Gridlock

Fat Joe and Cool and Dre in The studio

2010-02-08T03:41:00.000-05:00

In The Studio: Johntae and JD

2010-01-15T22:43:00.003-05:00

Some really cool footage of the SO So Def team in the studio working on what seems to be Johnta's album Title "Love Sex and Religion". Johnta is still that nigga, one of my favorite songwriters of all time, his credit list and work speaks for it's self. If you havent seen any of JD's Living The Life series make sure you hit his youtube account and see em all, he's really changing the game with the access he gives his fans.

In The Studio: Kanye West

2010-01-02T02:29:00.001-05:00

Some pre college dropout footage of Ye in the studio makin beats and a nice lil freestyle session at baseline. Dope shit Happy New Years!

Kanye West In The Studio! from Rob Yung on Vimeo.

The Legendary BaseLine Studios

2009-12-27T15:35:00.002-05:00

Here Just Blaze and long time engineer Ryan West talk about the storied history of Baseline Studios as its now closing its doors for good.

LTD Presents Conversations: Just Blaze (Episode #1) from LTD Magazine on Vimeo.

In The Studio: Boi1da

2009-11-23T00:07:00.000-05:00

In The Studio: Sean C and LV

2009-11-22T15:19:00.000-05:00

Musicians Enemy: Steve Jordan

2009-11-16T22:03:00.002-05:00

Starting another new segment with the above title for those musicians I would be afraid to play with, pause, due to their extraordinary skill. Steve Jordan is a brilliant Producer, Drummer and avid sneaker collector. From what I hear he is also a very funny guy. In this clip he plays what sounds like a live set breakdown of "Waiting On The World To Change". Maybe even Mayer in the background playing a lil slide guitar? Ive had my copy of Battle Studies for a few days and also pre-ordered from itunes, but if you havent please check it out.

More Music Vids

2009-11-06T05:10:00.002-05:00

Here's some more music Ive been fortunate enough to work on the last few months since moving out to LA and working with Polow. Spent so much time on these I can barely enjoy them without thinking about how they actually came to be. Tons of recording and tweaking the mixes, but the end result was worth it.

In The Studio: Plies and Polow

2009-11-06T05:05:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the homie Pratt for the link, heres how the Plies record Feat. Keri came to be, with yours truely at the helm.

Making of Plies' MEDICINE

Plies | MySpace Video

First Mobile post Direct from my iPhone

2009-06-30T05:14:00.001-04:00

So I'm in LA working on alot of different stuff. It's good to be out of Atlanta and spreading out. I miss being back home but I'm getting used to the scenery out here now. It's always nice as far the weather and there's alot more opportunities. It's LA, all the labels are here and it's easy if your good enough to stay busy. The first few weeks I was working out of Santa Monica, then Hollywood. Now that I have this cool mobile blog app, I should have alot of posts now that I'm moving around more. Here's a few photos of chalice that I've been uploading via Twitter.

-- Posted From my iPhone --

Distant Relatives: The Making Of

2009-06-25T15:24:00.001-04:00

Going Ham

2009-06-06T02:44:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, been awhile I know, not sure how many subscribers out there even check in anymore but we all have been busy here at Gridlock, with sessions and with our personal lives but I plan on updating more real soon. Started working with some new clients as of late, really trying to get into a new routine, learning the clients drives and making myself more familiar with the equipment he uses. There are in this instance so many issues with the amout of data and just physical space these drives take up on the credenza, it has me looking for the smallest but most reliable Terabyte drives I can find. Im having fun though, and alot is expected of me, but thats what I like about the situation. Im in charge of what gets bought, what gear we decide to use in the future, and just experimenting with new modules and outboard. Im still learning the rig on which he uses to produce, but I should have it all together come the next few weeks. Im looking forward to this year alot, alot of changes and hopefully meeting new people and taking my craft to another level. Here are some pics of the recent sessions at PWR and Silent.

New Music: Electrik Red

2009-05-26T22:13:00.002-04:00

Another dope album produced by Tricky and Dream. I really like the way they put their albums together from the mixes to the sequencing of the songs. I really love the sound of this record, its worth the $7.99 their charging for it on iTunes.

New Music: The Noisettes "Never Forget You"

2009-05-23T21:39:00.004-04:00

New posts aimed at more new artists and music that we here at Gridlock are listening too, really impressed with alot of the new artist showcased this last spring, this band from England is awesome. Dubbed the new "Winehouse" her sound is undeniable. Ill update once I found more info on this band but here's their first stateside single and video.

New Music: Jeezy "Trappin Aint Dead"

2009-05-23T20:47:00.002-04:00

Jeezy is back with another new mixtape and after to listening to it a couple of times and being a huge fan of his music, hes coming hard with this one, pause. The title of the next album is Thug Motivation 103, and its supposedly coming sooner than we think.
Shout outs to Karl, who's tracking for Jeezy now, Dead or Alive sounds great.

Download The Tape Here

In The Studio: Big Boi and Gucci

2009-05-23T20:42:00.003-04:00

Looks as if Big Boi's album is gonna have its 2nd single, and we are all looking forward to it. Video shot by the great Zach Wolfe, here's the guys working in the studio on a track called Shine Blockers.

MIX / TWEET SESSION

2009-05-23T00:11:00.001-04:00

What up everyone. coming soon...... I'm gonna be doing a mix/tweet session where i break it down every step of the way....... let me know if that's something worth doing. Then i'll pick a day and mix, and blast off!!!!

Sorry 2009

2009-05-08T00:01:00.003-04:00

We here at gridlock wanna apologize for the lack of posts lately. We have all been working and laying around on yachts listening to Leslie's mixes on Rick Ross's album. So to make up for it here's some pictures of us goofing off at the studio today and a vid of us all at the lake chilling. Holla

A day in The life of J. Mayer

2009-05-07T20:32:00.002-04:00

Another battle studies vid with mayer and crew. I cannot wait till his album drops. Continuum is still on repeat at the crib.

Check it out for yourself....

2009-04-25T07:48:00.004-04:00

In response to Leslie straight SON-ing of not showing proper respect in the game....I offer a chance to see for yourself. Below is a link of the two mixes in question. They have been set up in a protools session for A/B comparison .....and loudness matched as Leslie's is his original mix, and Buddies is a mastered version. I want gridlock readers to chime in with their comments and opinons....there are no wrong answers here....just stupid ones. Enjoy kiddies....

Audio Files

2009-04-24T02:29:00.006-04:00

What up yall. Leslo in the building. I hadn't been on in a while but the posting below is a direct response to some youngster in the game that tried to disrespect me. You'll see his lame comments first, then you'll see how i RANKED him!

BRYAN'S LAME COMMENTS:
Plies and Chris J Mixed ITB

I just mixed this record completely in the box with waves and UAD 1 plugs.
No summing box or outboard reverbs. Im not saying its the best mix in the world because it was done so fast and not meant to be a final for me but it does give hope to people like me and some others on here that cant afford a 9000j but are trying to compete with that sound.. Ive been recording Plies for three years but it looks like now IM gona record , mix and make beats for his records. Wish me luck!
They put this song on blast today.

Ozone Magazine » Audio Randy's Playlist » Chris J. feat. Plies - “Don’t Need No Man”

The distortion happened in mastering. Plies first album was distorted as hell from mastering. That mastering job sucked. The volumes where uneven and the tracks were distorted. I believe this guy Glen did a good job. yeah its clipping a little but I think these days they do that on purpose. And I agree about his vocals being loud on his other records. I personally hate the mixes on the other records. Some of them are good but most of them are thin and bright as hell with the vocals loud as shit and the kick real loud. Plies mixes sound so different coming out of patch works than the other artists. I almost felt like they had something against him. I was in a strip club the other day and 2 plies songs came on and it sounded like shit. The volume dropped, shit got thin and all you could hear was his voice kik and clap. To me the feeling and life is in the Instruments not drums. Of course the drums have to hit but theres gotta be a balance. Outstanding mixes come out of patchworks and even some of Plies singles sound great but the album fillers seem to get the album fillers mix. Of course that drives me nuts because Ive not had a single yet but 8 album fillers!
This mix was done in less than a hour. They had them send the session so I could put breaks in the beat before we sent it to patch....and I was like shiiiiiit if I got the seperated files IM gona do a quick mix and hopefully win them over. Sure enough they picked this mix over the ones from patchworks, Plies said B how can I get this record to sound just like your mix and I was like.....umm.... send my mix to mastering! and thats what they did. Theres a few things I dont like about this mix. Plies fears me touching anything that he feels already works so I left it just how he liked it. The consummer will NEVER hear this stuff so who cares! lol Im an engineer that never went to school or was taught by anyone but studied and practiced endlessly. This site gearslutz played a BIG part of my development over the years so I felt it was appropriate to come post a industry mix they helped happen. . Add me on my space guys!
Deep Productions on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos
__________________
Thank You,

Bryan Tyson

www.myspace.com/deepproductionsinc
www.hallucination.com
www.pliesworld.com

THIS WAS MY RESPONSE TO HIS IGNORANCE:

Ok, first off. I’m no young buck in the game. I’m 15 years deep on this mix sh*t. RESPECT MUST BE SHOWN TO THOSE THAT PAVED THE WAY. I usually don’t address comments on the internet, but this sh*t was brought to my attention. I mixed a lot of the PLIES records referred to at patchwerk studios. So let’s get things clear.

1) I give PLIES the same quality and attention that I give EVERY other artist I mix.

2) EVERY group of files I received to mix was POORLY recorded. Vocals, Basslines, and Drums were usually somewhat distorted. Before anyone accuses mastering engineers or mix engineers of distorting things, they should check their OWN files first. (HINT: if your waveforms are squared off at the top, you are most likely distorting. Do I need to post screen shots of how the sessions looked before I mixed them ?????? hmmmmmm????)

3) EVERY ruff mix that I received along with the session files sounded HORRIBLE. When I’m in a room full of people and EVERYONE agrees that the ruff mix sounds horrible, then guess what……. You’re a long way from being me.

4) Even the most amateur of engineers know to use PROTOOLS (even LE if they can’t afford the HD system) and a MAC. Using NUENDO and a PC is pretty lame and gives us PROFESSIONALS a hard time mixing anything that comes from that setup.

5) BEGGING someone to mix their sh*t is not only tacky, but it’s a career killer. The fact that you have to “WIN SOMEONE OVER” means you got a lotta work to do homie. I’ve NEVER asked someone to mix ANYTHING in my entire career. Even when I was first starting out, THEY CAME TO ME. My work speaks for itself. When Cher asked me to mix her stuff because she really liked my mix on TLC, or when MARY J. asked me to mix her album because she heard OUTKAST, or when LUDA asked me to mix his ALBUMS because he heard 10 banging mixes in a row in the club, all of which I mixed – THAT’S REAL PLAYA SH*T. Begging for mixes is weak. The LAW OF ATTRACTION is a powerful thing. Read up on it.

6) If you have album fillers but no single, that simply means you gotta do better work. When you get to a place where you FEEL LIKE you should be further along than you REALLY ARE, then you head down a really destructive path. The universe unfolds as it should. When you start producing single worthy material, then you’ll get a single. SIMPLE.

7) the FEELING and LIFE of urban music, is in the DRUMS, BASSLINE, and VOCALS (all of which I previously stated are usually distorted when those sessions get to me). If you think the “FEELING and LIFE” are in the instruments, then that might explain why you have to BEG for mixes or haven’t had a single yet.

8) When an artist is stuck on a ruff mix its USUALLY because it’s the first version of the song that they got used to. It doesn’t mean that it sounds great. More often than not, its quite the opposite. Most artists just get accustomed to what they’ve been listening to since they recorded the record, which is usually a VERY SUB PAR mix. When the files are sent to a PROFESSIONAL, it comes back sounding so different to them that they often want to revert back to the ruff mix, NOT because the ruff is better, but because its FAMILIAR. When you’ve been mixing for more than a WEEK, you’ll learn this quite well.

9) I have absolutely nothing against PLIES. I admire the guy, and I often speak very highly of him. and as his engineer, you can’t just disrespect another fellow engineer and think its cool, there’s rules to this sh*t. To suggest that I would treat a PLIES mix any different from any other mix is straight up DISRESPECTFUL. If you gotta DIS my work and the work of others, just so YOU can get a mix on an album, then that means YOUR work doesn’t speak for itself. BOSS UP MAN. Instead of tearing someone else down, just BUILD YOURSELF UP. But first you need SOMETHING to build on. YOU’VE BEEN EXPOSED. VAMOOSE.

LESLIE BRATHWAITE HAS SPOKEN.

IICRLT: John Mayer II

2009-04-22T02:47:00.004-04:00

If your not already following John Mayer on twitter,TWITTER you should be. Not only is he hilarious, but being a student of music for so long, he has a great appreciation for teaching music and sharing alot of whats going through his mind creatively. Very cool site BATTLE STUDIES where he posts his videos of what hes up too. This video is part 1 of the series hes doing while hes recording his latest untitled masterpiece.

This Might Be

2009-04-15T05:41:00.001-04:00

a problem... Classic shit in the works

IICRLT Part 7: Metallica's Black Album

2009-04-12T00:12:00.005-04:00

Seems pretty safe to say that if you Title your 5th or 6th studio album with the word "Black" the chances it will become a classic are pretty high. With over 15 million sales in the US and 22 worldwide this is the definitive Metallica album. The legendary Bob Rock produced LP isnt my favorite album by them, but is definately theyre best overall piece of work as far as mixes, the production, and the individual performances each band member provided. James sounds amazing on this album, Kirk's unforgiven solo is impossible, and Lar's timing was as good as its ever been and its a credit to how well the took direction from Mr. Rock. Its really cool to take a look into some of the sessions and seeing how much work went into making an album like this some 18 years later.
Taken From Wikipedia, I think this best describes the band/producer relationship lol
"Metallica was produced by Bob Rock, who was originally asked to mix the album as the band was impressed with his work as producer on the Mötley Crüe album, Dr. Feelgood.[1] Initially, the band was not interested in having Rock produce their album, but changed their minds as Ulrich stated; "We felt that we still had our best record in us and Bob [Rock] could help us make it."[1] The Black Album's sound was a marked difference from the stripped down production of the previous album. Rock altered the band's working schedule and routine so much that they swore never to work with him again. The animosity and tension between band and producer was documented in the documentaries A Year And A Half In The Life of Metallica and Classic Albums: The Black Album. Both explore and document the intense and merciless recording process that resulted in The Black Album."

In The Studio

2009-04-10T20:49:00.001-04:00

Looks like one of my vids how clear it is and all, we got Fab working wit Ms. Hilson and The talented Mr. Leslie. Beat is crazy and from Keri's melody for the hook this joint should be beastly after Fab kills the verses.

HAHA Miles!

2009-04-08T04:31:00.002-04:00

Finally i get to knock one of your posts down a notch with one of mines, victory is mines! Ok well im overreacting, unlike the head nod factor of one of my favorite clients snares come blaring out the mains lol. Shout outs to my big bro CANNON (with subsequent 1/4 note delay, BPM 120 lol) here in video with The Cools kids working out of S-line studios here in The A. Dope video, we all know DC cant hoop, and that I should have been there to man the protools and get some shine time for the blizzog. O well, enjoy!

Still Trapped in the Studio....

2009-04-07T17:56:00.002-04:00

Greetings fellow Gridlockers.....I"m sorry it's been so long since my last post....I was afraid I was going to offend J, for my lack of posts and he was gonna change all the log in passwords on me. Phew...Looks like I just made it. Well, one of the reasons I've been so behind on the posting is cuz I've been busy at work, up here at Silent sound. Been working on lots of peeps.....but spending a lot of time with....

Mario. He's been in with Sean and I, and we've done quite a few records....

Sorry for straight jacking the pics from Concreteloop....but hey, I know how you guys all feel about my iphone pics.... sooo......

(peep me getting my shine on in this one!! haha)

But It's been a good set of sessions, getting a fair amount of work done.....one of the first records we did with him is actually out in the internets world....behold....

A great mixer named Fabian Marasciullo mixed it....J did a great post about him a while back...(don't sleep:http://engineeringatlanta.blogspot.com/2008/07/mix-views-fabian-marascuillo.html)
Fabe is great, as a talent, and as a dude....he was funny giving me my props on ichat world....

(additional shout outs to J big-ing up the blog as his status message!)

"Break Up" was produced by Bangladesh, Sean wrote it...and of course ya boy Gucci is on there keeping it STOOPID. Hope you guys like it...and as Mario's album approaches, I'll have some more music to post up!

Studio Story Number 4

2009-04-04T02:24:00.000-04:00

I.L.'s rank game is above average. Killed him lol.

Still Bill

2009-03-30T15:48:00.003-04:00

I watched this trailer like 8 times already. I cant wait to see this.

I promise

2009-03-29T02:42:00.003-04:00

Love vs. Money is the shit. The best mixes and production so far this year. Dave and Jaycen definately did their thing on this album. Heres a vid I totally swagger jacked form the homie Apollo and his blog again lol. Dream works on two of the joints in less than 2 hours. Craziness.

Have You Ever...

2009-03-27T22:53:00.006-04:00

Wondered what made certain pieces of gear more desirable than others? Or what was the distinction between an 1176 siver face model as oppossed to the black face model? Well while searching the net for info like this back in my intern days I came across a dope article first published in Mix Magazine in 1996 on the Mercenary Audio Site all about vintage recording equipment and why some models are highly sought after more so than others. I usually dont nerd out on such facts but I have to admit a bit of this knowledge goes along way when choosing what outboard gear to use for certain sessions or clients. I was lucky enough to intern a major facility with a nice collection of outboard gear to try out when i wanted to experiment. But as anything in audio i suggest trying out what sounds good to YOU, to hell with what you read until you can decide for yourself if it sounds good or not. Peep the link and enjoy!

http://www.mercenary.com/readguidtovi.html

Learn All About It

Happy Bday

2009-03-25T00:01:00.003-04:00

Its Mile's born day today, and in honor of this glorious occasion, Ive decided to post a super random picture of him that coincidentally doubles as my iphone backdrop for when he calls. Happy B Day pimp!

Studio Story 3

2009-03-22T06:53:00.000-04:00

Jesse is a fool

In The A

2009-03-21T00:36:00.003-04:00

So I wanna aim more posts towards production tips and video's atleast every now and again for all the producers that are into the blog. I appreciate the work you all put in and I really admire the process that goes in for making beats. I would sit and watch Jlack make beats all the time cause he was so sick, its inspiring. Heres some more video's from the good ole folks at youtube with Atlanta's finest Shawty Redd and Zaytoven. If I did make beats they would probably come out like this.

Tricks of The Trade: Quantizing Audio In Protools

2009-03-19T01:28:00.005-04:00

So me and some engineer friends were talking about how some producers arrange their drum parts all live with no sequencing. This may be a lil weird to some of us who are used to the producer programing his drums all in a drum machine, DAW, or using a keyboard. One of the engineers in session at the studio didnt know it was possible, so I decided to share a technique I found. So here's a cool article on how to do so using beat detective and elastic audio.

Learn All About It

At for those who hate to read, I admit the article is a little hard to follow, I found a video straight from digi on quantizing.

Video Footage: London @ PWR

2009-03-18T00:14:00.003-04:00

A cool vid I found with London working on a joint called "She's Gone" with the homie Ryan Toby and produced by the legendary Rodney J. As you all know I love seeing how other engineers work, and Tito is one of the best. I love his mixes and even though the quality of the audio from a youtube video is suspect,it sounds quite good. I see another dope engineer Mike Mill aka Snotty in the background chilling, if your ever at Patchwerk ask for him, he's dope. Rodney also drops some gems on working with MJ and capturing a classic performance.

In The Mix

2009-03-14T16:45:00.007-04:00

The making of Love vs. Hate

2009-03-13T03:11:00.003-04:00

Studio at The Palms. The Dream. Tricky. Dave Pensado. Nuff Said, enjoy. Shouts out to B Luv, I see u.

BAAAAAAAD BOOOOOOY! : Diddy and Casie "mixing"

2009-03-12T14:44:00.003-04:00

Diddy at it once again, dropping some studio footage of him and Cassie in the studio "Mixing", Must Be Love, which sounds incredible, like those Bad Boy singles of old. Im sure Sean C and LV had their hands on this, Im actually excited to see Puff back on it again in the studio doing what he does best, stunting and making hit records. Im not sure how much "mixing" is being done but Im sure he wanted to blast this new song off on the net first and from first listen, the songs jammin.

IICRLT Part 7: John Mayer At The Crib

2009-03-11T04:13:00.003-04:00

So yet another IICRLT post inspired in part by my fellow blogger Apollo, (check out his blog to the right) about John Mayer. I saw that he had some really cool youtube videos posted in the last few weeks and it resparked my love for his music. His last album Continuum was my shit. He's our Eric Clapton, just an amazing musician and songwriter. His music translates so well, its no wonder why so many Hip Hop and R&B acts colaborate with the dude. Looks like he has a pretty decent home setup, I like that he's using an LE
setup to demo out some ideas and work on music that will later get recut im sure at a major facility. Make sure to check out some of his other vids.

Music University

2009-03-08T16:17:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, just getting back in from the Music University seminar were Miles Leslie and myself spoke on engineering and mixing. It was really cool coming back for a second time to speak, the first time as a intern, and now as an established freelance engineer. Miles and Les were great sports, they were up from the previous night working, and just stayed thru this morning to speak. I know they had to be tired, but they still answered the questions and put on a show lol. Some of the other panelists were producers and executives so it was cool seeing all those guys in the same building chopping it up. Got a couple of offers to track and mix some stuff so it was pretty productive.

Get To Patchwerk...

2009-03-08T09:10:00.001-04:00

And peep gridlock live... J, myself, and leslie are speaking on the panel for music university RIGHT NOW ! Offical post to follow im sure... Holler

HOW I GOT STARTED AND CHASED MY DREAM........

2009-03-06T22:29:00.004-05:00

In response to quite a few emails and posts asking the same GENERAL question, here goes.....

I left St.Thomas when I was 18 years old in 1991. ….I enjoyed growing up in St.Thomas….BUT I was so ready to leave.
Immediately after graduation I was on a plane to Orlando where I attended FULL SAIL CENTER FOR THE RECORDING ARTS. My dad got me started by paying my rent for a few months, paying for school, and helping me get my first BUCKET of a car….(I am VERY thankful though). – I was determined not to ask him for ANY more help. During the year I spent at FULL SAIL, I worked in a blockbuster video store part time to pay for my apt and car.

I decided that I was going to move to Atlanta the day I graduated and I did just that. I chose Atlanta because at the time New York and Los Angeles seemed too saturated with people looking for similar work. I had read an article while living in Orlando, about a young up and coming producer named DALLAS AUSTIN, and how he was opening a new studio in Atlanta. I made it my mission in life to find him and work at his studio.
2 weeks after graduation…….MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

In august 1992, I started out at the lowest possible level in the music industry. I was an intern at the studio. I didn’t make ANY money. I went on food runs, I cleaned the bathrooms, I made coffee, I packed up equipment and just about anything else they needed done at the studio.....FOR FREE. .....IN EXCHANGE, I got the opportunity to be around, observe, learn, and every now and then ask questions. It was an awesome exchange. Besides my part time job (to pay for my car and rent), I would spend every waking hour at the studio. Eventually I moved my way up the ranks and by summertime, 1993, I had became an ASSISTANT ENGINEER. I hadn’t quite started working with Dallas directly. Instead I was working with a handful of engineers and some producers he had signed to him in production deals. I would also work steadily with a host of outside clients that would book studio time there.

As things rolled on, more and more producers noticed that I was pretty good and had potential. Eventually Dallas himself started to take notice and that’s when things really got rolling. I would go on to record and mix my first hit record…Monica’s “DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL” in 1995.

After that, I continued to work with Dallas closely and consistently as a RECORDING and MIX ENGINEER for the next 6 years. My career REALLY blossomed in that time period because my discography started to get full with names like MADONNA, BOYS II MEN, MICHAEL JACKSON, ARETHA FRANKLIN, TLC, DEBORAH COX, TONI BRAXTON, OUTKAST, BUSTA RHYMES, NOTORIUS B.I.G., 2 PAC, WILL SMITH, and many more big names.

During that time I also started producing records as well. I managed to produce records for 112, ICE CUBE, MACK 10, MONICA, SHANICE, SCARFACE, NIVEA and a few others. Production wasn’t really my focus though. I did it because It was fun, I was good at it, and I made some good money…………..BUT I was PASSIONATE about MIXING records.

In 2001, it was time for me to grow into my own and focus on becoming a MIX ENGINEER. I parted ways with Dallas and made my home over at PATCHWERK STUDIOS (right down the street) where I continue to work to this day. Patchwerk had (and still HAS in my opinion) the best mix room in Atlanta, so it was an easy choice for me……….I ONLY mess with the best.
Since then, I’ve mixed records for so many including JEEZY, CASH MONEY MILLIONAIRES, LIL WAYNE, JAY-Z, EMINEM, 2 PAC, RICK ROSS, LUDACRIS, CHER, SANTANA, MARY J. BLIGE, P. DIDDY, and so on.

I worked VERY hard to get to where I am. I stayed very focused all these years. I HARDLY EVER go out. I don’t goto nightclubs, stripclubs, etc. I don’t smoke or do ANY types of drugs. I rarely drink, AND ONLY when I’m not working. I’m never in the streets chasing women or attention. I take vacations, We goto Disney, Aspen, and Lake Lanier REGULARLY. Other than that…………..I wake up EVERY day goto the studio, work, have fun…………… and EVERY NIGHT, I go home to DORIS (and my unborn child).

This WAS……IS…..AND CONTINUES TO BE…….the story of my success.

I'm glad my story has inspired some in the past and hope it continues to do so for others in the future.

IICRLT Part 6: Linkin Park and Hov: Collision Course

2009-03-04T00:06:00.004-05:00

Hey there guys and gals, another post in my series "If I Could Record Like This". Silly I know but I tend to nerd out on this kind of stuff and really its how I came to love what I do. I definitely admire my peer's work and I stay reading credits on who does what. Anyone who knows me is hip to the fact that Jay-z is like me favorite rapper of all time. I know Brooke can relate, being a fellow Jigga fan, it's one of my goals to record him. I know that shit sounds crazy but it's true, I actually came super close to last year, but thats another story lol. I have all of Linkin Park's albums, probably my 2nd all time favorite band. Their music is just a mash up of all my favorite genre's of music. When MTV decided to do the Mash Up's album, I was stoked that these 2 titans of their respective genre's were chosen to be the first, and only I might add, of the series. It's scary how well the songs, configured from various mix stems and multitracked sessions, merged together almost seamlessly. Only a couple of vocal tracks were actually rerecorded for the album. Here's a clip from the airing taped for MTV. Watching this is crazy, Hov one taking his verses and Mike recording his vocals is amazing. If you dont listen to Linkin Park you should, Im not into their newer stuff, but the first 2 albums are classics. They record alot at one of my favorite studios in La, NRG located in North Hollywood. Cool place check out the site and make sure to peep the studio's, they have an awesome B room with a Moroccan motif thats amazing.

WAAAAAY over due....

2009-03-02T03:17:00.002-05:00

First off, shame on me for taking so long to post. J did an AMAZING job of freaking the blog with a new look, and I can't thank him enough for finally letting me get shine in the headline pic. Ha! I'm glad you guys have been feeling the new look too...I know it sounds lame, but J and I really check out all your comments and ideas so we can have future post about stuff you wanna see.

Anyways...

....this is the reason I"ve been so behind on my posting, I've been on SUPER lock down up at silent...16 plus hour sessions for the past 2 weeks. Its been a great run, but really taxing...plus I was holding out to get some decent pics for you guys! Additional shout out to J for letting me hold the D90 and blessing my pics with tags.

Been Grinding it out with my dude Bangladesh....

He is really chill and great to work with. We always have fun.....

We've been working on a new artist on Def Jam named Unique....

We've done 3 great songs on him, very proud of how that stuff turned out....

Kory's been a contender for most grind hours...hanging in there!

Still going with no sings of slowing down....

But I'm happy it's going well, and after a brief stint with the D90, I can see there is no turning back to iphone antics...I swear I won't disrespect the blog in that way again....API's aside, I'm already setting up a budget for the proper camera. Holler

Tools of the trade.

2009-02-28T05:40:00.001-05:00

A quick glimpse into all of the added features in Protools 8. I personally havent had alot of face time with it yet, but the things Ive seen so far have been really cool. I really like the look of it, even though its clearly looking more and more like logic, I think its in light of all the new users apple has acquired with Logic the last couple of years, mainly with producers. Digidesign certainly has stepped up there game in relation to music production, but I dont see them making a dent in that logic armour quite yet. With many of its new features aimed towards producers, with all the midi editing functions and added software instruments, it should have a couple of guys thinking twice about using it as more of a production tool. Even us engineers should be excited, added tracks in LE versions, its making workflow a breeze. With added playlist views, elastic pitch, and also being able to comp vocals even faster than before, it has me ready to cop and upgrade from 7.4 already. Here is a nice lil tutorial vid on some of the features mentioned above and more.This version is definately all about the customization and look.

Here's another vid I found while researching the new version, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park explains how hes using the new features in his production and recording techniques with his band as they record new material for their upcoming album. Very cool vid, Mike is simply an amazing Producer/Engineer.

I Uplifted My Prada

2009-02-27T03:05:00.000-05:00

So to all my regulars, as you can see I uplifted my blog prada, which means ya boy has stepped his blogging game up to a whole nother level. Got a nice lil energy popping now that I did this update. Im in between sessions and what not now so I had some time on my hands obviously lol. Leave comments check out some of the newly added links to other sites and blogs, and feel free to make requests on what you guys wanna see here on the site.

The Realness

2009-02-26T03:58:00.000-05:00

Photoshop finally.

Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Robert Orton

2009-02-22T04:03:00.000-05:00

Awesome article about Mix engineer Rob Orton. He mixed Let's Dance recently and Sound on Sound Did a dope article on some of the stuff he used while mixing the track at Sarm 3. I was impressed that he mixes in the box ( meaning he mixes mainly in his computer ) good to see more and more guys staying inside, gives engineers who rarely have the chance to mix on desks in major facilities hope and inspiration on how it can be done. He uses alot of stuff that me and Miles do, and sounds as if he has a beast of a rig, "armed to the teeth with plug ins".

Las Vegas Sun Article

2009-02-22T02:45:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot that while i was in Vegas recording, they did a story on The Studio At The Palms in which we were recording, well actually just listening that day, to some of the tracks we had recorded the past 2 weeks. I strolled into the other studio to mess around and the photographer actually sneaked some dope pics of me. I actually play, have since high school. Pretty cool story on easily my favorite studio outside of Georgia. Check it out here:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/feb/04/casinos-cradle-sound/

Silent Camp Out

2009-02-21T16:05:00.001-05:00

So we have shifted over to silent sound for the next few days.....more of the same project....but here's what it's looking like right now...

Here's Kory looking suspect (obviously busted looking at porn)...

My API's are in FULL effect too on the keyboard too, and the Neve 1073 on the MPC....sounding tasty...

....well...that's it for now, but i'm sure I'll have more thru the week....maybe even some decent quality ones if J comes by!!

PWR 9K

2009-02-19T20:11:00.000-05:00

Working along in 9000 at Patchwerk again....

...had a good 2 days over there with Snotty and Bangladesh....dude has a simple set up, but really knows how to make the most from his MPC...

...you know I had to bring some of my toys too....both gear and literal toys...

...everything was sounding good and working away.....nice few days.....and before anybody gets any bright ideas to hate on the pics....read the post below! I'm working on it alright!!!

Why ya boy has such garbage bag pics.....

2009-02-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

Alright peanut gallery...as promised, it's excuses time....I know I don't have my pic game on point, but let me try and illustrate why....J did a great post about the mobile rig and working from home. Nowadays, even major label clients are cutting back and trying to save on budgets. Working at home studios is more and more common. Plus it's always great to do somebody a solid or give a homey price. Soooo...with all that in mind, I wanted to have a rig at the house that could handle all the same projects I'm working on at big studios, for mixing updates and new projects too. Behold...

The Rig...Mac Pro Quad 3.0 with 8 Gigs of Ram. Housing HD 3 PCIe Accel ProTools 8....

The Tower....All Apogee converters and Big Ben Clock. Neve 1073 Stereo Mic Pre (API 512s not pictured), Waves MAXX BCL for the loudness you need in your life, 2 Distressors for beating drums...

The Compy and Toys....NS 10s with a genelec sub, and more toys to keep me entertained that I know what to do with....

This is just to help try and explain WHY my pics (including the ones here) are so lame....ya boy is heavily invested in his future...and I hope blogging is a part of it...however, if this blog thing doesn't pan out, I hope I can keep the day job engineering. So if you'll keep putting up with a few more shitty pics, I'll save up for the camera....ASAP!!!

Where did he go?

2009-02-18T05:41:00.000-05:00

One of my fav songs/mixes off of the Recession, Welcome Back, just released a video directed by one of my fav directors lately Gabriel Hart, check out Rocko's Tomorrow or his latest clip, B.O.B.'s In The Sky. Gabe is getting it in now. Shout out to Les on a great mix and Nico for tracking.

SSS Upgrades...

2009-02-17T06:14:00.000-05:00

When you're patchwerk, you're patchwerk for life, but honestly, my favorite room to work at in Atlanta is Silent Sound Studios. It just has my prefered console and Mains speaker array. In addition to that, terrific outboard, a great staff, and good overall vibe. They always had a large ProTools rig, with a great selection of stuff, but until recently it was Power PC....TK (the owner), just MAJORLY uplifted his prada.....the only Intel HD 6 rig I know off. All PCIe, all accell. Screaming fast is an understatement....

And with dual displays.....

More Killface to keep everyone happy.....

Some of the Rack Array...

Along with some of mine...

....J has a great post about mobile rigs....I'm going to work up a post for that soon....Hope you guys enjoy...

Mobile Mixing

2009-02-17T03:34:00.000-05:00

I wanted to do a post outside of the studio but while i was stil working. Nowadays I spend alot of time doing stuf outside of private studios and comercial places that I frequent. Me and Miles both have rigs set up at our respective cribs and I like to have another option to do smaller things like edits and maybe even some mixing with smaller sessions. I have an mbox pro that i recently retrieved from a producer friend after letting him borrow it until he got his hands on a decent interface for his logic setup. Its nice being able to do smaller projects while im on the go. I pend alot of time away from my house unless Im tracking there or mixing a larger session. I had some mixes I needed to finish for The homie Don Cannon, just mixing some beats he had done in the recent weeks. I have PT version 7.1 running on an older macbook pro with tons of cracks on it. Shoutout to Miles it was his old mobile joint and Ive had for a while now. I pretty much use it to edit and do lil roughs here and there. Its actually pretty dope as you can see from the pics I got a lil mix going on this bad boy and its quick. It has alot of plugins I like to use and for the most part I do it all in headphones until I get it where I think its close then I bounce all the tracks down and burn them onto CD to listen to in the whip. Pretty easy days work I might add.

Track Record....well, sort of

2009-02-14T16:46:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delayed post...I was super tired making my way back to ATL....but had a really fun session my last night out there. It was with the cool new artist named Ahmad. He's got a great tone, and so much style it's ridculious. Dude came in rocking the dookie chain and kool moe dee glasses. I was like...."either dude is on some bullshit, or he's really fly". It was the latter.

The studio we were working on was cool too...it was the old Track Record...which was bought by producer Harvey Mason. Here's how it pretty much still looks, minus a different monitor for the computer rig...

but you know we were on the late night vibe tip....so here was us in action....

Also, I know i'm gonna catch super hell for this garbage pic, but there was the illest rack selection, because a great engineer named dave russel was camped out in there before us...

I could rattle off the list, but put it this way.....that many lights = hot shit in the rack. End of discussion.

A solid way to finish up that trip, but like I said, I'm happy to be home, and can't wait to see the folk tonight. Hollertreezadeez

LAX to ATL connect

2009-02-13T19:21:00.000-05:00

Finally about to Depart from the left coast... ATL in 4 hours. I'm happy I was able to get some records cut out here, but I'm also happy to be heading home to see my folk. J got me all gassed on some big plans! Im with it!!! I'll try and do a proper post from my session last night (when I'm not sitting in LAX ...). Worked in a really cool studio with a cool new artist and met back up with a cool engineer. Cool. What an over used word. Laters

Do Yourself a solid...

2009-02-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

and please download Drakes Mixtape "So Far Gone". This shit shouldnt even be free its sooo good. Easily the best sounding mixtape Ive heard, 40 and Drake did their thang. Successful is my shit btw.

I'm goin in !!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-13T03:16:00.000-05:00

What up everyone, my name is Leslie Brathwaite.

i mix records
i snowboard
i play madden, halo 3, and grand theft auto
i'm about to be a father.

Jeremy invited me to contribute every now and then to the bloggernomics, so here i am......

I'M GOIN IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ............................
.............the other day i got all pissed off at the MUSIC INDUSTRY and went on a rant.... here it its:

First of all, the internet DID NOT ruin the MUSIC industry. That would be like saying ATM machines ruined the banking industry. ATM machines make accessing your money easier and more convenient. Instead of making a trip to the bank to withdraw or deposit money, you can do it from a grocery store (where you can instantly use it). Same concept can be applied to music. The internet is simply a tool thru which you can access, distribute, audition, discover, and conveniently purchase music.

THE PROBLEM is, the music industry was (and in some cases still is) so focused on doing things the old way and destroying internet-music activity, that they didn’t focus any resources on harnessing the power of the internet to ENHANCE music sales. Instead of spending time trying to destroy the kid that came up with NAPSTER, record labels should have found that kid, put him on a payroll and charge him with figuring out a way to come up with a workable, and hacker-free solution to embrace the internet and its power of connectivity to effectively sell music.

APPLE beat them to the punch. They figured out what the record labels should have – if you come up with the coolest gadget to play music on (iPOD), then you come up with a cool interface for the gadget where you can arrange playlists, and PURCHASE your content (iTUNES), you can corner the market. SONY had the same relative game plan in the 80s when they gave us cassettes, but also gave us the cool gadget (the walkman) in which to play the cassettes.

Simply put, the music industry has not evolved enough to keep up with technology and the changes in the world. So…….of course not only do I present the PROBLEM, but here are some ideas for thought that could lead to a SOLUTION.

1. MAKE BETTER MUSIC
Seems like this would be obvious, but for some reason the music keeps getting worse. Now let me clarify something – good music does not ONLY mean live instruments and “taking it back” to live instrumentation with bands, etc. the problem with that is people who want live music or instruments usually tend to sound too old school or dated, especially in the R&B. They tend to focus to much on how things “sounded” before, instead of being PROGRESSIVE and visionary. I think alternative and electronic music is probably best representation of good, progressive, music these days. Hip-Hop is horrible. R&B is boring, Dancehall is pretty stagnant, everyone is either getting lazy, doing the same thing or trying to re-create an era that isn’t coming back.

2. REWORK THE MODEL FOR SELLING MUSIC
Sell the artist not the music. Give away the music and sell everything else. Rick Rubin had an extremely brilliant concept by suggesting iTUNES and other major internet retailers adopt a subscription based service. Pay a fixed amount monthly and download at your convenience. When people aren’t buying what you’re selling, change what you’re selling. When everyone stops buying music, sell the convenience – and everything else you can think of – merchandise, special edition artist based iPods, shows, etc. I touched on this in one of my previous notes when I described how Apple and AT&T re-shaped the wireless cell phone industry by focusing on offering the best PHONE instead of focusing on the SERVICE and the PLANS like everyone else who are all still struggling to catch up.

3. RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB
If you took a door, cut it in half, and retro-fit it to be used in a window opening, it would do a horrible job of being a window. Same concept applies to certain people and their jobs in the music industry. Too often, people in this industry want to do too much. Producers and writers want to be artists, A&Rs want to be producers and mixers, Artists want to be writers and producers. Its really f*ckin things up!!!!!!!!! Now I’m not saying that people can’t expand and broaden their horizons, BUT it is becoming ridiculous. I constantly have A&Rs calling me telling me to make a mix sound like an AWFUL ruff mix they’ve been listening to for 4 months. (which is the equivalent of hiring a professional photographer and asking them to use a disposable camera) I’M A PROFESSIONAL MIX ENGINEER, when I mix a record, its going to come out sounding “CLEAN” and professional - if you want your record to sound like a trashy ruff mix, call someone else to do it. Let the MIXERS mix. The fact that you would choose an awful mix (because its what you are accustomed to) over a clean sound means that you are NOT the right person for that job. Same applies to writers who have NO star power but want to be artists. When you have a really great song performed by a terrible artist, you are destroying the industry as a whole. The true stars can’t SHINE because all the very good writers are keeping the hits for themselves. They do the REAL stars, the song, and the music industry a horrible dis-service. USHER would’ve had an awesome album last time around if he'd gotten real hit records from the writers. Instead everyone was just looking out for themselves and not giving him the real hits he deserved. Imagine how much bigger of a record “BED” would have been if that was Usher’s record. (no disrespect intended to J. Holiday, just stating the facts) ............Lets put all the windows back in the window openings PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!

4. ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
The best way to promote healthy growth of the music industry, is to promote its stars in a positive light. Usher and Beyonce’, two of our brightest stars, are often the targets of negative feedback. The urban stations, DJ’s, and websites tend to always promote all the NEGATIVITY, COONERY and BEEF that makes Hip Hop and R&B in particular look stupid. When CNN and other networks spend years promoting bad news, violence, and controversy – it ultimately lead many people to support the now currently ignorant war, which is largely responsible for our financial demise. Negativity promotes more negativity. Urban DJ’s and Gossip sites should realize this. BET should be cancelled. Its awful. The NFL and NBA have been so successful because they promote their BEST players constantly. The WNBA and the Music Industry could learn a lesson from that. IN THE SAME LIGHT, we should NOT continue to “celebrate” people who continue to use drugs, or make poor decisions. Whitney Houston at this year's GRAMMYs was pitiful, embarrassing, and hard to watch.

5. QUINCY JONES HAS A POINT
The story of music is important. The history, the craft, the passion. Most young artists coming into the game right now have no idea who Rick Rubin is, or how a rock producer was responsible for a huge portion of today’s hip hop. They have no respect for the game, or for those that paved the way. As a result, they don’t give it their heart and soul. They want fame and money and they think the game owes them something. I think it was very important for P. Diddy to make the season one crew of “Making The Band” walk to JUNIOR’S to get him some cheesecake, or when he made them learn all the lyrics to “Juicy” by Notorious B.I.G. – he wanted them to respect the come up, the grind, and all that came before them to pave the way. VERY IMPORTANT.

6. CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF SUCCESS
There’s a really annoying trend that breeds negativity in the industry. When an artist doesn’t go gold or platinum…OR if they don’t sell a million copies in their first week, they automatically feel like a failure. The labels help this ignorance by putting so much focus on record breaking sales. The math is simple. If you spend $300,000.00 making an album, and you sell 200,000 copies@ $8 per copy, then you just grossed $1,600,000.00 – That’s a success. You spent 300k and made 1.6 million! If the money were spent better, distributed more fairly, and accounted for more accurately, everyone would be happy. The greed by the labels cause them to try to spend less to make the album, which results in poor product, which results in poor sales. Its not complicated.

7. STOP OVERTHINKING
I sit in sessions all the time where label execs, artists, and producers spend too much time overthinking everything. They sit there trying to make records for the CLUB or for the GIRLS or for the STREETS!!!!!!!!!! JUST MAKE GOOD RECORDS. The records will find their own way to the appropriate place. Everyone rushes to do a record with someone just based on if they are hot at the moment and totally forgetting about chemistry and vibe. I’ve seen people destroy their careers because they were overthinking what single should be first and founding their decision on all the wrong things.

yep, ......... i'm mad.

2009-02-11T19:37:00.000-05:00

You know what needs to come back....

Boosh, Sax solos....i'm in session right now, and we spent like 15 mins going thru keyboards looking for a saxophone sound that wasn't super fake and cheese dick...and I got to thinking...damn, what happened to all the Sax solos from the 80's. Everybody still remembers good guitar solos (J ....Van Halen sees you), but peeps try and front like Sax solos weren't the shit.

Lock it up..

2009-02-10T20:11:00.001-05:00

Matching your hoodie and shoes is soooo last year. Now a days, if you wanna be fly at the studio, you need to have all that, plus coordinating food. Hollertreezy....Oh, and that video is off the yelzabub J....get involved.

Dope Vid Director: Ray Kay

2009-02-10T19:36:00.000-05:00

Love the song and Ray Kay has to be if not my favorite video director, very close to it. Some of these scenes are just crazy, glad to see he did his first single last time and hes back for the second go around. Really good shit here check it out! Im gonna post some more of Ray's stuff his photography is dope as well.

Back to Paramount...

2009-02-09T19:58:00.001-05:00

Back To Paramount today, but in the C room...which despite 3rd alphabetical listing, is the nicest room they have at Paramount...Nice 9000J SSL

...and a really big live room. To dark for a decent pic (don't wanna catch any hateration from Pratt about pic fidelity so i'm just not gonna post one....

Great set up for the Rack Gear in the C Room...

...I've always wondered why in more mix focused rooms, they don't have rack gear at ear height, thus allowing for adjustments at ear level, instead of hunched down in a rack....still not wasted space below either, some shelfs for storage and a credenza of sorts....

This is how we had the keyboard Set up...

...also, peep Alek TOTALLY addicted to imob on his iphone...I think he was in the middle of pulling off a diamond heist or something here...perhaps beating an old lady for her purse....who knows....ahhhh iphone. Ruining the attention span of assistants across the globe.

And here's me....

getting down to tuning the vocals....Well...that's it for now...more later.

Henson

2009-02-07T23:43:00.000-05:00

Shifted over to Henson studios today....which is a really nice room.

They have a cool vibe, and everything is really well organized. Plus some nice rack gear too...

My assistant was named James, and he's cool as hell.

More to come...probably on the mobile blog tip...laters...

you dont' see this every day...

2009-02-07T03:40:00.000-05:00

At Paramount A room...they have a cool SSL 6000. Which for anybody who hasnt' seen, it's quite close to a 4000, but with a 3 bus (A,B,C) master section instead of the 4000 "Quad Bus". It's pretty cool, a few difference in the master section....and the one here is modded out with E series EQs...which sound awesome for lots of stuff....

The coolest mod though is at the end of the desk...

....stereo channels! Kinda cool for a one fader EFX return..and his a sweet stereo spread pot instead of left right...

There was a decent rack selections too....sorry for the weak sauce pic though..

....still not up on my high rez pic game. And for all the readers that aren't teched out nerds...

...I been up in here trying to get a mothafucking scholarship!

Paramounting...

2009-02-06T04:31:00.001-05:00

Still over here at Paramount...which is part of a group of 3 studios, Encore, Ameraycan, and Paramount. They do a wide variety of types of music....hell, they are working on a Courtney Love record downstairs right now! (is that chick even still alive???)....so that's kinda cool to see. I THINK we may have a session over at Encore on Saturday, so it'll be nice to compare the different rooms, and share with Gridlock land...here's what it's been like so far....

Thats me looking suspect and Alek, the assistant who's cool, and hella knowledgable on some tech stuff....we nerd out. It rocks.

This is the desk upstairs in B, where we worked today...it's a SUPER old E series 4000 SSL...don't see too many of these, and in a 48 channel config too...

This is me fake stunting in front of Eric Hudson's keyboard set up.....kinda funny, come all the way out to LA to work on some more of the same stuff we were working on back in ATL last week. But it's been good.

Aight...more to come...Let's gooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mobile pics from paramount!

2009-02-05T06:49:00.001-05:00

paramount on the go..

2009-02-05T06:44:00.000-05:00

So had the start of some good sessions with Mishon, a new act on Interscope. He's a cool young dude with a good vibe and great voice... Trying to show some pics here of him .. All from the moblieness.. Let's see how it goes

get your mobile on...

2009-02-04T17:06:00.000-05:00

Okay.. Big moves in gridlock land... Trying for the first mobile blog post. So no hating if it's kinds garbage...or hating if it doesn't show up at all and I just spent 10 mins typing to myself. Wait, then only I would be hating on myself. Damn you self!!! ... Anyway, trying to report live from the west west today...
A proper blog coming, I hopes tonight...

Mobile Blogging from here.

Randomness.And Pics to boot.

2009-02-02T05:42:00.000-05:00

So i spent most of my day sleeping and chilling till it got close to game time. Went to a party with Ryan Good and My Arie. Had a blast, JoJo knows how to throw a party, felt like half of Atlanta was there. We slid out during halftime to watch the rest of the game at PWR with the crew. I find it important to balance work and just being around your peeps and enjoying the downtime. I usually take my sundays off to be with my friends and see whats going on and whatnot. Funny how i always end up at a studio some way some how lol.

Day 3 At Triangle Sound

2009-02-01T07:27:00.000-05:00

Our last days pics from another night working with Justin and AJ. Had a great time working with him, and cant wait to see whats next for him. I got the habg of this whole slide show thingee now, ya boys making progress now lol.

Getting to Work.

2009-01-31T03:26:00.000-05:00

Had another productive night at redzone with the guys working on Justin Beiber, 14 year old R&B prodigy who just signed on With La Reid and Ush. Hes really amazing, probably the most talented person Ive ever worked with. Hes 14 but carries himself like a star. The record we did tonight is crazy, we had a good time recording and just chilling.

At Redzone With AJ

2009-01-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

So another night of work, back at it with AJ now that hitland is once again consumed by water, were up at Triangle studios working on another project. We are gonna be here for the next 3 days working on demo's and maybe cutting with said artist on Sat. Here's some pics of the nights work. Enjoy.

Doppleezy

2009-01-29T02:16:00.000-05:00

Shifted gears and slid over to Doppler today. Worked with another one of my clients today on his artist, Sweet Rush

....well this is half of Sweet Rush. Iman and her dog Chuck. Siham was there too, but she was too cool for school to be on Gridlock, maybe next time. Doppler is probably one of the only studio that hasn't bumped up the main rig to an intel based mac, so I wasn't able to rock off my boot drive (which is only intel compatible...I may set up a PPC one, but this is LITERALLY the only studio in town without intel, so it kind of pointless)....so unfortuanatley, no killface appearance today. Boo....just me....

Double Boo. As usual, I brought my gear for my mic chain...because I love the way it sounds paired with my mic, and in addition to that, it's nice to be comfortable using your piece, knowing exactly what settings work with whatever vocal performance, and just being familiar in general....also to have the gloomy bears on the defense tip, in case someone trys to fuck with your settings. Boosh!

We got it going good today, and finished up a joint.....hope they like it....and more to come.....

Super Secret Lair...

2009-01-28T02:19:00.000-05:00

Okay...well, maybe it isn't that, but this is a shot of the writing room my client and I sometimes work when we aren't in Silent or PWR...

This is a small PT based rig that I put togther so we could do some demo song ideas. Kinda hard to tell from the garbage pic, but the studio is equipped with my mic, mic pre, compressor, converters, candle, cup of coffee, but most important is visible....Killface.

Studio Stories Part 1

2009-01-27T11:45:00.001-05:00

LOL at goes to the nearest Sonoco. Funny as hell. Another night at PWR.

Studio Story Number 1 from J Stevenson on Vimeo.

STILL still on it at PWR

2009-01-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

Yessir...the work up here continues...as it's been going well writing and getting some ideas together. I'm still slipping on getting my camera game up to par, so please forgive me for now....

This was our set up when writing with Eric Hudson. Dude is crazy talented, and is fun to record, because he doesn't sequence anything, he plays it all live...the closest thing you're going to get to rocking with a live band these days! He doesn't use any software synths (which I tried to help him get up on, cuz he travels a lot and his rental bill is SUBSTANTIAL), but uses the Fantom for a lot of horns, and the motif for a lot of stings and stuff. It was a good hang, and got some cool ideas put down.

I'm not going off on a rant here, but to all the folks out there recording...PLEASE keep those sessions well organized and labeled. There is nothing worse than working on a session somebody else recorded and see the tracks labels audio 1-97. Come on man....we are professionals here, this is our science. Scientist label shit. End of story.

Stopped by the office the other day for a nice biz transaction with Ben Allen...results to be posted shortly during my gear extravaganza post...and saw Monica and Brad and the Milk Money mascots Juno and Coltrane!

Well....that's what's been up for a few days....I'm working up that nice gear post....but will probably hit up some ridiculous topic like favorite studio foods first to balance out my nerdom. Hollertreezaleeezy 9000.

Mix Views: Tony Maserati Part2

2009-01-25T15:50:00.000-05:00

Mixing classics like the ones Tony's done in his career should be of topic whenever he does a mix related interview. Fantasy by Mariah Carey? come on that mix is incredible. Here in this part 2 of 4 series as he speaks on his influences and mixing back in the day.

4 Years in the making.

2009-01-23T04:21:00.000-05:00

Another night at Patchwerk, but what makes this night different is the fact I actually got a picture with me, Les and Mike in it. And it only took 4 years and some change but hey, it happened lol. Ima look back at this pic and wonder what the hell we were actually doing but as always pretty much nothing. Me and les are a lil out of focus but still cool, peep my hoodie...fresh

Still on it at PWR

2009-01-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

Gotta say shout out to Leslie for letting me get a few days in 9K....Always happy to work over there (and I dropped the Master Trim on the 2 Bus so my client can't beat up on the mains quite so much!). We've just been steady in here writing songs for various heads the past few days....it's been going really well. I'm actually very happy with how well my boot drive has been performing. Handy to have my version of ProTools up and roaring just like the home rig.

Snotty was also getting it in over in 995 working on some hot beats for the streets....making a hot hook too, shit should be my ringtone....here's me trying to jump in the chair so I can get some credit when it becomes a #1 smash world wide...

Working lots of places is one of my favorite things about being an engineer. I don't wanna get to lame sounding with it, but I think different studios have different vibes and different energy and can make creativity come in different forms. For a writer it could be new melodies, for a producer a new keyboard sound, and for engineers maybe different tracking or mix ideas. With all of that said, I like to have a few things that are always the same. (IE my boot drive and rack gear). I'll do another post soon about my choice outboard...but I also meant like having a vibe set up. Something I like doing is having my little collection of stuff around at different studios....BEHOLD!

I'm always bringing stuff like this around and setting it up....Not really for anybody other than me. Some clients kinda like them...some are freaked out by them....but its just my thing I like doing when I'm working. Well, that's about it for now...more to come soon. Shout out to Obama, like him, i'm trying to get mine in the '09

Back In My Nike Boots

2009-01-19T05:01:00.000-05:00

Being back in The ATL is great. Kinda missed being around and seeing my friends and all. But Im back lounging and what not till we get back on it later this week, hopefully here in Atlanta.

I get asked all the time whats my GO TO vocal chain. Well as of late Ive had the urge to kinda change it up so to speak, I picture myself as a minimalist, if thats even a word. I try not to impede or impact the source signal too much, if I dont have to. I love the way things sound natural, without any coloring, unless it needs it. Ive worked for the same person for almost 2 years now. I know his voice pretty well. I can tell when he has had the right amount of rest, or when he hasnt slept at all. I can hear when hes coming down with a cold or if his voice has been worked too hard with rehearsals and late sessions. Ive stopped him before to let give him a break because hes not sounding his absolute best, thats what Im there for ya know? He has such an awesome tone he doesnt really need much help in that department. What i use i consider a very clean and transparent Mic Pre and Compressor.

Tube Tech CL1B

Super clean. Absolutely love this. Havent found an impractical use for it yet. Sounds great on just about anyone. Have cut alot of records through this and will pretty much end up choosing this guy without hesitation. These arent my setting cause to tell you the truth, every thing changes by the day or song, anyone worth their rate will tell ya that. Even recording he same person everyday it will change, trust me

Jon Hardy M1

Love the metering, very simplistic if i may say so myself. In combo with The CL1B and the C800 mic, and the artist of course, this works very well for me and find myself eq'ing less and just happy overall with the sound i get from jump. expect more posts like this from me and Miles on what gear we like to use while tracking in the studio. Peace

Patchwerk Session

2009-01-18T23:53:00.001-05:00

Alllllright! Legit Engineering post! (but only cuz J was trying to one up me with the Tony post....shout outs to Tony to, I know he's a regular to the blog). Got it in the other day up at Patchwerk 9000 working on some song ideas for a few peeps out there....Here's some low rent pics (you guys are just gonna have to get your deal with it on, J dropped a gem on a fly camera to make his post crispy cream, I dropped a jem on software that i'm using in the super lowfi iphone pic...)

...a bit hard to see in the pic, but I"m actually running ProTools 8 as I was talking about in my previous post. Most all studios (at least in ATL right now) aren't on 8, but i've gotten used to it, and have all my plugins are presets save on my home computer....so what I did was actually CLONE my internal hard drive from my rig, and carry that cloned drive to studios and boot off that. So in essenece, i'm only using their work rig for processing....all the software (OSX 10.5.6, ProTools 8, ALL MY PLUGINS, Logic, my personal itunes, etc...) is all off on my boot drive. So that's pretty cool...and handy.

Here's another in action:

this one you can also see something new i'm trying out...I'm having all the artists we work with sign my gear rack...only a few on there now...when it gets respectable I'll hit a proper pic then....

Alright team....that's about it for now...but I'll holler back with more soon......let's goooooooooo!

Mix Views: Tony Maserati

2009-01-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

Finding the focus when it comes to mixing is something im sure every engineer struggles with from time to time. Here Mr. Maserati talks about what is or will peak his interest during mixing and what he thinks will be the most compelling part of a track hes mixing. Great series on youtube that I will post the entire 4 series episode in the next few days. Heres part 1, enjoy!

Kicking it Six Feet Steez

2009-01-17T03:34:00.001-05:00

Aight...another lenient post about engineering...but I was hanging out with engineers all night!! My homie J got back in town, so tonight we had to kick it up at 6 feet under and get our scrimps on. After that is the obligatory return to patchwerk to hang out and watch a game of madden between Leslie and Snotty pop off....the proceedings:

yeah...sorry J, ya boy isn't rocking the Nikon D90 mark II beta lense phase omotoper camera....straight iphone status. Which adds the hot mysterious effect, no extra charge. Shit was proper. Well....that's about it, but more to follow. Actual work post tomorrow. Ya boy is back on the blog tip J! Only took 6 months! But we're back Mortamer, we're back!

(am I more like randolph in this pic?)

Don't front on Tap Defense....

2009-01-16T17:47:00.000-05:00

aight....so this is REALLY a studio based topic, but it's important to be able to let your mind relax after hours of hard work in the studio (or at least that's the bullshit reason i'm using to post this on the blog)....

And when doing so, you know it's all about iphone apps/games. Here's my personal favorite:

Tap defense.....what can you say other than this game is completely ill. Like, utterly and insanely awesome. You build towers and smite demons from getting into heaven. SMITE DEMONS SON. After a good round, I feel like silent Bob in Dogma...."holy shit, Silent Bob is an instrument of god?!?"

Not to be left out, is my homie's favorite game...

Crazy Penguin. I'm not gonna front...I don't have this one....so I can't comment too much, but I did see Jay rocking it one day and it looked pretty fresh....shout outs to the polar bear on the far right in the helmet making a face like he just dropped a hot one.

Well...I'm curious to see what everyone else does to pass time in the studio before cranking out the next hit. Let ya boy know! Hollertreezy.

The coolest part about working Vegas...

2009-01-16T17:28:00.000-05:00

Was the studio, and working with P and Chad. Great people = great times. Had so much fun hanging with the assistants and staff at The Palms. Also I wanna shout out Mick for hooking us up with some BBC and Ice Cream gear. Definately had a great work experience meeting guys I really respect and look up to, and getting to actually work side by side was the shit. Heres some pics of the randomness that occurred.

New in ProTools World

2009-01-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

So....first off, let me say, J I know this took way to long to come up with, but I hope it's up to par. I know you doing ya thing out in vegas...just like my dude here:

To everyone else, what's really good....this is Miles Walker. I'm also an engineer based out Atlanta, GA. I'm a self proclaimed gear head and full on studio rat too, and have been given the opportunity to share on my biggest homie's blog, so I hope I do it all justice. For those that don't know me, I think an ichat convo between me and my homie AJ pretty much describe how J and I are linked in the universe...

I've felt the key to a good blog is to keep it short and sweet, and have a lot of pics. I hope I can meet those requirements....

It took a while to come up with a topic I wanted to hit the mean streets of gridlock with, but it's something that will undoubtedly become a part of all our daily engineering and production lives. The newest version of ProTools...version 8. Most all studios have not yet upgraded to this version, while I only know of a few comrades that have upgrade the LE rig. I decided to NOT go my usual route on this one and get all the facts in and go ahead and upgrade to PT HD 8 for my personal rig. There is a lot to be said about this update. The most obvious is the HUGE interface update. The visual is completely different than older versions and takes a good deal of getting used to. Things off hand that jump out are the change of pan sliders to pan knobs, additional 5 mix insert points (10 plugins per track, not 5), and improved audiosuite/disk performance. Here's Killface holding a channel strip:

Some things that don't jump right out, but are also nice changes include: DRAMATICALLY faster session load times, backwards compatibility without saving as a different session type (you do lose a few features however), as well as the option to load a session without plugins (for quick references), Some really nice bus and I/O listing options (as in, when you use a bus it is now color coded and easy to see) New included AIR effects plugins ( all kinds of distortion, modulation, filter, verb, etc), as well as AIR synths (piano, organ, drum mods, etc). I think these upgrades are in direct competition with Logic, as the MIDI tracks and sequencing is also improved. I'm not going to delve into that faction too much on this post, but trust....for a producer looking to use a software sequencer, I would have never recommend ProTools 7...but the more time I spend with 8, i'd consider it.

Well...i'm going to cut it short there for my first big outting...but if you guys have any particular questions about PT 8...just hit me on my beeper

The Trip so far...

2009-01-12T06:19:00.000-05:00

So i decided i should put up a lil update of my trip here in vegas. I absolutely love the studio here at the palms casino. I cant stress how cool the assistants and studio staff are here. The funniest guys ever work here and they stay on top of orders and client demands. I dont care for vegas the city as much but I havent really had a chance to get out and see what it has to offer. If failure or broken dreams had an Olympic games, lets just say vegas would be the front runner to host the event. Other than that ive had a pretty good time hanging with Drew, pharrell and chads engineer, and getting to know P himself who is just about the most humble and down to earth guy ever. Super funny and talented at that, a rarity in this industry. Weve tracked several songs at this point and I dumped my regular setup as far as pre amp and compressor's go, and opted to use The avalon 737, which is what Drew uses from time to time on P. We still rented a M1 and the studio has 2 tube tech CL1B's which I used to cut the first days record with. We have 2 Sony C800's setup just in case we cut vocals in seperate rooms. This is pretty much what i use as far as vocal chain when I work with Ush, on the road or back in Atlanta. About the coolest part so far has been watching the guys make beats and them writing songs together. This week will be no different, 2 very huge artists are on there way here as we speak to do songs with Ush, stay tuned for updates!

Another day, another star

2009-01-09T06:38:00.000-05:00

So today in the studio was especially cool. We had all sorts of people come through the yo to visit with the guys. Micheal Rapaport came through to interview P about A Tribe Called Quest, which I totally missed cause I was watching the game but I was around when Adam Levine from Maroon 5 came in to visit not knowing we were working. Really cool guy and super animated. He played guitar on one of the tracks we were doing and it came out hot. enjoy some pics and check back for more updates.

Studio At The Palms: Usher and Neptunes Sessions

2009-01-08T06:03:00.000-05:00

I love the studio here. Definately one of my fav's so far. Awesome staff and great amenities, this studio is ran near perfect. The assistants are always good for a laugh and know the rooms very well. If your ever in town and working make sure you ask for Conor or Ryon, their they best. Working here with The neptunes has been great. Ive learned alot just watching them work with their engineer Drew Coleman on the several songs theyve done so far. I will definately remember these sessions for years to come and would like to share some of my photos from the day. Make sure you check out my flickr page for the rest of the joints and updates.

VEGAS!!!

2009-01-05T02:10:00.000-05:00

So im finally in Vegas and getting used to the new city since I've never been here before, let alone to be working with some of my favorite producers ever at the same time.
I met with my couz and we kicked it over at the bar downstairs, which i might add is crazy enough with all the gambling going down, was fun and enlightening. This city will leave you broke from what I hear and ya boy aint even having it so dont worry, ill be leaving with more money than I came with lol. Heres some pics I did shoot some vids but I wanna put some more stuff together before I do all that, stay tuned!

Enjoy Some New Photos...

2008-12-23T01:10:00.000-05:00

So I finally got the camera Ive been obsessing over today, The nikon D90. Now im new to this whole photography thing, but its been something Ive wanted to do for a while now. This camera is sick, shoots HD video and shoots photos with 12.1 megapixels. Stay tuned for some new HD vids of us in the studio working or chilling and just some more artsy joints of gear and whatever i see that looks cool.

Chilling At Patchwerk from J Stevenson on Vimeo.

JD And Trey Songz Living The Life

2008-12-21T12:46:00.000-05:00

If you dont keep up with JD's Youtube page and his Living The Life series, you should. For him to actually stay taping and posting these vids with an inside look at his process is amazing. I wish I had this when i was younger, JD being one of my fav producers ever and one of the reasons I even moved to Atlanta in the first place. Dope vid check out the rest of his series via youtube.com/jd1472

My everyday essentials.

2008-12-07T05:38:00.000-05:00

I wanna dedicate more posts toward what I do day to day. I dont do as much freelance site to site as much as other guys having a pretty steady client for the last 1 and a half, but there are things I still like to have with me when I head out to a session. I usually carry the same bag with all these things in it. Most thigs I use every day, others are for just in case circumstances.

I always carry a portable drive for tons of reasons. While recording Here I Stand, it was important to keep several backups for mix uploads, making Mp3's for the label, or those awesome 4am sessions all over Atlanta. I guarded this drive with my life while tracking all those songs, after the album dropped I exhaled and immediately did a backup of this drive and erased it. Hence the "Instant Death" written in sharpie on it.

An extra set of headphones can be a lifesaver and just a generally good thing to have if ur ever doing ruffs in an unfamiliar place. These 7506's are pretty standard sets around the world, Im pretty used to them and know exactly how they sound.

I Stay on MLK, nuff said.

Any engineer who is worth their day rate owns a few " Go To" plug ins. For such things these ilocks contain the licenses for said plug ins so they can operate on any computer you decided to install them on. I own a couple joints, not as many as some but they are very valuble to me none the less. Master X, Melodyne, SSL, and Filter Freak to name a few. I also keep a couple of jump drives for quick transfers and backups, and my Logic 7 key.

Hands down the most important thing I take with me besides my harddrive is my laptop. I would lose my mind if I didnt have my lappy with me on most writing sessions that occur at the 2 spots I work at. I have most of my LIFE on this thing. I always back up my itunes and the entire HD for that matter using time machine, which is great cause we all have had a drive go bad one time or another. Im currently graphing my joint out, I need to go ahead and hit up SK8TIQUE for some stickers and finish it off.

Now this I cannot front is probably pretty silly to most guys. So instead of keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the studio Im working at would have one ( doppler never does lol) I just decided to keep one on deck at all times. Now dont get it twisted, I'll track with anything but I prefer to have this joint simply for the side to side scroll action and it being so easy to carry around.

My manuals. Now i dont refer to these all that much but I do believe its important to always be up to date with the latest programs and staying in the loop so to speak with the standards set by our industry. Miles turned me onto Melodyne and is a must for R&B sessions though its kinda time consuming to use during a session i usually wait till after the client leaves to break it out and start tuning vocals.

I fucks Wit Luda Lol

2008-12-03T20:53:00.001-05:00

I love this song, produced by the big homie Cannon!. Love the video and the concept, alotta local industry heads in this joint, Luda is one of the most underated creative people period. He's a dope actor awesome rapper and takes a hand in everything that comes to the table whether it be movies music or his own video's, ya gotta respect it.

JD back on his grizzy via Youtube

2008-12-03T03:48:00.001-05:00

Love his channel on youtube, always ome interesting stuff on there from the parties, to the behind the scenes footage of him working in the studio. Glad he actually keeps up with his vlogging and giving the fans some insight on what goes on in the yo. Check him out as he cooks up some heat and then producing vocals with his artist Dondria.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JD1472

Classic Sound: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

2008-11-28T04:06:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite albums of all time, DSOTM is arguably the best engineered album ever. The mixes and effects, the loops and certain sequences are just amazing especially for the time. This album stayed on the billboard charts for something crazy like 15 years after its release. Absolutely timeless, I still listen to this album for inspiration. Here's a great documentary with all 4 band members and their engineer Alan Parsons.

Almost Too Perfect

2008-11-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

I was looking on youtube today (Happy Thanksgiving yall) and found this vid of Mike recording "We Are The World" and I have to say this is a lost art. The man freakishly doubles himself with accuracy to the point Im sure it was phasing cause it was so exact. I was laughing at how he was jammin at the end dancing while he was waiting to do another take. Mike was and still is the absolute shit.

Cannon On Atlanta

2008-11-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

My big bro speaking on what made atlanta music special to him.

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