At the Western Wall

By Steve Chab

Steve Chab is a multidisciplinary creative in Pittsburgh who writes, designs, and codes music, art, and words. Medium and genre are no limiter. His designs are systematic and elegant. His musical compositions are lush and overdriven. His art is glitchy and saturated. His poetic and lyrical themes are Biblical and occult. Critics have said he has a "subtle obsession with specificity." For Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), he has designed websites and educated staff members about design and digital accessibility. For bands, rappers, and artists, he has produced, composed, and engineered music, designed album artwork, and provided creative direction. He has helped lead worship at religious gatherings and youth retreats. He has even programmed music for a robot. Steve lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and children and wants you to know that Jesus loves you.

At the Western Wall, some will believe what God says explores a new conceptual approach to music composition. Steve Chab has accompanied the music of Nils Frahm by composing, performing, and recording new instrumentation atop three of Frahm's recorded piano compositions. The pieces Steve has created synchronize with the tempo and time of Nils' pieces when played simultaneously.

Throughout history, composers have borrowed themes from other composers. This technique dates back to the 17th century with Brahms' "Variations on a Theme by Haydn" and even further. Similar techniques such as remixing and sampling are prevalent in today's music. Almost all pop music includes recordings of preexisting material, whether sampled from another composition or purchased in a sample pack such as Native Instruments or Steinberg.

Instead of taking a snippet of a composition and remixing it, Steve Chab has composed new music for entire recorded compositions. Instead of adding a missing instrument to a recording — like Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run" Glockenspiel Addendum by Cory Arcangel — Steve has treated Nils Frahm's recordings as incomplete compositions.