I gotchu mate. I think I remember a thread somewhere on here a while back where someone said something about placing a sock over the mic head to help (for the poor man's version).
And I do need a mixer (for other reasons as well). The magnetic mics I have suuuuuuuck (like I have to practically eat the mic to get any discernible volume out of 'em). Thanks for the tips. Later on!
basically, i think everyone has been through the yeah i want to be a rapper stage when they were kids....
any way, like i said this isn't hate this is criticism, and i haven't got an avatar because i have only just signed up, i will get one i suppose although i don't see the significance. ok here's the low down:
Production:
i think personaly you've thought long and hard about the lyrics, fair play, they may or may not have anything to do with your feelings however that is irrelevant. first things first,
i think you really need to revise your flow. in all honesty can you sit back and listen to your recording and say "F**K YEAH IM HAPPY WITH THAT"?
it just sounds like your reading off the screen in a monotone voice, kind of is if you can't be bothered to do it, what you want is a club banger, you want to imagine yourself in front of a big audience and you have to physically move them with your vocal, if you've written a painful lyric MAKE THEM CRY, if you've written a love song MAKE THEN START SCREWING EACH OTEHR ON THE DANCE FLOOR. lol...
also some of you're lyrics need a bit more care and consideration going into them, i mean some rap isn't about throwing together a bunch of words just because they rhyme...
all i would like to say to you my friend is to research other artists, listen to their key aspects such as their flow and personality and then put that into comparison with yourself, that way you may come to some sort of conclusion.
i understand that you have tried to double track you're vocal like the professionals do, the way i think that you have done it is by getting two of the same recording and layering them almost simutainiously to create a "double tracking effect". this is the wrong way to do it my friend, here's the way to do it,
you record two separate versions of you track, and then chop it up so that the double tracking occurs on the last 3 or so words of each bar, once you have found your flow you can really do some interesting things with double tracking, you could start by looking at harmonics.
Mix down:
i think you're either using a crappy mic and/or it is positioned too close to your computer, their is a lot of background bleed in your recording making the vocals un-useable in a track,
any way, i'd like to end this by saying once more, this isn't hate, this is a little bit of criticism which EVERY producer, engineer, vocalist, musician etc... needs to progress with their work.
i hope this helps you out in some way or another and never give up, good luck
Sorry for the mad delay (school stuff).
This has got to be, hands down, the best review I've received, ever. When I think technical and honest, this is what I envision. I try to do the same, but rarely ever am I this close in depth & detail. Alright, so lemme answer you, blow by blow...
The "rapper phase" thing with me is like this flame that burns inside me every now and then. When I get that itch I just gotta scratch it, ya know? It's odd because I'm at war with myself here. There's a part that loves the challenge and aspect of it, but another that hates the bastardization of it from the new-school/corporate crap. So my heart wants to love hiphop, but my soul fights against it.
The lyrical aspect is partially a gift, mostly a curse. I've been writing poetry for years and can whip a mad prose or turn-of-phrase like it's nothing, but to voice those thoughts or scripts seems a little daunting (it goes better read and in my head). So delivery would be my Achilles heel. Along with there being a slight fight between the written/planned side and the one that just wants to flow freely. I've found it difficult to marry these two cohesively.
Presentation (or lack thereof) is partially my fault for not rehearsing enough. I'd say for this I had 2/3rds of it memorized and had to "read off the last bit" from the text document. Though here I was actually doing this alongside the music, so what you get is from that mix (it sounds so much better with the music BTW).
You're right, this could be better, but as I mentioned below, if I had a mixer I could do it along with the music and have decent playback for both (the prog I used to record this doesn't really do that with vocals).
The crappy mic thing, indeed, but what I suspect you thought was background bleed is actually a double recording of me doing the vocals. I recorded once to serve as a foundation template then I recorded alongside it to give it a chorus/echo type of sound (which could seem like background bleed). One place this is extremely evident is the part where it goes 'RIGHT... right' in the 3rd verse. In the original lyrics I just say right once, but I liked the way it sounded like an affirmation coming after the questioning first one (like, 'should I? yes I should!')
And no worries mate, I'll def keep what you said in mind for the next time I do vocals. Especially, the "Club banga/crowd pleaser" & "chopping up" parts. Stay well mate & happy new year!
on Just A Dream (DVs verses) by DonnieVyros
you need a pop shield, trust me
And I do need a mixer (for other reasons as well). The magnetic mics I have suuuuuuuck (like I have to practically eat the mic to get any discernible volume out of 'em). Thanks for the tips. Later on!
on Just A Dream (DVs verses) by DonnieVyros
any way, like i said this isn't hate this is criticism, and i haven't got an avatar because i have only just signed up, i will get one i suppose although i don't see the significance. ok here's the low down:
Production:
i think personaly you've thought long and hard about the lyrics, fair play, they may or may not have anything to do with your feelings however that is irrelevant. first things first,
i think you really need to revise your flow. in all honesty can you sit back and listen to your recording and say "F**K YEAH IM HAPPY WITH THAT"?
it just sounds like your reading off the screen in a monotone voice, kind of is if you can't be bothered to do it, what you want is a club banger, you want to imagine yourself in front of a big audience and you have to physically move them with your vocal, if you've written a painful lyric MAKE THEM CRY, if you've written a love song MAKE THEN START SCREWING EACH OTEHR ON THE DANCE FLOOR. lol...
also some of you're lyrics need a bit more care and consideration going into them, i mean some rap isn't about throwing together a bunch of words just because they rhyme...
all i would like to say to you my friend is to research other artists, listen to their key aspects such as their flow and personality and then put that into comparison with yourself, that way you may come to some sort of conclusion.
i understand that you have tried to double track you're vocal like the professionals do, the way i think that you have done it is by getting two of the same recording and layering them almost simutainiously to create a "double tracking effect". this is the wrong way to do it my friend, here's the way to do it,
you record two separate versions of you track, and then chop it up so that the double tracking occurs on the last 3 or so words of each bar, once you have found your flow you can really do some interesting things with double tracking, you could start by looking at harmonics.
Mix down:
i think you're either using a crappy mic and/or it is positioned too close to your computer, their is a lot of background bleed in your recording making the vocals un-useable in a track,
any way, i'd like to end this by saying once more, this isn't hate, this is a little bit of criticism which EVERY producer, engineer, vocalist, musician etc... needs to progress with their work.
i hope this helps you out in some way or another and never give up, good luck
This has got to be, hands down, the best review I've received, ever. When I think technical and honest, this is what I envision. I try to do the same, but rarely ever am I this close in depth & detail. Alright, so lemme answer you, blow by blow...
The "rapper phase" thing with me is like this flame that burns inside me every now and then. When I get that itch I just gotta scratch it, ya know? It's odd because I'm at war with myself here. There's a part that loves the challenge and aspect of it, but another that hates the bastardization of it from the new-school/corporate crap. So my heart wants to love hiphop, but my soul fights against it.
The lyrical aspect is partially a gift, mostly a curse. I've been writing poetry for years and can whip a mad prose or turn-of-phrase like it's nothing, but to voice those thoughts or scripts seems a little daunting (it goes better read and in my head). So delivery would be my Achilles heel. Along with there being a slight fight between the written/planned side and the one that just wants to flow freely. I've found it difficult to marry these two cohesively.
Presentation (or lack thereof) is partially my fault for not rehearsing enough. I'd say for this I had 2/3rds of it memorized and had to "read off the last bit" from the text document. Though here I was actually doing this alongside the music, so what you get is from that mix (it sounds so much better with the music BTW).
You're right, this could be better, but as I mentioned below, if I had a mixer I could do it along with the music and have decent playback for both (the prog I used to record this doesn't really do that with vocals).
The crappy mic thing, indeed, but what I suspect you thought was background bleed is actually a double recording of me doing the vocals. I recorded once to serve as a foundation template then I recorded alongside it to give it a chorus/echo type of sound (which could seem like background bleed). One place this is extremely evident is the part where it goes 'RIGHT... right' in the 3rd verse. In the original lyrics I just say right once, but I liked the way it sounded like an affirmation coming after the questioning first one (like, 'should I? yes I should!')
And no worries mate, I'll def keep what you said in mind for the next time I do vocals. Especially, the "Club banga/crowd pleaser" & "chopping up" parts. Stay well mate & happy new year!