Do you mix/master a beat before rapping over it?

[Flav]

I find it weird that when you exported your beat to Wav.
It sounds better with an acapella.

When you put an acapella in your beat Project the acapella ducks from the kicks and snares somehow???

Thats because the vocals are compressed already so it's pretty easy to fit into a beat without vocal peeks fighting your drums and snares.

 

[Flav]

sometimes i double master tbh, ive been living this loud wars lifestyle , master a beat, then after the vocals i'll most likely master again

just remember one thing, not all songs you hear on radio are mastered

By doing that your crushing the song dynamics. No dimensions in the song. Just a wall of loud noise. and your happy with that? Care to post some songs so I can hear what "double mastering" from you sounds like?

 

[Flav]

Basically, I'm at a point now where I'm confident in my abilities to make a solid hip-hop beat. I'm now learning how to mix and master and am confident that I will soon reach a point where I can mix/master effectively. Is mixing/mastering something you do after adding vocals or before?

Mix th beat to sound decent BEFORE you add vocals

Mix again AFTER you lay the vocals to make sure your happy with the song

Render it down to two track and master the song (limiter,compression,eq, ect"

Done.

 

[stealthbomber]

master after recording the vocals

mastering basically flattens the sound

decreasing the quality (slightly) but adding intensity

it gives you the ability to raise or lower the intensity of certain frequencies in your entire mix without raising the volume

it can make some tracks sound more powerful but there's a distinct feel to an overly mastered song





imo a good mix is better than mastering 95% of the time

 

[mortuus est]

By doing that your crushing the song dynamics. No dimensions in the song. Just a wall of loud noise. and your happy with that? Care to post some songs so I can hear what "double mastering" from you sounds like?

i'll send you something when on pc

but i make all types of stuff for myself, i dont double master everything , just the stuff that i feel needs an extra punch to the gut, nothing sounds out of place i def dont crush no dynamics in my stuff ( i tend to give my stuff a lo fi feel anyway)

alot of songs out there today (lets say new rap music) is very loud compared to a few years ago, some of us notice it but if it fits then really theirs no problem.
my main goal when mastering stuff is if it sounds good on my monitors, and on my headphones, and then earphones, im all good, i still need to test out car speakers im sure it will still sound good.

you have to remember tho not everyone learns the same techniques, i didnt go to school for music, i pretty much got my steez from watching old youtube videos of producers like rza and them, and more new guys like lex etc etc so my style fits around them instead of text book instructions.

again tho i only double master if the vocals are not sounding right to me, i just like a certain sound to tingle my ears and if it doesnt then i need to do something about it.

 

[PRVLG Sound Studios]

Always after, unless you're on some dipset shyt lol.

 

[Turbulent]

i think most people do a rough mix before but still keep it multitracked during recording of vocals in case the person recording vocals needs to hear it a certain way while recording (maybe louder drums to help with their flow or whatever). real mixing should start once you have all the elements arranged in your song structure. that way you have the most control of the mix.

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

sometimes i double master tbh, ive been living this loud wars lifestyle , master a beat, then after the vocals i'll most likely master again

just remember one thing, not all songs you hear on radio are mastered

is them ur beats on that b2b on ur site? sheesh

 

[Wildin]

IMO you have to mix properly before tracking out. All of us do this, we dont just leave kicks and snares and instruments at the same level, generally these instruments are on different tracks, therefore if the snares are too quiet we just raise the volume, or if they need reverb we add/edit/alter the fx and it just affects the snare not the entire track. and we get everything to the point where the track sounds good. once that entire track is put together and good there is the final eq beofre the beat is 100% professionally completed. If you're going to have someone rap on it, ive always been told/taught to have them rap on the track where it is done but before the final eq because your not releasing an instrumental album. once you get the vocals the wrap up the entire track all nice and pretty sounding, rather than finalized the beat then have someone come and rap over the finalized beat. ive heard that described as karaoke.

the reason ive been told not to 100% master the beat is because if a cat comes to the studio is is going to rap but says, we're going to do an intro/chorus/verse/chorus/verse/breakdown/verse/chorus/outro all you have to do is copy and move sequences, supposing you have the beat set up for verse/chorus/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/out then you get the vocals and master.

some producers dont want rappers having any say or control of the beat and what they get is what they will rap over, no cutting length or adding sequences. if your giving someone a completely mastered instrumental, thats pretty much it for them imo.

 

[Propaganda]

why would you do a final mixdown and/or master a beat before laying down the vocals?

 

[mortuus est]

is them ur beats on that b2b on ur site? sheesh

lol nah not all of them, actually just 1 tune of mine is in there, or 2

 

[mortuus est]

why would you do a final mixdown and/or master a beat before laying down the vocals?

depends on the genre tbh, i guess for more rap stuff a beat maker might master a beat for themselfs not thinking a rapper will lay something down, it happens

 

[mortuus est]

if your giving someone a completely mastered instrumental, thats pretty much it for them imo.

it not all that bad tbh, work with what you got, isnt that the motto

 

[Wildin]

it not all that bad tbh, work with what you got, isnt that the motto

its not a bad thing at all. its a little different it can take away from the creative relationship process but then again we're all digital, a cat could buy a beat from you who lives in japan, ya'll can never meet but make a song or do an entire album. if someone says i wrote 96 bars to this beat i need it extended i think one way or another itll get done for the sake of the music. its not exactly like cooking someones steak well done then they saying "well I want it medium rare"

 

[Poh SIti Dawn]

lol nah not all of them, actually just 1 tune of mine is in there, or 2

ahhh fair enough, either way quite live o