Mixing and session guitars

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

A: I fully produced the debut EP of singer songwriter Melga in 2023, which involved two full weeks of tracking with several musicians while I was "directing" the whole process in the way I do like producing the most. The result was (so they say) stunning.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: An EP of an indie-rock singer songwriter, a full album of modern pop-rock and a series of songs I'm producing for Japanese artist Coppe' with a beautiful mix of electronic sounds and orchestral music.

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

A: I haven't browsed the site yet buy I promise I'll do!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both of them. It really doesn't matter to me as long as the client is happy with the result. At the end of the day that's what matters.

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

A: The promise is to get the job done, no matter how quirky it might seem. I know what I can do and I do it good.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Getting lost in the beauty of music as I were immersing myself in deep blue sea...

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: They all ask me to be faithful to their needs and style, and I'm always quite sure I come out with a very satisfactory result (so far so good!). My answer is always: OK! Anything can be done!

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

A: The amount of working hours!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What they need from me and what they expect at the end of the job.

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

A: Have a careful listen to their music online and do not rely on credits alone.

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

A: My 1994 Fender Strat, my 1965 Fender Bassman head, my '60 Reslo ribbon microphone, my 1966 Fender Super Reverb amp and my Pro-Ject Classic turntable (but I'd need the vinyls too!). Yes, I do own all the pieces...and more!

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

A: I started as a guitar player in my band and with it I played Europe and the States until 2004. I played a lot of guitar sessions in London until 2008 and then I dedicated myself to producing bands as well as teaching sound engineering and music technology. I started to work at Sphere Studios but I also mixed at Metropolis Studios and more in London while also mixing live music in town (mainly at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho). I moved to Italy in 2010 and then setup my own studio where I now do all my major productions.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I can only define it as tasty, depending on the genre.

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

A: Travis Scott for the experimentation involved, Sting for the sheer songwriting beauty, Meshuggah for the utter power, Tool for their creativity.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Just picture the client's imagination right in your brain and share your thoughts with him/her.

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

A: I work from electronic to rock, pop and world music too. Truth is I've listened to hundreds of thousands albums in my life and I love anything that taps into ma emotional strings.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My ears and my taste, definitely. They're not skills, really, but without them I could be the most proficient engineer and yet I couldn't deliver the goods.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My enormous listening experience and the ability to make it work according to the client's needs.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It depends on the client's request. When producing I normally receive a simple demo from the client, which can be just a simple guitar and voice recording on a mobile phone. From there I follow the client's guidelines in terms of style and sound and I start working on structure and arrangement, keeping a constant communication with him/her. Once these are ok, I then proceed to recording the parts. I often record guitars and bass myself and I program synths sounds too. For drums and any other instrument I rely on experienced session players. Depending on the project I can then provide mixes (Stereo and/or Dolby Atmos on Avid Pro Tools) or I can just prepare the tracks with the chosen format, sampling rate and bit rate to be ready for mixing and deliver them synced to the client or mixing engineer. I also can provide mastering (Stereo and/or Atmos) and prepare the finished masters for streaming, CD or vinyl pressing.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Think Ahead Studio is a small format top notch tracking/mixing/production facility in the heart of Taranto Old Town in Puglia. The main recording room is in the spacious lounge of a 19th century palace's ground floor flat. With its typical "carparo" stone walls and a high round ceiling, its tight and incredibly musical ambience makes it perfect for any tracking and production with "character", unlike the usual cold studio rooms. Our tracking/mixing control features a fully analogue Oram 16ch T Series desk, equipped with the legendary Oram EQs and preamps, cabled to an Antelope Audio Orion 32+ Gen 3 AD/DA converter. The control room is fully implemented with a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 Presonus system. You can listen to the Atmos versions of some of my productions on Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc... ​The software we use if the full version of Avid Pro Tools Studio with plenty of top plugins.

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

A: Chris Kimsey taught a lot to me, especially about capturing the "real" emotional performance of an artist. I'm inspired mainly by honest musicians, meaning those who want to produce real music and real art.

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

A: I mainly produce music in my Dolby Atmos studio (Think Ahead Studio) where I can record any live instruments except for big orchestras using a huge array of microphones, amplifiers and preamps. I also arrange orchestral parts using Spitfire Audio libraries and play guitars and bass on most of my productions except when full bands are involved.