Arif Mardin: Record Producer Analysis

Arif Mardin: Record Producer Analysis

It is difficult to nail down a production style for Arif Mardin because he has produced so many genres of music over the last forty years. For a young man from Turkey to become one of the best producers ever in America, Mardin's life had to take some unexpected turns (Small and Taylor, p. 52). Never anticipating a career in music, much less such a distinguished one, Arif Mardin's first love of music was with Jazz (Small and Taylor, p. 52). He attended a concert in Turkey and had the fortune of being introduced to Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones (Droney, N.p.). According to Mardin, it was that meeting that forever altered his life path (Droney, N.p.).

The path that followed included a scholarship at Berklee, a lengthy career at Atlantic records, many Grammys, and a string of working relationships with some of the greatest musical artists of his time (Droney, N.p.). Mardin was fortunate enough to work with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Bette Midler, Carly Simon, and many more (Droney, N.p.). His career has encompassed practically every genre of modern music.

Mardin officially retired twice but he never really stopped producing and arranging music until his death (Droney, N.p.). Though he considered himself a New Yorker since 1962, Arif Mardin was born in Istanbul, Turkey to a rather privileged family (Droney, N.p.) Although he studied piano and was musically gifted, he never intended to make music his career (Droney, N.p.). According to Mardin, he was "bitten by the jazz bug" while still a young man in Istanbul (Droney, N.p.)

After becoming a fan of Jazz, Mardin began performing (Droney, N.p.). Mardin began by learning to play the piano, composing, and finally arranging music for and with his friends (Droney, N.p.) it was a piece of this music that Quincy Jones used to turn Mardin's life toward a permanent musical path (Droney, N.p.). After recording one of Mardin's compositions, Quincy Jones then submitted it to Berklee where Mardin was offered the first Quincy Jones scholarship (Droney, N.p.) Needless to say, Mardin accepted the scholarship and moved to Boston (Droney, N.p.). Though multitalented, it was initially his ability to arrange music that allowed him entry into this highly competitive arena.

With that in mind it is difficult to believe that he worked for Atlantic records until his retirement in 2001 (Droney, N.p.) Apparently retirement did not agree with him as he later joined EMI/Manhattan Records (Droney, N.p.) it was at EMI/Manhattan Records that he produced music for and with Nora Jones and Dianna Reeves, earning substantial accolades from the music industry (Droney, N.p.)

Mardin's career started at a time when technology in the producing business was limited at best and yet he managed to crank out some wonderful productions (Doyle, N.p.). This was because the technology at Atlantic Records was extremely advanced for that time period (Doyle, N.p.). While some studios were still producing mono, Atlantic was producing in stereo (Doyle, N.p.) Atlantic also had one of the first eight track devices and began experimenting with it in various ways (Doyle, N.p.).

Though he himself states that although technology has advanced significantly in his time, Mardin does not consider himself a technological expert with regard to devices used by music producers (Doyle, N.p.). In fact, he readily admitted that he referred to devices as "that blue box" rather than to its technical name (Doyle, N.p.) According to Doyle, Mardin maintained that although he may not have known the technical names for devices, he certainly knew what effects they were capable of eliciting (Doyle, N.p.) by his own admission, Mardin's expertise did not lie in his ability to memorize model numbers and technical monikers (Doyle, N.p.).

Rather, his expertise was his ability to ascertain how a song ought to sound and make that sound happen. When asked by Small and Taylor if he' thought he had a personal stamp,' Mardin replied, "I'm in-between. I do have a personal style. At the same time, I try to bring out the best of the artist" (Small and Taylor, p. 53).

Bringing out the best in artists is what Mardin did on a regular basis. His name has been associated with so many Grammys it is safe to say that he is absolutely one of the top producers ever. Mardin had the extraordinary gift of shaping the sound of some of the most popular and influential music of the last forty years and he did so when other people in his age bracket were rocking on swings not in the studio (Droney, N.p.).

In addition to the ease with which he worked among superstars, Mardin was constantly on the lookout for new sounds and modern techniques (Small and Taylor, p.54). According to Small and Taylor, Mardin stated "At heart I'm a modernist. I may grow very old, and I still will be looking for the next new thing. I guess that keeps me alive and young" (Small and Taylor, p. 54). By understanding current trends, Mardin was able to produce music that kept the listeners alive and young as well.