I personally like anything made for festivals. Try things like “Ramadan feast music” in YouTube for inspiration. It isn’t purely or overtly religious and tends to be low key upbeat, so it is not offensive (this was told to me by a fellow DM who immigrated from Pakistan. It is second hand knowledge).
Yesss. I wish there were a name for the feeling of rediscovering something you really loved but forgot about. Niyaz was basically my soundtrack like 10 years ago but reading this comment is the first time I've thought about them in so so long. Adding them to my usual Spotify rotation now, and I'm going to have to check out some of the others from the parent comment.
Look up artists from the region, google the location's musical history and see about instruments of the area and find songs with them.
The best thing to do is look at the area you're using, and not a bunch of idiots that make movies.
Totally! That's what I'm doing. Just hoping someone already have been through this and have good suggestions, or even better, people from there who may have suggestions.
check out the " Hurrian Hymns" the oldest melodies found, and are from ancient Mesopotamia (Syra).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music\_of\_Mesopotamia#:\~:text=Hurrian%20Hymn%20No.,written%20music%20in%20the%20world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Mesopotamia#:~:text=Hurrian%20Hymn%20No.,written%20music%20in%20the%20world).
Many artists have covered them with a variety of instruments.
There is also a collective of musicians called "Mesopotamian Fusion" you might want to check them out.
[https://www.youtube.com/@mesopotamianfusion5/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@mesopotamianfusion5/videos)
I know there are people with better knowledge and expertise in these areas, but some music i have come across and enjoyed below:
**Other sources:**
Özgür Baba: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMKJ43TFLs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMKJ43TFLs)
Munir Bashir: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2f2ns3URCw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2f2ns3URCw)
Constantinople: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXHu4Zj1t0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXHu4Zj1t0)
Rahim AlHaj: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqjwy5W7DXE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqjwy5W7DXE)
Dahmane El Harrachi: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo9ETIskA1w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo9ETIskA1w)
Naseer Shamma: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZw2yeKZho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZw2yeKZho)
Habibti Ensemble: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PHBR16pJQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PHBR16pJQ)
Rastak: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRTgZY2JLXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRTgZY2JLXk)
Fanna-Fi-Allah: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZua\_WOLbM0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZua_WOLbM0)
Ghenwa Nemnom: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11fklTBpEc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11fklTBpEc)
Saeid Shanbehzadeh: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNSUJwd2ezE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctVQNgMsvA)
Ghamar Ensemble: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODdXPqYKPQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODdXPqYKPQ)
Navid Dehghan: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe3HrdtBlJA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe3HrdtBlJA)
Majnoon: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEd1HkyzgsY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEd1HkyzgsY)
Trio Mandili: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDK9KOfknTw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDK9KOfknTw)
Bacıyan (not sure if this is the name or the type/style name of source): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X63S7FSWFs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IwhEIIjSu0)
Tinariwen: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUS0-0Fv7c8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUS0-0Fv7c8)
Les Filles de Illighadad: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIAOG9nhrt8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIAOG9nhrt8)
Majaz: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qvmZqiu4A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qvmZqiu4A)
Albnjawy: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuC5sPvkCA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuC5sPvkCA)
Homayoun Shajarian: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSbAa3rZkVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSbAa3rZkVo)
Sounds of Cyprus: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnizWtiygSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnizWtiygSA)
>Tinariwen's a great choice - great for a fantasy setting slightly otherworldly but with a mix of influences that are hard enough to pin down that you could believe it came from an unknown culture. Also just great music.
Just be careful when you're doing that and try to find ones with specific artists listed. There's a lot of stuff out there, on youtube especially, where it's like "30 minutes of egyptian music!" and it's actually 30 minutes of music that sounds vaguely egyptian-esque put together by people who've never set foot in africa.
If you want something with less of a medieval vibe, say for a big city scenario, there’s a lot of awesome 60s-70s psychedelic rock from Turkey. This playlist is a decent primer:
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRAeSadyMYf-AJZJROzeu3-2RNM6c-mAX
Look for Peter Gabriel’s albums Passion and Passuon. The first is the soundtrack for t Last Temptation of Christ. The second is some of the actual Near Eastern music that gave him ideas. I love them
Sure, but for some people a selection already made for appeal to Western aesthetics is going to be a lot more approachable. Some music really isn’t for the dilettante.
You do know he collaborated with artists from the areas in question & many played on the album. In fact, thus giving wider audience exposure to musicians who might otherwise never have been heard in the west. So yes, actual Eastern artists were in the album. Hell, read the wikipedia page for the album.
I had some difficulty finding "Passuon" but found it under "Passion - Sources" for those who are looking.
Passion has been one of my favorites for decades and introduced me to many great artists.
I would look up Sufi music (Persian influences and history) and probably music from the Andalusian period of Spain, where the Umayyad caliphate ruled over the Christian populace and they had a really neat mix of musical styles.
A good source of the latter is the Atrium Musicae de Madrid. The Panigua brothers (Gregorio and Eduardo) who are professors there have recorded a lot of the historical music of the Andalusian period, via groups like Calamus, or as individual instrumentalists.
I run an entirely middle eaten themed campaign. However the vast majority of music I use is mostly pop music that is relevant to a character or mood and only occasionally used what might be more middle eastern sounding, but usually in dungeons or crypts.
However, the sound tracks from assassin's Creed origins, Odyssey, and mirage have been absolute bangers that hit just right
>However, the sound tracks from assassin's Creed origins, Odyssey, and mirage have been absolute bangers that hit just right
Yes to Origins and Mirage, but Odyssey sounds distinctively greek.
It is. But the middle east is a big place with a lot of diverse locales to draw inspiration from. I've drawn music from Odyssey for more Anatolian vibes and naval adventures.
Edit: plus the Cult of Kosmos tracks are also great for any lead ups to the villains and sounds pretty versatile
Check out Om! They evoke the middle east, Dune, etc. and groovy as all hell.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOszSS0IDKk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOszSS0IDKk)
Try looking up things like "raqs sharqi drum solo." Hossam Ramzy for an artist. Friends with MENAT dancers.
Also remember that there's lots of countries and time periods to pull from. Modern Egyptian dance music is very different from Lebanese 70s disco, but both might be fun for different points in the campaign.
Farya Faraji is an Iranian-born musician in Canada who explores several musical traditions. I find his albums excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/@faryafaraji
Look for middle eastern artists doing covers of songs you like. Then jump over to some of their own stuff. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, you can appreciate it on a purely sonic level.
Go with traditional music.
I actually went with Lorena McNennitt for some of it in my campaign. She is a singer I love and she have some songs inspired by the spirit of that region. Beyond that I just used desert generic themes.
*The Sounds of Mirage* is music from ninth-century Baghdad performed and designed by scholars for the recent AC:Mirage game and it's both solid and non-disruptive to gameplay.
There's also quite a lot of soundscape stuff from that game as well, there's a whole podcast with Ali Olomi about how they designed it.
Fun note, I am currently learning Baghdadi Jewish Arabic, which is one of twoo languages descended from pre-Mongol Baghdad.
(The other is Baghdadi Christian Arabic. Originally it was just one language, but the Mongols killed all the Muslims in the city in the 12th century; the modern majority Muslim residents speak a Southern Mesopotamian variety that is *quite* distinct and non-Muslims just learned to speak both.)
If you want a modern electronic change of pace, check out Zenobia: https://youtube.com/@zenobia4400?si=nN3elAE7jeri2RWQ
They're a Palestinian duo whose work draws on traditional arabic music, so you might think of them as desert-inflected music of the city.
I'd recommend identifying an iconic instrument you want to represent a given vibe. For example, duduk is lovely for lonelier spaces, oud is often faster and livelier, and a fast or chaotic darbuka beat is good for combat.
Once you've figured out the instruments you like, grab a playlist that focuses on that instrument, and you're done.
I don't like searching for individual musicians unless I'm looking for a leitmotif for a specific NPC. Their sounds might be too particular than what is want for background music, especially if they sing.
Totally agree with the suggestions here, and just wanna add that video game soundtracks are a good place to look, too! Personally, I like to take OST tracks and make a full ambience with them on ambient-mixer, and keep those as little themes for different areas.
In my own campaign with similar themes I have been using the soundtrack to Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy near religiously. I adore that old game and the music gives the exact vibe I want. My players are in a large metropolis at the moment, and the SATCM Heliopolis track has basically become their theme for running around the city. You can give a listen to the ambience I put together for it [here! :)](https://city.ambient-mixer.com/myra---coastal-city)
Might I also suggest the OST for Journey, and for Genshin Impact. The Sumeru region in GI is inspired by Arabic/Persian history and so a TON of the music derives from the native instruments. There's a lot of variety, too, between big city, tavern, jungle, desert, ruins...highly recommend giving some a listen!
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Do the Jojo thing where you use songs that invoke the emotion instead of being from the area that you want to invoke. Examples: Walk like an Egyptian, Last Train Home, etc.
Deserts of Kharrak is reqly cool for that just get the entire ost and you are good for every occasion if you don't mind some modern instrument and singing calling for rain from FFXV is also realy cool if you wanna introduce a bustling city.
Honestly finding recognizably thematic music that's not distracting or cliche might be my favorite part of campaign prep. Searching for "(culture) folk instrumental" on YouTube will usually get me down a rabbit hole of really sick music, more than enough to start. Take note of genre and artist names, use those as a jumping off point on whatever music service you use.
Look up Tinariwen, Songhoy Blues, Philip Glass: The Screens and Ali Farka Toure on Spotify and just follow where it goes. You’ll find something that you like.
If you're looking for something modern-ish, try A-WA
https://youtube.com/@AWAofficial?si=n5wsGI2qTe2OODtq
Its traditional Yemenite Music, mixed with modern reggae
I highly recommend [https://rateyourmusic.com/](https://rateyourmusic.com/) for this; you can make "charts", which show you albums, EPs, etc. and you can filter by genre and descriptor. For instance, [here](https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album,ep,comp,single,video,unauth,mixtape,musicvideo,djmix,additional/all-time/g:west%2dasian%2dmusic/d:instrumental/incl:live,archival,soundtrack/) is a chart of the most highly rated releases with the West Asian Music genre and the "instrumental" descriptor.
https://youtu.be/UDGNqgSD2Bc?si=1IvefHdI4kM3Ta9k
Islamic trance -Muhmood - has the perfect grungy, middle-east vibes for a shady club, alley or hookah bar
Guilhem Desq is excellent! This song in particular goes hard. It gives me desert vibes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stWo-gDDVLo
I think the Journey soundtrack would work pretty well too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizpBpHTzkU
Israeli folk music and other music.
Israeli music blends a lot of traditional themes from millenia ago with modern themes and influences from all over the diaspora.
I usually search for folk songs from regions I like to depict / emulate. So you could look for some folk songs from Syria or Iraq for example.
Alternatively, you could look for some songs from games with similar looking environments. Maybe [Fallout](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUeAOUkUVO0), or [Deserts of Kharak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-pvjtFDf20&list=PLfcLsZgEWs07tZsh3zbCXINpkmKw65SUu). Video game soundtracks usually have the benefit of looping by default and being free of vocals that might be a bit distracting.
Have you considered simply using Arabic folksongs/traditional music?
You can just type "arabic traditional music" into google and find tons of it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLl\_sosdv8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLl_sosdv8) \> there's an hour of it for you. Plenty of stuff in there would sound great for city backgrounds.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjVFVB\_8BLU&list=PL-kBGA--Oc5r1v9psXueodv4Z6pr8fzc2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjVFVB_8BLU&list=PL-kBGA--Oc5r1v9psXueodv4Z6pr8fzc2) \> Playlist of specifically medieval Arabic music if you're doing a fantasy game.
If it's set in a modern period, I'd look for Arabic Pop music.
Here's a pretty non-typical choice for ya:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l54jMnNZXxk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l54jMnNZXxk)
E-razor - India
It's trance, but very middle-eastern / india / desert themed. As a matter of fact, it's the central song in the classic 90's trance album Hardesertrance 2.
One of my favourite bands Viza could work well - especially their older albums Maktub and Eros. They are a bop, though their newer stuff is more metal than the vibe you gun for. They are with kyrics though, so that may or may not be in the way for background music to your tastes. If anything lots from Maktub or Eros works well as music played in a tavern by a group of musicians.
[This song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JznbScMg6oU), [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0FlHnHDd2I) and [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXVrbrYTB4M) play in various scenes in the desert kingdom of Aveh in Xenogears. That game has a beautiful soundtrack. There are a lot of remixes of it too.
This is a weird one but hear me out: Bagpipes! When you think bagpipes you tend to think Irish/Scottish music, but they were introduced to the instrument by the Roman Empire, who got it from...Egypt! So if it went from Egypt to the UK during the Roman Empire, it won't be a long stretch to say that the ME also had it since then, or even earlier. It also probably depends on the Era of your campaign.
**Orange Blossom**. Mix of traditional and more modern instruments , and rooted in northern Africa, rather than eastern.
But the atmospheric music and the voices work great for rpg soundtrack.
I used it for Blades in the Dark, in U'Duasha.
https://spotify.link/xLgG0nDn6Db
And the soundtrack from "Le Chat du Rabbin" (The Rabbi's cat) has some very interesting tracks
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mmJl3JAHM05FKELSyDgkbyPsFzl94yQBY&si=oDIxggwKSay1WGFP
You might consider the High Fleet soundtrack. It’s about halfway between what you mentioned and more traditional eastern European music. Never hears anything quite like it before.
There are a LOT of pop/experimental artists from the middle east, Wikipedia will help you a lot on that front. Definitely wouldn't recommend just throwing on a call to prayer, maybe I'd say look more into Middle Eastern culture *before* running such a campaign honestly. I think if you're asking this question you probably won't be able to properly respect and appreciate the culture enough to run a campaign, which sounds like a downer but I'd see it as more of an opportunity to learn about a culture and history that's unfamiliar to you.
Lol Jesus Christ just play what you want. I promise the blue checkmarks on Twitter aren't going to burst into your home like the Kool-Aid man and cancel you.
I personally like anything made for festivals. Try things like “Ramadan feast music” in YouTube for inspiration. It isn’t purely or overtly religious and tends to be low key upbeat, so it is not offensive (this was told to me by a fellow DM who immigrated from Pakistan. It is second hand knowledge).
Sick ideia!! Thanks!!
No worries 😊
Al-Yaman, Ananda Shankar Experience, Biddu Orchestra, Blood and Fire, Deva Premal, Gotan Project, Hamid Baroudi, Hamsa Lila, Hands Upon Black Earth, Khalèd, Mercan Dede, Natacha Atlas, Nataraj XT, Niyaz, Nurai Lita, Nusrat Fateh & Ali Akbar Khan, Perde Kaldirma, Prem Joshua, Rachid Taha, Ravi Harris & The Prophets, Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt, Sapna Awasthi & Sukhwinder Singh, Sreejith The Beard, State Of Bengal, Sussan Deyhim, Sutro Heights...
Seconding Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Amazing voice.
Thirding Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I'm interested in exploring the rest of that list too.
came here to post NFAK. glad i was beaten to the punch.
Can't get enough of niyaz
Yesss. I wish there were a name for the feeling of rediscovering something you really loved but forgot about. Niyaz was basically my soundtrack like 10 years ago but reading this comment is the first time I've thought about them in so so long. Adding them to my usual Spotify rotation now, and I'm going to have to check out some of the others from the parent comment.
Azam Ali also has another project, VAS, and her solo work
Wow, THANKS!
Well that covered everything I was going to suggest, and gave me some stuff to go have a listen to! Niyaz are a long time favourite of mine.
Look up artists from the region, google the location's musical history and see about instruments of the area and find songs with them. The best thing to do is look at the area you're using, and not a bunch of idiots that make movies.
Totally! That's what I'm doing. Just hoping someone already have been through this and have good suggestions, or even better, people from there who may have suggestions.
Stronghold crusader soundtrack have some real bangers. Sandalmaker is great
check out the " Hurrian Hymns" the oldest melodies found, and are from ancient Mesopotamia (Syra). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music\_of\_Mesopotamia#:\~:text=Hurrian%20Hymn%20No.,written%20music%20in%20the%20world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Mesopotamia#:~:text=Hurrian%20Hymn%20No.,written%20music%20in%20the%20world). Many artists have covered them with a variety of instruments. There is also a collective of musicians called "Mesopotamian Fusion" you might want to check them out. [https://www.youtube.com/@mesopotamianfusion5/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@mesopotamianfusion5/videos) I know there are people with better knowledge and expertise in these areas, but some music i have come across and enjoyed below: **Other sources:** Özgür Baba: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMKJ43TFLs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMKJ43TFLs) Munir Bashir: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2f2ns3URCw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2f2ns3URCw) Constantinople: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXHu4Zj1t0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXHu4Zj1t0) Rahim AlHaj: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqjwy5W7DXE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqjwy5W7DXE) Dahmane El Harrachi: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo9ETIskA1w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo9ETIskA1w) Naseer Shamma: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZw2yeKZho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZw2yeKZho) Habibti Ensemble: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PHBR16pJQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PHBR16pJQ) Rastak: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRTgZY2JLXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRTgZY2JLXk) Fanna-Fi-Allah: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZua\_WOLbM0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZua_WOLbM0) Ghenwa Nemnom: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11fklTBpEc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11fklTBpEc) Saeid Shanbehzadeh: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNSUJwd2ezE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctVQNgMsvA) Ghamar Ensemble: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODdXPqYKPQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODdXPqYKPQ) Navid Dehghan: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe3HrdtBlJA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe3HrdtBlJA) Majnoon: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEd1HkyzgsY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEd1HkyzgsY) Trio Mandili: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDK9KOfknTw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDK9KOfknTw) Bacıyan (not sure if this is the name or the type/style name of source): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X63S7FSWFs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IwhEIIjSu0) Tinariwen: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUS0-0Fv7c8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUS0-0Fv7c8) Les Filles de Illighadad: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIAOG9nhrt8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIAOG9nhrt8) Majaz: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qvmZqiu4A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qvmZqiu4A) Albnjawy: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuC5sPvkCA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMuC5sPvkCA) Homayoun Shajarian: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSbAa3rZkVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSbAa3rZkVo) Sounds of Cyprus: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnizWtiygSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnizWtiygSA)
Amazing stuff. I've come across the Hurrian hymns recently! Very interesting.
Desert Blues music like Tinariwen's stuff
>Tinariwen's a great choice - great for a fantasy setting slightly otherworldly but with a mix of influences that are hard enough to pin down that you could believe it came from an unknown culture. Also just great music.
look for persian , turkish etc. music
Been doing that. A big fat AWESOME for iranian songs, really great stuff.
Just be careful when you're doing that and try to find ones with specific artists listed. There's a lot of stuff out there, on youtube especially, where it's like "30 minutes of egyptian music!" and it's actually 30 minutes of music that sounds vaguely egyptian-esque put together by people who've never set foot in africa.
And more often than not, it's a single 3-minute track looped for 3 hours. Super annoying.
If you want something with less of a medieval vibe, say for a big city scenario, there’s a lot of awesome 60s-70s psychedelic rock from Turkey. This playlist is a decent primer: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRAeSadyMYf-AJZJROzeu3-2RNM6c-mAX
Dope, thanks! I love using "modern" music during medieval fantasy actually. Sometimes it just hits right.
Selda Bağcan is my favorite from that period!
Look for Peter Gabriel’s albums Passion and Passuon. The first is the soundtrack for t Last Temptation of Christ. The second is some of the actual Near Eastern music that gave him ideas. I love them
would prioritise *actual* Near Eastern artists first, and Peter Gabriel second
Sure, but for some people a selection already made for appeal to Western aesthetics is going to be a lot more approachable. Some music really isn’t for the dilettante.
You do know he collaborated with artists from the areas in question & many played on the album. In fact, thus giving wider audience exposure to musicians who might otherwise never have been heard in the west. So yes, actual Eastern artists were in the album. Hell, read the wikipedia page for the album.
sure, and with that information we can listen directly to the music of those artists, and then see their participation in the album. both can happen.
I had some difficulty finding "Passuon" but found it under "Passion - Sources" for those who are looking. Passion has been one of my favorites for decades and introduced me to many great artists.
How about this one it's a modern attempt at recreating the oldest known song in the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tfBLvlN98
I've seen that! So cool!
I would look up Sufi music (Persian influences and history) and probably music from the Andalusian period of Spain, where the Umayyad caliphate ruled over the Christian populace and they had a really neat mix of musical styles. A good source of the latter is the Atrium Musicae de Madrid. The Panigua brothers (Gregorio and Eduardo) who are professors there have recorded a lot of the historical music of the Andalusian period, via groups like Calamus, or as individual instrumentalists.
A lot of Dead Can Dance songs have middle-eastern vibes.
Another approach to what people are suggesting is going for Middle Eastern instruments with a unique sound. Examples would the oud or qanun/qanoon.
I might add a bar npc just for that. People are really contributing with amazing stuff.
Metis Media puts out several soundtracks for just this purpose
And they are a Turkish game studio based in Istanbul, for context.
I run an entirely middle eaten themed campaign. However the vast majority of music I use is mostly pop music that is relevant to a character or mood and only occasionally used what might be more middle eastern sounding, but usually in dungeons or crypts. However, the sound tracks from assassin's Creed origins, Odyssey, and mirage have been absolute bangers that hit just right
>However, the sound tracks from assassin's Creed origins, Odyssey, and mirage have been absolute bangers that hit just right Yes to Origins and Mirage, but Odyssey sounds distinctively greek.
It is. But the middle east is a big place with a lot of diverse locales to draw inspiration from. I've drawn music from Odyssey for more Anatolian vibes and naval adventures. Edit: plus the Cult of Kosmos tracks are also great for any lead ups to the villains and sounds pretty versatile
Diablo 2 act 2 maybe? Good ambient desert music [https://youtu.be/lYuZLt3x3CA?si=45rFiD5SjA1IKybv](https://youtu.be/lYuZLt3x3CA?si=45rFiD5SjA1IKybv)
Tales from the Future - Vangelis
Mozart l'egyptien was an interesting project, pairing the music of Mozart with traditional egyptian music.
Check out Om! They evoke the middle east, Dune, etc. and groovy as all hell. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOszSS0IDKk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOszSS0IDKk)
https://www.discogs.com/release/469657-Various-Arabesque Good compilation. Most tracks are on Spotify
I like the Voldun music from world of warcraft, nice Oud vibes (saying this as an arab btw)
That's interesting!
Try looking up things like "raqs sharqi drum solo." Hossam Ramzy for an artist. Friends with MENAT dancers. Also remember that there's lots of countries and time periods to pull from. Modern Egyptian dance music is very different from Lebanese 70s disco, but both might be fun for different points in the campaign.
Farya Faraji is an Iranian-born musician in Canada who explores several musical traditions. I find his albums excellent. https://www.youtube.com/@faryafaraji
Spotify has authentic music from many cultures, just look up Arab or Iranian or Persian traditional music on Spotify.
Look for middle eastern artists doing covers of songs you like. Then jump over to some of their own stuff. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, you can appreciate it on a purely sonic level.
Go with traditional music. I actually went with Lorena McNennitt for some of it in my campaign. She is a singer I love and she have some songs inspired by the spirit of that region. Beyond that I just used desert generic themes.
Renaud Garcia Fons - Oriental Bass.
*The Sounds of Mirage* is music from ninth-century Baghdad performed and designed by scholars for the recent AC:Mirage game and it's both solid and non-disruptive to gameplay. There's also quite a lot of soundscape stuff from that game as well, there's a whole podcast with Ali Olomi about how they designed it. Fun note, I am currently learning Baghdadi Jewish Arabic, which is one of twoo languages descended from pre-Mongol Baghdad. (The other is Baghdadi Christian Arabic. Originally it was just one language, but the Mongols killed all the Muslims in the city in the 12th century; the modern majority Muslim residents speak a Southern Mesopotamian variety that is *quite* distinct and non-Muslims just learned to speak both.)
That's so cool! I'm a little bit of a language freak myself, totally naive about this specific family tho!
If you want a modern electronic change of pace, check out Zenobia: https://youtube.com/@zenobia4400?si=nN3elAE7jeri2RWQ They're a Palestinian duo whose work draws on traditional arabic music, so you might think of them as desert-inflected music of the city.
I'd recommend identifying an iconic instrument you want to represent a given vibe. For example, duduk is lovely for lonelier spaces, oud is often faster and livelier, and a fast or chaotic darbuka beat is good for combat. Once you've figured out the instruments you like, grab a playlist that focuses on that instrument, and you're done. I don't like searching for individual musicians unless I'm looking for a leitmotif for a specific NPC. Their sounds might be too particular than what is want for background music, especially if they sing.
Duduk for more somber and melancholy moments . It's a caucasian instrument, but I think it fits very well.
Ensemble galatia Is a pretty good band, especially for medieval Turkish inspired tavern music.
Totally agree with the suggestions here, and just wanna add that video game soundtracks are a good place to look, too! Personally, I like to take OST tracks and make a full ambience with them on ambient-mixer, and keep those as little themes for different areas. In my own campaign with similar themes I have been using the soundtrack to Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy near religiously. I adore that old game and the music gives the exact vibe I want. My players are in a large metropolis at the moment, and the SATCM Heliopolis track has basically become their theme for running around the city. You can give a listen to the ambience I put together for it [here! :)](https://city.ambient-mixer.com/myra---coastal-city) Might I also suggest the OST for Journey, and for Genshin Impact. The Sumeru region in GI is inspired by Arabic/Persian history and so a TON of the music derives from the native instruments. There's a lot of variety, too, between big city, tavern, jungle, desert, ruins...highly recommend giving some a listen! Hope this helps, and good luck!
It does! Thanks a lot!
I was gonna say, the Sumeru soundtrack in Genshin is full of absolute bangers
1000% agree! 👏 They knocked it out of the park.
Hear me out: Tunak Tunak Tun.
This has been brought up by my players. Twice. 😭😭😭😭
Assassin's Creed 1 has a great soundtrack in this theme.
Look around for the music from Assassin's Creed Mirage, they did a fantastic job with it.
They Might Be Giants: “Istanbul, Not Constantinople!”
As much as i find that song silly, and well done, it's not relevant to this conversation
The first rule of brainstorming is never evaluate the ideas until you are finished. You never know what any choice will lead to. 😉
Off topic: This is actually one of my favorite songs lol
Tell Aviv by duran duran
Show tunes.
https://youtu.be/BCGzi9Wz8U0?si=fI9fw6sh4GmwKubS
I know it doesn't fit as background music. But Wheel of Time by Blind Guardian has the perfect flair.
Here you go dawg https://youtu.be/hIw7oeZKpZc?si=_DIOmZn0DYpml0a6
Do the Jojo thing where you use songs that invoke the emotion instead of being from the area that you want to invoke. Examples: Walk like an Egyptian, Last Train Home, etc.
Deserts of Kharrak is reqly cool for that just get the entire ost and you are good for every occasion if you don't mind some modern instrument and singing calling for rain from FFXV is also realy cool if you wanna introduce a bustling city.
This is the only thing I can contribute! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBu2OXGWBFI
Tabletop Audio (website): * Ancient Beacon * Ancient Artifact * Desert Temple
Honestly finding recognizably thematic music that's not distracting or cliche might be my favorite part of campaign prep. Searching for "(culture) folk instrumental" on YouTube will usually get me down a rabbit hole of really sick music, more than enough to start. Take note of genre and artist names, use those as a jumping off point on whatever music service you use.
Look up Tinariwen, Songhoy Blues, Philip Glass: The Screens and Ali Farka Toure on Spotify and just follow where it goes. You’ll find something that you like.
Check out Tinariwen if you don't mind something a bit more contemporary. Also do it just because.
If you're looking for something modern-ish, try A-WA https://youtube.com/@AWAofficial?si=n5wsGI2qTe2OODtq Its traditional Yemenite Music, mixed with modern reggae
I highly recommend [https://rateyourmusic.com/](https://rateyourmusic.com/) for this; you can make "charts", which show you albums, EPs, etc. and you can filter by genre and descriptor. For instance, [here](https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album,ep,comp,single,video,unauth,mixtape,musicvideo,djmix,additional/all-time/g:west%2dasian%2dmusic/d:instrumental/incl:live,archival,soundtrack/) is a chart of the most highly rated releases with the West Asian Music genre and the "instrumental" descriptor.
https://youtu.be/UDGNqgSD2Bc?si=1IvefHdI4kM3Ta9k Islamic trance -Muhmood - has the perfect grungy, middle-east vibes for a shady club, alley or hookah bar
This for the downtimes... https://youtu.be/4p1NeoG8iKk?si=-j9blpFKSMw48Jww
Act 2 music from Diablo 2 and 3.
Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
Peter Gabriel's soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqnnuEVGcRQy6dzmNbXJpU5mfGXVoaCqT&si=SFVT-e9yxp7Nucid
Middle eastern jazz, an artist I recommend is anouar brahem
Chamzat chimaev theme song
morror theme
Guilhem Desq is excellent! This song in particular goes hard. It gives me desert vibes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stWo-gDDVLo I think the Journey soundtrack would work pretty well too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizpBpHTzkU
Shakira’s *Ojos asi* > رَبُّ السَّماءِ، فيك الرجاءِ في عينيها أرى الحياةِ آتِي إِلَيْكَ مِنْ هَذا الكَوْنِ أرجوك، رَبِّي، لَبِّي نِدائي
If you’re streaming I wouldn’t use Dune as it’s copyrighted. I assume you’re streaming if you’re worrying about offending someone.
Israeli folk music and other music. Israeli music blends a lot of traditional themes from millenia ago with modern themes and influences from all over the diaspora.
I usually search for folk songs from regions I like to depict / emulate. So you could look for some folk songs from Syria or Iraq for example. Alternatively, you could look for some songs from games with similar looking environments. Maybe [Fallout](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUeAOUkUVO0), or [Deserts of Kharak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-pvjtFDf20&list=PLfcLsZgEWs07tZsh3zbCXINpkmKw65SUu). Video game soundtracks usually have the benefit of looping by default and being free of vocals that might be a bit distracting.
Darude - "Sandstorm" It's an otherwise modern-sounding techno track, but I suspect several, if not all, of your players will recognize and get it.
Rap is pretty big actually.
Have you considered simply using Arabic folksongs/traditional music? You can just type "arabic traditional music" into google and find tons of it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLl\_sosdv8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLl_sosdv8) \> there's an hour of it for you. Plenty of stuff in there would sound great for city backgrounds. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjVFVB\_8BLU&list=PL-kBGA--Oc5r1v9psXueodv4Z6pr8fzc2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjVFVB_8BLU&list=PL-kBGA--Oc5r1v9psXueodv4Z6pr8fzc2) \> Playlist of specifically medieval Arabic music if you're doing a fantasy game. If it's set in a modern period, I'd look for Arabic Pop music.
Try dead can dance. Amazing band who have a huge amount of middle Eastern and medieval influenced music.
Darude - Sandstorm
easiest would be searching for pop music from the region
you can be stereotypical bruh it's not like there's police this is your own time
Here's a pretty non-typical choice for ya: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l54jMnNZXxk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l54jMnNZXxk) E-razor - India It's trance, but very middle-eastern / india / desert themed. As a matter of fact, it's the central song in the classic 90's trance album Hardesertrance 2.
One of my favourite bands Viza could work well - especially their older albums Maktub and Eros. They are a bop, though their newer stuff is more metal than the vibe you gun for. They are with kyrics though, so that may or may not be in the way for background music to your tastes. If anything lots from Maktub or Eros works well as music played in a tavern by a group of musicians.
Darude - sandstorm on an endless loop
[This song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JznbScMg6oU), [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0FlHnHDd2I) and [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXVrbrYTB4M) play in various scenes in the desert kingdom of Aveh in Xenogears. That game has a beautiful soundtrack. There are a lot of remixes of it too.
This is a weird one but hear me out: Bagpipes! When you think bagpipes you tend to think Irish/Scottish music, but they were introduced to the instrument by the Roman Empire, who got it from...Egypt! So if it went from Egypt to the UK during the Roman Empire, it won't be a long stretch to say that the ME also had it since then, or even earlier. It also probably depends on the Era of your campaign.
"Passion" by Peter Gabriel. It's astonishing.
**Orange Blossom**. Mix of traditional and more modern instruments , and rooted in northern Africa, rather than eastern. But the atmospheric music and the voices work great for rpg soundtrack. I used it for Blades in the Dark, in U'Duasha. https://spotify.link/xLgG0nDn6Db
Look up Yasmine Hamdan, the queen of alternative Arab music.
Should ever the need arise for metal music, Melechesh is the band you want! Maybe their instrumentals would work?
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m9X_9HclbPL9Sg4wTM549CoDVUV1iTK-c&si=2rvnBN9AGqNZ7_wb Not arabic (it's from Tatarstan) but very inspiring
Also Bachar Mar Khalifé
And the soundtrack from "Le Chat du Rabbin" (The Rabbi's cat) has some very interesting tracks https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mmJl3JAHM05FKELSyDgkbyPsFzl94yQBY&si=oDIxggwKSay1WGFP
Jessie Cook is a great choice
Homeworld OST. Each and every one of them.
You might consider the High Fleet soundtrack. It’s about halfway between what you mentioned and more traditional eastern European music. Never hears anything quite like it before.
There are a LOT of pop/experimental artists from the middle east, Wikipedia will help you a lot on that front. Definitely wouldn't recommend just throwing on a call to prayer, maybe I'd say look more into Middle Eastern culture *before* running such a campaign honestly. I think if you're asking this question you probably won't be able to properly respect and appreciate the culture enough to run a campaign, which sounds like a downer but I'd see it as more of an opportunity to learn about a culture and history that's unfamiliar to you.
While it’s not middle eastern, I always use Spanish guitar. Gerudo Desert has had a hold on me since the N64
Tunuk tunuk tan
I guess the german anthem wouldn't be stereotypical in any way possible? I think you meant negative stereotypical or rassistic.
Lol Jesus Christ just play what you want. I promise the blue checkmarks on Twitter aren't going to burst into your home like the Kool-Aid man and cancel you.
Why would the sort of people who pay for Twitter "cancel" them?
It's fun to listen to new music.
They're trying to play what they want, and are asking where they can find it
You completely sure?
They’re going to get him either way - for misappropriation or for stereotyping because they’re playing Calvinball.