Mixer and Session Drummer

Who is Luciano in the trenches when technical issues have the mixing process close to going off the rails? This stuff happens, but I was close to losing my mind trying to troubleshoot. Luciano was cool and calm, patient and constructive. That's what an artist needs when problems arise. As of the track? His suggestions for the Bass approach was key. His drum and perc arrangement massively key. His mix made this song so good it became the obvious "single" to the record.

Luciano may agree that this song was the most complex song to mix. Not only because of the amount of tracks, but because it was taking a otherwise straight ahead song into a very unique orchestral like texture made up of a horn section, backing vocal arrangement, layers of percussion, along with electric and acoustic guitar, bass, Rhodes, Vibes, Synth, and reverse guitar FX. Whew, so much and yet he mixed it to totally work together as a whole maintaining the essence of the song.

There are many appreciations for Luciano that I could comment on within the production of this song. The most relevant for here is that he was quite firm on not wanting to include tracks of crowd sounds in the mix that I felt were actually key to the song without distraction. I did not want him to simply compromise like "the artist is always right". He hung in the conversation and in the end agreed that these tracks did in fact contribute and he mixed them in perfectly.

This song's production included the classic artist/producer clash over the drum parts. My original demo had a complex drum groove, that although innovative, truly did not serve the track as a song. He laid down a drum arrangement that at first I thought was too too conventional, and I let him know very directly. Instead of responding in a way to escalate conflict, he said to basically let it sit and see how I feel after a little time. His parts were right and far more complex than I'd understood

Luciano considered numerous ideas I had regarding some late structural changes I was considering and rightfully pushed back against them in a gracious way. I had come to trust him very much at this stage of the production being one of the last songs to be tracked so he had earned my openness to deeply consider his perspective. It was the right call. He is extremely helpful in these critical creative decisions.

I had struggled for a vision for this song because it had elements that could be produced as a more acoustic guitar/songwriter track or a full out rock track. Without compromising the song, his drum and percussion performance and arrangement allowed for both elements to work gracefully together as a powerful rock song with acoustic bones.

After agreeing to 9 songs on the record, this song was a late addition and Luciano took it on despite deadlines. It needed a string section to be recorded and he made a Americana influenced song with a complex string arrangement come together into a mix that absolutely hit the target of my intentions.

Not every producer who also performs an instrument on the tracks is willing to stretch themselves as a musician to reach the potential within a song. Many times they are trying to respectfully stay out of the way. That is fine. But Luciano performed and arranged drums and percussion like a band mate bringing everything he had inside and took risks that transformed the song into something usually only a well-honed band could achieve. All this while also supporting my vision and a masterful mix.

Luciano is fluent in English, but more, he is fluent in North American and British music, from classic to current. We can reference songs so easily and discuss how they relate to our production vision. Add to this his profound understanding of rhythm from his Brazilian and Latin American roots, and I get to work with a drummer, percussionist, mixer and producer who knows, I mean really knows, how to get the rhythm bed working and moving with great sensitivity to the songs vibe.

Recordings are forever. This one is a lifer of appreciation. And I'll be honest, I wasn't the easiest artist to work with in certain moments. We all have insecurities in letting basically a stranger into our inner world of music. Luciano is a true artist himself, and he is gracious, patient, and finds a way to solutions that are more creative than what we had thought a mistake. We made a record together. A creature that is both human and professional.

Luciano took the time to talk with me about my relationship to the song in a way unique to other producers I've worked with. He had me make a Spotify playlist, and he shared one of his own. He asked many questions and we quickly refined our communication in the collaboration process. All this initial respect and professionalism paid off. The results were beyond my expectations and the process was without concerns. Only creativity.