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Dan the Automator: Crafting Space-Age Sounds

Dan the Automator: Crafting Space-Age Sounds
Renowned artist/producer uses Pro Tools M-Powered and Sputnik to craft left-field hip-hop and electronic tracks
Bay Area hip-hop phenom Dan “The Automator” Nakamura has always been an early adopter. A Pro Tools user since the days of Sound Tools, Nakamura has spent the last decade producing some of the most innovative and influential hip-hip, trip-hop, and left-field electronic tracks around. With a long list of artist, production and mix credits to his name, including Gorillaz, Primal Scream, the Eels, DJ Krush, and his own Handsome Boy Modeling School project, Nakamura is a master of both sides of the glass. Recently, Nakamura got his hands on the new M-Audio Sputnik tube microphone and immediately put it though its paces on some high-profile gigs.

“I think the Sputnik is a very clean tube mic with really good articulation,” Nakamura explains. “It captures a good presence, and it's got nice warmth to it. I'm used to Telefunken U47s [which have] kind of a loud noise floor. But with the Sputnik, you get a very quiet, clean-sounding kind of a mic, and it's great to have a tool like that available. I've been working on the NBA 2K7 videogame from 2K Sports and Chali 2na from Jurassic 5. He has a really big voice, and the Sputnik was really flattering on it. I'm not about to retire my U47, but the Sputnik is a very welcome addition to my toolbox.