using vocals - recording rappers / mc's

[tech_smack]

i have just begun recording some rap lyrics to some beats , not really had any extended lyrical parts in tunes before except little delayed grunts etc or little loops

what audio effects and techniques are good to use when trying to bring the best out of some rap styled vocals?

[josephjobling]

I asked this question not that long back and got some good advice of rythm tec. basicaly compression (pre and post recording) to keep things on the same level - When i was doing this i used quite heavy compression as my rapper (joe) was moving around alot and it was quiet in parts and loud in others. and a touch of reverb as the vocal booth i used was quite dry.
another thing to concider imo is to try and get the vocals to fit into the mix of the track............
Not much to go on but hope its a good start...
Try and find my post on this further down the page as Rhythm tech put it in a more understandable wording

[tech_smack]

nice one i'll have a look for that.

[Siege]

try layering your vocals up.....its used a lot.

[The_Laughing_Man]

Generally the first obstacle with rap vocals is at the recording stage.
Most MC`s wouldn`t know mic technique if it raped them with a baseball bat.
They have a tendency to lip job the mic all the time in some insane atempt to be the loudest, so make sure you keep em a good distance from themic. Employ a pop guard.

Most Rap tends to be heavily compressed and really flat and upfront.
But heavy compression will sound ugly unless you make good use of a de-esser to get rid of ugly hisses, sibilants and so on.
Also make good use of a noise gate as again compression might cause problems with any recorded noise.

Harmonisers get used quite a lot to thicken up rap vocals as well, generally set off key with a 3-5 voice spread.

[BloodStar]

there are brilliant vocal tools in Antares AVox bundle. dont forget to add some chorus vocal snippets,. for main phrasing vocal i would go with dirty vocal sound, compressor on insert fx slot or nyc styled,..
if you can afford, record some of the vocals in stereo, using 2 mics..
add different verbs to different type of vocals (main phrases, chorus vocals, fx vocals, etc) with using send fx. experiment :]