Advice for recording rap vocals

[geezup3]

I'm New to The Whole Recording thing and i need some advice for recording rap vocals.I Currently Have A Macbook Running Pro Tools 8 Through Mbox 2.My Problem Is I Have Alot Of Trouble Breathing Right when I Record Vocals.So I Was Wondering What Is The Best Way To record in clips.Like Record 4 Bars Then Another 4 Bars And So On.If Someone Could Help Me Out I Would Appreciate It.thanks

[nst7]

If it's the sound of the breath you don't want, you can remove it or lower the volume on it after the fact.

If it's a matter of when to breathe because you're rapping fast, I think sometimes the guys are overlapping tracks a bit. Record a few bars on one track, then on a separate one that immediately follows (so you have time to breathe). When it plays back, one follows right after the other for a continuous stream. Sometimes you can even hear it overlap.

I'm not a rap expert, but I just listened to Ludacris' How Low, and that's what it sounds like he's doing.

Also, it's common to double or triple track certain words or phrases, so they just pop in here and there, and pan them hard left and right, while the main vocal is in the center.

[geezup3]

Thanks 4 The Reply
I Have Trouble Breathing Because I'm Rapping To Fast.I Guess how i write my lyrics i give little time to breathe.i've always heard u have to practice breathing when u rap but anyways.I Just Watched Bits And Pieces Of That New Lil Wayne DVD The Nino Brown Story II.And From What I See He'll Do A Few Bars And Mess Up Then Come Back Right Where He Left Off.I Think Its Called Punching In And Out.I"ve Tried Doing That But I Have Trouble Lining Them Up Correctly.

[Pure Audio]

Hi there.

I run a company that teaches young rappers and emcees how to do their thing. The following advice is what I would give to any of my guys :

1) If you can't do it live.. is there any point? Money isn't made from recorded music in the same way as it used to, so if you're chasing a career in this art form, make sure you write barz that you can perform.

2) (this is probably the answer you're looking for ...)

The easiest way to do what you want is not to punch in, but to use 2 different tracks. Create 2 new mono tracks and label them vox1 and Vox2.

Find out the tempo of the track you're performing over and set your tempo to that. Put Protools in Grid mode (press F4, but make sure the top left indicator says Grid and not rel. grid)

Turn pre roll on and set it to 2 bars.

Record your first 4 barz on track 1. Create a new playlist for every take.

Then record your second 4 barz on track 2. Create a new playlist for every take.

That way you'll be able to hear the the previous barz without having to worry about hitting the "punch in" button at the right time.

blessings.

[Fritz12534]

Using 2 tracks alternately works well, as described above. If the two tracks ultimately don't overlap any syllables, you could then consolidate them to one track. If you have a tape ops person, another way is to do regular old punch-in- set input to auto so that you can hear the previous take while in record ready mode, and then just "apple(command?) / space bar" to punch in. If syllables or words need to overlap, then this won't work.

Have fun!

www.greenteem.net

[nozzles]

isn't 'rap vocals' an oxymoron?