LAS VEGAS― From touring with a rock band at just 15 to becoming an Emmy-winning and GRAMMY®-nominated Music Producer and Composer, Baby Brown’s career spans decades and across genres. Today, he continues to push the boundaries of music production with an almost entirely “in the box” (ITB) approach, including an input chain that consists of outboard analog gear, with everything else being plug-in based. For Brown, utilizing the very best solutions available is critical for his productions, which is why he often calls on plug-ins from NUGEN Audio.
At the top of Brown’s go-to list of solutions, and often used in conjunction with one another, are the NUGEN Audio Halo Upmix and Paragon True Convolution Reverb, which offer enhanced flexibility and control to his workflow. “Halo Upmix is probably one of my top five most used plug-ins for Atmos mixes; I really love it and Paragon, too,” he says. “Whatever sound I’m going for determines what reverb I use for immersive mixes, and Paragon is almost always a given. If I have a reverb, I typically also use Halo Upmix in the beginning to sculpt it into whatever part of the room I’d like, and I’m able to do that directly in whatever track it’s on. There is a certain kind of magic about the way Halo Upmix sounds. It’s very subtle and doesn’t artifact like many other upmixing solutions.”
NUGEN Audio MasterCheck is another staple for Brown, as it provides confidence for meeting compliance requirements. “I use MasterCheck on every single one of my projects,” he continues. “It is an incredibly awesome piece of software, especially in this day and age, where staying compliant in terms of loudness and distortion levels is extremely important. After I bounce a mix, I always run it through the MasterCheck plug-in to ensure I stay within code. Additionally, I think the presets are extremely convenient and useful.”
Some of Brown’s other favorites for compliance include NUGEN’s Monofilter Bass Management, LM-Correct Automatic Compliance and VisLM 2 Loudness Meter plug-ins. “I love Monofilter so much because of the graphical representation that shows what you’re doing to the signal,” he explains. “I use it a lot for clean-up. For instance, I might get a mix that is already committed to a two-track, and it might be very spatial or too wide. With Monofilter, I can pull the sides in and redistribute the energy in the track. I also use LM-Correct to read my True Peak on whatever I’ve been given and figure out roughly how loud it is. In addition, VisLM always sits on my 5.1 while mixing, to balance and ensure I’m hitting those specifications.”
Furthermore, Brown implements the brand’s SigMod Custom Signal Architecture tool for enhanced functionality. “I love the fact that I’m able to scan all of my plug-ins at once,” he adds. He also plans to familiarize himself with the brand’s ISL 2 True Peak Limiter for an additional boost of confidence. “I’d definitely like to explore this plug-in more for Atmos because I think it could be really useful in catching my ISPs.”
Brown is a second-generation musician whose journey through the world of music has been as diverse as it is impressive. An early fascination with four-track cassette recording blossomed into a label contract in his mid-20s, but it wasn’t until meeting DJ Rectangle in his LA studio that Brown’s talents in music production became apparent. This led him to work with some of the biggest names in West Coast Hip-Hop, including Eminem and Xzibit, among many others. After wrapping up a rather comprehensive and broad-based soundtrack for the hit Keanu Reeves show “Brawn” on Disney+ last year, Brown recently began his personal journey into immersive audio, where his unique sound and style have taken on a whole new meaning. For more information about Brown, visit babybrownproducer.com or find him on Instagram @babybrownproducer.