Italian pianist/composer/arranger, Graziano Mossuto, criss-crossed Europe and Asia with a portable recording setup that hinged on Metric Halo's Mobile I/O 2882, a PowerBook G4, Firewire hard drive and a couple of mics.

FAVARA, ITALY: Italian pianist/composer/arranger and recording engineer Graziano Mossuto is bringing musicians on two continents together, with the help of Metric Halo, for an ambitious project entitled "Ramalé From Mediterranean To Mongolia." For the last three years Mossuto has criss-crossed Europe and Asia with a portable setup, based around the Metric Halo Mobile/IO 2882, recording local musicians performing his compositions for the elaborate world music project.

"I use the Mobile/IO 2882 all the time when I travel," says Mossuto, whose recording rig typically also includes a PowerBook G4 and Firewire hard drive, plus Neumann KM 184 and Schoeps MK 41/CMC 5 microphones. "I find that the sound of the MIO has a special personality, and above all very good A-to-D converters. The quality of the mic pres is amazing."

Mossuto, who maintains a studio in the south of Italy where he composes, writes and produces all types of music, with an emphasis on film and television soundtracks, also makes extensive use of Metric Halo's ChannelStrip plug-in. "I love it, very much. I use it in VST version on OS 9 with Logic Audio and it is amazing, with a unique character. It gives me everything I need on my mixes; a warm, natural sound, and, above all, a special analog flavor. With ChannelStrip I can model the sound any way I like and can eliminate the sour flavor of digital."

He continues, "The EQ is great when I use it, it's like using an analog console. The compressor, especially used with the sidechain, is incredible. I use ChannelStrip on every channel for everything, including mastering. I can't stop using it!"

Mossuto's "Ramalé" project aims to interpret the spirit of the Mediterranean through performances by musicians across Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia. "With a Mobile/IO 2882 and four mics I'm recording musicians in Greece, Cyprus, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Russia and the Republic of Tuva, near Mongolia," explains Mossuto, who is also a self-taught flutist and accordionist. "All these musicians sing and play my compositions but with their instruments, touch, taste and, above all, their own folkloric style. Imagine, for example, writing a song for a string quartet and having it played by a balalaika quartet."

It quickly became apparent that the MIO 2882 was the best recording interface for the project, according to Mossuto. "When I connected all my Lexicon reverbs to the Mobile/IO I found a special sound, different from the Digidesign, MOTU or RME interfaces. I prefer it. I also found the possibility to record directly with the MIO console very interesting, because you can record with very little processing and not have any coloration from any software. Also, if you forget or lose the USB keys for your software during a tour you can continue to record without any problems using the MIO."

The composer relates that his initial experience with the Mobile/IO was at the first stop on his recording tour, in Tg-Jiu, a city in the south of Romania. "I met a lot of wonderful artists there - violinists, cembalists, dancers. I recorded a lot of traditional music in the hotels, theatres, in the streets, monasteries and convents. I soon realized how good the A-to-D converters and the mic preamplifiers are."

Now, three years later, Mossuto's travels - he has made over 30 trips to record his "Ramalé" project - are nearly at an end. "I have to record a symphonic string orchestra in Palermo, a city in the south of Sicily. This is a very ambitious project, because I'll be doing a concert of almost two hours with about 100 elements, including Bulgarian voices, a symphonic orchestra and a Russian balalaika quartet. And next I'll be in Russia to finish recording the last of my score with a balalaika quartet and children's voices in the Urals. That will be wonderful."