Hello Everybody,
If you’ve ever been browsing through a bookstore or newsstand (remember those?) you may have come across a publication called “Modern Drummer”. It’s the pre-eminent drumming magazine, and it has educated and enlightened generations of drummers, all over the world, to this very day! If you’re a drummer this magazine is part of your identity.
Well, I happen to have sat down for a chat with its founder David Frangioni (CEO, engineer, producer, and what a marvellous time it was, talking all things hardware, and Aerosmith, and how music production drastically changed over the last 25+ years.
David is also one of my favourite people, a great friend, and a wonderful human being.
He is also a diverse and multi-talented individual: between running Modern Drummer, mixing immersive audio, audio consulting, guest-speaking, and producing artists, it’s amazing he’s able to keep it all straight but it may be the reason he’s reached such great heights, and why he’s worked with so many greats like Bryan Adams, Kiss, Ozzy, and Aerosmith.
Fun fact: we’ve both worked with Aerosmith. More in a second.
He’s also managed to be incredibly adaptable with the times, keeping one foot rooted in the wisdom and perspective of the “olden days” while also staying current cutting-edge technologies like Atmos. He maintains that much of this can be attributed to the fact that there’s always something new to learn, and to improve upon saying, “Once you get to the top of one mountain, you then see the bottom of another one.”
Some highlights include discussing:
- The mighty SSL console.
- The importance of “workflow” and its impact on your ability to create.
- His use of the Avid S6 control surface and how this influenced his decision to use it as his main mixing control unit;
- Its “modularity, configuration, and flexibility; the outboard controllers, and surround panning capabilities”.
- His use of the Avid S6 control surface and how this influenced his decision to use it as his main mixing control unit;
- The nuances of outboard signal path vs. “in the box”/outboard gear hybrid approaches and how, “faders [and physical effects controls] are an absolute must.”
This interview is one you will no doubt, glean some great knowledge from.
Working with Aerosmith
David engineered an impressive 9 albums for them, during the tour for their landmark album “Pump”.
“I worked on singles, the movies, and the greatest hits…I was basically their ‘in house’ guy…we were doing a lot of computer recording, and programming, Pro Tools and Performer.”
He talks about setting up the members’ home studios, namely Joe Perry’s “Bone Yard” studio, initially working with ADATs and later adapting to Pro Tools, a journey the band took along with him.
“At that time you were exchanging tracks on ADATs [not uploading WAV files with the click of a button]…it’s hard to believe but, that’s how we worked.”
His introduction to the band was made through Tom Hamilton who (he describes as a “father figure”) was using a pre-Pro-Tools-era setup (“Master Tracks Pro with a Tascam he was using to record tracks”) and he needed David’s help. This all happened when David was in his early 20s, living in a small town in the Boston, MA area.
Tom introduced him to the band, proposing him as an option for a recording engineer and giving him an opportunity, saying that he’d advocate for David but, “then it’s on you.”
No pressure.
This experience opened many more doors for him, working in new mediums (far beyond his main role as their engineer):
“They were very active…doing a ton of singles, and edits, and songs for movies…at that time the cutting-edge gaming world would be pinball machines, CD Rom games, and then it kinda migrated to ‘Guitar Hero’…it just gave me experience in all these different lanes…what started out as, ‘we’ll have you as our guy in the studio…’ really turned into a much bigger role.”
It certainly speaks to the importance of diversifying your skill-set in this business. I always emphasize this point – that being successful in the music world is never just one thing.
David knows this all too well, and it’s for this reason that his perspective is truly “currency” in the industry.
Gear, Gear, and More Gear: David’s Hardware Selection
A self-proclaimed “geek, nerd, gearhead”, David says that he “loves the gear as much as [he] loves the process of creating the music itself.”
And it’s no wonder that in addition to the 2,000-3,000 plugins he has at his disposal, his gear list is equally mind-boggling.
Here’s a list of some essential gear he uses in his studio:
- Avid S6 Control Surface
- McDSP APB-16
- UAD Satelite
- DAD MOM (monitor operating module)
- t.c. electronic controllers for plugin effects
- TC 1210
- TC 2290
- Brickwell HD
- MAster XHD
- Icon
- SSL UC1 Advanced Plug-in Controller
- Yamaha NS10 Monitors (as secondaries)
- Focusrite RedNet A16R MkII 16×16 Dante Audio Interface
- Avid MTRX Studio 16×16 Audio Interface
- Yamaha SREV1
- Lexicon
- 300 Digital Effects System
- 480L
- 960L (David was a beta tester for this)
- 2 AMS RMX units
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel Microphone Preamp
- BAE 1073D 500 Series Microphone Preamp & EQ
If you’d like to get into more details and hear more about David’s story, check out the video!
