A Tribe Called Quest Engineer Bob Power on The Low End Theory (DOCUMENTARY)

Bob Power Discussion on The Low End Theory From A Tribe Called Quest

[@hle144]

I was Bob's assistant for a few years when he booked at the studio in the 90s. He forgot which records I worked on with him, so he gave me credit on all the records including this one.. I ended up with 2 platinum and 2 gold records.. Thanks Bob!!!!!

[@Beatmakinmc]

You should start a youtube channel telling these stories! Gear heads, Hip Hop producers and fans, engineers etc would love to hear them.

[@arturit0_]

I agree too you should tell those stories!

[@Five2nd]

What the hell dude that’s awesome. Didn’t know I could love Bob Power more.

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Blimey thats cool!

[@Dose-Won]

Bob power is so cool

[@ToonamiAftermath]

"Every track should have one thing that doesn't belong there." I love that

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Cool isn't it! Definitely a good idea if the thing works

[@thescribe3184]

I learned that style, in terms of art, is its imperfections.

[@flyfermin]

I heard that and I've been thinking about it all day

[@Bittamin]

Shameless plug but after seeing your name I gotta recommend you at least check out the track Toonami Twostep I did!

[@marctronixx]

been doing this for years. ive had car door sounds, an old lady doing jazzercise, even three stooges sounds.. totally agree with mr. power!

[@brianreidvoiceovers884]

"Bob Power you there?..Yeah..Adjust the bass and treble make my shit sound clear "!...🔥!!

[@AxxinTheSupernova]

First thing I thought of

[@hle144]

One more Bob Powers story; Bob had produced, recorded and mixed Meshell N's first album. It sounded great! But Meshell thought it was too polished. I remember that we had a listening party at the studio for Maverick Records, she was one of their first artists. Madonna showed up and Meshell had expressed that she was'nt quite happy. Madonna said to keep going until she felt good.. We ended up syncing her drum machines, synths, samplers up to the master 24 tracks with SMPTE and an SBX80, keeping most of the vocals. She and I mixed a few songs, various producers came in and mixed their contributions with her. in 3 weeks, we finished what was 3 months of production.. The album went gold and I'm pretty sure Bob got a credit also...

[@newagain9964]

Thanks for sharing. There isn’t enough of these convos (including technical aspects) in the culture. YT has been cool in that way.

[@christopherpederson1021]

midnight marauders is one of the greatest and greatest sounding hiphop albums ever.

[@12bitizthewaytogo92]

LOW end sounds better. IMO sonically

[@MakeSomeNoiseAgencyPlaylists]

@@12bitizthewaytogo92 true story !

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Bang on

[@louroc425]

The crackle on oh my god is genius

[@stabaholic187]

De La Soul Is Dead is my favorite hip hop album ever but most of tribes albums are honorable mentions fs

[@glenfordgreen3277]

Me from the UK. That sentence was so deep with strong meaning Bob Power said " There has to be a strong thread of Humanism that runs through everything you do, because if you don't have that you are not really want to help other people " That is so true. This interview was incredible, especially describing his studio experiences with Tribe Called Quest

[@phillipdrummond]

EXACTLY

[@anthonypanneton923]

That last little piece about "everything doesn't have to be perfect" is really huge.

[@stabaholic187]

Trugoy says that too about if he accidentally spills milk on the record player and it sounds dope then its gonna stay in the album haha

[@whcchw]

Bob Power is a legend. Rip Phife.

[@Rascool69]

Imagine being a part of that historically important album. Bob is an amazing guy

[@hle144]

I was there.. Not very magical at the time.. They were just in the studio doing what they do.. Bob is an amazing person.. Great ears, good feel, easy going.. Always treated me with respect and I was all of 22 years old, still wet behind the ears...

[@cliftoncameron5632]

Thank you for sharing this gift. Bob Power is the real deal. Inspiring, real, and dynamic. He loves his craft and realizes that sound is as human as everything else.

[@beatsbykobra]

Dynamic is the key word

[@thegroove2000]

Sampling is a craft. Getting ths right samples to match and work together is a skill.

[@hle144]

yeah, not anymore...

[@DeepThinkingGPU]

you should see how ai music is a craft right now in 2024, reminds me a lot of sampling era....its wild

[@stabaholic187]

Sitting at the mpc, drinking, vaping and cutting the sample to fit correctly isn't really a skill imo .. especially when all the cpu daws do most of the work placing drums pattern in right spot.. but it definitely takes a trained ear forsure and some know how.. and then having good taste in samples does like half the work for you.. especially if u get lucky and find a good sample where the drummer and guitar player make something dope n u just chop it to make it sound crazy

[@Madrrrrrrrrrrr]

They redid some samples with musicians. Tribe was cool but very open with not loads going on.

[@SeanCagney-hb9yx]

Listened to it again yesterday, one of my fave albums of all times hands down.....

[@jrock28]

Q Tip: Bob Power you there... Bob Power: Yeah

[@braulioNYC]

"Adjust the bass and treble make my ish sound clear."

[@corrosivedevourer]

The Chase pt. 2🔥

[@thefreelunchbox]

@@braulioNYC🔥🔥🔥 they can’t touch me no them can’t touch me

[@JamBurglar]

Lot's of amazing nuggets of knowledge in this interview. I love how Bob keyed in on if a musician is playing to the new track then the end result isn't the same as if they are playing to the sample source track. He really understands why sampling brings its own unique set of advancements to the table instead of the engineers who simply dismissed sampling as "lazy". This guy gets it!

[@jermellhaywood2638]

This man produced for D'ANGELO & Erykah Badu's " On and On"!

[@stabaholic187]

Oh u should peep tha remix MF DOOM did of that song on his Special Herbs tape

[@edawson45]

I love & respect that he loves music... regardless of color of the artist. His passion & knowledge... is incredible & present. It's no wonder why he's respected & appreciated. Great interview.

[@davids.816]

Tribes Discography is truly special. There fun albums to listen to front to back. All killer no filler. Till this day I have never experienced that with another hip hop album. Midnight Marauders and Low End Theory really Grab your attention for the entire duration and you dont even notice.

[@blpblp-tj7ux]

absolutely fascinating...People's Instinctive Travels and Low End Theory are two of my favorite records and I have always felt like a lot of love and thought were put into the production...listening to this man confirms that.

[@grinchoi1]

Bob is on the Mount Rushmore of audio engineers. Also a gem of a human being.

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Who else is on it? Iovine?

[@monogee]

Thanks for dat tip, Bob. Berwin Noise Eliminator. I used some software on a Ron Carter set last night. The bass sounds, Magnificent. Once this song comes out, no sample clearance for me. ;)

[@RobertJosefs]

Thanks for sharing. This has been my go to album since it came out. It's always on my headphones at work. This album next to "live at filmore east" by the Allman brothers.

[@Steely_Fran]

I bumped The Low End Theory nonstop back in the day. It's such a good album.

[@novelaego2404]

duh

[@river718]

I was one of Bob’s interns at Calliope and I think he and Shane had a great impact on me as an engineer…

[@themightykabool]

Very cool behind the scenes interview. I like the 80s style vhs tutorial chapter intros. Hahah

[@i_dont_live_here]

They’re selling insurance now 💀

[@GMANKOOL23]

The shade 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@handsomeblackman255]

Wow. This guy's portfolio is legend.

[@90sFlav]

gosh this is a precious review, thank you for bringing some facts about this legends

[@SNOwyte]

What he described about studios not recording hip-hop still goes on to this day. My main competition in my city is one of those 'im not doing that' ppl

[@stabaholic187]

What did he mean by "I'm not doing that" ??... it's just a studio session, it's not like he's asking to break his neck or smoke crack or nothing serious like that

[@marctronixx]

in this day and age you can track at home and make quality records as if you went to hit factory.

[@dankauffmanmusic]

Beats Rhymes, Low End Theory, and Paul’s Boutique made sampling an art.

[@k.a.williams9290]

Main Source Breaking Atoms Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back Pete Rock &CL Smooth Mecca and the Soul Brother All are examples of sampling as an art form

[@chrismullarkey3181]

I remember seeing a Bob Power interview that is at least 20 years old and he described Tip as being a genius.

[@newagain9964]

Tip def is. His solo stuff even past 2005 was barely listenable because hard to digest and enjoy (because hes virtuoso)

[@tehpanuychikon168]

Nice interview 👍

[@Tony_Anthemz]

"My man Ron Carter is on the bass" - Q Tip .... The Low End Theory's track "We Got The Jazz".. Pete Rock and Q Tip is the reason why I started making beats in 1994.. very inspirational time of my life.. then I became an engineer by default..

[@thelonius17schannel80]

That’s Ron Carter on the bass. 🙃 Jazz legend!

[@Tony_Anthemz]

Ok gotcha .. lemme edit that

[@freeradical6390]

Low End Theory is the greatest rap album of all time!

[@unc1589]

First time seeing Bob. Always seen his name. A cool soul. He’s right about the little bit of studio racism. Hip hop was definitely not welcomed. Early 90s was like the first real cultural shift. Run/Beastie Boys/ PE in the 80s was the intro to young white male culture. But Rock was still king. 90s…. Different. The rock world was pissed. Instead of drum rental orders cards swiped for MPCs. Groups like the tongues was getting serious Anglo love. Then the bad boy era came in. Famous rehearsal/equipment houses started seeing the big stage booked by these … new people. It was the end of an era. One year the highest grossing tour was Kieth Sweat. Huh? Things changed. People hate change.

[@billybigbollox]

Bob power. Thank you

[@crucifixgym]

I remember when Bob A/B’d different clocking back when converters were worse and the difference was astonishing, but if you did it for other people without listening experience they couldn’t tell the difference. He is a great teacher.

[@5050songs]

Met him in the elevator at his then workspace in 2018 in midtown Manhattan. Paid him a nice complement about his work. I passed him my business card to which he quipped “how quaint”. I asked him why he was there and his said his studio was on one of the floors and that they actually had space available and needed a renter asap. I asked him how much as I was actively seeking studio space for my company. He didn’t take me seriously tried to blow me off at that point.

[@gts1067]

probably because you asked "how much" and not "would love to see it"

[@5050songs]

@gts1067 I’m guessing you haven’t rented many commercial studios.

[@naked-artradio2623]

Bob is just too great 👍

[@yazeedyairbey]

My favorite album ever!

[@Breakbeats92.5]

"Aye yo my mic is sounding bugged Bob Power you there? [yea]."

[@mattbell8364]

Adjust the bass and treble make my mic sound clear....

[@dhfocus7]

🙌🏿

[@MelodeusForever]

are these clips from a documentary? The last tip was the most profound but my anticipation for what the title of the videos has me anticipate something with a little more depth. But great points from one of the masters!

[@bluntpuncture]

“Every track should have one thing that doesn’t belong there” 🤯

[@johngillians1027]

Everything he said is exact and on point. That’s how I felt as a young black artist .Lost.

[@norakat]

You can tell he really enjoys the process of audio engineering. Me, I wanna pull my hair out 😆😬

[@BeatFinderGee]

This is great 💯👍

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

Soundtrack to some of the best memories of my life. Also, looks a bit like Henry Winkler, I’m in 😂🤙🏽😎🖤

[@KaBoomChannel]

I remember Bob from Calliope studio. I bought a drum machine from him I still got. And Shane, I remember him and Ronald the office manager. Anyone know what happened to Ronald? I use to be good friends with him and he suddenly disappeared. Lisle Leete I heard passed away from throat cancer which I couldn't believe, just shocking as F because Lisle was the most health conscious guy I ever met. Never smoked or drank. Doing sessions groups would have their entourage smoking, drinking partying and there would be Lisle literally eating vegetables. He was a great guy and great engineer, really sucks he's gone. I talked to Lisle Greenfield a few years ago he is still around.

[@LGguedo]

Low end was epic, but would argue “Pauls boutique” which came before was the album that changed sampling for the industry. Both great.

[@COLESEER]

IT Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back Was The First Album with Multiple Samples Produced By The Bomb Squad Followed By De La Soul’S Three Feet High and Rising produced By De La Soul and Prince Paul And Then Paul’s Boutique Produced by The Chemical Brothers Produced By The Beastie Boys and The Dust Brothers.

[@LGguedo]

@@COLESEER wasn’t saying it was the first, but they pushed it so hard with the volume and artists they used that it was a catalyst for the industry to take enforcement to a new level. Appreciate the history and post. LET was audio wallpaper for my youth. Respect.

[@LeafErikson]

Damn... that last statement was the perfect way to end the video

[@brianreidvoiceovers884]

A Human Being..Plain and Simple!

[@thegroove2000]

BOBS THA MAN.

[@LipAllowance1]

On fire!!! STET

[@twiinturbosprvsn5922]

Bob Power, are you there? Yeah!

[@TheRealNewBlackMusic]

He's so right about so many things one of the things about the undercurrent of racial issues is that when a lot of the young cats first went into the studio a lot of the engineers were metal heads and tried to bring a metal philosophy to the mixes and it did not work and this is one of the things that made project Studios explode but after a while the engineers at the big studios came to understand and learn what the young cats wanted and then it was golden

[@DroneOn]

I was one of those 18 year olds, trying to record. I remember getting hung up on, if I was asking about timecode.

[@marctronixx]

i love smpte! i too was one of those 15 year olds. this local studio had a kawai r-100, which was pretty cool in 1987. they let us in but in hindsight they overcharged us for what we got. i did learn a lot from the engineer and fell in love with TC and smpte. to this day my home suite is all encoded by evertz clock and a MOTU midi timepiece.

[@Mezzomusicltd]

Great interview! the intro headers ??? lol

[@echopathy]

Good stuff ~~>

[@Michael_talks_]

Record is dope

[@noremacmada]

I love The Low End Theory, but if you're talking about opening people's ears to what can be done with samples, then you gotta acknowledge that Paul's Boutique came first ('Ma Bell got the Ill Communication). And the Remix to Paid In Full predates them all, but that was a 12" single and not a full album.

[@COLESEER]

The First Album To Use Multiple Samples was Public Enemy’s It takes a Nation To Hold Us Back followed by De La Soul’s Three Feet and Rising Then Paul’s Boutique. All Three are Great Albums however Sonically The Low End Theory is the Best in My Opinion.

[@stabaholic187]

That track "get it together" wt Qtip used to be on repeat all day 💯🔥

[@ckaiser1971]

Love all these records, but Paul's Boutique was beyond anything at the time. Still underappreciated.

[@COLESEER]

@@ckaiser1971 It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us By Public Enemy Inspired the Dust Brothers to make Paul’s Boutique. They are Two Great Albums However Sonically It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Is Better. On the recent Top 100 albums from Apple Music Paul’s Boutique was Ranked 48 however It Takes a Nation of Millions to hold us Back Was Ranked 34. The Low End Theory was Ranked 29. While I agree it Inspired Q Tip he also drew inspiration from It Takes a Nation of Millions to hold us back and 3 Feet High and Rising.

[@noremacmada]

@@COLESEER My opinion is that these are all great full albums which really highlighted what could be done with sampling, and they all were released after Coldcut's 7 Minutes of Madness remix of Eric B and Rakim's Paid In Full, which came out in '87. The Remix to Paid in Full invented the style, in my opinion.

[@twintwinsmedia9310]

need more bumpers

[@hanspecans]

😂😂😂

[@kidix389]

Bob Power you there? / yeah.

[@deemsteraaa2690]

((my mic is sounding bug Bob how have you been?))😅 I've always wanted to put a face behind the name..wow🎉🎉

[@AudioVideoMideo]

I haven’t seen him since the 90s.

[@pm2007est]

Ron Carter he’s on the Bass

[@uriel-heavensguardian8949]

💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@tk423b]

That album.

[@thefreelunchbox]

Ayo bob are you there? (Yeah)

[@crowfoot7355]

👏👏👏👏

[@PhatLvis]

Certainly told the truth about not being a hip-hop historian. Not only did LOT not "change the way people thought about putting music together" by using layered sampling, the record was itself mimicking a pioneering album by another band that was Actually responsible for causing the change Rock mistakenly attributes to the impact of LOT - that record of course being the groundbreaking Paul's Boutique, which the Beastie Boys released in 1989, two years prior to LOT. De La Soul, as well, had concurrently done something on this order (though not as richly and cleverly layered) with Three Feet High and Rising. The Shocklee Brothers-led Bomb Squad, to be sure, had been using layers of samples even before Paul's Boutique - but these were mainly musical snippet-based sound/groove collages. Paul's Boutque, created largely by the Dust Brothers and Matt Dike (with contributions from the Beasties), was the first record to feature songs composed almost entirely of the kind of dense, intricate sampling Rock is speaking of.

[@COLESEER]

Three Feet High and Rising was released February 6, 1989 Paul’s Boutique Was Released July 25th 1989 Q Tip Was Inspired By Both albums as well as It Takes A Nations of Millions and Fear Of A Black Planet. To say that the Low End Theory Did not change the way people made music is inaccurate. The Neptunes, Timbaland, Kanye West The Rza were all influenced By That Album. Sonically it sounds better than Every album Before It.

[@uriah9559]

beastie boys were a layer of shoe polish away from a minstrel show. RUN DMC shouldve sued those scrawny little dweebs

[@TheLemon333]

Bob Power is in eff-ect.

[@ryanboyce3365]

6:24 Here we go yo, here we go yo.

[@keithroberts4952]

Didn't the Bomb Squad use different samples on Public Enemy records before Tribe called Quest?

[@COLESEER]

Yes They Did After That It was De La Soul Then A Tribe Called Quest. Sonically The Low End Theory is Still the Best.

[@edbaiza7757]

Marley Marl??

[@b-north]

this is the realest shit a white man can ever say and i love this man’s work and his audio engineering work literally is my goal always

[@kel-melprevail8127]

Bob powa..u dare....Yeah

[@CastleHassall]

i think it's quite insulting to the guys who worked for years (before college music courses existed) to build up their knowledge of how to record music to now cast them as some "white boys club".. i used to work in studios for years for no pay just to try to learn the skills, it was hard to get experience and I'd have to just sit in the studio and watch and learn and eventually get trusted by the studio owner enough to plug in a microphone and then after months be trusted to press record or play etc and be in charge of the playback of the reel to reel but always doing what the owner of the studio told me and being GLAD to get the chance to learn we worked hard for years with no pay to learn even a fraction of what people can learn in a course at college now and we were very hard working very dedicated very struggling economically unpaid staff for years it was NOT Some "white boys club" in fact the main studio i first learned in was owned by a CHINESE Guy.. not sure how that fits into the "white boys club"anti white racism exhibited by this guy also for him to say most of the Blacks had not even been in a motel is just so dumb, some of those early Hio-Hop guys had, and had been around, BIG Money not just poverty

[@BionicRasta]

Bob Power a great producer who got Hip Hop during a time when other engineers were more use to working with Pop, Rock, Jazz, Classical, etc, however he does appear to exhibit a liberal leftwing political bent to his personal retelling of history.

[@ClickKlack43]

It’s very popular to be anti white these days. Throw a rock out your window, you’ll hit a self deprecating white guy who’s “better” than other white people.

[@brianwynn10]

And body have why drum kit wav samples I could get

[@ScaleScarborough-jq8zx]

What on Earth is the deal with the graphics?

[@stabaholic187]

Bob power, u there ?? Ya

[@5050songs]

I didn’t care to see it without knowing the price.

[@Five2nd]

For the love of god, please re-edit this man’s golden insights and leave that hellish interstitial music out.

[@LlewynDaviesTheThird]

wow that ident sound is really annoying

[@jimorgain63]

maybe its a band called the low end theory?, this is not about 'low end' frequencies etc or music theory, some sort of hip hop thing?

[@BigSherm]

Yeah it's an album by a rap group

[@jimorgain63]

@@BigSherm this will help me understand rap thank you

[@jimorgain63]

as a drummer i wish i could play like that, so clean!

[@doggedoge7255]

Every track should have one thing that doesn't belong there. anything except puff daddy

[@user-yo4gl1fb2k]

That shelf has a low end theory

[@Rileysparadox]

I'm glad Bob admitted... White people didn't want to mess with the music... Until it was profitable and they still destroyed hip hop...look at rap and hip hop now.. It sucks... matter fact a lot of it sucks even back in the day but it was music that changed the world... My brothers were part of the group K.M.D Subroc and DOOM and we didn't listen to hip hop in the house... My brother even said in an interview he did it for the money... So that's why he did Operation DOOMSDAY and shitted on the whole industry... Shout out to GET YOURZ POSSE AND FAMILY!

[@Obscurity202]

Nice interstitials 😂

[@user-xt5ms1eo2e]

These kinds of videos on music engineering are the reason so many aspiring producers don't make good music. They think music production is a linear process. In reality it's all about what sounds good to you. What do U like? It's like saying a portrait painter artist 🎨 can only draw one way. And never draw another way. It's asinine. These old heads love to gate keep. And act as if music production is so etching only ppl in the know can do. Lol

[@effer3]

I love ATCQ but hip hop Sgt Peppers should be Paul's Boutique or 3 ft high and rising

[@tetsuo2195]

Would love to hear the full interview, and without that terrible interlude music...

[@NoQualmsTheArtist]

I'm pretty sure this was recorded 20 years ago. I hope so it's got that crappy old Microsoft movie maker vibe to it 🤮

[@randomquentin]

I am bob. And I be really tired of doing this guys

[@CribNotes]

I disagree with Bob on the racism thing. In the early days, studios and engineers didn't want to work with rappers because hip hop was considered cartoonish by both white and black R&B/Soul musicians. At first it was like "Oh god, which one of us wants to record that session on Tuesday?" Then it slowly became "Oh those guys are coming back again? They're a lot better than what we heard last week." Once the art of sampling and true turntable skills took off, everything changed. Racism had nothing to do with the initial cold shoulder. It was about QUALITY.

[@AphroLatinX]

Racist 😝

[@NinoAmerica]

And now it’s reversed.

[@hummarstraful]

Everything is about race. Got it?

[@shugarbage]

Sure ain’t

[@seekingtruthonly.4299]

Yes it's America.

[@unc1589]

Unfortunately. But when we peel back the layers….

[@stabaholic187]

We are the same on the inside no matter what skin color is on the outside 💯❤️

[@jaredcravens2658]

Unconscious racism?? That term alone is illogical. Racism comes from thought. How can you be unconscious of conscious thought?

[@Statience]

you are willingly ignorant. systemic racism exists in every industry, the music industry included

[@Barney-ii1no]

when you grow with people around you normalizing racism

[@shugarbage]

@@Statiencethere is no such thing as “systemic racism”

[@Strafuzz]

It’s not that deep

[@seekingtruthonly.4299]

​@@shugarbageYou've ignored all of American history in this response.

[@XCenturionX]

It's still not music!

[@unc1589]

Now thrasher…! That’s music!😂

[@stabaholic187]

It's art

[@ColeRees]

Haha your name is the same as mine, just our last names are spelled backwards from each other!