Marcelo Rúben Aires on SoundBetter

Professional drummer & percussionist, teacher, composer and touring musician. Master's Degree in Music Education. Session musician with 15+ years of experience, recorded and released more than 20 albums.

I'm a professional drummer & percussionist, teacher, composer and touring musician that has recorded more than 20 albums spanning multiple genres from Contemporary Jazz and Chamber Music to Progressive, Avant-garde, Death, Grindcore, Thrash Metal and Pop. Toured with bands and orchestras over Europe, North America and Middle-East.
My main services include recording live drums, percussion, drums programming, editing and also quantizing.

Equipment:
Drums - Drumcraft Series 8, Premier XPK and Pearl Session Studio
Edrums - Roland TD-11 and TD-12 (with upgrades), Roland SPD-20 and SPD-S
Cymbals - Turkish Cymbals (various series)
Drumheads - Remo, Evans, Aquarian
Mics - Sennheiser, Shure, AKG, SE Electronics and Lewitt
Interface - Behringer X32 with Midas Preamps

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

3 Reviews

Endorse Marcelo Rúben Aires

by Gwilym R.
Verified
What can I say!
It was a true pleasure working with a talent like Marcelo. He is a tremendous drummer and obviously has a great set-up because the quality of the tracks he shared were really top-notch!
He was able to work very quickly and was patient to understand the vision for the song and deliver against it.
I would highly recommend!
by Max Tomé
I've been working with Marcelo since 2012, on several projects mainly in the metal genre. But I can assure you he'll put a hell of a performance on ANY given genre and project you have!
He is one of the most nice and at the same time professional guys in the industry, believe me. And you'll be floored with the outcome of your collaboration with him!
Can't recommend him enough (as I did in the past!).
by Ricardo Pinto
I've worked with Marcelo for the past 8 years in many different bands and projects. His technique, sensitivity, sound, efficiency, theoretical knowledge and work ethics are of the highest level you can find and his work speaks for itself. If you're looking for someone who can pretty much play anything you throw at him with precision, power, finesse, good taste and a really good sound, look no further. Also, you’d be hard-pressed to work with a nicer person!

Interview with Marcelo Rúben Aires

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been doing this my entire life, since my father is also a musician. I started playing drums when I was 2 years old and got private lessons since 4; at 8 I also started studying percussion at Oporto's Music Conservatory; at 15 I continued my percussion studies at Espinho's Professional Music School; at 18 I went to Oporto's Superior School of Performing Arts, where I got my Master's Degree. Besides all the musical training, I started giving drum lessons when I was 14 and also started working professionally as a session musician at 17. Until now, I've recorded more than 20 albums spanning multiple genres and toured with bands and orchestras over Europe, North America and Middle-East.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: I would say asking about what I need to get started, which is usually two different WAV files - one with a full mix without the drums and another with just the drums (programmed or live, for reference) - and also the BPM reference.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I usually work on the more progressive/alternative genres like Fusion/Rock/Metal, but I've also done a lot of work on Pop, Funk, R&B and World Music.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Yes, Hugo Ribeiro - an excellent drummer and professional: https://soundbetter.com/profiles/93125-hugo-ribeiro
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: I think both systems have their pros and cons - it's a matter of personal taste and work methods.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The creative interactions and freedom to explore any kind of musical possibilities.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: Thinking that I'm mainly a metal drummer, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I would say versatility, to be able to work on every kind of musical environment.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring my own touch and vocabulary to a song while serving the client's vision of it.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I provide professional quality live drums for bands and artists.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I have to say Sullen, since it's my main musical project and it's where besides being the drummer/percussionist, I also compose most of its music. I'm especially proud of it since I have all the freedom to create whatever I want, artistically speaking.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm currently working on new music for a couple of my main projects (Sullen and Rei Bruxo), doing session work for some groups (both live and in the studio), and giving private drum lessons.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I always describe myself as a generalist drummer, always working towards an ecletic approach to the craft.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Try to be as much artistically versatile as you can on every work context, to flesh out the very best of everything and everyone in any kind of environment.

Demo reel

I was the drummer in this production

Live drum trackAverage price - $150 per song
PercussionContact for pricing
Programmed drumContact for pricing
EditingContact for pricing
Time alignment - QuantizingContact for pricing

* Three revisions per job allowed
* Typical turn-around time: 5 days or less
* Additional costs may be applied if modifications to the original proposal are requested by the client