His Music
His sound incorporates traditional instruments and ney from Turkey and other parts of the world, with horns, dance beats, ambient electronic music, and a Sufi spirituality. The name Mercan Dede itself evokes Sufism as "Dede" is the word for 'elder' in the Sufi traditions, although the name Mercan Dede was taken from a character in a modern Turkish novel. Dede composes his own music, some of which is rhythmic, some new age.
He plays with groups of various sizes and fluctuating membership: the Mercan Dede Trio, the Mercan Dede Ensemble, and the Secret Tribe. The instrumentation used includes electronics and elements of classical Turkish music such as the ney (which he plays himself), percussion, violin, and zither. The groups often include Montreal-based percussionist Scott Russell, Canadian violinist Hugh Marsh, and Turkish clarinetist Hüsnü Şenlendirici. The shows often include men and women in Sufi costume doing Sufi whirling.
Dede works as a DJ under the name Arkın Allen, specialising in music related to that of his live groups, in this case house and techno dance music with an oriental flavour.
Dede has been criticised by Turkish music purists for not being steeped in the Sufi traditions and for not properly representing Sufism in his music and writings. Another criticism is that the whirling dancers he uses to accompany his shows do not accurately display the correct dervish routines. However, as more than a ney player, working just as often as a DJ as performing live in concert, with an audience consisting of clubbers, not Islamic scholars, Dede aims to synthesise several different traditions rather than recreate a historically pure music.
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