Vertigo Studio

We had been working on the tape all fall and winter. I had just moved to my new spot in the Foothills of Tucson in mid October and by early November we started recording. This was our second full length mixtape together, so by this time Badio and I had a very comfortable working relationship. Sonically, I knew exactly what he wanted and he knew precisely what I could make happen.

  When working with an artist, nothing is better than having rapport with that client. Developing a relationship in the studio is a crucial element to making great music. The artist devleops trust and confidence in your abilities, which in turn enables them to let their guard down; feeling more comfortable to be creative.

  We worked for 2 months, 4 to 6 days a week. Badio would show up anywhere from 3pm to 2am and we would work for hours. Very rarely he would show up alone, a constant stream of rappers, singers, friends, girls, and constituents would come in and out of the studio. It was a fun and relaxed atmosphere, full of food, alcohol, weed, and coffee.

  Badio has a very clean and smooth timbre to his voice. For most songs he raises the volume of his voice to a slight yell although it doesn't come across as yelling or angry...just hype. For the first project we did together in 2010 I had used a Shure KSM32 on his vocals. The Shure is a mid-level mic but on his voice you would never know, it was a good fit for him. The sound of his vocals on the first album, WhatsBadio Mixtape, was also contributed to by using a Solid State/Tube Hybrid Preamp. I was able to get some warmth out of the tube side and a lot of transient defintion from the SS side. This combined with the Shure sounded great on his voice. However for this project, I wanted to use some new equipment. For most of his vocals we used my beloved Manley Reference mic with a 1073 pre. For some songs we'd go back to the Shure. 

  Badio is very tuned in to the notion of having a distinct sound. From his signature "My name is Danny Badio!" tagline he announces before the beat drops, his roaring adlibs, to how he structures his lyrics. Badio utilizes a 'fill-in' structure on many of his verses and hooks. In one take he will go through his verse, rapping a few lines then leaving some blank, rapping some more, followed by more pauses. The breaks and pauses are not screw-ups or mistakes, they are calculated and mapped out. On a second track he will go and fill in all of those blank parts. We would refer to them as the 'in and outs' or 'fill-ins'. While he did not invent this method, Badio definitely takes it and makes it his own.

  Our routine was quite effective; first we'd record all of the vocals. When we had finished, Badio would go outside or hangout while I did all the basic editing and mixing. Once I had the vocals about 80% there I'd call him back and we'd go through the whole song tweaking things and making adjustments. We would discuss aspects of the track and re-record any parts we needed to. 

  Once you can prove to your client that you understand them as an artist, they will put more trust in you. They won't need to feel like they have to monitor you or hold your hand. They will start to explain how they want it to sound and will stop in mid sentence to say, "Well, you know how I want it."

  ...and you certainly will.

  This comes with mutual respect and time. It most likely will not happen in the first session with a new client.