Episode 10
Show Notes
Live With Matt Rad #10
July 26, 2020
w/ Donut
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Barter w mix engineers in order to get your song mixed by a professional if you don’t have the money. Offer them credit instead of their mix fee.
As a producer you need to be able to pull a team together and recruit talent. If you can’t do that then you need to focus on becoming better at that.
Donut believes in the concept of not being transactional in this industry. Help people out without asking for something in return.
If you’re hearing things on the radio then you are 6 months behind the curve. If you’re sending stuff that sounds like the radio to Donut then you’re in the past. Send him the future!
Think about how you can add value to people’s shit.
Having great material to offer is the best thing that you can offer.
What separates you from the rest of the pack?
Consistency also makes you stand out. If you can show up on time and be consistently positive that puts you ahead of 95% of everyone else.
Can you handle open criticism honestly?
If Donut didn’t do music he’d have been an architect.
If you don’t truly love something how can you expect to be a superstar in it?
Ableton is so much faster as a creative tool than Pro Tools.
Willie uses Ableton, FL Studio, and MPC in his setup. He started with a 2000XL.
He left Logic X because it was so ugly and they changed too many things that he was doing.
DECAP - Drums that Knock - Sample pack
Ableton hi-hats supposedly sound thinner than FL Studio. It may be that the bussing has a certain distortion that’s diff than the other programs.
Donut thinks Ableton sounds paper thin in some areas.
Logic sounds rich and full in a piano sound.
FL Studio is going to hit harder.
What Donut Likes About Each DAW:
MPC - Great for things that are sample based: Just Blaze style. For doing chops.
FL Studio - Surgical. For 808s and drums that knock. Sounds like present radio.
Logic or Cubase - For scoring
Reason - Reason is weird. He doesn’t like it. Maserati Sparks makes some really tight shit with Reason.
Pro Tools - The best thing ever. If it sounds shitty here it’ll sound shitty everywhere.
Reaper - Used to crash a lot and didn’t have a good recall.
Donut is purging himself of UAD plugins so that he doesn’t need to carry the satellite with him and can be mobile. He’s selling his UAD Octo.
Donut’s goal is to make FL Studio like Ableton.
The simplest advice is to make lots of shit. Study the greats,
Trap and Metro Boomin really saturated the sound for a long time.
If you do one thing well, run it up and get that bag. THEN go and do something different.
Some hit producers, when they have a hit song, they’ll open the same session and make it a point to use the EXACT same sounds to make another beat.
Matt’s journey as a writer/producer has always been about finding a new sound that’s inspiring to him.
When you talk about money, God leaves the room - Quincy Jones
Always go with life and love and pure intentions.
What is the “why”? Why are you doing this?
When money gets involved, that’s when the “why” gets tested.
The industry will pull you away from the why.
Donut has always been paid in other areas. He didn’t need to be in music to get paid.
There’s no plugin, including UAD, that doesn’t have that bright sheen. Get yourself a good vocal chain.
Undertone Preamp
1176 - Rev F Compressor
Portable Setup
Mac
Apollo or SSL2+ Interface
Neumann TLM 103 - Has a similar thing to a U87.
Golden Age Project Pre-73 MKIII
Mic Mod software - microphone modeling.
Q: How do you convince an artist to really go that extra mile in order to really nail a song?
Donut:
You can’t push an artist to go further if they’re satisfied with something that you feel isn’t there yet. At the end of the day, you need to trust the artist that you’re giving the music to.
If you’re challenging an artist, then you’re not trusting them. (I think that’s what he said).
Matt:
Rick Rubin and Pharrell’s entire thing is getting people to be the best that they can be all the time. Being cheerleaders, babysitters, best friends, mentors, etc.
