Mixing Engineer

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

A: I will mix your music personally, with all the care and attention it deserves. I will respect your performance and tell you honestly what can be improved. And I won't consider the job finished until you are happy with your record.

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

A: "Can you make it sound like "my favorite record"?" References are precious to me: they tell me what you love. But a mix can't invent a sound that wasn't recorded. The room, the instruments, the microphones and above all the musicians make most of a record's sound. My job is to respect what you recorded and bring out the very best of it, in the direction of the records you love. "Can you mix a live concert recording?" Yes, and I love it. I have recorded and mixed hundreds of concerts: audience noise, bleed between microphones and a real hall are my everyday work. "How should I send my tracks?" Consolidated WAV files, all starting from the same point, with a rough mix and a few reference records. I'll send you a simple checklist. "How long does it take?" 4-6 days per song, with 2 revisions included. For a full album, we agree on a schedule together. "Can you also master it?" Yes. Mastering is done by my trusted partner under my supervision, so the record keeps the same vision from mix to master.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is the project, and what does it mean to you? Which records do you love, and why? How was it recorded: which room, which microphones? Do you want a natural, "in the room" sound, or something more produced? What is your deadline, and is the release for streaming, CD or vinyl?

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

A: Listen to the engineer's work in your own genre. A great pop or hip-hop mixer is not automatically a great jazz or classical mixer: acoustic music needs a different ear, and a different respect for dynamics and space. Then send organized tracks and clear references, and talk openly about the sound you have in mind. It saves time and money, and the result will be closer to your dream.

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

A: I started as a musician, and that is still how I listen. I have now been a sound engineer for over 30 years, between recording studios, concert halls and tours around the world. I have been Stefano Bollani's personal engineer for more than 20 years, and I still am today. I am also a resident engineer at the Auditorium Parco della Musica and Casa del Jazz in Rome. Along the way I have recorded and mixed for ECM, ACT, Verve and Decca, worked on award-winning Italian film scores, and founded my own record labels.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Natural, transparent and musical. I want the listener to feel the room, the dynamics and the conversation between the musicians, not the mixing engineer. If you notice my work, I've done too much.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: When mixing acoustic music, start from the room and overhead microphones, not the close mics. Get a beautiful picture of the whole group first, as if you were sitting in the hall, then use the close mics only to add detail and presence. And use less compression than you think: dynamics are emotion.

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

A: Jazz, from piano solo and trio to big band. Classical and chamber music. Brazilian music and world music. Film scores. In short: music played by real musicians, in a real space.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Making acoustic music sound natural and detailed at the same time. Keeping the dynamics, the space and the interaction between musicians, while giving every instrument the clarity it deserves. Especially piano: after thirty years next to some of the finest pianists in the world, I know how a grand piano should sound.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Thirty years of listening to music from the best seat in the house. I am a musician and a producer myself, so I know what it means to give everything in a take and hope the recording will keep it. That is what I bring: a musician's ear, a deep respect for the performance, and the patience to find the sound that was already there. I don't change your music. I reveal it.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It always starts with listening. Before I touch a single fader, I listen to your recording the way an audience would: with no expectations, just the music. Then we talk about what you feel, the records you love, the sound you dream of. I begin with the room and the overall picture, the way the musicians heard each other when they played, and only then do I bring each instrument closer, gently, without breaking the spell. A mix, to me, is not about making things louder: it's about making them true. You receive a first mix, we refine it together with up to two rounds of revisions, and the master is done by my trusted partner under my supervision. When it's finished, it should sound like the best night you ever played.

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

A: Al Schmitt, for the way he recorded and mixed acoustic music with a natural, effortless sound, from Ray Charles and Sinatra to Diana Krall. Jan Erik Kongshaug, whose work at Rainbow Studio for ECM defined the sound of modern European jazz: clarity, space and silence. And Moogie Canazio, for his warm, rich sound on Brazilian music.

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

A: I mix and master jazz, classical, world music and film scores. My daily work is preserving the natural dynamics of acoustic instruments while giving them the clarity and depth modern listeners expect. I often work with trios, quartets and orchestras, where the room sound and the interaction between musicians are key.