I Am A Multi-Platinum Producer/Mixer with 101 RIAA Gold records with artists like BTS, Kanye, Future, Wu Tang Clan, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, and many more. As Me Anything!!

Is there an artist you've wanted to work with but never had the opportunity?

Adele, Shawn Mendez, Demi Lovato, Billie Eilish, i'm sure there's more but i'd walk across glass to work with them

Hey Ken, thanks so much for doing this. If you could only have one mic to record all the vocals you’ve ever recorded or will record, which one would it be?

Sony C800g and in fact i have used almost solely my mic to record vocalists I've worked with since the mid 90's. That mic has had some real Karma flow thru it

My dream mic! Though I do own a Manley Reference so i'm more than happy with that.

thats the very closest to a C800g

How does your approach/mindset change as you switch between genres or artists?

there are certain stylistic things, like rock is usually less sub heavy and hip hop is usually heavier, so there are understanding the basic norms of that genre if they exist, but only to inform me about the song in front of me. that mindset is basically work on the song until we know its great, if we think it can be

Amazing resume! How does a talented aspiring bedroom producer gain recognition in the music industry with zero connections?

network in a smart respectful way. Nobody owes you a thing, nor do they care about you. You need to provide or show value to the person that you want reach, quickly and susinctly, or slowly over time with relationship building. Make yourself needed, or valuable, to your listeners, to artists, to other creatives, everyone has a different path. Make great music and make yourself valuable to other people who recognize your talent and are currently much better at it than you. This is a long road.

Is there a lot of drug use in the studio to get the creative thinking process going?

i hear about it more than i'd like to. I use THC medically, and i do also find it to be a creative drug sometimes. I've never done anything else so i dont know. THC is great because it allows you to not care about the outside world and focus on your creativity, but it sucks for trying to be a super productive human.

Are artists like Eminem,Taylor Swift or Jay z cool to work with because they are known to be very private people. Do you have any stories about them for us about how was your meeting with them?

there is no singularly better moment in life than when Eminem personally calls you to compliment your work and to "Keep killing it Ken". fuck a plaque, thats a movie in my brain. Jay Z i met thru Just Blaze so the times i was around Jay (and Bey) i was a known previously vetted entity to them that they didn't have to worry about, and both are very down to earth cool natural people. i dont know them well at all, only been in rooms together a few times, but nothing like recording Beyonce!!

What was your hardest day or biggest challenge?

67 hours straight mixing 5 songs for Public Enemy's "He Got Game" album. No naps, short breaks, 3 different rooms at Sony Studios, NYC. I was called to mix 1 song, when they heard the first mix they kept putting new songs in front of me to mix until they had to leave for mastering.

Many say that music is subjective, but what are some of the “dos and don’ts” of producing?

dont sign anything important without having an entertainment lawyer advise you properly.

if you get that big breakthrough opportunity, stay humble, and figure out how to grind twice as fucking hard, cause repeating that feat is going to be very very difficult. When the success begins to come you double down

Hi ! Who is, in your opinion, an underrated producer that deserves way more recognition? What album you dream you had produced?

Emile Haynie is think is a name that isn't widely circulated but he is one of the absolute top producers in the business.

What advice would you give someone who is trying to break into the music industry?

its microscopic. it looks gigantic, but its not. at my general level, everybody either knows everybody or has 1 degree of separation. People talk, so do good business, dont be a douche, network to people who have something to offer. ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN before you stick your hand out to someone like me wanting a hand up the next level. Anyone in a position like mine has gone thru tremendous sacrifice to get here, when the young artist with the hand out comes along, its very off putting. show me your value for real. you will never talk someone into believing in your talent

Who is the most humble person/group you've worked with?

Usher. David Byrne. Beyonce. Jay Z. Bruno Mars. Alicia Keys. Eminem, Mark Ronson, many others are all really humble down to earth people. People are people

Hey Ken,

I’m having a real hard time with mixing/mastering, what are some of your tips? I don’t know when my songs sound “right”. I can put together a decent song, but it doesn’t sound ever sound polished.

P.S Does mixing/mastering have less of an effect on midi layers? Should it always be done on audio layers?

Thank you tons.

come to my Youtube.com/mixingnight broadcast tonight. You are my target audience :-)

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Best quick tip, try using A/B plugins like Plugin Alliance Metric AB, thats what i use, you can load in and level match reference songs then you can listen back and forth between that song and your own song in real time and make adjustments. it can really help young mixers bring certain elements into focus

Hey ken!!! I’ve been having a really hard time cleaning up my vocals in the mix. I use an SM7b. I have a tiled room and a small rug and couch (bad for recording I know). I’m just curious, how much does recording in an actual booth actually effect the clarity of the vocal? And how would you go about EQing a vocal recorded in a bad room?

Also must have plugins??

you NEED to tighten up your room significantly if you are cutting vocals. it should not sound reverberant at all, deader the better, throw down rugs, blanekts on the floors and walls, you can construct a blanket house around the mic. all help focus the voice, drier the better during the recording

Are there any projects you can talk about that you worked on but never got to see them release?

i mixed a cover of "Black Butterfly" for Mary J Blige featuring Kelly Price and Terrell Hicks many years ago, thats one of the best works i've ever mixed and nobody will ever hear it. There's a ton of that in the music industry.

When credited as "Arr," how piratey does that make you feel?

quite piratey actually!! It can be ARRanged for you to walk the plank :-)

Who was the most difficult artist to work with, and who did you enjoy spending time with the most?

Diana Ross was suuuuuuper fun the first couple sessions, then not so much after that.

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David Byrne was one of the funnest albums i've ever made "Look Into The Eyeball"

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Usher and Ariana Grande have more of whatever "it" is than anyone else i've been in a room with and they are both awesome people

Did you have a chance of meeting mac?

nope

Have you ever been roughed up by a performer's posse because of a software crash?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwgR4HNNEQc

close. not over a software crash. Grand Puba (90's rapper) threatened me with a beat down if i didn't find his cassette with his album on it that he lost. They found it a half hour later in the menu book. Special Ed pulled a razor on me in a different session. Oh the 90's

Who's the biggest diva you've worked with? Or if you don't want to say, what's the most diva-ish thing they've done.

Diana Ross

Did you meet BTS in person? How was your experience with them?

Not all of them, RM was at my studio finishing his solo EP the day after he spoke at the UN General Assembly. that was pretty special :-)

Will you AMA again after you retire and you can give us the good answers that don't effect your ability to work in the future?

if i am asked. but some secrets stay in the studio

How much of their real voice is in the songs and how much sound effects are there to make them sound good? And do do you know any artits that have 0 connection to music but the producers made their songs a hit?

there are small studio tricks but mostly, the artists who make it to major label level are usually pretty fucking good. Not always. and i have used autotune on the very best singers too sometimes. Its a tool and someone like me is stupid to not use a tool that improves my overall work. Some artists are a bit manufactured, but its rare, you're over thinking it. Most of the time, beyond the quick break thru til tokers who wont be here next year, it usually takes talent and an insane work ethic to break thru

What are your thoughts on how media conglomerates influence popularity and dictate who gets played? How much of an artist's message is controlled?

they still control quite a lot, streaming can be the great equalizer, sometimes sync can too. but usually only if you are great and have some marketing savvy

What are some “green flags” that a record you are working on is going to be successful or a hit? Aside from the obvious being an already successful and established artist. I’m curious if there are any specific signs to look out for during the writing, preproduction, tracking, or even mixing processes. As a producer myself, I am always looking for patterns or commonalities in the relative “successes” that I am a part of, to possibly keep them in my mental toolkit.

artists that grind. the hardest working talented artists tend to be the most successful. At some level there is no replacement for hard work. Trying to keep everyone enjoying what they are doing and feeling proud of their work helps greatly too

What do you like to listen to when you aren’t working?

silence. beautiful silence. i work all the time. i often take in the Spotify New Music Friday playlist or the Rock This playlist,

What is your process of creating original melodies like? Do you have a favorite chord progression or instrument?

its all vibe. its almost always all vibe. and i carry around my phone and any time an idea pops in, it gets voice noted

What are the worst studio manners you have encountered?

i've had 2 different studio owners challenge me to fights only to immediately back down when i began walking toward them like i was happy to hear the request.

How awesome are the Wu Tang?

they aint nuttin to fuck wit :-)

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Before i mixed the secret double album "Once Upon aTime in Shaolin" a single copy resides in a government locker right now, i had already worked with each Wu member on something else individually. I've worked on a loooooooooot of hip hop

Favourite artist you‘ve worked with? Like, the easiest/most satisfying colaboration, and favourite memory from it.

Favorite artist for an extended period is probably David Byrne, but that was as an engineer, mixer and musician

What's rhe biggest problem with the music industry nowadays? Is it Spotify and other streaming services?

corporations grab every penny they can, find new ways all the time, and its insanely difficult for us to track and collect our money once its out there and earning. Its even tougher to get that first thing to start earning.

for someone just starting, (e.g., playing around in Ableton) do you have any general bits of guidance or rules of thumb for good practices in mixing sound?

its going to take you a while to make things sound really good, part of the fun is going thru the process, so just know your work will get better over time, you'll learn your gear and develop your skills

How did you get in the music business? Thinking about streams and how we consume music, what do you think it's the future of the market?

played guitar since 10, graduated Berklee College of Music 1991, got out, got a job in a studio in Ohio for a year then moved to NYC when my real education began in 1993. Started as staff assistant/intern at Soundtrack Studios, NYC, moved up, stacked credits, went freelance, luckily survived it.

How was the language barrier when working with BTS?

its not. I dont need to understand a lyric to feel the emotion conveyed or that i want it to convey. i just do what feels right

Was there any point in your career where you felt you had ended up in the wrong 'place', and felt (panicked, may be) that you must change directions, work harder even, to move on?

probably most of my career

What's your favorite song?

Purple Rain

Any genres you’d like to get into but haven’t?

Country

When you put on your pants in the morning, do you do it like the rest of us, but yours make platinum records?

sometimes only gold like Bruce Dickenson

When working with BTS did you get feedback or exchange ideas with the majority of members or did you primarily work with one, such as Suga?

i mainly get called to mix the songs featuring Suga, RM, and J Hope. Feedback comes via email, all comments organized, we go back and forth on revisions until a mix is 100% finished and signed off on by the group, label, producers, etc....

What would be your dream project?

i have an amazing place with a studio in Ecuador, i'd love to shack up down there with a bunch of killer creatives and make someone's album start to finish. I think it would be cheap and the vibe down there is just bananas, nobody is ever on my beach for miles and miles.

What's your favorite cheese?

hard cheese, something high quality, aged 5 years

If you ran for President, what would be your campaign song?

is there a song called Legalize it? We could use the tax revenue right now. I have a medical card and still cant get the shit that would help me the most :-)

every producer does things to make "their sound". what would you say is your sound or signature mark, and what do you do to make it?

my signature is making the artist sound like the best version of themselves that they could not have gotten to on their own.

Hey Ken first of all thank you for this amazing ama. Please tell me how do you know when your mix is done and how you keep yourself from not over doing it? Also is it possible to not making your ears tired after more than 2-3 hours of mixing, I struggle with that mostly.

a lot of practice. good monitoring so you don't need to crank it up to hear it clearly, turn it up only for loudness checks and short vibes. drink water. sleep 7-8 hours a night you'll hear better and feel more creative.

How would an artist go about trying to get their instrumentals into the hands of A&R, or get their mixing out there to begin mixing again?

produce local artists, hone your craft, create some real bangers with artists on them, THAT is a much more powerful tool for reaching A&R's than sending them a hot beat, 1 million people can make hot beats

Just checked out your website and you have worked with an insane amount of talent. How did you build that list up? Were you already connected to a network of professional musicians when you started?

No, i got in as an intern at a studio in NYC and worked my way all the way up. Its one foot in front of the other for 29 years and im here. no silver bullets for me

What genre do you gravitate the most toward? And who are your biggest musical inspirations?

rock and urban mostly, pop with BTS of course but i tend to mix more for their rappers. musical inspirations are typically everybody i get to interact with in a year from all over the world, i think it shapes me every year with new influences

What's the best way for new artists to get in touch/scouted?

create something undeniable, then network like crazy. almost everyone skips step 1.

How do you see the future of the industry from where you are today? What kind of world do you think songwriters and producers and performers are going to be living in post-pandemic?

i predict touring back in 2022, a bit here and there before but not in earnest. live-streaming can be crucial. networking, i find Clubhouse is an amazing networking tool

Any advise for a broke young musiclover who would love to be a producer one day?!

there are a TON of great free creative tools out there. I have a segment on my youtube.com/mixingnight broadcast called "Marcus Manderson Mixing Night Man of Mystery" where he finds all the coolest free software and shows you what it does and where to find it. He has another segment tonight and you can easily find all of his previous at my Discord Mixing Night channel, where Marcus posts an absolute treasure trove of well sourced free stuff. BOOM, no more excuses

Thanks for doing this!! Do you have any tips for a hobbyist/amateur producer?

seriously, check out my free livestream from the studio, www.Youtube.com/MixingNight

it will teach you a lot and entertain you at the same time

Thank you! <3

you're welcome Swatto!!!

If you could explain it, I’d be really curious to know about some of your musical process. What key concepts make your production stand out from the rest?

my productions tend to have a signature of some sort, something you've never heard that identifies that song to you. i hear beats from producers that anybody could have made and i literally think "anybody could have made this", put in some sort of sound i haven't heard or a catchy melody that grabs me in a fresh way and then you might really have something

Do producers* get paid on an hourly rate, or are you put on a retainer for the duration of a project's assembly?

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edit:*

usually per project. Most of the time nowadays i am doing artist development, so its zero pay up front, high risk, usually no reward, but every now and then one hits really well and you eat for a long time from that. Up front fees are nice too, I take them when they make sense

How was working with the Wu-tang Clan ?

never been in the same room with more than one or two of them at a time but worked individually for them all at some point long before i mixed Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Raekwon threatened me once, that was kinda funny, he thought i erased his vocals. "Dude i'm here to fix that shit, do you think i would be here if i erased it"

What an interesting career! I would love to know what your favorite role in the music industry has been? (Producing, mixing, singing, etc?)

producing

Does the toilet paper go over or under?

over

Hey Ken! In your experience, do producers still mentor up and comers? I know so many big name producers have found not only their voice/sound, but success after being taken under the wing of a predecessor. If so, do you feel like it’s worth it to reach out to people? So many DMs go unread nowadays (I don’t blame them for that at all). What would be the best way to reach out to someone without getting brushed aside?

you only need one of those to be answered. and make sure your approach is respectful, centered on them, and how you can help them. They already KNOW how they can help you.

I do some producing as a hobby (mainly pop) and use Reason (PC, not Mac).

If I were to try and take things to the next level, do you recommend I learn one of the more commonly used DAWs like Pro tools? Would sticking to just Reason end up being a hindrance?

Thank you!

if you can get results in your DAW, stick with it, tons of the hip hop guys use FL and have smashes

Whats the best way for a producer to start getting traction for his music? Also what is the best way to pursue music production? Is it risky to go all in?

yes its risky. you should read a book by a great producer who went all in. S1 Pray Focus Plan Execute. great read, audio book as well.

What advice do you have for someone starting out as an engineer today? I just graduated from SF State with a degree in music production and would love to know what worked for you and what didn’t. Cheers!

work for people much better than you and learn everything you can, build relationships. everybody wants to rush straight to engineer land. your not ready, shit takes time, keep learning

How do you overcome writer’s block when producing? What are some more creative ways of coming up with ideas that don’t involve sitting at the computer for hours?

you grind thru it or you totally change your environment and stimuli for a while

As a producer working with big name clients, how involved are you with the writing process? Generally, do artists come in with mostly finished tracks, or ideas and concepts that you help flesh out? Are you credited as songwriter in those situations or only as producer?

there is no one way, each situation is different and can happen as described and any number of other ways. sometimes a beat goes out and thats it, sometimes you spend months crafting the perfect album. everything between

Hi Ken! I have two questions. What are your favorite plugins? And what are some producer tips you would give to your younger self?

UAD is always a fav. Pultec Pro Legacy is amazing. producer tips, listen to more music and be a complete student of the game

Would you like to listen to some music I wrote? ;)

i would, but i dont have time for that. The curse of being successful, your time becomes your single most valuable thing

Hey! I’m a producer in Toronto, Ontario trying to make it big using Audacity!

Kanye is my biggest inspiration, what did you learn working with him?

Can’t wait to check out your stuff and thanks for doing this! 🙏

Kanye is a brilliant producer. He could easily produce all of his music himself and it would still be dope AF. He's always been smart enough to surround himself with other top level creatives who can bring new ideas in and help him explore his creative vision. That is exactly what a smart artist should probably be doing, and the records speak for themselves

What's your favorite sandwich?

i cant eat bread anymore, so there's that. slices of lunchmeat by themselves work for me tho, i am quite a utilitarian eater most of the time, but i certainly enjoy great food.

Any advice for aspiring music artists in this climate?

connect with your fans and create great music.

Why does the majority of the music sound so alike, you couldn't pick them out of a lineup much less be able to distinctly name many without already knowing who does what songs?

you clearly haven't been listening to my productions.

Listen to:

Harlor "Not Ready To Go"

Skrizzly Adams "28"

Des Rocs "Let Me Live Let Me Die"

Future "Blood Sweat Tears"

X Ambassadors "Skin"

all are very different productions. I produce music and artists, not styles

What did you eat for lunch today?

haven't had lunch yet. had a keto bar and coffee for breakfast but its not even 4pm yet. thanks for reminding me, i think i could really benefit from some calories right now

Have you heard of Tipper? If so what are your thoughts on his production and mixing skills?

nope sorry

What are your favorite DAWs and VSTs?

i use Logic for creation but dont love it, Mixing is pro tools on an analog SSL, rough mixes ITB

How does it feel being a badass?

exhausted all the time, but doing music, so usually pretty happy.

What’s your best tip for making vocals sound amazing on a track? I’m trying to record my own stuff but I cannot figure out how to make vocals crisp and full for the life of me. Not to mention my compression is always off. Thanks!

watch Mixing Night!!!

What did you think of JLo's performance at the inauguration today?! It was great!

She can sing!!! i was very surprised and pleased. she must have worked very hard on her voice over the years, kudos to her it was a real American moment

Thanks for doing this AMA! as an aspiring artist, what are some words of advice for getting your stuff heard? Any "secrets" or not very well known things artist should be doing to help build a platform?

make sure you have fire before approaching the people you want to change your life. expect a "No" or to be ignored. if you do this with enough genuineness and repetition, someone will connect and you'll get opportunities

Such fun! Do you like hearing mixes of your mixes?

hellz yes. i am long past agonizing over finished work. I've become known as a finisher in the industry and my gut tells me when its done, or my client does, and ive done all i can do at that point, time to enjoy the results!!!

Tell us about once upon a time in shaolin? How does it sound?

a lot like album 2. its a fucking great record and i hope the fans get to hear it someday. Bill Murray is legally entitled to steal it, so hope remains

Do you think the music you help create is objectively garbage?

Nope. try to find some happiness. This is the music industry, even on shitty days i get to wake up and make or otherwise work on music, for a living. I think the garbage is a 9 to 5 cubicle when you could have this