Ariel Borujow: Secrets of a Record Engineer

by Kevin on February 22, 2009

This is the first in an exclusive new series that we plan on running here at KevinNottingham.com. Ariel Borujow, world renowned engineer and mixer, has agreed to step in and and give us a few words about what it is that he does and why his job is important in the music industry.. He has been in the business for 14 years and has worked with tons of artists to make their shit sound good. This first video, or should we call it vlog, is just a quick introduction from Ariel and about his profession. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments and we’ll get Ariel to answer them in the next segment!

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Posted in Industry Insider

http://www.myspace.com/cenzobeatz08 Cenzo

wow. this is so dope. thank you, ariel, for doin this and props to kev for makin this possible.
Ariel

No prob Cenzo…its a pleasure doing this and being able to share what goes on in my world…
http://www.myspace.com/quericoproductions QueRico

I’m really glad that this site is doing a video blog series focusing on recording engineers. I’m going to audio engineering school right now @ SAE in Atlanta. So I really appreciate these type of videos.

As far as questions for Ariel…. could you briefly give a list of important things for up-and-coming recording engineers to do & NOT to do. Perhaps even talk about your own experience in the field & how you worked your way up to become a successful engineer ?

Thanks,
Rico
http://www.myspace.com/remotmusic Deez

Wow, K Nots just keeps on delivering the goods man. Ariel, hope you remain active on the site and are able to get to the questions man.

I’ve always compared the Engineer in music to the Editor in Movies. The unsung heroes I like to say. I mean, the work that an editor does is of tremendous value and of tremendous proportions but are usually forgotten about. For this, I thank you for being a part of the site and doing this.

As far as questions.. man.. I could go on and ask a ton.
I’m actually very curious as to limited “Shine” an engineer gets and your take on it. The fact that they do so much, but seemingly receive so little. I could be wrong about this, for all I know, you sleep in piles of money that Diddy gave you from back in the day haha, but I mean, you hear “produced by x and y” but you never hear “engineered by…”

think that’ll ever happen?
http://www.myspace.com/remotmusic Deez

oh and another thing. I mean, how do you decide “I want to become a musical engineer?”
A lot of talk is definitely stuff like “I want to make beats” or “I want to rap” or even “I want to manage”, but how does one get into engineering and not, ie. Producing.
http://kevinnottingham.com Kevin

Yeah, I really think it’s cool that Ariel is doing this for the site. They are lots of cats out there that either want to do what he does or don’t really know the ins and outs of it. I’m sure Ariel will get to everyone’s questions for his next Vlog.
http://www.getbeats4free.com snd

dope! dope! dope! this is the best thing ive seen yet just when I thought this site was perfect you put that BIG ASS cherry on top! Good look Kev
http://www.myspace.com/killaremedy Miguel R. Mightygood

yo this is tight….i jus came from that studio…..Stadium Red Rocks! best chilled relaxing place on earth….please believe it!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/remotmusic Deez

Kev doesn’t put cherry’s on the site SND… he pops em
http://kevinnottingham.com Kevin

LMAO
http://myspace.com/tokyocigarstyle Tokyo Cigar

Yo Mega props 4 this one. Thats a huge look and a very dope idea. Jewels. Jewels. Jewels. This is a series i’m gonna be scoping out closely. Any info i can get on better mixdowns is highly appreciated.

Fonzarelli thumbs fam.
http://www.frecordsonline.com F.R.E.A.K

Great Interview Ariel!You are definately one of the best and I wish you all the success you truly deserve.36,500 hits today on our single “Kiss My Black Amex”!Thanks For Delivering The Best Possible Mix and Staying Tru To The Craft!F Records Baby!
F.R.E.A.K
http://www.frecordsonline.com F.R.E.A.K

http://www.myspace.com/itsdraft
http://www.getbeats4free.com snd

haha!!
http://www.myspace.com/illdependent Illdependent

YO, this is a great!
Thanks to Ariel for taking the time to do this.
Can you go in-depth about compressors? It’s a very important part of mixing but I just find it hard to really hear what it’s doing, therefore I don’t get to use it as much as I probably should… Also, are there instruments that you don’t have to compress, like violins or something of that nature that doesn’t really scream for compression so you just leave it uncompressed?

Thanks a lot, man.

Peace.
dtownknight

this is awesome