Hey Critical,
You need to get the beats raw, unmixed, and as individual tracks... i.e. kick, sn, hats, bass, etc etc etc each on its own track. Mixing is not putting a rap or vocal on top of a track that is already mixed. Mixing is about creating space for each individual track in the song to sit and be heard, "separation" If you rap and put your rap ontop of a mixed track you are basically doing karaoke. Your vocals will always either be too lud or too quiet. The only way you can get your vocals to "sit" in the mix and have the music envelop them is by giving your mix engineer or yourself if you are mixing the possibility to mix the music and vocals together. Mixing is about using eq to create space for individuals tracks to breath and not step on one another. You have to eq out cetain frequencies that may be stepping on other tracks. Like horns and vocals. Horns step all over a vocal because their main freq. is about 1k. that is exactly where vocal sit and poke through a mix. So if you have horns and vocals both competing for the same frequency one is always going to be too loud or too quiet. The solution is to carve out a bit of 1k for the vocal to sit with the horns and then it sounds as if the horns are blending with the vocals and sitting in the mix at a good level.
I agree 100% with the comment above about getting a mastered beat, once a sound has been compressed (mastered) it is done. Adding eq or compression again will only make the sound much lower quality. What you want is individual tracks with no eq applied, no compression applied, and no effect applied unless they make the sound. Like a delay on a sound might be the sound. But reverb on a sound does not make a sound and it needs to be added in the mix process. What if you want a tighter sound from a snare that has massive reverb on it? If it is there from the producer you have no options at mix. You have to leave it. You want clean tracks with very very limited effects or anything on them so you have as many options when you mix as possible. NEVER commit to a sound or a mix until all elements of the song have been recorded and you know what direction you want the song to take.
Again, I agree with comments above.... There are far too many producers willing to give you individual instruments on separate tracks to deal with a producer that wont give it to you that way. It is your song, you are buyin gor leasing the beat, this gives you full control to do what you want with the song. If you want to drop a snare track in the middle of verse 2 you should have that ability, a track track mixed or master beat gives yo no options what-so-ever. Most producers want to contral what their beat sounds like because of emotions. It is how they heard the beat when creating it so it is the only way they hear it in their head. But you as an artists might have another tilt on the beat. You sould be able to mix, mute, pan, drop sounds, or add what effect you want to highlight your rap. Its not the other way around. You are not rapping to highlight a beat. The beat is there to support your rap.
Producers, Im not dogging you at all. I have been in the studio business for 20+ years and this is just fact. Its what the industry does, and how things work. You have to let your beat go, let artists put their own twist on them, and watch them grow. Collaberation is a great thing and it really can make a beat transform into a hit!
Just my 2 cents....
www.TheMixStudio.com
Peace,
Jai
"love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!"
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