Editing

Editing is somewhat of a sore point in the record making process, but is also one of the most important; and can be one of the most rewarding. The scope of this article will be limited to vocal editing, although some of the techniques can be used for other instruments.

Vocal editing generally includes Comping, time aligning, and vocal tuning, which I’ll save for a future column. Artists tend to not enjoy this stage, as some may consider it cheating, and it also exposes deficiencies in their technique. Some producers may also feel the same way. I counter that line of thought like this:

1. Professional records are edited*. Sloppy overdubs and slightly out of tune notes are unprofessional, and distracting. You don’t want your lyrics and music obscured by these problems.

2. This is not 1968, and we have incredible tools to make music. While they shouldn’t be used as a crutch for untalented artists, I see little reason to avoid them as a rule for the sake of making records like they did 40 – 50 years ago.

*I would like to take a moment to clarify the difference between “records” and “albums.” A single recorded song is a “record.” An “album” is a collection of records. This distinction has been confused by the name of the vinyl format, but it is still commonly used.

Comping

Comping (short for compiling) is the process of combining pieces from more than one take to form a full “choice” take. This could be plugging a line or two from one take into another, or weaving words together from a number of performances. I’ve even witnessed people cross-fade syllables from two takes of the words. That is certainly the extreme, but the end result will a perfect performance.

The process begins, obviously, with recording multiple takes of a verse/song. If you hear something in a take that sounds great, keep the take. After recording, you’ll need to put each take on its own track, but lined up at the same spot, so when you play any of them back with the instrumental it’s in time. Also create one empty track for your final comp. Mute all the vocal takes, and unmute them one at a time to listen back. Take notes for each take, and piece together the best parts of the bunch. A lyric sheet will help this greatly. When you’ve made your pick for each section, drag that region to the master comp track. Through the use of crossfades, leveling and a bit of patience, you’ll soon have a perfect choice take.

Time Aligning

Time aligning is a fancy way of saying “lining up overdubs to be in time with the lead vocal.” Slightly out of time doubles will make your leads cloudy and unfocused. Very out of time doubles will just make the song sloppy. Now the ultra-purist will say “just record it again until it’s right,” and that’s certainly one way to do it. This is another.

My preferred method works like this:

1. Mute all the vocals but the lead vocal. Playback the song with just that lead vocal and the instrumental. Make sure you are happy with the timing of the lead against the track.

2. Now mute the instrumental, and unmute the first dub track. (Until you’re confident with this technique, I suggest adding tracks one at a time) Zoom far in, and go line by line aligning the dubs to the lead. This will obviously take longer if the artist doubled the entire verse. (More on the pros and cons of this in future columns). Use your ears, but also keep your eye on the waveforms, they’ll be a good guide to how far you have to move words and syllables.

3. Check the edited vocals with the instrumental, then repeat for any additional vocal tracks.

How tight you align is a matter of taste and also subject to the artist. For something more mainstream, or for an artist with a fast, intricate flow, a tighter edit will likely be more desirable. For something more indie, or with a slower delivery, you’ll have a little more latitude. If there is a full double of every line, however, I strongly suggest tight editing. You want to keep your lead vocal as intelligible as possible.

Once your vocals are time-aligned, go through and delete any significant dead space in the tracks. Do not, however, delete all the breaths before words. People breathe. If you take out all breaths, the performance won’t sound natural. If there’s a particularly loud breath, just turn it down.

In general, I suggest not to have the artist present for the editing process. First, it’s boring. Really. Watching someone edit for hours (because this is not a quick process) is incredibly uninteresting, and they will get antsy and distracting.

Also, correcting someones mistakes and deficiencies can make them very self conscious and possibly embarrassed. This is not something you want to do to an artist, especially not one you’d like to work with again.

Next Month: Vocal Tuning

Time-Based Effects

To really give you mix depth and 3D space, you’ll want to look to time-based effects. This group includes reverbs, delays, chorus and flanging. So far we’ve covered two dimensions; width through panning, height through frequencies and EQ, and now the third dimension. Through careful use of time-based effects, you can achieve great depth in your mixes and really create a great sound stage for your music.

You’ll most often use reverbs and delays on an aux send, allowing you to send as much or little as you want. Chorus and flange are more often found as inserts on the desired instrument. Any time use a time-based effect on a send, make sure to set the wet/dry mix to 100% wet. The dry signal will come from the audio track. If you are using the effect as an insert, use the mix control to adjust how much of the effect there is.

Reverb

This is the king of time-based effects. Most easily described as room sound, reverb is just that – the sound of a space. Depending on the setting, this can provide small ambiance or huge halls – it’s just a matter of what you need. Plate reverbs mimic the classic steel plate reverb units found in many large studios. Experiment with different size rooms and get familiar with different uses. I recommend a nice ambiance or a small room on vocals and drums, to give them some space and make them pop out of the mix. Larger spaces are a more dramatic effect, very useful on horns, strings, and some singing vocals.

Critical parameters of reverb include:

Reverb Time – How long the signal takes to decay

Pre-Delay – the amount of time before the reverb begins.

Size – The size of the room or plate

Some reverbs will include high and low filters, great for shaping the reverb sound. Adjusting the high end when dealing with a very sibilant vocal may be crucial. If you’re sending a drum kit to a verb, rolling off some of the low may keep your mix from being muddy.

Delay or Echo

Pretty self explanatory. Delay time is traditionally measured in milliseconds, the time between the dry sound and the first delay. Most delay plugins can take their tempo from the grid, allowing you to easily set the delay based off the rhythm of the song. (Yet another reason to make sure your session is locked to a grid) I generally start each mix session with both an 1/8th note and a 1/4 note delay. These are standard delay times, and most commonly used. The other major parameter of delay is feedback, which sends the delayed signal back into the effect, creating additional repetitions.

Chorus

Chorus is actually a series of very short delays. Instead of discreet delays, it creates a doubling effect. Since this is a stereo effect, and can be a great way to thicken and widen vocals, particularly on a hook.

Flanging

Flanging is a series of even shorter delays than chorus, creating an effect called “comb filtering.” This is the phase-y sound the flanger makes. By slightly adjusting the delay times, you create the swooshing sound this effect is famous for.

Next Month: More Dynamics Processors

I have many more topics to come, but I am also open to suggestions. If you have something you’d like to hear more about, leave it in a comment and I’ll address it in the coming months.

Purchase Willie Green’s latest project, Dirty Jordans, from his Bandcamp page.

Willie Green
www.WillieGreenMusic.com

Follow Willie on Twitter

Willie Green is an in-house producer for the Brooklyn-based Backwoodz Studioz record label, and a freelance mixing and mastering engineer. The Berklee College of Music graduate has also managed a number of recording studios throughout the Northeast.

Read more about recording and engineering:

Recording and Mixing: Part 1

Mic Choice & Placement, Mixing Levels & Panning

Mic Pre-Amps, Staging and EQ

Vocal Tracking and the Art of Compression

Rough Mixes, Buss and Mix Compression

Picture By: B Fresh Photography

We linked up with the Toronto-bred lyricist Eternia for the latest installment of aboveGround Magazine’s “First 5”. Regarded as “Canada’s Dopest Female MC” by Exclaim! Magazine, not to mention also by fans world-wide, this widely respected female hip-hop artist is well on her way to becoming not only Canada’s dopest female MC, but simply one of the dopest female MC’s. She has toured, performed and recorded with an impressive roster of noteworthy artists and has released four critically acclaimed full-length albums featuring some of the games heaviest hitters. In 2007 her album titled It’s Called Life was nominated for a Juno award, the Canadian equivalent to a Grammy. E also launched her popular t-shirt design which reads “My Favorite Rapper Wears A Skirt” last year. Her latest project titled At Last, which was produced by Canadian super-producer MoSS, dropped on June 15^th of this year and features some of hip-hop’s elite including, but not limited to, Jean Grae, Joell Ortiz, Termanology, Rah Digga, etc. Keep an eye out for upcoming projects through Fat Beats, which Eternia recently signed to.

Check out her answers to our First 5 below!

1. Tell us something no one knows about you.

I’m actually a certified cornball. Like I’m a nerd, supagrinning all day, and goofy 5-yr-old funny. But then again – anybody that knows me as Silk knows that about me.

2. What do you want people to take away from your music?

Goosebumps.

I just want to make music that makes people FEEL emotions that give them goosebumps.

3. What is one of your biggest regrets?

I don’t believe in regrets. Everything got me to where I am – and more importantly WHO I am – today. However, I wince whenever I hear my song “Hate” (off the “Its Called Life” album). It doesn’t represent me accurately at all, at least not now. I coulda gone without releasing that song I think. Although don’t get me wrong, the beat was retarded. I’m just talking about my attitude and stance on it, conceptually. That’s ok… we all grow. It represented me at the time.

4. What’s one of your greatest hip-hop memories?

Wow. Too many. Recently I was thinking about when I went to the VH1 Hip Hop Honors with Jarobi & ATCQ. It was the year they were honored, and myself and Rowb’s sis and other family members were all sitting together in the VIP section, like a table down from Ice T & CoCo & many others… I remember after the live taping we went to this after party and I was just chilling beside Andre Harrell for a minute, as Tip was building with him. Jarobi is like my big brother. He’s actually responsible for a number of my top Hip Hop memories of all time. He brought me backstage at Rock the Bells in Toronto, and I watched ATCQ kill it on the monitor backstage, standing beside Nas who was also watching the monitor admiring their show, as a fan. Moments like that I never forget.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully on Rock the Bells or rocking at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors, with my family & close friends rolling deep :-D

Nintendo: The 3DS

Nintendo has always been known for trying something new or different in the video game hardware department. Whether it is touch screen handhelds or motion controlled consoles, the Big N is ready to take risks. This time they’re taking a leap into the 3D realm. Enter the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld gaming device with touch capabilities and two screens, including one that projects gaming in 3D…without the glasses. Yeah, you read that right, you get to enjoy 3D gaming without goofy and expensive glasses. Not everything has been revealed about the next generation in handheld gaming, but it looks to be fully compatible with previous DS games, adds an analog stick to the existing DS controller setup, and allows you to take 3D pictures by using the two cameras that is comes equipped with.

There is no release date as of yet, but prepare to be blown away with games like Star Fox, Kingdom Hearts, and Super Street Fighter 4.

Sony: The PlayStation Move

Sony has built a reputation of being for hardcore gamers and it’s easy to see why, with their high-powered hardware and upper echelon games. In a plan to delve further into hardcore gaming, as well as introduce the console to more casual gamers, Sony has introduced the Move. As a comparison, although not to limit what it is capable of, the Move is like the Nintendo Wii remote and nunchuck set up and will include a primary wand controller and a secondary navigation controller. The Move is set to provide superior motion control detection in all three dimensions. Sony is preparing games to include optional control schemes for both the Move and standard controllers. Don’t think that this will be just the Wii HD, Move will definitely the high caliber games that Sony fans have come accustomed to.

The PlayStation Move will be available in North America on September 19th. The Move controller will be $49.99 with the navigation controller coming in at $29.99, or you can purchase the two, along with the PlayStation Eye camera, for $99.99.

Microsoft: Kinect and Xbox 360 Slim

Microsoft and the Xbox 360 team are also jumping into the motion control department, but with a twist of their own: no controllers.

What was previously known as Project Natal, the Kinect is the result of a high powered motion sensing camera that can decipher movement from all limbs for multiple users. Not impressed yet? Kinect also provides voice recognition that can be used for barking out commands to your Xbox 360. Seriously, you tell your Xbox 360 to play or stop a movie and it will have no choice but to submit to your demands. To top it off, the camera and microphone on the unit combines forces to provide video chat. In case this wasn’t enough, Microsoft also revealed a newly designed Xbox 360. The new model is smaller, quieter and cooler than the launch design and is encased in glossy black armor. A 250GB hard drive and built in Wi-Fi is nothing to kick out of bed either.

Kinect is being released on November 4th with a $149.99 price tag. The new Xbox 360 is available now for $299.99.

I hope it’s apparent by now that I’m going in a logical progression of the tracking process. Once vocals are recorded, and you’re ready to call the tracking session a wrap there’s one more step – the rough mix.

If you’re thinking that this is something to just slap together consider this: albums often take a year or more to complete, with mixing obviously toward the end of the process. You’ll be living with rough mixes for a long time, making judgments on whether songs make the album or not; you want these to sound as good as possible.

Also, good roughs can often lead to more work. An example, a good friend of mine tracked vocals for Lupe Fiasco’s “Daydreamin‘” off the Food and Liquor album. He did a great rough mix of it, great enough that the label chose his mix to go on the album and he now has a Grammy for that song. That’s an extreme example, but good work gets noticed. As a professional engineer, you never want poor quality work floating around with your name on it.

Once I have a good, working vocal sound and the artist has begun doing takes, my mind turns to the rough mix. (This applies for bands too, but we’re mostly dealing with vocalists here). I start early, because when the artist stops to listen to playback, it’s much more inspiring for them to hear their work sounding like a record than just a bunch of faders up.

As long as it doesn’t interrupt the recording process (like sudden drastic compression or EQ changes in the artist’s headphones), start tweaking. Keep in mind that adding plugins while the song is running may cause a brief dropout in playback — this will ruin a take, so add your plugins between takes. Also keep in mind that adding plugins may increase latency in your rig, creating a delay in the talent’s headphones and making it very difficult to record.

Mixes are clearly subjective, but a few tips may help:

- I never, ever use a limiter on my mix buss when doing a final mix. That limiting is best left to mastering. However, when doing rough mix I will. While the artists are living with the rough throughout the life of the project, it will be more comparable in level to whatever else is in their iPod.

- There probably won’t be time for detailed vocal level rides, so compression will certainly be helpful here. But don’t be afraid to take a second and write a little volume automation for extreme changes in volume. You don’t want any of the vocal performance getting buried in the beat, since this rough will be used to determine is any vocals need to be redone.

- There are any special vocal effects that are highly important to the song (distorted lines, specific delays, etc.) take the time to put them in. This is a good time to use plugin presets, just to quickly get in the ball park of the final product.

- Finally always remember that your rough mixes are the reference point for the final mix, whether you or someone else is mixing it. Many mix engineers, myself included, ask for a copy of the rough to have direction when they start the final mix.

Compression Pt. 2 – Buss and Mix Compression

Your kick drum is knocking, your snare is squashed to shit and sounding great, and your vocals have a nice squeeze on them. So, why does your mix sound like nothing’s connected?

Enter the magic of buss and mix compression. Buss compression involves sending multiple instruments (such as drums) through one compressor, and mix compression, well, that’s pretty self-explanatory — you’re compressing the entire mix.

There are a couple ways to do your buss compression; in-line and parallel or “New York Compression.” (That’s no Brooklyn bias, that’s what it’s known as).

In-line involves — instead of having the output of your drums tracks (for instance) going right to the mix buss — they go to another buss (or group or whatever your software calls it) first. This will allow you to process these tracks together; EQ, compression, whatever you like. In the case of compression, this is a great way to glue aspects of your mix together. Have a doubled guitar part that you’ve hard panned? A bass that’s doubled with a synth? This might be the move. Each element going to the buss is going to affect the compressor differently, and therefore affecting the other instruments going through the same comp. A loud kick and snare for instance will make hi-hats going through the same compressor pump and breathe, and will give different life to your drum groove.

Parallel compression is a similar idea, but instead or running tracks straight into a compressor, put the compressor on an Aux Send, and dial in a certain amount of the desired instruments. What this accomplishes is blending a heavily compressed signal back in to the uncompressed. (You’ll most likely want to use more aggressive settings on the compressor). This gives you the power of a compressed sound with the dynamic range and subtleties of the uncompressed. Experiment with the balance between the two.

You can now also choose how much one instrument affects the others. Maybe you want to dial some bass into the drum comp to make the drums pump at times. The possibilities are endless. *Important note* This only works with software that has plugin latency compensation. (If you have a hardware mixing setup, you don’t need to worry). If you don’t have latency compensation, this may result in phasing and a washy sound, because the compressed signal will be delayed a number of samples. If it doesn’t sound right, this is why.

Mix compression is also similar, except now everything in your mix affects everything else. This can definitely lead to trouble, so keep an ear out. My first and most important piece of advice is this — if you are going to use mix compression, put it on at the START of your mix, and mix into it the entire time. As you go along, you will adjust the settings, but if you try to just put it on in the middle or at the end of your mix, you’ll lose all perspective of what you’ve been doing.*

Here is where the misleading adage of “It’s hip-hop just turn up the bass” gets exposed for the garbage it is. As I mentioned in a previous column, it’s important to have CLEAR bass, not just more bass. Extreme amounts of low end will wreak havoc with your mix compressor and compromise the rest of your mix. It will cause your entire mix to pump every time the 808 hits or the bass line drops in. There are exceptions to this rule, one of the most famous being J Dilla’s “Donuts”, but before Dilla stans go wild, THIS IS AN EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE. If not done correctly, like in that case, this will cause an undesirable effect for the listener, and make mastering extremely difficult. It makes keeping vocals and other instruments balanced near impossible.

A few quick tips on Mix Buss Compressing:

- This isn’t the time to squeeze the life out of you song. A couple dB of gain reduction will do the trick, this is just a little glue to blend everything.

- Try different compressors, as the sound of the comp will obviously seriously affect your mix. Some sound more aggressive, some are naturally smoother. Choose carefully.

- If you notice your compressor not responding like you think it should, specifically if it looks like it’s compressing much more than what you hear going through it, there may be stray extremely low frequencies below the threshold of human hearing. This is especially true for vinyl users, there may be rumble from your turntable or the record itself. If you think this may be the case, or if you just want to play it safe place a high pass filter before your compressor.** I recommend putting it at 20 Hz, the very low end of human hearing. There’s nothing useful below this, only unwanted low frequency energy.

- Attack and release speeds are important here. With the attack, in most cases you’ll want to make sure it’s slow enough to let plenty of transients (the attack of a sound) through. Take care with the release time. If the track is pumping, make it longer. If the song isn’t knocking enough, it could mean your compressor isn’t recovering fast enough to let the next kick or snare through, so you’ll want a faster release time.

- Keep an eye on your output level. Remember, the ideal level for your mixes to sit at is about -6 dB

*A note along the same line is EQ on your mix buss. Unless you are extremely familiar with your monitors and have a great sounding control room, I DO NOT recommend this. As your ears adjust to the mix you’re working on, you won’t have a reference point for the EQ, and you can wind up with some weird stuff. When in doubt, leave this for mastering.

**This is the one case I do recommend putting some kind of frequency-dependent effect on your mix buss. Do not disregard my previous statement.

Purchase Willie Green’s latest project, Dirty Jordans, from his Bandcamp page.

Willie Green
www.WillieGreenMusic.com

Follow Willie on Twitter

Willie Green is an in-house producer for the Brooklyn-based Backwoodz Studioz record label, and a freelance mixing and mastering engineer. The Berklee College of Music graduate has also managed a number of recording studios throughout the Northeast.

Read more about recording and engineering:

Recording and Mixing: Part 1

Mic Choice & Placement, Mixing Levels & Panning

Mic Pre-Amps, Staging and EQ

Vocal Tracking and the Art of Compression

On June 29th, 2010, one-third of the group W.A.S.T.E.L.A.N.D.S., Short Fuze, will drop his debut full-length project created with label mate Nasa on production (check out his First 5 here). The album is titled Lobotomy Music and is described as “one man’s story navigating life’s ups and downs” and is composed of tracks that tell “true stories of life & death, good & evil, youth & wisdom”. Guest spots on the album include Nasa aka Adam Warlock, Cirrus Minor, Eleven, Karniege, Passive 65ive and W.A.S.T.E.L.A.N.D.S. Fellow Uncommon member Shortrock was also involved in the making of this LP by working the turntables. The following quote from Uncommon Records sums it up nicely, “Lobotomy Music grabs you from the first sound you hear and holds you through the length of it’s journey. If it doesn’t, you haven’t lived.”. Don’t forget to grab your copy on June 29th from online digital retailers as well as the new Uncommon Online Store here!

You can stream the debut single from the album titled “Don’t Feed The Machine” here, or download/stream the second single “Bully Rappers” here.

1. Tell us something no one knows about you.

I love lamp. No, seriously, if I didn’t have the MC skills I have I would want to try my hand at stand up comedy. I have a crazy sense of humor and have been told I have a good ability to tell a good story. I admire comedians because if they are great at what they do they can have an entire room or a whole arena eating out of their hand. I have thought about putting a small act together and hitting up one of those amateur nights. I haven’t had the balls to go through with it yet, but its on my bucket list.

2. What do you want people to take away from your music?

I want people to feel something. I don’t think music is good unless it makes you feel something. I put a wide range of emotions into my albums, especially my solo joint. I want people to walk away and say “I know what he went through” or be able to give that person that may not have the voice to convey what they are going through to know that they aren’t alone in the world. I have been there myself and music has saved me on many levels. Not only by being able to write my way out of mindsets but, also finding that song or album to connect to when I didn’t have the words to express myself.

3. What is one of your biggest regrets?

I always have the mindset that everything happens for a reason and that everything we go through and experience has an impact on our growth or our steps backwards. With each situation that we face, its up to us as individuals to fight or flee from our fears, mistakes and triumphs. So, with each experience positive or negative, you have to take something from it and move forward. I have made many mistakes but, learned from it all. You think at ever stage in your life you know what there is to know but, something is always there to kick you square in the nuts. And how you react dictates where you go from there.

4. What’s one of your greatest hip-hop memories?

Like 10 years ago, one of my homies got a extended vacation to the bing and one day his girlfriend sees me at the mall and tells me the news. Around the same time my group had just put out our first demo/album and there was this song on there called “Strange Fruit Pt. 2″. My homie knew all the words to that song and she said he really wanted a copy of the lyrics to keep with him. I was so taken back and honored that my words meant that much to someone I gave her the original copy that I written, right out of my notebook. When he got out, he came and saw me at work and returned the lyrics to me and told me that everyday he looked at those lyrics when he woke up and that’s what helped him get through the day.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Not sure. You got a time machine? I want to know now…

Well here it is folks, the 4th generation iPhone is finally official and it does not disappoint one bit. Yesterday was Apple’s keynote at the World Wide Developer Conference in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Ringleader Steve Jobs was on deck to show off the phone that you need to buy.

Let’s take a look at what is in store:

The Body

The 4th generation iPhone looks exactly like the leaked model, but that does not take away from the fact that it is one sexy piece of machinery. It is hard not to notice how this phone is different than its predecessors. You’ll notice that this model has a rather symmetric build in comparison. This is done so by a glass front and rear panel and a steel border connecting the two. Oh, and this happens to be thinnest smartphone in all the land; a whole 24% thinner than the 3GS.

Want to know something extra cool? The shiny metal border acts as the antennas for the phone.

The Gadgets

An impressive 5MP rear facing camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording capabilities has been equipped to nicely pair up with a front facing camera that can be used for video chat.

In addition to the usual accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor, the iPhone 4 includes a three-axis gyro which allows for 3D spacial motion sensing.

To top it off, a state-of-the-art display has been added to the mix. This uber-technology has been dubbed the Retina Display. Apple has managed to increased the pixel count over the same amount of space, 4 times the amount to be exact. What this means is extremely crisp colors and a greatly decreased pixel-effect when viewing the screen.

The Apps

The perfect companion to the brand spanking new HD camera has to be a video editing program; Apple’s answer to this is iMovie. You’ll be able to edit film clips and pictures and set them up in a timeline using innovative tools while on the run. Once done, show them off to your friends and family in all its hi-definition glory.

iBooks is also being added. Nothing new or revolutionary, but cool nonetheless. At least you’ll be able to buy a single book and share it between your iPhone, iPad, and iTouch.

NetFlix is also headed to the iPhone 4. Just what you expect from the iPad version, which is pretty damn cool.

Probably one of the best new features of the next iPhone is FaceTime. This is the app/interface used for video chat. As of now it can only be used between two 4th gen iPhones and over Wi-Fi, but this can change in the future.

All of these are brought to you via iPhone OS4, which interestingly enough has now been changed to iOS4.

When and how much

Pre-orders for this bad boy start today, June 15th, with a June 24th due date. The iPhone 4 is available in black and white with the 16GB models priced at $199 and the 32GB models just a dollar shy of $300.

To make things even better for current AT&T customers is that they are allowing you to upgrade to the iPhone 4 up to 6 months before your contract is up. That’s right, if your contract is up at any time this year, you’re eligible for the subsidized price points.

Well, what are you waiting for?

ThunderCats return to television

One of the most treasured items in our childhood cartoon memories is coming back, for better or worse. Next year, be sure to set your DVRs for the return of the mighty ThunderCats…HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! (Sorry, couldn’t hold that back for very long).

Warner Bros.’ first anime series will be brought to you by Studio4c, the Japanese studio best known for their work on The Animatrix and Halo Legends. The all-star staff includes executive producer Sam Register (Teen Titans) and producers Michael Jelenic (Batman: Brave and the Bold) and Ethan Spaulding (Avatar: The Last Airbender).

The story of the series will follow Lion-O and the gang on his quest for the Stones of Power and you can be sure that the cat crew will cross Mumm-Ra’s path along the way.

ThunderCats will be slotted along with your favorite cartoons and anime on Cartoon Network.

Michael Jordan to be NBA2k11’s Cover Athlete

It’s official, His Royal Airness will be gracing the cover of 2K Sports’ next basketball game. The single player that many gamers have wished for most in their games’ rosters, whether hidden or official, is definitely coming to consoles this year. No more need to use create-a-player tactics to build the man behind the flying tongue.

To little surprise, this is the first time a basketball team owner has graced the cover of a game and is definitely the first time that you’ll get to play basketball as one. Can you imagine what the shoe selection will look like in this year’s CAP?!?!?

Air Jordan has stated that “It’s an honor to be featured on the cover of NBA 2K11. I have no doubt that NBA 2K11will be a big hit with gamers and basketball fans alike.” Yes, Mr. Greatest-player-to-ever-play-the-game, I also believe that this game will sell a couple million copies, regardless if it’s good or not. To be honest, I’m sure it would be good even without number 23.

See: Mike rocking the uniform of the Windy City when NBA 2k11 is released on October 5th.

On a final thought, I wonder if NBA Elite (Live) will retaliate by putting Chuck on their cover?

Mass Effect headed to the Big Screen

A movie based on the Electronic Arts/BioWare super franchise Mass Effect has been announced by Legendary Pictures and is to be distributed by Warner Bros. To top it off, Thor writer Mark Protosevich is in the works of being the man behind this movie as well.

Mass Effect follows the tales of Commander Shepard and his (or her) voyages through the universe with a dynamic ragtag team of soldiers, mercanaries, and criminals to fend off an ancient alien race that is back to destroy all forms of life. Transported by the utterly awesome SS Normandy, Shepard and his crew battle aliens, robots, dirty politicians and underground organizations.

If you’re unfamiliar with Legendary Pictures, you are likely still aware of their work. Their resume includes heavy hitters like Dark Night, 300, and Watchmen.

No release date has been given at this time.

My Mass Effect fanboy wishlist: Zach Snyder or J.J. Abrams in the director’s chair and Seth Green as the role of Joker.

Reason – Paid Bills

Reason is a member of the Rhode Island-based independent hip-hop collective, Poorly Drawn People. He recently dropped his sophomore album Landlords & Lullabies, which is the follow-up to his acclaimed debut album, Gemini Slang. With his time between albums, Reason traveled the East coast and beyond with the PDP crew in support of their collaborative projects, Motion Not Emotion and Shoot For The Stars, Hit The Ceiling. Reason has worked with underground artists such as Drumat!c, Lazerbeak (of Doomtree), Phillip Drummond and fellow PDP-members Falside, Storm Davis and Dox.

We hooked up with Reason for this week’s First 5. Check it out!

1. Tell us something no one knows about you.

I’m a hypocrite but only on the weekends. I also document any spelling, grammatical, punctuation or print errors I come across in anything I read. I’ve got 3 notebooks dedicated to it.

2. What do you want people to take away from your music?

People should give back to my music but if they have to take something away hopefully it’s a little less self hatred. Also, an understanding that yes, your friends and their friends, are better rappers than Reason.

3. What is one of your biggest regrets?

Deciding to take rap music seriously.

4. What’s one of your greatest hip-hop memories?

Seeing RUN DMC live! No, that never happened. I’ve never seen them live. My greatest hip-hop memory or memories are probably when it wasn’t cool to be a part of hip-hop.  Those were fun times.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully not here but who knows. I’ll probably still be making music and still paying rent. If that doesn’t pan out perhaps I’ll open a bar with someone else’s money… Dream big kiddies.

To purchase Reason’s releases visit his MySpace page. To purchase albums from Poorly Drawn People visit their website.

Photo by: Donovan Kasp

The Presence – 2010

The “man that wears many hats”, Nasa a.k.a. Adam Warlock, is not only an emcee and producer based out of NY, but the founder and operator of the independent progressive hip-hop label Uncommon Records. While he works as both a solo artist and producer on the label, he’s also one half of the duo The Presence composed of himself and Cirrus Minor. The Presence is currently hard at work on their upcoming full-length album titled We Want The Winter which will be produced in it’s entirety by Nasa and is due out later this year (check out the promo single above titled “2010″ produced by Subtitle – download here).

Also, due out in June is Lobotomy Music, an album by Uncommon artist Short Fuze along with Nasa (their first single can be heard here). Nasa’s alter-ego, Adam Warlock, is also working on two solo projects, Dark Weapons (From Mars) and The Land Of The Way It Is.

Luckily for us he found some time to answer our First 5. Check out his answers below!

1. Tell us something no one knows about you.

I grew up with mental illness in my home as I was raised. I don’t want to go too far into it, but it was a very different experience to grow up with a Paranoid Schizophrenic in your home. We were very lucky in the fact that eventually everything turned out ok and a medicine regiment was eventually taken. But by that point I was already 16. Thank God everything is ok and I can enjoy both my parents in ways that I couldn’t as a kid now as an adult. I’m very thankful for that; a lot of people don’t get that opportunity. Hopefully the experience is what made me just weird enough to become an artist haha.

2. What do you want people to take away from your music?

Whenever a question like this comes up I remember when I saw an interview of The Doors. They were asked “What’s the one feeling to describe how you want listeners to react to your music?” (or something to that effect). They chuckled and one of them said “Confused”. I’m always tempted to say that. I think confusion leads to being surprised and being caught off guard and surprise is the essential element of music. Keep ‘em guessing at all times. Once that’s established, I hope that I can take people away from their every day bs with my music. Sometimes it’s by writing about abstract things, sometimes (and more often) it’s about writing about every day things in an abstract way. Either way, music should always be a form of escape.

3. What is one of your biggest regrets?

I hate to use terms like regrets or mistakes. I like to refer to them as lessons learned. I can point to two big lessons I’ve learned as examples. One was that you can’t fight technology. This is why I embrace technology so hard nowadays. I resisted the internet, MySpace (at the time), digital retailing for a good number of years. Then one day, I figured out that I was losing opportunities from being hard headed and I did a complete 180.  Now I’m on top of technology before anyone else. I consider that part of my job running a record label. Another lesson was hiring a PR company to promote one of our releases. All it got us was a charting position on CMJ’s Rap Chart for a few weeks. It didn’t turn into one more sale for us.

4. What’s one of your greatest hip-hop memories?

Wow, you’re talking to someone that’s life is filled with them. I’ll just say this… From opening up a cassette of “Tougher Than Leather” as an 8 year old, to running home everyday after high school to watch “Video Music Box”, to going to IAR in Manhattan and getting involved in the indie scene as a fan going to shows in the 90’s, to ending up working with almost all the NYC indie artists as a Recording Engineer, to starting Uncommon Records with Cirrus Minor and releasing our music and the music of so many talented people, to doing stuff like the Yule Prog shows and seeing how gassed people get about them. My whole life is a hip-hop memory. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see myself running several small businesses in addition to Uncommon Records, being my own boss and gathering a core of strong people around me to make this happen. I see Uncommon Records being one of the top indie hip-hop labels in the country. I see myself doing a lot more engineering on the side again through Nasa Labs. I see myself touring more and getting more recognition for my skills on the mic as well as on beats. I see in the short term, people buying my immediate projects which include Short Fuze’s solo LP “Lobotomy Music” and seeing the pictures he paints over my production on a full album.  I see people getting the free EP “Dark Weapons” from Adam Warlock and then buying his full length, “The Land of The Way It Is” a few months later. I also see people getting amped up for The Presence’s long awaited return with “We Want the Winter”. I see myself living more and more of my hours awake as the artist that I am on a daily basis. I see a lot.

So your mic is placed, the talent has arrived, and your mic pre is sounding great, now what? You can either:

A. Hit record over and over and hope you get something good, or

B. Take steps to help ensure you get the perfect take.

Possibly the most important piece of the puzzle is the headphone or “cue” mix. If the artist isn’t comfortable with what they’re hearing, there is no chance of a quality performance. This is something that will vary from performer to performer, so you’ll want to check during each and every session. Some may like the beat extremely loud and not hear much of themselves, some will prefer the their vocals far up front. Communication is imperative here.

Unless you are in a situation where you have separate Aux Sends feeding the cue mix, you will often be listening to the same mix as the talent . If this is the case, it is more important for them to have the mix they want than you. When the tracking is finished, you’ll have plenty of time for a good rough mix, but this is your one chance to get the perfect performance.

There are a few tricks you can use to aid the artist however; while they usually know what’s best for them, sometimes they may need a little nudge in the right direction. If an MC is having a hard time staying in time, turn the beat up a little, it’s possible they need a little more volume to really feel it. If a singer is consistently out of tune, give them more of themselves in the headphones, they may not hear themselves well enough to get their pitch right (this is all assuming you have artists talented enough to make these corrections of course). If you have the multi-tracks of the instrumental (rather than just a stereo 2 track) you can also try raising or lowering different elements of the beat, for example muting everything but the piano for the singer or taking out that off-kilter, Neo-Soul Rhodes that is throwing your rapper off.

Once your cue mix is right, you’re ready to start doing takes. Different artists will have different methods they prefer, and it is their choice. Nothing kills the vibe of a session more than an engineer forcing the artist to do something they don’t want to. Remember, this is their record, not yours.

Engineering is a service occupation. Keep the pace of the session in mind. Some people will want to listen back after every take, some will want to start immediately again with barely a breath in-between, you have to be ready for either circumstance. Some rappers are ok with punching in a line or two, some are morally opposed to any punches. (I’m not going to debate punching in vs. “real hip-hop” here, and I will not entertain the “Rakim never punched in, so I can’t” argument. I will simply state that there is plenty of opportunity on stage to prove you can spit everything start to finish, the studio is the place for crafting the perfect record).

If you have an artist that punches often, you may want to have more than one “Lead Vocal” track preset in your recording template. (You are using templates, right? For more on templates, see Pro-Logic Pt. 1). This way you can quickly move back and forth between tracks, overlapping the end of the take before and crafting a great vocal a few lines at a time. (Again no discussion of “real hip-hop,” but this was the preferred technique of a certain pair of heavyset “Twinz”).

Here’s a tip to get quality punch ins: Make sure the artist raps/sings the line before the intended punch as well. This way, your punch will sound natural and flow with the lines both before and after it.

If the artist prefers not to punch in, then you will possibly wind up doing many takes of the same performance. With hard drive prices lower than ever and hard drives larger than ever, space to keep all these takes should not be an issue. Keep everything, and when you’ve picked the choice take, you can go back and delete the unused ones later. You may want to pick some lines from one take and some from another, this technique is called “vocal comping” and is widely used, although more often with singing vocalist than with rappers.

Sometimes this can even be as microscopic as picking certain syllables from certain words to match with others from other takes. This sounds like overkill, but on some projects, like Steely Dan albums for instance, every single note is considered extremely important. More on this in coming months.

As you’re recording, always keep an eye on your levels. As previously discussed, with the quality of today’s analog to digital converters there’s no real need to have the levels higher than -6dBFS; the quality will be fine. If you happen to be using technology from 1994 for some reason, you may want to track a little hotter. Just make sure your signal isn’t clipping, because it’s very difficult/impossible to get it out later, and if your levels are too high, you WILL clip out during the perfect take and have to redo it, these are the laws of the universe. (In addition, make sure the artist’s cell phone is on vibrate, or preferably off. Phone calls and texts follow that same law of the universe).

There has been a new trend of artists reading lyrics off their iPhones, Sidekicks, and Blackberrys. Aside from upsetting rap purists, this can create an actual issue – these devices can cause interference in the microphone that will be recorded. If you notice this happening, your artist may have to travel back in time and use a pen and paper for their lyrics.

Next Month: Rough Mixes

Compression Pt. 1

Compression is one of the harder elements of audio engineering to master. Everyone has heard of it, yet many don’t know exactly what it does, or how to use it properly. In technical terms, compression reduces the level of a signal that goes over a certain threshold. The amount of reduction is called the Ratio, and is usually user-set. How quickly the reduction starts is called the Attack, and how quickly the reduction stops is called the Release. Now that we’ve been formally introduced, what do these things mean to you?

In layman’s terms, compression evens out level changes in an audio signal, like a vocal for instance. The threshold determines at what point the evening kicks in, and the ratio determines how much. (The lower the threshold, the sooner you compress, higher the ratio, the more reduction you’ll get) With these controls you can squash all dynamics out of a track, or give it a slight squeeze while keeping the subtle volume changes. By compressing, and then turning the track back up (most compressors have a parameter called “Make-Up Gain” or “Output” which does the same thing) this will actually make your signal sound bigger. Too much compression will make your signal sound squished and lifeless, there is a balance that can only be learned by listening.

The Attack and Release functions found on some compressors provide more control over the signal and can greatly change the sound. A slower attack time will allow more transients (sharp, percussive sounds) to get through before the compression kicks in. This is incredibly useful for drums, letting the snap of the snare through before the body of it is squeezed. A faster attack time obviously does the opposite, catching the transients more quickly and thereby softening them. This might be good for a kick drum that needs to sound rounder, or an aggressive rap vocal that needs to be smoothed out.

Release is a bit harder to hear, but can drastically change the sound. A release time that is too fast may sound very unnatural — especially on a vocal — but, too slow and the compressor will not totally release before the next time it’s supposed to kick in, skewing the compression settings you’ve so carefully dialed in. With drums, ideally the compressor should totally release right before the next drum hit. With vocals, it really depends on the speed of the lyrics, so you’ll need to listen and experiment.

Compression is one of the most difficult aspects of engineering to hear. Unlike something like EQ, when you first begin using compression, you may not even know what you’re listening for. Keep at it and keep experimenting — you’ll figure it out.

A tool to help you along the way is the Gain Reduction Meter, which is present on most if not all compressors. This tells you exactly how much you’re compressing your signal, usually noted in dB. By the way the meter reacts, you’ll also be able to see how your attack and release setting are affecting things. Start conservatively, over-compression can really kill a song.

All compressors sound different, ranging from clean and transparent to aggressive and highly colored, you’ll have to get familiar with your selection to decide which is right for the vocal you’re working on.

Next Month: Compression Pt. 2

Willie Green
www.WillieGreenMusic.com

Follow Willie on Twitter

Willie Green is an in-house producer for the Brooklyn-based Backwoodz Studioz record label, and a freelance mixing and mastering engineer. The Berklee College of Music graduate has also managed a number of recording studios throughout the Northeast.

Read more about recording and engineering:

Recording and Mixing: Part 1

Mic Choice & Placement, Mixing Levels & Panning

Mic Pre-Amps, Staging and EQ