Originally from Rovigo, Italy, Diego Stocco has been a musician since the age of six, when he received his first electronic keyboard. Attempts at formal music training were thwarted by an incident at conservatory when he sawed his violin in half; but since then Stocco has has more than his share of success in producing sound for movies, trailers, video games, television... you get the idea.

Though he's no slouch in ProTools, Stocco's website features images and video of some of his more experimental inventions and techniques, e.g.: the Sonic Washer, the Typosonic Machine, and the Burning Piano. Capturing sound from a one-time event like a burning piano (seriously, he set the thing on fire) can be a challenge even without considering which microphone one might use. Stocco says Røde has served him well in this instance, and others.

Diego Stocco

I have some ambitious and curious sound design experiments in mind, and the biggest challenge is to find the right technology to make them happen. To a certain extent that's related to the musical side. I don't really consider music and sound design as two separate entities. Some musical projects are based on a specific sound design concept. In general I'm seeing what I do as an ongoing challenge; once I reach the step I want to achieve I just keep working toward the next.

I've been using Røde mikes for some years, I got an NT4 first and then some other models, the NT5 and NT1000. I was looking for affordable microphones that could also give me a great sound, especially for sampling. What made me decide to stick with Røde was their flexibility. I've used them to record all sort of instruments, in studio and outdoor sessions, and sometimes I wasn't too easy on them. Even in those cases the recordings have been consistently good.

The ultimate test probably was when I sampled the burning piano. Even if I kept them at a "safe" distance, I wasn't sure if the temperature was going to damage the capsules. I was very happy to find out that they didn't suffer any damage, and I'm still using them today. Recently I got a couple of NT6, which intrigued me because the capsule is separate from the body, and I also got two NT2-A for their variable polar pattern.

These days I'm working on some new sounds and I'm using the NT6s by attaching them to my fingers with two thick rubber bands, so basically I have the freedom to dynamically move them around the instrument or objects I'm recording without having to deal with mike stands. Because of the movable capsule, in some cases I'm not even using an external cable. I can plug the body of the mike directly into the preamp or the portable recorder. If I could ask for a personalized accessory I'd ask for a finger mount adaptor for the NT6, the rubber bands hurt after a while.

Stay tuned for more with Diego Stocco.