Hernán do Brito
DOBROTTO
"My name is Hernán do Brito. My solo project, Dobrotto, started around 2016, when my first son was born. I was really hoping to put him to sleep, but the bass was driving him crazy and he cried. Then it occurred to me that I could take the melodies my mother and wife sang to him to put him to sleep and play them to him. Of course, he never fell asleep, but thanks to that, I started making melodies. To search for sounds and layers of sound, to investigate what instrumental music was, and to add things together. And from that point on, I've been on this path for almost ten years, which I like to define as 'soundscapes'.
For me, sound is a quest in which you must be comfortable; you cannot play uncomfortably. It's fine to search for a sound, but let's not waste so much time searching for the perfect sound. First, it's important to play, to know the music, the instrument.
For example, I have a chinese Leonard bass that was always very comfortable for me, but the sound wasn't very good. Because it was veneered, it sounded very plastic and artificial.
So I talked to my friend and luthier Fabian la Civita, and he completely modified it: sides, top, back, frets. And thanks to that, the instrument completely changed. Today, it's my favorite bass. It's still the Leonard, but it sounds different.
I also have a Blacksmith, which is a metal resonator bass. Something quite rare to see and that has a very special sound. In this case, I spoke with luthier Rodrigo Boccuzzi and asked him to copy the Leonard neck: the scale, the radius, everything. Then Rodri, who already had the measurements and everything that was comfortable for me, made the Blacksmith neck based on my other bass. And there I did combine good quality, a good sound, with measurements that are comfortable for me. It has a very special microphone with my children's initials engraved on the cover. I was lucky enough to make it myself when I worked at Javier Diliberto's factory. It's a P51".
My Instruments.
