Aight, being from miami these cats have 36 tracks of vox jumpin all over the place, but its something bout NY recordings far as like 1 simple lead vox and thats it str8 up. Like i love jiggas vocals man its like your ears are not fighting with 65 addlibs and background vox, he just spits and its just 1 lead track and im trying to acheive that same sound far as my 1 lead vox being tight n i wouldnt say thick n warm but its the only way to explain it. Man i redid my whole lab just to make sure im finding the weakest link. So far i jumped on the rme 9652 and the adi-2 for 2 channels of adda of premium stuff (for the dough i have). Im not a baller like some catz on here but i've heard the mxl v69 mic is really nice for dark vox to approach the thick part, and i seen a tab funken (however u spell it mic pre) but whats a good pre n compressor to jump on to keep a consistent sound.

i'll probably get blasted by someone for this but i've gotten great results from the Universal Audio 6176. If you're looking for that thick lead vocal, DON'T jump on the Avalon VT737 bandwagon! There are better pre/comp units but in a higher price range. Just my opinion.

I'd really like to help you but I don't have a ****ing clue what you are saying.
Sprechen sie Englisch?

neve 1073 with distressor, but that might be out of your budget. I know it's cliche to suggest the 1073 but every time i track with that thing i'm impressed by how thick and 3 dimensional the vocals are. You can probably get similiar results using a clone but i'll let you use the search function for that.

D

What's your budget?...

vintech and a distressor or a ua 6176

Of course jigga uses ad-libs and doubles...they're just tastefully done and mixed well.

Tell your artists to use background vocals for harmony (if they have good pitch) OR a unison (meaning a real unison not a sloppy one) and NOTHING MORE.

If they can't do the verse with one track because of breath control or whatever then they need to rewrite and/or practice more.

Background vocals should be just that...in the background.

Make sure you roll off more low end on the background stuff and also play around with matching the waveforms of the double to the lead vocal.

The greatest vocal chain in the world won't help a sloppy take.

That's rubbish

It'd be true if you're talking 'live', or if they literally can't spit the verse in one go

But recording is all about getting the best vocal track down on record/the track. If splitting it up helps it sound better, then do it.

I'm just glad you had a decent question for once.... ... most of the time it's the MC's fault they have a ****load of adlibs... bc the engineer doing the tracking does whatever the client wants... seeing as it's the clients money... Tons of adlibs and stacks in Hip Hop usually means the Artist sucks whether it's their voice, content, etc etc etc... sounds like you need someone to produce you... help you get that great performance... and leave the mixing to a qualified individual... thats why it's nice to have a team of individuals who are trying to achieve the same thing...

Too many adlibs are like watching what is supposed to be a Freestyle and there is one wannabee rapper in the click spitting word for word what the kid Freestyling is saying... it's ****in annoying...

Before you go saying I didn't help... just remember... when you hear mixtapes the signal chains aren't usually special... it's the lyrics and delivery... dont try and shove 20 punds of **** in a ziplock bag... and dont try and shove a bunch rhymes, wit different cadences into a 3 minute song if it's not necessary... if it doesn't sound right in the first place I dont see how repeating a stackings gonna make it seem any better...

All in all... it sounds like you finally listened to one of your songs for the first time... and are hearing what we've been hearing you post all along... I swore back in the past I said something about it... glad you finally pinpointed the problem... Plug ins and mic pre's cant fix bad performances... being original helps too...

P.S. there is nothing wrong with punching in... MOP punches in nearly 8 times on a simple 16... and I could care less because the overall preformance sound Great to me...

quite a few of my southern artist here in atlanta be tryin to do a lead a 3 stacks then 4-8 adlibs(thanks jeezy)
i've been showing them thats thats just overkill and just making the mix harder. i perfer the sound of 1 lead and perhaps 2 adlibs or a lead and an in/out adlib...for some artist their voices just don't sound right with out that stack...so i'll let them stack once and do an adlib and it sounds much better than a lead 3 stacks and 4 adlibs....
to get that clean upfront lead vox i like using the pacifica though a distressor(set opto) or an api7600(bypass the compressor) though a distressor.
i aldo get great results with a Focusrite isa220, but of the 3 setups listed the pacifica hands down sound the best.
mics i usually use:
Sony c800G
peluso 2247
Blue blueberry
Rode K2(my workhorse)

on braza i usually do 2 tracks of leads (sound exactly the same, just make a stereo field), 2 tracks of "accent words" (not ad libs or fill ins just accenting the best parts of the verse and hook) and then 2 tracks of fill ins only if it adds to the song. I fight with artists over adlibs all the time. Less is more, unless its really a signature like Jeezy. The hook is usually 4-6 stacks plus 2-4 of accents. also, **** that - if they can't spit at least 1 of 2 leads straight thru i make em do it over until they get that **** right, then they can punch in. Too many punchins is wack and obvious. It only works for M.O.P. because they sound like they are going to kick the **** out of you without even really trying.

I work with a rapper named Sauce Money, who I think is great. We usually wind up with at least 8 tracks of vocals but usually they're split up by the different sctions of the song, He doesnt really do alot of adlibing.

disco, with your 2 lead vocals, how are you panning them? hard left and right?

The Blue Berry is a very underated mic. I want to buy something else, but don't really no where to go. Plus clients like to look of it (w/ shock mount 1).

off topic, but what's he been up to? haven't seen him since d&d 75 years ago.

Good look on the replies.

no, 50 50, with the final accent words like 80 80. i dont like hard pans if i can avoid it.

Every song is different. You have to do what the song calls for. Sticking to one form of recording is boring. Try to do something different every time and screw what everyone else does. Make your own sound.

But remember you cant polish a turd.

for real, where did sauce money get too...whens the album? Haven't heard from him in YEARS

He's working on an album project now.

heh

It's why I pretty much quit recording rap (not having access to the level of client as some people here), There'd be a group of 6-8 guys all trying to be on every song. Almost every client I had was part of a "collaboration".

Almost always there was one guy that made me think "Damn, if he could get away from those other guys he'd be pretty good by himself." But here we go again, 8 songs with not a single song done by ONE GUY. Every rapper wants to be on every song even if it's just "talking it up" at the end.

Just when I think the session's over I hear... "Wait, 'Lil Mo' 'aint on there yet! ... go on in there mo!" Not that 'Lil Mo' has anything to contribute to the song. He's in the "crew" so he gotta say _something_.

Yep.

Lawrence

Disco D....

Did you mix K Feds song? Who mastered?

that isn't surprising, because they have a very aggressive shouting style, where you need a lot of air. anybody knows about onyx? i would believe it's the same there.

I really appreciated reading this post and all the replies to it... So much that I think I am going to print this thread out and post it in the soundbooth tonight....

I have some of the exact same problems with the client I'm working with tonight.... He feels he needs 3 stacks and 4 adlibs for every verse... I don't mind recording it because I get paid to provide a service (but I will add some criticism here and there)...but what they don't understand in which some of you highlighted in your responses is how hard it is to get a good mix when you have adlibs and fill tracks jumping all over the place.....

Do you have access to a daw, maybe a product like "vocalign" might be of help.

Daaaamn....lol don't hurt um finsta

yes, and brian big bass mastered it

i did it in the box only passing out of box thru fatso as an insert