Rap verse mixing/mastering criticism (clip inside)

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DiscoBBQ

New member
Hey everyone, me and my friends have a rap group and we think we've got chorus recording/mixing/mastering techniques down, but we need a ton of help with verses

http://usershare.net/h1arxdiznrxq

thats the current song we're working on, if you skip to 1:24, we have a verse

i'm aware the timing is off, adobe audition has alot of input lag in comparison to cool edit pro

basicially you can hear how its really muddy and gross sounding

main verse was a non-panned mono track, with a widener, 1 layer of dynamic compression (softknee), minor reverb and minor mastering with izotope ozone 3

the emphasis track was panned to the left with just compression,
the ad libs were panned to the right with just compression

there was a de-esser and noise reduction on those three tracks as well


could anyone give me some tips on how to make this sound more "professional"? i.e. how to pan it, record it, master it, etc.

any other criticism is welcome too,
the other 6 of our songs are at myspace.com/crime69music
 
1) Drums... missing something... sounds empty... hey where's the high hats?

2) I like the chorus with the right panned (telephone vocal) the top layer vocal I'm not sure... it could be the placement that's throwing me... and the lyrics... are you creating this as a comedy skit? bacon bits... are not really good on everything... I would have really liked this song if the chorus was more serious... sounds like weird al yakovik...

3) I like the piano.. but it sounds very muddy.. needs some sparkle...

4) synthie bass is good, but it's eq'd wrong.. to much bass... I would drop it down a bit in the khz range... at best 60..it sounds like it's close to 75khz...to muddy my speakers were rattling and not in a good way...
 
thank you, i'll try to work on that, but can you comment on the verse mixing/mastering at 1:20?

it's not suppose to be serious, it's 3 white kids rapping so I don't think seriousness will help us
 
DiscoBBQ said:
thank you, i'll try to work on that, but can you comment on the verse mixing/mastering at 1:20?

it's not suppose to be serious, it's 3 white kids rapping so I don't think seriousness will help us
Click to expand...

It was drowned out by the music... I was way more interested in the music than the verse... If you fix the music mix and tame those eq levels the lead vox will stand out more... also 3 white guys... sounds like the beastie boys... check your self...
 
Sorry, I couldn't listen to your mix because my computer is jacked up right now and I can't play sound, I'll check it out in a week or so when it's fixed. But on the topic of white rappers, there are a ton of them who are better than a lot of black rappers, if you have a good flow, and good rhymes there's no reason you can't be serious. Check out Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, and Atmosphere just to name a few brilliant examples. (of course beastie boys too)
 
The overall vocals were recorded well but they are a tad low in your mix. The effects and overdubs were used nicely but you just need to bring the overall level up. As far as the music its ok, it could be a little better. I tend to agree that if you guys were rapping about something a little more relevant this would be more enjoyable. Hip hop is obviously at a level where race is less important than the quality of your music. Your subject matter will always be considered as a MAJOR component, when judging the quality of your music. So never squeeze yourself into the mold of what you think, someone else thinks you should be.
 
Thanks everyone I really appreciate your input, topics are still up in the air we're just lookin to get our techniques down
 
dnkygirl gave you some good advice. I would add that your deesser needs some adjustments. The sibilance on the hard s sounds is seriously too much, especially when the reverb gets ahold of it. The reverb is not the problem, though - I actually think it sounds good and is tastefully applied. In fact - the vocals are recorded and mixed very well, aside from the sibilance nitpick. The performance could have certainly been better, but I don't really have any clue what you were going for there, so no specific advice. I heard the one dude run out of breath at around 2 minute mark - no matter what kind of weird shit you're doing, I think it's pretty much a given that that's something you should re-track...

I'd also emphasize the bit about your kick - it's like you've brought all the nasty sounds that a kick naturally has right to the front of the mix. Muddy, boxy, and unpleasantly boomey - no good. Scratch whatever you've done to it, and start over. if your kick sample actually just sounds like that, get a different one.

The music, as a whole, just sounds thin and unfilled. I think the stereo image is actually pretty good, and the individual parts sound fine - but together the mix just sounds like it's missing... well, balls, really. If you don't have subs/groups/busses/whatever-your-platform-calls-them setup - now's a good time to learn about that. Bussing all your non-drum-instruments to a submix and smashing the hell out of them in parallel with the uncompressed sources might surprise you at how effectively it can fill up a mix. Once you have your drums sounding good, try the same thing with them.

I'll refrain from commenting on the music, lol. It's definitely not my cup of tea, so my opinion there won't be helpful, I fear. :D
 
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