Hello Producers,

BEFORE I MIX ELECTRONIC MUSIC, BUT NOW I HAVE A TASK TO DO THAT IS MIX A RAP PROJECT I KNOW THERE IS SOME DIFFERENCE B/W THE TECHNIQUES.

I WANT TO KNOW SOME SPECIAL TIPS AND TECHNIQUES THAT I CAN USE WHILE MIXING A RAP PROJECT.


Thanks

 

No caps, please! (as indicated in forum rules) it's agressive for our eyes *yes*

 

Depends a lot about the expectations and what the rapper wants.
Nowadays the rap is mixed like electronic, dance, symphonic, old school or new school. etc...
Also you must demonstrate the material because techniques must be learn and broken because apples are different than oranges right?
Despite some amateur thinking mix, master, arrange, sing, produce and play are a science not something that depends on inspiration...
Speaks more and asks less because you always must be specific, focused, consistent, driven... You must know what you want in the final result.
Thats none answer when we have no material or intend about the final result

 

if there's a lot of bass low and make sure that the low end is mono make sure your kicks are in mono roll off all the low end in the instruments and vocals and there's a lot of things to do but its more of a hands on listening thing pan things to...caps to me are not aggressive to my eyes I never understood why typing in caps and such a big deal to me caps are easier to read

 

This could become my new "popcorn thread"

My 2 cents ..

Hip-Hop or Trap is about the Rapper and his message. Take care of the mainvocal.. this is the star and not your beat !

besides that vocals has to sit in the mix perfectly. The whole other thing depends on material.. like always

cheers

 

most likely you need to shrink down the instrumentals to fit in the vocals

 

usually when I mix hip hop I keep almost all the instruments that aren't bassy abnormally wide to create more mixing room for hats snares and vocals. Also frequently will use a bass sound that has stuff happening in the higher frequency range if it needs filling. To each his own.

 

Hip Hop is about the rhythm so your drums gotta cut thru the mix.

 

get basses louder! more lows! 808 kicks louder. Rap vocals usually without reverb, or small room but quiet)
i dunno) just first stereotypes about it

 

I think its funny that people think there's a "way" to mix this or that genre... all genre's are mixed two ways: the way that sounds right to you, and the way that sounds right to the client... the final mix will be right in the middle in a perfect world, but ultimately what the client wants goes... and if the client cant give you an idea of how they envision it sounding then you do it your way; worst case scenario you have to do multiple revisions to get it to a point where they are happy

 

Mix the drums first then place the subs as loud as you would a lead instrument and the rest will fall into place

 

Well I make electronic style beats, which I rap over. For the most part, the responses already in this thread will lead you in the right direction. I will add to the advice of some others and share my experiences with you.

Yes yes and yes. Mostly you need to make space in the center of the stereo field between 1kHz and 5kHz. Depending on the beat and the song, sometimes I cut around 100-150hz on the beat as well, leaving that range for the vocal to make it seem a little meatier. Since I make my own beats, I normally have the luxury of working with a beat that was made with vocals in mind, so I don't have to jump through as many hoops, but if you have a beat that really loses some of its character when you cut the upper mids, sidechain a multiband comp to the vocal track. That way you can duck the mids when you need them out of the way and leave them be when they're not competing with the vocal.

How well recorded is your vocal? properly treated room? Good mic? I find vocals much harder to mix well than synths or instruments and require much more problem solving. If you feel your vocal is missing something, try sweeping for resonances and cutting them with a narrow Q instead of just boosting at 1.5k - 3.5k. I've found my vocals can come forward in the mix just by cutting resonances (WITHOUT any sort of automatic volume match activated). I use the A/B obsessively.

Sibilance can be a tough nut to crack -- especially since we rappers love to eat the mic. Notching out resonances can lead to imbalances in non-sibilant parts. Dynamic EQ will get you a little closer. De-essers are tricky if you want it to sound smooth or natural. A technique I recently came up with (and have loved ever since) is to push the de-esser just a little too hard. Then go back in with an exciter (or I prefer Fabfilter Saturn with a band starting just below 5k) and add the high frequencies back in with some saturation. It's a smoother, rounder sound than an EQ boost.

This is solid advice. Spreading your instruments is helpful.

This is actually basically true. I've tried out longer reverbs. Never liked one enough to keep it in the finished product. If your guy has a slower or a stop-and-go style flow, you can add a delay at 1/8 note or 1/4 note interval. Usually want to high cut and low cut the wet signal if you do that. A little distortion wouldn't hurt either and maybe a TOUCH of verb on the delay too. Get creative. Hip hop isn't wack cookie-cutter stuff - just a lot of the people that do it are.


Good luck

 

listen to other similar tracks and use those as a reference

 

A good sounding recording/mix is an axiom, regardless of genre. All the little audio tricks used in different types of hip-hop are a matter of personal style. Try to create your own?

 

hip hop is about smoking good weed, you can't mix sober.

 

No offence lol but this is my forte...

I have had quite a few mixing credits on some big Hip Hop albums..

my advice...

there is literally no difference from other genres other than...

make the KICK thump and the SNARE crack...sidchain if needed.

oohh one more tip...pan the punches/adlibs etc nice and wide so not to fuck with the main vox...

thats it...