Genelec monitors bring power and precision to Juh-Dee’s studio
Duisburg, Germany, March 2021…. As a Platinum-certified composer and producer, Juh-Dee is a living testament to the massive popularity of rap music in his native Germany. Having started DJ-ing at parties as a youngster, he soon started making music himself, which brought him into the orbit of other emerging German rap stars including Farid Bang, Manuellsen, KC Rebell and Summer Cem. With numerous number one records under his belt, Juh-Dee now has the luxury of his own beautifully-equipped studio in Duisburg, complete with Genelec 1234 and 8331 Smart Active Monitors.
“The first time I made it to #1 with a single was actually in 2020. That was with the song ‘90-60-111’ from Shirin David, and that was a great feeling,” comments Juh-Dee. “Then with Apache, we were 3 weeks at #1, and that song was replaced at #1 by another Apache song that we produced. And the next tune after that also went straight to the top spot!”
But it’s obvious that Juh-Dee sees Germany’s love for rap music as way more than a passing trend. “I don't see this as short-term popularity. That hype has actually been there for a long time, since 2008/2009. It just never reached the masses because back then the distribution wasn't there. Kids didn’t buy CDs, they just downloaded the songs illegally at that time. But when that started to subside, people bought more CDs again. Now, in the era of smartphones, with streaming and YouTube, that's the reason it won't go away. It’s become the new Pop music.”
Juh-Dee’s preference for studio monitoring has always been large, wall-mounted main monitors, so the Genelec 1234s were an obvious choice.
“In a great studio, there has to be speakers in the wall,” he insists. “I did my first mixes here and I was really surprised at how ‘real’ the 1234s sound, even at high volume. Having heard my first mixes, I realised what made the difference. You can hear clearly the whole frequency spectrum and the tweeters are really nice! They don't bite, they are really honest. That was important for me.”
The 1234s are complemented by a 7370 subwoofer for even more LF control and precision. Juh-Dee explains that “I usually use the subwoofer when I'm working on deep 808s, for example, so I can really hear the whole spectrum down to 20 Hz and I can absolutely hear if they sound ok, or if there's any strange frequencies going on.”
But while Juh-Dee loves the high-SPL energy of his main monitoring system, his 8331 coaxial three-way nearfields from ‘The Ones’ series allow him to dial things down when he needs to.
“I use The Ones to double check things at a lower volume, so when I don't need the full blast of the big 1234s, they are really good for details,” explains Juh-Dee. “Also, when I'm mixing for too long with too much volume, I use the 8331s - and I can also easily control them using Genelec’s GLM software. It's super easy to quickly dial in changes, tweak the frequency response, change the volume, and do adjustments.”
Aside from the pure creative joy that his Genelecs are bringing him, Juh-Dee’s monitors are simply very good for business too, as demonstrated by the reaction of artists visiting the studio recently:
“The feedback was awesome, they all wanted to stay here. I think I worked with 3 new artists at that time, and they all called their management and said ‘Hey, you have to book us here for another session, we're not going anywhere else. Please, we need to come back next week!’”
