We proudly present our freshest release Egypt Qanun - containing professionally performed, incredibly rich and complex, traditional qanun instrumental melodies!

The qanun is a string instrument, descending from the old Egyptian harp. The name derives from the Arabic meaning ‘rule’, ‘principle’, or ‘mode’. The body of the qanun consists of a trapezoid-shaped flat wooden board over which 81 strings are stretched in groups of three, with 24 treble strings consisting of three strings to each note. The instrument is placed flat on the knees of the musician or a small table. Qanun strings are plucked with two plectra, one plectrum attached to the forefinger of each hand. A long bridge on the right-hand side of the instrument rests on goat (or fish) skin-covered windows that carry the resonance to the box. On the left-hand side, each course of strings passes over a series of small brass levers that are used to make microtonal changes in pitch. Since the qanun only includes 8 notes per octave, the player initially sets the levers to create the scale of the starting maqam. When the player needs to modulate to another maqam, they need to switch some levers back and forth with the left hand while playing with the right hand. Quick modulation can also be achieved by using the fingernail of the left thumb to temporarily raise the tuning of some strings.

Within this collection, you’ll receive 643 MB of raw content featuring 94 beautifully played qanun loops at 90/100/120 BPM. Both dry and wet variations are provided to give you maximum flexibility within your projects. All samples are key and tempo-labelled for ease of use, ready to fit right into your tracks.

This instrument can be used across a variety of genres, whether it's cinematic, organic folk, experimental, ambient, meditation, electronica, and beyond! The only limit is your creative imagination…

Please note: this is a qanun pack only. Other sounds heard within the demo track are for illustration purposes only.