Beyoncé ’ s dad ’ s label here in Houston . And that ’ s kind of where I got my start in the industry , so to speak .”
Snipes is a musician himself as well , having started drumming at age 11 . While working as a recording engineer at Music World Entertainment , he also helped out with the live sound at a live venue space called the House of Dereon Media Center , and things took off from there . Snipes found himself working at different venues around Houston and got his first big break working with R & B singer Joe . In the live audio space , Snipes has worked different roles for different artists , including B2K , blackbear , and Jaden Smith . In 2019 , Snipes got a call from a friend in Post Malone ’ s camp asking if he could fly to Australia within a week to see if he would be a good fit as monitor engineer . Snipes was on tour at the time , but didn ’ t want to pass up such an opportunity , and made it work .
“ It kind of was a tryout ; they didn ’ t make any promises ,” he says . “ They were like , “ We ’ ve got to see how the fit is , see who you are , and learn about you .’ I did that that Australia tour for three weeks , and I ’ ve been with [ Post ] ever since then .”
Part of what Snipes loves about being part of Post Malone ’ s camp and being an integral part of the show is that he ’ s able to draw on his experience and expertise to voice his opinion on matter like setups and gear . He says his team and Post himself are receptive to his suggestions , and he ’ s gone as far as to recommend microphones and other equipment . When it comes time for a setup rundown , Snipes is immediately ready to talk about what equipment he ’ s had out on the road with Post Malone .
“ For his console this tour , I went with the SD5 DiGiCo for monitors . So that ’ s my main console . In terms of outboard gear , we ’ re doing some interesting things . I started off the tour doing like parallel compression , and I have a 500 series Rupert Neve rack that I essentially built his channel strip . And before we had something that I kind of inherited , what the other guy was using ; I didn ’ t want to really change it , but I wanted to build a custom channel strip for his voice , and how he sings in the different ranges in which he sings throughout the night ,” Snipes explains . “ So , I have a channel strip that ’ s essentially a pre that comes out of his microphone . We use Sennheiser 9000s for his microphone as his main mic , and then that comes out and hits a pre that then goes into an 1176-style compressor that then goes into a more optimal , slower compressor , and then is followed by an EQ , and I ’ m doing some saturation at the end as well for his channel strip . So , I am also using Hazelrigg , which is kind of like how we ended up being merged together or introduced , rather . And that ’ s on his parallel compression for his vocal chain . I have the [ Hazelrigg ] VNE [ Tube Compressor ] and the VLC Channel Strip , and they ’ re in tangent with one another , coming right out of VLC right instead of VNE . And then that ’ s
paralleled into his other channel strip I ’ m also using for his ears . So , it ’ s all kind of boutique style gear . I ’ m using Sonic Farm Creamliner and just a couple other little new little tweak toys to tweak his ears . In terms of EQ , I have a Moog EQ as well . So that ’ s kind of the gist of what I ’ m using . I ’ m also using the Hazelrigg DI for his guitar , so he has a moment where he is playing acoustic in the set . I think he does three songs now and so we have his acoustic guitar going through that DI and then that ’ s also hitting another EQ as well to just fine tune it . So that ’ s pretty much the gear that I ’ m using for his mic and for his ears .”
As a fan of boutique equipment , Snipes is open to trying out new gear and seeing if it ’ s a good fit for his work , and he admits that he knew his Hazelrigg gear would be a ‘ gamechanger ’ when he first tested it out . He
was acquainted with the company through a mutual friend when he found himself in a pinch for a new mic preamp , and his usual was backordered for another three to six months . He admits he didn ’ t know if the company was legitimate or not after first hearing about it , but his doubts were erased as soon as he plugged in the VLC in his studio , and an artist he was working with noticed something had changed and commented on it the next day . He brought it out for tour rehearsals and everyone else was as enthused as Snipes was , asking what the new gear was and what he was doing with it . Before long , Snipes was building up his Hazelrigg inventory .
“ I had to replace the tube and one of them , and the guys sent me literally12 tubes and I only needed to replace one ,” Snipes says . “ I got a call and an email , so the customer
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PHOTO BY : DANIEL MACADANGDANG / SEATTLE REFINED