Tips/Techniques for recording rappers,rnb singers

[gm5k]

hi i just joined the site. ive been making beats for a while,but have never seriously recorded a rap or rnb song(unless it was joking around with friends) i do however want to start getting serious so...

any tips/techniques anyone can give for making a rapper or rnb singer sound good? good as in sounding professional,authentic,cool,etc. i have good mics and preamps,etc. so that is taken care of...so im curious about techniques(EQ,compression,all that good stuff or anything else you can think of) outside of having good equipment.

any information would be greatly appreciated. thanks a lot.

-trey

[MarkJ]

trial and error. Just gotta tweak your gear till it sounds good for the given artist might have to try a few different chains till you get one that has the right sound. get your de-es on. make sure if your compressing on the way in thats its just lightly smoothing out the vocal and its attack and release are smoothly catching let go of the vocal (will take some tweaking and listening). as far as the track setup for hip hop I like a strong lead vocal with a few random dubz (not really a fan of the 3 tracks of constant dubz in the verse) and some stacking for big choruses. Make sure dubz are tight with main vocal. Rnb your gonna need a bunch of tracks. lots of stacks with lead low and high parts. Really gotta get a tight performance on the stacking though. All preference though really just do what the track needs. Try listening to tracks that are similar to what your going after and try to pick apart how it was done set up wise if your stuck on where to go. PS. I am in no way anywhere near a professional or even good by any means in any of this so some advice from a pro would be nice =)

[CaliTone]

make sure they know their lyrics. Every rapper I've ever recorded that reads their lyrics off of a piece of paper, always ends up sounding like they're READING LYRICS OFF OF A PIECE OF PAPER. Drives me ****ing nuts.

I usually tell the artist that if he needs the lyrics in the booth while recording, then he's not ready to record.

Another thing I hate is when I hear rappers doubling themselves through the entire track, yet it doesn't sound bigger, it just sounds like a band delay. There's really no need to double if you captured a stellar performance in the first place. I usually quadruple (sometimes more) the adlibs to place emphasis on words or lines of the verse. Get some whisper tracks in there too.

[Zacchino]

Originally Posted by CaliTone

make sure they know their lyrics. Every rapper I've ever recorded that reads their lyrics off of a piece of paper, always ends up sounding like they're READING LYRICS OFF OF A PIECE OF PAPER. Drives me ****ing nuts.

That's very annoying yes, and when they read lyrics while singing, they don't understand that they're out of the microphone axis. Then you get a shitty take. And they blame you "I sung loud but it sounds muddy, do something"...

Of course it sounds muddy, your mouth was aiming down to your notes you idiot.

I hate rappers that can't come in a studio, and make a whole verse in 3 shots max. Cuz most of the time when they write, they mumble, and they don't think about the fact that rappin' is all about breathing at the right time.

And then they go "but in eminem's song, you never hear him breathe"... That's em's style. On tour, his head turns red when he performs. That's his strengh. You're not eminem.

Also I get some "But 50 cent whispers in his songs, I don't have to yell"... They don't get that EVERYBODY don't always have a nice tone of voice when rapping gently.

[TonyBelmont]

There is tons of this information available by using the SEARCH THIS FORUM function.

http://gearslutz.com/board/search.php3?f=54

[con?one]

there really is... search all the forums here too... you'll get some good advice

[Maddstone]

Originally Posted by CaliTone

...Get some whisper tracks in there too.

I'm suddenly wondering bout this very line here.Who decided to do whisper tracks?And when did it actually become a 'norm' per se'?Just some randomness that sparked me to pose this question.

[con?one]

Originally Posted by Maddstone

I'm suddenly wondering bout this very line here.Who decided to do whisper tracks?And when did it actually become a 'norm' per se'?Just some randomness that sparked me to pose this question.

good question. i've insisted on it 3 or 4 times... only kept it in the record 1ce

[Deady11]

Originally Posted by Maddstone

I'm suddenly wondering bout this very line here.Who decided to do whisper tracks?And when did it actually become a 'norm' per se'?Just some randomness that sparked me to pose this question.

Whisper tracks make the vocal sound thicker...Jay z did it first but then there was a guy that claimed Jay Z jacked the technique from him and wanted to sue Jay for it...

[bgrotto]

Originally Posted by Deady11

Whisper tracks make the vocal sound thicker...Jay z did it first but then there was a guy that claimed Jay Z jacked the technique from him and wanted to sue Jay for it...

Whisper tracks have been around a lot longer than Jay Z. I've heard stories of folks layering them into R&B/disco divas' vocals in the late 70s-early 80s to add "air", and I have no doubt that it was done even before that.

[Gans Ja]

Originally Posted by Deady11

Whisper tracks make the vocal sound thicker...Jay z did it first but then there was a guy that claimed Jay Z jacked the technique from him and wanted to sue Jay for it...

lol
Whisper tracks being here for decades. In rock music it used very often.
Jay-Z did not anything new in every aspect of hip-hop. I respect him though))