first try at a hip-hop cd
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Posted on Nov 20, 2004 12:26 am
uglyorgan
Member Since: Nov 20, 2004
hey, i was wondering if someone could help me out with a project i have coming up? i needed some extra money so i agreed to record a couple friends of mine's rap group. i have never done anything like this before so i wanna make sure i dont screw it up. i have a couple condensers and dynamic microphones but i dont know what to use. would an sm57 work pretty good? i also have the latest release of fruity loops producers edition and sonar 4: producers edition along with an alesis sr-16 drum module. would these help out in any way? any feedback would help a ton. thanks.
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Nov 20, 2004 08:33 am Out of curiousity, why do you have all that gear if you are unsure of what it does? What you are trying to do is what Sonar 4 was made to do.
Put a mic in front of each rapper and record each mic into a different track in Sonar. You can use FL or the sr-16 to program beats for behind them, unless they already have their beats recorded.
The thing you don't mention here or in your profile is what type of sound card you have, as you would need one with a separate in for each microphone to keep them all separated if recording them at the same time.
Also, you will need a compressor, rap vocals tend to be quite strong and compression is generally necessary before the signal gets to the sound card.
Nov 20, 2004 03:34 pm i know what it does, i am just used to doing acoustic and band recordings so i have no idea where to begin with this whole rap thing. i am using an m-audio mobile pre for my i/o but it only allows 2 simultanious tracks recording. would i be able to get away with a compressor plug-in instead of the hardware?
Nov 21, 2004 01:58 am Each emcee sounds diffrent on a mic. i do hip hop music...After u test each mic, pick the one that comes out the best and use it.. The track should be organized well.. and make sure u have patience to use alot of tracks instead of trying to have them rap one long verse non stop..then you as the producer/engineer need to balance the voice and put nice effects on it but not to many..Aldibs (dubs) are also important...
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Nov 21, 2004 04:23 pm I do hip hop music both as solo and in group. I record my group, so I have a fair amount of experience doing this. The first thing to consider is where the beat is coming from. Do they already have beats and just need you to record their vocals, or do you need to make beats for them?
Since you have a condensor mic, I would probably go with that to record vocals, and I would record each mc one at a time. If the mcs are talented, hopefully you won't have to punch in too much. The process I use is, the mc will spit one verse in it's entirety until we get a good take (if they can't do the whole verse at once, maybe they shouldn't be recording it yet. Plus piecing together bits and pieces of verses is a pain in the ***). Then the mc will go through and do several takes of what we call backups or what Real Wun calls Adlibs or overdubs (basically just some stuff in the background to add texture or emphasis). Just go through and record each verse and chorus like this until you're done. You will have to go through and sort out which backups are wack, and remove them from the mix. Also, you can compress in software, but you will have to watch the gain so that you don't clip while recording. Aside from compression, you don't necessarily need to add any effects to the vocals, but I often like to add a touch(!) of some sort of delay effect, whether it be chorus, reverb, multitap delay, or something else to thicken it up a little.
In general, recording rap vocals is pretty easy, but it can be frustrating if the mc has never been through the process before, and has expectations out of line with reality. "Why didn't you record my vocals right"? "I did, but I guess you never heard your whiny, nasaly *** voice before, and never realised you were off beat. I coulda told you that a long time ago."
Nov 21, 2004 04:26 pm software compression can be used after the recording, but if you are dealing with a very powerful rapper, you will need some sort of compression or limiting before the signal gets to the sound card or it will be a pretty nasty take.
Nov 22, 2004 01:53 am what condensor microphones would you reccomend for this type of stuff? also do you guys have any mixing tips?
Jason H.Jack of all trades master of ___Member
Since: May 28, 2004
Nov 22, 2004 12:09 pm I would just make sure your recording has depth...
As some have seen my posts on this project I am working on...which is hip hop...the tracks were recorded hot but at the same time the mix was as if, everything needed to be in front...its really overpowering...When I recorded rap I tried to keep everything on its own plane carrying its own presence....
If you want a good example of a good recording from a good emcee...try Haystak - Portrait Of A Whiteboy - Track 5 called "Red Light"...
Any type of condenser would work...mine is not very popular but I have good vocals come out. I use Oktava MK-319...but you got your Audio Technica, Neumann, AKG...and so on.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Nov 22, 2004 04:31 pm Mixing for hip hop/rap, in theory is very similar to mixing for any other genre. You want each instrument/voice to sit in it's own place. However, with most hip hop, the vocals are kind of the focus of the song, so we tend to keep them fairly dry so they don't sink to far to the back of the mix. Mixing will definitely depend on how you're making/receiving the beat. If they bring their own beat, often times you will have to deal with one track being the beat and several tracks of vocals. You may not have the luxury of mixing each instrument, but it sure helps if you can.
Any condensor mic you have will probably work. If you have more than one, just try them each out and see what sounds best. But if you have one you generally like more than the others, odds are it will sound better with the rappers as well.
