JEDI FORCE
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Ken Micallef
ANATOMY OF A TRACK
Jay-Z's “Show Me What You Got” (Kingdom Come, 2006) — surely one of the most dynamic, rhythmically complex and daring songs in recent hip-hop history — began at L.A.'s Westlake Studios. Blaze picks up the story: “That originally began with an air-raid siren, which I changed for a sax loop pitch-shifted and time-compressed; it was taken from ‘Darkest Light’ by the Lafayette Afro Rock Band. The brass stabs are from Shaft in Africa by Johnny Pate. Then I added the MPC drums, two keyboard players, Bam on live drums, two bassists and some light guitar and drum overdubs on the V-Drums. We didn't add the horns 'til right after Jay did his vocals, which I did on my laptop. All the crazy drum rolls and fills are Bam playing it live. I fortified that on the Roland V-Drums. When I did the beat originally, the musicians played over my phrase; I already had the Johnny Pate horns and my MPC going. They just played to that. I was committed to doing that all in the computer using Battery and the Sony laptop.”
Meanwhile, Ghostface Killah's “The Champ” (Fishscale, 2006) is equally dynamic, if totally bizarre, with Blaze role-playing voices like a mad Elmer Fudd. “We did that very raw, just a drum and a music loop on the MPC2500. We had some dialog from Rocky III. But it is me doing all the voices; it was originally Mr. T, but we couldn't clear the samples. We kept the drums but replayed everything else. We wanted to make it feel similar to the original '70s loop we sampled. We tried to discern the instruments, down to the kind of Rhodes they used, upright piano, a French horn, trumpet, maybe two saxes instead of one — we listened that closely. Back then, they all played the song together in one room. They were miked up, and you took the best take. So we had everyone play in the same room at the same time to re-create that soul and spontaneity. I mixed all the individual parts to become a new sample, then cut it up and reassembled it in Pro Tools.”
Blaze has said that Jay-Z's “Streets Is Talking” (The Dynasty, 2000) is like “10 tracks in one,” and the swooping samples that surround Jay-Z's nimble vocal run the gamut from crime-jazz trumpets to horror-movie strings.
“That was an experiment,” Blaze says. “No hardware involved there, either. That is Logic 5 or 6 and Pro Tools running on a PowerBook G3. The beat was made in Logic triggering the hardware version of Digidesign's SampleCell. Basically, I didn't know how to use Pro Tools or Logic then, so I just bought all this stuff as a tutorial in '99. I ran them in sync via the internal IAC bus. It was maddening. I threw all these samples into SampleCell. Back then, I would take my drums, sample them, process them, then sample them again. I would EQ drums in my MPC2000, throw a reverb on 'em and put them into SampleCell. That intro sounds more complicated than it actually was; it's just two different lines on two different keys. The percussion is just me hitting a garbage can. The key was getting the 10 samples to be in tune; it was about breaking the samples down on as many pads as possible and replaying them — a lot of trial and error. People don't make records like that anymore.”
STREETS IS TALKING
While superstar hip-hop artists depend on him for their lifeblood, his future looks bright and his legacy seems secure, Blaze still watches his back.
“What separates me from just another guy with an MPC?” he asks. “I am not really sure. There are some people in the world who just get it. And some folks don't. I can listen to some of my earliest work and honestly say I was good back then. Being able to stay on top of your game is how you maintain that position year after year — and embracing technology. You have to shake it up and not be afraid to reinvent yourself.”
And as the Saigon record proves, Blaze is not resting on his laurels. But even from his perch on high, he can sound rather fixated with the street from whence he came. Adulation, a packed schedule and the warmth of success can't drown out the detractors, some who have commented online that Blaze is simply a lucky man who grabbed the breaks and made the best of them. As with many talented artists, perhaps Blaze's odd insecurities only serve to make him better.
“Nobody is going to be hot forever,” Blaze says. “It is the opinion of the small guy, your hardcore hip-hop fan, that will really shape how your legacy goes. And that one guy can say something in an online forum that can spark other opinions. The records stand, but nobody knows who is on the records outside of the artists. The average person doesn't know who Just Blaze is. There are people who think my name is just something that an artist said on some records. If it wasn't for those guys who think Pete Rock is the greatest producer of all time, then a vinyl copy of Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's The Main Ingredient (Instrumentals) wouldn't sell for $500. You have to plan for the future. If you don't, the years will catch up with you very quickly.”
SIDEBAR
PLUG-INs ON THE FLY
Just Blaze discusses the favorite weapons in his arsenal: “Native Instruments Komplete 3 is good. It has a bunch of synths, and Guitar Rig, which is like the Line 6 Pod. Guitar Rig has so many cabinets and options, even mics and mic-placement techniques. You can simulate many sounds at the flick of a button. I also love TC Electronic Master X, a plug-in compressor that I think is no longer made. And TC Electronic Finalizer, Waves C4 and L3 Ultramaximizer: The SSL center section is nowhere near as expansive as some of these plug-ins, but it does give you a warmer sound. So often I will use the Finalizer for its EQ functions, then do the compression on the center section of the SSL.
“If I am working purely on the Sony laptop, I really like iZotope Ozone. It's a mastering EQ, compressor, limiter, reverb and delay. That's my favorite since the Master X is no longer with us. ‘Show Me What You Got’ was mixed completely in my Sony VAIO with iZotope Ozone. We broke it up into stems, tweaked the stems a little bit on the console, then dumped the new tweaked stems right back into the laptop. I took that with me on a plane and mixed it on the way to Hong Kong at 30,000 feet. I love technology.”
SIDEBAR
BASELINE RECORDING STUDIOS
STUDIO A
DAW, recording hardware, computer, console
Apple PowerMac G5 2 GHz dualprocessor computer
Digidesign Pro Tools|HD system
Panasonic SV3800 DAT recorder
SSL SL 4000 G 48-channel console
Synths, instruments
dbx 120XP Subharmonic Synthesizer
Kurzweil PC2 keyboard controller
Novation Remote 25 keyboard controller
Mixers, turntables
Pioneer DJM-909 mixer, DVJ-X1 DVD turntable
Technics SL-DZ1200 Digital Turntable
Vestax PMC-07ProD Samurai Series DJ mixer
Mic, preamps, EQs, compressors, effects
Avalon Design E55 EQs (4), Vt-737sp preamp/compressor/EQ
dbx 160 XT (6), 165A compressor/limiters
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor (4)
Eventide H3000 B Ultra-Harmonizer (2)
Focusrite ISA 110 channel strip (8)
Lexicon PCM91 Digital Reverberator (2)
Lydkraft/Tube-Tech CL 1B compressor/limiter
Motion Sound R3-147 Leslie simulator
Neve 33609C stereo compressor/limiter
Sony C800G mic
Summit Audio DCL-200 compressor/limiter
Monitors
custom Augspurgers
Genelec 1031As
Yamaha NS10s
STUDIO B
DAW, recording hardware, computer
Ableton Live software
Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini, Pro Tools M-Powered 7
M-Audio FireWire 1814 Audio/MIDI interface
Sony VAIO laptop
Software
Digidesign Xpand! Sample-Playback/Synthesis Workstation plug-in
IK Multimedia SampleTank2 soft sampler
Native Instruments Komplete 3 soft synths
Ozone iZotope mastering effects plug-in
Sampler, synths, electronic drum kit, turntable
Akai MPC500 sampling workstation
Novation V-Station soft synth
Roland TD-20 V-Drums kit, V-Synth synth
Vestax QFO turntable
Monitors
Mackie HR824s
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