the process of creating a DRE track

[mellowman]

How does dre create a track? what is the process? who is involved?  On this thread I’m gonna give you a step by step look at the creation of a dre track. STEP 1-get into the studio
since dre no longer records at home he will travel to whatever studio has been arraigned for the day or week. there are only a few studios that dre thinks offer him a comfortable and suitable place for productive recording. dre’s favorite studio’s are record one, larabee west, and encore studios in southern cali. dre isn’t a early starter so his day doesn’t start till at least late morning. by the time he gets there other members of the team are already there. the production coordinator, members of the aftermath staff, the lead engineer, assistant engineers, and musicians usually beat dre to the studio so they can get their preproduction work done before dre arrives. when dre arrives the first thing he does is get together with Larry chatman (the production coordinator / manager) and goes over the schedule. (that includes which artists are scheduled to record with dre. some days artists just show up to help write lyrics for dre and sometimes they come without being scheduled just to help out or just hang out. and some days no artists show up and dre just mixes tracks or creates tracks). Larry is in charge of making sure dre has everything he needs. he also must make sure everything runs smoothly so business can be conducted in an efficient and productive way.  after going over the day’s  schedule with Larry, dre meets with any other members of the staff or team who have something that needs to be discussed. then once all the pre production work is done its time to get down to business.
STEP 2 - create the instrumental- (for the purpose of this step i will assume its a day that no artists are in to record vocals). once the sound equipment, the computers and instruments are ready its time to create. every track usually
starts out with dre or mel-man playing around on the drums trying to come up with something to kick start a track. once they come up with a sequence to dre’s liking the other instruments get added. if mel-man is around he is usually the one who makes sure the drums are clean and tight. (if hes not on the drums mel can be found digging through crates,  listening to records, working with the sampler or fuckin around on the tuentables or keyboards trying to come up with some new sounds). after a drum sequence is created dre decides what direction he wants the track to go. he also decides what instruments or sounds he wants to work with. dre is without a doubt the leader but he makes sure everything is a team effort. dre’s teammates  includes various musicians. dre’s right hand man is mike elizondo (bass guitar, upright bass, electric guitar, and keyboards). another musician that is around most of the time is scott storch (keyboard extrodinaire).  other musicians who have helped out are Tommy coster (keys) Sean cruise (bass and lead guitar  - he now helps Fred wreck a lot). the other musician who dre really loves to work with is a Grammy winning musician named camara kambon. not only his he an accomplished musician he has conducted orchestras. camara was a big player in the “2001” album. but he hasn't been able to work with dre a lot cause he scores movies ( his most recent work includes the up in smoke dvd, Michael Jordan to the max, any given sunday, and The Wash). after being away for about 2 years Dre will have camara help a lot with DETOX and other future dre productions. the other very important part of the team is mel-man. y’all know what this guy contributes. mel is incredible in his own right and in the next few years is gonna really shine. although dre is really only good at playing keys and piano his understanding of musical instruments is incredible. due to his legendary ears his sense of tone and clarity is remarkable. although he can’t actually play these
instruments he create sounds, chords, grooves and sequences in his head. that enables him to actually play chords, guitar riffs and basslines on the keyboards recreating the sound for whatever instrument is being used. if he can’t play them on the keys he will hum to the musicians or give a very detailed description of what he wants. once mike, Scott or whoever is able to recreate what dre wants then dre will let the musicians use their talents. dre allows the musicians to add, change or expand on the basslines or grooves. when the musicians are doing this dre could be found on the board eq’ing, or he could be on the keys trying to find another instrument part to add to the instrumental track being worked on. once each part is to dre’s liking its on to another part. basically dre creates and composes music, but he doesn’t compose music like Beethoven because he can’t sit down and actually write music. he composes everything in his head and then with the help of musicians and his own arraigning and mixing abilities he brings his innovative creations to life. as i mentioned last week dre wants to use an expanded array of
instruments, like an orchestra, on DETOX. if that happens it will take a bit longer, cause dre would have to sit down with every musician and compose their part for the track. then dre would have to layer, arrange and mix every single part together flawlessly. but dre would love that challenge and i promise dre would do it in a way that would be amazing. within the next 5 to 10 years producers like dre won’t have to hire a band or orchestra because the keyboards, computers and technology will be at the point where you won’t be able to tell the difference between a real 64 piece orchestra and an orchestra created on a computer. the technology we will be using in the coming years is mind boggling. and along with new 5.1 digital formats like dvd audio and sacd music you will be able to hear things as a music buyer that you can’t believe. so music will be exciting for producers and listeners alike. the only negative is that actual musicians and real musical instruments could be fazed out. i hope not as i love real music much more than music done on a computer (theres waaaaay too much of that shit as it is.). for now though live instrumentation is the only way dre’s gonna go. dre belives that innovation means that the best way to predict the future is to create it and thats what dre does. back to the process, after all the instruments and their parts are laid down then dre will record it and save it in a variety of places. once this is done the next step is to wait until vocals can be added. once one instrumental is done its on to another one. some days we can only bang out a few instrumentals and some days we get in a zone and have all night jam sessions that result in double figure instrumentals. so whether mcs are in the studio or not dre is working extremely hard every day. after each day dre separates all the instrumentals into categories. some may be designated for a certain artist or album. other ones dre sets aside as ones he really likes and wants to use at some point but he’s not sure where. others are sent to recycling. and yet others are deemed unfinished. regardless every instrumental is recorded and stored away. the next step is to add vocals. STEP 3- add vocals -  the next step is to add vocals to an instrumental that dre wants to use. sometimes dre wants a certain mc to be on a track, sometimes its just whoever is there, and sometimes its something dre wants to rap on. dre will once in a while decide on his own what type of lyrics and topics to add to an instrumental. sometimes its just a group effort. but most of the time its just a feeling dre has, an instinct, knack, whatever you want to call it. whatever it is dre has it. its just another part of his gift. once the topic, lyrics and mc’s are chosen its time to record vocals. the process of laying down vocals for dre can be very long and tedious. everything must be perfect. while dre puts the faith in the mc’s to put down dope lyrics dre leads the mc wherever he wants him to go. if dre wants the mc to change their delivery, tone, cadence, or aggression best believe they will. no questions asked. every mc realizes that dre knows how make hits so they will take whatever order he gives. dre welcomes ideas and input
from the mcs, and there are many cases where dre agrees. but for the most part what dre wants is usually how it
goes down. if there is a spot for a voice over dre will have the mc do that. most of the time the mc’s can’t really see
how in the hell dre’s gonna put it together but they do it anyhow. if dre wants the mc to sing song some lyrics that’s what is gonna happen. the attention to detail that dre insists on having is painstaking but it pays off in the end. ive seen dre get stuck on a single phrase for 4 hours. whatever time it takes to do it right dre is willing to spend. and the mcs better have patience and believe in what dre is doing. dre can make even master p sound half way dope. he simply makes everyone around him better. there is a reason that snoop has picked up his lyrics and delivery since 1999. that reason is dre. when snoop dont have dre he doesn’t have anyone to keep him really focused and to make sure everything is coming out as quality as it needs to be. ever since dre and snoop started working together in 99 working on Top Dogg and 2001 snoop has got his shit together and slowly gotten closer to his old chronic/doggystyle form. dre knows snoop is an enormous talent and knows how to bring out the best in snoop. and snoop knows dre’s influence is a big factor in his success.

[mellowman]

STEP 4  - mixing the song - the next step is to arrange, layer, engineer and mix the tracks. dre is basically his own engineer, but to cut down time dre has a lead engineer do most of the work. it also allows to focus on what he’s best at. Richard and veto have been dre’s head engineers during the aftermath years. and dre’s got a lot of assistant engineers on the payroll as well. the key to dre’s ability to mix his tracks is his ear. his attention to sonic detail and the feel for pushing the right buttons is ridiculous. if there is any static he can hear it. if there is any flaw dre has the ability to hear it and correct it. if something doesn’t sound right he’ll get rid of something. if something is missing dre will add a instrument or sound. the equipment dre uses is very basic compared to most other producers. dre is old school and likes a lot of the older equipment over the newer and more advanced stuff. its impossible to break down all the equipment as it would drag this thread even longer than it already is. computers and computer software are becoming incredibly complex yet easy to use. but when dre likes something he will stick with it to the
end.  dre’s main objective is to use the least amount of equipment possible to mix a track down. each track has
many tracks involved. and dre mixes things down to as few tracks as possible. in the process of mixing dre layers every track and vocal as perfect as he can. dre has been known to mix a track 30 or more times. again the attention to detail and dre’s perfectionism is the reason each dre track is as cleanly and precisely mixed as humanly possible. believe me there is no one better at what dre does. unless you get the chance to see this incredible magician at work in the studio you have no idea how truly great he is. and dre doesn’t ever let down or relax. he always seems hungry. the time, sacrifice and relentless work ethic dre puts into music is the reason he is the best. you get what you earn. and dre earns every cent because he works for every cent.after every track is completed dre takes the final test in his car. if the song sounds great on his car stereo it passes the test. the last step is to send the track to Bernie grundman mastering for the track to be mastered by the great Brian garner.
STEP 5 - making the cut - after every track is finished and labeled as a keeper it gets a title and then goes into the
pot as a finalist to make an album. dre usually knows which album or project each track would go on.. there are some tracks that are dre “must haves”. but most tracks are just a possibility. once each album has a pool of 50-100 tracks to choose from dre and a team of his most trusted artists, producers and musicians narrow the tracks down to a final 20-30 finalists. then dre chooses the final tracklisting. dre makes the right call 9 out of 10 tracks. some tracks that don’t make an album should have, but a large majority of the time dre makes the right choice. the ones that don’t but should have almost always get released at some point. once the final tracks are decided dre arranges them in the order he thinks will give the album the right flow. then dre adds interludes, skits, sound affects or instrumentals to make the album flow smoothly from beginning to end. even the best producers recognize that no one else even comes close to dre in this area. dre wants each album to be a movie on wax. a cinematic soundscape that represents the most visceral and visual music out there. and with the 5.1 sound dre’s gonna add to DETOX that album will be the biggest sonic achievement in hip hop history. dre gunning to break the
soundbarrier. so buckle up and plug your ears. cause a holocaust on wax is coming. i know this is a long post but
before i left i wanted to get you inside the studio with dre like you’ve never been before. so i hope you enjoy it cause its probably as close as your ever gonna get to being in the studio with dre. and believe me you have no idea how incredible dre is unless you actually experience it first hand. if you did you would have NO doubt that dre is the greatest producer in rap history. peace.

[Nosak]

shiiiiiiish , thanks , thats  make me feel a dre track in a different way now , thanks again

[Don Seer]

I just realised something thats been floating around my brain for a while.... why doesn't Dre make a video of this process... or at least some parts of it.

[Nosak]

he can't ... cause it's his secret n if it get reveled... then dre won't be a bigg dre but a ordinairy producer...all that cause they will all got the same way to do a track... .. i don't know how to explain myself but if puffy  fo ex , knows how to do it , he will produce a dre hit but still be puffy , so everyone will make hit dre style ,so music will begin to be wack.

[Lil Jay]

shit thats a long ass post homie, thanx a lot for the nfo but ill read it when i got time later on 2day  

[mbn]

hey mellowman

does dre sometimes give a song away that he will not use, for your personal pleasure.
example: you said taht you like a song very much and he doesn't use it. He gives it to you with saying that you may not leak it, but may play it at home

[infinite59]

Source magazine: Dre cover article:  Summer 99:  peace.

[Don Seer]

he can't ... cause it's his secret n if it get reveled... then dre won't be a bigg dre but a ordinairy producer...all that cause they will all got the same way to do a track... .. i don't know how to explain myself but if puffy  fo ex , knows how to do it , he will produce a dre hit but still be puffy , so everyone will make hit dre style ,so music will begin to be wack.

bullshit! .. thats like saying that if you watch a video of a Formula 1 racer u can drive like one.

[Nosak]

bullshit! .. thats like saying that if you watch a video of a Formula 1 racer u can drive like one.

lol, well thats what i tought.. i mean it's like reveled the secrete fo the sauce .. it will break the punch down , but  thats kool  

[Murrow]

That was one cool ass post.

MAN, I'd love to see a day in the life of Dr. Dre, and how he goes about things in the studio.  Dam, Dre infront of the mixing board makes me cry.

[alex_g]

ive read alot about how Dre works but all the info u provided is almost 2 much, really really makes u see how Dre works, why he works and how good his work is, thanks alot Mellow....hmmm a kinda stupid side questions but does Dre smoke alot in the studio?  there are always references to chronic in the studio but is it really true?

[DreSnoop00]

hey thanks for all that info man.. it makes me look at dre production a little different now

[Big BpG]

Source magazine: Dre cover article:  Summer 99:  peace.

Are you saying that what Mellow just said was in that magazine?

-Big BpG

[Alex_Wreck]

Are you saying that what Mellow just said was in that magazine?

-Big BpG

I kinda understood that too....

??