(energetic hip hop music)
(man beatboxing)
- He took a voice note of him just doing a drum pattern
and now the drum pattern is here.
- [Man] There it is.
(loud thudding kick drums)
- Listen to that.
Now we've already got the beginning of a song.
- I think having a mobile set up 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.
(metallic hip hop beat)
Oak Felder is a songwriter and pop music producer
who has worked with artists like Nicki Minaj,
Demi Lovato, Alicia Keys,
Usher, 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 in 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
upgraded. - Scaled up, yeah.
- So how has mobile production personally empowered you
or changed 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,
believe it or not.
I'll get up and I'll sit down at like
this mobile rig that I have.
Or there are times when I'm out and about
and I'll think of a crazy lyric
or I'll think of a really cool melody,
and I'll use my voice notes on my phone
or I'll use the music notes app 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.
- Yeah, for sure.
I can sit in the car and do a track on my computer.
- [Dani] To see how Oak produces outside the studio,
we headed to a home recording session
with singer and songwriter Zhavia.
♪ Gotta leave my candlelight burning ♪
- [Dani] They've been working on a project together
and Oak demos how he can build a beat using software
called Battery as soon as we get in the car.
- So I have this kit, actually, that I put together,
and I do this a lot.
Like when I know I'm going to work with an artist,
I'll just source different vibes
or I'll just create them.
Alright, pull up Logic.
Hi-Light's plugged in.
Hard drive's plugged in.
So let's start with a kick.
(phone playing beatbox drums)
(loud thudding kick drums)
That's my kick.
(loud thudding kick drums)
- [Dani] This is like super fascinating to me
because I've never really seen anyone
use the touch bar in this kind of way.
- [Oak] Oh really?
It's so convenient.
(loud thudding kick drums)
Plugging in dongles.
(thumping hip hop beat)
So when we were in the car earlier,
that's where it started.
And I when I walked in here and played it for 'em
that's what they heard.
As they were writing the song,
I started adding more elements to it.
- [Dani] 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.
♪ Ways ♪
♪ Son are ways to get it everyday ♪
♪ Only catch me resting in my grave ♪
♪ I'm too busy counting numbers ♪
♪ If I'm losing watch me do it better ♪
♪ Come on with another ♪
♪ On your way ♪
- Okay, so she did 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 all together, the track plus the vocals,
there's 177 tracks.
- What?
- Total yeah.
So that's every background, every stack,
every crowd vocal,
every hi-hat,
every tom,
every kick,
every snare,
every percussion,
every bassline, every chord,
everything!
But the truth is, is that all of these layers sort
of group together to make singular things.
So when you listen to it with her vocal.
♪ Got me made ♪
♪ They don't know I got a hundred ways ♪
♪ Hundred ways to get it ♪
- Oh yeah yeah yeah! ♪ Everyday ♪
- I mean it sounds like
there's a party happening behind you.
- [Dani] What's significant is not just
that a laptop is mobile,
but software is powerful enough
to essentially be a studio.
- [Oak] Recently I did a record for Demi Lovato
called Sorry Not Sorry that has a gospel choir,
but that gospel choir is yours truly.
♪ Baby I'm sorry ♪
♪ I'm not sorry ♪
- And it literally is me and Sean Douglas,
the other writer on the record
and Demi herself,
stacking our vocals like 40 times.
And I did it on my laptop,
and I did it no problem
because the processing power's there.
- [Dani] 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.
- [Oak] That'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 right.
It's 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 is 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.
(laughing)
Seriously, that should be the goal!
And give everybody the access to that.
Somebody who doesn't know how to use Pro Tools very well
has a damn good idea in their head,
and I think it's better for the art.
(buzzing electronic music)
- This video is sponsored by aLoft,
different by design.