Daniele VantaggioBeats and Brutes

Daniele VantaggioBeats and Brutes

Daniele Vantaggio aka Seismal D creates techno and melodic deep techno, and is releasing music on deadmau5’s label – mau5trap. Daniele talks to us about music creation, inspiration, and a room full of Arturia.

"As kids, my brother and I had always been immersed into music; my father is a drummer and passionate about music: rock, jazz, funk and pop were constant at our home."

"I've always been attracted to music and computers, so my first electronic music loves were definitely hardcore, hardstyle, gabber and derivative genres, let's say the Dutch and Italian scenes of the late nineties."

"Then I discovered house music and techno but actually I was influenced by the French-touch of Daft Punk, Cassius, Justice and Laurent Garnier. Other idols were the Big Beats giants The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, the innovators like Aphex Twin, Underworld, Orbital and many other techno artists like Robert Armani, Speedy J and Joey Beltram. I got one of my greatest inspirational sources from listening to the Danish producer Trentemøller, the Norwegians Royksopp and French artist Emmanuel Top – that must have been around 2002. I got deeply influenced by them."

The Beginning

"I loved computers and understood that I could do things in them that traditional instruments could not. I made my first few steps by being self-taught with software from Magix called Music Maker, where I did a lot of “gym”, but I was very limited so I started studying at St. Louis, an electronic music college in Rome, with Maestro Luca Spagnoletti. I learned how to produce in a professional way with Steinberg's Cubase SX2, and I started a long academic journey that lasted about 14 years."

"My sound must be warm and enveloping, airy and fluctuating, with nuances of randomness."

"I love when warm and meaty bass sounds, like from a MiniBrute, contrast with sonic environments… for me soundscapes are everything! Quite often I start a song from the atmospheres, because they draw me in a sound space, where I start walking."

A Brother of Brutes

"I am an avid fan of the "Brute" series. I have two MiniBrutes (classic and SE) and a MicroBrute and they are now irreplaceable for their strength of sound and solidity and I always know what to expect from them. Their successor, 2S, it's slightly different."

"MiniBrute 2S, this is so good for music… it's like taming a bull! "

"The semi-modular section of the MiniBrute 2S is a real revolution, I have several modular and semi-modular systems, I like to interact the MiniBrute 2S with the MS20 from Korg, the Mother32 from Moog and also control my 27U Eurorack modular system, both in audio and signals control. With external connectivity, the randomness potential goes far, it is important to know when to stop!"

Beats and Brutes

"In our DNA we have the sounds of the first classic drum machines, 606, 808, 909, etc., that immediately recall a musical aesthetic. With the DrumBrute I have the same feeling, even if the sounds are different and they have their own well-defined character. I love kick sub, hat and snare, but the most creative thing is polymetry programming, sometimes controlling other instruments with the MIDI drum map."

"DrumBrute, I would say, it's an instant classic."

"Some tracks from my IDM project “Fatalism” were entirely written with the DrumBrute. "

Classics for Modern Music

"My first "Moog" VSTi was the Mini V in the early 2000s, later I bought the Modular and all the rest. You don't need to have "futuristic" machines to make modern music, just make a good sound design to make fresh sounds. I believe that the source of synthesis is the first step towards the creation of sounds that represents you: I can start from a classic Moog, SEM, Prophet V or a complex DX7 V, at the end it depends on how you place it in your production. Synths are beautiful but they don't become music on their own… yet!"

"The V Collection represents the greatest sound legacy of the past years, will always be the starting seed of everything… "

Being Signed to Mau5trap

"My first contact with deadmau5 was by pure luck: he was playing one of our tracks, made with Frankyeffe, called “Fading Out” feat. Njira (it includes a MiniBrute arpeggio:) in his BBC residency."

"After that we got in touch with the A&R label: they asked me to send them some music and they appreciated it very much."

"Mau5trap is a really great venture and I love and enjoy working with them. Besides I’m already engaged in some pretty awesome projects for 2019 and I hope it will turn out a great year for me. "

More on the Machines

"In MiniBrute 2S I love its versatility and its ability to insert in any setup. Sometimes we process the signal of the MiniBrute 2S in some high-end machines at 'LoudnProud' Mastering studio where I work and get really immense sounds... I also use it in pop productions as a sub-layer for emphasis on low-end."

"Moreover, it has a small Beatstep Pro inside. It’s a perfect combination to create sequences, rhythmic structures and freaking random melodies cause sometimes I make it fight with its neighbour, the Beatstep Pro."

"The impressive thing of the MiniBrute 2S is the sound, sharp and prickly... it's pure techno!"

But Wait… There’s More

"The Beatstep Pro represents one of the few certainties of my studio and my live set. It’s almost always the master clock of everything or the bridge between DAW and hardware machines."

"BeatStep Pro one is, in my opinion, the definitive device for the control of synths and drums, both live and in the studio. With BeatStep Pro I control external synthesizers, modular, DrumBrute and everything that is CV clocked."

"I try to create melodic patterns by ear without looking at notes values to get something unconstrained by the tone key, then I also enjoy “CVing” other parameters of the synthesis path, such as filter cutoff or FM index or whatever. It's a perfect hybrid control surface."

"I have a lot of incoming records this year, originals and remixes, both as Seismal D but also other artistic music projects: pop, house, trap, IDM, dub techno, music for film and series, and also projects with other artists and singers."

"I love producing music and Arturia instruments are for me like the lightspeed, a constant!"