Ayal Rafiah was born in Israel to a musical family; his mother taught piano and his father is described by him as having a “high musical IQ.” He began piano studies at the age of 8, and started playing percussion four years later, performing with amateur orchestras when the opportunity presented itself. He enrolled to the Bachelor of Music course of the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University, where he studied with former Israel Philharmonic principals Gideon Steiner and Alon Bor.
His formal education was cut short when a percussion position became available in the Israel Philharmonic. He jumped at the opportunity to audition, won the position and joined the orchestra in October 1984.
As a percussionist, he is required to be proficient on a long list of instruments, some of them quite exotic: the bass drum, tambourine, cymbals, castanets, tam-tam (un-tuned gong), xylophone, glockenspiel, tom-tom and many others.