GHF Presents the Producer Q&A Series Part 2: Kraddy

I am very excited and pleased to announce that Kraddy is going to shed some light upon his production techniques with our forum. He will be answering the first handful of questions that get posted here.

"Known as a pioneer of electronic music, Kraddy is one of the most innovative and remarkable artists of his day. He stands as a visionary in his field, a fresh voice that spans genres and artistic style. Hybridizing hip hop, dubstep and dancehall with digital edits and cuts, Kraddy's music is a voice from the future awakening our ears and minds to what is yet to come.

Originally from NY, Kraddy (born Matthew Kratz) began his musical career in San Francisco releasing his debut album, Truth Has No Path, in 2003. With the release of the single "Faux Show" (a remix of The Old Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya",) Kraddy became an underground favorite in the electronic music world. After a handful of vinyl breakbeat releases, Kraddy changed the game once again with his sophomore effort, The Illegal Album. Fueled by fierce beats and searing edits, The Illegal Album was a radical fusion of Kraddy's unique production chops with classic hip hop and dancehall acapellas. It was hailed as a breakthrough and soon after led to his collaboration with the Glitch Mob.

As a founding member of the Glitch Mob, Kraddy continued to innovate the sound and possibilities of digital music. It was during this time that Kraddy released "Android Porn", a track hailed as the anthem of the "glitch hop" genre. With its epic melody, dramatic builds and unrelenting beats and bass, "Android Porn" marked a milestone in the creation of a sound so fresh, no one had a name for it.

After several more well-received releases with the Glitch Mob, Kraddy struck off on his own to pursue his solo career as a producer and performer where he continues to tour worldwide with his futuristic fission of dubstep, hip hop and dancehall.

Kraddy's most recent projects include remixes for Mochipet and Echaskech as well as an Android Porn Remix EP. Also highly anticipated in 2010, is Kraddy's new series KRADDY NEXT LEVEL MASH-UP - a collection of Kraddy's custom mash-ups. A new album should be out this summer. Based on his recent work, fans and fellow producers alike eagerly await to see how Kraddy will reinvent the game once again." [source]

wow many thanks for doin this one man

may as well go ahead and get the general questions out of the way ::

what gear/software/plugins do you use most frequently ? what is your background musically ? when was the last time you played an impromptu afterparty in a barn in the middle of a cornfield ?

cheers and thanks again

Do you use any VSTs in performance? If so, which ones?

And further more... any favorite VSTs you use in production?

Awesome thread!

Was wondering how you typically split up your work flow when producing? I.e. full writing sessions vs. Finding sounds/synth creation/experimentation.

Thanks a lot!

First off thanks for taking time to answer our questions.


What software do you use for production & sequencing?

What do you use to make bass & what are some tips for creating a full, fat bass line

how long do you usually spend on making a track?

Yea thanks for taking the time to do this for us. Very much appreciated.

I am pretty interested in finding quality drum samples or programs... what is the best app for a nice and fat decayed kick drum?

When you incorporate such a potent kick drum into your mixes, what does it look like down the road in the mix for you? What level is such a kick at in order to accentuate its presence w/o overpowering the other tracks you have playing?

I think from there I guess I'm generally interested in the low-end part of your sound. How to get a nice low-end to mix in with highs (lush to sharp)?

Thanks again Kraddy! Hope to see you back out in Colorado in the near(er) future!!

Peace

Ok. The basics:
I played a variety of instruments growing up and I still do. I took piano lessons as a kid - I remember learning The Rose for some recital. Then I took drum lessons - I never practiced so I sucked and I think for one lesson we just sat there and listened to YYZ the whole time.. I played percussion in band and marching band all that. Learned guitar in college... Recently I've been back into piano and I'm the ballad king. I can play 6 songs. Faithfully, Purple Rain, Against All Odds, Desperado, Maybe Im Amazed, and Wonderwall. After that, if shes not impressed, you've got no chance.

Gear:
I'm on Logic on a Mac. Logic's native plugins are key to my workflow. I use all of them at different times with an EQ and compressor on most channels. Other companies I love are:
iZotope
reFX
Rop Papen
Spectrasonics
NI
FAW

Occasionally, for a quick and dirty mashup I'll do it in Live because the time stretching is so easy.
I use a lot of different plugins and I'm always trying out new ones but those are my mainstays.

K

I pretty much try and use all native Live plugins during performance to lower the chance of a crash. live have been really bad about crashing on me lately and it sucks. My favorite plugin is probably the EVP88 for logic - I just love the Rhodes sound.

What Ive been doing recently is writing short bits. I found its great if I can get into the rhythm of writing a loop a day - of anything - doesnt matter. Just some phrase of music. I have a multitude of my custom presets, so I just go to my basic drums and synth and just have at it. A week later I go back and re-listen to everything and I can tell whats good and whats not right away. I pick the best ones and I start finessing the sounds in those tracks and experimenting and building the track.

K

what kind of midi controllers are you using in your studio & also how is your live setup?

Your production question is answered above.

For sub I use the Vanguard. Set to a sine wave. And I run it in mono. Then I'll put the Albino, Circle, Massive, EVP88, Reaktor, bass guitar...etc over that to give it some life.

4 weeks. Tracks can take me a while. I like to get into every little thing. I run a lot of automation and I always create custom sounds for transitions for each track. My newest tracks have several different sections, and each section could be a track on its own, so that takes a lot of time.

K

I use Battery or the ESX24 for my drum sounds. I have loads and loads of samples and I tend to layer 2 or 3 sounds for a kick - a sub boom and some higher pitched creaks. But honestly, recently I've just been using the Android Porn kick with minor adjustments. Its so huge I dont feel like reinventing the wheel every time.
But with drum sounds in general I want each drum to have a voice and a texture. The drums should sounds interesting enough that they are a little song of their own.


As for mixing, I try and mix low, so the mains top out on the first yellow. I think I get a better mix that way. I give the kick a pump on its high end and a bump at 80 - 250. Sometimes I roll off everything below 50 - depending on whether the kick is supposed to be the sub or not.

I will be at The Ogden in Denver Oct.16 with Ana Sia and Eliot Lipp. Its gonna be off the hook cause thats how Denver does it!!

K

In my studio I have a Radium 49. That's it. I've had it for years and its still going strong. Live I use the Trigger Finger to play Ableton Live. I guess they stopped making them...I'm glad I glued my knobs and sliders on.

Thanks a lot for answering my first question, I like the idea of writing tons of short clips and giving some time to decide if they are worth developing. Also, getting a pile of presets to choose from is something I will be doing tonite. I have another question that has been burnin my brain for quite some time..

Do you slap a groove on your drum pattern or synth/melody? If so, any particular groove?

Yeah. Saving presets is KEY. So important. Now when I'm done with a song I go thru and save all the new synth sounds I created for that song as channel strips - with effects and all. It makes writing so much faster and mor eimportantly, you start creating a palette for your sound.

I don't use any pre-programmed grooves for quantization. Its either straight quantized or recorded the way I played it in. Then I go in and mess with he lengths and volume of the midi notes to get it the way I want.

K

often I work up a groove that is very simple and minimal and think, "this is just beautiful. i want to make it a song but i don't want to add other sections. i don't even want to add other layers." does that ever happen to you? what do you do?

Yeah. Sometimes thats the whole song. I usually just throw it on the album, call it an interlude.

K

Hi Kraddy!

So, i don't have a technical question. But i'm curious, where do you get inspiration? Do you hear a beat in your head and find a way to get the sound out? Do you just experiment on Logic and see what sounds good together? After making music for so long, i am just so amazed you still pump out quality music! Kudos!!

Thanks for the non-tech question. Feel free to ask me anything music or music biz related, even if its not about gear or production.

I find inspiration everywhere. I try to be open to find it in any sound I hear. I'll find one part of a song or a phrase that just clicks something in my head. Sometimes I hear something in my head to start but usually I have to throw something down, anything to get started. Sometimes I just bang on the keys and I hear a cool lick. I use the random button all day. I love movies so I'm always half listening for sound fx or music or dialogue bits that I can bite. I have no issue stealing stuff, because by the time I'm done with it, its so twisted from the original that no one knows but me, even when I point it out to them while we're listening. I record stuff on my phone all the time too - just weird little sounds or atmospheres. I think the key is being open to finding inspiration anywhere, inside or outside the studio.

K

ok but say you do want to make it into a full song. what techniques would you employ to stretch the length and make it interesting while keeping it focused on that core idea?

Great.. thanks a lot for your time! Very helpful info in this thread..

As an innovator and one of the "creators" essentially of Glitch Hop as a genre - what advice do you have for smaller producers and DJ's you wish you had known about when you originally started? Were there any hard lessons to be learned that we as artists should be looking to avoid or does that knowledge just come with experience?

What do you think is the most important part of a live show (as an artist and as a spectator)?

Also,




This is the best ish I've heard in a while.

How tiring is touring all the time? Are there nights when you get on and just feel like you don't want to be there?

Also, how rehersed are your live sets? Being often a headline act, do you find this gives you the ability to play a more rehersed set? Or does it add presure to kill it every time?

Sorry for the bombardment, been enjoying your answers!

what goes on your reuben: pastrami or corned beef?

God Damn Man! Thanks for doing this..

My first question, after reading the bio in the intro would be;

True or False: " A new album should be out this summer."

Secondly, when doing the tracks for the Illegal Album or any remix for that matter, did you have an idea of the track you were remixing before you started producing, or was the acapella or other remix parts added in to a track in progress?

Does your workflow or process change when doing a remix, as opposed to working on an original piece?

And lastly, has the success of Android Porn made finding a label to release your music any easier, is this something you deal with on your own?

Thanks again kind sir.