Mixing Mastering Productions

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

A: I am honoured to have been chosen by artists such as Luca Agnelli (Drumcode) and Claudio Coccoluto and to have been able to remaster the album Dreamland and a collection of the best hits by the late Robert Miles.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I optimize the mixing of Luca Agnelli for his releases on Drumcode, Suara, Etruria, etc.. I'm the sound manager of many record labels. I'm checking all the new Caneschi's releases. Some Singer Albums and some Jazz album stem mastering

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

A: Leave some empty space both at the beginning (to preserve the initial transients) and at the end (to let the long reverb tail decays naturally) of your track. I work in my studio from Saturday to Tuesday, so if you send me the tracks on Saturday or Sunday you will have them probably by Tuesday. In some urgent cases I can also do them for the next day. I can make discounts for more than 4 tracks or for continuous work or if you become a repeat customer. I also grant a discount in case of subscription with advance payment. If you can export 32bit tracks I don't care about the headroom, this is because, thanks to that format. the dynamic range is almost unlimited. I am concerned that they are not already over-compressed, I need an RMS at least of -8dB, better if -10dB. On the Master Channel you can leave the EQs and Compressors that characterise, in the way you like, the track. You will have back Wav file at 16bit suitable for the digital distribution but, if you request it, also a 24 bit and / or MP3. Certainly if there are aspects of my mastering that do not satisfy you, you will report what you don't like and we will find a way to solve together. Furthermore if you have reference tracks to which your tracks must look like, please give them to me.

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

A: Conor Dalton, from Glowcast Audio Mastering, mastered 2 of my mixes in a really good way!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Mine is a powerful sound, with low clean and steady frequencies, high crystalline but not annoying frequencies, a dynamic, transparent and balanced result in the whole spectrum.

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

A: Peter Gabriel for the sound research, Daft Punk for the groove, Lady Gaga for the Voice.

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

A: I love excellent recordings, regardless of the musical genre. I've been playing keyboards since I was 5 years old, I grew up listening to all kinds of music, at 13 I was already passionate about Hi-Fi, I always listened to recordings in high definition for audiophiles. My references as Sound Engineers was Bob Katz, Alan Parsons, Trevor Horn. My references as Records was from Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon, Grace Jones Slave to the Rhythm, Alan Parsons Project, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Daft Punk, Peter Gabriel, Sheffield Lab Recordings, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Original Master Recordings, etc.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Some musical genres need analog or analog-simulated treatments, others digital, because they are born from the peculiarities of numerical technologies.

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

A: I will always give my best but I can not do the impossible.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I like challenges, make something sound like the required reference.

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

A: Q: In which format do you need the song and how will it be completed? A: I need the files in WAV, AIF or BWF at the same sampling frequency used in your working session, for example 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz etc., and with a resolution of at least 24 bit thanks.

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

A: We fix it the mix :)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Do you need a tuning of the sound of your track or do you need a more creative intervention that improves the sounds for the chosen musical genre?

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

A: 1) Solar cell panel. 2) Satellite internet connection. 3) MacBook Pro with my audio softwares. 4) Good USB digital studio monitors. 5) USB Master keyboard.

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

A: I started playing keyboards at the age of 5, at 12 I became an audiophile, at 19 I bought my first synthesizer, I studied a lot and experimented even more.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: First of all, it should not leave you indifferent, it must leave you speechless, and give you what the musical genre wants to communicate

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

A: As an Engineer: Mixing, Mastering, Stem Mastering, General Optimising, Sound Designing. As a Producer: adding productions if needed, composing, songwriting, arranging and producing many genres of music, from House, Electro, EDM, Future House, Progressive House, Techno, Tech House to Lounge, Chill-Out, Games Music and so on.

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

A: Mainly electronic music genres.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Being both a musician and a composer, a producer, an audiophile and an audio engineer, It makes everything clearer to me

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: The core of my studio is the Prism Sound Orpheus mastering grade audio card. I use both Apple Mac OSX and PC Windows platforms with the best and most popular DAW and Audio Editors like: Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic Pro, Studio One Pro, WaveLab, Cubase, Samplitude, Reason, FL Studio, etc. powered by a incredible huge collection of the best and/or common plugins as: Accusonus, Acon Digital, Acustica-Audio, Antares, Blue Cat Audio, Brainworx, Elysia, Cableguys, D16 Group, DADA Life, DMGAudio, Eventide, Fab-Filter, Flux, HOFA, iZotope, Kazrog, Lexicon, LiquidSonics, MAAT, Melda Production, Native Instruments, Nu-Gen Audio, Plugin-Alliance, Slate Digital, Softube, Sonalksis, Sonarworks, Sonnox, SoundToys, TC Electronic, U-He, UAD, UVI, Vengeance, Voxengo, Waves, XLN, XFER Records and many more. Monitoring are from: Focal, Genelec, Yamaha, Kef, AKG studio and headphones monitors.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Our ears become accustomed to the faulty sounds, do not forget to reset them frequently.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Inspiration is floating in the air, it's just a matter of listen to it, shape it creating the best sound.