Testimonials Archives

‘The first take you record could be the magic take. So you just need to have everything slick’ – Andrew Dudman.

In the latest #TilYouMakeIt episode Abbey Road Studios’ Senior Recording Engineer, Andrew Dudman speaks on the importance of precise planning ahead of a recording session and how the support of Abbey Road Studios’ team of assiduous engineers, recordists and runners enables big orchestral recordings to run like a well-oiled machine.

Many films are as famous for their soundtracks as they are for anything that happens on screen, and Andrew has been responsible for recording some of the most iconic and beloved scores in cinema, with credits including the Star Wars prequels, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hacksaw Ridge, Baby Driver and Gravity, to name just a few.

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TRANSCRIPT

The first take you record could be the magic take. So you just need to have everything slick.

Certain sessions, certain band recordings, you can kind of adjust as you go get the band in.

Everyone gets a feel of the vibe and then you kind of work out how you’re gonna do it. But when you’ve got a big orchestra, it needs to be organized.

That’s the joy of having the staff of this building where. You know, we’ve got six runners and nine assistants, and seven or eight engineers.

We’re very well organized, very well planned. When you come in with an empty studio, everyone has a detailed setup sheet, and we draw floor diagrams so you know where everything’s gonna be set out.

It would be chaos if you didn’t have a plan. Do you need to find out all the information in advance? Plan it all out. Get it ready.
‘I’ve been really blessed to work with a lot of great people, I wake up every morning and think about it’ – !LLMIND

#TilYouMakeIt is a collection of stories chronicling those moments and capturing wisdom from the game’s most esteemed producers, mixers and engineers.

A successful career in music doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, patience, and an unwavering sense of dedication to achieve your goals and reach the dizzying heights of your dreams.

In this episode of #TilYouMakeIt, the renowned producer, songwriter and educator !LLMIND shares how he has gotten to where he is.

With almost twenty years of constant grind under his belt, he has gone from working with underground artists in the early 2000s to some of the biggest names in the business, putting his stamp on iconic tracks and achieving Grammy recognition.

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TRANSCRIPT

I’ve been really blessed to work with a lot of great people. I, I wake up every morning and I think about it like, wow, like, is this real?

It was a long grind for me. You know, I’ve been doing this full-time for almost twenty years from this super underground.

From the super underground artists from like the 2000s, you know, your Little Brother and Boot Camp Clik and, and then eventually working with, you know, 50 Cent and G-Unit.

And then from there it just snowballed. At this point, I’ve been, you know, really blessed enough to work with a lot of people.

Two Grammys, ten Grammy nominations, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Drake, Travis Scott, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Khalid, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana.

It’s been pretty crazy so it doesn’t feel real a lot of the time.
Jesse Ray Ernster recounts how he was able to mix Burna Boy’s sixth studio album ‘Twice As Tall’ whilst moving between Airbnbs in LA.

“There was a big difference between the two albums both in workflow and approach,” explained Ernster in an interview with Sound on Sound magazine. Having gained Burna Boy’s trust with his work on ‘African Giant’, he was given access to the unprocessed stems and raw vocal this time around, free to treat them as he saw fit. However, this increased freedom was not the only factor that altered Ernster’s process this time around.

Prevented from traveling by the COVID-19 pandemic and unable to work from his studio due to renovations, Ernster was forced to move between Airbnbs in LA, armed with only a MacBook Pro and some Airpods at his disposal. It was these setbacks that forever changed his workflow.

Utilising the LISTENTO plugin and remote desktop technology, he was able to tap into his studio set-up, sending the mixes to himself and working on them remotely. Even whilst isolating in Lagos, Burna Boy was able to listen in and give real-time feedback from across the globe, without the expense of a costly flight to LA.

“I worked on my 10-year-old MacBook Pro and AirPods, connecting via Remote Desktop to my Mac tower in my studio, using AudioMovers to send the session to myself. I used my phone to load the AudioMovers link to my laptop and AirPods.”

Ernster is no longer bound by geographical location. He and his team continue to use the software in this way to this day, working with established artists such as Doja Cat, Tyga and Kanye West and quickly making his mark in LA.

Check out the full Sound on Sound article for an in-depth breakdown into each aspect of the tracks.

Jesse Ray Ernster recounts how he was able to mix Burna Boy’s sixth studio album ‘Twice As Tall’ whilst moving between Airbnbs in LA.

“I worked on my 10-year-old MacBook Pro and AirPods, connecting via Remote Desktop to my Mac tower in my studio, using AudioMovers to send the session to myself. I used my phone to load the AudioMovers link to my laptop and AirPods.”