Saba Alizadeh is an Iranian composer and kamancheh player, born in Tehran in 1983 and based in the Netherlands. He makes electroacoustic music with instruments, field recordings and archival voices, often processing the kamancheh until it is difficult to recognize.687910 His work ranges from the composed pieces on Scattered Memories and I May Never See You Again to the improvised duos on Rituals of the Last Dawn.111210
Recordings
26 releases, oldest first. Select one for its details and sources.
No matches.
- Qeshm project
- Sketches in Nava
Scattered memorieswith Brian Saia
Shooting Starswith Linnea Sablosky, Yu-Ting Wu, Tony Gennaro and Steven Kai Van Betten
Midnight Summer Dream رویای نیمه شب تابستان
Noise Bleed
"The bird with the accent" بلبل لهجه دار
۱۷ تیر ۱۳۹۴، July 8th 2015
#5 Ladan, Dead end
Scattered Memories
I May Never See You Again
Only Hope Breaks the Dark Waves
Hybrid (with Rojin Sharafi)with Rojin Sharafi- I May Never See You Againwith Andreas Spechtl and Rojin Sharafi
- Touch (with Andreas Spechtl)with Andreas Spechtl
- Silences Inbetween
Nafir (Clamour)with Aso Kohzadi
Chand Shab Kamancheh, Pt. 1 (Live Concert)
Weeping Windows
Weeping Windows
Beginning of the Cold Season
The beginning of the Cold Season
Temple of Hope
Women of fire (feat. Sanam Maroufkhani)with Sanam Maroufkhani
Temple Of Hopewith Andreas Spechtl, Sanam Maroufkhani and Leila Rahimi
Rituals Of The Last Dawnwith Pietro Caramelli and Liew Niyomkarn
Hybrid (with Rojin Sharafi)
هیبرید
Bandcamp 36Spotify 37Apple Music 38
- Released
- 36
- Contributors
- Saba Alizadeh and Rojin Sharafi36
Life & work
Learning and experimenting
Alizadeh grew up in a musical family. His father, Hossein Alizadeh, plays tar and setar and composes music. Saba joined his father's ensemble Hamavayan in 2007.67 He studied kamancheh with Saeed Farajpoury, Kayhan Kalhor and Hamidreza Khalatbari. Through recordings, he also learned from Bahari's playing, particularly his ornamentation and use of silence in free-tempo improvisation.7
He traced his interest in electronics to older Iranian radio recordings in which musicians incorporated echo into their playing. Later, at the California Institute of the Arts, he studied experimental sound with Mark Trayle and explored effects, electronics and John Cage's ideas about composition. He began treating recorded sounds and instrumental sounds alike as material that he could reshape.76
In 2014, he founded Noiseworks to organize experimental performances and workshops on music technology. He financed the events himself with help from friends.1113 His own recordings brought everyday environments into music: on “July 8th 2015”, he combined kalimba and setar with a field recording he made in a forest in Sari, northern Iran.9
Composing and recording
In 2018, Alizadeh released Scattered Memories on CD in Iran. Karlrecords released a reworked version internationally in 2019 as Scattered Memories.1114 He built its pieces in different ways: for “Ladan Dead End,” he made the electronic parts before recording kamancheh; for “Greetings to Earthfire,” he recorded kamancheh first and added electronics afterwards.14
On his 2021 album I May Never See You Again, he worked with both planned structures and improvisation.1215 For “Silences Inbetween”, he said, he extracted pauses from speeches by leading figures of the Third Reich, played them back in a Berlin water reservoir and then composed with the resulting material.15 By contrast, “Touch” grew from an improvised studio session with Andreas Spechtl on voice and electronics and Alizadeh on kamancheh. He planned almost everything in “Only Hope Breaks the Dark Waves” in advance.15
In 2023, he composed “Nafir (Clamour)”, playing kamancheh with violinist Aso Kohzadi. He described its sound as a collective outcry during the uprising in Iran.1617
In the Netherlands
Alizadeh moved to the Netherlands around 2023.13 His 2025 album Temple of Hope responds to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and earlier struggles in Iran. He used kamancheh, modular synthesizer and a no-input mixer, working again with Spechtl and bringing in other voices.1819 “Women of Fire” features the singer Sanam Maroufkhani.20
For Rituals of the Last Dawn, released in 2026, he recorded improvised duos with Pietro Caramelli on guitar and electronics and Liew Niyomkarn on lap steel guitar and electronics.21 He described the sessions as listening and responding without discussing a structure in advance; he later shortened the duet with Caramelli for the vinyl release.1021 Even when he processes the kamancheh until it becomes difficult to recognize, he aims to retain Iranian music's deeper use of time, silence and tonality.10
Sources
- 1
- 2Temple Of Hope | Saba Alizadeh · sabaalizadeh.bandcamp.com
2 quotes
Temple Of Hope | Saba Alizadeh
https://sabaalizadeh.bandcamp.com/
- 3Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
One quote
Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
- 4Saba Alizadeh · Saba Alizadeh
2 quotes
https://soundcloud.com/user-448905275
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWw1TXziAT3hhj7jWwpipEg
- 5Saba Alizadeh | Spotify
One quote
Saba Alizadeh
- 6Saba Alizadeh – I May Never See You Again – 30M Records
4 quotes
Born in Tehran in 1983 to world-renowned tar and setar virtuoso and composer Hossein Alizadeh,
Iranian composer and Kamancheh virtuoso, Saba Alizadeh releases his second album
Alizadeh later studied experimental sound art with Mark Trayle at the California Institute of the Arts
Saba Alizadeh – I May Never See You Again SMR003 – 08 July 2021 Saba Alizadeh – I MAY NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN
- 7Scattered Memories: An Interview with Saba Alizadeh
7 quotes
As a member of Hamavayan since 2007
interested in treating sound as an object whether coming from an instrument or a recording of a troop marching during World War II
Your father, Hossein Alizadeh, is a renowned composer, musician, and teacher. You’ve performed alongside him in the Hamavayan Ensemble, which he leads.
my kamancheh mentors: Saeed Farajpoury, Kayhan Kalhor, Hamidreza Khalatbari, and also the grand master Bahari who has passed away—I could only listen to his approach to the kamancheh via tapes and some old footage.
It’s the ornamentations he uses that make him unique and, most importantly, the way he decorates his free tempo improvisations with silence
The initial inspiration goes a few decades back where old masters of Iranian classical music started to use the delay effect—or as they called it, echo—while recording for radio shows since it was the latest technology imported to radio stations.
While I was studying at CalArts, I started to look closer into effects and electronics and overall sound, and I came across the philosophies of John Cage and other key figures who redefined musical composition.
- 8About — Saba Alizadeh
One quote
He is currently based in the Netherlands.
- 9۱۷ تیر ۱۳۹۴، July 8th 2015 | Saba Alizadeh
5 quotes
Kalimba, Setar played by Saba ALizadeh Field recording of a jungle in"Sari" (north of Iran): recorded by Saba Alizadeh
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2193611048_10.jpg
released July 8, 2015
Kalimba, Setar played by Saba ALizadeh
۱۷ تیر ۱۳۹۴، July 8th 2015 by Saba Alizadeh
- 10Saba Alizadeh ~ Rituals of the Last Dawn
6 quotes
But I often shape and process it in a way that makes the source almost unrecognizable.
There was no planning, no discussion about structure, just listening and responding in the moment. Pure improvisation.
The album consists of two epic, immersive pieces created spontaneously with Pietro Caramelli and Liew Niyomkarn .
For the second recording, which later became “First Ritual,” the story is a little different / special to me.
Later, we had to shorten the piece for the vinyl format.
In my electro-acoustic, concept-based compositions, I try not to rely on the traditional phrasing or surface aesthetics of the Kamancheh. Instead, I aim to abstract those elements while keeping the deeper principles of Iranian traditional music alive in the work, things like temporal structures, the use of silence, and tonality.
- 11Scattered Memories | SABA ALIZADEH | Karlrecords
6 quotes
In 2018, ALIZADEH self-released his debut “Scattered Memories” on CD in Iran which now, in a reworked version, sees its deserved world-wide release as LP and DL. Over the course of 10 tracks ALIZADEH melts his 2 musical worlds into 1: tradition meets modernism, eastern sounds meet western production, folklore meets contemporary electronics. An album that will appeal to an open-minded “world music” audience as well as fans of current streams like ambient or drone in its most subtle forms.
he founded Noise Works in 2014, a platform and label for organizing experimental concerts and for the transfer of knowledge of music technologies among young Iranian musicians
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3401217003_10.jpg
released February 15, 2019
Karlrecords Berlin, Germany
Scattered Memories by SABA ALIZADEH
- 12I May Never See You Again
4 quotes
released July 8, 2021
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3519258450_10.jpg
I May Never See You Again
I May Never See You Again also features handpicked collaborations with musician Andreas Spechtl and electroacoustic sound artist Rojin Sharafi. Spechtl, singer of the band Ja, Panik, found fame in the German-speaking world primarily thanks to his song lyrics, in which he deconstructs words in a similarly abstract way as Saba Alizadeh does the music.
- 13Saba Alizadeh: Sounds carry stories that must be heard
One quote
I would be honored if my work has had any impact on the contemporary scene. While living in Tehran — before moving to the Netherlands nearly two years ago — I organized workshops and performances through Noiseworks. These events were not frequent, as I produced them independently, with the support of a few friends and funded them personally. Despite these limitations, the gatherings resonated with a community eager to think differently about music — to question, dismantle, and reimagine its boundaries.
- 14تلفیق کمانچه با موسیقی الکترونیک در «یادهای پراکنده»
3 quotes
26 آبان 1397 - 15:09
، عصر جمعه 25 آبان ماه نشست خبری و مراسم رونمایی آلبوم «یادهای پراکنده» به آهنگسازی صبا علیزاده در خانه موزه بتهوون برگزار شد.
او در پاسخ به شیوه آهنگسازی در ساخت هر یک از قطعات این آلبوم گفت:« شیوه ساخت هر یک از این قطعات متفاوت بوده است. مثلا در قطعه «بن‌بست لادن» تمامی خطوط الکترونیک ساخته شد و بعد از آن کمانچه روی آن اجرا و ضبط شداما در «سلام بر خاک» ابتدا قسمت‌های کمانچه ضبط شد و بعد خطوط الکترونیک را اضافه کردم.»
- 15Saba Alizadeh Shares his Creative Process
4 quotes
On “Only Hope Breaks The Dark Waves” almost everything was planned ahead and there was no room for chance or improvisation or signal processing which I could turn into improvisation.
Another example is one of my favorite pieces “Touch” which is a pure improvised piece with Andreas Spechtl on vocals and electronics and me on Kamancheh.
Each track has a different story. For instance, in some tracks the composition process was planned out like “’Silences inbetween."
For this piece, I had to split out the silence part of the speeches of the third Reich key figures speeches with a little bit pitched material left in them, then play them back in a water reservoir in Berlin which was used by Nazis. For the last step, i then started composing with them. I had no Idea what it was going to sound like after composition.
- 16Nafir
4 quotes
Composition and kamancheh by Saba Alizadeh, violin: Aso Kohzadi
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0128106461_10.jpg
released March 3, 2023
Nafir (Clamour)
- 17Saba Alizadeh – Nafir (Clamour) – 30M Records · 30M Records
3 quotes
“Nafir” is the sound of a million outcries channeled through the ancient string instrument Kamancheh” says composer and musician Saba Alizadeh about his latest single.
With “Nafir (Clamour)”, Tehran-based kamancheh virtuoso and electronic musician Saba Alizadeh releases a strong artistic statement: a heavy emotional new piece and touching video which depict metaphorically life in Iran after 5 months of uprising.
Saba Alizadeh – Nafir (Clamour) – 30M Records
- 18
- 19Temple Of Hope
6 quotes
He transforms the events during the "Woman Life Freedom" movement, as well as the struggles of the population in previous years, into poignant electro-acoustic music.
Kamancheh, modular synth, no-input mixer: Saba Alizadeh
Intensified by the vocals and lyrics of Andreas Spechtl, Sanam Maroufkhani, and Leila Rahimi.
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0528936211_10.jpg
released January 17, 2025
Temple Of Hope
- 20Women of fire (feat. Sanam Maroufkhani) · Saba Alizadeh / 30M Records
4 quotes
Vocals by Sanam Maroufkhani
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0528936211_5.jpg
from Temple Of Hope, released January 17, 2025 Vocals by Sanam Maroufkhani
Women of fire (feat. Sanam Maroufkhani)
- 21Rituals Of The Last Dawn | SABA ALIZADEH | Karlrecords
7 quotes
released March 20, 2026 Credits: Mixed at NoiseWorks Studio, September 2025 Mastering & cut by Helmut Erler, mastering.heyrec.org Layout & design by kaidoh Calligraphy by Mohammad Enshai First Ritual: Kamancheh: Saba Alizadeh Guitar, electronics: Pietro Caramelli Recorded at NoiseWorks, July 2025, Leiden Last Ritual: Kamancheh: Saba Alizadeh Lap steel guitar, electronics: Liew Niyomkarn Recorded at Liew's studio, July 2025, Brussels
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4115839645_10.jpg
Karlrecords Berlin, Germany
Kamancheh: Saba Alizadeh
Guitar, electronics: Pietro Caramelli
Lap steel guitar, electronics: Liew Niyomkarn
Rituals Of The Last Dawn by SABA ALIZADEH
- 22Qeshm Project
2 quotes
released February 4, 2008
Qeshm project
- 23
- 24Scattered Memories
4 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0618294030_10.jpg
released May 17, 2011
Scattered memories
Saba Alizadeh,Brian Saia(slide guitar)
- 25Shooting Stars · Saba Alizadeh Bandcamp
8 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2279074850_10.jpg
released December 16, 2012
Kamancheh: Saba Alizadeh
Voice: Linnea Sablosky
Violin: Yu-Ting Wu
Percussion: Tony Gennaro
Guitar: Steven Kai Van Betten
Shooting Stars
- 26Midnight Summer
3 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2889673151_10.jpg
released May 22, 2013
Midnight Summer Dream رویای نیمه شب تابستان | Saba Alizadeh
- 27Noise Bleed | saba alizadeh | Saba Alizadeh
3 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4078341643_10.jpg
released December 21, 2013
Noise Bleed by saba alizadeh
- 28Bird Accent · Saba Alizadeh Bandcamp
3 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0172526897_10.jpg
released January 14, 2014
"The bird with the accent" بلبل لهجه دار by Saba Alizadeh
- 29Ladan · Saba Alizadeh Bandcamp
3 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3572425309_10.jpg
released September 7, 2017
#5 Ladan, Dead end
- 30Scattered Memories - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music · Apple Music
One quote
Scattered Memories Saba Alizadeh Worldwide · 2019
- 31Scattered Memories
One quote
Scattered Memories · Saba Alizadeh
- 32I May Never See You Again - Single - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
3 quotes
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June 11, 2021 1 song, 3 minutes ℗ 2021 30M Records
I May Never See You Again - Single Saba Alizadeh Electronica · 2021
- 33I May Never See You Again
One quote
I May Never See You Again · Saba Alizadeh
- 34Only Hope Breaks the Dark Waves - Single - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
3 quotes
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June 25, 2021 1 song, 2 minutes ℗ 2021 30M Records
Only Hope Breaks the Dark Waves - Single Saba Alizadeh Electronica · 2021
- 35Only Hope Breaks the Dark Waves
One quote
Only Hope Breaks the Dark Waves · Saba Alizadeh
- 36Hybrid (with Rojin Sharafi) | Saba Alizadeh
2 quotes
from I May Never See You Again , released July 8, 2021
Hybrid (with Rojin Sharafi) | Saba Alizadeh
- 37Hybrid
One quote
Hybrid Saba Alizadeh
- 38Hybrid - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh & Rojin Sharafi - Apple Music
One quote
Hybrid - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh & Rojin Sharafi - Apple Music
- 39I May Never See You Again - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music · Apple Music
One quote
I May Never See You Again Saba Alizadeh Electronica · 2021
- 40I May Never See You Again
One quote
I May Never See You Again · Saba Alizadeh
- 41Touch (with Andreas Spechtl) | Saba Alizadeh
2 quotes
from I May Never See You Again , released July 8, 2021
Touch (with Andreas Spechtl) | Saba Alizadeh
- 42Touch
One quote
Touch Saba Alizadeh
- 43Touch - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh & Andreas Spechtl - Apple Music
One quote
Touch - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh & Andreas Spechtl - Apple Music
- 44Silences Inbetween | Saba Alizadeh
2 quotes
from I May Never See You Again , released July 8, 2021
Silences Inbetween | Saba Alizadeh
- 45Silences in Between
One quote
Silences in Between Saba Alizadeh
- 46Silences in Between - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
One quote
Silences in Between - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
- 47Nafir (Clamour) - Single - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
One quote
Nafir (Clamour) - Single Saba Alizadeh Instrumental · 2023
- 48Nafir (Clamour)
One quote
Nafir (Clamour) · Saba Alizadeh
- 49Chand Shab Kamancheh, Pt. 1 (Live Concert) - EP - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
3 quotes
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October 1, 2023 1 song, 15 minutes ℗ 2023 NHI Records
Chand Shab Kamancheh, Pt. 1 (Live Concert) - EP Saba Alizadeh Worldwide · 2023
- 50Chand Shab Kamancheh, Pt. 1 (Live Concert) by Saba Alizadeh
One quote
Saba Alizadeh, Composer, MainArtist - Afshin Masoumi, Producer - NHI Records, MusicPublisher
- 51Chand Shab Kamancheh, Pt. 1 (Live Concert)
One quote
Chand Shab Kamancheh, Pt. 1 (Live Concert) · Saba Alizadeh
- 52Weeping Windows
4 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0237044138_10.jpg
released January 15, 2024
Composed by Saba Alizadeh Kamancheh and Piano performed by Saba Alizadeh
Weeping Windows
- 53Weeping Windows - Single - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music · Apple Music
3 quotes
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January 29, 2024 1 song, 3 minutes ℗ 2024 saba alizadeh
Weeping Windows - Single Saba Alizadeh Worldwide · 2024
- 54Weeping Windows
One quote
Weeping Windows Saba Alizadeh
- 55Beginning of the Cold Season - Single - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
3 quotes
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October 7, 2024 1 song, 6 minutes ℗ 2024 saba alizadeh
Beginning of the Cold Season - Single Saba Alizadeh Electronic · 2024
- 56Beginning of the Cold Season
One quote
Beginning of the Cold Season Saba Alizadeh
- 57Beginning of the Cold Season
One quote
Beginning of the Cold Season · Saba Alizadeh
- 58Cold Season · Saba Alizadeh Bandcamp
4 quotes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0771602891_10.jpg
released October 10, 2024
Saba Alizadeh : Performer/Composer
The beginning of the Cold Season
- 59Temple of Hope - Single - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
3 quotes
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November 22, 2024 1 song, 3 minutes ℗ 2024 30M Records
Temple of Hope - Single Saba Alizadeh Ambient · 2024
- 60Temple of Hope
One quote
Temple of Hope · Saba Alizadeh
- 61Women Of Fire | Spotify
3 quotes
2025-01-17T00:00:00Z
Saba Alizadeh
Women Of Fire
- 62Women Of Fire (feat. Sanam Maroufkhani) - Song with Lyrics by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
2 quotes
"datePublished":"2025-01-17"
Listen to Women Of Fire (feat. Sanam Maroufkhani) by Saba Alizadeh on Apple Music. 2025. Duration: 2:49
- 63Beauty of politcs (feat. Andreas Spechtl) | Saba Alizadeh
One quote
Vocals and keys by Andreas Spechtl
- 64What comes from the sea returns to the sea (feat. Leila Rahimi) | Saba Alizadeh
One quote
Vocals: Leila Rahimi
- 65Temple of Hope - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music · Apple Music
One quote
Temple of Hope Saba Alizadeh Ambient · 2025
- 66Temple of Hope
One quote
Temple of Hope · Saba Alizadeh
- 67Rituals of the Last Dawn - Album by Saba Alizadeh - Apple Music
One quote
Rituals of the Last Dawn Saba Alizadeh Asia · 2026
- 68Rituals of the Last Dawn
One quote
Rituals of the Last Dawn · Saba Alizadeh