Electronic/Beat/Ghost Producer

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

A: The job consisted of choosing and placing some of my own original tracks into science podcasts, in which a narrator told lives and anecdotes of scientists. I also have chemistry degrees in my background, and my main musical project visually draws on my scientific studies: so I'm proud to have worked musically on those podcasts that are so close to me. It was very satisfying to cut and mix pieces of music to match the content (narrative, and emotional) at precise times within the podcasts, contributing to the listeners' experience.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I produce tracks with always a good dose of pop-elements and eclecticism at the same time. The narrative as well as the search for emotionalism are evident in every part of the tracks, even when taken individually.

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

A: Failsafe Editions: is a recording studio based in Berlin that often takes care of my mastering sessions. You can find there honesty, expertise in varied music genres, and above all, practicality without frills by a very efficient communication with the clients.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Honestly, it is often a choice dictated by practical needs. I don't think digital is limiting; I don't think analogue is necessary every single time.

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

A: To always give sincere feedback as we are working towards the same goal and with the same passion. Then, never be superficial and, while respecting the practical priorities of the work, discuss the details critically.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Seeing my technical skills be functional, and catch all points of view of the customer.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: A misconception is to include a music job in a generic category of rules and to deny that each music project has its own unique characteristics to be explored, shown and packaged...

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: In my experience, questions come after the initial personal and artistic knowledge of the client. For me, each client and project has a unique story, and I don't feel like making a list of typical questions. However, one fundamental thing: whether or not the customer is already clear about which processes/steps he/she wants to be helped in.

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

A: I would try to well explore the potential of the provider by listening to as much of his previous work as possible. I would prefer the more versatile ones to the ones just focused on one type of sound: in this way there are more chances to get the desired product.

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

A: Headphones, laptop, audio interface, electric guitar, midi controller (minimum 49 keys).

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

A: After millions of records listened to and a scientific degree (I have a degree in chemistry) I decided to try a daily permanent contact with music: I decided to attend a 2-years school for sound engineers. I was already composing music (I had taken lessons in music theory and modern guitar, playing guitars for new wave/post rock bands), and the skills of an audio engineer brought my productions to already professional levels (this was about 10 years ago). I had good satisfaction with the work as a technician (clubs, theatres, some studios) and although it was nice, it wasn't easy until now to manage the differences between working as a producer and as a technician. I have so far published with several electronic music labels and recently started my activities as a ghost producer for which I am very optimistic. The producer career is definitely the one I care most about and where I have more of my talents to bring into play.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working on many ghost productions House/Garage/Melodic House.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Why not :) If you have two synths playing at the same time, try mirroring automations: for example, design an automation of the "frequency" of a low-pass filter on one synth that exactly mirrors that of the "decay" of the other synth (obviously choose the parameters that give the most beautiful and audible results)...

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

A: I usually work on electronic music (often non-club oriented) at the 120-127 bpm range. Lately I have been working a lot on House/Garage music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Conceptually, I am very good at building harmonies that, while containing reasoned elements of complexity, are workable (musically/emotionally) and recognizable. I also listen to a lot of music: I consider it a quality that is never taken for granted for a person who makes music.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Once again I bring the characteristics of various music genres, and for sure also my own listening and inspirations of the moment time after time. I certainly also bring in the client's needs as well as my own energy in never forgetting the emotional aspect of the final tracks.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I always start by creating the harmony of the piece. Then I look for the metrics and the beat that works best for my goal. Then, I instinctively add synths parts (including bass lines)... until a point where I start to eliminate the superfluous and make the instruments sound better with each other (I often work with pairs of instruments for creating the specificity in terms of sounds into the piece). If there are vocals or vocal pieces these almost always come at the end of my composing process. For mixing, I often start by making theoretical choices, that is, by schematizing the settings of equalizers and compressors among all the instruments involved in the piece before working on their sound: I am always very schematic because I know that at the end it will ensure good results both in composition and in mixing (especially concerning the electronic music works).

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I always have a fairly simple setup since a digital workflow is required normally. Plug-ins from "Native Instruments" and "Soundtoys" are important to me. As hardware I like to mention my electric guitar, midi keyboards, and ADAM speakers. When mixing and mastering must satisfy greater demands, I use the equipment of well-equipped recording studios.

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

A: Even as a listener I am always attracted to the diligent mix of music genres within the same track, or album, or remix... I like to find this quality in many record labels I follow, and obviously in many producers. DJs with eclecticism among their qualities also inspire me a lot.

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

A: I typically help the clients to improve the music arrangements of their demo, or obtaining arrangements that are more in line with the goal we want to achieve (to resemble a given musical genre, to be innovative, or whatever). Another thing I generally do is to bring the sounds (electronic, and non-electronic) up to professional standards when the clients have limited experience on that. When the client is a singer who only has lyrics and vocal lines I create a whole production.

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

A: It would be fabulous to work with Modeselektor to learn where (and how) their compositional unpredictability comes from.