I grew up playing a number of instruments associated with Irish and Scots traditional music. I speak enough Gaelic to be dangerous and sang my way through university in a Celtic-tinged bar band and at kitchen sessions to help pay the bills and melt away stress. As I grew older, I started farting around with the traditional music of other cultures as well. My love for middle eastern, Balkan and klezmer tunes knows no bounds.
If you’re interested in sampling the music that other cultures have to offer, one of the best ways to have at it is to start with something familiar. Ahmed Alshaiba’s moody cover of the Interstellar Theme is an awesome example of this. In the above video, Alshaiba plays the oud: a badass 11 or 13-stringed instrument used widely in North African and Middle Eastern music. Accompanying himself on percussion, keyboards and guitar, Alshaiba’s created a glorious stripped-down iteration of Hans Zimmer’s instantly recognizable orchestral score.
If you like what you hear, Alshaiba’s YouTube channel is full of pop songs he’s tweaked with a decidedly middle eastern bent.