L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano " I have always loved to experiment with t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between man and machines. The song I Feel Love has a mechani- cal, electronic rhythm made b y t h e s y n t h e s i z e r , a n d Donna Summer's amazing voice is the human heart of the song. I think this track still sounds good today." Ita- lian music composer Gior- gio Moroder, known as the father of disco music, was way ahead his time in 1977 when he recorded the hit song I feel Love that many consider the beginning of the '80s music. "Even B r i a n E n o t o l d D a v i d B o w i e 'Giorgio has found the sound o f t h e f u t u r e ' ! " M o r o d e r proudly recalls as I sit with him during our interview in Las Vegas. We are at CES, an annual convention where developers showcase their new technological and elec- tronic innovations. This year t h e l e g e n d a r y e l e c t r o n i c music pioneer and 3-time Oscar winner presented the first four seconds of Prelu- dio, a sound that was made exclusively for FPT Indu- strial engines and that will play every time you turn on FTP's electric powertrains. A t a l m o s t 8 0 y e a r s o l d Moroder didn't want to stop e x p e r i m e n t i n g a n d embarked in a completely new and unique project by t e a m i n g u p w i t h I t a l i a n powertrain manufacturer FPT Industrial and design the distinctive noise that will play every time one of the company's electric engines starts. Since the world of auto- motive and industrial tran- sport is evolving towards a silent future through the use of alternative fuels and elec- trification, FPT Industrial has tackled this challenge to compose a new and original sound identity for its power- trains. "Of course we are very, very lucky that Giorgio fell in love with this project," FPT Industrial CEO, Annalisa Stupenengo, says. "It was not a given at the beginning because it was a challenge for him. We didn't ask him to have one of his songs ren- ted. We wanted something that would be the merger of his vision for the future of sound and our vision of the future of powertrains. We had the opportunity to know each other better and it was very clear from the begin- ning that we were sharing a lot of ideas; we were pionee- ring technology and he was t h e p i o n e e r o f e l e c t r o n i c music." Giorgio Moroder has been at work, side by side with the FPT Industrial Innovation team to develop the most advanced solution, by ope- ning the path to a new expe- r i e n c e i n m o b i l i t y a t t h e B r a n d ' s R e s e a r c h & D e v e l o p m e n t C e n t e r i n Arbon, Switzerland. In Las V e g a s w e o f L ' I t a l o - Americano had a chance to chat with Moroder and talk a b o u t t h e c o n c e p t s a n d methodology he followed to create and craft the Brand's sound identity Giorgio, what did you like about this project? I love challenges and FPT I n d u s t r i a l p r o p o s e d something completely new and unique to me: a pionee- ring project, both in music and in powertrain techno- l o g y . I t ' s a n e w e r a . T h e world changes and it's going to change even more now. E n g i n e s a r e g o i n g t o b e changing a lot in the future as well, but the sound of the engine is absolutely impor- tant. How did this collabo- ration start? I was asked to compose the sound of the future by F P T I n d u s t r i a l . T h e n e w engines are electric which means they are silent, so you cannot really tell if they are o n w h e n y o u s t a r t t h e m . Therefore they wanted to add a particular sound to be played in the moment of the ignition. How did you want this sound to be? The sound had to be as innovative as the engine is a n d h a d t o f i l l t h e g a p between the engine and the music. Talking with engi- neers in Arbon, Switzerland, was a great inspiration to me a n d w h e n c r e a t i n g t h e sound, I always kept their experience in my mind How was this creative process different from c o m p o s i n g a r e g u l a r song? It's kind of more difficult because when you're dealing with a song you have four minutes. You can change; you have a lot of possibili- ties. With four seconds, it has to be there. There's no other way: it is or it is not. How did it work? On the particular process I s t a r t e d w i t h t h e m o s t important thing: having a melody—don, don, don, don, d o n ! I u s e d a l l d i f f e r e n t kinds of sounds, from diffe- rent computers and from dif- f e r e n t s y n t h e s i z e r s . A n d t h e n t o m a k e i t m o r e "round" I added the classical instruments. At the end, I t h i n k I h a v e 4 8 d i f f e r e n t tracks mixed in. With com- puters nowadays you can do so many! Do you like cars? I have always been fasci- n a t e d b y t h e a u t o m o t i v e industry: in the '80s I deve- loped a supercar with the engineer Claudio Zampolli and with the legendary desi- gner Marcello Gandini, the Cizeta Moroder. It features a V16 engine with a stunning sound. I finally got a permit so I am able to drive it in America. G i o r g i o M o r o d e r i s famous worldwide and some of his favorite hits includes Donna Summer's Love to Love you Baby, Blondie's Call Me, David Bowie's Cat People, Freddie Mercury's Love Kills, Irene Cara's What a F e e l i n g a n d , o b v i o u s l y M o r o d e r ' s F r o m H e r e t o Eternity. More recent hits includes Daft Punk and Deja Vu by Sia. "We really want to give a voice and a soul to our engines and I am sure it will be hard to believe what we a r e g o i n g t o h e a r s o o n . Giorgio Moroder's creation is destined to become very familiar for millions of dri- vers, while giving an extraor- dinary contribution to dri- v i n g p l e a s u r e , " s t a t e d Annalisa Stupenengo, "this idea is destined to uplift the human-machine experience on vehicles for decades." SILVIA GIUDICI Giorgio Moroder at his DJ deck (Copyright: Stefania Rosini) A chat with Italian music icon Giorgio Moroder LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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