Hydrosonics-MP3

Name: MP3

Representing: Philadelphia, PA

Contact: MySpace

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Hydrosonics-Ken B “Kind of Blue”

Name: Ken B

Age: 27

Representing: Willingboro, New Jersey

Side hustle until first placement:
Audio/Visual Tech for the hotel, resort and conference center industry.

Contact: http://www.myspace.com/kenfocus

Key Tracks: “Black Magic” “Never Blue”

When did you first start producing and with what equipment?
While I was in high school I would piece together instrumentals onto cassettes by recording, then pausing at the end of a 4 or 8 bar break, rewinding the tape and recording the loop over and over again. I broke many play and rewind buttons back then. In 2002 I found a software program called Fruity Loops. A couple years after that, I attended an Audio Engineering school where I was introduced to Reason and thats what I’ve been using since.

How would you describe your sound?
Melodic, Cinematic, Vivid, Jazzy, Dream-like, Epic. I try to maintain the sound and feel of live instrumentation, but with that Hip-Hop groove.

Your “Blue Magic” remix was really good. How did you make it?Well, to be honest, the marriage of that acapella and my beat was kind of random. I had already composed and arranged the music inside of Reason, when I noticed the tempos were similar. I made some adjustments on the beats tempo/BPM (beats per minute) to match up with the acapellas BPM. Then I synced up the vocals with the track and mixed them down together in Cool Edit. The track just so happened to be in key with the hook so it worked out. When your doing remixes, all you really need is the tempo/BPM and its like a kid having the keys to a candy shop. You can flip the song and give it a whole new vibe, with your own little signature. This remix, I felt, represents my sound to a pretty good degree, and I hope people that dig that mellowed out sound like it as much as I do. I had a lot of fun putting it together.

What was the last piece of equipment you acquired? are you more software, hardware or instruments?
An M-Audio Radium 49 Midi Keyboard. Being computer savvy, I would say I’m more software oriented. That being said, nothing beats a good, clean recording of a live instrument.

What mistakes have you made in recording that you’ve learned from?
The first mistake is that I didn’t backup a lot of my early work and a hard-drive crash wiped out two years of worth of work. So BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!

The other thing I’ve learned is that not everything has to be loud in the mix. I recently read an article, in which, a mastering engineer showed how running your sound through equipment that simply made it louder, squashed the stereo image and compromised the dynamics of a good mix. It’s a lesson I’m still learning as I try to sharpen my skills in mixing and mastering. Quality and Dynamics are becoming more important to me as I’ve grown.

What artist would you like to make a beat for the most and why?
It’s a tie between Pharaoh Monch, because of his energy and the way he animates his voice on a track, Black Thought, because of his substance, and Jay-Z, because his conversational tone fits well over my music. One.Be.Lo. is another artist that I would like to work with.

Apple Juice Kid Working With Camp Lo

Beat Battle Champion The Apple Juice Kid has taken his road show into the studio. The North Carolina based producer/drummer has formed a group with Camp-Lo’s Geechie Suede and has several co-productions in the works with Ski Beats. During a recent stop in NYC I caught up with the funky percussionist, who I profiled in the print version of Hydrosonics many years ago, and he shared his lessons on working with managers like Tony Perez being an up-and-coming producer in the industry.

Keep checking back to Nodfactor for a feature length interview with the Apple Juice Kid.

Hydrosonics: Guilty J

Name: Guilty J

Age:17

Repping:The United Kingdom

Contact: Myspace.com/GuiltyJ

Nodfactor: Your mixtape resume looks pretty nice. Which songs did you produce for Papoose, LOTUG, etc.?
Guilty J: I did some work on one of my boys DJ Flipcyide’s mixtapes which featured tracks from Papoose, LOTUG, Fat Joe etc. I don’t actually remember the name of the tape it was quite a long time ago, it was one of the first mixtapes i was involved with.
Nodfactor ok. I read that you got started in production with the help of a local DJ. Who was that and what equipment did he let you use?
Guilty J: Yeah that was actually my sister’s boyfriend who got me started with music, he does a lot of DJing in my hometown and also in cities like London and Cambridge. He got into making beats and gave me a copy of Reason to play around with and I got hooked. This was about 5 years ago.
Nodfactor: Interesting. so you were like 12?
Guilty J: Yeah 12 or 13, def got an early start. I was running studio sessions and sending out contracts by the time i was 15.
Nodfactor: What did you like about the Reason program that made you so good with it?
Guilty J: Well at the time i started i didn’t really know anything else existed, i didn’t know anything about music. So i just learned to work with Reason and became really comfortable with it. My set up has expanded and matured a lot over the years but i still use Reason a lot, it’s a beast. Although it has its limitations such as no audio recording and no VST support, it’s a great all-in-one machine and you can do a lot with it if you know what you’re doing.
Nodfactor: For real. What have you added to your set-up since then?
Guilty J: I’m a bit of a gear slut so i’ve been through a lot of equipment over the years(laughs). In my studio right now though i got a Roland MV-8000, an Akai S950, a Numark turntable, an Edirol midi controller, Adobe Audition 3.0 and then obviously Reason 4.0. I do a lot of recording as well so i got a Rode NT1A mic which i love, i run that through a Yamaha console which has great pre-amps for the price. And then i mix on a pair of Fostex monitors which i’ve had for a long time, i’m looking to upgrade soon. I think that covers everything.
Nodfactor: That is a nice set up. How did you get people to trust your production and mixing abilities at such a relatively young age?
Guilty J: That’s a good question. I’m just myself ya know, i’m serious about what i do and i guess people see and respect that. I also have a lot of confidence in what i do and the way i work so when people see me in the studio and they see i know what i’m doing, the age thing is irrelevant. And of course having a good end result always helps.
Nodfactor: Do you have you had any formal training with mixing and mastering?
Guilty J: I actually picked up most of what i know myself through reading books and websites and trial and error. I went to college to do Music Technology when i was 16 but i dropped out before i finished the course, the facilities were great but the things they were teaching i either already knew or didn’t apply to me, so i felt like i was wasting time being there when i could be out there grinding and getting my career started.
Nodfactor: Have you participated in any beat battles in the UK?
Guily J: I’ve actually never entered or even been to a beat battle. It’s something i would definetly wanna do in the future though. I’ve seen videos of these battles they have and it looks crazy, just a bunch of dudes havin fun with their music, that’s what it’s all about!
Nodfactor: Definitely. what are you working on these days? are you in the studio with anyone we know?
Guilty J: Right now my main focus is finishing up Arkatak’s album, he’s a pretty well known artist down in El Paso, TX. I’ve produced the whole thing, we got about 13 finished tracks ready to go, we’re just working on a couple more cuts to finish it off. The album is called “Easier Done Than Said” and we’ll have a release date soon. The tracks we’ve leaked so far have been well received so we’re really happy about that. I’m also working on shit for Big Lou’s new mixtape, my boy City Haze, an artist from Boston called DC, Sha Stimuli, Kool G Rap and a few others. Shit’s kinda hectic right now tryina keep on top of everything.
Nodfactor: Oh wow, Kool G Rap? How did you link up with him?
Guilty J: I hooked up with G through Domingo. Domingo’s cool peoples, not to mention a dope producer. Nothing is confirmed yet, i haven’t heard any of the songs back, but a placement with Kool G Rap would def be a huge milestone for me, i mean that guy is a legend.
Nodfactor: Domingo is definitely a friend of the site. How did you meet him?
Guilty J: Yeah i actually got in contact with Domingo by tryina holla at Rass Kass. I sent him some beats forgetting he was incarcerated and Domingo was holding down his business while he’s inside. We chopped it up for a minute and he told me to send some beats through for for G’s album.
Nodfactor: the stuff you did for the mixtapes, did you make beats for acapellas or did they record to your beats?
Guilty J:I’ve done both. I defintely prefer working with an artist and creating something together. But remixing can be fun too so if i have an opportunity to do that then i’m all over it, especially if i can improve on the original song.
Nodfactor: What is your favorite beat so far and how did u make it?
Guilty J: Wow that’s a tough question, I’ve never really thought about it. I think my favourite song i’ve produced is a track I’m working on right now with Big Lou. It’s pretty simple, I looped up a creepy sounding piano sample i found and added some hard drums and a bassline which make up the verses, then I brought in some synths and strings and brass for the hook and chopped up an old Jadakiss vocal. It’s not my most impressive beat by any means but it has something about it I like. Plus with Big Lou on it? It’s a wrap.

Hydrosonics: Base Jase

Name: Base Jase
Representing: Illinois
Contact: www.rapproduction.com

1) Your site is impressive. How long have you been selling your beats online?
I’ve had my music online since 98, but I didn’t officially have a store until 2006. That’s when Paypal made it easy to setup a site where I didn’t have to physically email tracks to clients. There are still a lot of clients who don’t have the net and want beat cd’s, but I refuse to give them out unless it’s someone that I’m really cool with. I’ve probably lost money by not giving out beat CD’s, but selling beats online is not where my main income is from, it’s from TV Licensing with MTV and Viacom. I would rather do that any day!

2) Sounds like interesting work. How did you get involved in that?

An intern was going through websites back in 2001 or so and ran across illynoise.com (my studio’s website) and I had an flash intro that was playing, they liked it wanted to use it on The Real World. After a few years it just started growing and they started playing more and more. Finally, the music supervisor at The Hills on MTV got me onto a license with the whole network, and I just put everything under my publishing company ILLYNOISE Music with BMI. Now I have some staff producers that I’m sending music out for also, and I’m always looking for new producers and more music!

3) You have established producers selling beats on Myspace on the cheap. Does that make your life harder?

No, it’s the mixtape producers that are making life hard selling (hot) tracks for 10 dollars! My experience with MySpace is that it’s not worth the time for trying to sell beats there. Youtube has brought me more business with beat making videos than MySpace. Having my own site where people focus on just my production and not thousands of other producers gives me a better chance of selling my brand and keeping loyal customers who come back. The difference is that I only sell exclusively and I don’t lease tracks, so when someone buys a track I immediately take it down. I tried Soundclick but I felt like I was trying to compete with a bunch of mixtape producers, selling downloads for 99 cents or whatever. I just wasn’t feelin that! Boon Doc is someone who learned from me in the studio, before he was into making beats, and he has done very nice with Soundclick and Youtube so I’m not putting that hustle down by any means!

4) You charge between $50 and $200 for a track. How do you determine what to price it?
I used to get 400-500 a track and maybe only sell a couple a month, but when I started selling more and having a bigger stockpile of tracks the law of supply and demand came into play, so I was able to sell them cheaper. It’s really a shame that I’m not getting more money, but I’m selling more and my name is getting out there. A 50 dollar track is usually something that I’ve had for a few months or something that hasn’t gotten enough attention. A 200 dollar beat is something that I think is hotter, newer and something that has more demand to it. I look at beats as a commodity and I don’t have an emotional tie to them. If I love a track I don’t put it up for sale.

5) Did you replay the sample on your “Taxi Driver” beat?

No it’s a sample, I always try to hide samples to a point. “Taxi driver” was originally something I sampled back in 92 for a group called PKO. They didn’t like it so I just held on to it, and remade the beat in 2004 on a ASR-10. I only played the bassline over the top of it and played the chopped up drums live on an MPC. I never play the main drums on separate takes, I always play the kicks, snares and hi hats in real time, unless it’s a dirty south beat. The other sounds are from an old Isaac Hayes sample.

6) When did you get started and with what equipment?
Back in 87 I got a Casio Sampler, with the yellow pads, then in 88 I got my first pro sampler, an Ensoniq Mirage. After that I just started building my equipment arsenal, mainly with samplers and drum machines. When I started getting really serious about production, I got a job at a label doing music for 100 dollars a week, and they had a EPS16+, and a SP12, so I just learned on the EPS16plus and sampled everything I could cause it had so much more sampling time. These days I’m using Logic 8 and all virtual instruments!

7) What is your record collection like? Do you DJ?

I used to DJ back in the day, but now I only have some Pioneer CDJ’s that I use in the studio when someone wants some scratches. My record collection is wack! It consists of mainly Sesame Street records, 45’s from my mom, and some jazz records that people gave me or I never took back to the library. Most of my collection is on CD’s and hard drive now.

8 ) Tell me about some of the independent artists you’re working with…

I’m working with Black Pegasus on a constant basis, we have a label partnership. His new album The Black Mexican is out and I’m doing the hook and singing a verse on a song called “Can’t Stay Around” we just put that song on Digiwaxx along with another song “Rep That” he did with Chino XL and Liquid Assassin. We’re also working on the Red Monkeys album (Black P and Liquid Assassin). I’ve also sold a track to Liquid Assassin, and he’s now on Strange Music. The Reminders, who consist of Samir and Aja, I’m just finishing up production on their album they have been working with One Be Lo.

Hydrosonics Alumnus Helps Joe Budden Ask “Who?”

Back in April we profiled a producer on the rise, Blastah Beatz, in our Hydrosonics column. At the time he’d already landed a mixtape track with Busta Rhymes and has now added Joe Buddens’ “Who” to his discography.

The 20 year old from Portugal samples Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” for the track.

“Basically, Joey wanted this particular sample flipped so he sent it to me. I guess he had the concept already laid out,” Blastah told Nodfactor.com. “He wanted the spirit of the original to remain so I kept it simple, just rearranging the samples and adding drums and percussion. I did my thing with it and sent it back, they leaked the first part a few days later. I hooked up with him through Brandon Hall, his A&R. They were looking for beats for Padded Room so I hit him up, they liked my stuff and asked me to be a part of the team.”

There are two parts out now, listen below. Joey is sayin some shit.

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Hydrosonics-Emmanuel Nyei

Name: Emmanuel Nyei
From: The Sudan
Contact: www.myspace.com/nuelmusic1

1) You were born in the Sudan, how has your culture influenced your creation of music?

My culture influenced my music creation because it was the first type of music i heard. At 6 or 7 years of age, our tribe, every now and then has tribal ceremonies or dances called “Nugara”, where they played bongo drums, ashikos, that can be heard from 3 miles away, and they danced all night long. So I would go home and make my own bongos and ashikos, from animal skin, and try to play that same rhythm.

2)In your profile you say “I learned so much, as far as mixing, mastering, track arrangments to name a few.” What exactly have you learned? Can you provide examples?

Well, when I first started I didnt know much, nothing at all. I didn’t know what mixing, mastering, or anything like that. I just looped many sounds together, played and recorded them, period. But then when I go back to listen and compare my tracks to those of the professionals, I’m like “damn, something doesn’t sound right”. Thats when I learned that tracks have to be broken down, correctly arranged, and mixed properly in order to give a whole “feel” to it.

3) So many people pick up Fruity Loops and just go in. Did you ever stop to read the manuals?

Honestly, I was just so eager to create something that reading the manuals never crossed my mind. I’m more of a “hands-on” learner. I just picked up and taught myself everything I know now. For those who read the manuals, it might be seen as an advantage but, those that didn’t read the manuals establish their own way of creating music.

4) Where do you get your sounds? Do you play any instruments?

The sounds in Fruity Loops was all I used at first. But as time went by, I started realizing that their sounds [don't] really sound professional. Thats when I bought sounds from ebay and downloaded some as well. I dont play any instruments, however, I’ll be attending music classes in college this fall. They teach piano and many other instruments, so maybe by next year I’ll be playing something.

5) Have you recorded any of your songs with artists?

I have worked with some local artists, and some upcoming artists in other states, no one who’s really out there.

Hydrosonics-Jack Nickelz

Name: Jack Nickelz

Representing: Hartford,CT

http://www.myspace.com/jacknickelz

1) I see in your setup that you have both an MPC and Fruity Loops. Which were you using first and do you use them together now?

I originally started to learn how to make beats on the MPC 2000XL. And to be honest…I tell everyone if you can get your hands on an MPC 2000XL go on and get that because it is pretty much one of the best machines in my mind to work with. Once I load a sample into it, I pretty much have free reign over it. There is no opening up this program and thing swinging everything over to that program. It’s a one stop spot. The only thing is, I don’t have the mobility with it. Now like all producers I had a rough spot where I was aching for dough and had to choose rent or the MPC. Hated to do it but the MPC had to go. Thus forcing me to get with the 9th Wonder backed FL Studio. It took me a little bit to get used to, but now I love using it. Right now I’m strictly FL Studio. And I’ve learned to do everything inside the program. I’ve remixed songs using just FL and created a lot of joints on it. I love the fact that if I load it on a laptop, I can pretty much make a beat any and everywhere.

2) You seem to have a lot of experience working with indie artists. How did you get started? I started in this game as a DJ, then I became an emcee. One of the main reasons I started making my own beats is so I didn’t have to wait on anyone for a track. Plus the fact that sometimes some producers don’t listen to artists and I didn’t want to always have to deal with that. As I started getting better with my craft, some of the guys that I spit with would come to me for a track. My boys Casino Dialz and Sinis were the first guys to trust in my sound enough to let me do their whole project. That lead to other people hearing my tracks and wanting to work with me. But to be honest things really started popping off when I started using MySpace more than normal. I would jump on MySpace and connect to indie artists and talk to them about working together. I’ve given away a lot of tracks in order to work with a lot of people. But hey…sometimes you have to do things like that. And now I can say I’ve worked with a variety of people such as Apathy from here in CT to Pestalance from Houston and Kehmak in Canada. I’ve come to realize that a lot of guys like working with me because of my unique beat style and sample selection and my ear for the music.

3) You replayed Bob James’ “Angela” (The theme to taxi) on “Latka Kravitz.” What did you play it on? Are you trained in keyboard or did u learn by ear?

The Latka Kravitz actually is the simple chopped up sample from the actually song. I never played it out. What I did was chop the piece I liked and placed them in the order that I would like to hear them song wise. A lot of people think I played it out because of how smoothly the chopped sample pieces connect. Of course the whole track was produced on the MPC for a beat CD project I did with my boy, MF Swayz. As far as being trained in keyboard, of course like everyone else I took classes in school…but I mostly play by ear.

4) Do you have a studio where you record? If so how did you put it together?

Right now I’ve started to get things set where I can record in my own crib. But I’ve recorded in various studios from Jaxsn Music, Studio 26, The Halfway House, etc. As for what I’m putting together in my crib, the pieces I have now are my lovely hand built PC running FL Studio, Adobe Audition and ACID Pro 6. I plan on getting my M-Audio interface so I can move up to Pro Tools or rock with Cubase.

5) Do you have any up-coming projects? Lord do I!! Right now I just finished remixing joints from Blak Philly.

I just finished doing a joint for Apathy as I mentioned before. I have projects from guys in my crew like Casino Dialz, Myk Fevah & Kinkade Tha Bully. I’m currently doing joints for Sinis, Original Soul, Pestalance, ROCKOLEONE, A Rock band named Rotary and others. And I’m really looking forward to hooking up with my old partners, The Forgotten Soulz, Doc Vaporz and Jimmy Fontaine on our upcoming joint. And as always, I’m always looking to work with more people.

To be considered for Hydrosonics send an MP3 or link to a song (imeem or Myspace is fine) to hydrosonics@nodfactor.com. Registered users will get preference in response.

Hydrosonics, Origimoz: “Cool Like Dat”

Name: Origimoz
Age: 19
Repping: UK, Mozambique
Key Track: “Freedom of Speech”
Contact: Myspace

You were born in China and raised in Mozambique. When were you exposed to hip-hop and which artists were you listening to?
I guess I was exposed to hip-hop ever since my older brother was. As far as I can remember it was along the mid-90s when he used to bump cassette tapes of everything from Camp Lo to The Roots to Jay-Z to Wu-Tang to The Lost Boyz and many, MANY more which ended up being the foundation for the love of the music. I was around 8 or 9 years old.

What does your name Origimoz mean?
Origimoz actually means ORIGINALLY from MOZAMBIQUE..that was because by the time I arrived in London a couple of good years ago, I didn’t want to keep my old name because it was quite chessy! So coming up with something that was original and that resembled where I’m from was the best possible option!

I like how you freaked that classic break in “Freedom of Speech.” Did you use the Fruity Sampler, the slicer or what? How did you manipulate it?
The idea for that beat was to make the drums match the sample because it was SO EPIC that normal drums just wouldn’t go because they would get stepped over. So what I did is that I sampled each part (Kick and Snare) individually on Cool Edit, layered the Kick with a 808 kick and a low kick (like a sub-kick)…and added some almost invisible clap with an opened hat on the snare, done my drum pattern and finally I added percussion and reverbed them all to sound as live as the sample was!

Do you have any formal music training? You mention using a midi keyboard, can you play? To be honest I can’t play ANY instruments to save my life! But again, it all depends on the ear that the person has to try and achieve the desired sound. The MIDI keyboard is still very new to me because I STILL draw notes on the piano roll using a mouse! So with time maybe I will try and learn how to professionally play because it helps a WHOLE lot!

“Flying High” has the most plays on your Myspace page, how did you make it? “Flying High” came about when I was listening to a Blaxploitation soundtrack (which I won’t mention for security reasons!) looking for something that could immediately catch an emotion…that came about…I sampled it, added, drums, percussion, bass and the whole lot and there it was!

Who are you working with or who would you like to hear on your beats?
I’m currently working with a few people over there in the U.S. naming LEX, Dave Notti and the whole Thrilla crew, Jae-Nice and local acts such as Mark Asari, Micky Negro, DUKO, NY and more…they are unsigned and got some serious music

What do you love/hate about Fruity Loops?
I’m not a very technical guy in Fruity Loops but I hate I guess I have to go with the interface of it. Sometimes when u are not on a good mood that interface doesn’t really help! But what I love on it is the simplicity of things. Is not a very hard program to understand and with a good examination process everything should be well clear!

HYDROSONICS:Nick Cicero “We Got The Jazz”

Name: Nick Cicero

Contact: Myspace

Do you play any instruments? Any formal music training?
Yeah I’ve been playing jazz trumpet since I was seven, and been in music allmy life. Right now I’m a Music major at Nazareth College in Rochester NY. There are so many great teachers here that have taught me so much, and I’ve tried to take that knowledge and parlay it into my music production.

I see you have some TV deals in the works. How is producing for TV
different than for songs?
Well TV calls upon knowledge in a variety of music genres. I’ve written simple
doo-wop jingles, and I’ve also done large cinematic numbers for independent films. The important thing in composing for video is that you need to realize that people aren’t going to be watching and listening for the music first. If you can put your pride on the backburner you can really have fun decorating the action.

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