DOWNLOAD: DJ PREMIER “Live from HeadQcourterz” March 12th, 2010
March 14, 2010
Click the link below to go to Premier’s official blog and download both hours of the show…
iStandard Beat Battle NYC March 15th and 16th 2010
March 12, 2010
Yours truly will be judging on Tuesday with Dame Grease, Sean C & LV. If you’re in NYC (or within an hours drive) come through!
VIDEO: 9th Wonder On Making “Shining”
March 10, 2010
When I grow up I wanna be like Decatur Dan…
9th Wonder Speaks on Shining from Decatur Dan on Vimeo.
(spotted @ CrateKings)
Ask The Pro #2 “Muddy Waters”
March 8, 2010
Even the best producers need help and with the constant changes and updates to music production software and hardware the most dedicated novice can become frustrated. In Nodfactor.com’s continued dedication to developing and showcasing the best production talent we have resurrected ASK THE PRO Question and Answer series previously published in Scratch magazine. One of the original contributing engineers, Ariel Borujow, will be answering your technical questions with speed and accuracy. So send them over to INFO@NODFACTOR.COM with the subject “Ask The Pro” and keep checking back to Nodfactor.com for Ariel’s answers.
How the heck do I put sub bass in a track without getting that “muddy” sound?
There are some variables that help determine how the sub will get mixed. The one being most important is the sounds that you choose in the production phase of the song. I can’t stress this enough. It all starts off with the right sounds and arrangement. Plenty of times i get songs that have so much going on in the low frequency range that I suggest to the producer to cut certain things out depending on the working relationship we have. For instance if there are 2 types of 808 then a bass that covers the same frequency range, it would be really hard to distinguish what is going on in the low end. Other times if the kick drum occupies the same frequencies as the sub I would then use a high pass filter on the kick and get rid of the sub frequencies (maybe 60 Hz and below). Also the right amount of compression helps tame the low end tremendously. I don’t usually use too much compression on my mixes but even if I add anywhere from 2:1-4:1 ratio, medium to slow attack and slow release it helps control the peaks without over compressing therefore the low end “breathes” more.
How can I tell if my vocals/mix is “in phase?
I have to assume that what you are talking about is background vocals because that is the one thing that people have trouble with when it comes to phasing. The easiest way to check this is to reference your mix in mono. What you will hear once you do that is your vocals will cancel out which mean you will not hear them. Sometimes this happens because you might be over using an imaging plug in such as the S1. The wider you go on the imaging with the plug in, you will notice this more. When i mix, and i use the imager what i do is listen in mono as frequently as possible. Mixes as a whole occupy and 3 dimensional field of hearing. Be very concious about your panning and keeping things within that dimension. As long as you keep all this into consideration, you should have no problem with phasing. Its takes time to learn but the more practice and mixes you accomplish, the more apparent all this becomes.
Video: Statik Selektah Comments on Guru Situation
March 5, 2010
Stat comments on the whole situation with Guru and Solar.
“I don’t know personally why he’s sick and why he’s in the hospital. Me and Guru go back to 2001. He came to my birthday party… I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve DJ’d for him a couple of times. I’ve seen… Everybody’s talking about the dude Solar, I’ve met him a bunch of times and he’s in his own world, he’s got his own agenda… It’s obvious. I’m not even being insulting, when you talk to him he’s on his own agenda, he’s in his own planet, he can be real disrespectful. I think the way he’s handling this whole situation, at least the details that the public have – and that he’s publically said – is real disrespectful. I’m sure it’s even extremely more disrespectful if I really knew what was going on.”
Last night on his XM Satellite show Statik went in on Solar playing Gang Starr’s “Take It Personal” and said “Check the lyrics…Solar…take it personal!”
VIDEO: Oddisee Interviews With The Stand
March 3, 2010
Oddisee, one third of Diamond District, sits down for an interview with The Stand. Traveling Man, Oddisee’s latest album, is now available digitally.
He talks about how he got his name, the diamond district project and the influence of the North East on the DMV sound. Don’t miss his interview with Nodfactor.com HERE.
DOWNLOAD: Closed Sessions Vol. 1
March 2, 2010
The Closed Sessions EP Vol. 1 contains 14 tracks, and 9 original songs, all created at SoundScape Recordings in Chicago, IL. The songs were created under a simple idea, take talented artists, put them in a studio with other talented artists and producers, give them access to high quality production, and just get out of their way as they do what they do: create great music
That’s exactly what DJ RTC and RubyHornet.com have done on The Closed Sessions EP Vo1. 1 featuring music and videos from some of Hip Hop’s most talented artists such as Curren$y, Bun B, Tanya Morgan, Kidz In The Hall, GLC, Chip Tha Ripper, Amanda Diva, Emilio Rojas, Big Pooh, and more.
The free EP includes 9 original songs as well as 5 interludes, liner notes containing the story behind each track as well as individual artwork for each song, and links to each Closed Sessions video giving fans a look at the recording process.
VIDEO: Joell Ortiz & DJ Premier On The Making Of “Project Boy”
March 2, 2010
Joell Ortiz backstage at the Highline Ballroom during the album release party for Stimulus Package and DJ Premier in studio b during the filming of Opportunity Knocks….they speak about Project Boy and how the session went down…how the music lyrics and creativity came about….
Ortiz’ second album Free Agent will be in stores this spring.
DJ Wonder Presents “Get Well Soon” The Guru Respect Mix
March 2, 2010
From TeamYeeTV via UpNorthTrips
“..Guru, get well soon. Here is my mix dedicated to Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal, done live on The Morning After With Angela Yee today…”
1. Dwyck – Gang Starr
2. Doe In Advance (Unreleased) – Gang Starr
3. The ? Remainz – Gang Starr
4. Full Clip – Gang Starr
5. I’m The Man – Gang Starr/Lil Dap’/Jeru The Damaja
6. Step In The Arena – Gang Starr
7. Soliloquy Of Chaos – Gang Starr
8. Just To Get a Rep – Gang Starr
9. Trust Me – Guru/N’Dea Davenport
10. No Time to Play – Guru/N’Dea Davenport
11. Hustlin Daze – Guru/Donnell Jones
12. Patti Dooke – De La Soul/Guru
13. Borough Check – Digable Planets/Guru
14. B.Y.S – Gang Starr
15. Mass Appeal – Gang Starr
16. Fed Up (remix) – House of Pain/Guru
17. Speak Ya Clout – Gang Starr
18. What I’m Here 4 – Gang Starr
19. A Little Spice (Gang Starr Mix) – Loose Ends
20. 1/2 &1/2 – Gang Starr/M.O.P.
21. Royalty – Gang Starr/K-Ci & Jojo
22. You Know My Steez – Gang Starr
23. All 4 The Ca$h – Gang Starr
24. Moment of Truth – Gang Starr
Chris Henderson:The Anatomy Of A Grammy
February 26, 2010
If you’ve ever sat in your room staring at your MPC or computer monitor waiting for inspiration and contemplated just tossing it out the window to get a “regular” job this story is for you. And If you’re confident in your sound, and have a hard drive full of heat ready to unleash on the world and want some insight into how the BUSINESS of beats really works, this story is for you…
Imagine that you’re a traditional musician and you take the first beat you make with soft synths, shop it to writers, get mixed results, get it in a session, have the beat slept on, add lyrics from some demo tapes in your stash, shop it some more and then wait…and wait…only to have even more cooks come into the kitchen adding words…then you win a Grammy for your work.
That is the quick and ugly story behind Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” produced by Chris “Deep” Henderson. The Hampton University graduate started out majoring in Physics and had his career plans derailed by his first beat.
Interview By Jerry L. Barrow
“When I first got into things I was writing and producing the entire song. But as time went on I saw that my network wasn’t growing with each placement. …” -Chris Henderson
Nodfactor.com: How does a Physics student at Hampton get involved in making music?
Chris Henderson: I guess it was always in me but it’s like there were clues there looking back. I used to fill up water glasses and play them. But they never took that as musical. I wasn’t even drawn to the piano until I saw Purple Rain. I always assumed people who played piano had lessons. But when I saw that scene of him playing the tape of the girl’s song and then played it on piano I turned to my brother and asked “what’s that?” and he said it’s called playing by ear. Some people can just listen to music and just play it. I started trying it and I was actually pretty good at it.
I treated [music] as a hobby, not a career option. It wasn’t until I got to school when everything got serious. Every freshman there seemed like they had it figured out. For me I was just going to the 13th grade. I didn’t have a plan. I was just someone who could test well. I had a class in first
semester, we had electives, and my big elective was this thing called Audio Engineering. In that project, it was us being engineers learning the studio and at the end of the project we had to record and engineer a song. We weren’t required to produce it but I saw it as an opportunity to lay my first song down. I don’t remember what grade I got but it definitely broke me in. I realized I could make a song top to bottom.
Did you graduate with the degree in Physics?
No, I switched to business management. I knew that [physics] was a wasted of time. I knew I was a creative person. I could pretty much do the work but I needed to be creative in something. I did consider music as a major but after trying that for a semester that wasn’t the move either. Musically educated people kind of scared me because they didn’t have imaginations. Because they are trained in the way things are supposed to blend together it almost kills their imaginative side. Those cats that were the deepest in music didn’t impress me with their original work. I didn’t want to be those guys. So when I switched to business I saw it as support for the music I wanted to pursue. I wanted to be smart about my business if I was going to be creative.
I started a production company with some friends and we were running a business in college. We had a studio and threw parties. We sold T-shirts. We were Hung-Lo productions. It was a play on H.U. This was from about 94 to 99.
When did the meeting with Teddy Riley Happen?
It happened at celebrity basketball game. He had a Hampton Celebrity Basketball game. Teddy heard one of my songs back stage and was boppin his head. One of my friends caught him listening and hit him with the sales pitch. Teddy started calling me to the studio for different things. Black Street had just finished one of their albums so they weren’t on heavy production. They were working more on the side acts for Teddy’s label. That’s where most of my work went. I did a remix for “Before I Let You Go” that was picked, but not credited. I felt that I was an asset there and I was working on the inside projects, but none of them saw the light of day.
Well, Jamiex Foxx’s “Blame It” definitely saw the light of day. What was
your exact involvement in it’s creation?
I did the track, wrote both verses. I pretty much wrote the entire melody except for T-Pain’s part. Lyrically I did the verses, melodically I did verses and hook and produced the whole track.
“I’d start a song on soft synths but then I’d have to hit tambourines into the mic and throw some extra keys on it because I’m so used to having those assets available.”
When I first got into things I was writing and producing the entire song. But as time went on I saw that my network wasn’t growing with each placement. I felt like my growth was slowed so I made an effort to promote myself in Atlanta as a writer. So I received tracks to write to and shoot out to people. When I started doing tracks again I sent out tracks to the writers, so I became two entities. I was cross-promoting.
Somewhere in ‘07 I decided that I’m going to tag my tracks with the “deep” thing. “Blame It” was one of the first tracks I did when I got back on my production with a set of new equipment and went through a relearning process.
Blame it was my first experiment with the soft synths. Even then I wasn’t satisfied because the main synth that’s in there, I couldn’t find that in a software. I had to pull out the keyboard and created the patch by manipulating Pro Tools. I also couldn’t find the right vocal ethereal sound so I ended up singing it myself and adding effects. So I mix the two. What’s good about the soft synths is that there are so many sounds in one package, but coming from the world where we’d tweak stuff. I’d start a song on soft synths but then I’d have to hit tambourines into the mic and throw some extra keys on it because I’m so used to having those assets available.
So I sent it out to writers and didn’t like what I was getting back. I had a melody but I didn’t have a concept to bring it to its potential.
I finished the track in ‘07 and I was in a writing session with Trey Songz for that track. The way Song Book is, they really try to work for their piece of the record. I saw where the song was going and tried to steer it back to that stutter in the synth track but they were ignoring me. What popped in my mind was a line I heard in someone’s rap demo. That’s why one of the co-writers on that song is the guy that provided that hook.
Oh Really?
Weeks earlier I was playing someone’s demo and it had a different tempo and feel, but it said “blame it on the goose, got you feeling loose, blame it on patron, got you in the zone, blame it on the aaa-aa‹a-a alcohol.” It was a different cadence but when I said out loud “a-a-a-a alcohol” I sang the whole thing out and said we’ll screw it right there. And they must have been thinking like “no, leave it alone. You can’t get publishing on this.”
I was being very politically correct and let them keep working on it. They went to eat and didn’t return to the song. I waited about four days and called Trey’s manager and asked them if they ever finished the song and he hit me with the “aah, you know sometimes they don’t get the vibe. It is what it is.”
So I called the rapper kid and told him that I have a great idea for one of them songs you sent and if I could use the words from your hook and put it in this song I think it can really be big. He came and heard it and he liked it. But I guess he got writers block that day.
When I made up the first verse I was just singing into the mic, trying to get him started. That’s why it starts out so slow, with the pauses. I was throwing words out just to get him started. I later found out that another writer, this guy’s friend actually wrote that hook, but luckily I found out about him in time to get him on board as well.
I knew it was a hot idea and had my co-writer on board so I started to shop it with just the first verse to see if we could bait R.Kelly, Trey Songz or even a rapper. The song traveled with just the first verse and the hook. Young Joc had it, R.Kelly had it, but no one was committing. Jamie had the earliest release date so he had to commit sooner. Because it was traveling more writers were being added. There was another team that wrote the vamp “Poppin bottles with the Henny in the cup.” That was somebody else and T-Pain was added just before the mix because they were trying to figure out who to feature. For a while it was between Kanye, Lil and T-pain. Secondly they considered T-Pain and Lil Wayne. I think when T-Pain heard it he was like “I’ll do it but you can’t put nobody else on it.” It was the best choice to me. Jamie doing an Autotune song with T-Pain as a cosigner [made it ok]. But it did give the perception that T-Pain did the record.
Trey Songz must have been chomping at the bit for a song after that. Is that how “Be Where You Are” came about?
You know the rules with that one. People knew he’d missed out with “Blame It” the label put a little bit of pressure to go in with me. I saw it as a pop record with like Leona Lewis. Trey took notice of it and they did something to it. When I heard it it was semi done and they were like “Shopit.” I gotta couple of acts interested and then Trey was like “naw, we want it.”
Them pulling the trigger on the record was so late in the game that I was riding around with the demo for a minute. Then they come to me on a Thursday night saying we need to mix this record by Monday. So that Friday I went in and got a guitarist and added background vocals, layers. I built all that, the claps and guitar solo right before it was mixed. I like how it came out. I’m happy with my ‘09 because each record stood alone.
What’s it like being in Trey and R. Kelly’s camps and reading stories about them going at each other in the press?
It’s almost like you have money on both fighters. It wasn’t really affecting me. First of all it was really Trey going at R.Kelly. R. Kelly didn’t really defend himself. They are in different weight classes. Even if a young woman these days would say Trey is that sexy singing dude like R. Kelly was, but that was just one layer of R.Kelly that Trey is competing with. Kelly owned a couple of eras of music. He had his production eras where the radio was just saturated with his writing and production. Trey can’t compete with that on that level. Writing and producing for Celine Dione?
It’s like “C’mon Son…”
It’s good press for Trey to come at R.Kelly because they’re so not in the same weight class. It’s funny. If you look at R.Kelly as just a recording artist I see what you’re saying but it really wasn’t a good comparison for Trey.
When R.Kelly came out with the storytelling songs with Ron Isley that was significant because Hip-Hop Hip-Hop was the only urban mainstream music one providing story lines at that time. It breathed life back into the art form. When he got with Jay-Z and did the rap signing things now most R&B singers do that style. Every R&B writer and producer owes a lot to R.Kelly.
