Episode 65
Show Notes
Live with Matt Rad - Episode 65
September 7, 2021
w/ Teezio - Week 2
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Matt:
You will win with your community.
More and more it’s about the creative community.
The reality is that you win by being pro-community and pro-positivity with your friends and the people you already know and have in your circle.
The reason people rely on us is our ability to get things done and take care of everything.
We’ve got the relationships, the reliability, and we get things. This is an underrated part of this job.
Teezio:
When I’ve got something due that needs to get done, it’s all that I can think about.
As soon as I get the files in I have to think about them immediately.
If I promise something by Thursday but can get it done Monday night, then I’ll deliver it immediately.
This also allows you take on last-minute gigs that pop up. This way things don’t pile up.
Matt:
This industry is a whole lot of last-minute deadlines from people who need things tomorrow.
Perhaps, if you want to be great at something you do it as soon and as often as you can.
It’s not healthy in the long run to do things obsessively and in an all-encompassing way.
Teezio:
Coming up under Juicy J, I got a lot of anxiety when I knew the pressure was on.
I would get cussed at and have things thrown at me all of the time.
That may have been what causes me anxiety about doing this immediately.
Sometimes I’ll do sessions for free, just to get in the room and get some hours in.
You’ll go crazy if you spend too much time consumed by the work.
You need time to have a life for yourself so that you can feel inspired.
It takes years of practice before you’re able to keep up with the artist’s needs in a session.
Sometimes getting into the room too early is a problem.
If I had gotten into the room with Chris Brown three years in I would have never wanted to work with him again because of the demands.
It’s difficult to train assistants because my workflow is so contingent on the nuances of any given session.
From moment to moment I wouldn’t even know what I needed until I was faced with it, so it’s hard to codify that stuff for someone else.
Matt:
The ideal arc to have an assistant seems to be 2-3 years.
Sometimes is 6 months to get them up to speed about how you like to work.
Q: How did you get connected with the main artists that you work?
Teezio:
I was introduced to Kid LaRoi through the producer Khaled.
I was also put on through my connections at Columbia.
Labels tend to have many engineers. I was just neck and neck with other engineers when it came time to pick someone for the projects.
Q: How do you feel about doing more pop stuff vs. hip hop and RnB?
Teezio:
The deadlines are a little less crazy in the pop world. Whereas the hip hop stuff is very last minute.
The pop stuff is far more calculated.
The songs are already approved and ready to go by everyone on the team.
In the pop world the producers are mixing the record before you even receive it. In hip hop the roughs are usually more rough and easy to improve upon.
The pop producers are printing all of the reverbs and effects on separate channels.
My job becomes taking the mix from 99% to 101%
Q: What are your go-to delays and reverbs?
Teezio:
Seventh Heaven reverb sounds amazing.
Valhalla sounds amazing.
I use the UAD Capitol Chambers
D-Verb (Pro Tools)
I don’t rely on a delay plugin to give me everything I need
H-Delay. Very easy to use.
Then I’ll layer on effects like Futz Box, flanger, etc…
I’ll only use the delay plugin for the actual repetition and get the vibe from the effects.
Sometimes I’ll put Soothe on there so that it doesn’t sound like it’s poking out.
I don’t like just having a plain delay on the sounds.
When it comes to mixing I don’t keep it plain unless that’s a part of the rough mix.
———
The Lil Nas X song session I received was 15gb zipped.
They printed everything out of Logic.
It’s really important to reference the rough mix constantly with producers who know exactly what they want.
All I have to do is make it thick in the mix and less harsh in places.
It should sound polished but as much like the demo as possible.
Q: What’s the process when doing a clean edit of a song?
Teezio:
Back in the day I would make clean edits super-exciting with lots of cool edits.
I did this on Spice 1’s records. Any of his clean versions.
Now I just go in there and mute the word. Sometime I’ll add a delay.
Labels don’t even want “Sh-“ anymore. They want it super clean these days.
I never get asked for clean versions in the Spanish-language songs I do.
Culturally it’s not a priority.
Matt: Maybe it’s because the FCC doesn’t speak Spanish.
Sometimes artists will provide alternate lyrics for the clean version.
Matt:
Radio Disney will make you remove instances of “empty glasses” because they suggest drinking.
Q: How do you get harshness out of vocals?
Teezio:
It’s a combination of things. It’s difficult to use just one tool because there are multiple types of harshness.
First I do Pro-Q3 scalpel notches.
Then I add Soothe, which can now work more efficiently cause I’ve gotten the big stuff out with Pro-Q3.
Chris Brown Vocal Chain
Teezio:
Telefunken 251 into CL1B compresor into Neve 1073 preamp.
I’m not using any of the Neve EQ stuff because I don’t want to commit to it.
Chris may be a little bright going in, but I’d rather solve that ITB.
I prefer the 251 because it’s less harsh than the C800 and has a more open top-end too.
Automation
Teezio:
I do this in multiple steps throughout the entire process. If I’m cleaning up the vocal I’ll use clip gain to do coarse moves before mixing.
This keeps me from having to go back and redo automation a 2nd time once I start to mix the vocal.
