The Making of Dr. Dre's "2001"

Hey I was wondering if there are any online articles, resources or threads here about the making of Dr. Dre's "2001" album? I'm especially interested in a few areas:

Scott Storch's piano riffs ; which keyboard and sound he used on "Still D.R.E."

Dr. Dre's studio; which mixing board did he use

How did Dre achieve such loud, punchy drums?

And of course, since "2001" should be heralded by all as a grand achievement in the area of mixing and mastering, any info on that.

Here's a thread that discusses guitarist Sean Cruse and 2001 guitar licks in detail (Dre 2001: Guitar Licks): http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... -tele.html

Xandre wrote:Hey I was wondering if there are any online articles, resources or threads here about the making of Dr. Dre's "2001" album? I'm especially interested in a few areas:

Scott Storch's piano riffs ; which keyboard and sound he used on "Still D.R.E."

Dr. Dre's studio; which mixing board did he use

How did Dre achieve such loud, punchy drums?

And of course, since "2001" should be heralded by all as a grand achievement in the area of mixing and mastering, any info on that.

Here's a thread that discusses guitarist Sean Cruse and 2001 guitar licks in detail (Dre 2001: Guitar Licks): http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... -tele.html

yamaha motif can accomplish still D.R.E. keys. not sure if thats what he used, but im pretty sure thats what he's rockin as of late. obviously dude is major producer has access to whatever he wants.

still dre keys was an interpolation of subtle pinao riff on a grant green joint (arguablely). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9oNHowr ... r_embedded @1:23

No doubt, but that doesn't quite explain the "Still D.R.E." piano keys sound. You can play "Still D.R.E." on a Motif dry with no effects and it doesn't sound nearly identical.

The keys have a highly processed, almost oriental sound to them, with an audible hammer action, to my ears at least. I'm really curious if Dre used compression on the keys or added any effects to them to achive that signature sound. If so, what did he use?

Also, on "Still D.R.E.," which sound module do you think Dre used to achive that sound effect heard at the :21 second mark?

dude you must realize that they tweak their patches,so asking one of us what sound he used is kinda of stupid,I assure you none of us were in those studio sessions and can say I saw him use xyz. just sayin'

Xandre wrote:Also, on "Still D.R.E.," which sound module do you think Dre used to achive that sound effect heard at the :21 second mark?

That's a stereo delay effect.

Looking at all the 2001 wav files, they are just one big fat block; he maxed out the compression and limiting.
So, try doing that yourself. The trick is (if you really want to do it) to make sure your sounds don't get distorted and certain sounds don't get hidden behind others. Spacing out the frequencies and timing of each sound in the song therefore plays a big part. But at the end of the day it's the most compressed and limited album I've ever heard.

oh, and a lot of the songs have muted guitar picks on em....

fasttrackpimp wrote:Storch most likely used the motif. In fact he played it in this interview/clip @ 0:33 on the motif. And you know, it is possible he made a custom patch/sound on his motif and/or ran the motif through some outboard effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc0koQltJ_M

exactly. regardless if it was motif, real piano, whatever, its tweaked. and if you ask me, the piano sound in grant green joint has very similar flavor. what did grant green use? doubt they used complex stuff. its possible dre heard that joint or stortch, and decided to recreate it with the gear they was using. ovbiously making it big dre style, but the original sound was prob created how grant green did.

also listen to this joint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pG_3jZx ... r_embedded sampled for next episode. not sure if dre sampled the joint then processed it, or if he recreated that sound on a keyboard and replayed it, either way the same concept is happening. dude heard sample he liked, recreated it, played it with his flavor. point is, dont think its just created from scratch. spend some time listening to the stuff he sampled/replayed and it might give you an idea of how to make it yourself. theres alot to learn from dre and alot to learn from the original artists he sampled.

sounds dont have to be born from scratch, even if they sound like they where not sampled.

look at how much dre samples: http://www.whosampled.com/search/artists/?q=dr+dre

945 samples, thats as much as dilla dog!!

Chronic 2001 came out in 1999. The motif didn't come out until 2001. He prolly used a triton.

clarkcchaz1988 wrote:Chronic 2001 came out in 1999. The motif didn't come out until 2001. He prolly used a triton.

true, but it still aint a default patch.

You should see "West Coast Theory"! One of the nicest beat-movies i've seen so far.
http://www.westcoasttheory.com/

the guitar riff is replayed but the intro is the sample.

chazc080488 wrote:the guitar riff is replayed but the intro is the sample.

me thinks you're right.

Xandre wrote:Hey I was wondering if there are any online articles, resources or threads here about the making of Dr. Dre's "2001" album? I'm especially interested in a few areas:

Scott Storch's piano riffs ; which keyboard and sound he used on "Still D.R.E."

Dr. Dre's studio; which mixing board did he use

How did Dre achieve such loud, punchy drums?

And of course, since "2001" should be heralded by all as a grand achievement in the area of mixing and mastering, any info on that.

Here's a thread that discusses guitarist Sean Cruse and 2001 guitar licks in detail (Dre 2001: Guitar Licks): http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... -tele.html

Dre records and mixes with one of many SSL consoles and also had experience in engineering before even becoming a producer, which is why his mixes sound so clean. he also writes his drums to tape to give them analogue warmth hence the drums sounding so phat on that album