Alaoui, Ali

Darabuka - 2 DVDs & Booklet

Ali Alaoui's darabuka DVD set includes five elements: A practical guide to playing the Arabian darabuka with stroke techniques and various rhythms, basic techniques of bendir and riqq, 112 page booklet with more than 100 rhythms and background information, a solo concert video and a documentary on Moroccan music and darabuka manufacturing.

EU: 45 €
incl. VAT, plus 3.60 € shipping within Germany / 9.90 € within Europe
Non-EU: 37.82 €
plus 9.90 € shipping within Europe / overseas on request
  • The basic techniques for the darabuka.
  • The strokes, ornamentations and effects.
  • A number of rhythms from the various cultures of the Arab world.
  • The basic techniques for the Bendir
  • The basic techniques for the Riqq
  • Continuous loop and interactive indexing of the DVD
  • More than 50 indexed sequences on 20 screens
  • French and English - Length 85 minutes
  • Sufi ceremony with l'ensemble Assaoua de Fez


Solo concert with Ali Alaoui at Theare Mohamed V de Rabat (10 min.)

The documentary Ali's Bet, shot in Morocco, takes us into the world of classical, traditional and popular music. The film follows a series of meetings with the Aissawa brotherhood and trance music, the musicians of the Conservatoire of Arabic-Andalusian Music of Fez, the principal orchestra of the Radio Television de Fes (RTM) conducted by Azedine Montassere and a reunion with one of the inventors of Moroccan popular music, Mohamed Laaroussi. The music could not exist without the craftsmen. The craftwork needed to make a darabuka in Fez punctuates our journey in Medina.

This accompanying 112 page booklet contains a complete selection of rhythms from the Middle-East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf, an interview with Ali Alaoui, many photographs and a glossary. More than 100 rhythms and polyrhythms have been scored onomatopoeically.

Born in 1967, in Fez, the cultural and sacred city of Morocco, Ali Alaoui has practised the art of percussion since childhood. At the age of 19, he joined the principal orchestra in Fez, then taught at the Casablanca Conservatory while playing with the Moroccan National Orchestra as solo percussionist. In his own country, as in the rest of the world, he always seized every opportunity to share music with musicians of every region and origin, playing folk, popular, classical and religious music as well as classical compositions by contemporary artists. His many-sided activities have made him a teacher without frontiers.