Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly.
Music from To Pimp A Butterfly
Gear Used On To Pimp A Butterfly
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (2015). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
Kendrick Lamar
Roles:
Microphones used by Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp A Butterfly
Avg price: $10,397.13
Derek Ali’s engineering skills were tested by the amount of live recording that took place in the making of To Pimp A Butterfly. “I mostly use our Stephen Paul-modified Telefunken U47 to record Kendrick, going through a Neve 1073 mic pre and then a Tube-Tech CL1B compressor, which gives a great, fat, warm vocal sound, especially in conjunction with the U47. Sometimes I’ll run his vocals through a Pultec EQP-1A3. On ‘Alright’ I used a U67 instead of a U47 on his voice and on ‘For Free?’ two Electro-Voice mics, the RE20 and the 666. We stacked the two EV mics on top of each other, and this gave a warm, almost distorted sound.
Avg price: $7,206.40
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "On ‘Alright’ I used a U67 instead of a U47 on [Kendrick's] voice."
Avg price: $449.56
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "On ‘For Free?’ [we used] two Electro-Voice mics, the RE20 and the 666. We stacked the two EV mics on top of each other, and this gave a warm, almost distorted sound."
Electro-Voice EV-666 Dynamic Microphone
Avg price: $608.00
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "On ‘For Free?’ [we used] two Electro-Voice mics, the RE20 and the 666. We stacked the two EV mics on top of each other, and this gave a warm, almost distorted sound."
Software Plugins and VSTs used by Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp A Butterfly
Waves Renaissance Compressor Plugin
Avg price: $34.33
"There are quite a few plug-ins on Kendrick’s vocal. He has a real raspy, mid-range vocal, so I use the Renaissance Compressor to smooth that out. I have it in manual and opto modes, with the threshold all the way down to -18, so if anything in the mid-range leaps out too much, it keeps that in check."
Avg price: $34.33
"I use the SSL Channel strip on his vocals, just for high- or low-pass filtering, because most of my vocal EQ is done on the board. "
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Avg price: $34.99
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "I use plug-ins on his vocals during recording, because it’s easier and quicker, and they tend to be the Waves Renaissance Compressor, Metaflanger, De-Esser, SSL Channel, S1 Imager and the [Avid] Air Chorus."
Avg price: $33.59
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "I use plug-ins on his vocals during recording, because it’s easier and quicker, and they tend to be the Waves Renaissance Compressor, Metaflanger, De-Esser, SSL Channel, S1 Imager and the [Avid] Air Chorus."
Studio Equipment used by Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp A Butterfly
Avg price: $1,532.44
"I also like to use the Distressor on [Kendrick's] lead, because it adds some grit and presence at the top. So the RCompressor and S1 smooth and widen out his vocal sound, and the Distressor opens up the top end, making it crisp and allowing his vocals to cut through."
Avg price: $4,295.00
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "Sometimes I’ll run [Kendrick's] vocals through a Pultec EQP-1A3."
Studio Gear used by Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp A Butterfly
Avg price: $3,925.63
Engineer Derek Ali on recording To Pimp a Buterfly : "I mostly use our Stephen Paul-modified Telefunken U47 to record Kendrick, going through a Neve 1073 mic pre and then a Tube-Tech CL1B compressor, which gives a great, fat, warm vocal sound, especially in conjunction with the U47."