[DRUMMING]
Oak Felder: Do me a favor.
When you get to that chorus,
I don't necessarily want that hi-hat
to be going crazy, though.
Drummer: Oh, just keep it there?
Oak: Yeah, so kind of lighten it up.
I know you got heavy hands, bro.
[LAUGHTER]
All right, one more time. One more time from the jump.
Here we go!
I'm Oak Felder and I'm a record producer.
Also a 400-pound, six-foot-five black Turk with a mohawk.
[LAUGHTER]
[DRUMMING]
Growing up, I knew my way around a studio.
I knew how to play piano, and I knew about music,
and I loved music, and did it basically as a hobby.
It was never anything I ever thought
was going to be like a real thing.
It's such a casual process, creativity, right?
It's intense, yet casual.
It's a weird, like, dichotomy of things.
[DRUMMING]
One more time! Same pattern, no hi-hat.
So [IMITATING DRUM SOUNDS]
[DRUMMING]
Yeah, exactly.
[VOCALIZING] [DRUMMING]
That's right! Exactly.
[DRUMMING]
[LAUGHING]
You know, beyond all of the other things
that we have to do as a producer,
like vocal production and mixing
and all that other technical stuff,
what really defines us are the sounds we use.
But you know, you were doing the accent thing with the hi-hat.
Like just randomly, [VOCALIZING].
And I'm wondering whether or not
the fill should be a little bit more...
a little more complex the second time.
Keep the rim-shot in the verses.
Drummer: Yeah. Oak: A light snare.
Maybe [VOCALIZING]. Like a little bit more out.
[DRUMMING]
With the crash into the verse.
Yeah, I like the crash coming through the verse, yeah.
Let's try it, here we go. One, two, three, hey!
[DRUMMING]
The sounds you collect are like experiences.
And just like experiences,
those sounds make up the personality of your music.
I really believe that.
[DRUMMING]
Yeah, that felt like the one.
You were showing off a little bit towards the end there.
Drummer: Just a little. Oak: Just a tad bit.
Bro, that was a fantastic take, man.
That is exactly right, brother. I love that. That's fire.
You know what the cool thing is about having all of my sounds
right here, right now?
Is that we're on our way to wherever we're on our way to,
and in the blink of an eye, an opportunity might arise.
I might get a phone call from an artist that says,
"Hey, I'm over at such-and-such studio.
Can you come by?"
And guess what?
Now that I have everything with me,
yes, I can.
Mac Royals: ♪ Why we stay at odds? ♪
♪ Trying to get even. ♪
♪ You ignore my heart. What's your reason? ♪
Oak: You know what, man, I think a producer's job
is to be a mirror for the artist.
I'm supposed to reflect back what I get from them.
[VOCALIZING]
Yeah, that's it.
[VOCALIZING]
Right!
[VOCALIZING]
Yeah, that's fire. I love that!
I'm really fast in the studio.
And I think the reason for that is because
artists walk through the door
sort of with their ideas in place.
And you've got to play catch-up as a creative,
you know, as a producer.
And you've got to get right to where they are,
as quickly as you possibly can.
The only thing that limits me
is the technology that I'm using in that moment.
And I need to work as fast as I know I can work.
And as fast as the artist's and writer's expectation is
so that we can catch lightening in a bottle.
'Cause you've got to be fast to catch lightening in a bottle.
Yeah, just give me a freestyle.
I mean, but keep in mind what is there.
And kind of play off of that just a little bit.
[VOCALIZING] Right?
[VOCALIZING]
I think it hits on the fourth one, right?
All right, let's try it. Here it comes.
One, two!
Mac: [VOCALIZING]
♪ How we stay at odds. ♪
Oak: Yeah, that's it!
Mac: ♪ Trying to get even. ♪
Oak: Woo!
Mac: ♪ You ignore my heart. What's your reason? ♪
♪ Summer feel like fall once a season. ♪
[VOCALIZING]
Oak: Back in the day,
there was the idea that you had as a creative, right?
And then the end result was having everybody else
experience that idea.
But in between you had this thick layer
of basically non-access if you weren't somebody
who could go in and spend 2000 dollars a day
renting out a major recording studio.
And now, just like the technology,
that layer has shrunk.
I love that, bro! That's fire.
That's amazing.
Let me do a quick edit right fast.
I think I want to fly this.
Here we go!
♪ Music playing ♪
Mac: [VOCALIZING]
Oak: Project!
Mac: ♪ You ignore my heart. What's your reason? ♪
Oak: I want the 18-year-old kid
to hear a production that I did and say,
"I can beat that." You know why?
Because they're eventually going to make something better.
And when they do,
it's going to galvanize me to say, "I can beat that."
I think that it's important for all of us to have
that kick in the butt.
But how unfair is it
that you have this amazing 18-year-old kid
that might have a crazy idea,
but they can't get it out?
They can't have it fully realized
the way that it's supposed to be realized.
Technology gives them the capability
to potentially make something better than I would make.
And that's important.
♪