hip hop mix....need some help

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sdp530

sdp530

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I have been mixing hip hop on and off for a couple of years and it feels like I have reached a barrier. My mixes always sound OK but I just can't break through to that next level. Whenever I compare them to mainstream hip hop mixes, I can't, its just not comparable. You can pop in a professionally mixed cd anywhere and it sounds great. I am not looking for any miracle fix, but I am lookin for a few tips that will help me on my future mixes. I have uploaded a sample to my yahoo briefcase so you can have a listen for yourself:

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/kirchhogfarm@sbcglobal.net
The sample is in the "SDP Mix sample" folder.

Beware their is some explicit lyrics so please don't listen if this offends you.

-C
 
Umm, well I am by no means an expert when it comes to hip hop... I don't even condone hip-hop as a viable source for entertainment musically speaking. And I'll go as far as saying that if it were not for the almighty video hip-hop would be pretty much nothing... however I will listen to it and will admit that the sonic qualities are pretty outstanding. I think it has alot to do with the fact that it is all super clean samples and mostly done in the digital relm...

Anyway, IMO you mix sounds pretty good aside from the fact that there is not much low end.. When i think of Hip-Hop I think lots of clean punchy low end first and foremost. Then a lot of carefully plotted panning of the high end stuff like hats and other various percussive stuff.

I'd say that you are on the right track, and not too far off from getting "there".
 
Perdicament said:
And I'll go as far as saying that if it were not for the almighty video hip-hop would be pretty much nothing...
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100% untrue, biased, out the ass assumption...

As far as the mixes though... That's a tough call on what to say because I know nothing about how you made it, what you used or what you were looking for but if I had a gun to my head: I thought the vocals were a lot higher in the mix than they needed to be and your kicks had no real impact. Lyrics are so-so but that's not here or there. I'd say remix it and use some bus compression on it so it sounds more cohessive (glued together). But that's me and my $0.02, nothing personal.
 
mrT said:
As far as the mixes though... That's a tough call on what to say because I know nothing about how you made it, what you used or what you were looking for but if I had a gun to my head: I thought the vocals were a lot higher in the mix than they needed to be and your kicks had no real impact. Lyrics are so-so but that's not here or there. I'd say remix it and use some bus compression on it so it sounds more cohessive (glued together). But that's me and my $0.02, nothing personal.
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I agree with this post. It's hard to say how your "recording" sounds because I don't know what you actually recorded and what was sampled. I can guess that the music is all samples and you only ecorded your voice, but I might be wrong.

Anyway, like T said, I find the vocals too loud for the mix, and the mix in general lacks low end. Also, I know that doubling vocals happens alot in rap, but doubling the complete vocal track gets a little grating. I'd use the doubling more to emphasize certain lines, or turn down one of the tracks so that the doubling isn't so obvious all the way through.
 
Thanks for the tips, I made a few adjustments and re-uploaded it, check it....
 
Ok, you are maybe overlooking the root of getting a great sounding mix.
You need to go to the start and work your way to the finish line, making sure that every step of the way is done well.
Choose great sounding samples. If you dont have great sounding its gonna be pretty hard to get that commercial clean crisp thumping sound.

Eck
 
The mix sounds ok.
Things I would definetly change:
Different snare sample. A hell of alot less reverb. The reverb on this sounds like crap! Different kick sample, or boost the low end on it. The instrument panned to the left at the start sounds good. Real clean. The instrument that goes through the whole song is not which seems to unbalance the tone.

Vocals sound nice but a tad muffled, although ive heard aALOT worse in Hiphop!
It all depends on what sound you are going for. If you are going for a newer, crisper polished sound then try and get all your samples to sound like that aswell as mixing your vocals to suit.
If you are going for an old school rough sound then choose samples accordingly and also dont make your vocals too crisp.
 
Hip hop is not my thing, but coming approaching this purely froma recording perspecvtive, I think the heart of your problem is your drum samples/ beats or however you want to call it. That is where most of the energy comes from in a mix, and it is really lacking in this recording. What are you using for drums?


P.S. Since everyone always wants to turn hip hop music questions into a contreversy let me add my two cents: Hip hop is as valid an art form as any other genre of music is. Just because metal is my thing, and I might not "feel" Hip Hop doesn't mean it doesn't have artistic value. Just because you don't like it doesn't invalidate it as art, especially considering millions of people DO feel it. I think it is crap that people come on here and disparage a type of music simply because they personally don't like it. It's the typical bigoted, elitist mentality that makes the world hate us americans.
 
easy bro, i like mixing alot of hip hop, ur mix:

1) change the snare and thake of reverb

2) the bottom ends needs to be alot punchy, add a smooth bass line!

3) apart from that it sounds good, try changing ur drum kit to hiphop kit! (high priority) :cool:
 
As the mix is already quite hot at -9 dBFS RMS sine, I'd go for a slightly more dynamical mix. Enhancing the Kick's impact with a compander might help as well, just be careful the mix does not get overcompressed. The reverb is too long flatening out the rythm, I think.

The voice seems to have some nasty EQing issue, or it just has too much effect on it. Check the gap at around 4 kHz.

Which makes it different from a general hip hop CD probably is the absence of a base line. You might try adding one.
 
LogicDeLuxe said:
As the mix is already quite hot at -9 dBFS RMS sine.....just be careful the mix does not get overcompressed.
Click to expand...
Hehe....Too late for that. :p
 
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