“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. “It’s the voice of the shed tears and blood”.

His instrument, the Kamanche is said to be resembling the spectrum of the human voice, why he used it prominently in this piece as a metaphor for singing, for the gathered voices and cries of the oppressed, fighting against the darkness, the oppressor, here represented by the rhythm section.

Alizadeh explains: “This section is based on the rhythms of T’azie (traditional religious mourning ceremonies during shia commemoration Ashura) but at the same time resembles the sound of explosions (the sound that became the soundtrack of our lives in Iran for the past 5 months) and a respirator machine. It is at the same time a spray paint can that is writing slogans on walls or wiping them out.

At some point in the piece the rhythm section crescendos and tries to distort and destroy the kamancheh melody but it is not able to.”

In the video which is masterfully implemented by visual artist Siavash Naghshbandi, the voice of the Kamancheh and the beam of light interact with each other: the louder the voice of the kamancheh gets the brighter the beam becomes. It battles with the rhythm section and a metaphoric swarm of Kalashnikov bullets (as a universal sign of oppression). The finale gives hope: the cry of the Kamanche and the warm bright light succeed in the end in defeating the bullets, the darkness and oppression.

Clamour     نفیر

Original Soundtrack composed by Saba Alizadeh

Gisoum 01

Gisoum 02

Gisoum 03

Gisoum 04

Gisoum 05

Gisoum 06

Original Soundtrack composed by Saba Alizadeh
Directed by Arthur Touchot

The Imperial Patek Philippe 01

Original SOundtrack composed by Saba Alizadeh
Directed by Arthur Touchot

The Imperial Patek Philippe 02

The Imperial Patek Philippe 03

The Imperial Patek Philippe 04

Directed by Amir Arzanian
Original Soundtrack composed by Saba Alizadeh

Weeping Windows

Directed by Gelareh Kiazand
Original Soundtrack by Saba Alizadeh

Preserving Taste 01

Preserving Taste 02

Preserving taste 03

The Beginning of the Cold Season
is the name of the poem from the infamous poet Forough Farokhzad.
This piece is based on the poem and reflects the times that we live in.

Beginning of the Cold Season

Colors Wove Me In Tehran

Scattered memories

Would you remember me?

Dream

#5 Ladan dead-end

This is a recording of my live set at Salon am Moritzplatz in Berlin on June 8th 2018

Internal Bleed

Blood city refers to Khorramshahr a city in south Iran which was constantly bombarded during the Iran-Iraq war for eight years.
After so many years the living situation has not improved and they also had a recent clash with police for their very basic right which is having clean drinking water

Blood City

Elegy for Water

A cut of my live performance in "Sardare Bozorg" water reservoir in Qazvin.

"Elegy For Water" a cut from my performance in Qazvin

• Electro-Acoustic Performer/Composer
• Kamancheh Performer
• Founder of NoiseWorks (Label and educational platform)
• CalArts Alumni

Saba Alizadeh

Popular tracks