rap mix

[Martin]

the story goes like this...

given a 'tools session of a bunch of samples as a bed for a rap song
recorded the vox and they are clean and fine

when it comes to mixing it i keep hitting walls, the samples are of pretty average quality and i would not be surprised if they ended up digital via a JB hifi turntable and sound blaster card

i've done tons of different band/electronic stuff but its always pristine source, good pre's etc, but with this i can't seem to get much bass definition or punchy drums or anything out of this are they are looped samples and the rest...

anyone got any tips for making this thing sound decent?

[wez]

when i have something that won't sound better no matter what i throw at it, i go to plan B - make it sound worse. seriously, try abusing the crap out of it, take all the bottom end out, top end out, add distortion, dump it on to cassette and re-record it without NR, etc etc, that sort of thing.

i'm thinking of a badly recorded choir thing i had once that i couldn't do anything with, so i ended up trying to make it sound like a 1920s wax cylinder instead. perfect. lo-fi is the new hi-fi, baby.

you'd be surprised what you can get away with if you have a strong vocal/beat/bassline.

or maybe it really is a shiloh pitt that is best left to die a quiet death, i don't know.

[jkhuri44]

gday martin...

i think wez is totally on the right track....: )

With rap... based on my own listening experiences....the most important thing...is....

BALLS TO THE WALL BASS:

1)The kick drum...has to break stuff.
2)The bass line has to tear you a new one :P

And according to the style of music, if there is clarity and seperation in the bass area...the rest falls into place...start with the kick/snare and bass lines...and get those sounding CRUNK!.....add the vocals (with compression and verb to taste)....then just add a slight dusting of distorted samples, like wez said...make those samples sound like their coming out of a radio on the verge of breakdown :P

I suggest you listen to some Wutang Clan...Enter the 36 Chambers...(if you havent heard it)...or any classic old school hiphop...all of it has nothing to do with "quality"...its all DIY, 8 track, basement, low bit rate MPC sequenced grit!

Peace : )

[heathen]

Just to add to the above recommendations, some parallel compression on the drums will also usually get them right in your face and thumping hard. I usually abuse 1 drum subgroup with a smart C2 and gently touch the paralleled subgroup with a nice valve limiter such as a pendulum es8, and blend and eq the 2 groups to taste. You can get some pretty dramatic increase in punch and definition i find this way. Keeping the attacks slowish and releases fast, you want plenty of transient getting through and no residual comp on consecutive hits.

The bass may benefit from some heavy slow opto compression ( some pumping can be good if its working with the kick nicely). I've been getting some great joy out of the Buzz audio comps, they are super smooth, the new Buzz Essence opto comp has transformer inputs and outs and is my goto comp now for bass. It is as warm as hell.

Hope it works out.

[Martin]

all great advice guys thanks heaps!!

my first instinct as a bass player is to double track the bass with a decent rig or our new moog voyager to get it nice and clear but i'd like to avoid that if possible!

i'm hearing the dirt idea!! so far i haven't been able to get much bass punch just bass woofing which i'll have to sort out..

will give the lo-fi thing a go tomorrow, this stuff will probably end up on triple-j so i'm trying to get A-game here..

thanks again

[jkhuri44]

just 2 further...specific ideas...

if the kick samples suck...you might want to open up the tools session...enable grid mode...work out the tempo....and sync the session as per usual....then....scoop out the highs from the kick samples...and add either:

a tune low passed and bass boosted 808...

or a tuned sine wave pulse from any good softsynth...tuned to a subwoofer shaking frequency...or with care...combine both to get that kick happening....

(loop above as necessary)

double tracking the bass would be a great idea too...that will let you scoop out all the mucky low mids and bass frequencies, and get them slammin :P