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Reaching a worldwide audience with his unique oud playing style and improvisational performances, Zeynel Demirtaş released his long-awaited works with 3 different albums at the same time.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
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İSTANBUL (TR) - Oud player Zeynel Demirtaş, who said that the albums Araf, OUD and Anatolian, which can be accessed from all digital music platforms, offer the listeners the opportunity to discover the inspirations of Ottoman Palace Music, and stated “You will feel Anatolian folk songs with the mystical tone of the oud in all your cells, thanks to their improvisation work in different modes. Especially the album Araf, which I composed myself, is a medicine for the art hunger of the modern world. I hope they will be permanent works.”

All recordings of the albums, produced by Mehmet Tacan Ekim, were performed by Cem Önsoy and Uğur Baloğlu in Cemu Studio in order to perfectly convey the natural sound of udun to the listeners. The album's historical peninsula and Istanbul-themed photos were taken by photographer Mert Recep Yavaş, while the cover visuals were designed by Zehra Demirtaş Yıldız.

Who is Zeynel Demirtas?

Oud player Zeynel Demirtaş, who was born in Mersin in 1984, became interested in music during his secondary and high school years. Describing his meeting with the oud master Yurdal Tokcan as "one of the turning points in my life" in 2009, Demirtaş started his conservatory education at the Turkish Music Department of Haliç University in 2012. During this period, he met the world-famous oud producer Faruk Türnz and started working in the oud workshop and became involved in the making of the instrument he valued. He learned oud making techniques in the workshop. Over the years, his self-development in the making of the instrument he plays has reflected positively on his oud technique and music.

In 2016, when he graduated from the conservatory, he continued his education by earning a master's degree in music at Okan University. During his education, he started to give oud lessons at İSMEK affiliated to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. he has taught hundreds of students of all levels and ages for over three years. The artist is currently reaching oud lovers all over the world with more than a thousand lesson videos on Turkey's first online oud education platform, zeyneldemirtas.com, and introduces the oud playing style and techniques in Turkey to his students all over the world.