madlib interview

Don't know if its been posted before:

http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/?mod ... 208&page=1

I knew Madlib was off it...but damn!

How'd he get that production quality off an 8 track cassestte? Analog okay, but 8 track cassette...like a portastudio or something.

now his main gear is an sp303 and a vs880

i don't think he does all that on a sp 303.....but then again......he is nice...and like he said it is the individual not the equipment

he does, the whole dudley perkins, most if not all of the jaylib. maybe even shades of blue.

It's a deep little box.

elmacaco wrote:he does, the whole dudley perkins, most if not all of the jaylib. maybe even shades of blue.

It's a deep little box.

i guess he just throw me off with the multi-tracking....it shouldn't cuz i use to bang out beats like that

After I read the interview I put in lootpack's soundpieces and even though the production sounds grainy/grimey...it don't sound muddy at all, mids sound nice and clear...vocals way on point...he's obviously a pro.

I am getting trapped up in the mud, that's why its so impressive if it was tracked and mixed on an 8 track cass...not to mention in 1 day.

Maybe there's a missing link he didn't mention...mastering???? Not saying I don't believe him, I'm just impressed.

dog, there is no way he made that ish on a SP 303 alone.
The more interviews I read there are more and more producers hying minimalist production, sure ok fine.
But I think it has more to do with the fact that hip hop beats (at least muscially) are pretty simple, it aint composing a symphony piece that runs 15 minutes (1812 overture and ish). So the key to making a dope beat lies in the methods you use to connect sounds, sure you can grab a triton and lay down a funky beat, but its not gonna be raw until you start playing with it and your equipment. Discovering new ways to connect sounds, which is where madlibs gift lies, he knows how to freak sounds, (like shadow).

That said, Sure he could use a sp303 for all his sampling, but he does things to his samples, to his beats that he aint shouting out in a interview., same as Shadow does. Simply said, they dont want someone finding out how they get their signature sound. Rememebr when the RZA came out and told heads how he does ish for the old wu stuff? well he was moving on to a new method so he could share his old one with no worries. What happened? everyone startted dropping beats that sounded just like the RZA, cuz they now knew his secret method.
Its like the neptunes, they tell you they dont sample (BS BS BS- why even own and use an asr10 or a triton, why even have a sampler if that is the case?) and they only play keys. RIIIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHTT sure. Its all said so you dont stumble onto the way they get the sound, since if everyone could do it, why do you need the neptunes?
They try and tell you a 1/2 truth (like I use the sp303 only) then omit the important stuff (like all my samples get run through analog tape, through a compressor and a de-s-er, re bussed back into the mixer and equed then mild reverbed etc. to get that "deep punchy sound thats all dark") the latter is more important to getting your sounds to sound "signature" (and thus dope and irreplicable by anyone else.)
I dont doubt that madlib uses a sp303. I doubt that it plays as important a role in his work as he implies. Its like scooby doo, you throw down a fake track to lead them meddling kids off your trail so they dont find out what u r really up to.

dr foo.... smart... thinking beyond the box...

He ain't pullin no aphex, he didn't say only, he said mostly, in a couple of interviews.

it's all over dudley p's joint, you can hear the effects and sound quality. I have a close friend that has had his main gear stored away for a while and he knows that machine really well, I get to hear it and his stuff right from the machine, and there is nothing on Madlib's new stuff that can't be done easily on the sp 303. He often plays his samples out live.

Sure he uses outboard and his stuff gets mastered at a studio (you can see a pick on Stone'sthrow of him on the floor at a mastering session). But recent pics of his setup show the sp303 and his turntables. I highly doubt this is some sort of hype. He used to use the sp1200 pretty exclusively, and what he did on that was incredible.

The video interview link shows egon saying the tape was sent to a mastering studio. The lootpack and probably quaz was on 8 track tape. some of shades of blue sound like he used the 1200, but not all for sure.

People may find the 303 rather fiddly to use compared to the mpc, but it has 15 Minutes of sample time at highest quality. with a 64Mb smart media it can go to 220 minutes!!

there is alot to the machine, and is truly a great work by Boss.

It can act like an MPC rather than the loop sampler it has been marketed as. Plus it has realtime filters, timestretch and helluva lot better resampling. Realtime reverse. He sure has more gear, but in terms of making stuff, he does it like he does and not how anyone thinks he should!

He's got a good philosophy that I can appreciate (i.e. the bedroom studio thing), but I don't buy it. He does mention in the interview that he also uses an SP1200 and an MPC.

exactly, like I said, I dont doubt he uses it as his main sampler, but there is not way he can get out of the sp303 what his records end up as I got most of them.

there is some trix he use, but the tone of the interview and the way he reprsents it is more an "act of omission" not a lie, he omits what else he does to get the 303 to mixdown to his final product and I dont believe he uses the 303 effects like he says.

Its simple deduction, if you tell them how you make your music, people will copy u.

True, but listen to Dudley Perkins, if you've heard the 303/boss effects you will recognize the sound. The panning especially, but other stuff, ring mod, delay, reverb...

I'm not saying that's all he uses period, they deffinately mix down his stuff in a professional manner.

He also says (after saying, sp, mp.. whatever) ... mostly that [SP 303]... for hip hop stuff, that [sp-303] Now YNQ stuff is probably done diferently.
I think what he's saying is for $250 you can get it done, and don't need to get a 1200 or mpc. That said, it's a luxury I aint giving up!

Oh no uses the 2000 (xl?)

If you look at the whenimonthemic video, the beginning may be the bomb shelter, and it has more than I expected, but hard to see exactly what.

yah dog, I aint saying that he dont use it, all I am saying is his sound is a combination of the sp303 and (More so this--->) the stuff he uses to mess up his sounds, (NOT THE 303) have u used one? its a cool little dj efx box, but I am more inclined to believe that he uses the 303 like a dj does, as a efx box, I bet he simply rips samples of his decks and uses the 303 efx, THEN loads all that into the MPC or some other sequencer, simply cuz, the 303 sequencer is a POS cant stay in sync for longer then 1 minute.

that alone leads me to think he uses the 303 to grab samples, usnig it like I use my pc, to just record samples in big globs and add effects before I dump it into something legit to sequence on

anyone who owns a 303 knows that the sequencer is a POS, the effects (for the most part ) are a POS and the only real use is as a dj effects box and phrase sampler or as a means to sample easily with a tiny simple box in globs. THink about it, compared to the 303, there is alot of stuff to do in the mpc to get a clean sample recorded. maybe he just like to skip a step or he likes the lo fi sounds of the 303 better then another piece of gear (this is very likely, I like the lofi on the 202 andI use it for that, grabbing drums I want to sound MAD grimey).

ALl I am saying is that he is saying look, I use this piece of gear to drop LP's, but what he omits is the fact that he uses A LOT more then a sp 303 and an 8 trak, he just has to.
the tone of the interview was to imply that he did a TRUE minimalist production rig, with less then 1000 dollars worth of gear, which is just not true. if anyone else went out and got a 303 and a 8 trak tascam you would be mad heated.
he glosses over the use of the MPC and sp1200 (which can be used to make dope tracks , BUT YOU NEED A SEQUENCER, which he glosses over the whole interview, in fact the only one I saw mentions was the mpc 2000, which is I bet what he uses to sequence, basically making the 303 a effects box and grimey sampler, which is not what he implies in the article. he implies that its him and his sp303 against the world. thats all Im saying, he gotta sequence with something and that sequencer (mpc) means he aint got no "minimalist' rig, he got a tight sampler(s) if you count the sp1200, and a bs grimey sampler much the same as I use a tx16w to get grime on my ish.

I have used the 303, the seq does leave much to be desired, but my friend chops his drums and uses it like an mpc and sequences full tracks on it.

That said, my friend is talented as **** and can rock any gear he touches, and has used them all. I don't think he uses it like you mention, although madlib does like his loops, you can sequence good stuff on it if you know it well.

Sure the MPC can do more, but if you can play what you are making then the 303 is fine. Midi editing isn't its strongpoint, but I hardly use more than quantize on my MPC 60 anyway, if I play it wrong I erase and try again, so it isn't a necessity if that's how you work.

I think he mostly plays his beats out into the multitrack rather than sequencing, then layers stuff. This gets around the limitations of the sequencer and Audio sequencing is pretty dope on the 880.

I have synced the 303 to my mpc when my friend and I collaborate, and it was solid, his sequences played fine, basslines and everything for more than 1 minute.

I don't think he touches an mpc on his music now (that interview was a while ago). He produces his stuff really fast, and isn't going to take extra steps.

I think a lot of people who have used the 303 have better options for sequencing and don't have to deal with the limited interface. So they don't get into getting the best out of the machine.

I think the sequencer is more of a PITA than a POS.

The sound of the sampler is tight ( you get what you put in) the efx are good, but not a big part of Madlib's production from my listening.

polishing the sounds is one thing, but for getting the sounds to the vs880, the sp 303 is more than enough.

I'd be with you if I hadn't heard the 303 flipped by a master. Don't sell the 303 short, just because most people use it one way doesn't mean you can't use it to its potential. and Madlib is amazing to, but it doesn't take talent to use the 303, seq and all, just dedication and practice.

elmacaco wrote:
I think he mostly plays his beats out into the multitrack rather than sequencing, then layers stuff. This gets around the limitations of the sequencer and Audio sequencing is pretty dope on the 880.

Madlib's material definitley has that sound. Manually laid out on the tracker, no midi sequencing involved, I know casue thats how I started out, one of those gemini mixer/samplers and a 4 track. I kind of miss that setup.