Erykah Badu: Freestyle Mac
Badu used a combination of effects and filters in GarageBand to give her voice a gritty, soulful quality. “I got a little creative and went to the guitar plug-ins and the drum plug-ins,” she says. “Those effects give my voice a flange-y sound that gives me a feeling of 1969 to 1973. Sonically I was trying to create something that didn’t sound too new, but everyone knew was new. By putting the vocals through effects that are not for vocals, of course you’re going to get something kinda freaky.”
Visual Vibes
When it was time to craft the first video for New Amerykah, Badu broke out her MacBook once again. “I did my first demo videos on the Mac,” she says. “ I used Photo Booth camera and did stop animation. I did about 500 still photos of me just moving slightly left and right, put them all together, and added effects in iMovie. It took about three hours, and I never left my bedroom. I took it to the label to give them an idea of what I wanted to do with some of the videos for this album.”
Badu has directed all her own videos the release of Baduism in 1997, and New Amerykah is no exception to the rule. The artist directed the first video release from the album, “Honey.” “I wanted to do something where I’m using old record covers, because I know so many people collect records,” she says. “So I just came up with this little storyline. I’ve never used as many post-production effects in my life. Once again I’m in this digital mode, placing myself on these albums and making it look real. It was such a learning experience for me.”
The process was new for Badu, who’s used to the tactile, chemical world of film processing. “I’ve always used film, even with still cameras,” she says. “I’ve always cross-processed my slide film to bring effects to my unique shots. I was never a digital camera girl, but everybody has to change sometime. I’m still in love with analog things, but this is just another part of me.”
The Mobile Mac Studio
Badu is currently touring in support of New Amerykah, and plans to release New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) later this year. She’ll have a GarageBand and Logic Studio-equipped mobile recording studio on the tour, and plans to write more music on the road. “I love freestyle,” she says. “I enjoy experiencing the natural music that comes out of me on stage. It’s like getting your feet rubbed. Or smelling rain. It’s why I do what I do.”
She’ll also tweak tracks for the new album during the tour. “I’ll continue to put my touches on New Amerykah Part Two by singing and stacking vocals and creating effects in GarageBand and Logic,” she says. “And if anybody sends me more tracks, I’ll put vocals on those too.”
Badu’s stream of creativity will keep flowing. “GarageBand really gave me the freedom and the time to live while I worked,” she says. “To me, living is the little things you do in between working, like stopping and smelling the flowers, or risking being late because you’re finishing up listening to an album. With the Mac, I have time and the freedom to do all those things and write my music without going into a studio.”
