Pro Techniques 7.2004

 

American Dreams

By Randy Alberts

    
 

Neal Pogue

Count how many times during the past year you've heard OutKast's "Hey Ya!" on the radio, listened to the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and Stankonia CDs, or seen Andre 3000 and Big Boi approach an awards podium. Next, add up the times you've dug the mix and production values poured into various songs by George Clinton, P-Funk, En Vogue, Nappy Roots, Bilal, Lionel Richie, and Toni Braxton. Finally, throw in the dozen times you'll hear Tahiti 80 this year when their new CD reaches American shores. Add them all together, and you'll get an idea of how many times you've listened to a trademark Neal Pogue production and mix.

"Mixing is a form of production, too," says Pogue. "It's a love of mine to produce, so I'm getting more into the production side of things now. Mos Def just asked me to produce an album, and I just finished some work with the band 311 as well, but I'll always keep the mixing and engineering side alive."


"Pro Tools sounds incredibly warm to me now. It has what I call an 'analog' sound."

Neal Pogue, one of the nicest folks in the industry, is grateful for every session he launches, regardless of his role. His audio stylings have been indelibly etched into the OutKast sound ever since the super-duo's Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, ATLiens, Aquemini, and Stankonia releases, and we can expect the same bond with the new bands Pogue is now producing. This self-described "child of the '70s, '80s, and '90s" brought every Sly, Hendrix, Page, and Van Halen solo in his veins to the table for 311's new rock-hop club sound, and the kids soaked it up.

"311 wanted to bring my mix to their table for their Crack The Code remix," he says. "A bigger, more clubby type of sound for them, but preserving the essence of their signature guitar sounds. I listen to many different kinds of music — jazz, rock, funk, R&B, even classical — paying attention not so much to the songs as the recording, production, and arrangements of sounds. The way a producer from the past uses a Rhodes part in an arrangement or a mixer pans a guitar wide left or right can have a big effect on my own tastes today."

The Love Below/The Analog Above
Pogue has been known for years among his peers as a "staunch analog guy" who, until OutKast's Grammy-winning double CD, didn't like what he was hearing in the digital realm. To his ears, digital multi-track tape machines sounded brittle and harsh compared to his Studer 827, and until last year he never rolled a Pro Tools production until he had first "warmed things up" through that analog two-track en route to the computer.

That all changed for Pogue when Digidesign's Pro Tools|HD turned him into a "digital analog" believer.

    
 

Mama Moonshine

"Pro Tools sounds incredibly warm to me now. It has what I call an 'analog' sound," he says. "I was one of those analog guys who fought digital machines and Pro Tools for a long time. I thought digital didn't sound good, yet it was taking over the sound of the recording industry. But when Digidesign released Pro Tools|HD and I finally got to hear it, I was amazed. Before, I was the one always saying, 'It's all about analog' when everyone was telling me, 'Pro Tools! Pro Tools!' I am so relieved to have Pro Tools|HD sounding so warm and good to my ears now, because I don't have to argue that point anymore!"

Since moving from Atlanta in 2001, Pogue's studio home base has been Studio 1 at North Hollywood's Larrabee Studios North. Though he hasn't worked in Georgia since the move, he and a business partner are currently working on a new southern hip-hop group out of 'Lanta called Mama Moonshine on their new Dirty Pie Records label.

Pro Technique —
Organizing Pro Tools session layouts
According to countless work and life-efficiency books, lack of organization, and the time it takes to compensate for it, is perhaps the worst ill facing personal and public life today. Disorganization will always undermine our best efforts — a phenomenon all too familiar to the producers, mixers, and remixers who can't raise a single fader until they've sorted through our collective mess.

"When I finally got to hear
Pro Tools|HD, I was amazed.
Before, I was the one saying, 'It's all about analog' when everyone was telling me,
'Pro Tools! Pro Tools!'"
"We all went track-crazy when Pro Tools began providing producers and artists with more tracks than an analog tape recorder could ever give them," says Pogue. "For years now, instead of asking, 'Are there any more tracks left?' it's been 'Give me another track.' It's gotten to the point where it's common these days to start a mix or remix session with over 100 tracks, and rarely are those laid out in a way that we can make any sense of the organization."

It takes hours for people like Pogue to sort through messy sessions before starting a mix, leading to increased costs for that precious expertise. Whether he's starting his own Pro Tools tracking session or sorting through the labyrinth of someone else's, Pogue suggests applying an analog track sheet approach to our limitless digital world.

"One thing that helps me stay organized when I prepare my mixes inside Pro Tools is to set up my instruments and vocals in a certain order. That way I'm not taking forever to find a certain part. I always set things up from the first fader, or from the top of a page depending on which window I'm working in, and I always lay things out the same way every time."

Pogue starts by listing (or rearranging, when starting with someone else's Pro Tools session) the drums first. Kick, snare, hi-hat, and so on, followed by overhead cymbal mics if he's working with live tracked drums. Next up are hand percussion and EFX tracks, if any, followed by bass, guitars, keyboards, piano/Rhodes, and synth parts, in that order. If a song features a string section, he'll insert those tracks after his keyboard and piano tracks.

"Lead vocals are next in the chain, then verse background vocals followed by any main hook/chorus vocals and counter-hook and bridge vocals," Pogue explains. "If everything is organized in this way, even with more than 100 tracks in a song, then I know where everything is right from the top of a mix."

www.dirtypie-online.com
www.outkast.com


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