Justin Timberlake

Used for "Cry Me a River", as stated by engineer Jimmy Douglass in this transscribed March 2005 interview.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

"Cry Me a River"

Producer: Timbaland

Engineer: Jimmy Douglass

"Justin came to me with his microphone in his case, and didn't actually take it out because he decided to see what I could do first," says Jimmy of the first session. "He was very happy, so he didn't get into that. I guess he has his mic with him just in case he runs into trouble. He works with a lot of different engineers and everybody has their secrets about their great mics. The thing about the [Neumann] U 87 - I used it because it's really kind of a neutral mic. All the other microphones have characteristics to them that don't work on everybody's voice. The U 87 seems to work on everybody."

"I look for Jimmy to tweak my vocals and make them crisp," adds Timbaland. "That's what I look for - that tone. With Justin, his vocal tone just came. Justin does his own thing."

Signal Path: Tracking

Jimmy explains: "The U 87 went to the Neve VR channel strip in mic position - I used the preamp on the board, and then inserted the [Universal Audio] 1176 across that particular path and then I sent it out to all my individual buses. I tracked Justin's vocals to Pro Tools. That's it. I've found that this is the chain of least resistance; it doesn't effect the vocal as much, and you can always do more creative things later in the mix. It's the most natural signal path I can find. I use the 1176 because it's a very fast limiter and it works well as a limiting tool as well as compressor.

"The reason I don't do anything coming in on the EQ side," he continues, "is because you can always EQ it later, but you can't take away EQ you've messed with on the way in. That gets recorded and you can never take it away."

Missy Elliott received the exact same signal treatment for her Timbaland-produced hit "Get Ur Freak On", as did Aaliyah on "Try Again," Jay-Z "Big Pimpin'," Snoop Dogg "Last Meal," Lil' Kim "The Jump Off," and Bubba Sparxxx "Deliverance," among others.

Signal Path: Mixdown

"I basically added a Teletronics LA2A across the chain," says Jimmy, "and I used the EQ on the VR. I just added a little bit of top and took away a little bit of the low bottom. I put a little bit of high-end just for shimmer. "The vocal to me is God. The vocal sells the record. I've always felt that way. That comes from working with a long line of great singers: Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Donny Hawthaway, and Lou Gramm [Foreigner]. I came from the school of having the vocalist be the most important part of the record. If you listen to the early records Lou did, the vocals are really out there, it's very clear, it's very transparent. I look for transparency in vocals. And I also try to keep them very dry."

It was also used on the lead vocals for "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Lead vocals: Universal Audio 1176, MXR flanger, Izotope *Trash*

"The signal chain for Justin's vocals was an Audio-Technica 4060 mic, into a Presonus ADL600 mic pre, and then a Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I normally use the U87 for recording vocals, but I was curious about the AT and I had both mics in front of Justin. The effects I used on his vocals seemed to work better with the AT. I used the U87 on Timbaland's vocals and went straight into the desk. I like using the Neve VR mic pre. It's a little crunchy, it's not quite the 1072 or 1073, but it works.

Justin Timberlake is frequently seen playing a Gibson J-200 Acoustic Guitar in Vintage Sunburst, as can be seen in this video of him performing "What Goes Around... Comes Around."

"The signal chain for Justin's vocals was an Audio-Technica 4060 mic, into a Presonus ADL600 mic pre, and then a Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I normally use the U87 for recording vocals, but I was curious about the AT and I had both mics in front of Justin. The effects I used on his vocals seemed to work better with the AT."

• Jimmy Douglass in an interview with Sound On Sound about the recording of Justin Timberlake's track 'Sexyback'.

"'It rejected better, it sounded more like Justin’s voice when we handed it over to him...it just makes our job a lot easier. We really love the capsule, it's been great.'

Andy Meyer - FOH Engineer, Justin Timberlake"

Taken on April 16, 2012. JH16 Black and Whiteboy Solid with Custom Single Color Artwork.

In this photo, one can see Timberlake playing a Taylor 814ce.

Justin Timberlake uses the Audio-Technica AE6100 Hypercardioid Dynamic Microphone during his 20/20 Experience World Tour, as highlighted by Audio-Technica, with sound engineering managed by Andy Meyer.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the Boss VB-2W vibrato pedal.

Used for "Cry Me a River", as stated by engineer Jimmy Douglass in this transscribed March 2005 interview.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

"Cry Me a River"

Producer: Timbaland

Engineer: Jimmy Douglass

"Justin came to me with his microphone in his case, and didn't actually take it out because he decided to see what I could do first," says Jimmy of the first session. "He was very happy, so he didn't get into that. I guess he has his mic with him just in case he runs into trouble. He works with a lot of different engineers and everybody has their secrets about their great mics. The thing about the [Neumann] U 87 - I used it because it's really kind of a neutral mic. All the other microphones have characteristics to them that don't work on everybody's voice. The U 87 seems to work on everybody."

"I look for Jimmy to tweak my vocals and make them crisp," adds Timbaland. "That's what I look for - that tone. With Justin, his vocal tone just came. Justin does his own thing."

Signal Path: Tracking

Jimmy explains: "The U 87 went to the Neve VR channel strip in mic position - I used the preamp on the board, and then inserted the [Universal Audio] 1176 across that particular path and then I sent it out to all my individual buses. I tracked Justin's vocals to Pro Tools. That's it. I've found that this is the chain of least resistance; it doesn't effect the vocal as much, and you can always do more creative things later in the mix. It's the most natural signal path I can find. I use the 1176 because it's a very fast limiter and it works well as a limiting tool as well as compressor.

"The reason I don't do anything coming in on the EQ side," he continues, "is because you can always EQ it later, but you can't take away EQ you've messed with on the way in. That gets recorded and you can never take it away."

Missy Elliott received the exact same signal treatment for her Timbaland-produced hit "Get Ur Freak On", as did Aaliyah on "Try Again," Jay-Z "Big Pimpin'," Snoop Dogg "Last Meal," Lil' Kim "The Jump Off," and Bubba Sparxxx "Deliverance," among others.

Signal Path: Mixdown

"I basically added a Teletronics LA2A across the chain," says Jimmy, "and I used the EQ on the VR. I just added a little bit of top and took away a little bit of the low bottom. I put a little bit of high-end just for shimmer. "The vocal to me is God. The vocal sells the record. I've always felt that way. That comes from working with a long line of great singers: Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Donny Hawthaway, and Lou Gramm [Foreigner]. I came from the school of having the vocalist be the most important part of the record. If you listen to the early records Lou did, the vocals are really out there, it's very clear, it's very transparent. I look for transparency in vocals. And I also try to keep them very dry."

Used for "Cry Me a River", as stated by engineer Jimmy Douglass in this transscribed March 2005 interview.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

"Cry Me a River"

Producer: Timbaland

Engineer: Jimmy Douglass

"Justin came to me with his microphone in his case, and didn't actually take it out because he decided to see what I could do first," says Jimmy of the first session. "He was very happy, so he didn't get into that. I guess he has his mic with him just in case he runs into trouble. He works with a lot of different engineers and everybody has their secrets about their great mics. The thing about the [Neumann] U 87 - I used it because it's really kind of a neutral mic. All the other microphones have characteristics to them that don't work on everybody's voice. The U 87 seems to work on everybody."

"I look for Jimmy to tweak my vocals and make them crisp," adds Timbaland. "That's what I look for - that tone. With Justin, his vocal tone just came. Justin does his own thing."

Signal Path: Tracking

Jimmy explains: "The U 87 went to the Neve VR channel strip in mic position - I used the preamp on the board, and then inserted the [Universal Audio] 1176 across that particular path and then I sent it out to all my individual buses. I tracked Justin's vocals to Pro Tools. That's it. I've found that this is the chain of least resistance; it doesn't effect the vocal as much, and you can always do more creative things later in the mix. It's the most natural signal path I can find. I use the 1176 because it's a very fast limiter and it works well as a limiting tool as well as compressor.

"The reason I don't do anything coming in on the EQ side," he continues, "is because you can always EQ it later, but you can't take away EQ you've messed with on the way in. That gets recorded and you can never take it away."

Missy Elliott received the exact same signal treatment for her Timbaland-produced hit "Get Ur Freak On", as did Aaliyah on "Try Again," Jay-Z "Big Pimpin'," Snoop Dogg "Last Meal," Lil' Kim "The Jump Off," and Bubba Sparxxx "Deliverance," among others.

Signal Path: Mixdown

"I basically added a Teletronics LA2A across the chain," says Jimmy, "and I used the EQ on the VR. I just added a little bit of top and took away a little bit of the low bottom. I put a little bit of high-end just for shimmer. "The vocal to me is God. The vocal sells the record. I've always felt that way. That comes from working with a long line of great singers: Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Donny Hawthaway, and Lou Gramm [Foreigner]. I came from the school of having the vocalist be the most important part of the record. If you listen to the early records Lou did, the vocals are really out there, it's very clear, it's very transparent. I look for transparency in vocals. And I also try to keep them very dry."

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the Eventide Space Reverb.

Justin using a Roland AX-7 Keytar.

Used for the vocals on "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Lead vocals: Universal Audio 1176, MXR flanger, Izotope *Trash*

"The signal chain for Justin's vocals was an Audio-Technica 4060 mic, into a Presonus ADL600 mic pre, and then a Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I normally use the U87 for recording vocals, but I was curious about the AT and I had both mics in front of Justin. The effects I used on his vocals seemed to work better with the AT. I used the U87 on Timbaland's vocals and went straight into the desk. I like using the Neve VR mic pre. It's a little crunchy, it's not quite the 1072 or 1073, but it works.

"Justin then said 'Man, can you put some effect on the vocal? Something crazy, like a distorted kind of thing?' So I put the Trash plug-in on [Izotope's distortion, filter, delay and amplifier modelling plug-in]. I just happened to have it. To give you my exact settings would be silly. But I'll give you one clue: it wasn't something that I worked really hard to get. Just by using the plug-in the setting almost came up.

"The Trash plug-in wasn't the only thing I used on the lead vocals. I also had an outboard MXR flanger on it. Plus there was an outboard compressor, the Urei 1176. I used the same three effects on Timbaland's vocals, just less than on Justin's. But you can hear the flanger and compressor acting in the spaces, like just before Justin sings 'dirty baby'. There's no hiding it, and it creates a whole other dimension of sound."

Backing vocals: MXR flanger, Digidesign Impact, Sound Toys Filter Freak, Celemony Melodyne, Waves Q10, Metaflanger and Renaissance Reverb, Pultec EQ

"The backing vocals are all Justin. I'd say it's about 12 tracks, three-part harmony. I'm sure I used the MXR flanger on this as well, and also the Impact plug-in, which is supposed to simulate the SSL board compressor. I wanted to really hit it hard, with an attack-y kind of sound that releases really quickly. I also used the Filter Freak plug-in, which is great, and Melodyne, Metaflanger, the Waves Q10 EQ, the Pultec EQP1A and the Rverb [Renaissance Reverb] plug-ins. Rverb is not a great reverb, but I like it, because it's low-grade. The weird backing vox effects are a combination of things, and I have no idea how I did what."

Used for the vocals on "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Lead vocals: Universal Audio 1176, MXR flanger, Izotope *Trash*

"The signal chain for Justin's vocals was an Audio-Technica 4060 mic, into a Presonus ADL600 mic pre, and then a Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I normally use the U87 for recording vocals, but I was curious about the AT and I had both mics in front of Justin. The effects I used on his vocals seemed to work better with the AT. I used the U87 on Timbaland's vocals and went straight into the desk. I like using the Neve VR mic pre. It's a little crunchy, it's not quite the 1072 or 1073, but it works.

"Justin then said 'Man, can you put some effect on the vocal? Something crazy, like a distorted kind of thing?' So I put the Trash plug-in on [Izotope's distortion, filter, delay and amplifier modelling plug-in]. I just happened to have it. To give you my exact settings would be silly. But I'll give you one clue: it wasn't something that I worked really hard to get. Just by using the plug-in the setting almost came up.

"The Trash plug-in wasn't the only thing I used on the lead vocals. I also had an outboard MXR flanger on it. Plus there was an outboard compressor, the Urei 1176. I used the same three effects on Timbaland's vocals, just less than on Justin's. But you can hear the flanger and compressor acting in the spaces, like just before Justin sings 'dirty baby'. There's no hiding it, and it creates a whole other dimension of sound."

Backing vocals: MXR flanger, Digidesign Impact, Sound Toys Filter Freak, Celemony Melodyne, Waves Q10, Metaflanger and Renaissance Reverb, Pultec EQ

"The backing vocals are all Justin. I'd say it's about 12 tracks, three-part harmony. I'm sure I used the MXR flanger on this as well, and also the Impact plug-in, which is supposed to simulate the SSL board compressor. I wanted to really hit it hard, with an attack-y kind of sound that releases really quickly. I also used the Filter Freak plug-in, which is great, and Melodyne, Metaflanger, the Waves Q10 EQ, the Pultec EQP1A and the Rverb [Renaissance Reverb] plug-ins. Rverb is not a great reverb, but I like it, because it's low-grade. The weird backing vox effects are a combination of things, and I have no idea how I did what."

Used for the backing vocals on "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Backing vocals: MXR flanger, Digidesign Impact, Sound Toys Filter Freak, Celemony Melodyne, Waves Q10, Metaflanger and Renaissance Reverb, Pultec EQ

"The backing vocals are all Justin. I'd say it's about 12 tracks, three-part harmony. I'm sure I used the MXR flanger on this as well, and also the Impact plug-in, which is supposed to simulate the SSL board compressor. I wanted to really hit it hard, with an attack-y kind of sound that releases really quickly. I also used the Filter Freak plug-in, which is great, and Melodyne, Metaflanger, the Waves Q10 EQ, the Pultec EQP1A and the Rverb [Renaissance Reverb] plug-ins. Rverb is not a great reverb, but I like it, because it's low-grade. The weird backing vox effects are a combination of things, and I have no idea how I did what."

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the T-Rex Octavius pedal.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the items that can be seen is the Voodoo Pedal Power MONDO supply.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the Ernie Ball Passive Volume Pedal.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the EHX Cock Fight.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the Dunlop GCB95 CryBaby wah pedal.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the MXR Phase 90.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the ProCo The Rat pedal.

In this photo of Timberlake with his pedalboard, one of the pedals that can be seen is the TC Electronic Polytune 2 pedal tuner.

Justin Timberlake can be seen with a Gibson ES-335 in this photo.

"The Trash plug-in wasn't the only thing I used on the lead vocals. I also had an outboard MXR flanger on it. Plus there was an outboard compressor, the Urei 1176. I used the same three effects on Timbaland's vocals, just less than on Justin's. But you can hear the flanger and compressor acting in the spaces, like just before Justin sings 'dirty baby'. There's no hiding it, and it creates a whole other dimension of sound," reads this article.

Justin Timberlake utilized the Audio-Technica AEW-R5200 Wireless System for his vocals during the 20/20 Experience World Tour, as detailed in a report by Audio-Technica.

Justin Timberlake used the Audio-Technica Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System during his 20/20 Experience World Tour, as detailed by Audio-Technica.

Used for lead vocals on "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Lead vocals: Universal Audio 1176, MXR flanger, Izotope *Trash*

"The signal chain for Justin's vocals was an Audio-Technica 4060 mic, into a Presonus ADL600 mic pre, and then a Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I normally use the U87 for recording vocals, but I was curious about the AT and I had both mics in front of Justin. The effects I used on his vocals seemed to work better with the AT. I used the U87 on Timbaland's vocals and went straight into the desk. I like using the Neve VR mic pre. It's a little crunchy, it's not quite the 1072 or 1073, but it works.

"Justin then said 'Man, can you put some effect on the vocal? Something crazy, like a distorted kind of thing?' So I put the Trash plug-in on [Izotope's distortion, filter, delay and amplifier modelling plug-in]. I just happened to have it. To give you my exact settings would be silly. But I'll give you one clue: it wasn't something that I worked really hard to get. Just by using the plug-in the setting almost came up.

"The Trash plug-in wasn't the only thing I used on the lead vocals. I also had an outboard MXR flanger on it. Plus there was an outboard compressor, the Urei 1176. I used the same three effects on Timbaland's vocals, just less than on Justin's. But you can hear the flanger and compressor acting in the spaces, like just before Justin sings 'dirty baby'. There's no hiding it, and it creates a whole other dimension of sound."

Used for the backing vocals on "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Backing vocals: MXR flanger, Digidesign Impact, Sound Toys Filter Freak, Celemony Melodyne, Waves Q10, Metaflanger and Renaissance Reverb, Pultec EQ

"The backing vocals are all Justin. I'd say it's about 12 tracks, three-part harmony. I'm sure I used the MXR flanger on this as well, and also the Impact plug-in, which is supposed to simulate the SSL board compressor. I wanted to really hit it hard, with an attack-y kind of sound that releases really quickly. I also used the Filter Freak plug-in, which is great, and Melodyne, Metaflanger, the Waves Q10 EQ, the Pultec EQP1A and the Rverb [Renaissance Reverb] plug-ins. Rverb is not a great reverb, but I like it, because it's low-grade. The weird backing vox effects are a combination of things, and I have no idea how I did what."

Used for the backing vocals on "SexyBack", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Douglass in this July 2007 Sound on Sound interview.

Backing vocals: MXR flanger, Digidesign Impact, Sound Toys Filter Freak, Celemony Melodyne, Waves Q10, Metaflanger and Renaissance Reverb, Pultec EQ

"The backing vocals are all Justin. I'd say it's about 12 tracks, three-part harmony. I'm sure I used the MXR flanger on this as well, and also the Impact plug-in, which is supposed to simulate the SSL board compressor. I wanted to really hit it hard, with an attack-y kind of sound that releases really quickly. I also used the Filter Freak plug-in, which is great, and Melodyne, Metaflanger, the Waves Q10 EQ, the Pultec EQP1A and the Rverb [Renaissance Reverb] plug-ins. Rverb is not a great reverb, but I like it, because it's low-grade. The weird backing vox effects are a combination of things, and I have no idea how I did what."