Producer's Edge Issue 08 DJ Premier by Producer's Edge

ISSUE 08: Summer 2011

Fast forward, First and Foremost

Producer’s Edge Magazine Info@ProducersEdgeMagazine.com

EDITORIAL Editor In Chief/Jedi Master Drew Spence Senior Editor Will Loiseau

BRAND BUSINESS

nd so we’re back after a long hiatus. I can’t think of a more fitting cover or main theme for the return of Producer’s Edge. DJ Premier has crafted a signature style which is defined by sample selection, drum work sound design and the mechanics of his production. The first hint will be the beat and the second will be the sprinkling of melodic drops. The hook will tell you everything else you need to know about the man behind the record.

he prefix ‘DJ’ calls back to the origins of our sport, where the DJ was responsible for the hook and in many cases was also the producer setting out a conceptual course for the rapper to follow. A lyricist will sometimes take lead and plan out the entire album- names and all, and it’s up to the producer to create the vibe of each song as he fleshes out the backing tracks.

Specialist/Manager Pedro Mojica Marketing, Public Relations Richera Jones

Producer’s Edge is created using Abobe Indesign CS5.

Media Editor Griffin Avid Everything we hate doing Xodus Pheonix

Contributing Writers Jennifer Campbell Sean Maru Scarpen © Producer’s Edge Magazine. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or resold without prior written consent of the publisher. Producer’s Edge recognizes all copyrights contained in this issue. Where possible we acknowledge the copyright holder. All contributions are submitted and accepted on the basis of a nonexclusive worldwide license to publish or to license others to do so unless otherwise agreed in advance in writing

Don’t just read about music production, Live it in the pages of Producer’s Edge Magazine.

lip what you got… ur main topic is a head nod to the four elements. You are, in essence, ‘tagging’ your gear by customizing it. It’s adding Graph as graphics and customizing its features and functionality by the flip. It’s what hip hop used to do. Flip something old and make it new. Well that’s what we aim to do in this issue. The Phoenix rises from the ashes.

Key Icons: These graphics represent additional content available in the Electronic version of Producer’s Edge.

-Drew Spence, Editor in Chief

6 Producerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Edge 1st Quarter 2010

org

MicroSAMPLER

Part I Views Reviewed

A Big Sampling Job by a micro-sized Sampler Words by Drew Spence

’ve always had a weird appreciation for Korg gear. It’s like you need to buy it first and later on- figure out how it will integrate with your studio. You sort of fall in love with the concept or design, buy it and then use it for whatever it’s good for. There’s this quirky balance between Fun Factor and Studio Workhorse. Their top end offerings have an extended list of features and show true innovation (Korg Legacy and M3 are prime examples). The next tier is for the staples and solid buys like the Radias, Electribe and Kaoss series. Then below that (honestly) are the products that are a blast to play and tons of fun to work with, but are missing a few key features that keep them from being must-haves. This is also weighted against price since you can’t/shouldn’t expect it all for such a minimal outlay. The micro series has the champion micro KORG, followed by the XL and now KORG has seen fit to add a sampling dimension to the mix. When I heard that this is where they were going next I wasn’t sure if it made any sense. They had the groovebox sampler; Electribe ESX-1, the field recorder MR1 and the effect powered KAOSS Pad 3 sampler. Is KORG milking the micro name or do they really have something worth noting here? Let’s dig in.

Physical Prospect It’s quite a tactile departure from the previous micro offerings. Instead of knobbage, KORG has switched to recessed dials like the kind you’d find on an egg timer. The dials themselves turn smoothly with several having notched values that click at the different settings. For some functions I would have preferred buttons. The buttons are backlit like most KORG gear and are recessed soft pills. The LED is quite

large, but also displays large text so you’re not pulling in tons of information at once. The LED lights up brightly whenever you activate controls, but only stays lit for a few seconds until you go into the Global settings and switch it to continuous. This makes sense since it will conserve battery life, but can be a problem when you’re trying to work your way around the unit and pause between touches. Be sure to adjust that for studio use.

The great news is that the front panel is well labeled, there are notes along the top of the unit and below the key bed are additional helper labels. The fastest method of navigation involves holding down the Edit button and pressing a ‘piano’ key as a shortcut to an exact function. You need to look at the front of the microSAMPLER and re-read that sentence. 37 different menu items/functions are a single key press away by simply holding down the edit button and pressing a single key. This is an ingenious innovation by KORG and I hope it catches on. It truly gives the microSAMPLER one of the fastest workflows I have ever encountered.

Without using that system, I still feel like there’s too many button presses for every task and some buttons you’ll hit more than once to get a function going. The savior is that the Button usually changes color to indicate what mode it’s in. I would have preferred that the keyboard faceplate was more of a control surface with a one-function-per-knob design, but that’s too much to expect is such a compact unit. And yes, I’m being very picky about that point. The lab stays dimly lit (as would a DJ set up) so seeing the small text isn’t always easy. I’m sure over time I’ll remember which key is what function and eventually this minor concern will not be an issue. You select the current sample being worked on by turning the Sample Select knob. It’s weird to see that using the keyboard Does Not select the editable sample. In order to spread a sample/preset across the keyboard, Id’ like to press down the key the sample is triggered from and press the KEYBOARD (playback mode button) and have it break down into the different pitches. Instead, after hitting KEYBOARD mode I have to turn the PATTERN SEQUENCER dial to find the sample I want to spread. Not really as intuitive as it should be.

Sampling Aspect Pressing the Sampling button opens the menu for all the sampling set up parameters. Sample Rates from 6K, 12K, 24K and 48K. Mono/Stereo. I can choose to start sampling from hitting the Sampling button (SMPL SW), a key or threshold. Sample Time is displayed as available recording time left and measures linked to the current BPM. After adjusting the input level and choosing to sample dry or wet, we dive in. Let’s cover some of the sampling modes.

Loop – Central dial turns to LOOP. Above to the right is the small Input Select button. Lights out for audio in. Next I hit the big Sampling button and it blinks green. The BPM of my sample is 72 BPMS so I set the sample time for 1/1 and adjust the (Tap) Tempo (hold it down and turn the Value control knob on the far left to change tempo). Press the Sampling button, it turns red and stops after 1 bar of recording. I then edited the end point to remove a little pop. I could have gotten over in a live situation, but for studio use I would have micro-edited the end point or simply used the Soft Editor to apply a short fade out. One Shot – is set up the same way as Loop, but the sample plays from beginning to end once triggered. Gate – is best for longer samples that are meant to stop once the triggering key is lifted. I use this mode for instrument samples like strings, bass and pads. Auto Next – is for chopping a sample in equal divisions among a chosen number of keys. You can use divisions of a beat or the time in seconds. Key Gate – is the most useful for chopping-&-rearranging phrases. Sampling starts with a key press and stops when that key is lifted and starts again with the next key pressed. Sampling continues this way until disengaged. It’s also important to mention ReSampling as an option to build up a sample through effect processing or simply having multiple versions of the same sample for live switching.

Incept Inspect, Import Report The microSAMPLER Librarian is a nifty tool for editing, exporting and importing samples. Supported formats include WAV, AIFF and MIDI. Note that the microSAMPLER’s USB connection cannot be used at the same time as its MIDI and in a DAW environment, the MIDI connections on your system will be interrupted. KORG recommends that the Editor be closed before running MIDI dependent applications. With the Browser running along the left side and a very clear and clean interface, there is really no need to read the manual (pdf available) to get going edition and building your custom soundbanks.

In the hardware, your sounds are organized into the 8 user banks (+ one ROM) with 36 sample slots a piece. That’s a lot to fill for any drum kit so I’ve been leaving slots open for newly sampled bits. Unfortunately mixing and matching samples from different banks is slightly hindered by the microSAMPLER using numbers for sample names- even if they had distinctive names in the Software Editor. The lack of a pre-load audition doesn’t help either. I would have loved for there to be some kind of slicing option or the ability to only send certain zones of a sample into the hardware. But to be honest, who among us doesn’t already have software for chopping audio nearby? The hardware chops as you’re sampling so it’s not really a deal breaker.

KORG microSAMPLER Part II Sound design tool

astery of ones own music production is a lifelong journey filled with growth and experimentation. We expand our understanding of the creative process as we acquire new skills, perfect techniques and build the toolset that makes this all possible. There comes a point where we want more control over the finer points of our music. Our concern grows beyond pattern, pitch and performance to include the subtleties of shaping sounds. As so, we become Sound Designers who care about how our music sounds and the sound of our music. As we look at the KORG m.i.c.r.o.SAMPLES Vol I drum package, we’ll explore some of the ideas and steps involved in its creation. If you ask any group of producers where to get drum sounds, you’ll get the usual answers of this company or that company or this person’s site. Eventually someone goes back to the source and says SAMPLE. Whether it’s sampling vinyl or your own drum set, the sampler remains one of the strongest tools for sound design and the microSAMPLER is a very solid, fast and affordable option.

Chopping Breaks

My old system involved recording the vinyl loop into my computer and using a second program to chop the samples into pieces and a third program to hold the samples for triggering back inside the first program. The microSAMPLER simplifies this by using Key Gate mode sampling which allows me to chop my loop at the initial capture point and split the individual elements along the keyboard. This leads to a consistent tone across the drum kit elements.

Layering Sounds

It’s no secret that layering sounds for thickness or tonal variety, but the microSAMPLER’s key-based approach gives me greater flexibility than a groovebox or drum pad styled user interface. By having up to 36 elements at my finger tips, I can mix and match (and simultaneously trigger) a greater portion of my sound library. I used the MS-1 to combine several elements to make one composite hit then re-sampled that and made the heaviest drum sounds.

Field Recorder

When I saw the Vox or Beat-box quality microphone of the microSAMPLER I actually thought Field Recorder. The battery operation and small size makes it a perfect companion for capturing rhythmic sounds and the interesting textures all around us. I’ve always been quick to slide in a sound effect or audio bit with an interesting tone or sharp attack behind a snare to give it weight or a more distinctive character.

Cause and Effects

The 21 effects are broken into 5 types of filters and dynamic effects, 6 reverb and delays and 10 pitch and modulation effects. I usually reach for plug-ins and effects when I feel that something is wrong or needs help. When the effect engine is part of the tool itself, it becomes part of the creative process. I didn’t need to fully explore the KAOSS styled effects of the microSAMPLER since this package IS for microSAMPLER owners, but I have been using the various internal effects for other packages.

Final Respects

The sampler remains a powerful tool for sound design and the microSAMPLER makes many of the key tasks quick and easy to accomplish. If you do not have sampling an as option in your production or you need a faster more intuitive sampling experience then the microSAMPLER is an option you should consider.

Jöerg Schaaf R

adikal Technologies and the Spectralis 2 Words by Griffin Avid

e tend to watch the boutique manufacturers for ambitious products and innovative ideas. Producer’s Edge cornered Jöerg Schaaf and picked his brain a bit. But first; the Radikal Technologies Spectralis offered a hybrid approach of an analog signal path and DSP control. It’s a groovebox, synthesizer, sampler and step sequencer packaged nicely in a desktop unit. Over the summer, creator and designer Jöerg Schaaf sent Producer’s Edge demo tracks from the Spectralis 2 and we were blown away by the raw sound and heavy sonics. It seems Radikal Technologies has returned with another peacemaker for your studios’ arsenal. Let’s dive in with Jöerg Schaaf and find out more.

Griffin Avid: First, could you tell us about Radikal Technologies and how you came to be involved with building synthesizers? Jöerg Schaaf : I used to work in the R&D department of the German manufacturer, Quasimidi during the 1990’s. Radikal Technologies, Inc was the distribution company for the US. When Quasimidi went into bankruptcy, Jurgen Korduletsch and I joined to start something new. My passion for synthesizers, music machines and sound design did start much earlier though. When I listened to Kraftwerks Autobahn and Tangerine Dreams Stratosphere album for the first time, I was instantly blown away. That is also the reason, why I always prefer music machines - in other words synthesizers with built in step sequencers. However, I could not afford all this expensive gear. All I had was a MS-20 and a Crumar string ensemble, so I started to build little add-ons like a little step sequencer, oscillators and strange FX-circuits. You seem to be a bit of a hybrid yourself doing double duty as a synth designer and producer. Has your production background helped or influenced some of your design decisions with the Spectralis 2? Sure. After using a DAW for a couple of years for my music production I realized that my musical output

decreased with every new feature the software offered me. My music production got messed up by crashing plug-ins, hard disk failures and window navigation nightmares. I started to wish back to the good old days: Notator Software on an Atari computer. The work flow in a pattern oriented sequencer was so much faster in the beginning of computer based sequencing that I started to think about some similar designs with dedicated hardware. The bandwidth limitation of MIDI for the control of sound parameters or really machine stable grooves was another reason. If 10 sequencer lines of the Spectralis control the filter bank volumes ,one still gets very smooth transitions between sounds. Something like that is not possible in a MIDI system. The last but not least reason is the “everything in one box approach” of the Spectralis. If I produce something in my studio I can recreate it completely on stage with one single box. That is such a great improvement compared to my old setup with multiple rack synths and one computer. It also gives me the opportunity to change the songs on the fly by leaving the song mode, changing the sequences on the fly, muting parts, transposing patterns etc. and jumping back into the song mode again. That is more freedom than I ever had on stage. Are there any thoughts of a keyboard version and why was the groove box/desktop model chosen? It’s a simple answer - a desktop unit is the better solution for the electronic dance music department. People who usually tweak

the filters and select their preprogrammed patterns to jam with them don’t necessarily need a keyboard on stage. Meanwhile, we are also considering a complete keyboard workstation version of the Spectralis. Early on, most of our customers came out of the dance music scene, but now the sonic capabilities especially of the Hybrid synth have opened other ears and doors for the Spectralis. Rock and Pop keyboard players would love to have the Spectralis as a workstation with a good keyboard and some master keyboard features. Tell us a little bit about what’s new under the hood in the new Spectralis 2. The most important difference is the new 4GB sample flash ROM of the unit. The new Spectralis ships with a much larger sample library and the option to load and unload samples from song to song increases the sonic capabilities a lot. All the new features we added for the Spectralis 2 are also available for the Spectralis 1. Only the larger sample library will cost some extra bucks but the current Spectralis firmware is available free of charge for the Spectralis 1 as well. We have also added tons of new features. New Randomize sound and pattern features, on the fly real time recording, groove quantize, keyboard transpose, the recording of MIDI controller movements to name only a few. Many synthesizers are judged by the quality of their filter sections. Please explain some of the innovations behind the Fixed Filterbank and flexible routing scheme. I love modular systems because of their endless routing capabilities. What I don’t like about them

is the missing ability to recall the sounds you have created. I wanted something that offers the sonic capabilities of a really large modular setup, but with a very fast memory system. So when talking about the routing options, you should always mention, that the most complex setup can be replaced by a completely different setup just by selecting another pattern. There will not be any timing issues- it’s independent from the complexity of a patch. The other very important key for the top notch sound quality is the no compromise design approach. Just check the filter envelopes of the Spectralis. Old Hybrid systems of the eighties often used simple microcontrollers to control the filter frequency of the analog section. The refresh rate of the control voltages was very low and the bit resolution of the control voltages as well. For that reason these hybrid systems did not offer the sound quality of complete analog designs with analog envelopes. In the Spectralis we are controlling the analog filters with 16 BIT DA converters and a 44.1 KHz refresh rate. That allows for very smooth and punchy envelopes without any audible “steps”. Beside the filters and oscillators, good envelopes are the most important part in a good synthesizer engine. We’ve seen groove boxes with limited sampling capabilities before. Mostly their aim is to drop samples on the fly during a live set. You’ve incorporated multisampling and USB drag and drop. Why does sampling remain such a viable production option and what are you hoping producers are able to achieve with this level of functionality? A custom library? An expansion set based on sample sets? Sampling first is still the best opportunity to get direct access

to all kinds of different sounds. It doesn’t matter whether you need exotic vintage synth sounds or orchestral instruments or special sound effects. I hope people are making their own multi-samples as well, but even if you are not interested in the programming of multi-samples you can convert Soundfont 2 files into the Spectralis format. Just check the internet for soundfont 2 files. You will find thousands of multi-samples that are ready for importing. When we decided to add sample playback to the device- we did it, because sampling makes the instrument much more flexible. A polyphonic VA synth would be limited to subtractive synthesizer sounds. With the Spectralis engine, we can offer both - sampled natural instruments and typical VA synth sounds. You can create very nice typical subtractive synthesizer sounds by using the sample start point modulation on simple waveform loops and you can fire up the ultimate orchestra break by a dedicated sample. You’ve added the much needed ability to export songs as patterns and samples right from the Spectralis 2 to the host DAW. What does the Spectralis offer the samplebased producer whose primary system is chopping up break beats and musical phrases? A direct access to all beats and phrases you have ever created on the Spectralis. Just imagine you are working in song memory 10 and want to load a special drum roll, you created for song 2 in the past. On the Spectralis you don’t need a copy and paste function for stuff like that. You simply select the phrase you want to load into your new song and can listen to the new combination without even stopping the sequencer. That allows a very fast workflow. But I think the best feature of the Spectralis is the live access to all the mutings, mixer settings, pattern transpose etc. functions. It is simply fun to play with your musical phrases with real buttons and knobs instead of a mouse. Another great source for inspiration is the randomize pattern function of the Spectralis. Simply push a button and listen to a new combination of phrases the Spectralis creates for you. Combine that with the randomize sound function to get even more variations. A couple of button clicks will often result in a new musical idea. The Spectralis 2 is just as comfortable in a live situation where the sequencer never needs to stop running. This turns us towards a DJs’ live set or battle mixes, but how can this approach enhance my creativity in the studio? The average DAW solution has a kind of time linearity. You start the song you have created and then the song just plays back everything from the beginning to the end. If you want to change it a little bit by, for example, playing the bridge and the chorus two times instead of once, you have to move things with the mouse, cut phrases, put them together etc. That is not very intuitive. As soon as you have the basic

patterns in the Spectralis you can do whatever you want with the song progression. The pattern jam mode is a very cool opportunity to test different versions of a song on the fly. The sequencer itself is flexible enough to handle real-time, step and grid-based programming. What additional tools will I have available to create unique and inspiring drum grooves? The biggest advantage of the drum grid sequencer is the very high resolution of 1/192th notes. There is no other groovebox on the market that allows for editing 192th notes in a grid based sequencer. That is one side, but after entering the drum groove you can do a lot of nasty things with it. You can, for example, feed the whole drum section into the hybrid engine and automate the filters of the hybrid synth with the step sequencer. Beside that, each drum part of the Spectralis has its independent LFO and digital filter section. You can even use drum parts as a FM modulation source for the analog filters for strange sound-FXs. Since the latest firmware version of the Spectralis the step sequencer can also be used to control the drum parts directly. That provides control over the note length and pitch per step. You can also program a drum sequence with 15/16 and run

What else can you tell us about the Spectralis? We have a bunch of additional ideas for the Spectralis 1 and 2 that will end up in new free of charge firmware releases. For us, the Spectralis was always meant as a long life increasing feature monster that you buy and hold on to for more than a couple of years. The Spectralis has been out now for several years and still receives firmware additions from time to time. it against a drum part with 16/16 to get variations for every repetition. Very cool is also the feature to rotate drum parts with the rotate function. Instead of step one a line plays step two as the first step if you start the sequencer and if you have set the line to rotate 1 step. Now every hit on the rotate button gives you another nice rhythmic result you often are not expecting from your basic phrases.

Radikal Technologies will be releasing the Accelerator keyboard this year. We look forward to the launch and will keep you posted. As always, we thank Radikal for their time and an insiders look. http://www.radikaltechnologies.com/

Words by Jennifer Campbell

f you are looking for a new keyboard or synthesizer this summer, well, you are in luck. Over the course of the recent

months, there have been some impressive keyboards from Roland, Novation and M-Audio. So I decided to give you a bigger view of these awesome keyboards.

Roland GAIA SH-01

irst, let’s start with the Roland GAIA. This is the next generation keyboard from the SH series. It’s a light weight keyboard with 37 keys and synth action. At 9 lbs, it’s definitely something you can take around if one gigs or if you’re traveling from studio to studio. It comes with an AC adapter, but you can run it just as well on batteries (life is five hours, four hours when using the USB port). The USB ports are for host (when using it to hook up a flash drive) and a device (like your computer). Also included in the box is the owner’s manual, a guide manual, DVD and driver CD. The layout of this keyboard gives you the flexibility of creating your own sounds, but of course you can start playing the GAIA right out-of-the-box. With 64 standard presets (on eight banks of eight), finding the perfect preset is only one click away. You can also save your 64 user-presets on the board. The GAIA has three oscillators and filters and amp envelopes per sound. With the 64 voice polyphony, there won’t be any reason for sounds to drop out when playing those lush arpeggiated patterns. At the Masters section there is a master effect buss. You can put up to five simultaneous effects to help fatten and create what ever sounds you like. The GAIA also includes Roland’s famous D-beam, which controls filters and volumes. There is also a nice built in phrase recorder that you can have going and playing some nice melodies on top of it. Every control for the GAIA’s three synthesizer engines is represented, while the unique Waveform Display shows the shape of the currently edited waveform in a virtual oscilloscope, providing a graphical representation of the sound. Slated to retail @ $699 USD

The GAIA Synthesizer Sound Designer is a software-based editor application for the Roland GAIA SH-01 Synthesizer. Compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X, the GAIA Synthesizer Sound Designer allows users to access the GAIA synth’s entire set of sound parameters visually via a computer. The GAIA Synthesizer Sound Designer is the perfect companion for all GAIA synth owners—beginners, music educators, and pros alike. Once the GAIA Synthesizer Sound Designer is installed, all that is required is a single-cable USB connection between the GAIA synth and the PC.

With the GAIA Synthesizer Sound Designer’s interactive interface, users have complete command over sound creation.

M-Audio Venom

he recently introduced M-Audio Venom is definitely nothing like M-Audio has ever created. You generally associate M-Audio with affordable audio interfaces and their long line up of controllers. This time, the game has changed. The Venom is a 4019 Wilson action keyboard. That’s just the surface. Digging deeper, it happens to be a Pro Tools compatible USB 2.0 audio interface. And yes it is USB 1.1 backwardcompatible with a new standard of 24-bit 44.1 kHz bit sample rate. This new breed of keyboard impresses with its 512 single sound presets and 256 multi timbral presets. This keyboard can take you from high-energy techno and house music to the boom bap of hip-hop with its sampled sounds from vintage keys, synths, and drum machines. In the multi-mode; you have four parts to layer with your sounds- including three oscillators and 41 waveforms. You also get 3 LFO’s plus 3 AHDSR envelopes, 4 insert effects per every channel [in 2 overall global buss effects]. It also has a very classic Arpeggiator. A nice touch is having the tap tempo button right on the keyboard so that you can find your groove easily. Besides being an audio interface and midi controller, there is also a software editor that allows access to the 16 parameters of routing that is not available on the keyboard. It’s a nice feature to have if you’re a computer musician. http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Venom.html

The

included

Vyzex

Venom

software editor offers a clear visual representation of all Venom settings and parameters, freeing you to explore the synth’s limitless sonic territory. Arrange sounds into banks, rename patches, save backups on your computer, and share sounds with other users. Use the innovative patch collider feature to mash up multiple patches and create new hybrid sounds.

Novation UltraNova

hen the Ultranova came out, I thought about my previous experiences with the solid workhorses V-station and Bass station. I was surprised to see how much this keyboard can do. It’s a light and portable 37-key synth with a mic for a…. vocoder. Now having a keyboard with the vocoder may not be useful for some, since another company has in recent years flooded the market with 37 key synths with an included vocoder [Ahem KORG-GA]. But why does this keyboard standout? Because it’s also your audio interface. The UltraNova comes with 300 presets being controlled by touch sensitive control section knobs. Each patch contains three oscillators, with an additional two ring oscillator. There are five effects per patch. 36 wave table and 20 digital wave forms. The control surface includes 39 LED indicator buttons. Linking up to the computer, you have Novation’s Automap feature, midi in/out/thru, 2-in 4-out audio interface, 24 bit USB 2.0 and a 12 band vocoder with the included microphone. More: http://www. novationmusic.com/products/hardware_synths/ultranova Along with the Soft Editor is also a Patch Librarian allowing you save a virtually unlimited number of user presets. It’s a hot time for VAs. I hope you find your summer love. Jennifer Campbell is a hardware specialist, producer and gear nut. We welcome her to Producer’s Edge.

MASTERING PART IV: CD CONCLUSION

Producer’s Edge finishes its series from Redsecta Mastering Services. The focus turns to your final delivery medium, the compact disc.

aving an understanding of common CD Mastering terminology and where they fall into the world of making CDs is important; let’s cover what the most relevant terms mean: Replication – This is the process of making CDs (not CD-Rs). A CD plant takes your source, creates a master disc (also known as the Glass Master, because glass is used in the process of making it). The process of making this master is sophisticated; strict requirements are in place to prevent any sort of contamination to the glass master which might affect the transfer of data. Out of this “father” master, a “mother” is produced from which “sons” can be created and these are the actual stampers that are used to stamp the image of the (father) glass master on to a layer of aluminum, which is then protected by other layers of plastic. Each “son” stamper can produce roughly 30,000 discs. From each “father” glass master, 3 “mothers” can be produced and each of these can produce 3 “son” stampers.

Duplication – This process is the same as making a copy of a CD on your laptop’s burner, it refers to making copies of a CD to a CD-R disc. CD-Rs use a layer of vegetable dye that the burner’s laser burns pits on, which are then playable on most CD players (earlier CD players didn’t support CD-Rs but over the years, most manufacturers have incorporated support for CD-R and other various non-red book formats). Making one copy at a time for a large number of copies is obviously not efficient, so there are commercial duplicators available with multiple drives that can create copies of your CD, with models that also offer inkjet printing that is done on the same machine, provided that you use the required printable CD-Rs that are compatible. Master – The Glass Master used in the Replication process. There can be some confusion when talking to a replicator when the subject of the “master” comes into play, as in the world of Pro Audio, a Master can mean the final collection of songs after the audio mastering process. Mastering engineers refer to the final disc they produce for their clients as the “pre-master” for this reason. Pre-Master – The CD-R (or other digital source) that is ready to be delivered to a replication plant to serve as the source for the Glass Master (or source to be used by a duplicator). There are several errorchecking steps that can be done to a pre-master disc by the mastering engineer to ensure the best transfer of data which we will cover shortly.

MASTERING PART IV: CD CONCLUSION R

ed Book & other Books – Sony and Phillips (the inventors of the CD) created a series of standards, officially called “The Rainbow Books” for developers to follow when creating platforms for the creation of CDs. Rumor has it that they came up with the names for each of the standards based on the color of the binders used for storing the paper docs for each of them. Below is a list of what they represent:

There are software packages available that allow you to author CDs for one or more of the Rainbow Books standards. They range from the basic wizard-type programs that will burn a disc with a few clicks of the mouse that cost about $50 to sophisticated platforms that produce professional-quality discs with advanced tools for hundreds of dollars.

Red Book: CD-DA – Digital Audio extended by CD Text,

•Maximum playing time is 74 minutes (including pauses) •Minimum duration for a track is 2 seconds •Maximum number of tracks is 99 •Maximum number of index points (subdivisions of a track) is 99 with no maximum time limit •International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) should be included

Yellow Book: CD-ROM – Read-Only Memory and CD-ROM XA, Orange Book: CD-MO – Magneto-Optical CD-R alias CD-WO or CD-WORM – Recordable, Write Once or Write Once, Read Many CD-RW alias CD-E – ReWritable or Erasable, White Book: VCD – Video and CD-Bridge - Hybrid discs, e.g. CD-Ready, Blue Book: E-CD – Enhanced, CD+ – plus and CD+G – plus Graphics (karaoke) extended by CD+EG / CD+XG, Beige Book: PCD – Photo (not Picture), Green Book: CD-i – interactive, Purple Book: DDCD – Double Density, Scarlet Book: SACD – Super Audio.

The Red Book standard applies specifically to audio. The basic set of standards for Red Book CDs is:

In order for audio CDs to be Red Book compliant (meaning that they’re guaranteed to playback on any player that supports audio CDs), they need to follow the above standards. This isn’t an issue now because as mentioned earlier most of the newer CD players can also play discs that are Orange Book (and other standards) encoded, which allow you to do things like burn an 80-minute CD-R and play it back, but if you were authoring CDs in the early ‘90s, chances were that you would be running into issues getting an 80-minute CD-R to play back on most players. Mastering Engineers, when mastering projects intended for audio CD release, will adhere to these guidelines as much as possible, to ensure that the CDs that are produced will have the best chances of playing back over any player.

Information Wars In 1996 the Red Book standard was updated to include text data (CD-TEXT). This allows you to encode the album title, artist name and song titles while still maintaining the strict Red Book standard. Most players found in cars these days support CD-TEXT, but where the support for this feature lacks most is in software players & CD drives for computers. Often times, artists find that their properlyencoded discs don’t display the CD-TEXT information when inserting their CD in the computer, and there are

two main reasons why. First, the firmware of the CD drive on your computer must support CD-TEXT (most newer drives do) and second, the software on your computer must also support CD-TEXT. On the software side, it almost seems as though software developers purposely don’t support it. Typically, when you insert a CD into a software media player, the program attempts to download its content’s graphical information from a database known as the CDDB by Gracenote. In the early years of the CDDB, independent artists couldn’t get their discs’ information stored in the database unless they purchased a license from Gracenote, and software players that weren’t licensed could also not make use of the database. As a result of this, a free database called “freedb” was launched and developers created software

called Windows Media Database that is maintained by Microsoft, so in short, there isn’t one standard way to get graphic and text data information delivered. In all fairness to the CDDB, it predates the extension of CD-TEXT for the Red Book standard by about 3 years and it’s unfortunate that the CD-TEXT extension didn’t include the ability to store metadata such as album art and other useful information on the disc itself, rather than require users to access the internet to download it and because the recording industry in general has declared the CD dead, I doubt they (Sony & Philips) will extend the standard again. If you would like to have your CDs information displayed on computers, the workaround is to learn what database the software players you think are most relevant use and find out how to submit your disc’s information to them. Then again, the easiest way is to distribute an MP3 version of your album on a compressed folder that contains album and other data; for this purpose, MP3 files are great because of their ability to store metadata that is compatible with practically all software players. ISRC codes are distributed (freely, all you have to do is ask for them) by the RIAA. These codes are unique track codes that can help you track spins at radio stations that have a system in place that pulls these codes directly off your disc for reporting royalties to ASCAP/BMI. Ironically, most people I do work for have no knowledge of what these codes are for (probably because most people aren’t concerned with getting spins on the radio these days, but hey, they’re free and you never know, radio can one day change and everyone might get a fair shot, so why not!?)

Making the Pre-Master patches that could be installed to work with the unsupported applications. At the time of this writing, Gracenote allows users to enter their CDs’ text information directly on certain applications that are licensed to use the database, iTunes being the most popular. You can’t however, upload album art and other metadata to the database as this feature is something that is reserved for paying licensees. iTunes lets users store album art in their hard drives, so if the user wishes to also see album art for their own CD releases, they would need to store the album art on their own computers. Other popular media players such as Windows Media Player don’t use the CDDB to display a CD’s information, instead it uses a similar database service

So now we know that when speaking about your final mixes in the world of mastering, they are considered your “pre-master source”, since the “master” is the actual stamper that makes your CDs. Once all of the tracks in your project are mastered, you’ll need to decide who is going to layout your project in terms of track IDs, space between tracks, ISRC Codes, UPC code (should you want to have this information also encoded on the CDs themselves); these bits of information are referred to as “PQ” codes and sub-codes on the Red Book Standard. What does “PQ” mean? Good question, they call it that after the expression “Mind your P’s and Q’s” and it’s so old that it’s debatable as to what “P’s” and Q’s” mean. I’ve heard it goes way back to 16th century English pubs where the barkeep would be told to mind his “Pints” and “Quarts” when pouring for

clients. For our purposes, this means to make sure you place your track IDs where they need to be, for example.

Error-checking the Pre-Master

Your Mastering Engineer should have a platform for encoding all of this information on your pre-master source. Expect to pay a little more for this service from some of them, but there are others (such as yours truly) who do this part of the mastering process at no additional cost. Replication plants can also do this for you, but they will charge you extra. If you’re doing your own mastering, it may be a benefit to you to have the replication plant do this process for you, and send them your audio files instead, as it would guarantee an errorfree pre-master source for making CDs, if all you have is an average CD burner and burning software that doesn’t do precise Red Book encoding.

The last step in a professional mastering service is errorchecking a pre-master CD before delivery to the client or replication plant. As mentioned earlier, there’s always going to be a degree of recoverable errors on the media, and when checking the Block Error Rate (BLER), Mastering Engineers will check for unrecoverable errors (E32) that will cause problems when CDs are replicated. If the replication plant catches the error and makes you aware, this is where a BLER report can come in handy so that the problem can be pinpointed. In many cases, replication plants will simply assume you’ve checked the pre-master source and skip any error-checking mechanism, so if your discs have unrecoverable errors and the plant is not checking for these errors, you can end up with a bunch of replicated discs that will have issues on playback, so this is definitely one service you want to make sure your mastering engineer is performing on your pre-master.

Burning the Pre-Master Part of a solid mastering chain also involves the tools needed to burn a properly-encoded pre-master with as little errors as possible. There’s always going to be a small amount of data errors (due to the CD technology as well as the Red Book Standard for audio CDs) that are acceptable, these errors in the transfer of data are known as “recoverable errors” which means that any CD player will be able to compensate for them during playback. Over the years, Mastering Engineers have found out what combination of drives and media work best for making pre-masters with as little errors as possible (Plextor drives and Taiyo Yuden media being the one of the most common combinations), as well as running systems with the least amount of background processes (as opposed to burning on a computer that’s also running the internet and other software at the same time, which can lead to more errors on your premasters). The speeds at which to burn can also be a factor, although not as much as it used to be in the past, when drives, media, and operating systems were not as efficient and reliable as they are now.

The process of checking for BLER takes on an average (for me) about 15 minutes and I don’t automatically print out the reports, but do provide them on request, so if this is something you would like to have for your records, ask your Mastering Engineer to send you the BLER report(s) when he mails off your pre-master(s). Keep in mind that BLER checking happens almost immediately after the burning of the pre-master disc, which is free of dust or any scratches, so always treat the pre-master discs that you get from your mastering engineer with care. Avoid getting any dust on them, or exposing them to direct sunlight as this may damage the layer of dye. In part V, we’ll explore how we have somehow screwed up a good thing; how audio is typically maximized for loudness these days - so much that some of it literally hurts to listen to, and hopefully offer some thoughts that will help us work towards an optimal sound. You can find out more about mastering and find a final sound for your productions at www.Redsecta.com

New in 2011: Zendrumdrive Classified: In 2011, Zendrum Corporation successfully used the latest in Hyper Dimensional Miniaturization Technology* to fit this:

Into this:

 Complete VST system

 Expandable to 3 terabyte storage

 Fast PC components in a tough ATA road case

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 Finished mixes of legendary drums - recorded and produced with extreme dynamic range and playability

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Because now you CAN take it with you. Systems start at $1999. Contact Orders@Zendrum.com for further information. *Note: Hyper Dimensional Miniaturization Technology does not really exist.

We made that up. How did we do it? Because we’re just that good and that determined to bring you the best electronic percussion experience in existence. That part we’re not making up. Zendrum Corp. is not responsible for loss of sleep or productivity due to new creative possibilities.

www.Zendrum.com

“The Bad to Bangin Challenge”

s an editor, I spend a lot of time kicking it with my industry peers. I got into an argument with Bangin Beats Owner Kirk T, who claimed he could make useable drums out of anything. Oh we battled and battled. And so I issued a challenge and sent him some of my wackest drums and loops. In answer, he picked out some of the worst and banged them out. Here is the story of his work and the included files. Sometimes we lose and still win. Thank you, Kirk T!

hen Drew & I first spoke about the prospect of me flipping a handful of one shots out of loops, I felt more than confident. I’m proud to say, I’ve extracted some great sounds out of records that sounded like bacon in a frying pan, and put them back on records for everyone from G-Unit to Mary J. Blige. Over the years I’ve come across some of the grimiest, moldy, warped and scratched to hell records. It’s Murphy’s law that an open drum will be buried directly under the most damaged spot on the record. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Drew. My first reaction was a smile. I found it funny that he created the loops himself, and purposely equalized the life out of them and layered them under other crap. I laughed to myself and thought, you bastard. After listening to each a few times, I could easily recognize some ill character in at least a few of the drums. It was a dim light at the end of a long dark tunnel, but it was there. Like the nerdy girl with glasses and braces you know could be bangin. Others made me cringe. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do anything with them at all. I could only do my best. I figured, worst

case scenario- these would be useful to that flaky dude we all know who always thinks something that sounds shitty to you is pure uncut dope. In my personal experience, It’s hard (or impossible) to take a sound that’s buried like that and bring it back to life in it’s original form. As dope as its original form may have been, and as much as I’d love to pull it out, shake it off and have it sound like it did… I know that’s not going to happen. It will sound like a completely different sound when I’m done. My job is to make it musically useful. To the legions of people who’d call the resulting sound “processed”, I’d say, hell yeah… If you want clean drums, pick up an Alesis SR-16 on Ebay. If you want that filth, here’s how it’s born in my lab… While every drum requires its own TLC in the EQ department, there are some general steps that apply in many cases. My first focuses are always tight truncation, and looking at the envelope. The graphic fade tool in Sony Sound Forge is my tool of choice for this. Shaping the attack by either creating simulated punch or testing a “ride” in slowly is a good way to see what characteristics lend themselves to specific sounds. Some might be better off flabby, some tight. Once it’s decided what kind of physique a drum will have, I determine whether or not it was necessary to cut it too short to avoid the next sound in the original sample. If that’s the case and especially if the sound is one of mid to high

with just a hint of boost in the 60Hz area (with reversed polarity), you’d never know it. The result is all the flavor of the crunchy 12 bit SP1200, with a more solid frame. When I feel stereo may lend itself to a sound, here’s the point where I’d stack them in the 4000 from the drawmer, pan them R/L, then feed them through the SPL Stereo Vitalizer. Within the Vitalizer I can tighten more lowend, brighten up the highs and add realistic depth to the stereo field. Like Martha Stewart says, It’s a good thing.

frequency (i.e.; snares & hats) I might go straight to reverb in this instance to artificially lengthen the sample. For this, I drag the sample into the MPC4000 and route it to either lexicon or the Ensoniq DP4. The DP4 holds a special place in my heart, as it has many of the effects from the ASR10, my first sound design tool. A small plate or tight room with early reflection can easily mask an abrupt chop and give the sample it’s own elbow room. In my experience, the key to achieving this successfully is routing the reverb to it’s own channel strip rather than the regular returns, and equalizing it to closely match the original sample. For this it’s either a strip on the Mackie 32x8 which has sweep-able mids, or one on the Yamaha Promix01, in which I’ve created many 4 band parametric EQ starting points for different situations. Each requires it own tweaking, but having some common starting points is a time saver. By this point, the sound is coming into its own. It’s here that I decide if running it through the SP1200 will help or hurt. That machine has the rare ability to impart pure magic on some sounds and completely cheapen others. For this reason, my SP1200 might as well be permanently soldered to the Drawmer punch gate. It’s the next step for me and it does what the name implies. Nothing too drastic is ever needed, but it’s rare I don’t dig what it does. If a sound does end up hitching a ride through the SP, it may require another sample with solid sonics slid up under it for a little extra backbone. This isn’t a bad thing, and usually whatever sound is stacked with it is at a low level and equalized so closely

At this point, if the sound isn’t knockin, it’s time to either cut my losses or keep at it. In the case of these particular sounds, I committed to keep at it, even when some of these would have been discarded. Sometimes you just can’t polish a turd. I trudged on like a shoe shine boy at the feet of a homeless man. Taking every last sound to the final stages was my goal. In bringing sounds back into the computer, I never take the fast way. Oh no, It’s always a trip though an Ampeg mic pre, or a groove tubes brick, or some subtle photo-optical compression in the Joemeek VC6Q. I live for warm sheen. When the sounds arrive back in the computer, it’s usually back through

the MPC4000 because of its “true to source” accurate sample engine. Once back in the computer I decide what format to archive in and what sounds it fits best with as a family. Unfortunately, drums that were once from the same perfectly tuned kit, are perfect strangers when I’m done with them, because of the hell I drag them through to make them open one shots. Regarding equalization, it’s so specific to every sound, opening that can of worms wasn’t a good idea for this article. In my opinion, cutting instead of boosting is a rule of thumb when mixing, that doesn’t necessarily carry over to drum sound design (hats and basses excluded). I find it’s rare that you can “carve out” punch with equalization of one shot sounds. The process isn’t always pretty, and there is no ONE way to do it… At the end of the day, regardless of what tools are in the arsenal, one of the most important skills is spotting a sound that’s worth the work, and having the patience to make it work. www.Bangin-Beats.com

Adobe Audition CS5.5 goes Mac OS Words by Griffin Avid

hat more needs to be said about Adobe Audition? It was designed as a powerful audio multi-tracker, which allowed us to pull video clips into the timeline and score directly to film. It was far ahead of its time by using file formats and bit rates other Digital Audio Workstations and soundcards were yet to support. It was known for being stable, light on computer resources and the many choices it offered for audio drivers. Even in the event of a crash, you were 99.9% sure to be able to restart the session and pick up where you left off. Over time, additional functionality was added. As sequencers like Cakewalk’s Sonar and Steinberg’s Cubase became more and more common in the production studio, Adobe added MIDI recording and VSTi support. Plug-ins were always available, but the dream of running our favorite virtual instruments in such a user friendly environment was finally coming true. As modern sequencers move more and more towards becoming hosts for seldom used features, Adobe re-focuses its attention on core strengths.

many of its basic components. Let’s take a look at some of the new and newly improved tools on offer.

DeHummer

Remember when we had the sound design special and I used the SONY PCM-D50 to do some industrial field recording? Some of the material had to be discarded because the hum was too difficult to remove. Normally we use the Noise Reduction Tool to sample the offending sound and scale the sensitivity. There was always a huge improvement, but sometimes you just had to live with a little warble.

Audio Sculpting Chopping and Stretching Producers who worked primarily with audio or older hardware utilized on the waveform view to get in close and precise while editing their samples. Time stretch was used to get around the difficulty in working with loose BPMs. How many of us have worked with a sample-based producer and asked about the tracks tempo and were told “I don’t know”. Making the audio fit was the primary task assigned to Audition. As the producer’s work has grown to include film and TV, Adobe has positioned its audio flagship to remain relevant by enhancing and upgrading

This is an old movie file that picked up its hum from the cable line and some noise from the outlet. I start with a harmonics preset in the menu and adjust the range using a slider. Next, I drag the envelopes to shape the base frequency and EQ and finally the overall gain of my edits.

For those of us squarely concerned with Audition as a production environment [beat making to be clear -DS], CS5.5 has removed some features to focus more fully on the broadcast world. Gone are MIDI and VSTi support and the ability to preview samples before bringing them into the program. If Audition is your primary DAW and you’re wondering whether or not to upgrade, you’ll have to weigh out the new tools and features against what’s been removed in the streamlining process. For producers like me, who create music and work with a lot of audio and video, the decision will be to upgrade to Adobe CS5.5 and keep my favorite version of Audition installed. For more information

DeClipper

and

Speech

Volume Matching Vocals, vocals, vocals. So much of your work involves getting the vocals right. DeClipper is useful for eliminating those red ‘overs’ where a momentary spike introduces distortion. I use this mostly on vinyl samples when my attempt to capture the loudest signal is balanced against preserving the dynamics of the original recording. For using live speeches, it was necessary to accept a momentary burst from a video camera’s audio. The DeClipper works much better than an Amplitude adjustment. Enough said. Volume Matching removes the tedious work of matching up comps and goes a long to improving the levels between various takes. Since all of the effects can be applied to a bus or a per-track basis, it’s much easer to work your audio in the multi-session view. Fine Finale In conclusion, Adobe has taken the Audition product further in the direction of broadcast audio editing. They have presented more tools to clean, fix and refine your soundtrack. The big news is that the PC workhorse is now Mac OS. Mac users are now free to take advantage of the more robust engine, support for surround sound and the ability to fully integrate Audition CS5.5 with Premiere CS5.5 for a powerful sight and sound combination. Audio editors rejoice.

Thanks Griffin. Well said. Here at Producer’s Edge, we’ve been using Adobe products for a long time. The Adobe Creative Suite has always been an ideal choice since our content is so varied. It’s no secret that the magazine was built using InDesign and all the artwork created in Photoshop. Next, we’ll be using Dreamweaver to revamp our site [long overdue, boss – GA]. For cost and cash flow concerns Adobe has started a subscription service. Aside from the different offerings for students, educators and small businesses, Adobe has launched a month-to-month and a one-year payment plan. Details here

Audio Damage tattoo Drum synth and sequencer $70.00 USD AU/VST Available as a direct download. Words by Griffin Avid

are very usable and lean more towards the electronic side as opposed to old-vintage-sampled hits. Both the preset kits and included patterns are squarely aimed at dance music producers, but there is room to adopt this baby and raise it as a child of hip hop. The simple grid structure, modulation sequencing engine and the extensive randomization controls are the creative highlights of this product and make it a fine addition to any beatsmith’s arsenal. Be that as it may, there are a few minor niggles that you may want to consider.

Audio Ranted

Audio Advantage

’ve always counted on Audio Damage to deliver quality effects at more than fair prices. They’ve done a great job of modeling vintage effect plus with a little bit of the damage thrown in for uniqueness. When I heard Audio Damage was going to add a drum machine to its arsenal, I knew the results would be interesting. Their loop-mangling plug Replicant (yes, inspired by the classic Blade Runner [check the names of the presets for more nerdjoy-DS]) already scrambled beats beyond recognition and used a truly inspiring circular interface. It has enough randomization built in to remove even the deepest case of basic-beat-boredom.

Audio Implanted

They tell us that tattoo is inspired by the XOX (808/909) series of drum machines so you know what kind of sonic territory we’re rushing into. As great as those sounds may be, producers who want authentic emulations of these boxes are usually stuck with a 16 step sequencer interface to get busy with. Tattoo uses a 32 step grid and adds a very nice Mod Sequencer for adding moving/evolving changes in your tone. The tonal sculpting tools extend farther than the original analog boxes giving you more variety in sound than expected. The included drum kits

As a VST compatible at VST 2.4 you may experience problems with older hosts. I would have loved a standalone version and backwards compatibility. Although tattoo accepts MIDI in for automation and can send MIDI out to control other sound modules (woo-hoo), it doesn’t record note data in real time so no, you won’t be using your drum pads to break free of the grid programming. Aw-shucks. The 47 preset kits stay pretty close to the realm of yes-Ican-use-this-today and thankfully, very few are thrown in to show off the D-Plane Synthesis engine. They certainly let you warp the sounds to your hearts’ content, but I would love to be able to load individual drum sounds and even swap different drum pattern parts for another creative kit and pattern building option. Tattoo is powered by true synthesis and the sounds are all generated in realtime, but still very light on your CPU.

Audio Enchanted

For the producer who likes to build drum tracks by programming steps and relishes the sound of classic analogue boxes driven by the electronic realm; tattoo is a product worthy of consideration. The sounds are solid and presented in an intuitive interface with enough sound shaping options to make your drum work stand out. What’s lost in the rigid step approach is made up with the TR-909 swing and a plethora of randomization options that even includes a probability slider for adding or subtracting drum hits. While some companies attempt to throw everything along with the kitchen sink into a product, Audio Damage has focused on the simple joy of getting a beat going and seeing what happens after that. You can hear the sounds of tattoo, and watch tutorial videos at http://www.AudioDamage.com.

Beat Kangs

Virtual Beat Thang 01 Standalone/VST Mac/PC $99.99 Words by Xodus Phoenix and Griffin Avid

eat Thang? Beat Kangs? It’s the idea of a product…produced by producers… for producers that had the forums, chat rooms (basically anywhere producers tend to congregate) split between the fantasy of a work-flow-centered drum machine and the For Us By Us marketing campaign of a streetz-savvy crew of developers. Is this the MPC killer so many have been waiting for? Is this the faceplate of Optimus Prime slapped on a Zoom groove box? Can they really pull it off without selling out? After the initial splash at NAMM 2009, we were left with high hopes and a lot of questions… Wile we watched the heavens and waited, Beat Kangs released a virtual instrument with the promise of total connectivity and integration. It is meant to tie in with the hardware unit much like the Native Instruments Maschine. The forward-thinking and futuristic vibe continues with the arrival of a software box containing a poster and a USB drive. On a PC, it’s a simple doubleclick on the installer and system restart. Registration is a little funky where you save the included ILR file and send an email to Virtual@beatkangz.com (and not the non-existent “support@www.beatkangz.com” as per the on screen instructions) and await a return email with a proper license file. I’m hoping it’s an automated service since it’s 2:11 am. The next day the license file email arrives and it’s away we go.

Bang Tha Thang

The GUI is straight forward and mirrors the hardware unit. Left is the Browser, central is the Audition/Edit window and to the far right is the effects. The very bottom holds the pads and above them is the Transport area -split with the Track assignments.

Beating Beatz

The included demo songs and patterns show off a wide range of what BTV [Beat Thang Virtual- DS] is capable of. A nice note is the White Stripes ode ‘Stripe it’. I mean, who doesn’t like that kick sound? The

sounds are very on point and ready for instant commercial banger beat-making. Track construction is the expected pattern-based affair. We start by initializing a new pattern and dragging a kit from the browser into the kit window, which is just below the track name. I can audition/trigger the sounds with my QWERTY keyboard, clicking on the drum pads or using my attached MIDI controller. I set my pre-roll [the time before recording starts- DS] and bang out my drum pattern. It’s a minor niggle to select the same kit for every unique track I want to record on, but it makes sense when the intended workflow is to create the foundation of the drum track all in one pass. Beat Thang Virtual comes with both drum sounds, percs and instrument oneshots. It’s everything you need to get busy. Note that on a PC, you place samples, sounds in the My Documents User Folders to import your custom sound sets into BTV.

Kangclusion

he Beat Thang Virtual isn’t so far a leap forward from all the similar produca VSTs when it comes to its feature set or interface. The selling point is the sound design or should I say the quality of the included sounds. In a certain way, this is the benefit of a product designed by …the same people who use the product. If you’re looking for today’s sound in a can then Beat Thang Virtual will do you well. Be sure to update your BTV. Since the hardware has been relased, it’s apparent the TOTAL integration promised in 2009 in still a little ways off. None the less, the Beat Kangs have thrown their hat into the ring. If you’re looking for an MPC experience in software, make sure you peep the BTV.

Sample Magic

Funky House Grooves 2 ~$79 Download $99.00 DVD/CD multipack DJ Fred Frederix

o this month, we have an interesting entry to the world of loop libraries. This one comes from a company by the name of “Sample Magic”. I personally have only been so lucky to use two of their’ libraries at this point, but certainly look forward to using more! This particular library is “souly” for the producer seeking those smooth, soulful, deep house grooves and sexy disco-ish type baselines in their productions. As one might guess the title of the library is (correctly named) “Funky House Grooves 2” (FHG2 for the review here). Scrolling though the samples, and loops, a few artists quickly comes to mind; Miguel Migs, DJ JJ, and Kaskade- mostly for their smooth and sexy southern California house sound. It’s close to tech-house, while still kind of R&B sounding with Rhodes riffs all over the place. Listening to this package gave me a sonic daydream …a lounge somewhere in Maui, sipping something that will hit you with a kick a few minutes later, whilst sitting on a raggy old couch with my feet up on a coffee table with a few friends....................... Enough mind wandering, and back to the review! So let’s get into the nitty gritty to see what makes this library so good, and as to why I think it’s just so well put together. First off, this collection of loops and sounds is true to its title, so when purchasing or downloading it, what you might read on the box or website, is what it delivers, AND a bit more to boot. The “bit more” is in its content - where the designers thought the main user of this product might actually stray from a “4 on the floor” drum pattern [if supplied with the goods]. Well, I must say, this collection sure looks and sounds to me like it was put together by some pretty hip musicians, because, among other things, there are some totally awesome Reggaeton loops, that I’ve actually been looking for to make my tracks sound really up to date. This was a really nice surprise. As most of you probably remember me telling you in the last review, I like to use “ethnic” or Middle Eastern percussion sounds in my tracks to make them sound a bit different. It was also really nice that the package was split up into individual sampler instruments, as to their own encoding of sounds and loops. SampleMagic includes the directions as to where to put the files in the nice little booklet that they include in the CD packaging with the

two included disks. On the DVD for this library there was no such PDF of any that I saw, and this tends to leave the end user a little lost without previous experience. The DVD; 802MB of WAV (1207 files) 427mb of Stylus RMX (688 rex files) 669mb of Apple Loops (688 files) plus sampler specific patches for EXS24, Reason NNXT, Kontakt and Halion. You’re pretty much covered there with just the DVD that it comes with and did I forget to tell you that all the wav files are 24 bit? Yes, they are, and they sound just terrific! The CD; 28 tracks; from a full Demo which sounds like the online demo, to several (or may I say many different) “typical uses” for some of the loops. Honestly, they could have just omitted this CD, and put the PDF files on the DVD. I can’t really imagine the end user listening to the CD, and saying “Wow, that was a great idea to use that loop!” The whole point of a sample CD is for the end user to interpret THE USE for “that” sample; but hey, that’s just me. Anyway, installation of the files was very quick, as I glanced at the directions (????), and realized quickly that I was dragging several folders to different places on my Tiger equipped Quad Mac. Yet again, Logic is the host program for the tests, as I find the fact that it supports Apple Loops, and it’s EXS24, a blessing. Oddly enough, some Apple only programs still don’t support Apple Loops ...(I won’t name names, but....) This makes for really quick testing of the loops; you simply drag the Apple Loops to your HD that houses the loops, open Logic (8 or higher), and say “yes” to the box asking if it’s where you’d like to leave your loops. At this point, the program can quickly whip the new loops up in beat synced order, and have them organized by type! I love this feature, because, I’m a lazy bastard, and love to just “get in there”, with minimal work involved. If you’re looking for some smooth sounds to chill your productions out, check out “SampleMagic’s” “Funky House Grooves 2”; it’s “GROOVY” :)

iZotope

the

Company

and

Nectar

Words by Drew Spence $299 VST/AU/RTAS/DirectX

PC/Mac

Zotope has capitalized on their sound-shaping expertise and delivered another winner. Nectar makes the quest for stellar

vocals that much easier by proving high-quality vocal-editing modules in an easy to understand interface. Seasoned veterans will take advantage of the quality offering while those new to editing will achieve excellent results while they learn and are guided by the well-designed interface and a compliment of excellent presets. iZotope Nectar is highly recommended by the PE Staff

Zotope has positioned themselves as one of those ‘smart companies’ that seems to make products to fulfill an exact need or desire of the masses. Across their vast range of products, including everything from mixing and mastering to chopping a drum loop, you won’t find a chain of long-words meant to describe a new technology to solve an age-old problem. You will find a chain of effects and features aimed at offering you the world class quality you need -presented in a scalable interface. The look can be as easy and simple as you want or as deep and all-encompassing as you need. When producers wanted ReDrum without the Reason; iZotope delivered iDrum. It was simple and fast and covered all the bases: VST, standalone and featured every save and export option you could ever want. If you were one of those fraidy-cat-producas who lacks confidence in a product until someone else uses it, the legendary producer RZA teamed up with iZotope to create an iPhone app with the Wu-Tang sound! For the Lo-fidelity-audiofile they gave us the free Vinyl to turn your sounds into samples. Trash; the amp, cabinet and guitar pedal plug-in, placed enough distortion at your fingertips to Hulk-smash your drum track and grunge-out anything else

you chose to feed it. For those looking for a finishing suite to add class to their recordings (or to simply tune-up and fix), they dropped the Ozone series. I would boldly say Ozone has been their break out product for setting the bar for simplicity, quality and quantity- all while keeping this high-end solution affordable. Before we can fully focus on Nectar, we need to understand a little bit more about Ozone. Ozone was capable of transforming your loose mix into a tight final recording. As a complete mastering suite, it simplified the process of audio correction. Mixers and Mastering Agents used Ozone on full mixes and individual tracks. Sound Designers used Ozone to beef up their libraries and gain a sonic edge over their competitors. Ozone was so comprehensive it was even used as a learning tool. You could actually learn about the mastering process by studying the different preset settings. The huge number of included presets covered a wide range of situations, instruments and provided an excellent starting point and many could be used as is [perish the thought- GA].

Nectar as a drinkable solution Nectar: A sweet liquid secreted by plants as food to attract animals that will benefit them. The drink of the gods. nectar: a complete set of 11 vocal production effects combined in one plug-in that’s designed to give you immediate results. Built-in Styles get the grunt work out of the way so you can focus on the creative finishing touches.

It’s time to step up from just making beats. You’ve got an acapella to fit over your remix. Perhaps your artists just killed his two-tracked verse for the mixtape. Maybe you recorded your cuzzo and it’s time to polish the vocals. The hook is hot, but she drifted a bit here and there. Okay let’s be honest- she’s hot, but can’t sing worth a damn. To save the project, you’re going to pour on the pitchcorrection until she approaches a dubstep wobble. Let’s get a bit more serious and consider the tools a producer will need to elevate his sound and deliver a usable end product. Aside from compressors, limiters, delay effects and pitch correction- you’ll use Gate to eliminate noises picked up from your studio environment. You’ll rely on Breath Control to reduce the gasps of your heavy spitter trying to suck in that little bit of extra oxygen. And for coloring, you’ll add Saturation. To gain insight, we had a Q&A session with the iZotope team. Could you first tell us a little bit about the background of iZotope and how your company, with a diverse lineup of products, turned towards effect processing and why the vocal is getting so much attention.

iZotope’s founders were studying a variety of technical subjects and music while at MIT. They saw audio signal processing as the perfect way to combine their passions for technology and music and iZotope has been carrying on that passion ever since We turned our attention to vocals because they are such a prominent part of most recordings and thought that the “iZotope approach” would be well received. Where did the need for Nectar arise from? Was it purely customer feedback and was there ever a discussion of making a simpler version of Ozone?

Our product ideas always come from a combination of customer requests and our own ideas about how we can make audio production better in some way. In the case of Nectar, it was never about making a simpler version of something else. Instead, we saw that users had two choices for vocal processing. On the one hand, they could assemble their own chains of plug-ins and route the signal using their DAW and on the other, there were all-inone vocal channel strips. The first option was flexible, but often time consuming and a lot of users found it daunting

to put together chains from scratch. The second option was fast but inflexible and didn’t provide a complete vocal toolkit. Our idea with Nectar was to make something new that balanced these two solutions. It includes 11 modules, including pitch correction, so you have all the tools you need for vocal production in one place and dozens of styles that set up complete vocal chains quickly. Then, if you have the time or inclination, you can always go into the advanced view and tweak every slider of every underlying component. One of the problems with most real-time vocal plug-ins is the CPU load and the drift from latency. How has iZotope addressed these issues?

With Nectar we introduced the idea tracking and mixing modes. In tracking mode Nectar uses different versions of some of its algorithms to greatly reduce latency and CPU usage. In mixing mode, Nectar uses its highestquality algorithms. That way, users can choose what they want depending on what part of the recording and mixing process they are in or what their system can handle. Many times, an artist wants to hear ‘polished’ vocals on their 1st generation demo and some want to walk away with finished-sounding vocals even though the song hasn’t been mixed yet! Ozone was very fast to work with, but it wasn’t always easy to find a preset that would satisfy the client during the recording session. The presets in Nectar are broken down by song style/genre to get instant results. What process is used to create a

vocal preset minus a running track to present a usable sound? Was it based on engineer feedback, habits of producers or reverse engineered from popular records?

We worked with several engineers who make their living mixing vocals. Each one produced styles in the genres they work with most often and used their own personal stash of tracks to make sure the styles worked with many different vocalists. Also, because each style includes the ability to make adjustments on the main panel, the styles were made to be easily flexible to cover different vocalists or different artistic goals. As a producer who is looking to dive into the finishing end of production, how do I choose between Ozone and Nectar and what situations would either be more appropriate? Is it cost? Complexity?

It’s about intent and where in the process you use them. Nectar is designed to process your vocal tracks or busses, Alloy is designed to sit on every other non-vocal track, and Ozone is designed to be the processor you put at the end of the chain to master the final mix. We selected each plug-in’s processing modules, and designed its interface, with its intended use in mind. You have delivered an excellent product, but I must ask about future expansions. Will there be more professionally made preset libraries or even artist sponsored packs?

First, we’re working on an update to add some of the most requested improvements to Nectar. After that we’ll

consider more style updates and other changes—we’ll see what our customers want most! After diving in with vocal suite are there any other resources or Tips & Tricks to help a user get the most out of Nectar- aside from RTFM?

Check us out on YouTube—there are a few official iZotope videos with some how-to’s in them. Producers Edge thanks the good people at iZotope for sitting down with us. Congratulations and continued success.

Thank you, it was my pleasure. Nectar from the Neck Up

The advantages of buying into a total solution like Nectar are quite obvious. Keeping your entire vocal edits in one plug-in set simplifies the recall for future sessions. It uses a similar interface for the different modules so you’ll be comfortable switching between tasks very quickly. You also can tweak with confidence knowing the sonic results are designed to clean and polish, not hide and distract. If you have any interest in submitting your music with polished vocals, you owe it to yourself to investigate iZotope Nectar and download the demo today. http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/nectar/index.asp

Sugar Bytes Turnado Price: 139€ / 179$ Mac/PC Standalone/VST/AU Words by Drew Spence

Another winning real-time multieffects plug from the masters of …scrambling your audio. logical fashion. My initial understanding was that Turnado would be a simplified version of Effectrix with some aspects of Artillery thrown in. Wrong, well sort of... Lets’ see why.

’m sure this has happened to you before. You’re watching a DJ that’s hunched over a bunch of blinking boxes - mangling a record. He’s turning and twisting knobs- even sliding faders while the sound flips, jumps, dives and scrambles. Just as you’re about to comment that you want that kind of set up, someone chimes in with something like ‘that’s no big deal, Ableton and a MIDI controller does that and more.’ Thanks guy. Although it would be more accurate to say Ableton running a Sugar Bytes Plug-in + a MIDI controller is another option. [Edit: add a nice enough MIDI controller and you get the blinking lights too - GA] It’s no secret that many DAWs use plug-ins to show off their sequencers. I mean, how much excitement is there in watching some dude tracking his guitar playing? It’s better to show what you can do to add action and movement to plain recordings. That’s seems to be a Sugar Bytes specialty. Among the list of products, stand three top choices. Effectrix is an effect sequencer that works with your sampled material. You apply and control effects in a looping fashion. Artillery takes this concept a step further and offers a keyboard layout to control the effect engine. Sugar Bytes products appeal to many audio manglers because they can be as simple or as deep as you want them to be. They offer many presets to get you started and with the varied offering you can get your money’s worth even if you choose to never look under the hood. For those that want greater control, they have a finely tuned interface that presents numerous controls in a

Dictator: One fader to rule them all

Dictator captures the effect settings of Turnado and turns them into a sequence controlled by one fader. The point of capture is called a Scene and you can move among the eight different slots. The results can turn into total sonic mayhem pretty quickly, which I’m sure is a good thing for some, but most will learn to mellow out on the intensity and ride the faders.

Doing Noodling

Effect plugs this powerful can tend to leave you with nonmusical results if you’re not careful. Thankfully Turnado gives you enough control to dial in and hold the sweet spot of catchy-before-gimmicky. Another nice touch is the video tutorial(s) which outlines all the controls and makes navigation a breeze.

Closing In

Let’s be clear about this new offering from Sugar Bytes. If you’re a lap-top assisted DJ who does more than blends; Turnado is a recommended purchase. If you’re planning on showing off a DAW at the next trade show, eh you already know what time it is. For all genres experimental, this is the kind of product… Okay, for PRODUCERS looking to add spice to their tracks, whether it is flipping drum tracks, adding spice to an instrument line or making a hook hookier, Turnado is something worth looking into. Don’t wait till his record drops and ask how he did it. You read Producer’s Edge for a reason. For more information about this plug, please visit http://www.sugar-bytes.com/

Spectrasonics Trilian Revisited VST 2.4, RTAS or Audio Unit Words by Will Loiseau

ost of your favorite songs whether created by you or someone else have one thing in common. They each have that distinctive bass line that awakens your soul and lets you feel its energy. The bass line is what usually speaks to the listener and demands attention from close by or from further distances. Many of us fantasize of having a room full of different basses at our disposal. Spectrasonics has returned once again with an extension of its line of virtual instrument software. Trilian will satisfy the appetite of a musician’s electric, acoustic and synth bass instrument desires. Be sure to set aside at least 4 GB of RAM to accommodate this beast of a program.

he five DVD discs take a decent amount of time to install but with over 34 GB of sounds in the core library it’s well worth the wait. Once you authorize the product online and download the latest updates and patch library, you’re well on your way to bass line heaven. Tutorial videos for registered users on the website provide an additional learning tool since programming and learning the intricacies of this software can be a challenge without them. Omnisphere users will find the Trilian interface a familiar and welcome addition to their music production arsenal. Trilogy bass module users will find the factory patches from Trilogy available for use in their previous projects by utilizing the search feature in the Patch Browser. The STEAM engine technology allows for numerous sound design possibilities between the two instruments by giving the user the option of opening up the entire Trilian library inside of Omnisphere. The first thing I wanted to do was audition the sounds to see how long it would take before I would find something interesting. I went through quite a bit of presets and couldn’t find one sound that I wouldn’t use in my production. I was initially concerned with the sample load time which I felt was long with Omnisphere. In

similar fashion, the load time here varies from sound to sound due to the thousands of samples being read by Hard Disc Streaming. Using the Preview Load feature allows the user to quickly audition a sound before loading it and the Lite Version button enables loading of “thinned” versions of the sounds, which is user configurable, as the detailed sampling on many Soundsources is not always required to get effective sounds. The demand on processing requires high system requirements to get the most from this program. I always looked forward to finding a bass line I’ve never heard or used before whenever using Trilogy. Trilian with its library being ten times larger is a triple threat of acoustic, electric and synth bass sounds from Trilogy. It adds on tremendously to the largest variety of quality basses available on software. Each sound is categorized for easy retrieval from the Browser. Imagine being in your studio auditioning your favorite synth basses. Now, picture having the ability to sample each one from right where you are without all the clutter and time and money spent on maintenance. The basses sampled from vintage hardware sound modules (Korg MS-20, Juno 60, Tetra 4, Roland SH-101, Moog Little Phatty, Yamaha CS-80, etc.) include a brief information note and a picture of the actual hardware unit. Each tone, articulation, dynamic slide from one note to another and key release noise is right on the money. If that isn’t enough, the classic Bass Legends’ multi-samples offer some sick sounds. The Arpeggiator with Groove Lock synchs bass lines to Stylus RMX grooves or MIDI files. One of my favorite functions is the Multi mode with the Mixer, FX, Live and Stack pages. Stack Mode in Multi allows for user configurable key/velocity/

controller articulation mapping, you can combine patch zones and splits. Live mode allows for the selection of sounds on the fly. Manipulation of sounds is a breeze with the FX, Mixer and Edit pages. The distortion, choruses and reverbs are just some of the tools from the effects rack on the FX page that can help enhance and transform your bass sounds. Stand alone mode would seem to make sense in the future for a software program as powerful and functional. Until then users will need host software capable of running VST 2.4, RTAS or Audio Unit.

Trilian succeeds in giving us what we expected when it was announced Spectrasonicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already solid bass resource was being improved. The sound quality of the expanded volume of sounds is reinvigorating. The numerous possibilities to create unique sounds within Trilian or when combined with Omnisphere or Stylus RMX, are incredible. For under $300 youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be hard pressed to find any bass software that can compete on this level.

Producer’s Edge

takes a look at the numerous options for flipping your gear- from the cosmetic outside to the update and feature flip. We’re going from painting details to applying decals to repairing the body and refurbishing your baby. We thank all the companies involved for helping with this feature by providing their services. Let’s go!

Davidson Electronics Words by Drew Spence

t’s probably one of the worst production-killing moments you can experience in the studio. No, I don’t mean turning on the tv/radio and hearing a poppy-wack-track, auto-sang over by some clown with frivolous lyrics. Unless, of course, that’s what you hope to produce; then carry on. It’s the moment that you hit the on-switch and your favorite studio piece doesn’t…turn on. What now? After flicking the switch a hundred times and checking every plug/outlet in your studio, you start to dig for the receipt and pray you spent the extra cash to get an extended warranty. You didn’t. It’s either, buy another unit or explore other gear options. Ouch. Hoping for the best, you pop on your favorite forum and ask if there’s any hope. Hopefully, Davidson Electronics is mentioned as a viable solution. Located in Long Island, New York, they specialize in the servicing and repair of musical instruments, vintage gear (from reels to synths), studio outboard and a whole host of electronics. My poor Roland JD 800 was seemingly beyond repair. The key bed was toast and I was considering just hunting down a new board. Senior Editor Will Loiseau just had his Juno-G repaired by Davidson’s technicians and they became highly recommended for quality work and professional courtesy. I was reluctant because I’ve been railroaded before and spent a little less than the actual buying price only to have that piece fail again only a few weeks later. I was told by Will to bring

The most common repairs center around “connective

ala “bad connections.” These are the result of every

physical abuse, to corrosion and temperature chan my notebook. That’s Editor Code for there’s a story worth telling. So, I decided to ride over and spent the day down at Davidson Electronics. While they worked on my baby I chopped it up with the staff and tons of customers. Drew Spence: Let’s start by asking how the decision is made to get involved with the repair and refurbishing of musical instruments and studio gear.

Davidson Electronics: Upon finishing up a dwindling career as a performing musician, collegues started banging on my door for repair work. Over time, I built one of the best repair staffs in the industry. A team of highly qualified techs and office management was the goal. Score! Heck, it only took 25 years…heh heh. I have heard about your ability to repair modern gear, but what about vintage analogues? How far can you go back into the history of synthesizers and drum machines?

The experience here began with analog gear…some of the best the industry has known, ie: Studer, Pultec, Ampex, Crown, ..and all the vacuum tube equipment as well. However the specialty by which this business grew, was in the repair of vintage analog synthesizers, ie: Moog, Oberheim, Sequential Circuits, Arp, and beyond. Pro audio repair expertise is now the staple, along with the repair of intelligent lighting.

What’s the most common repair job and what are some of the things we can do to prolong the life of our gear?

The most common repairs center around “connective breaches” ala “bad connections.” These are the result of everything from physical abuse, to corrosion and temperature changes. How do we go about cleaning the surface of our gear and what is to be done about crackly pots or a noise contact point?

We need to be careful about this subject. Plastics vary in chemical compositions. Many cleaners will damage these surfaces. All cleaning protocols are taken on a “case by case” basis. Basically, as a rule of thumb, a very lightly water-dampened cloth is all that’s needed. Cleaning of internal parts should be strictly left to a tech. I’ve come across some vintage pieces for sale and I’ve passed because I’m not so sure what to look for in terms of condition. Is it possible to bring gear down to be inspected and tested for functionality? Oh yeah. We do this on a regular basis. A qualified e breaches” technician is the best option for inspection of every aspect of a unit, from electronic to ything from mechanical integrities.

nges.

Suppose I can’t do that or have an experienced tech with me. What are some of the checks to do before buying a used piece of gear and/or what kind of research, besides pricing, should I do before buying a used piece?

All components on any circuit boards should be clearly visible, with no foreign matter such as dust, dirt, corrosion. The visual inspections are the best for preliminary determinations. Otherwise, the internet is a great place to find other’s experiences with purchases. I have a piece that died or is just not working right. What happens from the moment I bring the piece down to the moment I return to pick it up?

First step is a visual inspection. Next, is to determine if there are any fuses that might be blown. Not all fuses are meant to be replaced by the user. These non-user replaceable fuses are meant to protect the unit from further damage and of course to help the tech find the nature of the problem(s)… What happens if I have a piece that simply cannot be repaired? What do you mean “What happens”? Before I bring a keyboard or rack unit down, is there anything I should check for or prepare before the trip down to Davidson Electronics? Make sure the unit is intact…No loose parts or missing hardware. Remove all accessories i.e. pedals, audio cables, power cords, etc.

Can you tell our readers about one of the more difficult repair jobs or anything weird you may have found once opening a piece?

The worst was a unit that was infested with roaches. We didn’t repair that unit. Another bad one is cat urine. Once we actually had a customer travel from out of state because no one would work on his keyboard that had been doused in urine by his girlfriend. We put on the rubber gloves and restored that unit to perfection. I’ve seen people post videos on the internet about DIY gear repair and I’ve even seen someone typed-through a soldering job. Are there any jobs that fall under the DIY category or is it as dangerous as they say because of the dormant voltages that exist even when the unit is not plugged in?

We would NEVER attempt to guide any customer into a unit. We will, however, guide a user through the process of identifying symptoms. I always believed heavy smoking in a studio will darken the keys and affect the internals of the gear. I was told recently that this is only a myth- meant to lessen the price of perfectly functional gear and fetch a discount for strictly cosmetic concerns. Is there any truth to this?

Oh yeah! Cigarette smoke leads to contamination of delicate materials. Some older gear might be a bit sturdier and resilient, but most good equipment deserves the cleanest conditions possible. In conclusion, could you tell us a few points that separate Davidson Electronics from the numerous places that claim to be specialists in gear repair?

We have the some of the highest level techs in the nation. Unlike many “home-spun/self-taught” people, our techs have degrees in their craft and a vast musical/engineering experience. Our work consists of accuracy, reliability and an attention to detail, always with the user in mind. All customers, no matter their experience and/or stature, are treated like world-class celebrities. All completed repairs are demo’d for the customer. They get an immediate on premises demo which is especially reassuring to customers who travel long distances to us.

thank you for your time. I walked away feeling like I have new friends and it’s refreshing to meet people in this industry who still care about musical instruments. They see my secret weapon, not as a tool to make money, but as an extension of my personality. It’s part of being attached. If you don’t know why producers paint their gear or tattoo signatures on the side or give their gear pet names, then you haven’t found that special piece or used it quite long enough yet. By the way, the JD is fully repaired and back in my production set up. Thank you Davidson Electronics. You can find out more by visiting http://www.davidsonelectronics.com/

Turning to the Internal Words by Drew Spence

e’ve been focusing primarily on cosmetic changes to your gear up till now. In the spirit of our cover producer, we will now consider the ideas behind keeping an older piece up to date with an upgrade as opposed to always buying the latest model. SCSICardReaders. com (formerly SCSIforSamplers) is a seller of hardware that provides kits, parts and instructional material to add SCSI drives with modern interfaces to your legacy samplers. They have a page on their website where you simply match your manufacturer and model and are given the various choices for modernizing your gear. Among a small field of sites that cater to older samplers, card reader is a fine choice to start your upgrade journey. We contacted SCSICardReaders.com for more information. Producer’s Edge: The vision of your office is more of a factory and workbench set up. How did you decide to create this kind of service and how difficult was it to find parts? What started as a quest

to outfit my own samplers became an obsession to help other musicians obtain pro-level SCSI gear at a reasonable price. Finding inventory has always been and remains the toughest part about what I do.

The sampler has been a staple of music production since the Synclavier. Why do you think the hardware sampler has endured in this age of computer driven software? Because software-based instruments, while great for what they do, will never have the wonderful sound of true hardware samplers. What kind of condition does my sampler need to be in order to upgrade it? Suppose its current floppy bay no longer works? Can I even get another OS disk or have it load from your reader?

Your sampler needs to be bootable and have a working SCSI buss. Some samplers boot from external media and in most cases, the OS can be loaded onto a CF card and the sampler will boot from the card reader drive. How do I choose which technology to roll with? Zip Drive, Jaz, external, internally mounted. What provides the most stable and reliable configuration to aim towards?

The only reliable storage options these days are based around CF technology, like our CF-CARD SCSI card reader drive or our CF-SSD solid-state drives. Jaz and Zip drives are both inherently unreliable products and should be dropped as soon as you can afford it. There is a reason why Iomega stopped building those drives! How difficult is the installation. I know you have step by step videos and kits, but how much do I need to really know before I tackle this kind of job?

Very easy! Our installation kits require no soldering and you don’t even have to cut any wires. Our products require no permanent modifications to your sampler and most can be installed within 30 minutes. We include detailed, illustrated instructions and often opening the sampler case is the hardest part of the install. Plus we offer telephone or email support, as much as needed. Is there any way to ship you my old sampler and have it upgraded at your facility?

This is always an option but usually

is not needed, as our products are so easy to install. If you want to explore this option, you should call or email us about it. I like the features of the new storage options, but I have a massive library still on the old floppies. How can I preserve my older work and still have the convenience of a card reader drive?

You will need to transfer all your samples and sequences to the new media, either using the existing drives or an external program like Chicken Systems’ Translator. If your sampler uses a DOS-compatible file format, you can move your work easily using your computer and an inexpensive USB card reader. Are there any thoughts of adding USB into the equation and the possibility of some day having my old sampler connect to my PC for the direct transfer of data?

No, that isn’t going to happen. Not only would it require massive amounts of money spent on hardware modifications but also a rewrite of the original operating systems. These things are not possible, even if someone had more money than sense to throw at the project. Card Reader drives are as close as you are likely to come. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about SCSICardReaders.com? We offer the best in modern storage options for most of the classic samplers from the last 20 years, at very fair prices, and with excellent support.

s always, Producer’s Edge thanks JD for taking the time to kick it with us. Readers should also note that the site has manuals and additional accessories for your legacy products. Thank you for your interest! Always happy to speak with you, Drew.

Get Comfortable in Your Own Skin! Words by Griffin Avid

e continue looking at the various options for customizing your gear with a special consideration for non-destructive decoration using vinyl decals. In a nutshell, it’s a thin clear vinyl laminate that you can design on their website or upload your own artwork and they will use your image to create the artwork for your cover. It’s a very affordable price-point, landing somewhere around $60.00 for most jobs. They have faces for turntables and mixers, drum machines, keyboards and controllers, laptops and even decal stickies for guitars. The obvious benefits for using Style Flip’s surface laminate system include being able to remove your artwork and change your design and avoiding the serious price gouge in selling customized gear on the used market. Let’s face it; no one wants to buy that MPC after Lil’ Thuggie painted his Guns, Dice and Dollaz logo all over the front. To get beneath the top layer, we kicked it with Style Flip about this innovative and cost-effective solution. Firstly, where did the idea of Style Flip come from and how did you establish this company?

About 4 years ago one of our owners came to us with a photo rendering of two cdjs and a mixer customized with an image. The concept was unbelievable and unheard of, so we started a process that made it easy for a DJ to customize his equipment without them bringing it into a shop. Our process allows the user to create their cover online and have it shipped Worldwide. The prices are better than custom paint jobs and do not damage your equipment. StyleFlip.com was created and became the first to offer a convenient customization solution for music equipment.

What factors determine whether or not a piece of gear is a likely candidate to be style flipped?

We usually pick popular products or products that many people have requested templates for. In addition we try to make a template for most new items that have just came out or are coming out. We specialize in turntables, mixers, cdjs, keyboards, laptops, phones, and more. I’ve seen many people attempt to customize and paint their own gear and destroy the labeling or text. What steps have you taken to allow the user to modify their gear without losing the important surface information?

On our site we have a one click option to turn the info layer on and off. You can also change the color of the info layer to a color that complements the background. How easy is it really to apply these decals? We’ve seen what inexperienced hands can do to hand-applied car tint and even the protective sheath for a cell phone. How likely am I to botch this application and get bubbling?

Our products are printed on special 3M material that was created for this application. The material is made for easy application without damage to your equipment. The air channels and pressure sensitive back allow for convenient application and guarantee no air bubbles. To see how easy it is to apply go to StyleFlip. com and watch our application video. Some of us want to add a decorative to simply hide the scratches our old gear has accumulated. Is there any protection offered by using a plain and clear Style Flip surface?

Yes, StyleFlips protect the covered area from scratches and wear and

tear. The best thing to do is to get a StyleFlip right when you get your equipment, that way when you are ready to sell it, it will look the exact same as when you got it. Some of the artistic designs include manufacturer logos. Is there any kind of art or image that you cannot do for legal or moral reasons? Is nudity fair game? How about the image of a known celebrity?

Users are responsible for making sure the images that they are using are not under any copyright infringements. If we notice a recognizable copyright infringement, we will notify the customer and ask for them to submit another image. I see a huge list of available templates to build from, but can I suggest a rare piece of gear for a custom job? [Ensoniq ASR-10 anyone?] And how much interaction do you need with any piece before you can design a template?

You can suggest templates on our facebook (www.facebook.com/styleflips). We prioritize our requests by how many people request it and by how popular the item is. We usually need some interaction with the piece just to test out the product and if we need to tweak a little detail, however, we do work with major manufactures such as Allen & Heath, Rane, Stanton, American Audio and more. By working with them, we are able to get what we need to make templates. I thank you for your time. Is there anything else you’d like the Edgers to know about Style Flip?

StyleFlips are also great for promoting your business or for you traveling DJ’s to get your name out there. We have over 350 templates and the list keeps growing. Let us know if you have a request for a template or any other suggestions or ideas. Thanks for your time! With a quick drag & drop you can be on your way to designing your signature piece with unique artwork and detailing. Head over to Style Flip and turn your old into new. http://www.styleflip.com/

pads, an LCD display, built in disk drive, a 32 track Midi sequencer and 21 outputs. It was the Rolls Royce of drum machines, but being the first, it had more than its share of problems which ultimately led to the demise of Linn Electronics in 1986.

FORAT

Words by Drew Spence

hances are you’ve been on a music forum and visited the ubiquitous ‘Show Your Studio’ thread and saw a piece of gear that looked so crazy you weren’t sure what it was. After a closer inspection, you realized it was a common piece that was painted and customized. The answer to your next question is probably FORAT. Named after Bruce Forat, who branched off from [Roger] Linn and continued their LinnDrum drum machine legacy, they supply sights and sounds for some of our most beloved production tools. Currently they are an authorized service center for a wide array of AKAI, Roland and Yamaha products. To learn more about FORAT, we opened the line and dug in. Could you please tell us a little about the early days with Roger Linn and how that led to FORAT Electronics?

I know it might sound sentimental, but I really loved working at Linn. I was only 20 when I started there as a tech while still attending college for electronics. Not long after, I was coming up with improvements for what is now known as Linn’s flagship product - the LinnDrum. The modifications included solutions to fix the noise floor, power supply and memory retention faults. I put together a one of a kind LinnDrum the other techs called Frankenstein. I “MacGyvered’” it together from dead boards and scrap parts to test my mods on and it’s still in my collection. I’d show my mods to Roger and one of two things would happen. Either it would become an ECO (engineering change order), incorporating it into production and field units, or Roger would say it cost too much, offer it to customers as a mod outside of Linn. Then in 1984 the next generation Linn machine was released. It was called the Linn 9000. It was state of the art and revolutionary. Amongst the many things it did was digitally control analog volume and tuning, was the first sampling drum machine with velocity sensitive

My brother, Ben and I purchased Linn’s assets and started Forat Electronics a couple of months after Linn closed. We then developed the Linn 9000 to its full potential with many firsts both in software and hardware designs. We manufactured them under the name Forat F9000. In 1987 we released the first 16 bit drum sampler called the Forat F16. It had lightning fast triggers and was used both in live and studio applications by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Babyface, Blondie, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, etc. What was happening in the field of drum machines right before the development of the LinnDrum? Where did the early design come from? Roger was the creator of the first

sample based drum machine. It was called the Linn LM-1 Drum Computer, but due to its high price tag, it was out of reach of the average musician. The LM-1 was used by many top artists such as Michael Jackson and Prince. By tuning the drums lower than normal, Prince created a whole new sound and is probably the most famous user of the LM-1. The LinnDrum addressed the cost issue, added a ride cymbal, crash and a real hi hat in place of the LM-1’s looped noise sample. It also had a longer cowbell, cabasa, tom and conga samples and allowed the user to replace the drum sounds. Shaping the sounds is a common part of the production, but where did the idea for customizing the actual gear spring from?

Forat is internationally known for doing electronics. We began customizing the look of our machines as far back as 1988. My personal F9000 was black and had real walnut wood sides. All of the other machines we made were done in gray. Once the word got out about my machine, everyone started asking for black

units so we started to manufacture them in black. It wasn’t long before we were making one offs in every color. We made a red one for Michael Jackson; Bobby Brown had us build three, one in black, one blue and one in white. LA Reid and Baby face bought twelve F9000’s in various colors. In 1993 when SyQuest released the 3½” removable media drives, we started installing them in place of the floppy drives in our F16 samplers. We then switched to Zip drives when Iomega released them in 1995. We were mainly customizing our own gear, but that changed in 1995 when Akai’s representative, James Fox, asked us to become an Akai authorized service center. Not long after we started adding internal Zip dives to MPC’s along with other mods. Some MPC owners asked “I really want to get the internal modifications done, but my MPC is beat up and looks like hell. Can you do anything about that?” That prompted us to start customizing MPC’s. Among the ideas of custom painting and silk screen, what defines the FORAT approach to customization and why?

We are an electronic manufacturer, so our approach is the same as if we were creating a new product.

Who creates the actual design when it comes to the custom paintwork? Does the artist submit artwork or can FORAT design a graphic around the identity of the artist?

It’s generally done as a collaborative effort. Most artists give us an idea or theme they have in mind and we help them actualize their vision. The artist generally supplies their logos. There are times when the artist asks us to conceptualize a design from scratch. How far does the customization go? Can you add wooden end cheeks or modify the housing itself? And how are you able to preserve the surface lettering?

It really depends on what we’re customizing…and the budget. We offer real wood sides and armrests made from maple, walnut, rosewood, cherry etc. We don’t preserve the lettering, meaning it has to be done from scratch. Being a manufacturer, we do it the same way as it was originally done. If it’s a product we’ve never painted before, there’s a lot more work that goes into the process, including creating new artwork. A few years ago, we all were amazed by the job you did on the custom Wu-Tang Roland MV-8800. How did that project come about and do you ever reach out to artists where you see your services could be used to great effect?

The Wu-Tang 8 Diagram machines were a one of a kind creation and are considered highly collectible. They were

done to coincide with the release of the album. It was a collaborative effort between myself, The RZA, Tony Baraz at Guitar Center Management and MV’s product manager, Vince LeDuca, at Roland. The RZA was working on the album being mastered by Bob Lanzner at Technovice Mastering, coincidently located in our building. While the album was being finished, Tony came up with the idea. Soon after, Roland got involved and the project was on its way. Originally, the paint was going to be very straight forward. 8 of the MV-8800 machines were going to be done in various colors, each with one of the 8 Diagram signs on it. However, once RZA explained to me what the signs meant, I suggested painting the face to represent the meaning of each sign. There were a set of eight machines to represent the eight diagrams. To answer your other question, we’ve never approached any artists to customize their machines. How long is the turn around once my unit and artwork have been submitted?

It really depends on what it is and what needs to be done, but generally two to three weeks.

Aside from your expertise with your main pieces, is it possible to submit jobs for lesser known units as a personal request? We’ll customize any piece of gear

as long as the customer understands that the costs involved with the work remains the same regardless of the value of the gear. Could you share a story about any particular job that was very difficult or just unusual?

Yes, that would have to be Mel-Man’s football MPC 3000. The face needed to look exactly like the grass of a football playing field with different color lights flashing when MelMan entered Play or Record mode. Being a Steelers fan, Mel-Man wanted the Steelers helmet featured, but also asked for all of the other team’s helmets to be on the machine. Mel-Man wanted the NFL logo to read “MFL”. We got the face of the machine to look like real grass, but when we tried to print the football lines and numbers, it reacted with the paint and we had to do it all over again. I came up with a whole new process which later allowed us to get even more creative with the designs. In closing is there anything else you can think of to add or tell us about Forat’s plans for the future?

I listen to customer’s needs and study every new machine released. I always try to think of ways to improve the sound and aesthetics of both new and older gear. On a personal note, I’ve amassed a large collection of vintage synthesizers and drum machines and have plan on using them on my own music. Thank you for sitting down with Producer’s Edge Magazine. http://WWW.FORAT.com

DJ Premier HeadQCourterz Studios in New York Words by Will Loiseau Will Loiseau: Please tell us about the new label. DJ Premier: It’s called Year Round Records. I started it in 2004. There are a few DJs that still want to spin Vinyl

so we’re here to keep those elements alive. It’s going to a website too. That will be very unique cause I’ve always been on top of clothes. I would wear t-shirts and people would always ask “Where can I get one of those?” I made this [points to his shirt] six years ago and heads want to rock them. So, I’ll be remaking the line. Will Loiseau: music?

And

the

I’m making sure everything I release this year is also on Vinyl. It goes back to the Jamaican culture with the dub plates. I’ve been to the factory and seen the pressing plant. It’s very real to me. How did the Lady of Rage collaboration come together? She is still one of the most underrated emcees…

DJ Premier: That came from us just being good friends. I still remember the day she came to me and said she just got signed to Death Row Records. I said “Really?” She was doing security out in LA at the time; you know the yellow jacket with ‘security’ up on the back in the black letters. Ra will still beat your ass up. Me and her used to wrestle. She’s like a tom-boy, but such a woman and ladylike. We have a good relationship and we’re just that close. We’ve both seen our share of ups and downs- the whole Death Row thing and her not really getting her time to shine. I always wanted to do whatever I could to show her appreciation. We had filmed a video for the DJ Premier verse Pete Rock and she sounded just like ‘the Afro Puffs Emcee’. She still has it so I told her I wanted to supervise a project she was on. So what’s different about your approach as a label?

I’m dropping everything as singles and that’s not the norm. You know labels when they dip their hands into the Hip Hop grab bag. They want to grab a single and work it, work it, work it - all too prep for the album. Once the radio record drops, the album comes a couple of weeks later. They work the third single and unless it went platinum, they start the budget for the next album. Every label does the same thing. From my 23 years as a professional, as an independent [label] we can make our own map. I can pull out a blank sheet of paper and say ‘this is the road we are going to pave’. They will watch us and ask ‘What are those guys doing?’ They’ll be rolling down the road in a brand new Benz or Lamborghini and Ill pull up along side them in a dump truck. They’ll ask “Don’t We know you?” Yep,

“When

Prince wore the panties and the boots, we didn’t think it was strange. He was weird, but we approved of what he was doing because he was doing him. That’s what I did when I entered the hip hop game. I starting using Jazz Samples and no one was doing that. I thought putting hard beats behind these. It’s like Rakim said “~Converted to a Hip Hop form..” and everyone started using Jazz samples. When that got out of hand, I started using anything just to create a style that shows Hip Hop can translate any language and bring it into our world.” because we have the same substance as they do. That’s what these albums will be. And you’ll have videos to support these singles?

Yes. New York Giants…The NYGz were signed to GURU first and later came to me. They used to be called Operation Ratification. It’s all the same since it’s the Gangstarr foundation. They were just friends of mine from the block. Their album is coming and I produced it, it’s called Hustlers Union. You can see the layout on the board. That’s how me and Guru used to do our records. We’d put titles on the board and I’d create tracks to match the titles. “I think I’m going to work on #9 today’. Going in with a blank canvass I’ve got an artist named [Nick] Javas from Jersey. . He’s more what I would call my star. He’s a mainstream artist that’s Italian. The stuff he didn’t know about the history of Hip Hop, I put him on to. Just Ice, Mantronix, T La Rock, the whole Wild Style [1983 movie] and he comes back reciting [lines]…not because he has to, but because he felt it. I gave him the proper tools that built me. I left him room to grow with the music that was around before his time. I told him if he’s going to work with me, you have to know the hardcore stuff. It’s wonderful to be able to pass it along and have him appreciate it. Khaleel…he’s a Texas artist and I always wanted one seeing that’s my home town. We were on a label called 24 Hundred records. They hired me to do a song by Lord Finesse and Showbiz, all three songs came out bangin and the label folded. They wanted me to find him a situation and get him in the industry so I decided to work with him and see how it went, if it didn’t work out, I’d move on. So we created a song that was never released in December of 2002 and it sounds just as good now. His single sounds relevant now. We just shot the video down in Texas. My brother-in-law customizes car and he always wanted us to use his vehicles in a video and we finally did. That’s what Khaleel’s driving and that’s going back to the roots of how I roll. Bun B came

by and hopped in a truck too. I’m excited about the whole thing. It’s a body of work where, if you like what I do, you’ll enjoy this.

You’re doing something that I like. You’re a name producer going back and working with lesser known artists and putting them on. That’s good for the culture.

That’s big for me. I’m already recognized so I’m good. My track record speaks for itself. The audience that already loves what I do is always asking ‘When are you going to drop something? Can I find it in iTunes?’ People don’t dig anymore and go to record stores. FYE is about to shutdown Best Buy, Walmart and Target… those are about to be the only spots. No more underground spots…Big City Records, A One or Labs those places started the concept of beats. It’s about reading those credits on the records. You need that. I just did scratches on a Kanye record and when the sheet came over they had my name spelled wrong. Every one had an E on the end. If someone was looking at my record…[that wouldn’t have happened-GA] As an artist who is also a DJ, whose music, from what producer, do you enjoy spinning live?

Good question. I like to hear other people’s stuff. It makes me want to go back to the lab and make songs. I like listening to Mobb Deep records, I like mixing breaks. I like playing new stuff and letting people hear it, bumping it so they can feel it. I give it to the industry so they can get up on it. I need to hear what’s on the radio and still keep up. It’s important to stay on top and following every aspect of whatever you are into. I’m into the music business so I need to hear the newest rock, Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers to Little Brother. I understand those worlds too. I have a radio show every Friday night on SiriusXM Satellite radio. On 44 Hip Hop Nation I have a show called Live from HeadQCourterz. It’s nothing but bangers that people might not know of. Most of the big shows can’t play this stuff because it’s

not on their play lists. We’re the taste makers. We decide where music is going. It’s still about the DJs first.

So I’m sticking with the old equipment. I always buy used ones and have several back ups in the storage room so I am good to go.

With so much success in Hip hop, do you think you’ll ever branch out into other genres?

Drew Spence: What made you transition from the SP to the MPC?

Yeah, I would love to work with U2. Christina Aguilera was about dealing with a pop star and I got a Grammy for her single [“Aint No Other Man”]. I got one for D’Angelo [Voodoo]. It works because I’m 44, I grew up in the Punk Rock era. I went and saw Devo before they were poppin. Van Halen AC/DC, this was all in high school. I saved all those t-shirts to show that. Of course I can’t fit those shirts anymore [Laughter erupts]. When it comes to Prince, I was there for everything. I saw the Controversy Tour, 1999 Tour. By the time Purple Rain was poppin and everyone loved him it was like “Oh yeah, you’re coming now”. When Prince wore the panties and the boots, we didn’t think it was strange. He was weird, but we approved of what he was doing because he was doing him. That’s what I did when I entered the hip hop game. I starting using Jazz Samples and no one was doing that. I thought putting hard beats behind these. It’s like Rakim said “~Converted to a Hip Hop form..” and everyone started using Jazz samples. When that got out of hand, I started using anything just to create a style that shows Hip Hop can translate any language and bring it into our world. The proof is there when I do live shows, people are coming up to me and saying Please sign this. I have this record and that record. I mean, they hardly speak English. I do extensive tours. Thousands of people coming to my shows. I love the energy of performance. The money is good, but I have to get back home to finish my work. You have to see the results of your work in front of the people. After all these years, that’s when you know whether you need to find something else to do. Age and the age difference has nothing to do with it. You can’t outgrow a culture. I’m deep-rotted in everything. I B-boy, I draw [Graph-GA] I rap, if I wanted to, but I’ll stick to DJing. What are you using now? Are you getting into the whole software thing?

That old beat up machine is what I use. I’m still on the MPC 60. I remember Red [Alert] came in here and was like “You’re still using that?!” Cause he knows about the [AKAI] S950 and the [Emu] Proteus and all the old analogue gear. A lot of people use programs now and that’s fine. They have Logic and Fruity Loops to make beats. 9th Wonder uses Fruity Loops. You would never know because it’s the mind married to the machine. I can use anything. These keys here [picks up house keys and jingles them rhythmically] I can use this and get a beat out of that. So it’s really up to the producer. I stay limited. You have infinite sample time today. You can sample the whole record. I like having a limit because it makes me think out of the pocket and I have to be more creative. How can I lay it down with only one shot?

Actually, it was my engineer. I was on the SP12, not the 1200, with the big, giant floppies, like the ones the size of a 10-inch record. Then the SP1200 came out with the “Words I Manifest”. I learned about that in Brooklyn at Stetsa Sounds Studios. That’s King of Chill [in the next room doing a session] who went to high school with Lyte’s DJ, he taught me the S950, but when I started working at D&D [Studios] in 1992 and [Producer and Rapper Lord] Finesse was working on Return of the Funky Man and I came in to do the cutz. I played the cassette mix from Eddie [engineer] in my [Mazda] MPV. I was rockin the illest system in New York. Everything was so level and perfect; I called back and said I wanted that engineer. He quit and became a freelance engineer. He’s the one who said “I see how you’re doing your beats and you should start using the MPC instead. It’s like a tape machine with individual tracks. You can go up to hundreds of tracks, mute and solo and all kinds of stuff”. It was the way I’ve always wanted to work, but I couldn’t set that up with an SP1200. When he loaned me his [the Roger Linn MPC], I took it home. He was on the 3000 and didn’t use it anymore. Once I learned that method it was the way I liked to program and do it before I go to tape. I’ve just been stuck on that way and can’t break away from it. AKAI gave me two [MPC]2500s, fully blown out with all the features [maxed], DVDs… everything. I have the box right there. There’s the MPC500 still in the box. Showbiz’s older son has one of those down pat. I just told him the other night “Teach me how to work that.” With batteries? They won’t last as long as I’ll need them to cause I be on for a long time [laughter]. 2011. I’m going to expand this year. Everyone is betting that I won’t because I’m so set in my ways.

MPC 5000? I’m going to look into it, but I’m never going to get rid of that [points to MPC60]. The tradition of my sound- everyone wants that. I’m willing to experiment with the new stuff. It’s always going to be rugged and raw, Boom Bap music. Hard kicks and snares, samples, scratching and some cuts. I’m just doing what I was raised on. Anyone from my era is not surprised when I do scratches. Why did you not become an ASR-10 guy?

I’m a keyboard guy, but that method...I’m like where are the pads at? [Laughter]. Even though I’ve watched Alchemist and Kanye bang it out. And they’ll kick it and talk about that same button that sticks… Haha. Rza… they work it like nothing, but that 60 over there, no one

the wave of the future? It’s cheating to DJs who don’t own any vinyl. You take their computer away and they are done. Most of these guys can’t rock a party without their computer. Almost every record you hear is a record [I own]. Of course, the newer stuff is digital. I just feel like Serato is earned. You should qualify for it like a credit check. [In a stiff banker voice] “So you want Serato?” “Yeah” “And you DJ huh? How long have you been DJing for?”

“About a Year…” “How many records do you own?” “Not… too…many…” “Outta here!” You aint ready for this.

is twisting that shit as fast as me. I’m Speed Racer on that thing. Really? Yes, sir. I love AKAI equipment.

Me, I’ve been carrying records. Dropping crates on my foot, bruising my legs. 8, 9 crates cause you want every record that people want to hear. [Serato] That’s a reward for us. It took me a long time to fight it and be a part of it. I understand what their drive is to preserve turntablism. The cutting and scratching. It made so many DJs that don’t deserve to be behind the wheels. You got Lindsay Lohan saying she’s one. You hear that record come in and off. No routines. They can’t keep it on beat. They created that monster for DJs like myself and all the real DJs, it’s the biggest blessing we could ever get. With thousands of records, I’m even more of a problem.

Drew Spence: Motif ES sitting over here...

Drew Spence: Anything else you want to add.

Yep, cause I don’t have room for keyboards in here. This is the pre-production room. “DWICK” was the first record I did here. I liked the sound here. It was tighter in here so I ended up staying.

Year Round Records. 2011. Get used to us. Pete Rock verse Premier. KRS-One and Premier; The Return of The Boom Bip. Freddie Foxxx, AKA Bumpy Knuckles his new album The Collection. Lady of Rage. Heather B. I’m on the new Game Album. Me and Busta Rhymes.

One of our contributors, Saga Legin did some mastering for the Royce album. How did that work out and what do you look for in a Mastering Agent. Me and Saga met because I seen so many artists coming into the building and I’m like where the hell are all these guys going? They were like Saga’s mastering so I went up there and checked out his set up. I use Tony over at Master Disc, we have a good relationship. He knows how to shape the sound of my stuff.. .if you watch him while he’s mastering and he’s dancing and stuff. [Imitates a spin move]. Talking to himself. What can I do...? Rolling off 1K over here. Oh man, I love this beat. It’s cool because he’s really into his job to make the music glow more. We’ve been together for so long. He’s bombarded now, doing independents and overwhelmed with work. So me and Saga kicked it and we’ll see how it turns out. I’m a sound guy too.

The very picky Busta Rhymes?

In closing, as a DJ what do you think about Serato [Scratch Live] and [NI] Traktor [Scratch]? Is it cheating or

Tsk. I’m on my 12th beat and he’s turned them all down. I’ve made them on the spot for him. Turned down a track? He can do that. Certain people can’t do that, he can. His ground work and history is very lengthy. I’d rather make him happy - even if it’s aggravating to me. I know if he’s amped like that, he’s going to destroy it. I like the challenge. Anything we didn’t use, it’s still a banger. I’m always going to turn it into something good. I’ve seen Pete Rock in the studio record artists over a placeholder track and take the Acapella and build the track around the vocal. Do you ever work that way? Do you ever take the verse and decide that’s how I want to approach a single?

I have different processes. Most times I always start with the drums. Period. It’s bounce that I have- where it skips along with the rhyme flow. If I have to build a whole beat around an a capella, it’s still drums first. Samples, I go

sample hunting first which is what I used to do in the 90s and then I would put the beat around it. Lately I’ve been at that again so it’s weird that a lot of my old method has come back. So I’m taking advantage of my instincts and how I feel. What are your thoughts on Easy Moe Bee?

Man, Easy Moe Bee is the wackest producer I know [Laughter erupts]. Damn. He’s like a cool Barry White muthafuka. He’s got that deep voice. [Does low voice imitation] He’s just so funky and he did Ready to Die, “Flava in Your Ear” for Craig [Mack], Rap is fundamental. Mega hits. He a unique and deep brother. You have to get underwater, way below sea level to talk to him. You better make sure you know your stuff to deal with him. Amazing dude. I love Moe Bee. Will Loiseau thanks DJ Premier for inviting Producer’s Edge into HeadQCourterz Studios.