Advice Needed!!!

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:16 am

Hey guys I record Hiphop vocals, lemme first start by listing my equipment:

Studio Projects C-1 mic
SP VTB1 pre-amp
EMU 1212m interface

listen to "We Major" here to get an idea of my quality.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=276286

My question is this. I am considering buying a Rode NT1A mic and am wondering if you guys think this mic would be better for my voice and improve quality or if it is not worth making the switch. Thanks

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:55 am

Stez who?? Stez me, I mean you?? Who's on first? I don't know, on third?

I really think you're Studio Projects microphone is on a par with the NT1A. It's a lateral move. I don't think it's worth the switch unless you need another microphone?

And I really liked the music track of your cut. Quite nice. Nice progressions, of nice samples. Too bad you can't sing. I mean the lyrics are the lyrics but with a nice background music track like that, for heaven's sake, find the melody and sing your heart out. Your message will get through to people better that way. I mean, all rappers sound the same. The only way you will raise yourself above the rest is to do something more original. That actually takes a little more talent. And what's with all the bleep bleep bleep words? What kind of airplay is that going to get you? Why is that necessary to get your message across?? It's so common now, why bother? It's not shocking. It's stupid. Sorry for this critical comment and editorializing. There's nothing unique about what you're doing, or the way it sounds aside from the better music track.

The problem with your vocal is an over abundance of proximity effect i.e. too much bass, from a directional microphone, regardless of condenser or dynamic types. One of the pitfalls of any directional microphone. You need to roll some bass off, for a better vocal sound. I'm sure playback in your car is muddy as hell? It's not the microphone, it's the engineering.

"Gift Rapped" (There! The title of your new CD, with real vocals.)
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:06 pm

Wow lol. just wow. First off I didnt ask for your opinion about my music lol. I can obviously tell this is not a hip-hop board and you have not listened to much hiphop. I'm an MC I dont sing sorry lol. I am one of the most unique Mcs you will hear, dudes tell me this everytime I spit. If you think that shit sounds and expresses the same message as the normal bullshit you hear on the radio then like I said you obviously don't know Hip hop. Lyrically, I consider myself far superior to any normal stuff on the radio. You won't ever hear me rapping about money, hoes, and clothes, I express a message through my music. I didn't make that beat lol, that's a Kanye West instrumental.

Anyways sorry for the rant lol. I asked the question because I have heard the Roda NT1A might be a better fit for my voice. And yes I know my mixing skills are elementary to say the least lol. That verse right there was not EQ'ed at all. So as far as Eq'ing what tips would you give to improve that mix besides cut all the bass frequencies. I am real new at this stuff, just trying to learn as I go you know. Anyways I don't mean to come off as being hostile to you. Thanks for your advice

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:43 pm

Stez wrote:

Wow lol. just wow. First off I didnt ask for your opinion about my music lol. I can obviously tell this is not a hip-hop board and you have not listened to much hiphop. I'm an MC I dont sing sorry lol. I am one of the most unique Mcs you will hear, dudes tell me this everytime I spit. If you think that shit sounds and expresses the same message as the normal bullshit you hear on the radio then like I said you obviously don't know Hip hop. Lyrically, I consider myself far superior to any normal stuff on the radio. You won't ever hear me rapping about money, hoes, and clothes, I express a message through my music. I didn't make that beat lol, that's a Kanye West instrumental.

Anyways sorry for the rant lol. I asked the question because I have heard the Roda NT1A might be a better fit for my voice. And yes I know my mixing skills are elementary to say the least lol. That verse right there was not EQ'ed at all. So as far as Eq'ing what tips would you give to improve that mix besides cut all the bass frequencies. I am real new at this stuff, just trying to learn as I go you know. Anyways I don't mean to come off as being hostile to you. Thanks for your advice

Don't worry, Stetz
RemyRAD sometimes gets
a little crazy,
you know - brain hazy.
She still knows her sound stuff -
been doin' this long enough.

To learn EQ
here is what you do:
Take a 7-band plug-in,
and play to win!
Each fader up and down, the process is strangeness
but you will hear how your voice suddenly changes.

My corny little freestyle. Freestyle Friday up in here!

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:48 pm

Ok, not pretending to be a hiphop fan (as my nick might indicate), but as a mutual EMU user (got a 1616M) I'll give some feedback anyways.

Like Remy said, don't think you need a new mic, to be quite honest can't see how that would make a difference. You need to work more on your mixing. My impression of the songs (listened through a couple of them) is that the music and rapping don't sit very well together in the mix. The background track is too thin and the rap is too upfront, they sound like they don't even belong together. You need to get the mix right, and no mic change is going to get you that. Now, that's the opinion of a straight amateur, I'm no pro, but that's what I hear.

Naught wrong with getting a better mic, but first you have to get your mixing straight (and again, like the lady said, going for an NT1A is not going to make a hell of a difference from the C1). Then you might start thinking about upgrading your equipment.

Oh, and I don't think your swearing is that bad, but then again I'm Swedish Smile

Seriously though, work on your mixing technique and you may find you don't need a new mic after all...at least not for now...

Just my 2 <insert national minor currency here>

<disclaimer>
Any spelling errors or lack of judgement in this post is entirely caused by just having had a bottle of nice red wine and an undisclosed amount of single malt whiskey.
</disclaimer>

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:11 pm

thanks guys. What are your suggestions for compression? I dont have a physical compressor, but obviously the program I record on has a compression plug in.

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:39 pm

What program are you using? Just curious really. You may want to add a little bit of compression on your vocals, just to smooth them out, but not too much.

What you want to work on is the music. Maybe try and boost it a bit, use the EQ to get a bit more bass, and soften the vocals down a bit, just so it doesn't stand out too much. To be perfectly honest there's plenty of people on this forum who could give you better advice than me (Remy is definetly one of them) but the way I learned to do this was by just playing around.

Try out whatever you have at the moment. Getting a great sound is a lot more about having the skills rather than having the equipment (though if you have the skills, the right equipment will help you to go further). Need to take it one step at a time, learn the craft so to speak. Play around with the built in compressor and EQ of whatever software you're using and see what you can do. And don't be afraid to play around with whatever other tools and effects you have. Learning by doing is the trick.

And for what it's worth, you're lyrics ain't bad. Like you said, you don't do the cop-out with hoes and money, but you may want to watch out for getting caught by the rhyming-curse (i.e. picking words that rhyme rather than words that say what you mean). As long as you write lyrics you really mean and really believe in, you're on the right track (though this does of course require a serious bit of introspection and honesty).

("...there's whiskey in the jar" but I'm working on it)

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:14 pm

if anything remy gave you too much credit... the vocal presense bit is for real dude...

hey remy have ya seen this???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUU7vOqK0DM

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:28 pm

I do agree the vocals are too upfront in the mix, they are drowning out the acompanyment. You might want to get a mic that cater well to male vocals to help bring out a little more meat in your low-mid range. Try maybe an ev re20, or a sennheiser md421. These mics might help you out a little in getting a more useable vocal track, that would sit better. Bring the music up. Are you using a light vocal compression, or reverb? This would thicken up the vocals. If you get the vocals the way you want, you can bring the music into its own space aswell. Find a good medium, and you will know when if fits, it will just sound right. If you cant bring your music tracks up you might do well to double them or the parts that need more emphasis.

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:29 pm

dementedchord wrote:

if anything remy gave you too much credit... the vocal presense bit is for real dude...

hey remy have ya seen this???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUU7vOqK0DM

what do you mean by vocal presense? Like I said I am retarted with studio lingo at this point. I am recording on Cubasis that came with the E-Mu. I pride myself on my lyrics, I am a pure lyricist. I can explain any line in that song you want me to I'm not rhyming anything for the sake of rhyming. Thanks for the advice though I guess at this point I just need to get in and experiment. One more question, should I be recording with the switch on the back of the mic to the (-) side or in the middle or the other side lol? ok enough stupid questions from me for now

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:48 pm

LOL! dementedchord now we are all really showing our age. I think you have to be over 50 to know that one and no, I hadn't seen that one before! It was great! Had to forward it to all of my friends

Stez, about where you should position that switch on your microphone. Again it is highly subjective but it will help to cut down some of the bass frequencies if you work the microphone closely. As one normally does for vocals. It's not an absolute necessity as it can also be done within the software after-the-fact. Or if you should boost a lot of higher midrange and high frequencies, you might not want to cut any bass. Should it be done before or after you compress or equalize? Only if it sounds right to you. So the answer is yes. ......? Exactly. ????? Yup, that's what I expected.

As you surmised, I know nothing of hip-hop. And I generally find it difficult to comprehend all lyrics as lyrics, regardless of musical genre. Sure, I get a few words from here and there but to me, vocalizations are merely musical notes that do not necessarily transfer their written thought, as it was intended by the writer. That's why we call it music. It's something very personal. Like religion. Instead of religion. I believe in music. If your music makes me feel bad or angry, I won't listen to your music (even if you offer to pay me). Even if your song is there to convey a message, I know it's not toward me. But the issue of getting your vocal to sit in the pocket of your song, me thinks you really need the utmost amount of compression. Everything else is so highly squished in the background already that your vocal needs to match those dynamics. Once you crunch your vocal into the right little ball, it will roll through your song the way it should.

Motown (my hip-hop)
Ms. Remy Ann David

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