Stadium Red Breathes New Life Into New York Hip-Hop Scene[VIDEO]
October 2, 2010
The Recording studio is dead, long live the recording studio.
There is a new renaissance brewing in Harlem. On the corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue the studio space originally opened by Jazz great Ornette Coleman is making a bold leap into the future.
On this night musicians, songwriters and producers are gathered at Stadium Red to celebrate the studio’s expansion and to formally welcome it’s newest occupant, Just Blaze.
“10 hours ago this was a construction war zone,” says a sleepy Just Blaze in the midst of a celebration at Stadium Red. “There was dust and tools and parts. These walls were all taken down so we could install the monitoring system. I’m running on 90 minutes of sleep.”
Over the years advances in recording technology have made large recording studios less necessary and cost effective causing many to close down. Late last year Just Blaze officially shut down the studio Roc-A-Fella Records made famous, Baseline, leaving a gaping hole in the creative community that gave birth to hip-hop. But looking to the future Just moved his entire operation uptown to Stadium Red.
“The interesting thing about closing Baseline…a lot of studios were closing because they couldn’t pay their rent and the changes in the music industry. We weren’t at that point but I had to look ahead,” says Just. “Where are we going to be in five or ten years? These answers you really don’t know so it came to a point where I said I might shut this down but what we do has to go on.”
As providence would have it his old friend and fellow engineer Ariel Borujow (Resident Ask The Pro Specialist) put Just in touch with Claude Zdanow, owner of Stadium Red who was looking to expand. The result is a fully expanded facility with some modern touches that still pays homage to the past.
Innovations like actual monitors in the recording booths instead of two-way glass will allow the studio to be completely networked.
“We don’t have to worry about sound bouncing off of glass while they’re recording their vocals. You can be in any room and have a direct line of site to the engineer. If you want to do drums in the live room and record them in my room, no problem.”
While Just was concerned that folks wouldn’t make the hike all the way uptown so they added personal touches like a full service kitchen with a chef to make it the ultimate “destination spot.”
“I just come and getaway from the girlfriend,” jokes Double-O. “This is what I call the Superman cave. It’s one of the best studios in the city. Plus everyone in Harlem wants to be an MC so you know it’ll stay open!”
While Double is having some fun there is a hope that what he says is true. Already artists like Donnie Goines have made the studio their home and Omen has been part of the Stadium Red in-house team for years.
“We’ll be making some more enhancements,” says Omen, who has just added the Native Instruments Maschine to his production arsenal. “So look out for an enhancement party soon.”
Watch Nodfactor.com’s exclusive video from the Stadium Red expansion party:
Ask The Pro #3 “Phase O”
April 13, 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 [email protected] with the subject “Ask The Pro” and keep checking back to Nodfactor.com for Ariel’s answers. You can also follow Ariel on Twitter @arielborujow and hit him with questions there as well!
Send your mixing and mastering questions to [email protected] with the subject line “Ask The Pro”
The Tweets Is Watching: B.I.G. Edition
March 10, 2010
So it started this during the early hours of March 9th, randomly asking some of our favorite producers what their favorite B.I.G. beats are. I couldn’t let this day pass with out honoring the late great Christopher Wallace in some fashion. Here are the responses from some of the industry’s top producers and the up & coming. Rest In Peace BIG!
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 [email protected] 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.
Ariel Borujow Speaks On Just Blaze’s Move To Stadiumred
February 4, 2010
Just Blaze recently announced that with the closing of Baseline studios that he would be moving his operations to the Stadiumred facilty in Harlem, NYC.
“I’m looking forward to setting up shop with the guys at Stadiumred. I’ve been in this business for 13 years and their vision and drive are the perfect compliment [sic] to what I look to build during the next phase of my career. I’m looking forward to creating something great with them. World domination coming soon!”
Nodfactor spoke with the owner of Westward Music Group and resident of Stadiumred, recording and mix engineer Ariel Borujow about his new neighbor.
“It was more than a decade ago that I first worked with Just Blaze,” he shares. “Our paths have crossed a bunch of times over the years and working together on projects has always been successful. This summer it will be two years since I moved my company, Westward Music Group Inc., up to Stadiumred. The vibe here is like no place else; when Just Blaze came to visit me, it was clear that he would stay. His coming up here brings amazing talent and work ethic to the most collaborative space on the east coast.”
Nodfactor will be heading uptown to interview super producer Omen in the near future and don’t forget to keep sending in those “Ask The Pro” questions for Ariel as well!
Ask the Pro With Ariel Borujow
December 16, 2009
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 [email protected] with the subject “Ask The Pro” and keep checking back to Nodfactor.com for Ariel’s answers.
Today we begin with some mixing basics:
Q:What’s the best way to start a mix? Placement? Levels? Compression?
A: My rule that I always go by is to know and understand the direction and feel of the song before you start the mix, then figure out how to try and capture that. The way I go about it is by requesting from the client a rough mix of the song. By doing this, I can get a feel of the levels of the tracks and where things are placed in the song. Second I usually pull the faders up and set “levels” and just listen a few more times by solo’ing tracks and getting to know the playing field a bit. From there I mute everything and start with the drums. Ideally my goal here is to make sure that the bass and kick are knocking then slowly bring in all the other percussion elements. I might pop the vocal up here and there as I bring in the remaining percussion tracks and instruments. Once I have all the tracks minus the vocals I go directly for the hook. The reason for this approach is usually the hook has the most elements. Of course, most songs are about the hook so you want to make this very impactful. At the end of the day there are no rules on how to start a mix. Every engineer works differently, and this is a little insight to my approach. So with that said, good luck on your next mix!
Q:What’s a basic order to insert effects? (i.e reverb first?)
A: I’m not sure if I am clear on the question but I will answer it the best I can. There are really no rules in the order you insert effects or dynamics. For one, effects (reverbs,delays,etc) generally don’t get used as inserts. On occasion now, especially with DAW’s (digital audio workstations) where you can automate them it’s more common to find them on inserts. You can just automate the master bypass if need be. I sometimes do this with last minute delay throws on a mix. The “norm” for effects is to put them on an aux track and choose a bus to feed the input. At that point, on the specific channel you would want that effect on, you would choose the bus that is feeding the effect and set the level you desire. As far as inserting dynamics (gates, compressors) and eq’s there really is no right and wrong way, it all depends on the sounds you are going for. If you compress first, putting an eq second can maybe bring out some of the frequencies that the compressor may have taken out. Hope I was able shed some light.
VIDEO: In The Lab With Engineer Ariel Borujow
November 24, 2009
Had a really great convo with platinum engineer Ariel Borujow. He walks us through his rooms’ set-up, what he’s working on and explains why the fine art of mixing and mastering is in jeopardy.
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