Four-time Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan

Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan, who has worked with  music giants such as Madonna, Foo Fighters, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Pearl Jam, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, the Rolling Stones, and Rascal Flatts, will give a presentation, sponsored by Northern Essex Community College, on album mastering on Wednesday, December 9th, at 7 p.m. in TC103 at the David Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

This event, which is free and open to the public, will explore the mechanics of music mastering from a leader in the field. Music mastering is the final creative step in transforming a recording into a record.

Ayan, who grew-up in Malden and Windham, NH, graduated from Pinkerton Academy (Derry, NH). He is also a graduate of UMass Lowell’s Sound Recording Technology (SRT) Program. He works as a mastering engineer at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine, where he has collected more than 90 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums.

In 2006 Ayan won his first Grammy Award in the category of “Best Historical Album” for his mastering work on the Jelly Roll Morton box set “The Complete Library Of Congress Recordings By Alan Lomax.”

In 2007, Ayan won 2 Latin Grammy Awards in the categories of “Best Engineered Album” and “Album Del Ano (Album of the Year)” for his mastering work on the Juan Luis Guerra album “La Llave De Mi Corazon”. His win in the category of “Best Engineered Album” marked the very first time a mastering engineer had been awarded a Grammy in that category.

Ayan was nominated again in 2008 (the 50th Annual Grammy Awards) for a Grammy Award in the prestigious “Album of the Year” category for his mastering work on Vince Gill’s latest release “These Days.”

“Mastering is all about bringing my clients’ music to its fullest sonic potential, and always respecting their artistic vision,” Ayan says. “I have been in the fortunate position of mastering recordings across many musical genres, maintaining the same philosophy of crafting my clients’ recordings to best serve their musical message. Be it rock, pop, metal, country or jazz, the concept is always the same: master to best convey my clients’ recordings to the listener.”

“Ayan is one of the most celebrated music professionals who most people have never heard of,” according to Mike Lecuyer of NECC’s Music Department. “Rock legends and country crooners alike trust him to make the final adjustments to their recordings when cutting an album.”

Northern Essex offers a certificate in music technology and an associate’s in general studies: music.  For additional information on the music certificate or degree programs visit www.necc.mass.edu

For additional information on this event contact NECC music instructor Michael Lecuyer atmlecuyer@necc.mass.edu