Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Known to the Ill-Fam as ToryHooks, he has taken his beats to a whole new level in the past few months, winning two Beat This! Competition titles. I took a few minutes to find out more about The Torch.
Name: The Torch "FreshCoast Productions" Location: Tulsa, OK
1. What is your studio setup like?
I work with a Macbook pro, and a custom built tower. I have a pair of M-Audio Bxd8 Monitors, a 36 inch Insginia Monitor, M-audio audio interface, and M-audio Keyrig 49 MIDI keyboard, Beats by Dre studio headphones, Ableton Live, Propellerhead Reason, and an assortment of VST, and FX plugins.
2. What is the one software or hardware that you can't live without?
The energy drink/bread and butter to my production that I have to have, is FXpansion Guru VST. It's the best drum VST on the market, and I like to swing my drums with a live feel to them, and have them bang. If the drums don't bang, then the track will not sound good at all. Guru allows me to battle an MPC any day and win.
3. What is a typical day for you?
Pray with my awesome beautiful wife and 2 sons, "5 and 3 years" and get them ready for school. Grind on the way to work to some Gospel Hip Hop, and bob my head to some beats I may have made the night before. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I study for theological seminary school, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays it's production day, on my lunch breaks. During the nights is when I usually bang out tracks, because the world is quiet and it's all me and the keys, and samples. Usually looking around for up and coming beat battles, new drum kits, new sounds, networking with producers and artists, via Twitter or Facebook. When I get home it's, family time, church, basketball drills at the court with my boys, date night with my wife, and I have her listen to my latest tracks for feedback, and read, while we chill out.
4. What is the best advice that you've ever received?
I'm a West Coast dude to the fullest, and I'm like you Fade I love the 90's groove era. I wanted to stay in that era for so long. I remember I sent a friend of mine a track I made, and I just knew he would love it, and I text him how he like it, and he never text me back. That was the best advice I had ever received, I knew right then and there, I needed to step up my drum game and sounds, because they were just too old and cheesy. So what I'm saying is teeter totter back and forth from the old school, to the new, and you will always stay fresh and current.
5. Do you have any tips for other producers?
Get inspiration, by watching and learning others that compose the type of music your produce. I've studied Battlecat, J-Dilla, Quincy Jones, etc. Study these dudes because they know what they are doing. Another thing also is to get familiar with different DAW's, because you may go into a studio, thay may not have what you have, so adapt. Study your main DAW, and know it in and out. I saw a dude playing bball in some K-Mart basketball shoes, and he was dominating players that had on Air Jordans. Same way with music, does not matter what software or hardware you use, just master it, and people will think you have a full blown studio in your home, but you are rising above with a laptop.
One last thing, don't be fooled with having so much showy devices. I've seen folks who have all the new gear, but the tracks sound horrible, either they are copying off of Lex Luger "Lord don't let me get fired up on talking about the 400 billion trap producers out there that sound the same". Ok im sorry I had a moment... mixing levels are totally off, or they just can't make music at all. Do you and get some No men around you and take away the yes men, because the no men, are gonna tell you the truth about your tracks. If you are new to the beat making family, don't come into this thing with money as your main goal. If making bread is your mission, retire now, because you will go to Guitar Center and purchase software and gear, and in a month's time, your gear will collect dust, because no love for the art was there.
6. How long does it take to make a full beat?
I have two methods, microwave beats, and crockpot beats. Microwave beats are those I just want something to ride to in the car real quick, because I'm just itching to listen to something new that I have created, because it's been a while since I made anything, I'd say about 30-45 minutes. Now the crockpot beats usually take about 1-3 days, depending on how much time I have. That includes mixing the track to make it sound good, because you never know who may want it, at any given time.
7. Do you have any studio tricks that help you work better and faster?
Invest in two 2 TB hard drives, a back up of a back up, just in case the main back up decides fail. If you sample, which I have grown to love now, sample some off the wall stuff. I remember making a beat of me brushing my teeth, it banged so hard a guy made sure nobody got that beat but him. Also another - invest in good plug-ins, for mixing. Last but not least pray before you make a track and talk to yourself, you will be in a better state of mind, and you won't be worried about trying to make money off of a beat, which will keep creative juices flowing, instead of your entrepreneur juices superseding your skill.
8. What's in your near future?
I'm scheduled for two beat battles in Oklahoma City this year. I'm also grimy on the Gospel Hip Hop scene, he goes by the name of "Brutha Pone". Doing production for an artist named Tha Culture, he is a beast on the mic, and lyrically mature. Also doing production for a dynamite duo called Two Three, and numerous artists around the digital globe. I will also be producing a Bible Bangers Volume 2, the Word read over bangin' tracks.
More Information
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