Music Producer & Mix Engineer

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

A: I believe I could cite Apanhador Só's first album, which I was the producer responsible to their maturation as artists and after that they got really big in the Brazilian and international scene as one of the most avant-garde experimental pop bands. The Chimarruts reggae band's third album "Livre para Viajar" was particularly defiant: they were losing sales in the local market and I was hired to make them pop out. The result was their sale went a lot up and they've got a contract with EMI for the next album and got very famous then. For sound, I would cite the band Dingo Bells which I produced two albums and the Brazilian singer Carmen Correa ( her album is a work I did with a few musicians), both as a producer, recording and mixing engineer and the results are outstanding: we could get a different-but-still-pop-enough sound with beautiful arrangements and a contemporary perspective in both cases.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am producing an Brazilian established independent rock band's new album.

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

A: I did not research it yet...

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Because the world have changed and I can have them both, the warm and the surgical tools!

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

A: I'll do my best to try to get the best out of you.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Im this job I can feel alive and moving while I am making the difference to someone else's existence. I just feel to be part of someone else's goals and it happens I can vibrate with each victory as it was my own too!

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

A: "How much it cost a production?" It depends on the type of production you're looking for. Production is basically like cars: if you go to a car shop and ask "how much does the car cost?", the sales agent will probably ask you "Which car? The Volkwagen's 74's Beetle or the newest BMW top model?". It may have many different costs, depending on the service provided. What I usually do is to provide a ver cost-effective service for a great result. I can work with a greater cost to a greater result but I DO NOT work with cheap prices and bad results.

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

A: Think I am the one who will make things get there! I am only the guy pushing the guy that needs to get there...

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How do you describe your role in music, your music career and/or your music ambitions? Do you have a previous album/released work? What is the style(s) of music of your work? How many good songs/compositions you have to choose how many to work with? / How many tracks have the session you want me to mix? Do you have track/ artists references to sound, arrangement, style, emotion /andor market? What do you expect from me?

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

A: Try to understand the strongest and weakest points of the person you want to hire is as important as understanding your own. I can help you figure out what are yours!

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

A: I would take: a Sennheiser MD441 (the Island is too noisy for condensers), an Universal Audio 6176, a modded Universal Audio Apollo 8x with 6 core processor, a nice set of monitor reference near field Focal speakers and a pair of Beyer DT 770 Pro Closed Headphones (in case I find someone's in the island). I'm counting on a powerful mac pro with Pro Tools loaded with tons of plugins too (I would change it for the speaker if they do not count im this case) I can use my voice and do anything I want using these tools only.

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

A: I have more than 15 years as music producer. I have several awards in production, composition and as artist too. Recently I've got Premio Profissionais da Música/ Music Pro Awards 2018 of Brazil as Producer of The Year.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'm not so easy, but I deliver great and different results.

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

A: I would like to work with the ones that will grow with the kind of production I provide. Because I feel I can make a lot of difference in their lives by shortening the distance between them and their dreams.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: If you wanna go to the next level, you will get tired but keep in mind you do need to continue working hard or you will fail. This is the step where most of the people gives up. ;)

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

A: I usually work with artists that utilizes the popular music languages (such as rock, reggae, funk, rap, Brazilian music /MPB, folk and R&B) but are looking for an authentic or hybrid way to perform it.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is I am very dedicated and a perfectionist, but I also have a lot of easiness for detecting problems in the not-so-racional field of tracks and songs and I usually translate without troubles from the question (why is it not sounding great? ) to answer (hmm.. this is the way it's sung i this chorus...).

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I believe I can help to bring a better understanding about the artist's authenticity and a more involving dramatic feel to the track. I'm very good make a deeper and/or wider image, but the most important thing is I can be very useful to get different textures and feelings to the tracks, instead of standard obvious sounds.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I typically do preproduction until the song and arrangements rock! Then, I setup a recording agenda with a recording engineer. I prefer to edit each instrument before the next one comes (in cases of overdubbing recording, not live ones). After everything is properly performed, recorded and edited, I start to mix. In mixing I like to change arrangements editing, re-record, cut or put more stuff, if I feel the track will get stronger than mixing only (people and ideas do a lot more difference than buttons and gear). Once the track is ready for mastering, I also prefer to recall the mix based on mastering changes than get stuck to the master engineer to fix things in the stereo file.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use a hybrid setup in a small/medium facility. I usually work with Pro Tools HD and Mac Pro. I have many many plugins of several brands which I love, such as SoundToys, Fabfilter, Universal Audio, Waves, Slate Digitl, Plugin-Alliance, Avid and BOZ. I use Black Lion modded Universal Audio Apollo 8 interfaces + top notch in/out AD/DA converters. I also have a bunch of analog preamps, EQs, compressors, delays and reverbs (such as Manley, Neve, Universal Audio, Roland to name a few), many interesting mics (AKG, Peluso, Beyerdynamics, Shure, Sennheiser, Neumann, Geffel etc). I usually like to use analog summing for mix bounce and I use a complete hybrid setup on mix, but I prefer processing hardware everytime to make decisions and have a fast recall. Lots of guitars, some bass, some keyboard. But the most important gear are my ears, my heart and my mind. I can get those anywhere ;)

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

A: I'm inspired by many music souls, from vintage to modern styles! From old classics like The Beatles, Bob Marley, Prince, Curtis Mayfield, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Funkadelic, Caetano Veloso, Os Mutantes and Tom Zé, passing through late classics as Kings of Leon, Chemical Brothers, Radiohead, Jorge Drexler, Céu, Sondre Lerche, Beck, Bjork, DJ Shadow, Wilco and so... Until a bunch of new no so known ones. But I always try to work with the client's references to get what TO DO and what NOT to do.

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

A: About 80% of the times I'm hired to produce, record vocals and/or mix a track. By production, I mean pré-production (artist/song/market analysis, understanding artist's authenticity, choosing a conception to follow, change melody/lyric/rhythm/harmony of the song if needed and establish/create/change arrangements to pursue a concept/sale) and production itself (everything related to the aesthetics to be pursued in the recording process).