Session studio drummer

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

A: The last 2 albums I recorded, I'm very proud of them. They were both independently produced, so we all collaborated in writing the songs, the arrangements, etc. So, my role was drummer and co-producer.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently finishing some pre-production work for one of my bands, we are finishing up the songs that will be included in our 2nd album. I'm also working on the pre-production of the 4th album for another one of my bands and recently finished some recordings for someone in the US.

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

A: No, I'm new and I don't think I know anyone.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog, there's just something about knobs and the physicality of analog that is quite satisfying.

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

A: To delivery quality work on the stipulated time.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The fact that it can literally have no boundaries. I can be working with someone from the US today and tomorrow with someone from Ukraine.

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

A: How do I deliver my work? Most common answer: a stereo stem

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

A: That almost anyone can program drums on a DAW and it's gonna sound just like a drummer. Although, this is getting better and closer to "the real thing" at an alarming rate, as a drummer I can still notice when a recording was done with a live drummer or a machine. There are some subtleties that no quantifying or anything like that can still replicate quite well.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is the tempo of the song? What is the bit rate and frequency in which the audio was recorded and exported? (I've seen this being an issue if it's not the same) Any particular notes for me? IE: In the first verse I want you to do this or that

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

A: Don't be afraid to ask anything that might not be clear from the services I can provide and don't be afraid to ask for something that might not entirely feat in my gig's description... who knows? If it's not too crazy and I can do it, maybe I will.

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

A: Power being an issue, I'd go with hand percussion, maybe a bongo, a nice tent (don't wanna sleep in the wild), a big machete, an acoustic guitar and a didgeridoo.

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

A: Playing drums it's gonna be 26 years or so. Particularly recording and collaborating with people abroad, since November last year. Although I have quite a lot of studio experience and experience on recordings on my own (I have YouTube channel in which I occasionally upload drum covers), I feel one of the "bright sides" of the pandemic is that I almost forced us to change the way we work, last year I made quite a few recordings for my bands and even for some other local bands, all done in my studio. So that kind of helped me make the decision to try these platforms and share my music with everyone.

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

A: Tough one, I'm not sure. I'm usually humble enough to be happy working with anyone who would appreciate what I do, but if I have to choose, I'd say bands like Disturbed, Foo Fighters, Green Day (given they all have amazing drummers already, but if I can dream, haha)... mainly because I believe they are truly genuine people and are bands that have "survived" the passing of time, they are still strong even 20-some years after (and even more).

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Yes, in general, for all musicians... always be prepared before you hit the recording studio. Being prepared means knowing your parts by hard, having rehearsed and practiced with a click track or metronome and be ready to make adjustments on the go, specially if you're working with a producer, even though you have to be prepared and know your stuff, in the studio ideas can flow and the producer might ask you to try something different or the audio engineer might ask you to play or tune something different, be versatile enough to make adjustments. For drummers in particular, you're gonna be the first to record 99% of the times. Know your stuff and be ready to play with a backing great or without it, maybe the guitarist forgot the tracks and now it's just you and the click track, so know the songs by hard. Hope for the best, but be prepared for anything... the more you are, the better you'll be and the smoother the session will go.

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

A: Rock, hard-rock, metal, grunge, alternative rock primarily

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I can quickly grasp and idea and play something on top of. I think having played with several musicians over the years helped me develop that skill to, almost instantly, come-up with a drum part for a new song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I believe I bring power, creativity, dynamics.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I asked the artist for all necessary backing tracks and tempo map, but I can also work with just a general idea. In other platforms, some artists may send me maybe 30 seconds of the song and then I record a 3/4 minute drum track taking that idea and working on it. Once I get the audio files, I run the song(s) through my head enough times and, if necessary, create charts in case I need to outline specific sections of the song. Once that's done, I go the studio and record a few takes on the drums.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have 2 drum sets (a Mapex Saturn IV Exotic and a Mapex Armory, both 5 piece), several snare drums to choose from (Mapex Tomahawk Steel, Mapex Black Panther Brass, Pearl Piccolo Maple, Tama SLP Snom Maple, Tama Soundworks Kapur, Sonor AQ2 Maple), I have a variety of Sabian and Zildjian Cymbals. All drums are individually mic-ed, so depending on the song I may use anywhere between 8 and 10 microphones to record the entire kit. For recording, I use a 12-channel mixer and then send it stereo to a USB Saffire 6 Soundcard. I use Ableton Live or Reaper as DAWs. Additionally, I have some percussion instruments and a multipad should you need me to record percussion as well.

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

A: I'm inspired by many artists, I try to be like a sponge, take as much information and tips I can from anyone. Even though my primary drumming could arguably be described as heavy-rock/rock drumming, I try to include paterns and arrangements from other music styles and like to play with dynamics.

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

A: Rock, heavy rock drum recording.