Gadgetory

I think having a mobile setup can have its limitations but at the end of the day I can make something that sounds just as good as something that I would do in this studio when you think of how a hit song is made you might imagine it all happening in a big professional studio and you wouldn't be wrong most music has been recorded this way but in the past you usually had to be signed to a major label in order to get access to studios and these studios required a lot of space people and equipment now technology has advanced to the point where many of the tools needed to build a song can fit in the palm of your hand literally oak Felder is a songwriter and pop music producer who has worked with artists like Nicki Minaj Demi Lovato Alicia Keys uh sure and Jennifer Lopez to name a few oak may work with some of music's biggest players but what he uses to make their songs can mostly be done on a phone and laptop which allows him to work from anywhere in the world day to day how much are you actually doing on the go versus and a traditional space like this my main computer is a laptop so technically I'm mobile everywhere technically and in a lot of ways the setup that I have here is just a beefed-up version of what I would normally have on the road so it's the same thing just a little scaled up yeah so how it has mobile production personally empowered you or change the way that you work it's helped me a lot inspiration sort of strikes everywhere not only when you're in the studio right I get a lot of ideas when I'm asleep I believe it about I'll get up and I'll sit down it's like this little mobile rig that I have where there are times when I'm out and about and I'll think of a crazy lyric or I'll think really cool melody and I'll use my voice notes on my phone or I'll use the music notes app on my on my iPhone to just put the idea down think about how many hit songs do not exist because someone did not have access to technology or a way to put it down in the moment for sure I can sit in a car and do a track oh my god my computer to see how oak produces outside the studio we headed to a home recording session with singer and songwriters abaya they've been working on a project together and oak demos how he can build a be using software called battery as soon as we get in the car so I just hit actually that I put together and I do this a lot like when I know I'm gonna work with an artist I'll just like source different vibes or I'll just create them alright let's pull up logic I like to plugged in and drives plugged in so let's start with a kick that's my kick this is like super fascinating to you because I've never really seen anyone use the touch bar in this game really oh it's it's soaking in dongles so when we were in the car earlier that's where it started and when I walked in here and played it firm that's what they heard as they were writing the song I started adding more elements to it those elements include sounds and effects from plugins and samples in the past these elements would need to be created with hardware but now software can be downloaded or installed on a laptop these are used to create the foundation of the track next the vocals are added Hey on it gets me Western in my way got so busy counting numbers if I lose it watch me do it come with him on your way so she didn't record that lead vocal but after she recorded that we did all the background arrangements and that's where a lot of the track count comes from all of these layers are then stacked into a project in logic adjusted and then mixed for the final product how many layers of audio are there in here in this track well altogether the track plus the vocals there's a hundred and seventy seven tracks total yeah so that's every background every stack every crowd vocal every hi-hat every Thom every kick every snare every percussion every bassline every chord everything but the truth is is that all of these layers sort of grouped together to make singular things so when you listen to it with her I mean it sounds like there's a party happening like what's significant is not just that a laptop is mobile but software is powerful enough to essentially be a studio recently I did a record for Demi Lovato called sorry not sorry that has a gospel choir but that gospel choir is your stream and it literally is me and Shawn Douglas the other writer the writer on the record and Demi herself stacking our vocals like 40 times and I did it on my laptop and it did it no problem because the processing power did this processing power has given rise to a new generation of bedroom producers who don't need a studio to make music I think the technology has become the great equalizer I think we're all on an even playing field and now it's about skill now it's about who's just good that's actually true because we can have an even playing field but that means that everyone has to be better at what they do it's exactly right if the next bedroom producer comes up and does a better record than I do they're gonna overtake me so people's creativity will be unlocked but it's right it still it's the level of creativity that you have up here that's exactly right I think now we can be judged based on our actual capability versus our access now that the technology learning how to get out of the way what do you mean by that I think that should be the goal of Technology get out of my way that should be the goal and and and give everybody the access to that yeah somebody who doesn't know how to use Pro Tools very well has a damn good idea in their head and I think I think it's better for the art this video is sponsored by loft different by design