01- Hello Rafael, how are you doing? Thank you so much for this new interview to talk about your last album named “Brainworms I”. First of all, I would like to start by knowing what was the reason for the tittle?
During the process of writing and pre-production of the album, I was reading a book named “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain” by Oliver Sacks. The author is a neurologist and he mentions that the expression Brainworms is used to describe those melodies which you can’t get out of your head. And since the melodies I was working with own this characteristic added to the fact of me playing it several times, I thought it would be interesting to use this expression in order to tittle my songs. I have always worked, and even more this time, to create remarkable melodies in order to people to sing and remember them.
What was the reason to add the number “I” on the tittle? Are we talking about a first part of a bigger work?
Exactly! To give the Idea that this is the first one of a sequence...
02- A great surprise of this álbum is that know you were responsible for the lead vocals! How did you get interested about singing? Have you ever taken up voice lessons? What’s your register?
I have always enjoyed singing and I had lessons for a long time. It took a while for me to find my style and the ideal voice’s placement which fits better my voice. It also took a while for me to understand the breathing and technique part, but I have always enjoyed, I have always written the songs singing and I have always taken lessons with several teachers. This way I think I felt myself more comfortabl to sing, because I sang on my style and didn’t try to emulate somebody else and with the confidence that this what I like doing. I thought that even people didn’t like my voice, they would felt that at least I did it with a lot of willing and emotion.
When it comes about my voice register, I believe I am a tenor, but not that tenor with a impressive range, something more usual even in some cases I can reach baritone’s register. Depends on the voice placemente. If I was going to sing classical musical, I would be a baritone, but when I scream like a crazy I reach the tenor’s register.
The way of singing and mainly the diction reminded me the singer for Journey, despite of his voice being much more “clean”....
Yeah! Steve Perry is a huge influence on me on the style of writing melodies, tone and on the question of interpreting. When I started singning my voice sounded a lot like his voice, but as the years gone by I was trying to use much more “aggressiveness” to find out my own style and no one to think I was trying to emulate somebody else.
03- What was the writting process of this album like? Is there any material which was written a long time ago?
The álbum is a compilation of several moments of my life, so there are songs written at Holy Land’s time and others from different phases and different styles. My idea was to show all the kind of music I like. This album is something pretty much personal, like a profile with rhythms, forms, musical structures and arrangements which I enjoy working with. Each song in this record has a story and a was conceived in a different time and that’s what makes this album wealth and full of variety.
Even these songs written on the Holy Land’s time, do you think they would fit on Angra?
I think it would have to get some changes to make this possible, and that’s the reason they were featured in na Angra’s Record: because they already sounded very different. When I am composing a song , it doesn’t mean it is going to end at Angra’s album, because sometimes comes up a song which doesn’t fit the band due to the metal melodic idea.
Angra’s musical styl is much faster and virtuoso. When I write a song, I do what is going on my mind and several times I do it having fun not thinking about making it an Angra’s hit.
I have already done reggae, dance music and other stuff which would probably not turned out to be good for my reputation and I know I can’t even show this stuff for my band mates of Angra, or worse would be to show to the fans (Lol). But, when I write the songs, I leave a lot of empty blanks to be arranged in several ways. I try to define the melody and harmony to get all the characteristics of the musicians who are playing withe me.
04- The album has some guest appearances, how did you choose the musicians? How the idea of inviting Ricardo Confessori and Kiko Loureiro come up?
Talking about Ricardo, he had already recorded these two songs befores, Comendo Melancia and Nacib Véio , long time ago. So since he had already recorded and I wanted to record them again, I thought would be cool if he was the one to record it. We didn’t have that time to work on that, but it turned out to be awesome!!!
Nacib Véio was included in the first demo tape for Holy Land and it didn’t make to the album because it was too “Slovenly”. Now I decide to do it again, because it is a fun and good humoured song, it has some interesting instrumental parts and shows another side of me , good humored, which helps to describe my personality. Comendo Melancia I recorded for a Cover Guitarra Cd ten years ago and Ricardo tracked the drums then. Ricardo is pretty good at doing this thing mixing swing and heavy which is the vibe of the music. When it comes about Kiko , I called him because he plays pretty well piano and keyboard and etc, and this one of his sides people don’t know very well. I would like to invite him just to do something different, unexpected, since everyone knows them as a guitar player.This is the reason I asked him to record some piano. And the album is focused on composing and not guitar work.
05- A interesting point of this album is the musical range, because we have so differente tracks. Sometimes it reminded me some progressive bands and in other bands like Triumph and Journey, the brazillian influence at Santa Teresa or Nacib Véio... How do you face this?
Actually I believe this my great point as a musician, the fact of searching for several different styles is what give a different background. I really like to listen or composing songs of a different style.
As I said before, this album is a musical profile with what I enjoy working, and the different aspects of my personality, so I wanted all these styles to be featured on the album.
The album starts pretty Heavy Metal, more traditional, goes throught an experimental side and ends in a brazilian way. So this change, metarmorphosis which happens during the album is the greatest part, the listener starts with an idea and ends in a totally diferent way. It was totally intentional and I like this. I take the rock listener into a process thorught out other kind of music. Until he ended up enjoying something he never imagined, like Nácio Veio which is totally unexpected in a project of mine.
Espacing a little from the usual concept of a guitarist album which usually is the same from the start up to the end...
Exactly! I tried to create that mood from the 80’s albums which the songs were more important than the artists which do them. And my greatest point is the about doing vocal songs, if I was going to do Instrumental Cd it wouldn’t sound that cool because I don’t have all that practicel in this area.
06- Your side as a lyricist has always been stood out on Angra, but on this I could see a side much more introspective and reflexive of your person.
The style of lyrics is almost the same I have always written. I looked for that thing kind of “Saturnine’ again, dark, sad which has been in my lyrics since the beginning , the dramatic part comes from the idea of me giving the idea that I am talking to myself. Deep inside, it is not like that, the poet is a pretender like Fernando Pessoa used to say.
What I think I have improved is about the structure, trying to put the idea, how to sound natural the lyrics’s influence, without that complicated and intricates phrases. The most simple and more fluent the phrases, the most well done is the lyrics.
Oh yeah! I mentioned about that , because in albums such as Holy Land and Temple of Shadows the band is much more in an epic feeling...
This is because the theme os my Cd are more personal, in some cases I make this look like a diary. This is something the fans have been enjoying because they ended up feeling like close friends and I am pride to trust them my intimacy. Other think is that is a pretty honest point of view, not too much ornmanet , looking for a natural language, colloquial, puting myself as an ordinary guy which lives a routine and not a Hero hunter of dragons.
Do you think the reason for that is due to be a SOLO CD?
Of course! A solo cd is something much more personal. I think I am learning how to do as Chico Buarque ou Fernando Pessoa which takes someone else pain and make it to become in yours. You get the feelings which you see in people. All these things in my personal point of view in a sad, melancholy and introspective style as you mentioned.
07- Nightfly and o Pastor features a nice choir arrangement on the first second, does it happen due to your graduation as a conductor ?
I think so. Specially at the first seconds of O Pastor which features a counterpoint in a Renaissancist style. This is the kind of arrangement you habe to study a lot to do and I learned it on the college of Composition and Conducting. It’s not something that you carn learn and create by your insticts or ears. This Kind of arrangement has several possibilites like canon, fugue and etc which are specific techniques from the Baroque and renascence and the person needs to study to know how to do that. When it comes about Nightfly, the arrangement of the beggining is much more simpler, easy to do, using the effects and creating a psychodelic texture. Getting ready to the mood of the dream and to enter in the trip of the night fly from the tittle which flies through the memories. The idea of this choir at the beggining is something based on Jimy Hendrix with Pink Floyd.
08- How did you come up with the Idea of doing a metal arrangement for O Pastor?
I really like Madredeus group which originally wrote and recorded the song. I have always wanted to do a portuguese cover on the album, I think a good way to get people used with Heavy Metal in portuguese is to record in a metal versions of well succeed songs. So I took some songs I thought would sound cool!! So There was the Madredeus and I was listening to the group at this day and I had the idea of doing and I thought: “Do you know what? I am going to do that!?” I was interested in making it sound like In Flames or Soilworks, in the style of these nordic metal bands from Finland and Sweden which are pretty cool. So this “mix” turned out to be pretty cool.
09- What was the recording process like? And what was gear used?
*The full list of equipment is at the end of the page
All the pre-production was done using the M-audio equipment. I am sponsored by them and I used a lot of equipments like sound devices, monitors , softwares, microphones, pro tools and its plug ins. Black Box is a series of equipments by M-audio which I used to write the songs.
We recorded the drums at Tonelada Studio and the drums was an Yamaha Custom Maple Deluxe and the most of the instruments were Yamaha since the drums going through the keyboard, bass, electric guitar and violin.
Even the monitores of the Nação Musical studio are Yamaha. I used Boss pedals: mult- effect GT-8 and separated pedal like tremolo, Nig Strings, Di Marzio pickups, audio-technica microphones and I still the excellent support from Hendrix Store which lended me a lot of equipments to test, they always offer me a nice way for the payment when I need to purchase something.
We recorded at the studio Nação Musical which is the study of my friend Oscar Gonzáles which is a friend of mine and and exellent producer, so we did the partnershipo which turned out to work out pretty well.
And haven’t you ever thought about doing as the other álbums of Angra and Record the album in Germany?
Oh, this wouldn’t have been something realist! Because it is too expensive! I paid for the whole album and to pay something just by your own in Germany is very expensive! So I decided to take people who are very talent and competent, but who lives here in Brazil, were acessible and wanted a chance to show their talent. To record it there would be too expensive and I couldn’t afford it. But, the result wouldn’t have been the same. Oscar is the first producer which I work with which really understand my creative spirit. My madness and mixes. He knoes the “red neck” music of Santa Teresa as much as he knows the Heavy metal of Dedicate my Soul. The folk brazilian side has always been “forgotten” in the productions outside Brazil.
10- This question now is not related to the album, but something that the fans sure are looking forward to hearing something about it and I feel like “forced” to ask. Is there any news about Angra?
Yes, now we are scheduling a tour to march next year. We are trying to break the link with our manager and it takes a certain time. It has taken a lot of times because we are trying to make official our rights and proprierty of this name, which has always been mine for creating it, working and paying for the name during years. The main goal now is to get free of our link with our manager and make him to cede his part. This situation has damaged us a lot.
But your main plan now it to be focused on Angra and leave your solo career aside?
Not necessarily! I think it can work together. Angra is much bigger and has a huge fan base. But, for example, if there’s a concert with Angra , I can try to schedule a small concert in Pub for my project. Of course that my priority is going to be Angra, but I will keep working in my project. Angra has already been in tour and Kiko and Edu have always kept their parallel projects, I think it is a question of knowing how to priorize in order to the projects not to disturb Angra, but it is not necessary to completely stop the projects. I will try to conciliate, as well as my friends will do too. We have already talked about creating times of focusing on recording, writing, promoting, tours and rest. Something like that.
11- Thank you so much for the interview once again Rafael! Please leave a message for the fans! (Download this message in audio format on the top of the page (Portuguese)).
Hey People from Guitar Clinic! It’s Rafael Bittencourt, thanks to everyone for support ing my career, Thanks to the Guitar Clinic’s staff. Congratulations for the website and congratulations for spreading electric guitar and for helping people to solve their doubts in order to learn the instrument.
I am releasing my new Album Brainworms I by new project besides Angra named Bittencourt Project. Soon you guys will have more news! Thank you!
Equipments used by Rafael Bittencourt in
THE UNDERWORLD:
The biggest part of the instruments used in BRAINWORMS I is YAMAHA (Drums, Basses, keyboards, and electric violin)
Nowadays with the increasing falling of phonographic industry the support from manufacturers and dealers of instruments is fundamental for a musician to survive. I am very thankful to my sponsors which helped me if what I needed to create an amazing sound on the CD.
Electric guitars: YAMAHA RGX A2 and YAMAHA AES Dragon (Bittencourt’s Custom-shop model) at the biggest part. AES has a pretty heavy sound , but RGX-A2 has a sound which make the notes clearer, So I recorded all the rhythym guitars with the both guitars. One gave me a lot of punch and the other one definition. In softer parts I used only the RGX –A2. In Holding Back The Fire, I recorded the RGX-A2 with the YAMAHA AEX which is a hollow body guitar and has a piezo pickup (acoustic guitar) on the bridge. In The Dark Side of Love I recorded Yamaha pacifica MS-1511 which has a pretty special sound too.
E-BOW: The E-bow is an magnetic device w hich creates a volion sound in the guitar. I had to study and listen to a Cd with a lessons of E-bow for begginers. There are a lot of possibilites to use that device, it take sometime to make something creative, but it is worthwhile. I duplicated a whole solo like were strings in The Dark Side of Love.
Baiana Electric Guitar (Brazillian): Sometime ago I got as a gift a baiana guitar built by Elifas Santana and I’ve always wanted to use it somehow. I was able to find pretty interesting sounds with it and the E-BOW and the Wah Wah turned on. It sounded like a fiddle. You can listen to it at the middle of the bonus track Nacib Véio! And at the middle of Santa Teresa. Pretty Cool.
Amplifiers to the rhythym guitars which were recorded four times:
1)Marshall JCM 800
2) Groove Tubes trio pre-amp + Dual 75 power amp.
3) Mesaboogie dual rectifier (orange/vintage channel)
4) Cebeça Brunnetti (italian)
Solo sound:
On the most of the solos: Groove-Tubes, trio pre-amp + dual75 power amp, tube sreamer e Tel-Ray delay (plug-in of Pro-Tools).
The solos of the tracks 2, 4, 5, 10 e 12 were recorded with RGX A-2.
The solos of the tracks 1,3, 6 e 9 were recorded with AES Dragon Guitar (Rafael’s custom model).
I used on the solo of the track 6 (The Underworld) the GT-8 with phaser and wha-wha together to create a sound kind of cither.
Black Box: I used Black Box a lot on the pré production because it is very practical and has exclusive sounds. I recorded the principal theme of Comendo Melancia using the M-Audio Black Box with an interesting effect named RNFI-16 which only existes in that equipment.
Pedals and multi effects:
BOSS GT-8: I used the Wha (cry baby), the phasers, flangers and other interesting effects.
Boss Chorus Ensemble:
It’s a very old pedal by Boss which is exactly the chorus which was inserted on the first Roland Jazz Chrous. The sound is very “Hot’ and analogic. I used for some clean sounds in Santa Teresa, The underworl and others.
Boss RT-20 rotary sound processor. I used in The Underworld and at the organ TOKAI to emulate the Leslie cabinets. This is a pretty cool pedal!
Electric Acoustic Guitar( steel and nylon): Takamine
Microphones: 01 Audio-Technica MB-2K from the left cabinet, 01 Sure SM-57 at the right cabinet, 01 M-Audio Sputinik to ambience (left size), 01 M-Audio Solaris to ambience (right size) and 01 Audio-Techinca AT 4050 cm-5.
Strings: NIG Rafael Bittencourt signature Model (Exclusive model signed by Rafael Bittencourt) 009-046 .
Pickups: DiMarzio. Virtual PAff e Paff Pro at my AES Dragon. At RGX-A2 the pickups are the same of the factory.
Viola Caipira(Brazilian): The arrangement of the song Santa Teresa was all done in the viola caipira. I had to study it a lot to be able to play it. I spend a whole night recording this track. I used a Viola Rozini Clássica Profissional which I borrowed at Hendrix music store, but I feel in love with the instrument and I kept it.