1) Watch your plosives. Consonant sounds that create short, quick bursts of air from the mouth are called plosives and they cause the all familiar “popping” sound on microphones, most often condensers. These are most notably the letters p, b, and d as well as their closely related neighbors f and s. There are many things that your engineer can do to help deal with plosives. These include tilting the mic, turning the mic off-axis, using a pop-filter, and creating more distance between you and the mic. However, this doesn’t mean that the artist isn’t responsible at all for the issue- sometimes the desired tone for your vocal requires abandoning many of the aforementioned tricks to get rid of popping, and the responsibility can fall more heavily on the performer. In these cases, try to go through your lyrics and make a note of the harsher consonants that you may need to soften up while you perform the part. Don’t compromise the feel of the line, simply try to emphasize the rest of the word more than the consonant. Remember, having a clean audio file to work from without any popping, clicking, buzzing, or hissing is the first step in having a great recording. Editing the track after the fact can only accomplish so much, especially with problems like plosives.
2) Punch in and comp if necessary. This is more of an opinion than fact, but I often meet rap artists who are convinced that there is something fake or shameful about punching in vocal parts or doing several takes and comping together the best parts of each take. Although it is an admirable feat to have all of your parts be single, “one-takes,” and I respect those artists that do it, I also think it is important to remember that the point of a studio recording is to get the best possible product through any means necessary. 99% of mainstream music uses multiple takes (sometimes as many as 10-20) to stitch together a lead vocal that truly carries the best expression for every line and word. The result is something incredible, and I personally wish that more artists were open to trying it. The next time you are in a session consider working hand in hand with the engineer to create the best take, my guess is that you’ll be happy with the results!
3) Endings of words are important! Since doubling vocals is commonplace in rap and hip-hop, it is extremely important to have a good feel for exactly how you sang the lead part so you can double it correctly. Although all artists concern themselves with the consonants at the front of words, remembering where you ended each word and phrase is just as important. This is highlighted with particular sounds (especially the plosives!) and can lead to a very messy double which creates problems in the mix. My advice to help with this issue would be to:
4) Listen to your previous takes. When doubling, make sure to listen back to your previous takes and get a feel for exactly how you phrased each line. This becomes especially important if you are going to triple (or more!) the vocal in question. Sometimes it may take several listens to really get a feel for the vocal, and after that I would strongly encourage punching in and out to make sure you get every section dead on. If you can hear your double coming out of time with the lead vocal in the headphones, simply stop and ask to punch in at the point where the mistake started. If necessary, have the engineer play back the section that you are having difficulty with a couple of times, or even loop it in the headphones before you continue recording. This will lead to a cleaner and more useful double.
Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:41 am by Zebulon
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Subject: 4 Extremely useful tips for rappers 
