First Hip Hop Recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter csmith23
  • Start date Start date
First of all, you should have posted this in the mp3 mixing clinic, or the dj/hip-hop forum. Probably the latter cuz no one gives love to hip-hop in the mixing clinic.
Anyway,
The rapping is pretty bad, tell your friend to start doing some critical thinking. He's not saying anything, this is just some more of that 'blah blah, look at me, I wrote this rap so I can sound hard' crap. There is way way too much of that in hip-hop these days. Listen to some Sage Francis, Brother Ali, Blackalicious, Common, ect. Maybe they can show him how to actually make a statement, and make art(music) that is actually worth something. Sorry if that is harsh, but I'm sick of this type of (c)rapping. I work with some guys who do this same stuff and I'm always telling them they need to put some thought into their rhymes.
As for the recording, it sounds pretty raw, but it's a good starting point. Start reading about and playing around with effects like EQ, compression, reverb, etc.
Oh, and if you're going to post more songs, get a soundclick account or something that plays at a higher resolution, everything sounds bad on youtube.
 
jlewis said:
First of all, you should have posted this in the mp3 mixing clinic, or the dj/hip-hop forum. Probably the latter cuz no one gives love to hip-hop in the mixing clinic.
Anyway,
The rapping is pretty bad, tell your friend to start doing some critical thinking. He's not saying anything, this is just some more of that 'blah blah, look at me, I wrote this rap so I can sound hard' crap. There is way way too much of that in hip-hop these days. Listen to some Sage Francis, Brother Ali, Blackalicious, Common, ect. Maybe they can show him how to actually make a statement, and make art(music) that is actually worth something. Sorry if that is harsh, but I'm sick of this type of (c)rapping. I work with some guys who do this same stuff and I'm always telling them they need to put some thought into their rhymes.
As for the recording, it sounds pretty raw, but it's a good starting point. Start reading about and playing around with effects like EQ, compression, reverb, etc.
Oh, and if you're going to post more songs, get a soundclick account or something that plays at a higher resolution, everything sounds bad on youtube.
Click to expand...

haha justin, tearin it up! :laughings::laughings:

but forreal, I'm just going to comment on the mix because well, lets just say it, the rap can speak for itself. The mix is a rough mix, but a good starting point.

When your recording the vocals, I think they could use a little more compression (tastefully, please) and some reverb, maybe a light (very light, almost inaudible) delay to help it breathe. The cymbal hits sound dry, is there any way you can add some reverb to those to make them sit a little better in the mix?

just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
T :drunk:
 
Thanks for the replies! I don't care much about the content of the rap, but more about the quality. I'm pretty new to recording. As you can obviously tell.

What is compression?
 
a compressor is an effect that basically controls the volume of an audio track. You can set a limit (threshold) so that any part of the audio that gets louder than that limit, is automatically 'compressed'. The amount that it is compressed is based on the ratio that you set. For example A ratio of 4:1 means that if the volume level is 4db over the threshold, becomes 1db over. You can also set the attack and release which control how quickly and for how long the compressor clamps down.
google 'dynamic range compression' and you'll probably get a better explanation.

and like Terra said, be easy on the delay, and the reverb too.
 
You need to be on a major label and have all the best audio professionals in the industry in order to make it. The simple fact is that rap isn't real music and without a team of REAL professionals working around the clock for weeks it will never sound as good as the shit you hear on the radio. Even then it's still going to suck, because you can't spell crap with out rap.
 
Sweet, I will get a soundclick account and will be sure to upload some of my other recordings as you all clearly don't like rap today. :)

Reverb is kinda like an echo right?
 
FoulPhil said:
You need to be on a major label and have all the best audio professionals in the industry in order to make it. The simple fact is that rap isn't real music and without a team of REAL professionals working around the clock for weeks it will never sound as good as the shit you hear on the radio. Even then it's still going to suck, because you can't spell crap with out rap.
Click to expand...

how is rap not real music? lol



someone makes those beats and orchestral hits or whatever makes the track and the ability to rap well is a musical as any other vocals style, mesh in some of the fusion stuff and its far more musical and talented than some of the shite that people claim as music..

yeah theres a ton of crap on the radio...but nickleback ffs...isnt that rock? :laughings:


Ive been listening to rap since BDP and some of it is musically excellent and crosses race, class, and gender

I remember seeing Gangstar with Courtney Pine and thinking...this isnt music, this is crap lol

yir some man Phil :rolleyes: ;)
 
jlewis said:
First of all, you should have posted this in the mp3 mixing clinic, or the dj/hip-hop forum. Probably the latter cuz no one gives love to hip-hop in the mixing clinic.
Click to expand...

not true, many of us like rap, many of us would comment on a mix


unfortunately there is a huge percentage that comes through online with an amazing backing track, courtesy of loopmasters "beats of the dirty south", and a kid on a usb mic who wants to sound like some other kid, who's faked a studio production to sound like he did it in his bedroom, on Youtube

lets face it, and no offence to the OP...but whats compression?


there should be a basic amount of knowledge required or researched before thinking that anyone is going to be anything but dismissive, its not the mp3 clinic regulars fault

and thats without the "how do i sound like this www.youtube/somekidwithausbmic.com?" posts that inundate newbie forums around the globe

its the genres fault that it is so successful that there is a thriving market for pre-made beats and usb mics...not anyone elses


anyway peace...or war...or whatever the kids are saying :D






edit: forgot to say, good luck on your quest for knowledge csmith and welcome to the site

heres a good resource for understanding compression in an easy to read style, 2nd post

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=293959
 
Last edited:
kcearl said:
how is rap not real music? lol



someone makes those beats and orchestral hits or whatever makes the track and the ability to rap well is a musical as any other vocals style, mesh in some of the fusion stuff and its far more musical and talented than some of the shite that people claim as music..

yeah theres a ton of crap on the radio...but nickleback ffs...isnt that rock? :laughings:


Ive been listening to rap since BDP and some of it is musically excellent and crosses race, class, and gender

I remember seeing Gangstar with Courtney Pine and thinking...this isnt music, this is crap lol

yir some man Phil :rolleyes: ;)
Click to expand...

Kcearl thinks DJ's are musicians. :laughings:
 
Amatuer vocals mixed over amatuer mix of lousy 80's Cutting Crew tune.


If you were P. Ditty, you'd be a millionaire.

Congrats.



:cool:
 
KC I'm sorry to inform you that it takes teams of professionals to make it sound good. Other wise it would be as gawd awful as the track posted here in this thread.

Nickelback is not rock... LOL

Furthermore, any monkey can lean to press a button that causes a something musical to happen. That does not make it talent or musical.

Anyway if you like it that's fine, but don't try to feed me some horse shit. :D
 
first off, i never told anyone the song was great, or even decent. I said it was my first hip hop recording. Its obviously not going to be good.

Im new here, and dont want to cause a war between those who enjoy rap and those who dont. It doesnt really matter, who cares?

Thanks to those of you who actually responded in a way that will help improve my recording skills and also helped me learn more about recording.

Edit: And im not on as usb mic, its not even me rapping, its a friend. Im using a Fostex MR-8MKII and a Shure SM-58. Obviously its not a pro set up, or anywhere close to it, but im trying to learn how to use it better, not get flamed or made fun of because im not exactly sure what im doing.
 
csmith23 said:
first off, i never told anyone the song was great, or even decent. I said it was my first hip hop recording. Its obviously not going to be good.

Im new here, and dont want to cause a war between those who enjoy rap and those who dont. It doesnt really matter, who cares?

Thanks to those of you who actually responded in a way that will help improve my recording skills and also helped me learn more about recording.

Edit: And im not on as usb mic, its not even me rapping, its a friend. Im using a Fostex MR-8MKII and a Shure SM-58. Obviously its not a pro set up, or anywhere close to it, but im trying to learn how to use it better, not get flamed or made fun of because im not exactly sure what im doing.
Click to expand...

No doubt and don't worry, this is not the first battle between rap fans and rap haters here on HR, I lost all my rep points in the last battle. It's a shame, but if you're gonna post rap stuff, you better be ready to play the defense. Especially with Greg L around, he seems to find every post there is about hip-hop to make sure that people know he doesn't like it.

Like kcearl said, there are people who do like rap and will respond in a positive manner, but those folks are few and far between around here. And like he said, that is probably in part a result of the plethora of newbs who want to know how to make their usb mic sound like a U87, that shit does get annoying.

And on the topic of rap as real music, if nickelback is not rock, then whatever Greg L and Foul Phil are referring to is not rap.
They obviously have never even heard good rap, they only know what they have heard on the radio. I suppose that's not their fault, radio rap does suck, although it is ignorant to say that all rap sucks because the only rapper you ever heard was P Diddy or whatever the hell his name is.
If nickleback was the only 'rock' band you ever heard, you would probably think that rock sucks too. Of course we all know this is not true, there are tons of great rock bands, unfortunately they don't get played on MTV, and the same goes for rap.

Everyone go listen to the album Li(f)e by Sage Francis. 'Real' instruments, recorded by 'real' musicians
...oh wait, but it's rap....let me close off my mind now, because it must not be real music. Oh and he's not on a major label? He didn't have a team of professionals working around the clock? It must sound like shit then. No thanks, I'll just go back to my little world where interest in a variety of musical genres is more or less unimportant.

csmith, don't let these guys discourage you, I applaud your calm response to their banter. Don't take it personally, it's not about your shit, it's about rap in general. Just keep reading and learning, and don't make threads unless you can't find the answer on your own.
 
oh and how DJs are not real musicians? Is a pianist a musician? What if you put that pianist behind a midi keyboard? Not a musician anymore, I guess.
 
FoulPhil said:
KC I'm sorry to inform you that it takes teams of professionals to make it sound good. Other wise it would be as gawd awful as the track posted here in this thread.

Nickelback is not rock... LOL

Furthermore, any monkey can lean to press a button that causes a something musical to happen. That does not make it talent or musical.

Anyway if you like it that's fine, but don't try to feed me some horse shit. :D
Click to expand...

dude i could get a pretty professional rap tune together


The handles FoulPhil
I is sick not ill
Sing like im high on crack
An' I love Nickelback
Drawing anus's for covers
i could be your brothers lover
looking for my latest hit
makin' songs about shit

yeah i sing about shit

no literally about shit

i leave my adversaries in pieces

cause its all about the feces

<da boom boom tish da boom boom tish>

:D
 
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