Friday, April 25, 2008

How Does He Do It?: "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You"

The Delay Lama has long been a tongue-in-cheek virtual instrument in the music-making world. It's a plug-in that is programmed to simulate the vocal chords of a Buddhist monk that is easily recognizable by its humorous interface.



The first time I saw the Delay Lama in action was in this video from Tim's "MTV Diary." Check it out:



I've always wondered how Tim would ever use the Delay Lama in any song without sounding like a complete dumbass. That's why I was surprised to hear the Delay Lama used as the main lead in Madonna's "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You." Hear it?

On a side note, check this interview with Mike McKnight, who has worked with Madonna numerous times. In this old article, he says that a song called "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" was scheduled to be included in the set list for Madonna's "American Life" tour as of February 19, 2004. The song is noted as a "new song from the musical she was working on [to be announced]." That could sprout many conspiracy theories; had Tim already worked with Madonna in 2004? Was "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" an old song that Tim just remixed? Were the "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" lyrics already written by the time Tim came around? We'll see...

22 comments :

  1. Its the Delay Lama!

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  2. Devil Wouldn't Recognize You was already written but they did change around a few lyrics. A Madonna fanatic will give you the original 2004 demo.

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  3. lol i have that plug-in in fl studio

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  4. lol i love dat song he does at da end, dat beat is fire

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  5. Lots of people use Delay Lama. Nothing wrong with it.

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  6. It's a free plug-in too! There's loads of VST based gems out there

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  7. there's def some other Tunes where he used that PlugIn. I just cant remember them. I alsop tried to think of them when we all got tto see the Diary uploaded.
    too bad :-( cant remember.

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  8. Hey just started to rember.
    I think one of em was the TryAgain Remix. At the end the main rubberduck Synth is replaced by some other Sound. It might as well be some kind of modulation of the first Synth OR the DelayLama PlugIn

    I dont think I ever heard that PlugIn purely on his Beats but always with some additional effects, modulations or additional other Instruments together.

    other may then be
    JayZ - get off minez
    JayZ - Hey Papi

    But listening to Ginuwine's Pony it sounds just like the aforementioned Synths and I dont think he used this PlugIn back then... So maybe this Sound isnt the DelayLama in all those songs. Maybe its just a Vocoder+BassSynth

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  9. "Devil wouldn't recognize you" was written before Tim and Justin came into the picture. All they probably did was change the odd lyrics and the melody.

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  10. Yes, Devil was written by Joe Henry (Madonna's brother-in-law) and produced by Mirwais.
    The 2008 version is a completely new. Some lyrics were changed, and the song was recorded again (they didn't use 2004 demo). Also music has completely changed.

    This means - only lyrics by Joe Henry stayed the same - everything else is Madonna's and Timbo's work.

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  11. anybody knows the title of the song tim plays at the end of the diary ? please answer !!!

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  12. Was this plugin used for Bubba Sparxxx's "Nowhere"? The effect is similar - although it sounds like a woman in that song, not a man.

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  13. haha i have this plugin, never really used it seriously, its funny to much around with.

    Oh and The Clutch had a hand in the Raven Symoné track:

    10. Keep A Friend (Produced By The Clutch & Full Scale)

    along with the already mentioned "Double Dutch Bus"

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  14. YEAH! I'VE ASKED THIS BEFORE AND NONE OF YOU HARDCORE FANS WILL ANSWER! wat is the song at the end of the diary? with danja n tim doin it? is it just somethin they fucked around with? or is it an upcoming song. any details would be good.. a download perhaps?

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  15. for me it's not an upcoming song because the diary is old...please somebody answer !!!!

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  16. The song was just a playabout, I SERIOUSLY doubt if it will ever come out or anything.


    Plus I think this is the first released song that Tim & Danja used Delay Lama in because Tim only recently started massively using software synths after he recruited Danja (who is a heavy software user).

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  17. i think "Earth Intruders" kida sounds like he used the Delay Lama....

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  18. can anyone tell how i can download the delay lama vst please

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  19. i got the delay lama plugin into my music kit, looks really cool to play with =)

    myspace.com/moemasri

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  20. "Shut up" lol, yea that song is funny. Just goes to show how much fun they have in the lab. Gotta love that studio footage.

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  21. Unreal. You have a point.
    As soon as Danja came around, Tim lost his "heavy analog" sound in favor for a thinner one, which Danja uses.

    Im sure Tim used some soft sunths before, but something happened around 2003-04- the time Danja came around. You could hear the shift in songs like LL Cool J's Headsrpung, Jlo's "He'll be back"

    But now that I think about it, not even convinced that Tim ever produced headsprung. (perhaps only the drums- just like 4 Minutes)

    :/

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  22. Just want to add that in the Timbaland Diary, at the end, when they jamming in the studio, it sounds like its inspired by 'Jaydee - Pastic Dreams'

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