Konstantin Matafonov Biography

This is a very expected release. In the meantime, the first single appeared on Apple Music - "Live as I live." If you have already listened to him, and you are well versed in music, then you, of course, noticed: scriptonite has never had such a sound-and you can hardly remember something similar in general in the repertoire of Russian hip-hop. And the thing is that the sound is not reduced on a computer, as most representatives of the direction do today, but on the analogue equipment of the Mosfilm music studio.

By the way, this is his debut plate! Creative everyday life in the second music studio on both projects was worked by the famous sound engineer Konstantin Matafonov, along with his team - assistant Karina Avetyan and manager Edgar Kayan. The musicians shared that, despite their already rich creative biography, this experience made a great impression on them. Konstantin Matafonov, sound engineer: - Of course, the biggest work was with Volodya.

During quarantine, we recorded 12 songs for him. By the way, this is not the first time here. Before that, I worked here in a large studio, we did a project for Timati and his film. In the second studio, we weren’t, but we were not heard: we are friends with the well -known sound engineer Volodya Ovchinnikov, who had spent a lot of time here, talked a lot about the studios, and he eventually even helped us in the first shift, advised us.

Did you manage to implement all the planned? The artists really liked it, they are in shock. Both Adil and Vladimir Spirits were here for the first time. We were looking for a studio for a long time before we came to Mosfilm. Volodya, for example, first wanted to go to Paris in general. I honestly dissuaded him for one simple reason: the music is quite complicated, and the artists have rock and roll in my head: let's do everything quickly.

And then, when the editorial office and immersion in the details begin, it turns out that rock and roll has already ended, you need to return, redo it, and Paris is already far away. And then Lokdown also happened - it turned out that our happiness. This is really one of the few studios in Russia, where there is not only a remote control, but also a bunch of drilling iron for processing.

I can say for sure: the best studio for analogue mix is ​​Mosfilm. I just went to the site, we looked at the equipment. And we no longer chose-“Mosfilm” or somewhere else. We chose between the first and second studios. As a result, the second was chosen under our tasks. Contacted Tatyana Balter and booked immediately. Musician Vladimir Spirits and sound engineer Konstantin Matafonov - Why did young musicians want to make albums in a professional studio with analogue equipment?

Two large projects in different styles at the same time wanted to make 15 songs only in an analogue. It is especially noteworthy that such a decision was made by a scriptitis. Volodya has live music-everything is clear here, but Adil has hip-hop stams. That is, in principle, its tasks are easily solved at home on a computer. In addition, he is famous for doing everything himself.

But one fine day, Adil said that he was tired of this and asked for help. We decided to try. Adil said that he had nurtured this album for three years. We recorded in the same studio, torned, picked up a chic vocal tract, which I wrote down in my notebook, took a picture. And then it was not even clear whether we would bring all this. He said we would. There were many options for studios, but Adil had a technical election at once - he wanted to drive everything through the SSL remote control.

I was so surprised, I ask - why. And Adil admitted: "I heard how it sounds." This is really a big difference. And this is very unusual for hip-hop. But he simply, of course, had an album with old-school material, that is, all the bits are such a nostalgia for the golden era of hip-hop, the era of large studios. And so we chose the Mosfilm studio. Adil eventually brought the sound himself and brought me the so -called “stams” - that is, already prepared material.

But the work was still enough. We summarized everything through the remote control, we rocked everything through the remote control. And above the barrel, and over a small drum, and on vocals - they worked here. They changed color, compression, equalization, balance - it was almost a complete mix. But the scriptitis was so seriously approaching the matter that for the sake of this sound I decided to postpone the surrender of the album for a week!

This is despite the fact that this is a very expected release in a hip-hop community. And Vladimir Spirits lives with music since childhood, studied abroad - he has very high demands.

He carried this album for five years. The compositions are very complex, multifaceted. You can’t collect them on the knee. Therefore, other options were not even considered here. Vladimir Spirits, musician: - Kostya looks more from a professional point of view, and I - from the point of view of completing the task, on the realization of creativity. I worked at Mosfilm for several seasons when I still shot the movie as a director, and I already liked it here.In general, in spite of the entourage, it may seem to someone that somewhere something old, somewhere something, maybe very strict, bureaucratic that is partly true, but I really like that there is such a tough discipline.

Here is the simplest example: in order to take a distraction of eating, you need to walk along these corridors. And this is not a minute distance, as in many studios. When conditionally the next room is a kitchen where you put your food. This is a warm -up, on the one hand, and on the other hand, you will not run again, but focus on work. But if you need a reboot, you can go to a cafe or ATM.

And I just can’t help but note - here you have an awesome room. This is the first room where your ears do not get tired, you can work for a very long time. We performed a large volume during this time. But because of the room, due to the fact that the whole process was pleasant, so whatever you do on the remote control, it still sounds cool. As soon as you turn to some device, something happens.

This is my view of things. I am sure that Kostya may have a more strict, more obstinate even to this attitude. Musician Vladimir Spirits and manager Kos Sound Team Edgar Kean Konstantin Matafonov, sound engineer: - I completely agree that the advantage is not only in equipment, but also to the room itself. There are two more studios in Moscow, in which there is the same iron, but there are not at all the same, so to speak ...

- Why is the room so great for you? Konstantin Matafonov, sound engineer: - I will answer a little wider, because a combination of factors plays a role here. Firstly, here, at Mosfilm, for artists there is an opportunity to work incognito. There is no passage yard, as in many other Moscow studios. We have plans. I still had no more requests for completely analog work, but after this experience I myself now wanted to start working here, at least, partially.

That is, to do something on a computer, but at least some devices for some pop-sping use the local ones. Because at the studio where we are sitting residently, there is a very large traffic of people, this is show business. And hiding from people is unrealistic. And sometimes you need to be in private with a mix. So that no one has come in and does not greet you constantly and talk about his current tasks and projects.

I would like to have a room in which you can guaranteed to collect something. And change the control itself, refresh the soul. For me, this room was the second studio of Mosfilm. We also have a large studio, but not like that. Still very convenient due to flexible schedule. We delayed here until 12 in the morning, and once even up to two. We have now decided for the future that we would simply buy a clock, but shifts - this is very convenient.

As in Europe and as in America. And, in your opinion, is there any interest for rappers here? For very young ones, it would be a service of entertaining and cognitive nature: reducing sound in analogue. In general, in a trep-hip-hope, in principle, everything is done well at home, but only in the Russian market. On the American one - no longer: if not an analogue, then at least a good, cool room.

This is where we go in our style: we have a very good studio, but there is no analogue information. And an analogue is what no one has: what will be qualitatively distinguished by the sound of the performer from everyone else.