Shit....new BEP album mastered by Big Bass!

[jazzius]

e-cue.......has he effed it up?

[e-cue]

I was surprised too, especially when I knew mastering was booked at Oasis (my preferred mastering house of choice) during one of the earlier stages of the record. What can I say? Big Bass does what he does. In a way, he reminds me of the 'TLA' of mastering engineers. The album is quite a departure from the last 2 records, and almost nothing like Lost Change, but there's a decent chance of some grammy awards at the end of the day. Very poppy with a strong Ron Fair influence.

[Deja V.U.]

That's too bad. Lost Change is one of the most creative records I've ever heard in both production and mixing. I was hoping Elephunk would sound like a continuation of Lost Change.

[jazzius]

Originally posted by e-cue
The album is quite a departure from the last 2 records, and almost nothing like Lost Change. Very poppy with a strong Ron Fair influence.

I was worried soon as i heard Timberlake was guesting

Originally posted by e-cue
I'm actually just wrapping up Will's next solo endeavor called "Must Be Over 21". Guests include Phife Dawg, Planet Asia, MC Lyte, Tash, KRS-ONE, John Stevens, and a heap of others. This one WILL be mastered at Oasis and I think the grassroots BEP fans will get into it more than Elephunk.

Cool..........looking forward to that........any idea of the release date?

[e-cue]

Mastering on Friday. I think the KRS track will be the 1st single, which is lik the best flow Krs has spit in years. It's on BBE again, so I'd guess about a month.

[jazzius]

Nice!...........Damn fine label, BBE!

[jazzius]

just bought Elephunk.......yes, he's squashed it to the max......frigging pointless....it actually makes it sound small..........because there are no dynamics.......kinda obvious really........i know there is a certain benefit to heavy limiting for making it bang on small speakers but this is going beyond that into stupidity..........it's only loud when compared to something else......in itself it sounds feeble...man, i'm listening to it right now and it sucks....he's ****ing ruined it....damn, the album sounds pretty cool too. Idiots.

[jazzius]

I guess Will.i.am has a pretty good game plan..........i just hope it involves making some more good music again (Elephunk is OK but it's not built to last)

[e-cue]

They are playing the hell out of his TV show on Mtv. He's also VP of A&R over at Interscope now. He signed Sergio Mendez (yeah, the ole school Brazilian cat), which should be very interesting. Keep an eye on him... He's making power moves.

[jazzius]

crazy shit!

[jazzius]

For anyone into this stuff, i just found this rather amusing article!

[out1ear]

Brian mastered my band's record and I think he did a really great job!!

[e-cue]

Originally posted by out1ear
Brian mastered my band's record and I think he did a really great job!!

Cool deal. Was it a rock record?

[out1ear]

yes

[e-cue]

I think his style better suites that catagory. The stuff he did on No Doubt, Blink 182, Linkin Park, etc was perfect for those projects.

[jazzius]

I think big bass's work sounds great on a small tv speaker or transistor type radio.......that's what he masters for......some of his stuff is stupidly smashed or clipped or both.......i dunno if that's his choice or not......maybe that's how the tracks came in to him.......i don't like the way this new BEP album sounds.......maybe that also is to do with the mixes.....that Alge mix sounds terrible

[e-cue]

Originally posted by jazzius
I think big bass's work sounds great on a small tv speaker or transistor type radio.......that's what he masters for......some of his stuff is stupidly smashed or clipped or both.......i dunno if that's his choice or not......maybe that's how the tracks came in to him.......i don't like the way this new BEP album sounds.......maybe that also is to do with the mixes.....that Alge mix sounds terrible

There were a couple things on that record I skimmed across and heard what I would consider 'mistakes'. For one specific example, on "Hands Up", the Chorus vocals are way too loud. It's obivious in the outro the way they don't match up with the other vocals. I agree on the CLA mix. The individual elements sound decent, but as a mix, it's all over the place. I've never heard such wimpy guitar from Papa Roach.

[jazzius]

yeah, really thin and small sounding!........

[stealthbalance]

thats interesting about the cla mix. i thought it was just me about what im hearing from cla these days. i used to like a lot of his past stuff but recently
i would say he does the best rough mixes ive ever heard. some of the stuff
he did on the new michelle branch sounds like it was mixed all in pro tools 2.
i don't think i can buy anything he does anymore. and put marcussens mastering
on top of his mix and its really embarassing. why are sonics going backwards
these days. and chris is very talented - so whats up. and as for marcussen,
the last time i took a project to him he literally put it thru not one but two
waves L2's and each one was hitting 6 db - i kid you not. and my mix was
strong and did not need that shit. marcussen has done great stuff too -
SO WHATS UP ?????????????? has the volume wars mad everyone nuts ???
s

[e-cue]

Originally posted by stealthbalance
thats interesting about the cla mix. i thought it was just me about what im hearing from cla these days. i used to like a lot of his past stuff but recently
i would say he does the best rough mixes ive ever heard. some of the stuff
he did on the new michelle branch sounds like it was mixed all in pro tools 2.

Check out the "Miss Independent" mix Dave Pensado did. It WAS mixed all in protools. It's the best pop mix I've heard this year, regardless of how you feel about the artist.

Originally posted by stealthbalance
has the volume wars mad everyone nuts ???
s

I agree. It's sad. And what pisses me off is that I thought people in the industry (not just engineers and producers: A&R, Execs, Runners/TeaBoys, etc) would have wised up to this by now. I also agree about CLA's past talent. This is why I respect cats like Pensado and Wallace SO much. I think they hear things like a teenager no matter how old they get. They always stay on top of their game. It makes me wonder what kind of shelf life I have as a mixer.

[jazzius]

Marcussen has gotten a pretty bad rep recently for puting down the big crush on stuff.

FWIW, my guess is the best results are to be had by going to the "second tier" masteroos who also have the horny gear but aren't under so much pressure to cut
LOUD

[stealthbalance]

e-cue-
when i said it sounds like it was mixed in pro tools 2 , i should have said pro tools version#2 as in 16 bit caca or whatever it was back then. i absolutely love mixing all in pro tools hd - it is rocking my world right now.

as far as pensado goes, i must also agree. " he is a master mixer" and truly deserves where he is at in the industry. one of the few mixers out there that gets all the elements needed to make a mix stellar as in tone , balance, dynamics,build and emotion, and video game star wars. and all super musical while being super competitive. i wish "miss independant " was a better record though from a song and production standpoint. even the structure falls apart after the great intro.

and what can you say about wallace - he too is a master. i just wish that he would do a mix that sounded different sometimes - its not just the heavy bands he is doing either. i feel that the whole hard rock genre has been homogeonized with the same guitar tones, that riped snare drum head sound, and the sub sample he blends with almost every kick he does. but he does have a signature to his mixing. he is truly individual as a mixer which is sensational in this day and age. and yes i do know about artists like jeff buckley, heather nova, and the artists he has worked with that don't turn up to 11 . wallace is also very deserving of his position in the industy.
now that i hear myself write this, i think pensado & wallace are my two favorite mixers in the industry today.
MVVHO !
s

[e-cue]

Originally posted by stealthbalance
now that i hear myself write this, i think pensado & wallace are my two favorite mixers in the industry today.
MVVHO !
s

Same here. As a sidenote, Pensado had started to mix the BEP project,as did I. We both got busy, and the record took a pop Ron Fair direction. Probably for the best as I'm sure neither of us would have gone that direction. Oh well. Will's solo production record should be dropping in the next month.

[PultecTweaker]

"and the sub sample he blends with every kick"


What kind of sample is he blending here?
Very interested to know what people blend to fatten
the kick part of the mix.

[jazzius]

B.E.P. no.1 in the UK so i guess i better shut up!

[jazzius II]

Saw BEP live in Amsterdam tonite..........best gig i ever saw...killer....no doubt.............e-cue....picked up Will.i.am's new album...gonna check you out bwoy!

[jazzius]

Hey e-cue......what mic/pre is will.i.am using to record vox at his studio?

[e-cue]

Originally posted by jazzius
Hey e-cue......what mic/pre is will.i.am using to record vox at his studio?

Avalon 737 and a Blueberry Blue mic. Sometimes a TLM103. When I go over there, I usually bring my U47Fet and MP-2 which sounds nice on his voice and smooths out the nasal sound he gets.

My lead vocal chain on the "Must B 21" record was:
Filterbank F2
Ren Comp
Filterbank E6
Ren Vox

I used the Ren Desser on Freggie's vocals.

[PultecTweaker]

e-cue


When he uses the 103 mic, what is his chain in protools?

[e-cue]

He gives the tracks to me flat with no plug ins most of the time. Sometimes he'll use the stock digi compressor, which I take off and replace with Ren Comp. That mic usually gives off a lot of dynamic sibilance so dessing is key.

Will is a really cool guy to work with because you can experiment in ways you can't with other artists. "Go!" off the new record would be a decent example. You couldn't do a track like that with someone like 50, or Em, or Nelly. The whole "producer series" from BBE is a brillant idea IMO. I wish more records were done that way.