Archive for Blog Post

’99 Till Infinity: My Roots In Hip Hop Production

// April 9th, 2011 // No Comments » // Blog Post

Circa 1999: Vinyl & Samplers

I got my whole start in music production & engineering making hip hop beats and recording my friends in my folk’s basement, at age 14. Under the alias Preme Diesel, it was the the vinyl, an Ensoniq ASR-10 and some relatively primitive multi-track software were what triggered my deep interest in the technological side of music. Of course, I produce all types of music and audio these days, but over the past few years I found my self with less and less time & inspiration to simply sit down on my own, return to my roots and bang out an instrumental just for the pure rush of making a beat.

My original production setup circa 2000, including Ensoniq ASR 10, Akai s900 & Acid Pro sequencing software.

Renewed Inspiration

Recently I have found renewed inspiration. Hip hop has become interesting to me again. I want to make beats. It can be understandably tough to sit down and work on your own material after working an 11 hour day as an engineer, both on your ears and psyche, but I am now making a more of an effort to make the time.

Preme Diesel Production, Today.

I have updated my instrumental portfolio with some of my newer works, mixed in with some stuff from the archives which I feel still holds its own today. You can check out some of my beats below, not only for a glimpse in to what kind of hip hop I make when left to my own devices, but to hear where I came from as a producer and engineer. If any of them strike you as something you think may be a good fit for your project, send me an email and lets make that happen.

Instrumentals (For Sale) by premediesel

VIDEO BLOG: DJ Itchy Ron x Sweatshop Union (In Studio)

// December 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, In The Studio

Working on a new Sweatshop Union CD/DVD combo slated for release in 2011. Here’s some footage from a session involving DJ Itchy Ron laying down some cuts on a song I’m producing called “Bring Back The Music” featuring Juno nominee D-Sisive. Ronnie is a serato master, and its really cool to watch him do his thing.

Learning Curve: How To Get Funding as a Canadian Artist

// November 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, Learning Curve

What musician doesn’t want some additional funding to help them record, tour, make a music video, make a website, or do any of the other things that are necessary to get ahead today? You may have already heard about people appling for government funded Factor grants, but are still unsure of how to do so your self. The fact is: if you aren’t perusing some of these grants, or similar ones, you aren’t hustling hard enough. We do a lot of FACTOR funded recording here at Creativ. You should be getting in on our government’s willingness to help out Canadian musicians. Here’s the main avenues, via @musicbc:

RECORDING:

If you are a recording artist looking for help in the application process, please contact me and I can help get you pointed in the right direction.

FACTOR

Demo Grant

http://factor.ca/ProgramDetails.aspx?ID=24

This program assists new artists, professional songwriters (songwriters that are members of a performing rights organization) and publishers with the production of their songs on a high quality demo recording, as well as basic press kit expenses, to enhance their career.FACTOR may provide a contribution of up to a maximum of $2,000 which represents 75% of the total eligible recording budget. (more…)

Bowen – VLOG #1 – Recording @ Creativ Recording Studios

// October 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, In The Studio

Here is the first installment of Vancouver recording artist Bowen’s first video blog. It takes a brief look into the amazing recording process we share. Bowen and I are on our fourth record together, so needless to say we have a great chemistry in the studio. He has also become a great friend over the years. Check out the video:

The Video:

Grab this free mp3:

Bowen is also giving away his first single, the song you hear playing in the video, for free download. You can grab the 320kbps mp3 here: http://www.mediafire.com/?39r37dq5naw5zuc

VIDEO: Terell Safadi – New Video In Production

// September 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Audio, Blog Post

Terell Safadi, one of my favorite artists from Vancouver, is coming out with his first official video for his single “Tonight” (produced by Crooks N Kruscher). Its a big party athem that I had the pleasure of mixing & mastering here at Creativ Recording Studios. Check out the video teaser:

Check Terell out on Twitter at @TerellSafadi

Vancouver Province: “Age Like Astronauts” Review

// August 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post

The Review:

Taken from: http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/quickspins/archive/2010/07/29/pigeon-hole-age-like-astronaut-urbnet.aspx

The third of a trio of Sweatshop Union presents releases is absolutely essential for any hip hop fan looking for something that marries an Eminem-esque confounding about relationships, funked up club jams and some really hilarious beat loops to boot. To date, I haven’t heard a better party track from a Canadian hip hop artist this year than “Light Show.” With its ragga-ized vocal, the tune just bops along furiously and will have all but the paralyzed shaking what they got. Truly, an excellent disc and some of the titles, “Jercules” as a case in point, are witty and feature a telling social commentary. Grade: A-

Positive Feedback

I am pleased to report some more good feedback on the Sweatshop Union front: The Vancouver Province gave Pigeon Hole’s “Age Like Astronauts” an A- in the latest edition of Vancouver’s biggest newspaper. Also pleased to note that both the Pigeon Hole and the Dirty Circus records are still holding strong on the College Radio Charts, with Pigeon Hole’s “Light Show feat. D-Sisive” claiming top spot on the hiphop singles chart this week. Big ups to all the hiphop DJ’s out there giving theses records support.

I have also had some great feedback about the engineering on the records from many of you in the industry, and I’d like to thank you for the encouragement and taking the time to remind me that our countless hours in the studio focused on finite details are worth it.

- Jamie

MUSIC VIDEO: Pigeon Hole – Bonfire (Dir: Stuey Kubrick)

// July 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Audio, Blog Post

Pigeon Hole & Stuey Kubrick Present:

New video from Pigeon Hole, directed by our friend Stuey Kubrick. This song was one of the most fun to make on the record – it’s a real trip. The build up at the end has literally dozens of layers of little percussion sounds building into a giant crescendo. This video features hidden treasure, space men, and…. bonfires.

Check out Pigeon Hole’s new album “Age Like Astronauts” on iTunes

Sara Brudner: Self Titled EP Coming 08-22-2010

// July 11th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Audio, Blog Post

Who is Sara Brudner?

Sara Brudner is an amazingly graceful singer/songwriter residing in Vancouver, Canada. I had the pleasure of working with her, engineering a 6 song EP which is set for release August 27th, 2010. The record has a very lush and organic vibe. Production was handled by Josh Parsons, who brought a very unique and effective sensibility to the boards.

Catch Sara Live

For a taste of what you can expect, you can check out Sara this Tuesday, July 13th at the Biltmore. Sara’s live performance is a very true and well crafted representation of her studio efforts. For more info on the event, click HERE.

Listen to Sara

Two singles have been leaked so far, including her latest single “Two Tequila Shots & A Black Hole”

(more…)

In The Studio: The Making Of 3 Sweatshop Union Records

// June 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, In The Studio

Hard work pays off:

Me and Marmalade working with the MPC 2000, the source of all things pigeon hole.

It was a busy spring. Sweatshop Union was working diligently in the studio, recording three new albums that were released on Urbnet records June 15th. It was an interesting marketing plan, brought on by the necessities of factor deadlines. Two of them debuted in the Top 10 of the Canadian iTunes charts. All three were mixed here at Creativ Recording Studios, and while two of the albums were primarily recorded elsewhere, the Pigeon Hole album was recorded here with me.

It’s always a treat to work with such a diverse and talented bunch of people. I had the pleasure of first working with them on their third studio album, “Water Street”, as the mix engineer on the project.

The hiphop collective that is Sweatshop Union is comprised of 7 people, all with creative input and valid contributions. As one would assume, this allows some amazing creativity and melding of ideas. As an engineer, I am extremely appreciative of the freedom they grant me to experiment with sounds and textures. As many engineers can tell you, being stifled creatively during mix can be a problem, when dealing with an artist or a group that for whatever reason do not want to relinquish any form of creative control. I suppose the guys in Sweatshop Union have learned to work this way out of necessity, considering the number of independent minds in their group. Any way you look at it, their open-mindedness sets an example for anyone working in a group environment, and it’s a very positive thing for the music and their end result.

Pigeon Hole “Age Like Astronauts”

Debuted at #8 on the iTunes Hiphop Charts

The Pigeon Hole album was the project I was most hands-on with, seeing it through from recording until the mastering stage. I learned a lot working with Pigeon Hole’s two members, Dusty Melo & Marmalade. In their production, they have mastered the art of “shitty is pretty”, a low-fidelity type of perfection. For example, the drum sounds on the closing song “Bonfire” were all recorded by them on a children’s toy drumset in Dusty’s living room through a pro-sumer mic, then run through the MPC. The result is a crunchy, vintage tone that is completely one of a kind. Working with their great sounds made it fun and easy for me to get the most out of the record.

The songs on this record vary from hiphop bangers to prog-rock/psychedelic. They combine moody vinyl samples with tactful doses of live instrumentation. The live instruments often blend seamlessly with the samples, which is often the achilles heel of producers working with samples who want to add sounds, without taking away from the vintage vibe. We maintained dusty feel across the board with heavy use of ribbon mics, tape saturation and heavily driven 1970′s preamps. (more…)

Blog Post: Important Sales Trends You Need To Know

// June 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blog Post, Current Events

Fewer new releases are reaching one million units in sales, a very small number of them even get to 5,000 units and maintaining early sales momentum is increasingly difficult. Those were the lessons learned from Nielsen’s presentation at last month’s NARM conference in Chicago. Some of the highlights from the presentation:

12 Albums Released in 2009 Sold More than One Million Units
Of the 97,751 albums released in 2009, only 12 of them sold more than one million units last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The number of titles to reach one million units in previous years was 35 in 2006, 27 in 2007 and 22 in 2008. Clearly it is getting more difficult for an album to sell one million units.

The new releases that do sell over one million units in the year of their release, however, are maintaining their average. Between 2006 and 2009, the average annual tally for titles reaching the one million mark has ranged from a low of 1.42 million in 2008 to a high of 1.61 million in 2009. In years past, there were far more titles in the one million to 1.4 million range. Now such titles would probably not reach the one million mark and as a result would not be included in these calculations. So, the average of the titles in this million-plus ground stays about the same even though there are fewer sales and less revenue from these million-plus sellers.
(more…)

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