Saxophones, Flutes, WindSynths

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: On February 4th 2020, my latest album called "Rapax" has been released. I think that, up to now, it's the best work that I produced and that contains my most refined artistic expressions. I obviously had a large role in this project: I've played all my instruments plus composer, arranger and producer of the whole project.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A project called "Collective" 14 artists involved in the reinterpretation of a tune. The result,11 tracks that make this project a "CREATIVE" experiment in all respects. The song took on a unique character and atmosphere depending on the artist who interpreted it.

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

A: A very good friend of mine Clemmy Della Rocca, he's the best sound designer I've ever known. He worked on the production of my entire discography, where my skills end, his skills begin. He's a producer, as well as an excellent musician, arranger and composer.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Definitely both, I love the uniqueness and warmth of analog hardware, together with the precision and versatility of digital you can get amazing results full of completeness.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I'll never tell you that I can play what is not in my skills. I prefer to pass the project to another colleague rather than delivering a shoddy work.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Music is a "Gift", for me to be able to create something that will exist even when I'm gone and that can be inspirational to others or simply just give them a good feeling, this is what satisfies my soul most. Some time ago, I received a letter from a fan of mine in which she told me to have gone through a rough patch and that my music, somehow, had been a comfort to her in overcoming this difficult moment. I believe this was the most touching moment of my career.

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

A: Try to have the clearest possible ideas about what you want me to play for you, sometimes it is really difficult to satisfy a client who doesn't know exactly what he is looking for in his own music.

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

A: Born into a family of musicians and artists, I began to study music rather young. At first I started with a classical path as a flutist, then I extended my own music knowledge through learning other instruments, vocal studies and musical techniques in several styles. It was 1997 when, seduced by “New Age”, I felt the need to evolve my personal style to a higher level and greater depth. During my journeys throughout Europe, Africa and India I nurtured the need for growth encountering new cultures and enriching my intellectual and artistic expression. Unlike many of my colleagues, I preferred to have experiences such as playing with tribal orchestras on a tropical island rather than going on tour with a famous name in the world of entertainment. I collaborated with artists outside of the music world utilising photography, theater, sculpture, painting and films as “passépartout” for the realisation of avant-garde multimedia performances. To date, I've been dedicating my life to music for about 38 years.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: A mix of styles between funk, fusion and word music.

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

A: Øystein Sevåg, is a Norwegian musician and composer, brilliant and talented, I feel that having the opportunity to work with him would greatly enrich my experience.

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

A: In the past 10 years I worked several times on different styles such as: Fusion, Deep House, Smooth Jazz, Lounge, Folk, Pop, Classical and every time I always obtained excellent results from my collaborations, in studio and live performance. However, I always live with great enthusiasm the encounter with other musicians and I try every time to learn from these experiences.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: After many years of work and experiments, I managed to create a targeted setup consisting of equipment that allows me to offer an extremely personal sound. Let's start with the Saxophones which are all vintage instruments and equipped with a customised keys action with specific ergonomics I requested. This gives me the warm sound of the golden years and a snappy fingering of modern keywork. Next Step my microphones, I've few but my favourite is the - MXL Genesis II - Tube Microphone, is a limited edition of the Genesis Series that has a "Dual Capsule Technology", it's like having two microphones and I can choose between a "Warm and Fat" or "Bright and Focused" sound, this is exceptional when you have to move your sound through several styles. Let's move on to the Pre-amp, I've used many over the years but currently I've an handcrafted class A tube amp model (Gold Tung-Sol Vacuum Tubes) made by "BUBU Factory", 2 high precision channels lively sound quality and extreme low noise. For the audio interface I relied on Universal Audio (Apollo Thunderbolt) a flawless audio recording quality. Mac Book Pro as device and Logic X as DAW. I use a Wind Synthesizer (which I call WinSy) that has an Analog Sound's Custom Library realised by the expert sound designer "Matt Traum". For editing and finishing of sounds I mainly use "Waves" and "UAD" plugins.

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

A: I started making music really long time ago, therefore, it's normal that during all these years the musical scenarios have changed countless times as well as the number of artists who have been able to inspire me. I've already listed above a selection of albums and artists which have helped to shape my musical character in my childhood. Anyway, even today, there are great artists and projects in the most disparate musical styles that are a reference object and source of inspiration for me, such as: Pat Metheny, Nigel Stanford, Childish Gambino, Ten Walls, Special EFX, Snarky Puppy, Moon Hooch ... most of these artists don't even use my instruments in their music but, above all, I'm a composer and I don't like to limit my listening to what concerns me strictly, I listen to the arrangements, the sound choices, the technical ones, and everything that can enrich my musical vision and my future ideas. I love learning and I never stop doing it.

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

A: I'm often contacted by three types of customers, those who have already written melodies and ask me to interpret them, others who need an improvised solo or want to add new parts to their arrangement to make the song more dynamic and compelling and, of course, some others who ask me both performance. Each one of these scenarios excites me every time.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't try to play music that is not in your mood, the music you create must represent you, must be part of you, it doesn't have to be just a means of making money. Play what you really know and you'll always get the best results. If you're yourself you will always find people eager to listen to your music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Dreaming in the music I listen to and immerse myself in its atmospheres until I get to the heart of the tune, this gives me the chance to hear the best nuances to use in the song to make it complete and original.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When a customer contacts me, I've to offer not only my skills but also my musical personality and it's extremely important that I do this respecting the character of the project I will have to work on and the compositional ideas of the artist who turns to me. If requested, I'm going to offer my experience and advice to the client to evaluate whether the recordings that have been commissioned to me may be the optimal choice on this specific track, otherwise we can define together for an alternative line to follow.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: The first thing I do is listen to the song a few times, just listen without playing anything, because I want to seize the soul of this tune. Then I start to evaluate the technical aspects, the key, the groove, the sound and the style, to be able to choose the most appropriate setup, instruments and sounds to get what my client asked me for and try to interpret his music in the best way. After that I create a new project on Logic and I import and synchronise the tracks with the metronome and the original BPM of the song to have all the bars in the grid. This step is extremely important for me because it will allow me to record with accurate timing especially when I'm going to create melodies in unison or riffs with multiple instruments. Now I'm ready to start the audio tests and fix the first tracks.