Producing The Weeknd's vocals with Illangelo

A sneak peek of Illangelo's 'Inside The Track' series in which he reveals how he captures and enhances The Weeknd's iconic vocal performances

We're delighted to bring you a series debut featuring the wonderfully imaginative producer and engineer Illangelo! Hosted at OCL studios in Alberta, this video installment takes you on a deep dive into the creative process behind 'Alone Again', the opening track of critically-acclaimed album 'After Hours' by The Weeknd. In great detail, Illangelo reveals the software and methods he used to build the lush soundscapes, pristine vocals, and punchy low end heard on this immersive mix. With two different Ableton Live sessions, he shares the elaborate signal chain applied to Abel's vocal, his broad palette of effects, the master buss treatment, and so much more. Aside from demonstrating an array of mix techniques, Illangelo discusses his philosophy of “painting” with sound and imparts his vocal tracking workflow!

[akmakeabeat]

The production on Abel's music is always beautiful. Producers deserves more appreciation.

[souldiving]

For those that dont know : Illangelo produced, Trilogy, The Hills, I dont even need to say more.

[who-ne]

How cool must it be for him to have produced the Weeknd back in the House of Balloons days, to then still work with him almost 10 years later after he's grown astronomically. That's crazy

[sergiosaleh]

this is the first time i've seen an industry mix done in ableton instead of protools. so dope to see

[lildeathbeam]

how cool is that this available for all of us to watch for free

[natesaracino]

Abel has some of the most angelic vocals ever.

[konradnoises]

When you show the effects you use it means you understand that is not about the plugins. And it shows understanding that people CANNOT steal or copy your style to win over your clients (or whatever tf people who hide stuff think will happen), since the reason why it works is inside your head, within you creativity.

[summerboi]

he basically wants to say, use as many plugins as you can until the cpu of your laptop blows off.

[Seriouspup]

This producer is very well spoken that was a pleasure to watch

[akhilpatil]

He added a million different things that make me feel like I'm doing something

[StrykerGamingOfficial]

I watched the full thing and highly recommend it. It’s not really technical but shows music is about feeling, not technicalities

[timothydavis]

Omg I thought we’d never get a look into the creative process of a Weeknd song. These guys are so secretive. This is huge

[tweakin]

The Weeknd was on top of the world without people even knowing what he looked like, he comes back every 2 years or so with an album that blows the charts and literally never misses, recently he’s been showing off his face more and dropping more music videos and honestly the whole production is amazing from the beats to the mixing to the videos. If you seriously don’t think he’s this generations king of pop you’re in denial

[estebangallo]

most underrated song off of After Hours, illangelo a beast 🔥

[jacksonischillin]

i love how the processing is all reverbs and sound design, the luxury of expensive mics

[antonellomascarello]

After hours is absolutely a masterpiece. Illangelo is a great part of it. Thank for sharing !!!

[DannySullivanMusic]

This dude EARNED his payday here. So much going on here that sounds absolutely amazing.

[Daniella_Reinhardt_Art]

I don't think I always realize what an honour it must be to work with a voice like Abel's...

[caesium_]

I understand none of this but I still watch. Why? Because it's a masterpiece whatever it is.

[iraklismoschonas]

NI’s “RAUM” is an incredible reverb, it has so much depth.