Mario Winans and The Wall of Sound

So,  I'm working alot with Mario Winans this past week.  I've worked with him many times before,  and actually 2 of my Grammy Awards are from a song he co-produced by CeCe Winans titled "Pray" that i mixed.      Mario has his own MIDI and production room here at Daddy's House and i stepped in there the other night.  it is UNBELIEVABLE.   I was gonna do a list of everything he has in there,  but it would be much easier and much shorter to do a list of the things he doesnt have.    He has so many keyboards, both analog and digital,  mini keyboards and sound banks,  rack mount modules,  MPC's,  you name it,  literally,  he has it.   There were 10 full keyboards up and plugged in,  with many more in the vocal booth that can easily be swapped out and hooked up.   Modules and everything else strewn all over the place.   And i was talking to his engineer who basically said  "the scarey thing is he really uses all of them".  I'm jealous.

And did i mention that Mario is cranking out some of the sickest beats and songs I've ever heard?  I've worked with alot of the top top top beatmaking producers,  Just Blaze, Kanye, Neptunes, Trackmasters,  etc...  Mario is every bit as good as any of these incredibly talented names.  And of course,  similar to Kanye West,  he is also a platinum artist in his own right.  His new album is slated for June.  i HOPE i get to mix some of it.  Just wanted to share.   

I'm mixing a song for the R&B guys from Making The Band Season 4 tonight.  So far the mix is going well.  i wanted to drop in a blog while they are installing some rental gear and software for me.

-Ken Lewis