Looking for "that sound" on Rap vocals. (Comparisons) on what i have to what i want.

[Nopsia]

Looking for "that sound" on Rap vocals. (Comparisons) on what i have to what i want.

Always been wanting that perfect sounding rap vocal. I know mine sound decent but do sound brittle, dull, and muffled compared to that perfect bold, in your face crisp sound that alot of these rappers have now in days. Im pretty sure its my equipment, which is an AT4047 Mic, and Presonus Eureka preamp into audiobox usb. My question would be, what is the best microphone and preamp to achieve this sound im looking for? Their quality just sounds so damn good. Check out the comparisons of my recordings to what id like to have. Thanks

My recordings. (Decent but missing something)

Youtube com

/watch?v=9r_9RkUAWMw
/watch?v=JxTipte8MTk
/watch?v=TbeI5Xw-D94
/watch?v=roaTdZmb1EM

The vocal quality i want to achieve:

Youtube com

/watch?v=quRwd8u7E4k
/watch?v=9qSitpbjuCk
/watch?v=V_dKJtmGDmg
/watch?v=6nWxGtHKCMo


Is it just me or is my vocals lacking that true quality?
I pretty sure its time to change Equipment.

Thanks for any input..

 

[Steenamaroo]

I listened to the two first links.
The first thing that strikes me is that your sound has a lot more low/mid information than your target sound.

Maybe experiment with high pass filters or subtle wide cuts around 500hz or so?
That's just a starting point. You'd need to play around yourself.

You might even be able to do this at the source by just stepping back from the mic and reducing proximity effect.
Edit: If your environment isn't great, this will make it worse....

Double tracking seems to be an important thing, but maybe play with the panning a little.
Double tracking down the centre will sound different to double tracking wide panned apart.

Also, I'm wondering if your recording environment plays a part.
For this kind of vocal you probably want an extremely dry source sound.
How do your recordings sound if you ditch all the effects and processes and just record speech.

For this kind of music, I'd guess that any kind of audible ambience is going to cause problems in mixing.

Maybe look into some thick absorption panels? 4" rockwool....that kind of thing.

Hope that's useful.

 

[Nopsia]

Thank your for taking the time to listen and give your input. I will take everything you said and apply it next time im back in the
studio room, which is today. I dont know much to say really than thank you for your help and tips! Every tip is helpful into the right direction!

one love

 

[Steenamaroo]

Hey, no problem man.
I feel bad now 'cos I only listened for a few seconds.
It's not really my genre but maybe those tips will get you started until someone better verses shows up.

One thing I didn't say is this - It's all about experimentation.
You could waste a lot of time trying new things each time you have a session, whereas you could just take a whole for experimenting.
You won't get a song out of it, but you'll get plenty of experience and knowledge.

 

[Nopsia]

Thats true. Thats how i learned everything i do know. Anyways now im inspired to try your tips out now.. so thanks once again!

 

[Massive Master]

I don't want to come in sideways here, but your comparison tracks are 180 degrees from what you're doing.

I scrubbed through the first 3 videos and I don't think you left C# more than twice except for sliding down to C at the end of every phrase. Monotonous, droning, soft-spoken -- Vs. the (JoJo?) videos while basic, but at least scaled, aggressive, energetic, sliding up which gives it even more energy setting up for the next line instead of droning off.

JoJo? Double-tracked (triple in places), lots of compression (LA-2A? Possibly... Or something trying to sound like a LA2A but missing the "goo" to some extent), much more energetic presentation. IMO? Brittle, overcompressed, overly-detailed (I'd use a different mic) but if that's what you're shooting for...

Long story short -- It's not the gear. It's a completely different style treated completely differently. If you treated your tracks the same, it wouldn't sound the same.