Tarwa N-Tiniri
An international desert blues band working out of Sahara Records. Travellers on our music journeys meet them in their studio space for an exchange and a jam, when they are not on tour.
Work with us · Recording & production
Bring a project. We will find the room and the players.
Studio time in Ouarzazate, mobile recording wherever the music actually happens, and session musicians who have played these traditions their whole lives.
What this is
The other half of what we do.
Most of this site is about travelling to hear music. This page is for the people who arrive with a project instead of an itinerary — a band with three weeks and half a record, a label chasing a sound, a director who needs a score that was not made in a library.
We do the part that is hard from outside: finding the right players, agreeing the fee before anyone books a flight, getting permission where permission is needed, and putting a functioning studio around all of it.
Four ways in.
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Ouarzazate
Studio time
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Anywhere it happens
Location recording
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Local masters and bands
Session musicians
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Score and sync
Film, TV and brands
How a collaboration runs.
Tell us the sound, not the schedule.
Send us references, demos, a description — whatever you have. We come back with who we would put in the room and why, and an honest note about what is not going to work. That conversation is free and usually takes a week.
Fees agreed before anything is booked.
Every musician’s fee is settled in writing before a date is held, and it does not move afterwards. You see the number we pay them. This is the part of the industry we are least willing to be flexible about.
You own the recordings.
Masters are yours. Performers are credited by name and paid for the session; anything beyond the agreed use is a separate conversation with them, not with us. We will help you have it.
Studio
Sahara Records, Ouarzazate
Location recording
Mobile studio, taken into the desert
Who you record with
Tarwa N-Tiniri, Brahim Laghfiri and local musicians
Typical recording tour
3 to 7 days
Some of the people you would be recording.
Who we suggest depends entirely on what you send us.
Brahim Laghfiri
Known for his powerful voice and poetic songs inspired by the desert, blending ancestral Saharan sounds with modern desert blues. Hosts our sunset sessions at the edge of the dunes.
What a session day covers.
Included in a day rate
- Studio or location, booked and set up before you arrive
- Engineer and assistant for the full day
- Agreed musician fees, paid on the day
- Backline and traditional instruments
- Translation in the room throughout
- Raw multitracks delivered before you leave
Quoted separately
- Mixing and mastering (we can recommend, or you take it home)
- Travel and accommodation for your own team
- Publishing, sync and any use beyond the agreed session
- Additional players added after the day is booked
Travel is not just about visiting new places — it’s about connecting with the soul of Morocco through its people, its traditions, its music, and its timeless landscapes.
From the room.
The practical questions.
You do. Performers are credited by name and paid for the session at the agreed fee. Any use beyond what was agreed — a sync, a reissue, a sample cleared to someone else — is a conversation with the musician rather than with us, and we will introduce you and sit in on it if that helps.
That is most of what we do. The mobile rig is sixteen channels and runs on batteries, which means a courtyard, a zawiya, a village square or the middle of the erg. Bleed is the trade and it is usually the reason the recording is worth anything.
Six weeks is comfortable. Less is often possible outside festival season, and a lot less if you are flexible about who plays. The constraint is almost never the studio — it is getting a specific ensemble in one place on one date.
Yes, with one condition: the musicians are named and paid the same way they would be on a record. We have turned down work that wanted a “traditional Moroccan feel” and no one to credit for it, and we would rather say that up front than halfway through.
Often the best version of this. A week travelling to hear the music, then three days recording with people you have already met and who have already heard you play. It costs less than the two booked separately, and it sounds better.
Journeys that already include studio time.
Ahwach World Beats Festival Tour — Ouarzazate
Dive into the rich rhythms of Morocco’s Atlas region with our Ahwach World Beats Festival Tour.
Zaman Festival Experience — Journey to the Heart of the Desert
Join us for an unforgettable desert adventure to experience the Zaman Festival — a celebration of music, art, and nomadic life in the golden dunes of M’hamid El Ghizlane, the gateway to the Sahara.
Jazzablanca Festival Tour — Casablanca
Experience the pulse of Morocco’s modern music scene with our Jazzablanca Festival Tour.
Festival des Nomades Tour — M’hamid El Ghizlane
Experience the heart of the Sahara with our Festival des Nomads Tour. This journey takes you from Casablanca or Marrakech through the scenic Draa Valley to M’hamid El Ghizlane, where local and international artists celebrate nomadic culture, music, and desert traditions.
Gnawa & World Music Festival Tour — Essaouira
Immerse yourself in the vibrant rhythms of Morocco’s Atlantic coast with our Gnawa & World Music Festival Tour.
Tangier — Fes — Oujda: Music Collaboration & Recording Tour
This tour is made for musicians and creative artists seeking authentic collaboration and recording experiences in Morocco’s most musically rich cities — Tangier, Fes, and Oujda.
Start here
Send us the project
References, demos, a deadline, a budget range — whatever you have. We would rather see a rough voice memo than a polished brief.
Rates
Day rates, not packages.
Everything is quoted per day, because a session that finishes early should cost less. Musician fees sit on top and are shown to you in full.
From €480 per day — studio, engineer and rig included