Equipment

Eliot Lipp Causes Analog Gear & Record Lust

Producer Eliot Lipp talks about his start in music and takes us into his studio to show off his crazy collection of analog gear including: Jomox XBase-09 MFB Synth-II Plan B modular synths Atari Synthcart Sequential Circuits Six-Trak Wurlitzer Electric Piano I love his attitude about making music for yourself and completing instrumental compositions.  There’s … Read more

Just Blaze Rants Against Akai MPC 5000

The Megatron Don himself just went on a serious diatribe against the newly released Akai MPC 5000.  Superproducer Just Blaze states that the MPC 5000 is, "COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE!"  He even goes on to supply a model number downgrade and correction as, "The 5000 is NOT the successor to the 4000, and … Read more

Cheese Beats Open Labs Miko Interview

While stopping by to pick up his Timbaland Special Edition Miko, Cheese Beats talks about his past use of the ASR-10 & Akai MPC and the decision to transition to Open Labs hardware. They also demonstrate a bit of Reaper templates w/ Proteus VST… this thing is a monster!

DigiMix Provides Mixing & Editing Within Web Browser

Portable music production is about to be taken to the next level.  Digimix has made available the alpha version of their DAW which runs completely within your web browser!  That’s right, Software as a Service has finally made its way to professional music production.  Sometime in the near future you’ll be able to import your … Read more

SlapBoyz Open Labs Miko Segment

Production duo SlapBoyz.(Yukmouth, Keak Da Sneak) talk about making the move from Korg’s Triton (now a glorified MIDI controller) to the Open Labs Timbaland Special Edition Miko via Sha Money XL’s One Stop Shop Producers Conference.  They also offer up an exclusive preview of an upcoming release.

MOTU Ultralite-mk3 Interface Updated

  A couple of months ago I nearly drove everyone around me insane with my efforts to track down a new-in-box version of the MOTU Ultralite interface.  Each phone and online search resulted with the device being on backorder and a cryptic response concerning future availability.  However, being a determined and sometimes overly obsessive individual, … Read more

Beats By Dr. Dre Headphones Unboxed

Unboxing Live does us the favor of letting us watch and drool over the opening of the Beats By Dr. Dre headphones.  It’s obvious that they went all out on the packaging, but I’m eager to get my hands on a pair to judge the sound for myself. Respect to TI50

Scratchophone Makes Turntablists Portable

Since 2004 inventor Thierry Alari has been working to turn the DJ world upside down by creating a portable all-in-one scratch instrument capable of being played while walking, standing, or sitting.    At first glance, the Scratchophone looks like a cross between a hand drum and turntable, but upon further inspection it’s quickly revealed to be … Read more

K-Def Talks Production Equipment Used During The Years

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As told to JNOTA of Redefinition Records

On the SSL mix board, on getting started, and the equipment he used prior to making the switch to computers:

At the House Of Hits; Marley would stick me in there on the SSL.  Mind you, he was the only cat that had one at the time… Well, Dre had one, Diddy had one in his house, but Marley was the first to have the SSL in his house.  So, there was a lot of stuff in there, on the SSL, that you usually went to school for.  I never went to school for it, so there was, like… pressure.  The Lords were there, all these different artists.  I remember Keith Murray was there and we were doing a song, the "What I’m After" remix.  Keith Murray was rhyming real real LOUD, and I’m like,  ‘yo, Keith, why you so loud?" and he said, "cause I wanna be heard, Def!  I wanna be heard."  Now, you’re not supposed to be able to record with all this distortion, so I had to find another compressor to limit him down with his yelling an all that stuff, so there was a lot of pressure.  

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Free Seminar w/ Mixmaster Mike, Reason 4.0 & TonePort

Guitar Center, Propellerhead, and LIne 6 present a free event for those looking to learn the latest Propellerhead Reason 4.0 and Line 6 TonePort tips & tricks. The session on July 24, 2008 at the Northridge Guitar Center will feature turntablist Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys as he demonstrate the incorporation Reason into … Read more