Today we’d like to introduce you to Ayda Akbal.
Hi Ayda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up having a movie night with my family every weekend, listening to soundtracks wherever I went, and always trying to learn to play said soundtracks on the piano in-between classical piano and cello lessons. Safe to say, I grew up as a fully qualified soundtrack nerd, and still to this day there are the themes I recognize for films or TV shows that I haven’t gotten around to watching yet. Alongside my regular school studies, I was learning the classical (and later jazz) piano, the cello, musical theatre (and later jazz) singing and playing in all my school orchestras and theatre shows. I was also going through the Yamaha music education system, where we were taught to compose alongside our theory lessons, which really fostered that spark within me. I would take any opportunity to compose, arrange or conduct ensembles at my school – which had a brilliant music program – and eventually, I got into university to study a double undergraduate degree in Music Composition & Technology and Psychology.
My first year of university is when COVID hit. Everything went online, and I had to learn how to use the technology around me at home to create music.
This is when I challenged myself to create my first album of music as an Artist project – and I did! I composed, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered everything myself – at home – for my album ‘Magic’. Although it’s not ‘perfect’ and my skills have gotten much better since then, it was the perfect way to get better during the lockdown and really make use of the technology I had access to – and master it.
Since then, I’ve connected with other composers, directors, writers, and theatre-makers (and more!) from all around the world. I’ve collaborated with them internationally – writing film scores, musicals, jingles, and feature songs – which has been so fulfilling and awe-inspiring, thinking we could do that from separate places across the world.
I finally was able to travel in 2022, where I traveled to NYC for the first time and participated in New York University’s summer film scoring program. This was beyond my wildest dreams, doing something like this whilst still doing my undergrad – my little 10-year-old self inside me was giddy with joy.
I’m currently finishing my degree, and after that hope to complete a film music postgraduate degree and continue toward my dream of writing soundtracks for films (that’ll hopefully inspire the next generation of young composers)!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think working as a freelancer in the music industry – unfortunately – automatically means that it isn’t a smooth road to where you want to get. You have to learn a lot of things ‘on the job’ which often means making mistakes and then learning from them. So I believe it’s so important to have knowledgable and supportive mentors who have tread the path you want to take – and aren’t afraid to tell you how it is.
The hardest obstacle for me has been a mental one – and that’s having patience. That’s having patience for ‘moving up’ in your career, but also having patience for getting work and having the patience to wait for the gratification once it’s been completed and shared with the wider public.
The way I’ve experienced it (and from what I’ve heard – others too) is that there’s often a lull in work where you have some time off, but you feel the need to fill it up with things to do because you feel you should be working all the time. But then an important project pops up right when you’ve started getting busy again and it needs a very fast turnover – and suddenly you’re overwhelmed because you have too much work to do. And once you’ve finished your music for that project, there’s often more post-production to do, which may mean months before you can share your music for that project with the world.
This pattern is one I’m struggling to get used to, however, the fulfilment I get from sharing the project with the world makes up for the occasional overwhelm whilst working on it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like to introduce myself as a Composer & Songwriter for Stage and Screen – which encompasses most of what I do, and what I’d like to do in the future.
My voice (and I mean my literal voice, not metaphoric) features heavily on my scores and in my songwriting at the moment. Most directors I’ve worked with have found me from my artist album ‘Magic’ – which is set in a cinematic-pop universe, heavily featuring my voice. I love working in this universe, as it feels true to who I am as an artist.
I am also a ‘classically-trained turned minimalist-jazz’ pianist, with major influences from Philip Glass, Lars Danielsson’s works, Chris Martin (Coldplay) and Yann Tiersen. Therefore, the piano features heavily on my more ‘thematic’ and ‘minimalist’ scores – so far featuring mostly on my short-film projects.
I also perform regularly as a pianist in my scene at home (Melbourne, Australia), have recorded on a jazz-quartet album, and have a few other album projects in the works featuring myself on piano. Piano feels very personal to me and the place I can express my inner feelings the most (in absence of my voice).
I am also a trained cellist and grew up listening to the theme from Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and more recently, Hildur Guðnadóttir score for Joker. I am currently working on the soundtrack for a high-fantasy audiobook that is set in a world similar to the Lord of the Rings and Assassin’s Creed – which heavily features cello and strings. This type of music makes my heart soar and I could write in this genre all day, so I’m hoping my future projects have this fantasy lens on them too.
What does success mean to you?
To me, success is lots of things. Career success for me would be in part getting recognition from my peers and mentors that my music is contributing to the projects I work on in a significant and nuanced way. As well as working on projects with my musical and personal heroes, collaborating with them and telling stories with them. The other part would be working on projects that fulfill me and at the same time, help propel some form of change – whether that be big in the form of societal change in areas of inclusivity, diversity or mental health or small, such as making someone feel something or see something in a new light.
Success to me is also having financial stability in this career so that (in simple terms) I can support myself without burden, travel wherever I may need to be, and have access to the technologies that I may need for projects.
Perhaps most importantly though, success to me must be a feeling that is not only gained from things in the outside world but a feeling that can come from inside me. There are so many things in this career that are out of my control, so I strive to find internal satisfaction and learn to celebrate all successes (big and small) of mine and the community around me. It’s a skill I’m definitely still working on, but I’m sure I’ll be very good at it one day!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aydaakbal.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aydaakbal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aydaakbalmusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayda-akbal/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AydaComposer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeQxYOi5ZXhFRJCPitFqwVQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/aydaakbalmusic
Image Credits
Minnie Kaye Music Ahmet Akbal
