Umut Ermeç's master's thesis research project, Project İstanbul: the Usage of Oriental Elements in Western Music, explores the music perception differences in between individuals from Eastern and Western cultures by analyzing remix approaches of individuals with different cultural backgrounds to answer the question regarding whether cultural background manipulates music perception of individuals, under the direction of Prof. John Merchant. Thanks to the efforts of the participants who remixed the songs I produced and the evaluation committee which was constituted by fifteen distinguished scholars and producers, we came to the conclusion that the findings of this research support the hypothesis that cultural background influences music perception of individuals. You may download the reflection paper here.

Here are the songs that were produced by Umut Ermeç for the project:

Belly Dancer

Here is a video showing Umut Ermeç working on the song "Dance 4 Me"