Words of Wisdom

When someone is going to write a book about an area of non-fiction, you first ought to wonder what their qualifications are. Did they know the people and/or events they were writing about? Did they speak with people directly involved with the subject matter? Or better yet, does this author know what they are talking about?

In the case of David Frangioni -- author of CRASH: The World’s Greatest Drum Kits from Appice to Peart to Van Halen -- he has been the recipient of dozens of gold and platinum albums as technical consultant, engineer, and/or programmer. These award-related credits include work with The Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Sting, Bryan Adams, Journey, Styx, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, Ozzy Osbourne, and Cher. Frangioni was the in-house engineer for five of the studio albums by Aerosmith, for whom he also built recording studios and high-end A/V systems.

Few people in the world of music technology can claim the amount of experience and credits that David Frangioni has amassed. Frangioni is the recipient of dozens of gold and platinum albums as technical consultant, engineer, and/or programmer, for work with the Stones, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Sting, Bryan Adams, Journey, Styx, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher and hundreds more.

RC Homes is pre-installing smart home automation in 27 homes in California. Discussing what it takes to interest both homeowners and and integrators. Office Depot throws their hat into the custom installation ring. Do they have what it takes?

When producer, engineer and music technologist David Frangioni sat down to compile his newest book, Crash: The World's Greatest Drum Kits From Appice to Peart to Van Halen, he knew he needed to include two people: iconic drummer Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and KISS drummer Eric Singer. Luckily, he managed to get them to write the book's introduction and conclusion, respectively.

Crash, the 207-page illustrative book, features an up close look at the most famed drum kits in the history of rock’n’roll. The detailed images and text highlight the design behind the drums of bands such as The Beatles, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Rush, Metallica, Journey, Black Sabbath and more. It's like a high school textbook filled with a timeline of rock percussion.

For fans of KISS, the book comes fully loaded. Aside from a section dedicated to the band’s founding drummer Peter Criss’ 1976 Destroyer set-up, Crash features a ten-page spread featuring three of Eric Singer’s most legendary drum kits. Singer — who started playing alongside KISS in 1991 — is about to embark on the band’s End Of The Road tour.

Singer and Frangioni grew a friendship through both music and charity. In fact, many of Singer’s drum kits reside in Miami at the Drum Experience Center, a museum-like facility where kids in need learn to play. The center is a division of the Frangioni Foundation, which is directly receiving a portion of the sales from Crash.

David Frangioni, owner of Audio One, tells how he does it all, from professional recording studios to high-end home theaters and whole-house automation systems.

David Frangioni knows sound. A drummer from the age of two, he became an in-demand studio designer and sound engineer, working with Aerosmith, KISS, and Bryan Adams to name a few. When his famed studio clients wanted equally impressive home systems, they called Frangioni, who then added high-end home theater and whole-home automation systems to his offered services. Today, his company, Audio One, based in Miami and Beverly Hills, takes care of all AV needs, from studios, commercial installations, houses of worship, to top-of-the-line residential systems.

In this episode, Growin’ Up Rock talks with producer, engineer, and technologist David Frangioni. David’s early experience with MIDI technology would establish his reputation as the go-to guy for setting up home studio recording.  David became so much of an authority on MIDI setups, Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer gave David the title of “Midiot” along with the hat to go with it. David’s worked with countless rock artists including Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, Styx, and KISS.

Bands you will hear on this episode include Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.

Less than a decade ago, pro AV technology was thought to be the premier equipment market—the industry was untouchable and at the forefront of innovation. Many home technologies were born out of the AV market, and at-home-AV research and development was often started with professional R&D.

Today the opposite is occurring, it seems. Harman’s engineering team, for example, is leveraging technology drawn from the company’s connected car business. “Nobody in the pro industry can afford the thousands of engineers needed to develop secure Linux products,” said Mohit Parasher, president, Harman Professional Solutions. “We have access to that because that development was done for our connected car business. We can borrow 80 percent of the work and bring it into the pro industry. The same thing with the consumer side, and the services side, and from Samsung, etc.”

Technology has changed the world and the music industry has reaped a lot of benefits. Read on to learn about the biggest technology breakthroughs in music I’ve experienced throughout my 25+ year career in the music, technology, and A/V businesses.

Music has long been a dance between creative advancements and technological ones. Since humans began singing together, inventing musical instruments, and finding ways to put music into a fixed and tangible form, there have been technological advancements that have helped pave new ways of musical expression.

And today's music world is as technology-driven as ever. Technology breakthroughs happen every day, and many of them, from iPhones to blockchain technology, influence the way we compose, share, and listen to music.

If you're looking to understand where music and technology intersect today, you need to first look back at the major technological breakthroughs that transformed the music industry. In this post, I explore six important music technology revolutions that got us to where we are today.

If I listed one of David’s careers, it would be impressive. But David isn’t a one-career type of guy. He’s a Renaissance man who’s reinvented himself over the years. David started as a drummer then evolved into a pioneer of MIDI technology, the founder of an award-winning A/V firm Audio One.

David Frangioni started his music career as a drummer, but soon became a pioneer in MIDI technology. This lead him into the studio as an engineer and producer for dozens of top artists including The Stones, Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Elton John, Sting, Carl Palmer, Journey, Styx, KISS, Phil Collins, Shakira, Ozzy Osbourne, and more.

“He’s just an amazing drummer, and an amazing person,” observes noted drum enthusiast and educator David Frangioni, author of 2018’s Crash: The World’s Greatest Drum Kits – From Appice to Peart to Van Halen (Insight Editions). Crash is devoted to being, quote, “the ultimate photographic guide to the world of rock ’n’ roll’s most famous drum kits,” and the 208-page hardback includes a lavish spread on Todd and his massive, current (albeit soon-to-be revised/replaced!) drum setup, as seen above in a photo by Jason Powell.

High-end home theaters offer equal, or often better viewing experience for movies, TV, music and sports events than commercial cinemas.

A Drummer's vision with David Frangioni. David is the founder and owner of Audio One, he also grew up in Boston with a passion for rock music, technology and playing the drums. He has worked with more than 200 artists which includes Aerosmith, Shakira, Sting, Elton John, Styx, Ringo Star, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne and a host of other talented artists. Today David speaks about his impact and affecting change, check it out!

Grant Cardone interviews David Frangioni for PowerPlayers. 

“I work with small companies and Fortune 500 companies to grow sales by finding overlooked opportunities and customizing the sales process to be more effective. I have worked with companies like Google, Sprint, Aflac, Toyota, GM, Ford and thousands more. I own and operate four companies that do almost 100m in annual sales and I’m also a New York Times best-selling author, international speaker, & considered the top sales training and social media expert in the world today.”

“SUCCESS IS YOUR DUTY, OBLIGATION, RESPONSIBILITY.” 

– Grant Cardone

David Frangioni of Audio One out of South Florida is an industry legend and award-winning audiophile consultant, recording engineer, studio installer, producer, technologist, and drummer. David has worked, consulted, and in many cases played drums alongside hundreds of music industry icons such as Aerosmith, Stones, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Sting, Bryan Adams, Journey, Styx, Phil Collins, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, Ozzy Osbourne, Chick Corea, and ELP.

David Frangioni, a music technologist and drummer who has worked with many of the world’s biggest rock artists including Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne, talks to Jason Barnard. Additionally, read on to see how to win a copy of Dave’s book CRASH: The World’s Greatest Drum Kits From Appice to Peart to Van Halen.

On May 13, Modern Drummer magazine announced David Frangioni will become its new publisher.

“I can’t wait to steward Modern Drummer into the new era,” said Frangioni in a statement. “I am going to use all my thirty-plus years of experience in a wide selection of music fields so that Modern Drummer can offer the most complete and…well…modern resource for drums, drummers, and drumming!”

An Editor's Overview

Welcome to the July 2019 issue. If you’re into gawking at wild and famous drumkits, then you’re going to enjoy our photo-essay on Crash, the new coffee-table book by drummer, collector, and studio sound technician David Frangioni. In addition to talking to the author about it, we couldn’t resist reprinting a whole host of its photos, as well as a couple that didn’t make the final product.

"I’d like to welcome David Frangioni, an award-winning veteran of the music industry, with expertise ranging from being a drummer and producer, to an artist development & label founder, audio consultant, music technologist, integrator, author & engineer.

"On this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Mr. David Fragioni, who is a drumming aficionado and has found a way to support himself through his art. He started playing drums at the age of 2, which was the same age that he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma and lost his eye. Still, he pushed through all of his struggles, nurtured his talents, delved into business, and discovered his strengths along the way. 

David takes us through his journey, sharing his personal and professional truths, as one always leads into the other. He discusses the importance of nurturing your talents and focusing on what will help you grow to be who you’re supposed to be in the world, rather than focusing on the deafening outside noise that can derail your journey.