One of the most difficult parts of producing Hip Hop/R&B is giving a track life... don't completely quantize everything and (depending on the song) it often helps to have a real instument in there to give the track feel. But there's one catch: a real instrument will often sound strange next soft synths so you (a) have to play the part really well, and (b) decide what the threshold is for believing that the instument was recorded and not programmed. For example, a guitar that is recorded will sound out of place sitting in a programmed R&B track (and I speak in terms of modern R&B here where elements are mostly electronic), but it's often just because of the very "human" aspects of the instrument, like the noise of fingers sliding over the strings. My point is get ready to do some editing to make the recorded instument fit but always stay aware of when you've gone too far and edited too much. Again, don't make everything too perfect or else you'll lose feel!

As far as a vocal tricks... it really depends on what you're looking to do. There's not really a magic button (besides auto-tuning!!), and every vocal situation is different. What are you looking for the "tricks" to accomplish?? Off the top of my head the only thing that I can say is that (a) performance is EVERYTHING with vocals and the smallest nuances are what make a track emotional... (b) Make sure to have a double of your main vocal line (which means re-recording it so it sounds almost exact), even if you don't end up using it... (c) only auto-tune when necessary... and (d) in R&B get as many harmonies and doubles as you can.

Hope that helps.

I'd say even more difficult than giving tracks life is knowing when NOT to call yourself a "producer".

TheRealShotgun wrote: I'd say even more difficult than giving tracks life is knowing when NOT to call yourself a "producer".

HA HA HA!!! That's fantastic. Ya, just because you can scrape up a few grand for an MPC it doesn't mean that you're a producer.

On that note, I would say to concentrate on developing the fundamentals of recording (mic technique, mixing, proper use of compression, people skills, etc.), just as much as developing the programming side of things.

TheRealShotgun wrote: I'd say even more difficult than giving tracks life is knowing when NOT to call yourself a "producer".

You're forgetting that 50% of hip-hop is the hype. The other 50% is Frontin', and maybe some car shows.

McCheese wrote: [quote=TheRealShotgun]I'd say even more difficult than giving tracks life is knowing when NOT to call yourself a "producer".

You're forgetting that 50% of hip-hop is the hype. The other 50% is Frontin', and maybe some car shows.

Mix in some chronic, krunk juice, nine millimeter's, and a bunch of ho's, and you got a platinum record.

christian231 wrote: [quote=McCheese][quote=TheRealShotgun]I'd say even more difficult than giving tracks life is knowing when NOT to call yourself a "producer".

You're forgetting that 50% of hip-hop is the hype. The other 50% is Frontin', and maybe some car shows.

Mix in some chronic, krunk juice, nine millimeter's, and a bunch of ho's, and you got a platinum record.

Chronic, krunk and ho's fall under hype, 9mm's fall under frontin'.

[quote=McCheese]

Chronic, krunk and ho's fall under hype, 9mm's fall under frontin'.

Too funny :D

:D YO!

McCheese wrote: [quote=christian231][quote=McCheese][quote=TheRealShotgun]I'd say even more difficult than giving tracks life is knowing when NOT to call yourself a "producer".

You're forgetting that 50% of hip-hop is the hype. The other 50% is Frontin', and maybe some car shows.

Mix in some chronic, krunk juice, nine millimeter's, and a bunch of ho's, and you got a platinum record.

Chronic, krunk and ho's fall under hype, 9mm's fall under frontin'.

M. C. Cheese is so street...he's got a yellow stripe up his back.

~S