Davide Cinci is an audio engineer originally from Italy and now based in Los Angeles. After earning a music degree in Italy, he moved to L.A. to study in the Audio Engineering program at Musicians Institute.
Currently, he is the Chief Engineer at the historic Sound Factory recording studio in Hollywood, where he’s worked with artists such as David Guetta, Aloe Blacc, Lauv, Raye, Skip Marley, Fiona Apple, King Princess, Troye Sivan, Rudimental, Doja Cat, Noah Cyrus, Lauren Jauregui, Blood Orange, KingQueen and more.
Davide took a moment to chat with us about his time at MI and his current career today. We love to catch up with MI graduates and ask them about their journey during and after MI, so read below for more!
Why did you choose to attend MI?
I got to know about Musicians Institute from my guitar mentor in Italy. He did the G.I.T. (Guitar Institute of Technology) program and always told me great things about his experience at the school. Right after getting my Bachelor in Music Performance (Guitar), I started to spend a lot of time in the studio environment, recording and producing records, I got very intrigued by the recording process and how to shape sounds and songs, wanted to know more about it, wanted to spend some time in the US to meet new talents… and I ended up enrolling at the MI.
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What is a lesson you learned in an MI Audio Engineering class that you feel you use the most in your career? What was your favorite class?
Think Big, be kind to everybody, be humble, keep your ears and eyes open (details are key) and leave your ego at the door when you are about to approach a session/song/artist, have a vision, take the vision the artist you’re working with has and make it reality. Service the song.
Favorite class has been Music Production held by David Isaac. Life changer.
Can you share the journey of getting your jobs after graduation?
…What has really helped me out was networking, letting people know what I was good at, and showing I was passionate about what I wanted to do. I used to reach out to talents I liked the work of, told them my story, asked many many questions, tried to help them out rather than asking for work and money, and it did pay off.
One of those talents (thank you IRKO!) introduced me to the crew at the historic Sound Factory studio in Hollywood. I joined them in 2018 and got the honor and luck of working with some of the best talents out there on a daily basis since.
What does a day in your life look like as the Chief Engineer at Sound Factory?
I get to the studio in the late am/early afternoon, quick chat with our studio manager to go over the projects we’re working on and the day we’re about to start, studio related stuff (gear, improvements, buys, repairs, updates, etc.), then we get together with the rest of the crew to prepare the rooms for the sessions, make sure the talents have the best experience, the environment facilitates creativity and we make music. Thats pretty standard and can sound boring.
The cool part is that the Sound Factory is a pirate ship, has its own rules and the crew follow its own code. Everyday is different and I get to wear different hats on different projects, and that’s what I love the most: I get to produce, record, mix, tech, play on records, nerd around, get on stage and play live.
It never gets boring or stale and the crew is one of the best teams you can be a part of.
What is the most important advice you have to MI students who want to be successful in the industry?
Have a clear vision and have a plan on how to make it happen. I did have a bunch of visions but blurry plans. I got to do pretty much everything I wanted to do, but I could have done it way way faster, better and without losing that much sleep.
- Follow your dreams.
- Never stop learning and evolving.
- Learn about money and marketing!
- Don’t isolate yourself, create and be part of a community of talented people, collaborate. Doesn’t matter how hot/cool/successful you might be at a certain time, wheels spins and it’s always better not to be isolated. Someone else in the community might be the new “hot one”, the community will keep you in the “cool loop”, but if you isolate yourself…
What are the main reasons you would recommend MI to musicians thinking about attending?
- Hundreds and hundreds of music people to meet.
- Don’t stick to the program you are attending, attend the school. I did the Audio Engineering program but I wanted to learn more about vocal production. So, for example, I hung out with singers and snuck into Vocal Open Counseling to pick singers’ brains.
- You can earn every aspect of music.
- Live at the campus, think outside of the box and shape your program and syllabus.
- Make a bunch of music, that’s your real ticket to the industry.
What is next for you? What do you still hope to accomplish? (Plug any cool projects if you wish!)
Definitely producing! I do like the challenges you face when you shape a record and I get to wear all of the hats I’ve alway wanted to wear: musician, songwriter, arranger, performer, engineer, nerd, mixer, designer… all of the cool things. Second to that comes mixing.I love to mix records, shape the sounds and make songs three dimensional.
I hope to accomplish many things: I’d love to have at least one record out for every genre of music, I’d love to get to the Grammys for multiple categories…I’d love to make records people can relate to. I’d love to have a few “vanity releases” just cus I wanted to do it. I’d love to play live more. I’d love to develop artists from scratch.
I’d love to make another record with DJO. I’d love to collaborate with producers I do like the work of, like Justin Raisen, Mike Elizondo, Greg Kurstin, Nick Launay, Adam Atom Greenspan, Shawn Everett, Gus Oberg, Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, Ethan Gruska, Tony Berg, Flume, TylerTheCreator and many more.
I’d love to never get bored of what I’m doing. Keep being in love with the music and keep the drive I have to make records.
Musicians Institute is the leader in contemporary music education offering certificates to Masters degrees in programs spanning instrument performance, electronic production, music business, and everything in between.
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