No Brakes

[Beant Singh]

Would like critique mainly on vocal delivery/flow. If anyone has tips how to actively improve flow/delivery e.t.c would really like to have some help! Thanks 

 

 

[Richard Tracey]

Hi Beant - welcome to the site.

 

I've been known to like some hip/hop stuff, so gave this a listen. Really like the backing track. For your vocal delivery I would maybe put another drum beat in the background when you are rapping to get the correct flow, so you are hitting the vocal on the beats, this can then be removed once you have done the vocal. The vocal is good, but could be a lot better. I would maybe find a cool sounding vocal preset to make the vocal blend into the track better, maybe have some harmonies over certain words you feel should be emphasised. I would work on your delivery and breathing technique, as rapping can be a hard thing to do and not sound like you are out of breath. Maybe split the vocal up when you are recording and just do a small section at a time. Hope this helps and look forward to hearing more from you.

[Beant Singh]

2 hours ago, Richard Tracey said:

Hi Beant - welcome to the site.

 

I've been known to like some hip/hop stuff, so gave this a listen. Really like the backing track. For your vocal delivery I would maybe put another drum beat in the background when you are rapping to get the correct flow, so you are hitting the vocal on the beats, this can then be removed once you have done the vocal. The vocal is good, but could be a lot better. I would maybe find a cool sounding vocal preset to make the vocal blend into the track better, maybe have some harmonies over certain words you feel should be emphasised. I would work on your delivery and breathing technique, as rapping can be a hard thing to do and not sound like you are out of breath. Maybe split the vocal up when you are recording and just do a small section at a time. Hope this helps and look forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks alot man, I will try doubling up on punchlines etc for sure and splitting the vocal up sounds like a really good idea will try that

 

thanks!

[Simon Darveau]

 

You certainly can improve the mix by adding some delay and or reverb to your vocal track ...

The vocal delivery ... well, it's all about rhythm isn't it. In some part you seem to be catching your breath ... maybe fine tuning the lyrics to cut or change some words in order to allow you to breathe better between lines

It would  cool  if you could add the lyrics to your post

 

Cheers

[chumpy]

I do love Asian powered Hip-Hop. Ami Bidrohi! 

 

There are places where you try to squeeze too many words into a section, like on "my mind makes a maximum" you can hear some clumsy delivery there. You can also hear spots where you struggle with breath control. 

 

I know you want to be able to perform well live, but on a recording I would learn to take advantage of some studio magic. I'm not sure what kind of tools you're using to make your music, but there are a lot of great tricks you can use in a DAW to really polish up your recordings.

 

For example, you can break up the vocal recordings into manageable sections so you can control your breath between takes. Record a bunch of different takes for each section and pick the best one, or even better, cut and paste them together (google vocal comping) to form a composite vocal. More advanced DAW tricks can let you make adjustments to the timing of your vocal parts to make sure your rhymes land exactly on the beats you want them on. I think you could improve things by multi-tracking certain dope words and phrases, like "Sikh on the beat" or "Asian / lyrically amazing".

 

One thing I noticed is that your flow got smoother and better as the song went, like you started a bit cold. By the time you get to 'sugar / mind diabetes' you're really locked in.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed this track, I thought you had a lot of great lines and rhymes. 

 

Edited December 17, 2016 by chumpy

[Beant Singh]

On 12/17/2016 at 3:12 AM, chumpy said:

I do love Asian powered Hip-Hop. Ami Bidrohi! 

 

There are places where you try to squeeze too many words into a section, like on "my mind makes a maximum" you can hear some clumsy delivery there. You can also hear spots where you struggle with breath control. 

 

I know you want to be able to perform well live, but on a recording I would learn to take advantage of some studio magic. I'm not sure what kind of tools you're using to make your music, but there are a lot of great tricks you can use in a DAW to really polish up your recordings.

 

For example, you can break up the vocal recordings into manageable sections so you can control your breath between takes. Record a bunch of different takes for each section and pick the best one, or even better, cut and paste them together (google vocal comping) to form a composite vocal. More advanced DAW tricks can let you make adjustments to the timing of your vocal parts to make sure your rhymes land exactly on the beats you want them on. I think you could improve things by multi-tracking certain dope words and phrases, like "Sikh on the beat" or "Asian / lyrically amazing".

 

One thing I noticed is that your flow got smoother and better as the song went, like you started a bit cold. By the time you get to 'sugar / mind diabetes' you're really locked in.

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed this track, I thought you had a lot of great lines and rhymes. 

 

Thanks man big up! Yeah definitely understand the breathless comments - record in one take due to  lack of studio time! Since the recording and release of this song we've invested in a mic and home studio so will have more time to record. Will look at vocal comping for sure and take advantage of the new equpiment we just brought. 

Thanks so much for the comments I'm glad you connected with the music and bars - appreciate it!

 

[TCgypsy]

Interesting rap piece.

 

Overall, you can hear everything, and the music is fairly well done.

 

The biggest thing this needs is PUNCH. For instance, the kick jumps out a bit and pokes you in the mix but the bass sits back and drones in the background. I would add another patch with solid mid-bass content to work with the kick to provide that punch. The vocals need to sound bigger but tucked into the mix not over top of it. The best way to achieve that big in your face rap vocal sound is put a limiter on the vocal track. The vocals need a bit more meat but a limiter may be all you need; if it doesn't fatten it up enough you may have to EQ a little. For rap, it's all about the percussion and vocals; the other sounds are there as ear candy .Concentrate on those two and the rest will fall in place. 

 

Consider putting some interesting effects on the vocals in places such as gated reverbs/delays or hard tremolo type effects.

 

Cool tune.

 

Peace,

TC

[beitenh]

Beant Singh,

Good tune!

 

Have you tried it in a slower tempo? I have not listened a lot of hip hop music, but for me is kind of too uptempo for the song. 

Your song remembers me Gryffins Whole Heart.

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by beitenh

[daryl1968]

Cool tune Beant - as a couple of people have said, maybe a couple of timing issues on the vocal - you could try recording small sections at a time rather than all at once?