Session Drummer & Producer

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Dylan Wissing is a great drummer for many styles, but particularly for old 70's funky drummer type stuff. Della is an amazing female vocalist with an insane range, both pitch-wise and stylistically. And they are both great people and super easy to work with!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently working on a country, Kacey Musgraves-type track, a bedroom-funk (think Vulfpeck) type track, some worship music, a modern rock track (think Bring Me The Horizon) and working on my own tracks during my downtime :)

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Whatever the song needs! Personally I tend to prefer a mix of both, since that usually provides some contrast and depth to the music. Having a super quantized 4 on the floor kick really makes the organic time feel stand out in a live performed bass part for example.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: What I like most is being able to meet and work with great humans and musicians from all over the world. Also being able to cover many styles in a relatively short span of time. One might be doing the same 20 songs over and over when on tour (which I do love btw!), but recording from my studio I can do modern 80's pop, 70's inspired funk and folk singer-songwriter stuff in the span of a few days. Can't beat that!

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Make sure you like the human as much as their audio samples! You should feel like whoever you hire understands you and really wants to see you win. There are many great providers here, so don't settle for less!

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Whatever allowed me to build a helicopter, Macgyver-style! I'd take whatever allowed me to keep making music. A laptop, electric guitar, audio interface, an AKG 414 mic (best workhorse mic right there!), and a drum set (that counts as one, right?). You'd be surprised by the amazing tones you can get with just one mic if you know how to record and treat the recording!

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: Been playing drums professionally in one way or another since I was a teen. Studied with the best drummers in my country, majored in Composition, learned production and engineering by working in a bunch of studios both in Argentina and in the US (including working with Grammy winner Dylan Wissing at his studio outside Manhattan), toured North/South America and Europe and finally put together my own studio for recording drums remotely.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is a mix of all I love haha. It's generally the live and organic feeling that drums bring to a track, paired with the controlled consistency that modern day technology can provide. Striving for a good balance between super clean modern sounds and a human and organic feel is where it's at for me. All in service of the song and the artist of course.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Just one? Oof. I guess that'd be Trent Reznor. He focuses on creating unique and forward thinking music, combining amazing production, songwriting and delivering incredible performances, always striving to a high level of excellence. Either him or the dudes from The 1975 (Matt and George), since they focus on the same things I just mentioned.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Treat it as any job! Don't wait for inspiration. Just show up and do your job. You don't wait for inspiration and then get to work; you start working and attract inspiration through the act of doing. Also, aim to improve your workflow as much as possible! It makes you more effective and has the unexpected benefit of making you find your sound and style, since your idiosyncratic way of doing things will lead you to have a unique and consistent sound. Life-changing stuff!

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: All kinds of stuff really, but these past years it's been mostly singer-songwriter stuff. Sometimes more pop-EDM oriented, sometimes more funky and organic, sometimes more of a modern-80s thing.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I can recite all the dialogue from The Matrix from memory! Ok, seriously, my strongest skill is drumming. That's what got me hooked on music when I was a kid. After that it's production/drum recording, and then playing a bunch of instruments to a relatively acceptable degree.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring many years of experience as a drummer, recording engineer and producer. This means that besides getting great sounding drums and performances, as a producer I'm also very aware of the aesthetic weight that drums (and drum sounds!) carry in a track. Tight neo-soul drums provide a very different feel and vibe than big 80's gated reverb toms, or phat and warm drums ala Kacey Musgraves. It's essential to get that right so as to support the track and what it's trying to convey.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My typical work process is I first listen to the music, then talk with the artist/producer to make sure I understand their identity and the vision for the song correctly. Communication is extremely important and it's key to make sure that we're all on the same page regarding what we want. Sometimes I'll send a rough stereo bounce of drums + music just to make sure we all agree on parts/sounds/vibe. Once all is cleared up I'll record drums & percussion and send 2 comped and edited performances so the client can have options while using my drums on their track. If any revisions are necessary I typically hear back from the client 1-3 days after I sent final stems. I'll work on those and send them over until the client is happy. My max is 3 revisions per track, but because of my communication-oriented process, I've never had to go beyond the 2nd revision I believe. Revisions after the 3rd one would cost extra,

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: The core of my setup is a Universal Audio Apollo x8p, a UAD Arrow, and a Focusrite Octopre MkII hooked up to a very powerful Apple MacBook Pro. This allows me to record up to 18 channels of drums running through all kinds of UAD preamps, EQs, compression and much more. Also got a wide-ranging variety of drums and cymbals to cover most tonal options out there and a collection of mics by Shure, AKG, SE Electronics and Cascade.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Drummers? Sterloid, Paul Mabury, Darren King, Vinnie Colaiuta, Edu Giardina Producers? Greg Kurstin, Trent Reznor, The 1975, Mark Ronson, Jack Stratton, Guy & Howard Lawrence Bands/Artists? The 1975, Haim, Nine Inch Nails, Vulfpeck, John Mayer, Disclosure, Jacob Collier, Anomalie

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: Most clients are artists or producers (that produce artists or for sync) and they hire me to add live drums to their songs. Sometimes they have a laid out arrangement with some demo drums that they want me to replace with my performance and my own flavor. Sometimes they just have the demo but no drums, so I take care of creating and recording the parts based on the track and their references.