Nadir Omowale is a big fan of the hands on control when mixing with the Icon Qcon Pro
Thinking outside the box – Artist and producer Nadir Omowale on using the Icon QCon Pro DAW controller to “bring an emotion back” when producing music in-the-box
Detroit-based singer-songwriter, musician, engineer and producer Nadir Omowale is one versatile guy! As a musician, he’s probably best known for his unique brand of guitar-driven funk, rock and ‘distorted soul’, combining his wide-ranging influences from rock and hiphop, to jazz and R'n'B. Over the past few years however, the multi-instrumentalist from Tennessee has been collaborating with a variety of talented and well-established names, working alongside RocNation phenomenon Mayaeni, poet Jessica Care Moore, indie-soul star Amp Fiddler, Detroit techno legends Underground Resistance, Midwest Americana queen Jill Jack, plus a growing client base of up and coming rock, soul, hip hop and even country artists.
Although Nadir cut his teeth as an engineer with old school analogue gear, the advances in mobile technology have allowed him to streamline his workflow. He now works primarily in the box, with a setup that consists of his trusty Macbook Pro running Pro Tools, Reason, Cubase and Ableton Live.
"Until very recently, I've always been on the go, and in the box. Making tracks on the road, editing in coffee shops, and then bringing it all back home to mix," Nadir says. "That's changed now that I have kids."
Naturally since becoming a father, Nadir has found he needs to spend more of his time at home with his family. Fortunately, he’s still able to produce tracks and mixes from his basement studio. It’s here that he’s been using the Icon QCon Pro as the centrepiece, combining the flexiblity of software with the physical, hands-on control that many engineers feel is lost when working purely in the box.
Nadir likes to combine software with hardware to get the best of both worlds
"the Icon QCon Pro's motorised faders and dual function knobs
bring an emotion back to my engineering"
"It really is the bridge between my days mixing on old Harrison and Neotek consoles, my later Trident and SSL sessions, and the many years I've spent living entirely in the box," he says. "It makes all the difference in the world when you have that tactile feel. It sounds funny, but the QCon's motorised faders and dual function knobs bring an emotion back to my engineering. The laptop is an essential tool. There's no doubt. But the QCon feels like I'm playing another instrument."
When producing his latest single “The Right Kind of Crazy”, forthcoming on his own Distorted Soul Detroit music label, Nadir made full use of the QCon Pro’s extensive mixing capabilities, with the touch-sensitive, motorised faders and range of shortcut keys and rotary encoders helping to speed up his workflow.
"It's a fun, high-energy funk rock tune that I cowrote with one of my longtime production partners, Reavis Mitchell. The mix presented some minor challenges because we stacked a ton of guitars and vocals. But the QCon was really helpful in sorting everything out. Plus, there are some shifty automated pans and fader moves, all of which were nearly effortless with the QCon Pro. I see why so many people love it! I'm already clearing space on my desk for the Icon QCon EX so I can add eight more faders. I can't wait!"
Here's a sneak preview of Nadir's latest single, "The Right Kind of Crazy", recorded and mixed on the QCon Pro at EkoBase Media, Ferndale, Michigan. To learn more about Nadir and hear more music, please visit www.NadirOmowale.com