For recording he lyrics I am using logic on the Mac and using an SE Electronic Titan microphone with a pop filter on a microphone stand to get the best angle for my vocal recording.
The first recording session – I went through the song without recording to make sure everything lyric wise was perfect and up to my standard. I did a few run throughs of the track to get comfortable with recording in the studio. I also started to freestyle to get into the recording headspace, this is a good way for me to get ready to record, This also gets my voice warmed up. A few artists do this to get themselves ready for rapping.
I used the SE Titan microphone for the whole recordings as I found it better for my voice and sounded more clear for the recordings but I also tried using the Shure SM7B microphone to test how the vocals sound. The SM7B recordings sounded too low and quiet for what I was going for, there was too much low frequency through the microphone I recorded the same vocals for both channels which the microphones where in and compared them both.
I recorded most of the song as a first attempt and I am going to go through the track and pick out certain sections that I could, for example perform differently, change tone, add certain addlibs.
- Coming back after a break, I think I will start the recording from the start as I feel like throughout the whole track I was too quiet/sounds like I’m not putting effort into the delivery. think I need to spend more time on each section of the track I am recording. Theres some parts where I need to raise/lower my tone to make it all sound a bit different rather than the same boring voice/flow throughout the whole song.
When recording I can feel a type of pressure that can affect how I perform sometimes so it will take more takes than usual to get it right.
15th April – I set up the microphone on the stand and had it taller than my last attempt so it would be easier for me to project my voice when standing up to perform. I did a full recording session and recorded a base attempt of the song. I will need one more session to re record some lines as they are not up to my standard. This attempt at recording, I performed louder, clearer and it sounded a lot better to me when listening to it back. I also took up more straight and held my phone for the lyrics higher so I can project my voice better for the microphone.
I recorded most of the track with a more ‘serious’ tone and a louder recording voice and to my ear it sounds a lot better. Using the SE Titan microphone is a better microphone that the Sm7 for this type of song.
24th April – I will need one more hour maximum to finish recording it all. This will include time to set up. I will be mostly re recoding parts that I think could be done better and adding any adlibs to places I think will suit. When recording I add a very small amount of wet reverb to my voice to help make it sound better in the ears and not too try when listening to it back.
Using the main studio to record as been beneficial as there is better equipment to help with the processes well as a lot of soundproofing which will improve the quality of the recording.
When the recording process is done I will be moving the lyrics over to Albleton for the mixing process as this gives me a wider range of effects and I also have more experience on Ableton to create a better sounding track.
Iv seen rappers like Eminem perform in the studio with ease and they way they rap and even freestyle into the microphone is inspiring and makes me want to copy them. Theres different ways of performing for different songs, it all depends on the genre and the vibe of the song.
EVALUATIION
- If I could improve anything with the recording process. I would maybe perform the lyrics in a louder tone and with a bit more clarity and aggression.
- I could have maybe slowed down and tried to rap the lyrics with more emphasis on certain words and lines. I think because of my accent its harder to find a recording session “a good quality” because I’m used to listening to American rappers and other accents it sounds weird listening to the Yorkshire accent.