Basic Techniques For Rap

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The REAL Jigsaw

The REAL Jigsaw

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Hi, all the professional tutorials make my head spin. I'm a rapper and am trying to mix and master myself, for learning purposes. My webpage is www.myspace.com/shavezthegreat

All I can do is hit record, level everything out so it sounds even, but I want more. I want my sound to be like the commercial rappers. Obviously a noob can't do all this, but I would really appreciate if someone can give a few basic tips that would greatly improve my sound (listen to the 1st track on my page). Please try to keep the lingo as simple as possible. I don't need to learn everything, just a few of the basics.


Thanks,
SHAVEZ
 
Well, my first recommendation would be to get some new beats.

What you have right now sounds very weak.

My second recommendation would be to have someone else write the lyrics. Perhaps someone who knows a few more phrases other than "mother f-er" ... "I'm gonna' cut you up" ... and all that kind of stuff. It gets old.

Thirdly, I would also consider getting someone else to rap for you.

Other than that ... I think it's great, and I wouldn't change a thing.

.
 
Hey Shavez,

Props for the work- I've done quite a bit of work with rappers over the years and it takes some nerve to grab the mic and go.

You have some work to do, however. Daisy nailed it in that your beats are anemic. Bad even. Its impossible to sound at all professional without the having a good backing track. This is where most homegrown rap falls flat on its face. Repeatedly. It takes a lot more work than most people think to put together an engaging beat and without it all the bravado of the words sounds silly.

The best hip hop I've ever heard was backed by a killer band of jazz musicians if that tells you anything about the skills needed for classy rap. And the rapper didn't need to swagger and strut: he didn't tell you how awesome he was- he simply WAS awesome. At this particular show (a fund raiser) he held his own along side a killer operatic soloist, a phenomenal classical guitarist, and some dude playing bass named Victor Wooten.

Real musicians are hard to come by unless you 1) are already a good rapper and 2) recognize the need for them and respect them. If that's not you then you either need to find someone who can made good beats, buy them from someone, or learn to make them yourself. This essentially involves becomig a musician. Sure, the samplers and sequencers do most of the work, but you have to be the creative force behind it.

So your first step to sounding better is to begin figuring out how to make good music for your beats. No easy task and there are no shortcuts. You either can or you can't. Chances are that you can, but it takes some work to find out.

Second step is to get your rhythm and timing down tight. Its not right now. Just keep working on it and you'll get there.
 
Daisy said:
Well, my first recommendation would be to get some new beats.

What you have right now sounds very weak.

My second recommendation would be to have someone else write the lyrics. Perhaps someone who knows a few more phrases other than "mother f-er" ... "I'm gonna' cut you up" ... and all that kind of stuff. It gets old.

Thirdly, I would also consider getting someone else to rap for you.

Other than that ... I think it's great, and I wouldn't change a thing.

.
Click to expand...


I know it sounds weak, that's why I'm asking for help. I'll have to look into new beats.

Secondly, I don't need anyones help writing. Those tracks (not nearly complete) are for my mixtape, not a real record. You need to get familiar with mixtapes and how they work. Like for example, compare 50 Cent's mixtapes to his commercial stuff, BIG DIFFERENCE. So NO, no ones writing my lyrics, I've got commecial songs too that have WAY less swearing.

Try to stay on topic, most of what you wrote doesn't answer anything what I was asking for - tips on mixing/mastering.

Thirdly, I'm a new rapper/singer so of course the performance is not gonna sound great. Just because someone doesn't sound like Eminem or 50 Cent or T.I right away doesn't mean they should get others to sing their song. That's the worst possible advice someone could give. Better advice would be practice.

So again, if you can't stay on topic, then please don't post.

Thank you,
SHAVEZ
 
Last edited:
Chris Shaeffer said:
Hey Shavez,

Props for the work- I've done quite a bit of work with rappers over the years and it takes some nerve to grab the mic and go.

You have some work to do, however. Daisy nailed it in that your beats are anemic. Bad even. Its impossible to sound at all professional without the having a good backing track. This is where most homegrown rap falls flat on its face. Repeatedly. It takes a lot more work than most people think to put together an engaging beat and without it all the bravado of the words sounds silly.

The best hip hop I've ever heard was backed by a killer band of jazz musicians if that tells you anything about the skills needed for classy rap. And the rapper didn't need to swagger and strut: he didn't tell you how awesome he was- he simply WAS awesome. At this particular show (a fund raiser) he held his own along side a killer operatic soloist, a phenomenal classical guitarist, and some dude playing bass named Victor Wooten.

Real musicians are hard to come by unless you 1) are already a good rapper and 2) recognize the need for them and respect them. If that's not you then you either need to find someone who can made good beats, buy them from someone, or learn to make them yourself. This essentially involves becomig a musician. Sure, the samplers and sequencers do most of the work, but you have to be the creative force behind it.

So your first step to sounding better is to begin figuring out how to make good music for your beats. No easy task and there are no shortcuts. You either can or you can't. Chances are that you can, but it takes some work to find out.

Second step is to get your rhythm and timing down tight. Its not right now. Just keep working on it and you'll get there.
Click to expand...

Yes rhythm and timing definately needs work as well as performance. I don't make beats. Don't know jack about it. Everything there is just commercial beats I'm rapping over. Thanks for the advice dude. I would just hope that people could understand that I'm new and my name is not Eminem - lol, and it takes a long time to find one's style.
 
So just to reiterate. Aside from my poor performance, what kind of effects and techniques can I use that other rappers commonly use to get the most out of their sound? Example, doubling up the vocals, etc.
 
It's working now.

The best thing, as everyone said, is practice. This includes all genres. A lot of my own songs could be improved by practice.

With that said, your backing track/beat is way too low in volume compared to your vocals. It sounds like someone in his bedroom rapping over pre-made beats. :D Bring the backing track up so the levels are right and the vocals don't sound over-dubbed.

Once the levels are good, then you can mess with effects on the vocals.

Reverb is a common effect used on vocals, although less on rap songs. It can still help get the vocals to sit with the backing track if they're too "up front". A good, free reverb plugin is GlaceVerb.

I think the quality of the vocal track is good. What mic did you use? It was recorded well.

Other popular things people do in rap songs is overdub some backing vocals on key phrases that you want to have a lot of emphasis on. Usually 1 or 2 backing vocals/overdubs is enough. Then you can add some reverb to them, and pan one left, the other right, to where they sound good.

Most backing overdubs are anywhere from 1 to a few words long, at certain parts of the song where you want more emphasis.

Yet, another thing you can do is widen the vocals a bit. I'm not sure I'd do this on the main vocals, but maybe whatever backing ones you add. A good, free plugin for this is called mda Stereo, and you can download it here:

Hope this helps some. I'm not familiar with mixing rap songs but those are some general things you can do that will help.

There's a rap/hip hop forum on here too, with people that could probably give you more advice. ;)
 
Okay, I'll have to try what you said. I like your feedback, it's what I'm kinda looking for.

About the mic, actually it's a crappy logitech headset I used. Like I said, just practicing. But I bought some gear that should be here this week. A Shure SM58 mic and a Focusrite Saffire Firewire Audio Interface with Onboard DSP.

So I guess reverb and over-dubbing is my next project to learn.

Thanks,
SHAVEZ
 
SHAVEZ,

You've already won half the battle by recording a track and posting it! For someone who is looking for something that isn't too technical, check out this article I wrote, it has a few recommendations:

http://guerillaproducer.com/?p=21

Hope that helps!
 
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