fadi tabbal is a Lebanese musician, producer, and sound engineer whose work consists of minimalist pieces ranging from ambient and electronic to drone and contemporary classical. 

Tabbal has released six solo albums between 2013 and 2021. Although his early work was composed solely on guitar, he slowly moved towards synths, electronics, voice samples and tape loops, expanding his sound palette and further exploring the concept of “controlled randomness” in his compositions.

His new album ‘Snakeskin' with singer-songwriter Julia Sabra from Beirut-based dream pop trio Postcards, came out on October 14, 2022 . The project can be described as visionary electronic dream pop, shapeshifting above ambient and industrial undercurrents. The album is moody, unsettling, luminous – the culmination of a decade of collaboration and friendship between Tabbal and Sabra. 

Across his career, Tabbal was a member of several Lebanese bands: psychedelic rock band The Incompetents, punk band Scrambled Eggs, electronic duo Stress/Distress, pop group Safar, indie rock band Interbellum, singer-songwriter Youmna Saba's project, and cold-wave post-punk outfit The Bunny Tylers with his frequent collaborator Charbel Haber.

SOUND & production

Often referred to as “the hardest-working man in Lebanon’s alternative music scene,” Tabbal relocated to Beirut in 2006, following studies in sound engineering in Montreal, Canada; he promptly established Tunefork Studios, a specialized work-space which offers customized services including full band recordings, live sound, music production and composition. 

He has produced and recorded some of the most renowned Lebanese and international acts in today's contemporary alternative music scene, including Field Works, Asil Ensemble, Mike Cooper, Postcards, Sharif Sehnaoui, Praed, Youmna Saba and Oiseaux-Tempete, to name but a few.

In addition to handling engineering and production tasks at Tunefork Studios, Tabbal is a specialist in sound design and conception. He has worked on a variety of sound and music installations, including with the Lebanese art ensemble The Feel Collective, Nada Kano's Beirut Dance Studio, Tania Khoury, Petra Serhal, Sursock Museum, as well as music and sound design for films by Maher Abi-Samra, Rania Rafei, George Berberi, Roy Deeb, Chadi Aoun, Nadim Tabet, Mohammad Abdouni, among others.

Since 2011, he is the technical director of Irtijal, the region’s leading experimental music festival. He taught sound at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (2012-2021) and has been teaching sound and music at Marsam, the animation school, since 2021.

Photos on the site by cyrille karam, Josette ZOoz Khalil, Rachel Tabet, Tanya Traboulsi.