Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
After once again winning the Beat This! Competition, Hardboiled let us know what was going on with his music. Involved in Flamenco guitar, producing videos, deejaying, and much more, he's still heavily involved in music production after all these years. The following is a very in-depth interview where he talks about his passion for music.
Big congratulations on your Beat This! win, how did you put together the winning beat?
It was one of those beats you just have tremendous energy and flow when doing. I grabbed some typical trap sounds like bells, 808s and some orchestra and knocked out most of it in a day with all the wild orchestra change ups etc. It was a really fun beat to make as opposed to most beats where you get stuck and don't know what do to with a beat for weeks. At least that is how it is for me because I do a lot of change ups in my tracks so it can take me literally months to finish a beat.
Months to finish a beat??? I find that very rare in today's production world. Why does it take so long? Are you working on other beats during that time?
Yes I work on a lot of things so I'm spread thin. Besides beats I direct films and just shot a short fight scene, which was a lot of fun for everyone involved. I also write short scripts and full length books so I spend a lot of time on that trying to figure out how to get an agent, which is a lot of time. I also do photography. Besides that just normal life takes time.
Back to music I play Flamenco guitar, Rock guitar, do Electronic music, and make beats for rappers. But even if I did have the time without all those things going on I'd still take a long time to make beats because I tweak EVERYTHING. I put everything on its own mixer channel and mess with new effects on them. When I make a new part to a song or start a song I don't really use a template. I just pull in synthesizer VSTs I think might work then scan for sounds as I play with whatever I already have down on a track, which you know if you mess with different VSTs takes hours. Then I tweak the sounds in the actual VST and with effects. So just picking sounds takes a while, then making a melody takes more time.
It's the same when I pick drums. I pick every single drum and don't use presets, and then I mess with effects on each sound. Every snare, kick, hi hat, cymbal, etc is on a seperate track, and I mess with its effects. So it can take a while. Sometimes I get tired just from scrolling through all the sounds or effects, but at the end of the day I'm happier doing all that then just using the same sounds or presets without making them my own.
When it comes to samples I cut them up like crazy. I'll have alot of different chops, sometimes like every quarter note. So I'll have like 61 different chops. Then I'll just have to sit there and do the same as if I was picking VST sounds. I just play with them, and it can take a while to come up with something. Then since I don't stick to one looping sample I do alot of switchups in my tracks, which takes a long time to figure out because sometimes there isn't enough in the song. So I just have to keep messing around until something works.
With the beat that won the battle it isn't samples, and because I've been watching videos on Cardiak's production I had an idea of sounds I wanted to use, which made it about 100X easier and faster. Then with my ability to switch things up I just flipped it like I normally would do in most songs I do. Also, I mess with electronic music so some other sounds were influenced by that realm.
That's interesting that you chop up the samples into so many pieces then play them like a virtual instrument! I mean, I think most of us have done that type of thing but I never really looked at it like that - playing it like a VST. So what do you use right now in your setup? What's your main piece?
For drums Nerve is beast as you can mess with the whole drum kit you make simultaneously. I like doing that to see where all the parts fit vs doing each drum individually though I'll use both approaches. Steve Duda, the creator of Xfer Records and Nerve, is a really creative guy. Most of all he is dedicated to music. I've been in contact with him when I have problems with the program. That's customer support! I'm sure he doesn't need to be doing that since he works with some huge names in electronic music like Deadmau5.
For synths I went to something called Knobcon, a synth fest. There were homemade synths and actual synths on the market there. I went up to one table, put on the headphones which weren't Beats by Dre, and fiddled with the keyboard. It was the Bass Station II by Novation, and the sounds are ridiculous!! So I picked one up off Ebay.
When I'm working with samples I use Izotope's Phatmatik Pro. Really nice for slicing and dicing like a ninja.
Sounds like you're using some not so well known programs, why is that? I'm a fan of Izotope but I don't remember Phatmatik Pro. Do you use other Izotope products?
It's because of my diverse musical influences. Besides playing Flamenco guitar and creating Electronic music I keep an open mind and listen to ALL music. I don't really listen to Hip Hop or Rap for enjoyment too much because of the lyrical content so I don't get contained in that one musical genre. I just grab every CD in the world including Hip Hop and Pop at the library and go through 'em. Oh it's painful to the ears sometimes, but I gotta give em a chance. Then the ones I like I research the artists.
As a result I've found tutorials and music from Royalston who does drum and bass and I got an MS 2000 because he also uses one, Seamless who does a lot of drum and bass tutorials, Avicii who got me into using FL Studio since he uses it, and a lot of other electronic music guys who use VSTs that I took on. Another example is that most people use Sylenth1, but I've come across other electronic musicians who use Dune 2 and that's become more of a go-to synth VST for me.
Regarding Izotope, I do use a bit of Ozone for my mastering chain, and Phatmatik Pro is really awesome for sample sound mangling and fun! Other Izotope VSTs tend to take use too much power, like Trash2, so I don't use 'em that much.
That's one thing I do too - I listen to other genres of music rather than Hip Hop all the time. I find that I get a lot of inspiration from Electronic music, for example. Do you get inspiration from other genres too?
Definitely I listen to EVERYTHING. Just recently got even more into Jazz because of Fallout 4 and going back and playing 3. So I'm listening to the Andrews Sisters and Django Reinhardt. I listen to chiptune/videogame music especially by the melodic beast Rushjet 1. I listen to old school Rock and lots of my songs remake Black Sabbath, The Doors, etc. I listen to and play Heavy Metal and even Death Metal, especially listening to it when working out, things like Lamb of God, Zakk Wylde, and Skeletonwitch.
I vibe to movie music in my car from Ennio Morricone who's famous for The Man with No Name Trilogy and Hans Zimmer's epic music. I listen to synthwave/retrowave 80's influenced synth music like Megadrive, Lazerhawk, and Timecop. Of course since I play Flamenco I listen to Flamenco-influenced guitar like Gypsy Kings, De Fuego, a group I'm working with on Flamenco and Electronic music, and Jose Luis Encinas.
Old school saxophone players like Junior Walker and Houston Person are great to hear soul in. I listen to and sing Andrew Lloyd Webber operas like Phantom of The Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar. Drum and bass is great to take in all types of crazy rhythms you'll never have hit your body otherwise. I listen to the avant garde artists who've done it all and as a result create their own unique music with no real genre like Tom Waits, Bjork, and Harry Belafonte. I've been into alot of musical styles even getting into Toby Keith and country music.
So I definitely listen to a lot, but for real artistry and music with soul and heart it's easier to find great music outside of overly produced and marketed/image dependent pop, EDM, and Hip Hop. Though it's possible like Avicii has awesome chordal rhythm and Tupac was just great as a rapper because he rapped about real life with emotions. So I tend to listen to a lot of artists who create their own unique art and just have pure and real skills.
Do you sample more or use synths? I mainly sample but I find by adding synths into the mix as well, it creates a unique sound. What do you do?
I agree, def synths add your own sound to your samples.
In a perfect world all I would do is sample. That's how I started, digging, finding cool sounds and artists, and making beats. Then BOOM laws that curtail creativity pop up, lame. The world should be based on FREEDOM and as much of it as possible. When people mess up it's their fault not some government, some person, society, or whatever. Anyhow, that's the political me coming out.
Definitely when you're an artist you should just put your stuff out there. That's how it is in Flamenco guitar. People have been handing down their music for centuries, and you don't see no one suing someone over who created the Bulerias or Alegrias rhythm do you? AND that's one of the realest forms of music out there, and you'll feel it if you hear a good guitarist. Anyhow, I feel music is the same thing. You put it out there and if someone uses it that's flattery of it's highest form if someone thinks you're worth it to use.
Now though, I tend to do more synth keyboard music. It's fun, but a helluva lot of work programming synths and making your own sounds. It's got me like I said down to tweaking every single sound separately, which can be a good thing just time consuming especially when you can't get it to sound how you want it too.
I've been doing songs with synths and have a ton of backlogged sampled stuff just waiting for artists. But for some reason there's ALWAYS been a shortage of REAL dedicated artists who love to create songs and sing and aren't just looking for all the money, fame, and deals handed to them on a silver platter like they actually worked a day in their life on music besides karaoke singing or rapping in their car a few times. So I'm collaborating with singers like Ariel Ryder and rappers like L.H. and Jimbo Fa Show.
That's one thing I would like to know - how did you meet up with certain singers and rappers that you ended up working with? I always hear people saying they're working with so-and-so but for all those looking for someone to work with - how did you do it?
Definitely being active in the music scene helps. Going to open mics and checking out people then talking to them. That'll eliminate most the people who don't take music seriously as being at some performance level takes AT LEAST guts and and some skill. Trying to link up with people who say they want to make music online through sites like Craigslist is usually a waste of time, but I still go on and post there because I have found some artists that way.
But even when you do meet some artists, majority of the time they'll want the record deal, best beats ever, and ALL the credit with you getting none, and basically everything handed to them. They don't want to see the value you bring and want everything you do for free. So really that part is the hard part to deal with.
Personally, producers and beat makers put up with a lot of BS. Well I'm not one to do so, and I don't think other producers should either. This is what I put a lot of time, money, and effort into and you want to take it from me like it's nothing? There's a big problem there when you're a singer or rapper and haven't put in thousands of dollars into your craft and the 10,000 hours it takes to master something like psychologists say.
Most producers have done BOTH. Did Dr. Dre say "oh just have my beats they aren't worth anything" to Easy E and Ice Cube?. NO, he was considered part of the group, because as you know and all producers know, we spend way more time, money, and effort on our craft than singers and rappers. Yet people think what we do is simple and we churn stuff out like nothing because they never see, and quite frankly couldn't bare to sit there as you make a beat because it takes hours and days and WEEKS.
I can tell you I have hundreds if not close to a thousand beats I've made that say it's a long process to become a great producer. I've also rapped and can sing and learning those took a few months to have a base, the rest is all about crafting your image. But in beat making just like in becoming a performance level musician takes years. So when I work with artists if they don't inherently see that value I bring as a musician and prdoucer then at least they're going to acknowledge it business-wise as 50/50 or it's NOTHING. I don't care if that artist went on to make a billion dollars, they wouldn't do it with me there and making REAL music. Not some producer copying every other Trap or Hip Hop producer out there. So it's usually a group thing unless I don't see a way to be a performance group. As a group thing I'm a DJ as I'm a battle winning DJ as well so I can do all the tricks and mixing easy.
Telling a singer or rapper it's a group thing usually turns them off, and good. Because you don't want to work with people who don't value your work and don't want to grow in music with you. Really, for me music is something I've made far less money than the time I've invested, but luckily I love it and have a great ability to do it. That keeps me going. It's been there for me, people haven't, and I get that. So I have no problem walking away from singers and rappers who don't value what I do and me. Because I know the biggest thing is I'll still have the music, they'll quit in a few years no doubt finding out they were faking it the whole time. It's just like a fighter. A fighter NEVER stops fighting because that's just what's in his blood, and you'll never see me step away from this.
Finally, what can we expect from hardboiled in 2016?
In March The Jimbo Fa Show and Hardboiled Extravaganza begins. We're releasing our first EP and will be performing complete with sick rhyming skills and turntable scratching. A lot of soulful saxophone music on that, but be prepared for surprises!
Also I'll be working with Ariel Ryder on some electronic music songs. With L.H. I'll be making more Trap and Hip Hop music mixed with other music towards an EP. And maybe some other projects will start up. Like I said I have a lot of beats waiting for real singers and rappers to jump on. I'll be doing some blogging on music production, and down the line I'm going to do a workout program where I show you how to workout only 3 times a week to stay in shape and have more time to be creating things the arts whether music, movies, or business.
Also, look out for a short film I wrote and directed, The Mango Thief. It's based on an addicted video gamer and his messed relationships because of it. AND it's about the cops and law enforcement. The best part is a lot of it is based on true story! There will be a lot of video game and chiptune music in that by me. And speaking of video games I'll be doing some video game playthroughs online just reviewing fun new video games.
Thanks for the interview Fade, we got a great community on this site and very skilled beat makers and you do a phenomenal job balancing everything going on in the site. And to everyone making music, keep discovering new music and keep on doing it.
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