More Dr. Dre Tips and Techniques Straight from His 2001 Magazine Interview 

Nice video bruh. OG here, started producing in ‘94. I studied Chronic 2001 very closely back in the day and it took me about 4 years to get to that sound level in my home studio, by around 2004. The game changer for me at that time was getting access to the UAD-1 plugin system, which was a huge step up from stock plugins at that time. The other game changer was I bought 2 UA-LA610 mic pres around that time and I tracked all my hardware sound modules through those with light compression and into an Apogee Rosetta 800 with Big Ben master clock. I had Reason 2.5 with the drum refill which allowed me to link drums into my DAW straight out of Reason so my kicks and snares were finally on par with Dre. I’d say up until 2004 it was damn near impossible to get that Dre loudness in a home studio. The other thing is it really isn’t about the settings on the gear and plugins so much as it is about sound selection, having the right arrangement that allows the track to breathe and not get too smushed when you throw a limiter on it. My cleanest tracks that pop the hardest typically have very little processing or plugins on them but excellent sound selection. Honestly I started to realize that the more plugins I used, the more mushy my mixes sounded. Less is more if you want that Dre sound. One other really important technique I learned was to play chords and melodies with my left hand not my right. If you sit down at a full size 88 key piano / controller, sitting in the middle, your left hand should be where you play your main chords or melody, your right hand is where the vocals and snare should occupy the sonic space. Before I leaned this my vocals were always competing with the melody but once I shifted the melody down an octave, my mixes opened up and got louder and bigger, and I could drive the limiters and clippers even harder on the drum bus, and master bus. Good video 🎉.

I've been a big fan of Dr Dré's for almost twenty five years. At first, I used to work with an ASR-10 because I learnt he had one for his drums. I read a lot of interviews such as this one. Depending on the era, Ilearnt a few of his tricks. here's a list of what i know and/or do: 1-Don't overcrowd your beat, less is more, as it leaves more space for the few elements of your final composition 2-While programming drums, try shifting the timing of simultaneous elements, even a micro-nudge can do the trick, as the human ear will will falsely assume they hit exactly at the same time and add up the amplitude "in the real world": this trick will help you avoid clipping 3-Among the machines Dr Dré as used at some point you can find a Studer tape recorder (to print the mix), a DAT machine he may still use even if the technology is somewhat obsolete because of a very specific type of clipping. 4-Nevermind if everything is hitting in the red area or clipping: trust your ears, if they tell you it's good, it's good, if they don't solve the problem 5-Use some official drums from Dr Dré's team of producers or known collaborators (you can find official packs from DJ Khalil, Focus, and Havoc) 6-If a sample sounds too small or lacks some frequencies and you can afford it, hire musicians to recreate it and record it with the best equipment you can. 7-All vocals are recorded through a C800G from Sony. Some instruments too. This mic is very expensive but so good you can record almost anything with it. Pointless if you don't have an excellent room to record though. 8-I managed to get very hard hitting drums close to Dré's sound with a combination of these plugins and parallel compression: Soundtoys Decapitator, Sonnox limiter and Sonnox Inflator, UAD LA2A and Urei 1176, Fairchild compressor, EMT250, Roland Dimension (this last one also emulated inside Serum Fx). 8-There is an effect in the ASR10 fx unit that is called Fast Pitchsh. No idea what it really does but I used it and had some success recreating some Dré sounds and also found it useful to emulate Timbaland's sound.

Very cool going through this article from an old mag. Thanks for finding this. The thing with the SSL channel compressors is that they tend to let the attack through, even at high ratios (unless set to fast attack, but even then on very fast transient material it still let's some of the transient through untouched) which is actually increasing the dynamic range because the attack is passing through before the compression is happening. That is why those compressors are known and loved on drums because they tighten up drums sounds and add more punch. When using the Brainworx SSL Channels make sure the little LED (Which is the fast attack setting) next to the release knob isn't engaged, cause you won't get the classic SSL punch with it engaged.

people should stop idolizing and learn the craft, if you really want to be like Dr.Dre fall in love with the craft like he did and in that you will discover your own greatness the same way he did and guess what else, You just might surpass him! ..dope ass beat and mix at the end by the way!!

Dope I still have this Eq Magazine with Dre on the cover

Great video, but at 23:38 area you said he came up the G funk theory, and that's just not true. He commercialized it, but Cold 187um from Ruthless Records Above The Law, Willie Hutch's nephew created that theory. him and Dre worked hand in hand, and during his leave and the start of death row, Warren G was close with laylaw and those guy's in above the law and they basically were influence and took the sound over there, with the help of Chris The Glove and Donovan the dirtbiker Smith they alll were taught how to use the ssl. Black Mafia Life was done in 92 same time NWA's Niggaz4life Album but ended up being help up due to label switches because they didn't want to call them Above The Law but Atl due to it sounding anti establishment,etc. so it came out 45 days after the chronic and if you listen to it, you can hear the same sample like Never missin a beat is dre day, parliament sample flip, its 187 on a mf cooop, that's cold187um whole persona if you listen to it. Living like Hustlers w freedome of speech, the last song, kickin lyrics that was originally all done by big hutch, cold187um. him and dre just went back and recut everything with ssl bc eazy wanted the record to be big and like in big studios, that was 89. Tupac first coined the word G funk (which was named by lawlaw kmg and Cold 187um) on a song with above the law in like 89 titled Call It What U Want, Eazy is in the beginning of the music video. Just to throw that in, and that's facts from their mouth. Alot of ppl skip over history and say Warren and Dre created G funk, but that's not true and in warrens 2018 documentary he stated that. They helped get it big, commercialize it; but that theory came from Gregory Hutchinson, Cold 187um Mansa Musa's mind. along with funky george clinton based harmonizing from Kokane.

Side chain to the bit crusher and side chain to a distortion plug in then blend them up when they return back. See how it sounds.

Man this is a super intriguing video salute to you bro for the content 🔥🔥🔥

Keep the content coming 💯 I’m learning the art with details

So what was dr Dre’s vocal chain? ... 1. mic > neve 1073 > SSL compressor > DBX 160 > Studer tape? Or was it... 2. mic > neve 1073 > DBX 160? Thanks 🙏🏻

A very nice combo to get that sound in hardware is wa 412 four channels and you could throw some pultecs on it, Presonus studio channel is based on a 1073 architecture and has the same 300 volt power rails to handle high volume signals as the Manly and Neve consoles keep in mind that a rack units power supply will not run as hot as the console. la Chapelle has rack and 500 series power supplies that will have a consoles power and if you want a really awesome sound on a budget get the Mackie 32.8.2 board and run it into a Presonus Quantum 4848 32 channels on d sub connectors in buckets of 8, then i would come out to a uad apollo x8p and use there plugins as your 8 bus. Then instead of going back in slam it to a real tape machine. Let the mastering house take your tapes and bring them up and into digital masters.

My boy went to Full Sail, and now he's $60,000 in debt with an old azz Mac Laptop😅. What he learned in the early 2000's, is now irrelevant today. No more big studios like they promised him he could go work in to make money to pay off debt. Sad story man, he hates music now. He's working construction with his pops.

DOPE BOY. ;P Mix & Master Passion here :D ♥

Great review G, we all know how Dre changed the game

Yo that memes thing is a GREAT IDEA. Hmmmmmmm I may try that. Dre is one of the BEST TO ME. He's a constant professional. My homeboys tell me I'm the local Dr Dre. Wowwwwwwwww I'm on my way. THE OUTSPOKEN. From Your Boy Poorhouzzzzzzzzz SALUTE

lol i just realized put that master fader back up, you only making your job harder. Gotta gain stage properly king

well done I mgot these plugins tooo. never thought about dr dre analog ware, do more keep it up. but that harrison is the shit .

Dre didn’t use MIDI sounds on Chronic 2001….Scott Storch played a lot of the keys in real time on the keyboard itself. He may have used the midi controller for some of the bass but I know the MPC 3000 has a lot of those bass sounds in the programs too. Another interesting fact is that Eminem’s aftermath studio now has the console that Dre use to use….that original 4050E series ssl…..it was originally Micheal Jackson’s.

I don't miss the tape days at all. I do wish i had back all the cool old gear i have had stolen though, Ah, nostalgia's just not what it used to be.

Dope keep up the secret sauce Stylez!!

Nerded out on the article about South African Studios. I am form SA by the Way. Amazing video!

It rivaled a 100,000 console and many late 80's and early 90's recordings were made using them.

I'm nerding so hard right now!

I kind of have some of these but i have never listened over the real consoles sorry i am digital like everyone else. So take or leave my suggestions. Oh try violet eq or bit crushing drums with tape plug in if you don't have fancy outboard gear.

Dropped some gems on us! Right after this video I went to listen to Kush by Dre. I wonder if you would like to share your comments on that sound. Keep up the great work!

Warm has a 1073 pre and three channel EQ

Atr 102 456 and Richard Dodd are a wonderful starting point, the Other tape is a more modern tape machine it might be the last of the tape machines made by studser The 800 will get you close, and remember most people will not be able to tell because they have never worked with these machines. They won't know what to listen too.. Dbx 160s are plentiful on Reverb

Dope channel!! Glad I came across it 🙏

Great presentation....cool EQ tip!

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!😎

It depends on the string sound but I actually will compress a long drawn out one tone string sound where I won’t compress a shifting up and down tone one…..hey since we are a hang out group….i have a question for anyone with feedback….has anyone ever had any experience with the weiss DB1 MK2? If so, let me know if I should look into it or maybe if you haven’t tried it out….softube has a whole weiss setup for like $600

I am veiw 400. This is a jem of a video.

So crazy from back then to now I’m 20 trying to produce get in the game makin g funk beats but all this new bs skinny Jean cats fuckin up my game with there trap beats

Oh fl studio board is very similar to a 1073 and tge compressor is modeled after dbx 166s

I have the studer A800 plugin from UAD but I will tell you that by far the greatest tape simulation if you want Drums and Bass is the UAD Fatso Sr.

Mushy drums jazz older r and b neve 1073 then later the 1073 rs but the old 1073 is smooth on older material.

1:1, 2:1, very slight amounts of compression with thst g bus

Hey thanks for this video, Love you

Sound craft and allen and Heath sound very similar to each other.

You have plenty of room at the end smiling

Awesome video thank you🎉

Leave the mastering engineer at least 2.5 db if your really confident if not leave em 3.5

Thank you for the insite on producing the way you mixed that beat was dope where do you get that plugin

Dre stuff starts at 19:13

Toft trident is also based on 1073 rs

Back in my Digi 001 G4 Mac days lol….

Mackie 32.8.2 is about 400.00 now a days

Vca vs opto compression vs valve

I think it's 9 on the lufs scale but i haven't been in front of a laptops simce my insider trading scandal just kidding

"dr dre, where the fuck is he"😂15:07

Actually so is the studio live

Dope video

2001: when they would make good music

Mcdsp, SSL, makes a g channel

Yeah uad only has the g bus not the console

You got a link to the website? Thanks for the video

Thank you bro

Api on drums

Yo bruh how can I contact you??

the J 37 plug in from Waves is actually modeled after a certain Studer Tape they had at Abbey Roads Studio . don't remember the exact version tho

53:00 liked it

Ian Shepherd still uses wavelab for his mastering work. Its on my list to buy, great post btw. Bless

God bless

video starts @ 19:06

Don't over compress

I dont like the high clap , i suggest u to buy a wmd kraken

19:00

39:40