Chapter 6
Hip Hop, The Untold Story
1981 turned out to be a very special year, not only was my first daughter born but I also met Larry Smith. Little did I know that meeting would change my life. Larry was a Hip Hop/Rap producer, a genre of music virtually unheard of at the time. He was also a great bass player whose sound was so unique that artists continue to sample it today. I like to refer to Larry as the ”architect of hip hop.” He had already co-written and performed on Kurtis Blow’s Christmas Rappin’ and the Breaks when we met, so I was honored when he asked me to engineer some projects for him. The first project was Jimmy Spicer’s Dollar Bill, for Spring Records and then we recorded Love Bug Starski’s You Gotta Believe, for Fever Records. Recording hip-hop was different from the sessions I had been doing. Larry usually used live drums for his recordings but this was the era that introduced the drum machine. Most of the sessions were done with either the DMX or Linn drum which were two of the first units on the market. The sessions were very simple: drums, bass guitar, synthesizer, rhythm guitar, background vocals, and a rapper -- that was it. The songs were usually recorded and mixed in one night.
I was still working at both Music Farm and Soundworks and we would be so booked that I had to take Larry to other rooms around town. This was the beginning of my freelance career; by working in these various places, I became accustomed to operating different consoles. I knew that a console had modules that are identical. They all basically have the same design and layout. There’s a fader (volume control), effect sends, (used to adjust echo & reverb levels) EQ knobs, (hi, mid, and low frequency adjusters) preamp controller (used to boost a weak signal for devices plugged into the channel, like a microphone) and a buss section (which assigns channels to a tape recorder) - once you know one module, you know them all. You just have to learn what each manufacturer does differently. As a result of my studio hopping, I had the opportunity to work at about 80% of the rooms in Manhattan; owners loved me and always welcomed me into their facilities because they knew I could generate work.
Larry’s big break as a producer was the recording of Run-DMC’s self-titled debut album on Profile Records. This was a ground-breaking project for hip hop and the music industry as a whole. It was basically drums and rap and it helped establish the hip hop sound. Larry, along with the engineer on this project, Rod Hui, were the first in hip hop to put a reverb effect on the drums during this recording. This created a signature sound in the early days of rap. Larry’s partner, Russell Simmons, had a spec deal with Green Street Recording Studios and that’s why I did not engineer this record; they chose to use their own engineers. (A spec deal is an agreement between a producer or artist and the recording studio in which the studio lets you record with the understanding that they will be compensated when the project is completed or sold to a record company.) A few songs from this project, It’s Like That and Sucker M.C.’s, were two of Run-DMC’s biggest hits. Another song, Rock Box, was the first time hip hop and rock-n-roll were fused together on a record. The second album that he produced for the group was called King of Rock, a little more melodic and with more instrumentation, including bass and electric guitars and keyboards. On this project Larry kept the rock and hip hop fusion theme going with songs like Rock the House and the title song King of Rock. Larry’s production on these albums helped Run-DMC to become one of the biggest groups in hip hop history.
This group was also one of the first hip hop artists to have their videos played on MTV. Larry was remarkable in his recording and mixing approach. His mixture of live instruments and synthesized sounds was amazing. The next project he took on was a group called Whodini, another duo, but this undertaking was much different than the Run-DMC records. First of all, the group was on the Jive Record label and the company owned a recording studio in London, England which meant that the group had to go oversees to do the album because Jive did not want to waste money recording in the States when they had their own room. The result was incredible. Because the studios in London were state of the art and had equipment that was not yet available in America. Larry was able to experiment with sounds and different recording techniques that he had never used before. The record had more instrumentation then his previous projects and more of a R&B feel. But just like the other undertakings, the results were the same. The album Escape resulted in three of the group’s biggest songs Freaks Come Out at Night, Friends, and Five Minutes of Funk and along with King of Rock earned them hip hops first platinum plaque. (A platinum plaque represents the sale of 1,000,000 records.) These songs created a standard for all of hip hop to follow; the quality was clean and the sound was big. Larry went on to record two more albums for Whodini, Back In Black and Open Sesame.
One thing that always amazed me about Larry was his method of doing breaks while mixing.
Breaks consist of taking instruments or vocals out of a song and using only bass and drums or other combinations. He would do it so fluently. You can hear these breaks on most of the songs he recorded. Larry told me he used to study the veterans at the Apollo when he was younger. He was able to see what each instrument was playing and learn different styles of music as well as showmanship. One interesting thing about Larry is, he never listened to the radio while he was producing because he always wanted his music to be fresh and unique, not like other songs that you’ve already heard. I think he accomplished that goal. Many artists have used Larry’s beats and melodies such as Next with their hit Too Close. Producer Jermaine Dupri used the beat from It’s Like That for the song Let’s Get Married by the group Jagged Edge. Artists like Jay-Z, Maroon 5, P Diddy, and Michael Jackson, to name a few, have all sampled Larry’s music.
Larry and I continue to be great friends; he has been an inspiration in my life. He has always motivated me. I think he had more faith in me than I had in myself. It’s always good to have someone like that on your side; I was honored that someone of his magnitude believed in me. Some days I couldn't believe the circles I found myself in; knowing him showed me how far I had come. He served as the best man at my wedding and is the one who suggested I write this book.
Read More on Larry at www.turnthehornson.com
Hip Hop, The Untold Story
1981 turned out to be a very special year, not only was my first daughter born but I also met Larry Smith. Little did I know that meeting would change my life. Larry was a Hip Hop/Rap producer, a genre of music virtually unheard of at the time. He was also a great bass player whose sound was so unique that artists continue to sample it today. I like to refer to Larry as the ”architect of hip hop.” He had already co-written and performed on Kurtis Blow’s Christmas Rappin’ and the Breaks when we met, so I was honored when he asked me to engineer some projects for him. The first project was Jimmy Spicer’s Dollar Bill, for Spring Records and then we recorded Love Bug Starski’s You Gotta Believe, for Fever Records. Recording hip-hop was different from the sessions I had been doing. Larry usually used live drums for his recordings but this was the era that introduced the drum machine. Most of the sessions were done with either the DMX or Linn drum which were two of the first units on the market. The sessions were very simple: drums, bass guitar, synthesizer, rhythm guitar, background vocals, and a rapper -- that was it. The songs were usually recorded and mixed in one night.
I was still working at both Music Farm and Soundworks and we would be so booked that I had to take Larry to other rooms around town. This was the beginning of my freelance career; by working in these various places, I became accustomed to operating different consoles. I knew that a console had modules that are identical. They all basically have the same design and layout. There’s a fader (volume control), effect sends, (used to adjust echo & reverb levels) EQ knobs, (hi, mid, and low frequency adjusters) preamp controller (used to boost a weak signal for devices plugged into the channel, like a microphone) and a buss section (which assigns channels to a tape recorder) - once you know one module, you know them all. You just have to learn what each manufacturer does differently. As a result of my studio hopping, I had the opportunity to work at about 80% of the rooms in Manhattan; owners loved me and always welcomed me into their facilities because they knew I could generate work.
Larry’s big break as a producer was the recording of Run-DMC’s self-titled debut album on Profile Records. This was a ground-breaking project for hip hop and the music industry as a whole. It was basically drums and rap and it helped establish the hip hop sound. Larry, along with the engineer on this project, Rod Hui, were the first in hip hop to put a reverb effect on the drums during this recording. This created a signature sound in the early days of rap. Larry’s partner, Russell Simmons, had a spec deal with Green Street Recording Studios and that’s why I did not engineer this record; they chose to use their own engineers. (A spec deal is an agreement between a producer or artist and the recording studio in which the studio lets you record with the understanding that they will be compensated when the project is completed or sold to a record company.) A few songs from this project, It’s Like That and Sucker M.C.’s, were two of Run-DMC’s biggest hits. Another song, Rock Box, was the first time hip hop and rock-n-roll were fused together on a record. The second album that he produced for the group was called King of Rock, a little more melodic and with more instrumentation, including bass and electric guitars and keyboards. On this project Larry kept the rock and hip hop fusion theme going with songs like Rock the House and the title song King of Rock. Larry’s production on these albums helped Run-DMC to become one of the biggest groups in hip hop history.
This group was also one of the first hip hop artists to have their videos played on MTV. Larry was remarkable in his recording and mixing approach. His mixture of live instruments and synthesized sounds was amazing. The next project he took on was a group called Whodini, another duo, but this undertaking was much different than the Run-DMC records. First of all, the group was on the Jive Record label and the company owned a recording studio in London, England which meant that the group had to go oversees to do the album because Jive did not want to waste money recording in the States when they had their own room. The result was incredible. Because the studios in London were state of the art and had equipment that was not yet available in America. Larry was able to experiment with sounds and different recording techniques that he had never used before. The record had more instrumentation then his previous projects and more of a R&B feel. But just like the other undertakings, the results were the same. The album Escape resulted in three of the group’s biggest songs Freaks Come Out at Night, Friends, and Five Minutes of Funk and along with King of Rock earned them hip hops first platinum plaque. (A platinum plaque represents the sale of 1,000,000 records.) These songs created a standard for all of hip hop to follow; the quality was clean and the sound was big. Larry went on to record two more albums for Whodini, Back In Black and Open Sesame.
One thing that always amazed me about Larry was his method of doing breaks while mixing.
Breaks consist of taking instruments or vocals out of a song and using only bass and drums or other combinations. He would do it so fluently. You can hear these breaks on most of the songs he recorded. Larry told me he used to study the veterans at the Apollo when he was younger. He was able to see what each instrument was playing and learn different styles of music as well as showmanship. One interesting thing about Larry is, he never listened to the radio while he was producing because he always wanted his music to be fresh and unique, not like other songs that you’ve already heard. I think he accomplished that goal. Many artists have used Larry’s beats and melodies such as Next with their hit Too Close. Producer Jermaine Dupri used the beat from It’s Like That for the song Let’s Get Married by the group Jagged Edge. Artists like Jay-Z, Maroon 5, P Diddy, and Michael Jackson, to name a few, have all sampled Larry’s music.
Larry and I continue to be great friends; he has been an inspiration in my life. He has always motivated me. I think he had more faith in me than I had in myself. It’s always good to have someone like that on your side; I was honored that someone of his magnitude believed in me. Some days I couldn't believe the circles I found myself in; knowing him showed me how far I had come. He served as the best man at my wedding and is the one who suggested I write this book.
Read More on Larry at www.turnthehornson.com