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Inside The Producer's Studio (Prologue)

Posted by nicolaymusic on April 3, 2009 at 5:39 PM | Comments

Nicolay is starting a new blog series aimed to provide an indepth look into the process behind his music production while breaking down specific tracks from his catalogue.

Photo by Stevie Mack | Uploaded by Nicolay Music.

The question that I get asked most is without a doubt, "What do you use?". I'm a fan and student of music first and foremost, and I have always been more than willing to answer that question, but I have found that it is impossible for me to do so in a MySpace or Twitter message using only a few sentences. Print and online articles and interviews don't always allow for indepth discussion, either. Fortunately, our new website finally gives me the platform to share the method to my madness, and so over the course of an indefinite number of installments, I'm going to break down the what, why and how of my music production setup. I will discuss my favourite pieces of hard- and software, my favourite ways of (ab)using them and the track(s) from my catalogue in which you can hear them at work. Because at the end of the day, it is all about the music.

That's also why we will be publishing "Track Breakdowns" to accompany each installment, in which I take a track from my catalogue and quite literally break down how it was built up. To keep things interactive, I am going to let you chose which track I'll be breaking down first. Simply post a comment with the title of your choice, and I'll start with the track that gets the most "votes".

DISCLAIMER 1: There'll be one or two exceptions, but as a general rule I will NOT be "giving away" samples. I am crazy, but I am not THAT crazy ;)


Photo by Stevie Mack | Uploaded by Nicolay Music.

In this prologue I will simply start by listing my current "arsenal". The studio itself, although lovingly referred to as "Home Studios", doesn't bear a name (yet). The photos were taken by Stevie Mack in december of last year. More photos of the studio including close-ups of instruments and other pieces of gear will be posted as we go along.


Photo by Stevie Mack | Uploaded by Nicolay Music.

DISCLAIMER 2: None of the music equipment manufacturers listed below are paying me to endorse any of their products. I'll only endorse a specific piece of equipment if I actually use it, like it and if I can honestly recommend it.

Computer and accessories:

Dell Precision 690 running Windows XP SP3
2 x Dell 19" Flatscreen
2 x Lacie External HDD

DAW and console:

Digidesign 003 Factory
Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7.4

Other software:

Modplug
Sony SoundForge
FXpansion VST To RTAS Adapter
EMC Retrospect Backup software

Plug-ins: (selection)

Waves Platinum bundle
Waves SSL bundle
URS Classic Console Strip Pro
McDSP Analog Channel, FilterBank, CompressorBank and MC2000
Sony Oxford Dynamics, EQ, Inflator, and Reverb
IK Multimedia AmpegSVX, Amplitube2, CSR and T-Racks 24

Virtual instruments: (selection)

Toontrack EZ Drummer and Superior Drummer with all sound libraries
Arturia Minimoog and Analog Factory
GForce M-Tron

Synthesizers/Keyboards:

Yamaha Motif 6 and DX7 II
Roland Juno 106 and JV-1080 (Rack)
Moog Prodigy
Oberheim Matrix-1000 (Rack)
Fender Rhodes Mark I Stage 88

Other instruments:

Ibanez Acoustic guitar (Steel)
Aria Acoustic guitar (Nylon)
Ibanez Bass
Tama Drums

DJ/Live setup:

Sony Vaio Laptop running Windows XP SP3
1 x Lacie External HDD
Edirol FA-66 Audio Interface
2 x Pioneer CDJ-800
Numark DXM01 Mixer
Rane Serato
Ableton Live 7
Behringer BCR2000 Controller

I hope you'll find our little series worth your while!

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to add your comment!
Nicolay (of The Foreign Exchange)


Photo by Stevie Mack | Uploaded by Nicolay Music.

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  • Larue aka Arson F. Daily
    Take Off The Blues stays on my iPhone. I aspire to make tracks that move folks like this one moved me.
  • Brave new world please!
  • $Bill

    Nicolay,



    I read how you studied JDilla for inspiration and how wanted to learn how he implemented his drum patterns... I find myself studying your drums and chord progressions.



    I am putting together my drum kit b/c every producer has a favorite set of drums to work with. Drop me a nugget.... and tell me how I can get me some drums like the one's you used on "Come Around". Kick, snare, shaker(hi-hat) bassline over the drums is so funky...

    Love your site, love what do.. thanks for sharing man... BTW I just bought Shibuya.. tight!!!

  • Doug

    I would love to see a break down of "All That You Are (Remixes Blend)". Also, where can I find full versions of both remixes that you combined to make this record??

  • Guest

    Ok, so call me Johnny-Come-Lately.


    But I gotta say, Nic, this is good stuff.


    I really appreciate that there's someone like you who's actually taking the time out to reach the people and inspire them. That alone is worth its weight in gold.


    And... I can't wait for City Lights, Volume 2!!!
  • R Productionz

    my vote goes for ''Hapiness''

    that track was just so inspiring,

    kept me going for months



    one thing tho, are those really all the virtual instruments you use? most producers out there have like 2 million different ones haha

  • nicolay_music

    Yeah, that's really all the virtual instruments I use. I legally purchase all of the software that I use, so there's a limit to what I can or want to afford.

  • Dj ILL ONE

    The "Light It Up" remix or the "Connected Outro".

  • chris

    DUDE U R DE BEST MAN DIS TING RIGHT HERE IZ GENIUS

    UR STORY FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS IZ JUS INSPIRING (recording n mixing @ home wit comp speakers shit man who would ve thot) ANYWAYZ COULD U DO A SEGMENT ON

    RAW LIFE - FOREIGN EXCHANGE

    GUNSHOT - TIMELINE

  • OBAKENG BLAQ LOGIC MENYATSOE

    I JUST WANA SAY NIC U ROCK...IMMA ASPIRING PRODUCER N U INSPIRE ME WITH THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC...I WANA ASK WHAT SOFTWARE UD RECOMMEND FOR A BEAT MAKING NEWBIE LIKE ME?...AND A COST EFFECTIVE ONE AT THAT'..ONE LOVE

  • MB

    I would love to see What We Live or maybe Happiness.

    Did you use samples in those tracks?

    Damn such great music on your albums.



    I just wanna say that you made some of the most vibing Hip-Hop productions ever.



    Greetz from Holland

  • Razing Sounds

    Would you mind breaking down "As the Wheel Turns" off of Time:Line?



    Easily one of the best tracks i've ever heard.

  • This is tight!!

  • "Raw Life" - by Foreign Exchange

  • "The Lights" from the Timeline Album with You & Kay

  • Nice nice. It would be cool if you did Come Around, Take Off The Blues, or I Wanna Know.

  • Duga

    I like the idea of breakin down a track. I been wantin to c somethin likew this for a while now. Much props Nic! Are you gonna go into effect setting and Layer + eq'ing?

  • Azel

    All that you are all three versions haha

  • Qualit

    What about what we live of N&K and Raw Life of FE

  • J Reid

    Thank you for doing this. Very interesting.



    Where can I hear some of your tunes, I have never heard any?

  • Hey J Reid, welcome! You can hear pretty much everything right here on the site. Check out the imeem player in the right side column. You can also check out the 'Albums' section; most of those link to their respective Last.fm pages where you can listen to them in their entirety.

    Enjoy,

    Nicolay

  • Chris Newberry

    Wussup Nic,

    Many props for this idea right here! This is excellent, and the photography is excellent. Anyway, getting down to business, I have 2 track votes. The first is the Original 'Light it Up', that you did with LB(Still one of my favorites), and the second is 'You Are' by MoonBaker. Thanks again and looking forward to more material from you as well as more feedback on this sight bro. Peace

  • justburnin

    great prologue...



    my track vote would be for one of my 2 favorite songs... "All or Nothing / Coming Home to you" or "sincere"

  • Do a segment for "Raw Life" please

  • Daykeeper for sure, thanks for looking out for the people out there!

  • Truely Connecte

    How About The Happiness track

  • flintbizzy

    what about that DAYKEEPER track?

  • This is a great idea. I look forward to more!

  • what about the monitors?



    1 pair or multiples?

  • davis

    how about sincere? (off of Connected)

  • Ironically, I don't own any monitors. I started out using the speakers that came with my computer (I mixed Connected on those, believe it or not) and I am currently using a simple Philips shelf audio system. I'm looking into finally getting some actual monitors, though.

  • S.2

    Haha no monitors thats sick. So much for all those people that say you NEED this and NEED that.

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