Murat Ses
Encyclopedia
Murat Ses is a Turkish
keyboard
player and composer
with strong Eurasian
electronic elements. He is creator of the Anadolu Pop
style, a synthesis of Anatolian Music and Western elements that has been influencing Turkish music scene for decades.
He worked with several bands: Meteorlar (Meteors) (1966-1967), Silüetler (Shadows) (1967), Moğollar
(Mongols) (1967-1972), Barış Manço
and Kurtalan Ekspres (Express) (1973-1974), Edip Akbayram and Dostlar (Friends) (1974) and Cem Karaca
and Dervişan (Dervishes) (1975-1976). Also, he founded Ağrı Dağı Efsanesi (Legend of Mount Ararat
) band. This band was dissolved in 1976 and 3 45 rpms. He migrated to Austria
in 1979.
His album
Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie d'hier à aujourd'hui was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque
by the Charles Cros Academie in Paris
, France
with Moğollar
. The albums Automaton (Slave with Ewer Device), Binfen (feat.Tan) and Culduz, all released in the 1990s, are parts of a trilogy
with the concept: "The Timeless and Boundaryless Context of Culture and Civilization". Ses has had excellent press (US Keyboard, Audion, i/e, Expose ...) and airplay (Automaton² was no.1 in Rhode Island, Binfen no.7 in Ohio). His main influences are Pink Floyd
, Traffic
, Jimmy Smith
, Eastern Mediterranean music, Levant
ine, and Central Asia
n cultures and music. He is the most important Turkish artist still internationally active and shaping today's independent electronic music
scene.
His earlier (late 60s early 70s) psychedelic-Anatolia
n works with English
lyrics
released under US
, Dutch
, German
and Canadian
labels in the late 1990s through 2002. Murat's album with his "San Francisco/Miami Impressions" was recorded in Miami, Florida
and was published in 2005 as Automaton² (Automaton Squared) followed by "Binfen 2005 Remix", "Electric Levantine" (2006) and "Umami" (2007). His newest release is "Beside the Sun" (2010), his eighth solo album in a row.
In the early 1990s Murat Ses developed a musical style
he terms Electric Levantine. The main elements of the style are microtonal properties created on authentic Levant
ine scales, electronically produced instrument timbres and Western music. It's an experimental form of Anadolu Pop. His typical Electric Levantine sound can be heard on his album AUTOMATON (Slave with Ewer Device) and on the subsequent albums of his 90's trilogy.
In 2007 Advertising agency TBWA
decided to use the early 70s Moğollar song 'Garip Çoban' (meaning Poor Shepherd in Turkish), composed by Murat Ses, in PlayStation 3
campaigns commercial.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
player and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
with strong Eurasian
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
electronic elements. He is creator of the Anadolu Pop
Anadolu Pop
Anadolu Pop is a musical style created by Murat Ses of Mogollar in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The style is a synthesis of Western and Turkish musical styles and elements and is possibly the first fusion from this geographic region...
style, a synthesis of Anatolian Music and Western elements that has been influencing Turkish music scene for decades.
He worked with several bands: Meteorlar (Meteors) (1966-1967), Silüetler (Shadows) (1967), Moğollar
Mogollar
Moğollar is one of the pioneer bands in Turkish rock music for about 40 years and one of the founders of Turkish folk rock...
(Mongols) (1967-1972), Barış Manço
Baris Manço
Barış Manço was a Turkish rock singer, composer, and television producer. He composed about 200 songs, some of which were translated into a variety of languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian, Urdu and Arabic...
and Kurtalan Ekspres (Express) (1973-1974), Edip Akbayram and Dostlar (Friends) (1974) and Cem Karaca
Cem Karaca
Muhtar Cem Karaca , also called Cem Baba , was a prominent Turkish rock musician and one of the most important figures in the Anatolian rock movement.-Biography:...
and Dervişan (Dervishes) (1975-1976). Also, he founded Ağrı Dağı Efsanesi (Legend of Mount Ararat
Mount Ararat
Mount Ararat is a snow-capped, dormant volcanic cone in Turkey. It has two peaks: Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat .The Ararat massif is about in diameter...
) band. This band was dissolved in 1976 and 3 45 rpms. He migrated to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1979.
His album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie d'hier à aujourd'hui was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque
Grand Prix du Disque
The Grand Prix du Disque is the premier French award for musical recordings. The award was inaugurated by l'Académie Charles Cros in 1948 and offers prizes in various categories. The categories vary from year to year, and multiple awards are often made in any one category in the same year...
by the Charles Cros Academie in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
with Moğollar
Mogollar
Moğollar is one of the pioneer bands in Turkish rock music for about 40 years and one of the founders of Turkish folk rock...
. The albums Automaton (Slave with Ewer Device), Binfen (feat.Tan) and Culduz, all released in the 1990s, are parts of a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
with the concept: "The Timeless and Boundaryless Context of Culture and Civilization". Ses has had excellent press (US Keyboard, Audion, i/e, Expose ...) and airplay (Automaton² was no.1 in Rhode Island, Binfen no.7 in Ohio). His main influences are Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
, Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, Eastern Mediterranean music, Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
ine, and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n cultures and music. He is the most important Turkish artist still internationally active and shaping today's independent electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
scene.
His earlier (late 60s early 70s) psychedelic-Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n works with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
released under US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
labels in the late 1990s through 2002. Murat's album with his "San Francisco/Miami Impressions" was recorded in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and was published in 2005 as Automaton² (Automaton Squared) followed by "Binfen 2005 Remix", "Electric Levantine" (2006) and "Umami" (2007). His newest release is "Beside the Sun" (2010), his eighth solo album in a row.
In the early 1990s Murat Ses developed a musical style
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
he terms Electric Levantine. The main elements of the style are microtonal properties created on authentic Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
ine scales, electronically produced instrument timbres and Western music. It's an experimental form of Anadolu Pop. His typical Electric Levantine sound can be heard on his album AUTOMATON (Slave with Ewer Device) and on the subsequent albums of his 90's trilogy.
In 2007 Advertising agency TBWA
TBWA
TBWA Worldwide is an international advertising agency whose headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The Agency is a unit of Omnicom Group, the world's largest advertising agency holding company. It was founded in 1970 in Paris, France, by William G...
decided to use the early 70s Moğollar song 'Garip Çoban' (meaning Poor Shepherd in Turkish), composed by Murat Ses, in PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
campaigns commercial.