Fred J. Napolitano; Sound Engineer

 

From his beginning as a guitar player in local bands,  Fred was always the official ‘ear’ of the band, and would be the engineering force behind developing the live sound system and recording projects.

After attending the University of Connecticut, where he received a BA and an MA, his love of sound led him to the Omega School of Recording Arts in Kensington, Maryland. Here he gained the formal training that solidified his previous “hands on” experience.

Fred hit the streets as a sound engineer immediately after graduating. From mixing regional bands on the club and college circuit, to an eight year employment as an in-house engineer at a large corporate communications department, Fred continued to develop his engineering abilities in many different areas. Recording bands and soloists, mixing live broadcasts, and producing original soundtracks, expanded the scope of his abilities.

Leaving the corporate environment to focus on larger scale entertainment and special events, Fred started his own company, Seventh Row Productions, through which, he has successfully established his creativity and engineering talent on a national level. Fred has encompassed the functions of Front of House Mix Engineer, Sound Designer / A1, and FOH Tech throughout the entertainment, corporate, and broadcast markets.

Entertainment acts have included; Bob Dylan, Kathy Mattea, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Sting, Neville Brothers, Buckwheat Zydeco, Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Regina Carter Quintet as  FOH tech. The Derailers, Chad Hollister Band, Pointer Sisters, Fifth Dimension, Live Wire, Glass House, and the Hartford Jazz Festival as FOH mix engineer.

Corporate events have included Anheuser Busch, Lotus, ING, Aetna, Lincoln Financial, and Hartford Insurance. Production companies include Video West, Image Technologies, The Spark Agency, Creative Technologies, ProMix - Electrotec, and Snow Sound. Broadcast events have included the TONY Awards as FOH tech and ESPN as associate producer.

Fred has also been production manager for many concert one –offs, as well as large scale corporate events with budgets in excess of 2 million dollars.  He has excellent client and crew relationship skills from over 20 years experience in the business.

Fred is now focused at fine tuning the live sound experience with an emerging or established band or songwriter. Expressing this creative interaction through regional and national concert tours is Fred’s intention. A creative fit is essential to this success and Fred is willing to invest the time and energy needed to establish the right connection.