Earth, Sun, Moon
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Ken Micallef
As grounded or otherworldly as she wants to be, R&B singer/producer Erykah Badu and producer/mixer Mike “Chav” Chavarria balance the extreme with the practical on New Amerykah
BADU FUTURISM
Ten years after her emergence as a leader of neo-soul school, Erykah Badu is pushing hip-hop boundaries rare for someone of her multiplatinum stature. After a certain monetary line is crossed, most hip-hop and R&B artists are determined to hang on to their ego and their sales figures. Badu is seemingly more concerned with satisfying herself and exposing underground producers than scoring Baduizm II.
“In 1997, they accused me of being the queen of neo-soul,” she whispers. “But the only thing neo-soul about me is the guy who made up the name. I do admit that I poked a hole in the dam and a lot of floodwaters rushed through. So I am conscious of that and conscious that I can do that again. Apparently, the sheep are at the gate; they will listen to whatever I have to say because now we have morphed into one thing: me and the people. If I can introduce them to a different frequency of music and a different frequency of producer, then that can help to get us out of listening to the same old thing.
With her expansive hair now quaffed into a deliciously sub-Saharan Afro, is Erykah Badu still “the analog girl in the digital world,” as she once described herself?
“I am in this thing,” she offers, her green tea ice cream now melting onto the couch. “I am looking around, but I am still me. I'll bring what I can to the digital world. I am a Pisces with Mercury in Aquarius, baby. Mercury is the planet of communication. And Aquarius is a futuristic thinker.”
CITIZENS OF NEW AMERYKAH
Computers, DAW/recording software, converters, mixer, tape machine
Apogee Rosetta 800 AD/DA converter
Apple G5 and MacBook Pro computers, GarageBand software
Chandler Limited Mini Rack Mixer
Digidesign Pro Tools|HD3 system
Lavry 2-Channel AD Converter (Blue Series)
Prism Sound Dream AD-2 AD Converter
Studer A820 2-track ˝-inch tape deck
Console
Solid State Logic SL 9000 J console
Monitors, headphones
Adam Professional Audio S3A studio monitors
Augspurger custom monitors
Direct Sound EX-29 Extreme Isolation Headphones
Furman HRM-16 Headphone Remote Mixer
Sony MDR-V900 headphones
Yamaha NS10 near-field speakers
Mics
AEA R44 ribbon
AKG C 451
Korby KAT67
Neumann M 269
Shure SM57
Telefunken Ela M 251
Mic preamps, EQs, compressors, effects
Amek System 9098 Dual Mic Amp preamp/EQ
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler Pedal
Moog Music Moogerfooger MF104Z Analog Delay Pedal
Neve 1073 preamp
Summit Audio TLA 100A Tube Leveling Amplifier
TC Electronic M5000 Stereo FX Processor
Tube-Tech CL2A Dual Channel Optical Compressor
Universal Audio LA-2A compressor
Synth, plug-ins, instruments
Audio Ease Altiverb Convolution Reverb plug-in
Digidesign D-Fi's Lo-fi and Sci-Fi plug-ins
Eventide Anthology Plug-In Bundle
Pro Tools Signal Generator plug-in
SoundToys EchoBoy plug-in
Talking drum
Tuning forks
Yamaha Motif 6 keyboard
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