Episode 51 - Bainz
Show Notes
Live with Matt Rad - Episode 51
May 01, 2021
w/ Bainz - Week 1
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Bainz is Young Thug’s engineer.
Started working with Thug 4 years ago as his recording engineer.
He’s never seen anyone be in the studio more than Thug is.
There is no time to take any more gigs because he’s so wrapped up in the sessions.
He came up in the studio doing the intern/engineer route.
Having a Creative Family
More important than being in the big music cities: find a family of musicians and creative collaborators that you can come up with.
It’s powerful to be working with the same people. You build trust and workflow. That’s the big thing. Trust and loyalty.
Bainz:
Being an engineer is like being in the hospitality business.
You have to take care of the clients. That comfort really, really helps.
It took a lot to build that trust with Thug.
Luck is the point at which preparation and opportunity meet.
Thug is one of the hardest, most demanding, people for engineers to work for.
When someone sees you flying through shortcuts on the DAW, that puts a level of confidence in the artist.
That’s a skill that you need to have as a tracking engineer.
He likes to duplicate playlist instead of making new playlists on every take.
The whole tracking template is very simplistic, but it just works.
Thug knows exactly how to get around on the template and he really knows how to use Pro Tools.
He needs to have control over it so that he can execute his crazy ideas himself.
We use Izotope RX so much. Because we record in the control room.
It feels like a performance in the studio when we’re tracking.
It’s like a live record.
If there’s a technical issue. You can’t stop the vibe in the room to troubleshoot it. Sometimes you have to let it pass.
Matt:
It’s not about always getting the best possible sound. It’s about getting the best possible sound out of a situation that’s not ideal.
The best photographers know how to get the best shots but they also know when to press the trigger.
Young Thug’s Vocal Chain
Sony C800 Mic
It works on most records.
251 works on a lot of records, but you have to work a little harder on some records. It doesn’t have the same presence.
Neve 1073 Preamp
Tubetech CL1B Compressor
DBX 902 De-esser
Subtracting 4k or 2k.
He’s huge on pulling out stuff from the recording.
Summit TLA100 Compressor/Limiter.
Got a Fearn preamp.
It was so good that he had to turn off all additive stuff he had set up.
Lots of clip-gaining and clip effects.
Opt + 6 Key command
Is a Pro Tools HDX only feature.
Pro Q3
OD De-Edger by Tokyo Dawn Labs
De-esser that’s a little more focused.
Has two of them
One cutting 200-250
One cutting a little 4k
Kazrog True Iron Saturator
Soothe 2
Everything he’s done in the chain up to this point is cutting.
Very subtle moves up to this point.
Acustica - Ruby 2
The DSP version of the Fearn.
This is what’s adding a lot of bottom or top.
He’s using it like you would a Pultec.
He’s doing very subtle moves on all of these tools.
Acustica - Ultramarine 4
Fairchild clone plugin.
Probably for EQ to remove anything that’s poking out.
He loves the exciter on there.
Two bands in warm mode. That’s the only mode that he uses.
Gullfoss EQ
Doing mysterious stuff.
Uses it in small increments.
Don’t overdo it. Only doing up to 20% on most projects.
He doesn’t usually use it.
It was probably to get rid of some extra refinement.
Parallel Distressor.
Capitol Chambers
It’s so easy to go overboard on these plugins. Don’t overdo it.
Ozone Spectral Shaper.
Like a more targeted Soothe.
———
Travis Scott is very particular and doesn’t like to send his vocals out.
How do you survive long, relentless hours?
At some point you have to take a nap while another job is being done.
It’s a lot of adrenaline where you can’t sleep.
For an artist like Thug, when you announce a record on Monday that it’s coming out on Friday, suddenly everyone wants to get on the record. From there it gets crazy.
Thug is constantly putting him through crazy challenges, but he always delivers.
He is constantly pushing Bainz, but he knows exactly what he’s doing.
You need to be open to the artist’s “bad” mix notes. The good ones know what they are doing.
Q: How do you get 808s to feel punchy or exciting?
Prep stage. Vocal cleanup. 808
Getting everything in the session together.
Make a chart. Who is the producer?
Get the stems. That’s always a mission in itself.
Now he can get the producer on the phone and get the stems easily.
I work off of the 808 always.
You have to always watch for phase and double check that it’s not working destructively.
The only way hardware delay will go away is if you’re using Avid hardware.
With the 808 he usually always has 1 or 2 parallels.
Little Labs VOG is a common choice.
Sometimes we’ll add a kick on the 808 just for the punch. Very subtly.
Do clip fades on 808s to duck them away from the kick sample.
How do you get the 808 to speak on small speakers?
VOG. It’s very easy to overdo it.
Sometimes we’ll automate different amount of saturation on certain 808 notes.
Sometimes the lower notes need an extra saturation so that you can hear them.
The last step is usually vocal effects and then vocal rides post compression.
