins to add effects to your samples? Look at our catalog of plugin reviews and comparisons here.
Jarrett is a hardcore Lover-Jazz Lover-Rock Lover-Blues Lover-just a music lover. He has the hair to match — Jarrett and provides in-depth insight into all things guitar and music engineering.