Music Producer, Mix & Master

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: death metal, reggaeton, romantic piano, voiceover for audiobook, and when have time my next single.

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

A: For now, I am just the lower level because 90 bucks is great, but when the government broke Brazil, 1 US$ is 6x our money. Só, a Coke there is what? 2 dollars? Hear is 10! So, 90, is similar a 600 here (dolars). And then theres Pro Tools Studio subscription, UAD, Plugin Alliance, Logic, Ableton... etc etc. Licenses and licenses. Buttt! When I become a high society premium member, for sure, I will make my networking here and like few years ago when I was aways visiting the Uncle Sun 2 times by years, I had my team of musicians, well. What can I say!! If this is really the best point for professionals like us, and clientes.... I want to hire, I want to work, I want to recommend... this is the only way we keep working. This is the club now. Let's hug and do what we love

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: both. I guess I wrote too much in the first questions and already told my opinion. :)

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

A: excellence and and expectations above what was anticipated.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Tell me what you want and you will have it. I am not crazy today to spend tons os dollars again building a mega second Tinanic. Last year I sold 90% of my gears. Today I have a Galaxy 32+, an boring Avalon 737 that clients still think that will make their song a hit. A UA 4710-d and my mac, my Yamahas HS80M and my KRK headphone and this is enought to produce, creat, arranjement, do the magic with my stuffs. When I like, I am free to jump from the Titanic and I have 3 partners in my city with at least U$3mi of structure and equipment. There I make the party happen, record, mix (pre mix) because I still prefer do the last adjustment (feel free to trash what I listed that I kept in my home studio), but how is better? A engineer working fast listening in 4 different monitors and the last (to get lucky) is the NS-10 where he will realized that vocals and guitars are dominating the mix, because (is like my grandma... 92 years and still say that walk with nude foot in the kitchen will let me cold). My father taught me how to play music on vinyl when I was a kid; I loved the experience and the ritual of the needle. For years I heard him say that vinyl sounded the best, and so did the vast majority of those “old-school production guys who say everything was better in their day” (they just forget about the Holocaust, racism, the Cold War, and so much misery), just like cassette tapes. It’s awesome to record with tape reels; I recorded once and the sound I was aiming for—a hard rock band with layered guitars, perfectly recorded and tuned—I didn’t even adjust the amp knobs… just the mics were enough. Beautiful drums, cymbals that don’t sound like an Italian restaurant, collector’s edition DW snare, a kick drum so perfect it was already EQ’d. And then I played it back on tape and it sounded like a mix of the Rolling Stones with that Red Hot Chili Peppers album *Blood Sugar, Sex, Magic*—no offense to the great producer Rick Rubin, but either the band really pushed for it (and that’s what I think, since I’ve met the guys) to turn the bass into a berimbau and put the drums in a garage, well… there are bands sometimes where the beginning is a real mess, right? But I don’t want to judge—maybe Rick’s hair was just really messy that day, lol. (P.S.: Rick, if you read this, I really admire your work, but this is my way of getting your attention and hoping you’ll invite me to a barbecue someday :D, sorry, it’s just a joke). Long story short, no more tapes, and today the vinyl is driving me crazy with all the crackling and those crazy drum tracks on one side and the rest on the other. Not even my dad can hear properly anymore; he has to sit right next to the right or left speaker and choose which instrument he wants to hear. So, to wrap up the reason behind the Titanic. Simply because back in 2003, when I entered the industry, digital audio was practically a sin. Today, some UADs even perform better than hardware because they require no maintenance and have no DC offset. But in 20 years… and I’m not being pessimistic. Everything is going to change abruptly. And do you know why? Because the ears of those growing up or being born today have a different auditory perception; the noises they’re exposed to change their taste and the way they interpret what sounds good and what sounds harsh. And these are the ones who will be the future customers. Advice: Learn to use AI in an ultra-advanced way. Not to make music. But to be your employee who prospects, sends proposals, seeks out new technologies—even makes purchases on the app—AI does it all! Seriously? I’m already way ahead, not to create AI music and sell it, but to create my apps, my analyzers, my campaigns, my marketing—and it goes far. Just a tip. Oh, and of course, I offer consulting on this—but ethically, only here. I’ll figure out how to create a gig like this if I can… if not, I’ll just go research it, you lazy bum :DDD

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

A: I can answer it about musicians like Paul and Lennon, Bob Marley, James Hetfield, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Freddy Mercury, Carter Beaufort, Axl Rose, Caetano Veloso, Djavan, Ed Motta, Charlie Brown Jr, ...that's so many... that e realized I was answering the most known, but love blues, love soul, love groove, ahh, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Elton John and again I had a mind storm remembering all they. Producer? Well, of course I be inspired for many, but today, for producers of my generation 40- 50. As many, I had my idols, those who has their names in some plugins, and... each day I open my instagram, or the youtube, I see my Idols lying that the "formula" of a huge song is the PA pack, or some isolated Waves, Fabfilter... so, their are selling and sponsoring plugins. What happens? Money is over? Did they lose their pensions? ...sorry, but I really don't believe CLA using a Waves CLA-2A in his studio if beside he has a real onde. And who used know the huge difference how it works on the audio. Thats not about color, or quality in the end. A Waves CLA-2A or 1176 in the right hands sometimes do much more than an analog collector. There was a day I went to Sao Paulo (Brazil) to mix a song. It was weird because the guy was totally lost with what he wants from me, but, paid me a good "tip". When I came in the "studio", which was in the back of his house with two guys (we call "sertanejo" but is a kind of braziliancountry music) and guess the setup to work? Mic Behringer B2 Pro, interface Behringer UMC404HD, no prés, no hardware, and and PC with windows 10 (cracked with Pro Tools 12.3 crashing everytime, that night I dreamed with my fingers doing Ctrl + C - Ctrl + V every minute. Well, the result? When I show this song for everyone, including OldSchool engineers (that kind how says that really listen the diference of an Antelop conversor from a Motu... blablabla) When I put to he listen, of course, I told that I recorded and mixed in the best studio located in RIo de Janeiro, with A valv Telefunken, U-87, a Gibson J-45 (was a Takamine G series black) and I put to play. Well, he said what diferrence makes a good equipment, look this! Sounds clean, beutiful hi and low end... this is what I aways say for everyone. A good work is impossible to do with cheap equipment. Well, I didn't have the courage to tell the truth because it would have been too humiliating. But this reflect some points of how you work with what you have. People have a bad mic (or think is) and put a fabfilter q4 with 20 bell with tiny Q trying to match a reference, and worst, they do cuts, in the low area, or use the automated mach eq.... well, the fase correlation turns something like eqing in Jupiter. How is the guilt? The cheap equipment. To be clear, I am not saying that cheap equipment is better, never!! I am saying that nobody inspire me today, People are constantly fooled by their own brains, opinions, attachments, prejudices, and stubbornness. Can you tell the difference between three popular beers just by taste? I doubt it!! In my 20 years working in marketing, I’ve never seen anyone get it 100% right.

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

A: Music production for many genres and knowledge of what each styles asks in sound and instrumental characteristics as well the way of mixing and mastering.