Mastering music for 20 years!

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: It is Presidential Symphony Orchestra playing Istiklal Marsi (national anthem of Turkey). The project was done by the government to be the "official" and only Istiklal Marsi recording. A very good and talented team of people were selected for that project by the orchestra conductor & project director Rengim Gökmen and I was selected as the mastering engineer. Being a member of that team was thrilling for me!

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: They will be satisfied with results because their expectations are very important to me. And they will also have a really good friend after the projects!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Music has been my passion since I was a little child. I am a part of music world and I touch the songs people listen to. That means I touch on people's hearts and it is a wonderful feeling...

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: Client: Can you make my music louder??? Me: ...Yeah, of course... (after a long talk to try to change their mind)

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: People think I just work to make music louder. Of course it can be a part of the process but actually the most important thing is about to make them sound better and help to improve the vibe.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: My speakers and power amp, a powerful pc, a good converter or audio interface, a good analog eq and some plugins... And ofcourse a power generator which can generate infinite power :)

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I am very open minded for ideas that will come from clients. It is their art and I have to listen to their ideas. And I am also a purist so, at first, it has to sound excellent to my ears. If client feels the same way then my work is complete. The work is never done for me if there is still something to do for a song.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I would love to work with any artist who has passion for music. It is all about passion! Then that means their art is worth working on.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: It is like a chain. Songwriting, arrangements, recording, mixing, and then mastering. All has to be done properly. But the most important thing is the starting point; Writing a good song... If it is a bad song, nothing can change it. People have to concentrate more on song writing.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: My work day can start working with classical or jazz in the morning, then go on working with rock or heavy metal before lunch break, then with hip-hop or electronic after lunch and end with doing folk or etc... It is all music to me and people choose me for all kinds of music.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I start by reading client's notes about project and listening to any references if provided. Then I listen to mixes and make my manipulations on the songs. After that process I ready the master files and send them to client for approval. I make revisions if wanted and send the revised final masters.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: The most improtant thing for me is my listening system. I have been using Tannoy hi-fi speakers with Classe power amps and Sommer Cable cables for nearly 15 years. They are like a part of me now. For signal processing I work in a hybrid way. I use both analog and digital on my projects. I prefer Merging Technologies AD/DA converters. I have got many tube and solid-state analog gear choices from great manufacturers like Avalon, Manley, Summit Audio, Drawmer, etc... I also have my custom build hardware which are some compressors and patchbays. I am an endorsee of software companies like iZotope, IK Multimedia, Merging Technologies, McDSP, NUGEN Audio, Voxengo, Nomad Factory, MELDAProduction, Crave DSP, Signum Audio, Accusonus, LVC Audio, Sonible, Sonarworks, Sonalksis, Eiosis... Thanks to all of them, my digital toolbox is full of great plug-in choices!

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: Nearly 20 years ago, in the beginning of 2000s, I started working at commercial studios as recording, mixing and mastering engineer. After many years I decided not to record and opened my own mastering studio, EA Masters. In my opinion it is a big mistake to try to concentrate on everything. There is probably a big mistake there if you are doing many professions at the sametime...

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I ask everything about the project. I try to understand their feelings, needs and wishes about the songs. And sometimes I ask for reference songs if they have. Referance tracks help a lot.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Sometimes artists can be shy talking to a professional about their project. They can feel free to talk about their expectations from mastering with me.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both! There are wonderful choices both in analog and digital worlds.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I highly trust in my feelings about music. I grew up always listening to music in many different genres. So I have got the knowledge about lots of music. It helps me to be much more creative. I am also proud of my communication skills. We, as music people, are highly sensitive persons. One has to know how to communicate with artists and musicians if he/she wants to be a professional.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Mastering engineers Doug Sax, Bob Ludwig, Bernie Grundman, George Marino, Stephen Marcussen and Ted Jensen's works were always like lessons to me. Bob Clearmountain, Andy Wallace, Lord-Alge brothers and Michael Brauer are the mixers I admire. Peter Gabriel, Pat Metheny, Steve Vai, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Eric Clapton's music inspired me the most.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I love to collaborate with my clients. The most important thing is their art and their ideas about that art. I ask them what they want and try to give everything they need. Sometimes it can be like just putting the picture into a frame or sometimes it can be giving a whole new look and feel with different colors depending on artist's wishes.