April 24, 2013
Here's the truth. Beats By Dre headphones are way more hype than substance. Ok. I know they have a great heavy bass sound. And I love a great bass sound as much as the next hip hop head. It’s fantastic. But when the bass is overhyped as much as it is in these puppies, it’s difficult to get a real understanding of what kind of "real" bass sound you have going on in your song. And the more bass, usually the muddier the mix becomes.
There's no denying the fact that the company is brilliant at marketing. Genius level really. You aren’t cool now unless you own a pair. They have somehow made it the "iphone" of headphones. But in all honesty, I’d take my Sony headphones over Beats By Dre any day of the week in the studio. They reflect more of a real sound overall. And at half the cost, how can you beat that? But maybe that's just me.
Beats By Dre.
Provided by Brent Kolatalo , 5:36 pmHere's the truth. Beats By Dre headphones are way more hype than substance. Ok. I know they have a great heavy bass sound. And I love a great bass sound as much as the next hip hop head. It’s fantastic. But when the bass is overhyped as much as it is in these puppies, it’s difficult to get a real understanding of what kind of "real" bass sound you have going on in your song. And the more bass, usually the muddier the mix becomes.
There's no denying the fact that the company is brilliant at marketing. Genius level really. You aren’t cool now unless you own a pair. They have somehow made it the "iphone" of headphones. But in all honesty, I’d take my Sony headphones over Beats By Dre any day of the week in the studio. They reflect more of a real sound overall. And at half the cost, how can you beat that? But maybe that's just me.
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March 17, 2013
Just had an extremely productive week working in Toronto with my production partner Ken Lewis and Boi 1da. Always a great learning experience seeing the way other producers create.
We worked out of a new studio called The Post Office. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a studio in the Toronto area. The staff were absolutely amazing. Special shout out to the studio owner Chris Martin for going the extra mile for us while we were there. Really made it feel like home away from home. Can’t wait to go back.
Toronto
Provided by Brent Kolatalo , 5:36 pmJust had an extremely productive week working in Toronto with my production partner Ken Lewis and Boi 1da. Always a great learning experience seeing the way other producers create.
We worked out of a new studio called The Post Office. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a studio in the Toronto area. The staff were absolutely amazing. Special shout out to the studio owner Chris Martin for going the extra mile for us while we were there. Really made it feel like home away from home. Can’t wait to go back.
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February 23, 2013
I want to give a big congrats to Timeflies on their newly formed label Forty8Fifty that will be partnered with Island Def Jam Music Group. I recently mixed four songs off their latest E.P. that was #1 on the pop itunes chart for a straight week.
The amazing thing about these guys is that they built their fan base completely independently and mostly off of youtube videos by doing covers every Tuesday calling it “Timeflies Tuesdays”. It’s a really refreshing story how new bands are controlling their own destinies without major labels.
Below is the video of the single I mixed called "One Night"
TimeFlies
Provided by Brent Kolatalo , 5:36 pmI want to give a big congrats to Timeflies on their newly formed label Forty8Fifty that will be partnered with Island Def Jam Music Group. I recently mixed four songs off their latest E.P. that was #1 on the pop itunes chart for a straight week.
The amazing thing about these guys is that they built their fan base completely independently and mostly off of youtube videos by doing covers every Tuesday calling it “Timeflies Tuesdays”. It’s a really refreshing story how new bands are controlling their own destinies without major labels.
Below is the video of the single I mixed called "One Night"
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January 10, 2013
I used to get excited about the upcoming release date of records that I’ve worked on. I couldn’t wait to see my name on the credits. It was all your hard work finally paying off. Materializing in the physical form. But then came a hard realization that credits aren’t a given thing. I started getting left off of records mysteriously. Or my name would constantly be spelled wrong. After several of these incidents, I started dreading the release date. Anxiety would creep in. You just never knew what was or wasn’t going to pop up in those linear notes.
Long story short, I worked on the new Bruno Mars record on a song called “Young Girls”. They misspelled my last name. Fine. I understand mistakes happen. I get it. And I’m grateful that at least my credit was on there. My good friend Richard Adlam got left off the record. It’s just when these things constantly happen all the time it leaves me scratching my head. Is it that hard to double check your work? I’m not sure who’s actual job it is at labels to get these things straightened out but do they know that people’s livelihoods are based on credits? It’s extremely important. It’s verification for someone’s work. Otherwise, you’re just taking them on their word. And if you constantly had to do that then you’d start thinking Kevin Federline is the next Michael Jackson. And that’s just a world I don’t want to live in.
Bruno Mars
Provided by Brent Kolatalo , 5:36 pmI used to get excited about the upcoming release date of records that I’ve worked on. I couldn’t wait to see my name on the credits. It was all your hard work finally paying off. Materializing in the physical form. But then came a hard realization that credits aren’t a given thing. I started getting left off of records mysteriously. Or my name would constantly be spelled wrong. After several of these incidents, I started dreading the release date. Anxiety would creep in. You just never knew what was or wasn’t going to pop up in those linear notes.
Long story short, I worked on the new Bruno Mars record on a song called “Young Girls”. They misspelled my last name. Fine. I understand mistakes happen. I get it. And I’m grateful that at least my credit was on there. My good friend Richard Adlam got left off the record. It’s just when these things constantly happen all the time it leaves me scratching my head. Is it that hard to double check your work? I’m not sure who’s actual job it is at labels to get these things straightened out but do they know that people’s livelihoods are based on credits? It’s extremely important. It’s verification for someone’s work. Otherwise, you’re just taking them on their word. And if you constantly had to do that then you’d start thinking Kevin Federline is the next Michael Jackson. And that’s just a world I don’t want to live in.
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December 9, 2012
I worked on two records that were nominated for Grammys this year. Drake and 2 Chains. Both for best rap album of the year. I think Drake probably has a better shot at winning it. Not because it’s a better record or anything as they’re both great records, I just think he’s more well known to the Grammy voters. But sometimes you never know with these things. The Grammy voters can be unpredictable at the most predictable moments.
It’s interesting to see that there’s not one hip hop album up for Album of the Year. I think it might be reflecting the change that’s been going on in pop music. You hardly hear any hip hop anymore on mainstream radio. It’s all dance music with Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift sprinkled in. Personally, I’d like a little more variety. But maybe I’m the minority on that.
2013 Grammy Nominations
Provided by Brent Kolatalo , 5:36 pmI worked on two records that were nominated for Grammys this year. Drake and 2 Chains. Both for best rap album of the year. I think Drake probably has a better shot at winning it. Not because it’s a better record or anything as they’re both great records, I just think he’s more well known to the Grammy voters. But sometimes you never know with these things. The Grammy voters can be unpredictable at the most predictable moments.
It’s interesting to see that there’s not one hip hop album up for Album of the Year. I think it might be reflecting the change that’s been going on in pop music. You hardly hear any hip hop anymore on mainstream radio. It’s all dance music with Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift sprinkled in. Personally, I’d like a little more variety. But maybe I’m the minority on that.
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