The instrument tradition of the mediterranean region goes far, far back in history. One of the countries with the longest tradition is Greece, which has instrument dating back to the Neolithic Age (7th-4th millennium BCE). The 8Dio Greek Percussion (+26.000 samples) contains a wide selection of beautiful, historical Greek percussion instruments, including 18? and 22? Daouli Drums, small and large Toubeleki Drums, 22? Bendir Drum, Epirousian Tambourine, Rek Tambourine and additional auxiliary percussion.

For this library, we have selected the most characteristic and important percussion instruments used in today’s folklore not only in greece, but also in the countries surrounding it.

The Bendir , Erbeni or Arbani is probably the simplest of all frame drums – Used mainly in countries from North Africa (from times of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia), the Bendir, when executed properly, delivers a beautiful sound full of harmonics and rich tails. Although its common size ranges between 14 and 16 inches, we have deeply sampled a massive 22’’ Bendir, which delivers even more defined lows and a huge amount of harmonics.

The Toubeleki , Touberleki, Goblet Drum, Tablah, Tarabuka, Darbuka, Debuka, Dumek or Dumbelek is one of the basic percussions in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe. Because it is so extended and popular, not only have we sampled every technique (including each finger of each hand when needed), but we have done it in both a small Toubeleki with synthetic skin and a large Toubeleki with real fish skin as a membrane. Both instruments, although sharing techniques and play style, sound extremely different – One is richer in the highs whereas the other one delivers great bass.

The Daouli , Davul, Daul, Dahol, Tapan, Tupan, Lodra, Dhol is another one of those jewels used in most countries of the Balkans and the Middle East. The Daouli is a large drum played with 2 different mallets: One delivers a deep bass sound while the other one, played on the other side of the drum, delivers a thin treble sound. We have decided to deep sample two Daoulis – A 18’’ and a larger 22’’.

Tambourines are probably some of the most common small percussions around the world – In Greece, there are different types of tambourines depending on the region. We have chosen the two most characteristic types of tambourines to deep sample. The Epirusian Defi is a type of tambourine used in the north-western area of the country – It is a larger and heavier tambourine that delivers a more bassy sound.
The Riq , Rik or Thessalonian or Popular Tambourine (Politiko Defi) is a more widely spread type of tambourine – used not only in the north-eastern area of Greece, but also through the Middle East and North Africa. It is a smaller and more versatile tambourine, great for faster techniques.

To make the Greek Percussion sampling even deeper, we have also decided to sample secondary percussions , which are basically stuff unrelated to music which are used to keep rhythm – Such are the the Wooden Spoons, the Zilia (very small cymbals) and the Komboloi.
We deep-sampled each of the drums with a variety of percussive techniques, including deep multi-sampling with different finger, hand and stick positions (based on the instrument and virtually anything else you can do with the drums. We also included ornamental phrase samples (ex. quick triplets), effects and multiple tonal patches sound designed from the drums.

The library contains 5 different microphone positions, including Close Front, Close Rear/Back, Overhead, Semi-Close and Room mics. The end-result is a staggering +26.000 samples and the most comprehensive sets of Greek Percussion ever sampled.
Our CHAOS engine has also been added to multiply the textures and possibilities this library has to offer. We hope you enjoy using this library as much as we enjoyed making for you.

Microphone Postions
The Greek Percussion also comes with five different microphone options, including Contact Mic, Overhead, Close Mic, Semi Close and Room Microphones. The front and rear microphones give a unique perspective into the resonating body of the instrument – where as the overheads give you an upfront sound captured right outside the body of the instrument. The semi-close and room microphones are more ambient. So in essence you can dial in the exact microphone perspective needed for your composition.

Chaos FX
The Greek Percussion is also supported by our latest Chaos FX engine, which allows you to virtually do anything you desire to the Greek Percussion. Whether its redesigning the layout by key-control, create a step-based filter sequencer, precision dial EQ, bit-crush or distort, stereo-delay or mess around with dual convolution reverbs. We even added our Chaos system, so you can randomize entire FX with a single mouse click.