Production Tips

Ryan Leslie Offers $1 Million Reward For Stolen Laptop: Simple Backup & Encryption Solutions

You may or may not have heard about producer Ryan Leslie’s most recent controversy involving a stolen laptop and personal belongings along with a considerable sum of cash. The details of the incident aren’t important, but immediately after the theft Ryan offered a $20,000 reward for safe the return of the laptop.  Today the reward was raised to $1,000,000 USD.

Ordinarily Crate Kings would not mention the incident and I truly hope that he’s able to reacquire his personal physical and digital property, however, there are great lessons that others can learn to hopefully avoid such a disastrous situation.  To put it simply… Backup and Encryption are a must.

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How To Create & Prepare A Recording Space

As evolving producers (all Crate Kings readers are) we’re constantly searching for an edge or tip that can make recordings sound better.  Gary Bromham at Propellerhead’s Record U offer a quick nonsense guide for anyone looking to configure or rethink their personal recording space.  Topics covered include acoustic treatments, gear placement, dead space, standing waves, and more. … Read more

Trading Drum Secrets w/ DJ Khalil & Tha Bizness

Forget the exclusive leaks and promo material, here’s the backroom production conversation that you’ve been waiting for.  DJ Khalil and Tha Bizness have a candid conversation about recording techniques, plugins, Reason, Logic, and the virtues of simplicity. Takeaways: Share information with other producers. Simple + sweet = good. If you’re curious about the AU plug-ins … Read more

DJ Khalil x J-Thrill On Pro Tools, Sampling, Plug-Ins

In a promo spot for Digidesign, producers DJ Khalil and J-Thrill discuss their starts in Hip-Hop, changes in technology, and the power of digital recording with Pro Tools. DJ Khalil and J-Thrill reveal their first pieces of gear (Ensoniq ASR-10 and Roland MS-1 respectively) and discuss the benefits of using Pro Tools and how its … Read more

Freddie Joachim Organology Podcast – Production Tips + Tricks

Freddie Joachim and company sit down for the Organology Podcast # 11 where advice is given for new producers.  I can’t say that I agree with everything, particularly the advice to blow through cash on random records (portable turntable is a must), but there are plenty of gems including learning to play an instrument, reading … Read more

Stanton For Life Magazine Launched (Free Download)

DJ equipment manufacture Stanton has launched their own lifestyle magazine Stanton For Life, which features articles and issues of importance to DJ’s along with a healthy dose of self sponsored product placement.  The innaguaral issue features pieces covering Scratch DJ Academy, Roc Raida’s Gong DJ Battle, Richard Devine, the Seattle music scene, and more. Go … Read more

DJ Shadow Explains Ditching His MPC + James Brown Collection

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Many debates have taken place over who the king of drum programming is.  Solid arguments will always be put forth for J Dilla, but depending on how you classify music and what genres you include, DJ Shadow is another name that’s sure to arise as a contender.  Lucky for us DJ Shadow has returned to his reader Q&A to directly address questions or misconceptions that may plague fans of his work. 

Check it out as he talks samples, collecting James Brown artifacts, and reasons for ditching the Akai MPC 60 and MPC 3000 as his main production tools.

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