A glimpse behind the production curtain of the multi-faceted BOY SODA
What do BIGSOUND, Converse, and Seth Sentry all have in common? Ties back to the hybrid R&B wunderkind BOY SODA who has enjoyed a mammoth few years. 2022 was capped off with the release of his debut mixtape YC-TAPE: Vol. 1.
We were lucky enough to be given the rundown of BOY SODA’s studio essentials!
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Synths
I’ve been working with a lot of producers this past year and have enjoyed operating purely as an artist and a vocalist. With the last project, my housemate had a Moog Sub Phatty and a Juno that I loved playing with, and I think having real and accessible things like that are really important for facilitating a creative space that is intuitive and fun.
Microphones
This YC tape, on the other hand, has been held together by some favourite mics and travel friendly equipment.
I rotate between a Warm Audio clone of a Neuman U67, which I love, and the classic SM7B. For me the price point of the 67 is really enticing and they do a great job at getting really close to the real thing so that really holds me down at the home studio. I use a Kaotica Eyeball to isolate the room noise and pair it with a mice enclosure to get the mic as dead as possible. It’s been a good solution for getting high level vocal cuts from home.
The SM7B is obviously well known and I like it purely for it’s mobility. I can walk around the studio with it handheld and just feel the music more naturally. I like to cut melodic jibberish that I put words to later so the SM7B is great to have patched in and at the ready in that way.
Interfaces
Honourable mention to my broken Apogee Element 46 because I looove the preamps in that interface, but I’m either using a UAD Arrow or the trusty Focusrite 2i2 if I’m travelling. Running with the SM7B and 2i2 was really important for me this year because I spent time in London and NYC where I could still record from the hotel rooms.
DAW
My DAW is Logic and I love tuning and comping my vocals personally a lot of the time with Melodyne and Waves Tune at around 50%. I have 8inch Mackie monitors that I will always cherish and are great for demo cuts at home/playing music loud because the low end can be quite coloured.
Those are my studio essentials right now! I have some api preamps and units like twin Distressors and a 2A that are on my bucket list but until I’m hiring a more treated space I don’t see the point in amplifying the highway I live on with expensive gear haha. We’re all just big kids trying to build our dream studio and fill it with toys, let’s be honest!
