New Justin Timberlake song.

[gek-opel]

One thing tho- I doubt Timba does his own mastering. Almost no one does. Would he even get final say on how hard-compressed a finished master was on a major label pop project? I doubt it.

 

[mistersloane]

yes, i have been pondering this myself. there may be a different aesthetic at work. but other HipHop/RnB sounds much more "glossy" in terms of production. if you listen to records where not all tracks are timbaland, like aaliyah's selftitled last, you hear that it doesn't quite sound like a timbaland production in terms of finishing. i'd really like to know the rationale behind this part of the timba sound.

There's the interview in Scratch mag with him I think in which he talks about not being bothered about the mistakes and going with the feel of the work, keeping the sound of static and hum from the leads, that sort of thing...he's described as being the opposite of Dr Dre which regard to polish on his work. I THINK it's that article, give me a year and I'll dig it out...

 

[Tactics]

good observation....

This is definitely a big part of it.

I also think he's very good at leaving a space in the mix to let the voice dominate, whereas a lot of other r'n'b production is all about slamming everything together and leaving no gaps.

His drum sounds are usually either deep and muffled or pitched up and bright... very rarely occupying that more traditional Primo-style middleground of "Boom Bap" drums. This leaves a big hole in the upper midrange for the vocals and synths / whatever.

'promicious girl' is a recent spot on example of this....

 

[Mr. Cheese]

Timbaland's Wikipedia entry mentions a protégé of his, Nate "Danjahandz" Hill, who's supposedly "evident in Timbaland's rejuvination in music." Does anybody know what they mean and if so who is he (google only turned up production credits for Loose, SexyBack and the upcoming Keri Hilson album)? Timbaland's description of his relationship with Timberlake in that Guardian piece is very illuminating I think, he really seems to believe they have a special chemistry (cynical me thought he was in it for the cash and/or the exposure). My Love is ravishing.

 

[DavidD]

One thing tho- I doubt Timba does his own mastering. Almost no one does. Would he even get final say on how hard-compressed a finished master was on a major label pop project? I doubt it.

Yeah but the question is what the shit sounds like prior to being mastered, what he's doing to the sound....right?

 

[DJ PIMP]

For years Tim has used Jimmy Douglas to engineer:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Sep02/articles/douglass.asp

Dunno about mastering tho.........

 

[baboon2004]

Sorry to deviate for a sec, but am I completely weird in not getting the new Timberlake at all? It sounds oddly formulaic and, well, too linear... And kinda much more like a Neptunes beat than Timbaland (if I'd had to guess with no prior knowledge).

Whereas I thought 'Maneater' was contender for single of the year.

Jesus, I am weird.

 

[Norma Snockers]

Sorry to deviate for a sec, but am I completely weird in not getting the new Timberlake at all? It sounds oddly formulaic and, well, too linear... And kinda much more like a Neptunes beat than Timbaland (if I'd had to guess with no prior knowledge).

Whereas I thought 'Maneater' was contender for single of the year.

Jesus, I am weird.

Haha!

 

[borderpolice]

There's the interview in Scratch mag with him I think in which he talks about not being bothered about the mistakes and going with the feel of the work, keeping the sound of static and hum from the leads, that sort of thing...he's described as being the opposite of Dr Dre which regard to polish on his work. I THINK it's that article, give me a year and I'll dig it out...

it's interesting to hear this. i also always thought of timbo and dre occupying opposite pole of t he spectrum, with the latter doing the polishing of (fairly minimal) classical pop productions, while the former just knocks together a million little ideas with little regard to conventional sonic coherency, and overall gloss.

i also do wonder how much of the stuff attributed to dre is done by himself. he would probably have a million soundboys working for him, trying to become the next big shot. tim's sound seems more coherent, in its incoherency.

 

[mistersloane]

it's interesting to hear this. i also always thought of timbo and dre occupying opposite pole of t he spectrum, with the latter doing the polishing of (fairly minimal) classical pop productions, while the former just knocks together a million little ideas with little regard to conventional sonic coherency, and overall gloss.

i also do wonder how much of the stuff attributed to dre is done by himself. he would probably have a million soundboys working for him, trying to become the next big shot. tim's sound seems more coherent, in its incoherency.

yeah Dre is famous for having other people make beats and then 'executive producing' them...it's a credit to him that he has such a coherent sound that even if the beat is made by someone else, it's still sounds like him. He also works with a close-knit group of musicians who I'd imagine must be shit tight by now.
In that Scratch interview, Timb also talks about listening to nothing but big band music, the marching drums, which is a great tip.

 

[borderpolice]

In that Scratch interview, Timb also talks about listening to nothing but big band music, the marching drums, which is a great tip.

with all these amazingly varied influences, i'm surprised that he doesn't get sidetracked with crappy attempts at other styles, like so many others.

 

[Tim F]

He did make a "proper" desi track about two years ago which sank without a trace.

 

[anhhh]

About Dre. I remember reading how John Cale went to the studio where Dre was recording. Cale said that he played the music at almost 120 dB so he can feel the frequencies in his guts. And also he had some people checking all the gear because the pieces start to vibrate and get into the mix. Mr. Cale was very amazed that he destroyed three sub-woofers (like they use in cinemas).

That SFJ piece about Timbaland was also in ILM. (http://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=4274227)

 

[gek-opel]

Whose going to replace Timba/Neptunes tho? Are there already the candidates waiting in the wings? I'm sure there are accomplished producers, but are they not working within the bounds of the aesthetic mapped out by Timba?

 

[hint]

Whose going to replace Timba/Neptunes tho? Are there already the candidates waiting in the wings? I'm sure there are accomplished producers, but are they not working within the bounds of the aesthetic mapped out by Timba?

Polow Da Don
Mr. Collipark

 

[Blackdown]

There's the interview in Scratch mag with him I think in which he talks about not being bothered about the mistakes and going with the feel of the work, keeping the sound of static and hum from the leads, that sort of thing...he's described as being the opposite of Dr Dre which regard to polish on his work.

i love this dichotomy. producers spend days cleaning things up only to rough them back up later ... its a constant battle between different types of cleanlyness and dirt.

 

[Gabba Flamenco Crossover]

i love this dichotomy. producers spend days cleaning things up only to rough them back up later ... its a constant battle between different types of cleanlyness and dirt.

The idea is to record it clean, then at least you have the option of roughing it up in post production. Contrary to what people believe, there's only so much you can do with a dirty/distorted recording even with digital technology.

When people talk about the roughness/smoothness of RnB production, bear in mind what the reference point is. Compared to the way Luther Vandross & Whitney Houston records were made in the 80s (records that a lot of today's producers grew up with), contemporary RnB is made quite cheaply and has a few rough edges. But it's still pretty slick compared to the bulk of a typical dissensian's playlist.

Personally, the dichotomy I love in RnB is that between the relatively lofi backing trax & the super-glossy vocal production. I would bet that for a typical RnB record 80-90% of the budget is spent on vocal production.

 

[stelfox]

Whose going to replace Timba/Neptunes tho? Are there already the candidates waiting in the wings? I'm sure there are accomplished producers, but are they not working within the bounds of the aesthetic mapped out by Timba?

Rick Rock - by far the most interesting producer around right now

 

[mistersloane]

Rick Rock - by far the most interesting producer around right now

seconded

 

[mistersloane]

Timbaland interview in The Guardian. Looks like he's calling out to Michael Jackson. I would fucking burn orphans alive for that collaboration to happen.