Arabic drum solos

The Doom-Tek Project, Hamdi El-Khayyat
This album contains only drum solos. On some tracks there is an electronic zil, frame drum, and/or
bass drum backdrop. Various doumbeks are used as the solo instrument. The drummer is
extremely skilled, playing with great speed and accuracy in a variety of coherent rhythms, tempos,
and feels. Moods include funky, exciting, laid-back, and measured. Riffs and phrases are carefully
structured and precisely executed. Almost all of the rhythms are 4/4 relatives of maqsum and
ayuub, but there is an assortment of them. I highly recommend this album to percussionists
interested in Egyptian doumbek style. Dancers will also find the music eminently danceable, but
editting for length may be necessary as the tracks are all four to five minutes long.
Overall: Great
Danceability: Good
Drum use: Excellent

Arwaa Almonaouaate Achaabia
All Arabic drum solos. Has excellent skill as well as effective use of familiar riffs. Well-mixed, in the general form of one lead
doumbek and a handful of backup drums. The backup composition varies from track to track, including combinations of
bendir, deff, riq, zils, and doumbek. The album has an assortment of base rhythms, such as ayub, maqsum, sai’idi, masmoudi,
and zeffa, with tracks ranging from two to six minutes and varying broadly in tempo. A little more energy could be desired in
some of the tracks. On the whole, a great drum solo resource demonstrating high-quality technique and feeling with great
variety.
Overall: Great
Danceability: Moderate
Drum use: Excellent

Drummers of the Nile go South: Nubian Travels
This is a very cool fusion album. The musicians seem to have started out somewhere in Egypt,
walked south to Upper Egypt, and kept right on going down to the Sudan and Ethiopia. The album
is percussion driven, with a few melodic instruments such as oud and kissar in taksim or as
accompaniment to vocals. Percussion includes doumbek, triangle, various shakers and handheld
clackers, and an assortment of skin drums sometimes used in series to generate melodic phrases.
Roughly half the tracks contain vocals employing various styles. The sound is generally fairly open,
with typically only a handful of instruments per track, and the production quality is good. Tracks
are generally very short. I highly recommend taking this percussive fusion journey, but be aware,
the album is not suitable for Raks Sharki (except, as always, fusion).
Overall: Excellent
Danceability: Fusion only
Drum use: Excellent

Oriental, Azf Ala Alanoun Egyptian Classical / Orientale
What I have under this name is probably a pirate... but in case not, here we go: Four of the tracks, one five minutes long, the
others less than two, are Raks Sharki music with riq, keyboard, qanun, bass, faint doumbek, and light cymbal. The sound is
very old-fashioned (think Golden Era). The rest of the album is Egyptian classical music played on qanun and riq. The sound
quality is poor – this may well have been recorded live – but the musicianship is excellent. Consequently, this album is not
intended for dancers, but is great material for serious riq students.
Overall: Good
Danceability: Minimal
Drum use: Excellent (riq only)

Rio de Jacairo, Sayed Balaha Egyptian and Brazilian percussion
The Arabic rhythms are strong – Sayed Balaha is an extremely skilled drummer – but I am assured
by my Brazilian percussionist friend that the Brazilian rhythms are authentic (unlike the case in a lot
of fusion projects). Drums include doumbek, pandeiro, deff, cuica, a bit of drum set, electronic
zils, samba whistle, tamborim, bell, a touch of congas, shakers, and a few drums I can’t
recognize. There are no melodic instruments. A few tracks are almost entirely Egyptian, including
one fast ayuub crafted as a Raks Sharki drum solo. Fusion dance enthusiasts will enjoy this album
a lot; percussionists will also find fantastic material to study.
Overall: Good
Danceability: Moderate (fusion)
Drum use: Excellent

Drum Talk, Reda Darwish
An excellent album that shows off a brilliant Egyptian drummer. Reda
plays doumbek, doumbek-bongos, and frame drum with surpassing skill.
Transitions are smooth and well-placed. Sai’idi, maqsum, slow ayuub in
several variants, masmoudi (both 2 and 3-doum), samai 10/8, a 3/4, and several additional 4/4
rhythms appear. A few of the tracks exhibit some sub-Saharan African fusion, and several tracks
include vocals. “The Camel Herder,” a slow ayuub with Reda singing, is particularly charming.
There are no melodic instruments. Tempos range from slow to blistering. These drum solos are
artistic and wonderful for listening, but most are not constructed to accommodate a dancer. A very
clean, well-constructed album exhibitting virtuoso Egyptian drumming.
Overall: Excellent
Danceability: Moderate
Drum use: Excellent

Music of the Qaria, Ibraheim Farrah
Divided into the 2 parts: first melodic with percussion (2 ½ to 5 minutes), and then percussion solos
(1 to 2 min). The melodic instruments are rebab and mizmar, with vocals (male and female, solo and
chorus) on two tracks. Melodic lines are minimal, presenting blocks of riffs endlessly repeated,
occasionally breaking into improvisation. Percussion consists of frame drums and doumbek for the
first half of the album. In the second half, sagat (zils), riq, and muzhar accompany and sometimes
lead the percussion solos. Sai’idi and maqsum are the main rhythms, with “baladi”, a ciftetelli variant,
a simple ¾, a simple 6/8, and one masmoudi as well. However, the solos are also hypnotic, neither
showing off skill nor presenting riffs suited for dancing. Though there is some excitement, all tracks
are highly repetitive, with poorly cut endings and fairly grungy sound quality. Thus the album is quite
well suited for folkloric and tribal style dance, but would be out of place in a cabaret atmosphere. I also recommend the album
to people interested in country Egyptian music for its own sake; though I’d recommend “Best of seedi nights” much more.
Needless to say, if you dislike the strong, nasal sound of the mizmar (and rebab), this is not the album for you.
Overall: Moderate
Danceability: Tribal and folkloric great
Drum use: Moderate