User Profile: Khaliq Glover
Grammy award winning engineer/author/producer Khaliq Glover has a 25-plus year client list that runs the gamut from Prince and Justin Timberlake to Kenny Rogers and Smokey Robinson. One name, however, seems to hold a special place in his soul - Michael Jackson. His work with Jackson on the hit song “We Are The World”, “This Is It” movie and the 2010 “Michael” album engaged all his diverse skills. We were lucky enough to catch up with Khaliq to talk about his work with the King Of Pop, some of his recent undertakings, and of course, his use of Sonnox Oxford plug ins.
How did you get involved with Michael?
I had worked with Jermaine Jackson when I first arrived in LA from Pittsburgh. He actually gave me one of my very first production deals. When I got the job at Lions Share Studios, I worked on Jermaine's album with Michael on the song “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming”. That eventually turned into working on “We Are The World.” I just had a good connection with them and was lucky enough to get pulled in on a few different projects.
I worked on Michael’s song “Behind The Mask”, and on a lot of others some were released, some weren’t. Then, when Teddy Riley was called in, he liked what I was doing and asked me to continue on with him to work on a few other songs.
When Michael passed, I was originally called for the song, “This Is It”, which wasn’t the original title. I was just overseeing and consulting on a few things, simply because it was all moving so fast. So I thought that was it, but when it came time to do Michael’s album, I was called back because I had been working with them already.
How was it working with Teddy?
I learned a lot from him. He’s an amazing engineer, as well as a producer. His sounds were right up there with the best of them. In fact, we had to scramble to equal his sounds – he actually wanted us to beat his sounds! He’s an amazingly talented guy and I see why some of the best engineers in the world have been mentored by him.
When did you start using Sonnox plug-ins?
I’ve been using them since back in the day when they were Sony Oxford plug-ins. I first started using them working with Prince at Paisley Park Studios. He had them on his system and they were always some of my favorites.
They do some amazing things that nothing else can do. Some plug-ins you can tell are just coded by software guys, rather than people who really understand music like the Sonnox guys. They always felt very natural and transparent to me.
I often want compression to be transparent, and that’s what the Dynamics plug-in can do – unless you really want it to be heard. The great thing about the Sonnox plug-ins is they can do both.
Which ones do you currently favour?
I have them all, but my main “go-to’s” that I always use are the Limiter and Dynamics. I also use the TransMod quite a bit, and of course the EQ and Inflator. Another of my favorites is the Reverb.
What do you like about the Oxford Reverb?
Usually you work with things like pre delay, tail, room size and decay, etc – but the Oxford is different mindset. It took me a second to get used to it, but what I love about the Reverb approach is that all the modules are separated, like the Early Reflections and Tail controls are in different modules. Combined together it’s so powerful because of all the control, and it just sounds amazing.
What did you use with Michael’s projects?
All of the above! I used the TransMod many times to make kicks and snares pop out a little more. I used the EQ of course, and Limiter in many instances on different things. They would help me tame and shape sounds, or let me put something into its proper place.
If I didn’t want a specific coloration, I would turn to the Dynamics for basic control.
How would you specifically use the TransMod?
On individual instruments I would use the TransMod to bring out attacks and so on. I could shape the envelope and even take attacks out sometimes as well. For example if we had drum samples that had a little ambience in them, I used it to control the decay to fit into the song more.
Did you use the Limiter on drums too?
Yes, because the Limiter seems to help control the drums as well. I would just shave off the peaks invisibly – get them off so I could push the level harder. Then I would use the Dynamics after that.
How about the Inflator?
I have used that on the stereo bus, but mostly on stem busses. If I had to group certain things together and wanted them to have a characteristic that stands out without being louder or thicker, I would turn to that. It’s almost a combination of the best loudness maximizer and harmonic generator.
Looking back, what are your thoughts about your work with Michael?
It was a great journey and learning experience. It was also bittersweet to be on these projects as one of dozens of engineers, I was honored to be on them though, and I learned a lot especially watching some of the unfinished rough stuff.
You know, the stuff in development is much more educational than the final polished cut. Because you can see the progression of where things are trying to go. When they are polished, you don’t get to see all that. Overall, the approach we all took was to always work with Michael’s best interest in mind.
What have you been up to recently?
Once I finished Michael’s album, I had to make a huge decision. Did I want to continue in the studio with those 18-hour days or go to the next level. Even though I love it, and have been doing it for a long time, I needed to switch up for a while. So I’ve been doing speaking engagements and training a lot of people on the Internet.
When I was working on Michael’s album, which was around 5 months, I neglected my online presence. Lately, though, I’ve been rebuilding my training online (MixingAndRecording.com).
I also wrote a book at the beginning of the year “Hypnotic Music Secrets” – How The Stars Make Music Irresistible (available on Amazon.com).
Interview and editorial provided by Rich Tozzoli