A ’70s kid with older brothers whose vinyl collection included the Doors and Bob Marley, Richard Tozzoli has fond recollections of the sounds – and smells – that emanated from the basement. But he didn’t become a “guitar freak” until he experienced a concert.
“I was a Kiss fanatic, and my first big concert was them at Madison Square Garden on the Dynasty tour,” he said. “Seeing Ace Frehley changed my world. After that night, I told my dad, ‘I want to play guitar,’ and he was kind enough to get me a tobacco-sunburst ’81 Les Paul and a Marshall.”
Young Rich soaked up lessons with a teacher he still knows well, then studied jazz during his freshman year of high school. And while hugely influenced by pop and rock at the time, he didn’t learn songs from the radio or records.
“I never even learned any Beatles songs,” he said. “I still don’t know how to play any because my friends and I would invent music. We were a bunch of jammers who got together constantly, and I became a big fan of improvising jazz over fusion, doing weird time signatures. We were into Yes, Genesis, King Crimson; I was a huge Rushhead, and Jeff Beck was another huge influence. I remember lifting the needle on Wired over and over to learn the parts, and I still play some of the riffs we made up.”
In the ’90s, Tozzoli joined a New Jersey funk band using his leopard-print Hamer Chaparral running through a Mesa Boogie MK IV head and 2×12 Marshall cabinet. His next band played reggae, where learning to play chop chords (after growing up with drum machines) engrained an instinct for strong rhythm. And while he didn’t realize it at the time, that gig seeded his interest in music creation beyond playing and writing, and put him on the path to becoming a composer for syndicated television. If you’ve watched “Swamp People,” “Moonshiners,” “Barnwood Builders,” “Counting Cars,” “Chasing Classic Cars,” “First 48,” or “Killer Cases” in the last decade, you’ve heard Tozzoli employing his stash of cool instruments and amps from his studio in River Vale, New Jersey.
“The most-creative music is on television, because the editors let you go all over the place,” he said. “In fact, they want you to go all over the place. When you actually listen to television, you’ll hear so many cool riffs and tones.”
This summer, his riffs will color Discovery Channel’s top-rated Shark Week programs.
What first piqued your interest in recording?
When I was 19, I bought a Tascam Porta 05 and got very into four-track analog recording and learning to capture guitar sounds. I bought Pro Tools in 1993, when it cost $17,000 and could record only 16 channels. I actually read the 500-page manual (laughs), so I was considered an “expert” at the time.
Once you’d invested in the software, were you becoming a recording engineer first, guitarist second?
I knew where digital recording was going and that it would be incredible. But I was also aware of “garbage in, garbage out,” so I focused on production and recording.
Being an early adopter helped you score a gig working with Emerson, Lake and Palmer. How did you connect with them?
My good friend Will Alexander, who was Keith Emerson’s long-time keyboard tech, brought me onboard. Will was also out with the Stones for many years. He knew that I was a Pro Tools guy who knew my s**t and had my own rig.
You went out on the road with them in the late ’90s. What was your role?
I was helping them assemble the Then and Now album. We recorded parts of live shows then did mixing, editing, finalizing, and cutting up recordings from the early ’70s as well as current material. I showed them the first Focusrite plug-in, as they had only known the hardware; I had a bunk in one of their tour busses, with my rig – a giant CRT monitor and Pro Tools (laughs) – and Keith, Greg, and Carl would stand behind me, asking all kinds of questions about how Pro Tools worked. That led to work in post-production in New York. I did tons of surround-sound work with Pro Tools and digital technology, which led to working with a lot of people I grew up listening to – David Bowie, Blue Oyster Cult, Billy Squier, Hall & Oates, and others. I was also working a lot with Al Di Meola, both in the studio and on the road. Al is an amazing player.
How did you get your first gig for a TV show?
Through Tom Pomposello, who was in charge of finding sounds at Nickelodeon and MTV; a friend showed him what I was doing and he brought us onboard. At that time, I was engineering and didn’t think composing for TV could be a living; I was just doing it because it was fun; I could write music and be creative.
What was the first bit you wrote for Nickelodeon?
It was for their International Sound Library, which producers use to pull tracks, and they used my first one when they slimed kids on shows like “You Can’t Do That on Television.” Since then I’ve focused on underscores – music that happens during a show – along with sound design. Pomposello, who passed several years ago, taught me a valuable lesson that I still use almost everyday – what not to put into your music. Space is your friend.
The common perception is that people who score for film or TV do so on a keyboard.
Right, and here I am – a guitar player/composer working every day in television. But since getting into composing, I’ve always thought about guitar production versus guitar playing. They interweave; I have to think, “How am I going to get the point across for this show? Is it rock? Is it funk? Is it moody? Is it emotional? Is it a crime scene?” That’s why I have 25 guitars and they all have a purpose.
Aside of that, I relentlessly study orchestration and use almost all of the string libraries out there. I also use real string players and orchestras, such as the Budapest Recording Orchestra. There’s nothing like the feel, sound, and power of real players. Also, brass has the same timbre as distorted electric guitars, so they work really well with each other.
Do some of your guitars get more work than others?
Well, I’m a Les Paul guy going back to my first days with a guitar, so Les Pauls do my heavy lifting. I have five – mostly from the Custom Shop including a 1990 Custom and a 2011 ’56 Goldtop with P-90s that do a lot of the hard rock/blues work. I also have two chambered ones that are funkier, lighter, and cleaner. One of them, a 2016 ’58 reissue, has DiMarzios with the Jimmy Page wiring modification on a push/pull pot for that cool, almost-out-of-phase sound. My original tobaccoburst is now an open-E slide guitar.
Other than Les Pauls, what are your most-used?
I have a number of Telecaster copies built by Rob DiStefano, and they live in various open tunings with a variety of pickup types for different tones. For shows like “Moonshiners” or “Swamp People,” I do a lot of open-tuning slide work, so I’ll use the tobaccoburst, one of Rob’s guitars, a resonator, or my Guild F-512 that lives in DADGAD. You can do a lot of creepy-sounding things with a 12 -string. I run them through Eventide H9s and H90s.
There’s one track where I manually detuned one of the two low D strings on the Guild. It’s so creepy, and they use it all the time because it conveys the mood when they’re showing the moonshiners boiling some concoction (laughs).
I also use a 2016 Firebird that had the pickups rewired to original Firebird spec – it’s such a unique and nasty sound. For the true-crime shows like “First 48,” I’ve done a lot with E-bow and slide. For that sort of part on a show like that, I think of the guitar less as a guitar and more a means to get a sound signature for whatever the scene needs.
For the “Pawn Stars” quiz segment in the early days of the show, where they show the choices, I used my Les Paul Custom through a Soldano head, and when they show the answer later in the show, you hear my Fender Jaguar Baritone through my ’66 Gibson Falcon amp.
How do you record those bits?
When I’m working in my studio, it’s a combination of amps, heads, and DI. I use any of my Mesa Boogie heads along with several small Orange heads or my Soldano through a Mesa Boogie CabClone IR or a Universal Audio OX pedal. For more-classic sounds, I have my ’47 Gibson BR-6, the Falcon, or a ’66 Magnatone M10A with real vibrato. I might also use my pedalboard DI into a Line 6 HX Stomp with the OX Stomp for the cabinets. I also use a variety of amp plug-ins. It all depends on the sound and attitude that the track needs. I tend to work very fast so you have to know what gear delivers what.
When I want to turn up, I go to Clubhouse Studios, which is Paul Antonell’s incredible studio in Rhinebeck, New York. He’s got 25 or so vintage amps, a big live room, and a vintage Neve console. There, I tend to play through a variety of amps; I line up Boogies, Parks, Bandmasters, and Marshalls, do a pass, then swap to a different amp and a guitar for the second track. Same for the third. Each setup is its own sonic world. Over the years, my ears have tuned to the fine details of what each amps brings – and does not bring. It’s what it doesn’t bring that you really need to know.
I’m a big fan of moving air, which you must do to get wicked-heavy guitar sounds. It’s a hell of a lot more fun to stand in front of a stack with my Les Paul than it is to play in front of my computer speaker (laughs). In front of an amp, your attitude is different and you play different.
For the Shark Week piece, did you make air move?
Yes (laughs)! You’ll hear how I was right on the edge, just about to feed back. It’s controlled chaos – almost unpredictable, just like a shark.
What was your setup for it?
That was my Mesa Boogie Mark IV through an Orange 4×12 and a number of pedals for incremental layers of distortion – I don’t use just one – and a few layers of guitar. I get wicked guitar sounds that way. For one setup, I was standing in front of the cab with my Flying V with the low E string tuned to C because I recorded with the Budapest Orchestra tuned to C. For other layers, I used my seven-string ESP LTD Deluxe with the low string at C, my Les Pauls with an E-bow, and slide guitar.
When you work with Al Di Meola and Ace Frehley, you pick up nuggets; Ace was a master of double-tracking guitars with the Les Paul usually in the left channel and a Tele or Strats on the right, and I do a lot of double-, triple-, and quadruple tracking.
So the Shark Week piece was four layers of guitar and to build it more, I had Omar Hakim do drums – he’s such a precise and powerful player, and really brought the house down! I don’t just use loops; I work with a number of great drummers and they bring such great feel, and that’s so important. There’s a reason I use the real stuff as much as possible.
Talk about specific guitars you’ve used on specific shows.
On “Counting Cars” and “Chasing Classic Cars” you’ll hear one of the Les Pauls running through a Mesa Boogie MK IV, the Mini Rectifier 25, or a Sans Amp Bass Driver and Avalon preamp and the Line 6 Helix.
Shows like “Ink Master” or “Forged In Fire” call for heavier music, so I’ll grab my ESP and run through the Helix or a Line 6 HX Stomp.
For moodier shows like “First 48” or “Killer Cases,” I’ll use my Gold Tone Paul Beard signature resonator in open D, my Gibson Firebird with pickups re-wound to original spec for slide sounds, or the DiStefano guitars in various open tunings with E-bow, slide, and Eventide H9 and H90 pedals, often with additional delays and effects.
“Inkmaster” is definitely the seven-string ESP or a Les Paul in a dropped tuning, and the Line 6 Helix records them better than an amp.
Why is that?
Some instruments, like the ESP and my Agile eight-string guitars, have such low notes that speakers tend to crap-out with their low-end. It’s a tighter sound, which is better for television.
One of your Les Pauls is a 2009 Custom Shop ’59 Double-Carve…
That’s my favorite guitar because it does everything. It’s extremely light, funky and clean, but it can get nasty and gritty. It’s a very particular sound that combines sonic elements of a 335 and a D’Angelico. Everybody who plays it loves it.
Where and when did you get it?
About three years ago at Moe’s Guitars, in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Moe is very good about letting me know when he gets stuff that would interest me. I got it because he knew I was looking for a chambered Les Paul, and this one is extremely special.
What typically spurs you to look for a new or different guitar?
I’ll get a different guitar just to feel its energy. I’m all about moving instruments, and I want players to exchange their energy.
When I first played my Flying V, with its baseball-bat neck and giant frets, I wasn’t a fan. But I did what I needed to do with it. I feel instinctively that it’s time to get something else, and so I’ll have Moe move it for me.
A relationship with a guitar is important.
I have always felt that way, which is why my guitars are always clean, tuned up, and ready to go. I’m a freak when it comes to intonation, and I don’t let strings get funky. They’re my source of income, what I reach for every day. Each has their own personality and sonic character. They each make you play differently based upon the neck, feel, and pickups. If I don’t use one for a while, I’ll typically sell it and get something new. Guitars don’t want to sit in a closet, they want to be played.
Do you do your own maintenance?
I’m terrible at that (laughs). The analogy I always use is Mario Andretti doesn’t change his own oil. I rely on my shop and especially someone who specializes in Gibsons, so Moe and Mary Ellen take care of it for me, or the great Matt Hayden, who does a lot of work with Al Di Meola. You have to have a great team.
What’s on your calendar?
I’m doing a lot of work out of Australia, believe it or not, which produces big-truck shows, UFO shows – all kinds of crazy fun s**t. For the UFO shows, I can get wild with the E-bows and the backward guitars. The big-truck stuff is all good ol’ Gibson sounds with tremolo and vibrato and stank, which is what P-90s do, right?
Part of the fun of being a TV composer is working a lot, experiencing differentiation on a daily basis. Some days, I do three kinds of music; maybe something with the E-bow to some super-clean funk sound followed by something hard and heavy. Every show has its own sonic character, and it’s really important for me to not have any ego about parts or production. My responsibility is to deliver to the emotion of a show without ego or prejudice. And that’s one of my specialties.
How do you begin a composition? Do you watch raw video or do they send you scenes?
I know the parameters for the show, and I’ll turn on the TV and find the show and watch a few episodes so I know, “They like this, they like that…” I’ll also have notes from the production team. A lot of it is also instinct and experience.
From having done thousands of tracks, I know what works. It’s a fun, very distinct, unique way to use guitar for a living.
You also record your own bass tracks…
Yes, bass signal is equally as important as guitar for my work, especially for riff tracks. I have a ’70 Precision Bass and two DiStefano Mustang copies with flatwounds; one has a single coil like the original, the other has humbuckers. Rob built one for me based on the ’51 Precision, and he winds his own pickups.
For “Ink Masters” and shows that have heavy drums, I use distorted bass. I also have a DiStefano Precision clone that has a low B fourth string instead of an E. That way, I can follow my seven-string riffs and get nastier tone. I love playing bass almost as much as guitar.
What do you run basses through?
I have a Tech 21 Sans Amp Bass Driver and a second channel that feeds a Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier, which splits between a Sans Amp into an Avalon and a Mesa 4×12 IR that is one of my favorites. Mesa heads can deliver some nasty ass bass sounds.
For bass, do you use any actual cabs?
Yeah, the same cabs as with guitars – an Orange and a Marshall. When I record at the Clubhouse, the whole place moves. Those cabs give a nasty, cool sound that translates well, even to TV speakers.
Some cool irony emerged when you worked with Ace Frehley on Anomaly.
Yeah, I did some engineering for Ace, and he played my tobaccoburst Les Paul on a solo I cut with him for “Pain In The Neck.” We set up one of his EVH 5150 heads through a Marshall cab and I used a Royer R-122V tube mic and a Sennheiser 421. No pedals, just guitar, cable, amp. He ran a few passes then took a break. In Pro Tools, I cut up ideas from those takes then played it back for him. He worked from those pieces and nailed it in his own way. Ace is really good in the studio and only needs a few takes. It came through in the natural feel of his playing. He’s a great talent and became a friend.
This article originally appeared in VG’s January 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
