The Making Of "Happy Birthday" & "That Girl"
The Vision Behind the Sound
One of the key elements Bill highlights is the use of vocoders, which were relatively new at the time. Stevie's idea to run a vocoder into the Prophet 10 synthesizer was an innovative approach that opened up a world of possibilities. Bill explains how vocoders work and how they were used in "Happy Birthday" to create the unique quality of the sound.
Another crucial piece of equipment was the Prophet 10 synthesizer itself. Bill describes it as two Prophet 5s in one unit, with two keyboards and stereo output. This allowed for greater flexibility and control over the sound creation process.
Early Use Of The Drum Machine
The use of the Lyn LM-1 drum machine was also essential in creating the rhythm and groove of the song. Bill explains how Stevie programmed the beat on the LM-1 and how they used two vocoders to create a stereo effect, sending different sounds to each side of the stereo field.
Stevie's Innovative Use Of Sampling In Music
Bill also shares some interesting details about the sampling process, particularly the use of the Computer Music Melodian, the first sampler ever made. He describes the challenges they faced in sampling the bass line and the late-night call to Harry Mendel, the creator of the Melodian, to troubleshoot a glitch.
Conclusion
Overall, Bill's blog post provides a comprehensive and insightful look at the technical aspects of programming synthesizers for "Happy Birthday." He shares his expertise and passion for music with the reader, making the blog post both informative and engaging.
Here are some links to the gear that Bill speaks about:
iZotope RX7, A Game-Changer For DAW-Based Music
With its sound repair and isolation abilities, iZotope RX7 is innovative, intelligent and powerful music software. Not only can you erase audio problems, but you can also manipulate samples in cool ways. Jake One shows how you can take a single sample of layered music, and separate it into stems. With a few clicks, you’ve got the vocals, percussion, bass, etc as its own stem. This is possible with the Music Rebalance function. With it, you can enhance or isolate mix elements, or perform vocal isolation without multi-tracks. Furthermore, the assistive audio technology of the Repair Assistant will remove noise clicks or crackles. Multi-channel editing workflow in RX7 will assist in all your surround projects with the support of the Dolby Atmos 7.1.2.
Where To Download Your Copy
This groundbreaking software by iZotope is available as a digital download here at Amazon. In this marketplace, you've got plenty of reviews by consumers and numerous price options. Prices range between $129.00 and $1,199.00, depending on which version you choose. Or you can download a more recent version of iZotope's RX software here at PlugInBoutique. Jake One also uses Serato Sample in his beat-making demo, which is available here at Amazon.
Fix-It With The Repair Assistant
Repair Assistant will resolve your most common audio issues faster than ever. For instance, let’s say the guitar solo of your track is distorted or clipped. Open up the Repair Assistant on the top right-hand side of the screen. Make sure it is in music mode and when you’re ready, begin an analysis of the audio. Next, the software will detect audio problems and provide comparative suggestions in the repair options pane. As you hover over the repair options, tooltips show what the repair assistant did to the audio. You will also see the specific modules that solved the problem. If you’re happy with the results of the audio analysis, press render. Once the render is done, the Repair Assistant provides a repaired audio file.
Shape Up Your Sounds With De-Bleed
The audio repair abilities of RX7 will clean up a vocal performance and remove guitar squeaks. This thing can even remove track bleed, like when the performer is too close to the microphone. When you need to remove that headphone click bleeding into that vocal mic, employ RX7’s De-Bleed option. Just select the source of the bleed in your audio, and slide it into another track. Choose from the drop-down menu and select press to learn. This function will analyze the relationship between the two tracks and as a double-check. As a result, it will make sure things are in the right place. So the next time you have track bleed, select the source and then use the De-bleed option. If you don't have access to the source track of the bleed, you can still isolate the vocal from the other instruments. For example, if someone is singing and playing guitar, just use the Music Balance function.
Move, Isolate And Repurpose With Music Balance
In Music Balance, you can shift, isolate and move around different elements of a stereo mono or even multitrack file. For example, you can change the loudness of a vocal, bass or drums within a single track. In addition, you can suck only the vocal parts out of a track. With all that said, this single function within iZotope's software presents many creative possibilities. Once you turn it on, a myriad of possibilities of sound manipulation awaits you.
A New Way To Flip Your Samples
Music Balance isn’t just for resolving track bleed, you can also use it to flip samples. From his studio, Jake One isolates a couple of his favorite tunes with the function to provide himself with a new palette of sounds. As a result, the super-producer uses this innovative software to take sample-based production to a new level. Therefore, dig back into your vinyl collection and dream of new ways to get sounds you couldn't before. Jake shows how to repurpose sounds for loop creation using the sounds isolation technology of iZotope RX7.
Conclusion
RX7 is sort of like a photo editor for your audio. Most engineers and producers are used to seeing a waveform while they work. However, iZotope RX7 changes all that with a detailed spectrogram visual of your audio file. With this visual display of your audio, you have much more information to work with. For instance, you can see and fix audio issues such as track bleed visually. Then once you identify the audio issue, you can just paint it away. As a result, you have a whole new way of thinking about audio and tackling audio problems.
"A timeless collection of hand-crafted Beats, and lavish Instrumental sounds awash with stunningly textured sounds and old-school production. It’s all 100% Royalty Free, bringing incredibly rich textures and analogue warmth to your mix, and unparalleled Beats like you’ve never heard before! Freddie Joachim is a hip-hop producer who was born in the Philippines, and raised in San Diego, CA. An avid listener and collector of Hip hop, Jazz, and Soul Music, Freddie began DJing in 1996, and progressed into recording, production and musicianship shortly after.
He’s released full-length albums `In With Time’, followed by `Midway’, `DUST’ and, in 2016, a double vinyl LP of instrumentals entitled `Trouvaille’. He runs Mellow Orange records along with friend, Yusai, and has licensed music for brands like DC Shoes, Nike, Adidas, K-Swiss, Monster Energy and more.
Freddie Joachim Jazz Hop Classics has 1.49 GB of content with an astonishingly unique sound, featuring Loops, One Hits and Sampler Patches lovingly produced with a devastating impact and melodic energy. Combining the best of the hardware and software world, Freddie brings blissful instruments and the best sounding Drums on the scene. This hugely atmospheric sample pack features Flutes, Horns, Strings, Grand Piano, Rhodes, Guitars, Rhodes, Moogs and more." - Loopmasters
Step into the studio with Jake One as he demonstrates how he created the Tuxedo jam with Mayer Hawthorne "2nd Time Around". From boom-bap to Boogie, Jake One aka Snare Jordan leads the way in a new movement of Hip Hop-based producers who are unafraid to explore their musical boundaries.
With the art of Boogie-Funk down-pat on their 2nd time around as a duo, Tuxedo aka Jake One & Mayer Hawthorne team up with Stones Throw Records for a couple bonus collectors items to support their "Tuxedo II" album.
Get the 7" single "Thank You", a bonus cut from Tuxedo's 2017 sophomore LP and the Tuxedo t-shirt here at Turntable Lab.
"Meet Alejandra Fierro Eleta, the woman behind this stunning archive of Caribbean and Latin American records.
“I made my music like Robinson Crusoe made his hut… According to my own needs.” Alejandra Fierro Eleta is the founder of Gladys Palmera, a peerless archive of Latin American music and radio broadcast station based in Madrid.
Considered one of the greatest collectors of music from the region in the world, her archive now includes over 50,000 recordings on LP, 78rpm, 7″ and CD, with an expanding collection of music films and DVDS. While the collection now also spans music from beyond the region, Elata’s true passion is for the vocal and dance music of the Caribbean, particularly from female artists or “Latin divas” whose romantic and nostalgic sentimentality strike a chord with Elata.
To give you an introduction to her collection, we’ve created an abridged and subtitled edit of this 15-minute film, revealing the motivations behind the collection and just why she believes the music has such power to resonate." - Vinyl Factory
Vinyl Factory's 2017 Marcos Valle mix:
01. Marcus Valle – Bicicleta (1984)
02. Marcus Valle – Nem Paleto Nem Gravata (1973)
03. Marcus Valle – Dia D (1983)
04. Marcus Valle – Ta Tudo Bem (1986)
05. Marcus Valle – Freio Aerodinamico (1970)
06. Marcus Valle – Os Ossos Do Barao (1973)
07. Marcus Valle – Tiu-Ba-La-Quieba (1973)
08. Marcus Valle – Malena (1972)
09. Marcus Valle – Revolucao Organica (1972)
10. Marcus Valle – Voo Cego (1972)
11. Marcus Valle – O Cafona (1971)
12. Marcus Valle – Agua de Coco (2003)
13. Marcus Valle – Bahia Blue (1997)
14. Marcus Valle – Garra (1971)
15. Marcus Valle – Vinte e Seis Anos de Vida Normal (1971)
16. Marcus Valle – Estrelar (1983)
17. Marcus Valle – Esphera (2010)
18. Marcus Valle – Demoacustico (1972)
19. Marcus Valle – Bar Ingles (1997)
20. Marcus Valle – Abandonou (1997)
Step into the TekLab as one half of the duo Reflection Eternal shares beats from his personal archive for 2017. Hi-Tek makes it bang for the first time using IG streaming technology and makes it a memorable event with a selection of joints to make your head nod plus a story of how he first got introduced to Rakim by Dr. Dre while in the studio.
DJ Concept presents a collection of joints from Tekzilla, in a tribute mix hosted by the one and only, Hi-Tek. Nati stand up!
Nod your head to a classic sound of Brooklyn-bred Hip Hop as Buckshot & DJ Evil Dee hit the studio and worked on some new music, a moment of creativity fueled by the rare occurrence of the Black Moon. As always DJ Evil Dee remains present on the wheels of steel and blesses Tony Touch's show with an expert display of skills. Stay tuned for the group to drop new music soon.
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