Adam Ayan
Born in 1975, Adam studied Music Performance and Sound Recording Technology at the University Of Massachusetts at Lowell, graduating in 1997. His instrument was the bass. “As a young bass player I can remember spending hours upon hour trying to learn Geddy’s bass lines,” he says.
A year after graduating, Adam started working under Bob Ludwig’s wing, replacing Brian Lee as apprentice production engineer at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine. His first brush with Rush was to make some radio edits of tracks off the ‘Different Stages’ live album in 1998. Adam used any gaps in Bob’s schedule to build his own experience, eventually picking up some albums of his own. By August 2001 and now a fully fledged mastering engineer, Adam was given his own mastering suite. His first major task was to master ‘Collection’, a greatest hits album for Tracy Chapman; he also picked up credits with Linkin Park, Martina McBride, Phish, Counting Crows and LeAnn Rimes.
In 2003 he was given the ‘Rush in Rio’ DVD and CD to master, with Alex in attendance. It was also his wedding in the same week. “Alex called me a few days before the wedding to thank me for my work, and also to wish me well and congratulate me in advance,” recalls Adam. “That meant a lot to me.”