Based out of Los Angeles, California, Plan R Productions is owned and operated by Producer/Mixer/Engineer, Ara Sarkisian. From pre-production to final master and anywhere in between, we are dedicated to meeting your vision as an artist or producer or as an artist producer.
Founder and Operator of Plan R Productions, Ara Sarkisian was born and raised (mostly just born) in Cleveland, Ohio. Picking up a cheap yamaha bass in order to complete a band with some high school friends was his first foray into music of any kind. Although he started out as a bass player he soon made the switch to electric guitar after a guitar playing friend showed him a power chord and a cranked marshall as well as a picture of a swimsuit model fingering what looked to be a power chord through a cranked marshall.
Growing up as a teenager in the 90's, Ara was obviously surrounded by grunge, punk rock and metal. He was also exposed to a heavy dose of classic rock while short order cooking at a local restaurant. Inspired by artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix and Rush as well as more contemporary bands of that time like Soundgarden, Pantera, Slayer etc., he began taking the guitar a little more seriously.
Continuing playing guitar and studying music while completing a bachelors degree in Business Administration at Kent State University, a room mate semi-jokingly remarked that he should be studying music as opposed to business. After completing the bachelors degree from Kent State University, Ara took that advice and began studying music at Cuyahoga Community College Metro Campus. There he studied harmony and improvisation with musicians Lee Bush, Tony Pulizzi, and Ernie Krivda among others.
In the fall of 2007, Ara began studying at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, California where he continued his focus on jazz studies with such musicians as Jamie Finlay, Rick Zunigar, David Oakes, Dale Turner, Ken Rosser and many others. Unfortunately halfway thru his studies he began experiencing tendinitis issues with his fretting hand which made it difficult to focus on guitar playing exclusively.
In 2009, Ara met a friend who was interning/studying recording and music production at a commercial recording facility in North Hollywood called Clear Lake Audio. Not having had much experience in a recording studio, he was intrigued by the idea of working and learning what was happening on the "other side of the glass", and saw this as an opportunity to keep involved in the music industry. While there, he studied engineering with owner Brian Levi and chief engineer Preston Boebel and within months was assisting and engineering sessions for the studio.
Since then he has gone on to assist, engineer and produce projects that have helped shape his knowledge, technique, and taste. Many of which can be viewed under the clients link above.
Like many successful producers, mixers, and engineers, Ara brings a formal music background to the table and has experience working with everything from Hip Hop, Jazz, Metal and everything in between and sincerely enjoys working in all genres.
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Assistant Engineer