M ON T E LL J O RDAN: D.I.Y. R&B

Singer/songwriter/producerMontellJordanwouldbeanR&Bgiantevenifheweren’tclosetosevenfeettall.Like clockwork,JordanhasdeliveredoneGoldalbumperyearsinceexplodingontothescenewiththemillion-selling This Is How We Do It in1995.Jordanhasrackeduphitsinavarietyofstyles,fromsophisticated,Armani-suited soultorisquébedroomballadstofull-borepartyanthems.Nowhe’sbusyatworkonalbumnumberfive. Whilemostmillion-sellingartistsrelyonsmallarmiesofsongwriters,producers,studiomusicians,andengi - neers,Jordancoversmanyofthosebaseshimself.Workingwithonlyafewkeycollaborators,Jordantrulybuilds hisrecordsfromscratchathissmallAtlantastudio.Jordanrecentlysharedsomeofhisliterallyloftythoughtson songwritingandproduction.

Why do you prefer to do so much of rhythmplaying,Imakeavocalrhythmtofit You’ve also begun to work with your production work yourself? it.Thenthemelodyfallsintothevocalpat - Yamaha’s SU700 Loop Factory and BecauseIfeellikeIhave"consumer" tern,andthencomethemeaningfullyrics. RM1X sequencer. How do you think ears.WhenIproduce,Ievaluateasong Butatothertimes,amelodycomesfirst, they might fit into your productions? fromthatperspective.Iask,willthismake andthenIcreatemusicaroundthat I’mexperimentingwiththeSU700and medance?WouldIpurchasethis?That melody,andthencomethewords.Either RMX1formyfifthalbum.Iwanttousethem sortofhands-onprocessallowsmemore way,thehardestpartisgoingwithmyfirst tomakenewsoundsthatwillgrabthelis - controloverwhatthefinalproductsounds instinct.Ihaveatendencytorewriteand teners’ears,andIbelievethatusingindi - like.Iworkwithgreatengineers,producers, refinetoomuch. vidualpieceslikethesemakessampling mixologistsandprogrammers,andIhope andeditingfeelmorecreative.Iwant theyrespectmemorebecauseIamhands- You must hear a lot of demos. What are producerstosay,"Howdidhedothat?!" onanddosomanythingsmyself. some of the biggest mistakes new artists make in putting themselves You could certainly afford a big studio Has it always been that way? Were you across? at this point. Did you make a deliberate a gearhead from the get-go? Peoplealwaystellnewartiststojust decision to keep things simple? Beforemyrecorddeal,Iwasdepend - makeademo.Butithastobeagood Manybigthingsbeginsmall.Mycur - entonmypartneratthetimeforbeats, demo,becausemostA&Rsimplyaren’t rentfacilityhasonlyonesmallroom,but loops,equipmentinfo,andsoforth.But lookingforpotential—theywanttoheara manybighitscomeoutofthere.Iamcur - onceIhadthebudgettopickupsome hitrecord.Itallbeginswiththesongand rentlybuildinganothermedium-smallroom, musicequipment,Ibecameagearhead thelyric,sodon’tputanythingoutjustto aMIDIroom,andamasterstudioformy andhavebeenoneeversince.OjiPierce, haveacompletedemo. Atlanta-basedcompany,theEnterprise. whoproducedmyfirstalbum,setupmy Butevenaswegrow,Iprefertokeepitsim - smallhomestudioandgavemeafewbrief You work with a Yamaha S80 synthe - ple.Putmeonadesertislandwithjusta instructions,andthenIhadtolearnmyself. sizer. How do you use it? coupleofkeypiecesofgear—including "ThisIsHowWeDoIt"camefromsuch Iuseitbothasamastercontrollerand myS80andYamahaNS10monitors— experimentswithnewequipment. foritssounds.Someofitsold,analog-style plusanelectricaloutlet,andIwillgiveyoua soundsarepriceless!Thereisapatchthat’s hit.Andmaybeevenanewthemesongfor Do you tend to write over a rhythm justliketheoriginalsoundtheOhioPlayers Gilligan’sIsland. pattern, or do you search for the per - usedtocreatethebouncyfunkin"The fect beat after you've written a song? FunkyWorm."ButIcan’ttellyouwhichone It’salwaysdifferent.IfIhaveahot —it’sasecret!

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