R&B Master Series II
Mega producer Tony Shepperd has worked with superstars like Whitney Houston, Madonna, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins, Boyz II Men and many, many more. Sit in on a real-world session where Tony tracks vocals and then mixes a modern R&B song to perfection.
Tracking and Mixing
• Intro (01:13) - Welcome to Tony Shepperd's R&B Master Series II!
• Artist Introduction and Hardware Setup (06:30) - Tony introduces you to the vocal artist Shelea Frazier and discusses the project you will be working on. Tony also shows the hardware chain that will be used while tracking the vocals.
• Tracking Background Vocals (16:09) - Watch as Tony and Shelea record multiple layers of background vocals. See how Tony and Shelea work together creatively to achieve the best possible results!
• Vocal Outro Harmonies and Lead Vocals (19:11) - Tony and Shelea continue recording vocals. Watch as they lay down both the outro harmonies and lead vocals.
• Vox Wrap-Up (00:54) - Now that the Vocals are tracked, Tony and Shelea discuss what comes next in the process of building the song.
• Soundchain and Drums Pt 1 (11:14) - Tony starts this video off by discussing inserting analog processing into the stereo buss and its benefits as well as the rest of his audio chain before jumping into the kick drum.
• The Drums Pt 2 (09:39) - In this video Tony continues working with the kick before moving on to the snare and its processing.
• The Drums Pt 3 (11:40) - Here Tony moves on to the hi hat and shaker, and how each element can be positioned in the stereo mix through processing and panning.
• Tympani and Bass Guitar (15:48) - In this video Tony adds the final drum element the tympani and adds the processing for this element. Tony then moves on to the Bass Guitar.
• The Lead Vocal (10:02) - Now it's time to work on mixing in the lead vocal!
• Lead Vocal Pt 2 and Acoustic Guitar (09:30) - In this video Tony continues working on the lead vocal trying to add more dimension. Next, Tony moves on to getting the acoustic guitar fitting nicely in the mix during the chorus through more processing.
• Acoustic Guitars Pt 2 Keyboards and Pads (12:24) - Tony adds more acoustic guitar to the track, discussing where they are placed in the stereo spectrum. Tony then moves on to adding keyboards to the prechorus and adding synth pads such as bells to the track
• The Background Vocals (14:21) - Now it's time to mix the background vocals that were tracked in an earlier video.
• Vocal Automation (11:42) - Tony adds automation to the the lead vocal, such as volume rides and delay automation.
• Strings and Summary (10:07) - Tony discusses the final element in the track, the strings. After showing how the four stereo tracks of strings are placed and processed, before giving a final summary of the the mix.
Insights
• Alex Teamer - Drum Programming (05:47) - In this video you will get an insight of what Alex programmed, what his philosophy was and how he did it.
• Reggie Hamilton - Bass (17:08) - In this video Tony introduces us to Reggie Hamilton, the very talented bass player on the track. Reggie discusses the two bass guitars he used on the track as well as how he goes through the creative process.
• Randy Emata - Keyboards (09:49) - Randy Emata joins Tony to discuss the keybord synth and pad parts he layed down on the track and gives insight to how he likes to work.
• Michael Nielson - Acoustic Guitar (17:20) - Michael Nielson talks with Tony about the guitar parts he contributed to the track, the way he likes to set up, and the different ways he plays to achieve different sounds.
• Raul Ferrando - String Orchestration (08:47) - Tony gets some insight from Raul on how he put together the orchestration for the song as well as his creative process.
• Credits (02:46) - Series credits