Hamburg-based Turkish musician Sinan Cem Eroglu has released a beautiful instrumental album titled Akustik (SCE Musical Sound, 2022). The multi-instrumentalist produced, arranged, performed and recorded the album at SCE Musical Sound studios in Hamburg.
Akustik features original musical pieces as well as folk songs performed on kaval, kopuz, lavta and classical guitar.
We talked to Sinan Cem Eroglu about his background and the new album:
Your album includes original compositions. Where do you get your inspiration from?
The original compositions on that album are actually my improvisations. During the recording, I’ve just push the record button and played. I think the last two years affected to all of us in a different way, so somehow I tried to focus on my deep emotions on those tracks. Normally I am a composer and I mainly compose in my mind, then I write it down to paper. I can get my inspirations from anywhere. Sometimes a music that I listen or sometimes just a rhythmic groove.
Akustik also includes traditional musical pieces. Tell us a little about these tunes and their background.
Traditional pieces are collected from the different regions of Anatolia. There are three songs from my homeland Tunceli (Dersim) and Malatya which is a town in East of Turkey. There is also one song that is really old and collected from the old recordings of National radio of Armenia. So the repertoire of this album is mainly from the eastern part of the Anatolia.
You play various string and wind instruments. Do you have a favorite?
Actually I don’t have a favorite one because every instrument has an unique timbre, its own language and emotion. It depends on my feelings which instrument is my favorite.
The instruments you play sound beautiful and are also visually stunning. Who makes your musical instruments?
My father is one of the well-known, and one of the best, baglama (saz) makers in Turkey. Naturally, all my baglamas and kopuzs are made by Kemal Eroglu (Kopuz Saz Evi).
The lavta that I played on the album was made by Ramazan Calay in Istanbul. Lavta is a great instrument. It sounds and seems like an oud but in terms of frets, it’s familiar with baglama.
My classical and fretless guitars were made by a great luthier, my friend Anil Aras (Aras Guitars) in Istanbul.
All my kavals were made by Imece Muzik in Antalya, Turkey.
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Buy Akustik
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.