I don't even have a good title for this thread...

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nowaysj
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I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by nowaysj » Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:01 am

Okay, dumb question to follow, because I don't even know what the question is:

So was fooling around with a vocalist today and recorded something like 16 - 32 bars of lyrics. They're pretty good, like they have a real good flow, and just contain interesting sounds (they're in another language I don't speak, it could all be "nowaysj sucks a dick" for all I know).

But like I've got absolutely no idea what to do with them. I never am at a total loss like this. I always have some type of frame of reference, some idea to work towards. But I'm totally stumped. The lyrics are kind of poppy. But they need to flow together, so I can't do what I'd sort of lazily do, just take pieces and fuck with them, and put it into some type of techno space (not the historical/genre definition of that term).

Okay, as I'm writing this, and thanks for listening, btw, I'm kind of crystallizing some thoughts that have been floating around back there. I kind of want to take this song in like a cross between the Gypsy Kings and Emika, with just a little bit of an old school hip hop vibe. Haha, jokes right? I really don't know how to go about it.

Yes, I do tend to talk to myself a lot, and increasingly, out loud. :oops:

If you have some thoughts on this, whatever it is, I'd appreciate it. I really feel like I'm out of my depth here.
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by jrisreal » Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:38 am

I DO NOT FOLLOW :corntard:
...in my opinion
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by nowaysj » Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:41 am

Neither do I.
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by -[2]DAY_- » Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:42 am

i don't have any good suggestions but i'm weighing in cuz i just finished working on a track with these two rappers i hang with. I haven't got much experience mixing vocals but i found myself making decisions for the guys, like certain edits with their adlibs and overdubs and shit, where thy were asking me oh, what can we do with these takes.. and i'm tying to explain, we could do almost ANYTHING... but it wouldn't get me anywhere or help them make decisions so i kind of realized, well I'm the producer! I can actually take these liberties and show them what ought to be done... arrangement stuff, special FX, etc.

I guess what i'm sayin is U are the producer, sounds like u got some great material. I would keep the 32 bars together, depending on the rhythm and the desired tempo/original tempo, i would try not to even snip it up much unless it wants to be... and write ur track around it, make the sounds agree with the tone and delivery of the lyrics, and just repeat the verse. after letting it go thru once, u could chop it to pieces afterward cuz u already let it make that statement, then u could get creative with it. I've heard this in a couple techno songs, kinda... like a monologue or verse stated then repeated but chopped and messed with..


heh i dunno, i'm just looking to chat on the forums right now, its 4 am
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by nowaysj » Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:11 am

-[2]DAY_- wrote:well I'm the producer! I can actually take these liberties and show them what ought to be done... I guess what i'm sayin is U are the producer
This is exactly at the heart of it. See, normally I'm more of a facilitator. I just do what needs to be done. The tracks just make themselves. They're like yo nwj, our drums are too punchy, and I'm like, okay, okay, I can take care of that. And like why is there a hump at 50 hz on the high hats, and I'm like, no problem, I'm all over it.

But on this one, I have to be, like, the producer. Like I have to make the song into something. That's not really what I do.

Think its kind of the way I went about that initial session. Usually I have beats and some type of structure so that I kind of record into the song. Like I have a place for the lyrics, and my job is to record them, and fit them into the space of the song.

Here, it's not like that. We, as I said, were just fucking around. This was just a poem, so I was like, let me put up a metronomic hiphop type boom bap to get some pronounced meter in the words, and she kind of was flat and monotonous (which can be really dope), but then she started crafting the words into a melody. And technically, I think for the first time I overcompressed the vocals when tracking. I've been extolling the wonder of tracking with compression, as it is totally new to me, but I've never overbaked anything like I think I did here.

So now I've got these raw, maybe slightly over compressed vocals, and I just can't figure out the type of space to put them in. I usually heavily effect vocals, just my taste, and maybe working with less than stellar vocalists. But that's not right here, and so I've got these raw vocals that can't stay raw like this, they just sound too raw, don't sit into anything at all, but... again, I don't know what to do with them.

Yeah, and I'm dozing off, just chatting breeze on the forum. My bad, posterity.
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by Siderealdb » Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:16 am

Did this artist come to you, or did you go to them? If they came to you, then I'd guess they must have liked a song you composed recently. I would ask them which one of your tunes they liked the most and go from there. It could be as simple as rewriting one of your tunes so that their vox lines up.
But if you want to get pro about it, I would get someone to translate the lyrics for me, and do as much research on their country and download whatever music is popular in their area. Writing the tune after that would be easy peasy.
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nowaysj
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by nowaysj » Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:25 am

Siderealdb wrote:Did this artist come to you, or did you go to them?
Neither, just hanging out, fucking around.
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by Fbac » Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:41 pm

nowaysj wrote:
So was fooling around with a vocalist today
:Y: yay! someone on here got laid :D

haha, i have no helpful comments to add norwaysj sorry but i have faith in you as what ive read from you is always good. Hence this track must turn out good :) maybe put the vocal in the daw all together and get a kick and start moving it around until it hits the right spot then think about the bpm and then move the kick or make another kick. and remember if the first thing you thought about it was that it flows.. then it needs to keep flowing. once it stops flowing maybe stop take a break .

U iz post when done? so i iz have corn-dance? :corndance: please
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by erratech » Sun Apr 03, 2011 5:12 pm

If they are melodic like you say (im tired its 3am here) why not use them (together or as 1/2s) as a chorus and roll an electronic song with a verse/chorus structure inside each drop/section?Contrast with a big delayed chord or someshit in the more empty 'verse'.... Or you could cut it up further and have them as call and response elements with other melodic bits in your song, basically treating it as a load of hooks or an instrument. Bosh some ducking delays that are ducked by it and the other melodic bits and effect up mmmm. Thats all i got need sleep, clowns with defeat me.
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Re: I don't even have a good title for this thread...

Post by Stafford » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:23 pm

nowaysj wrote:
They're pretty good, like they have a real good flow, and just contain interesting sounds (they're in another language I don't speak, it could all be "nowaysj sucks a dick" for all I know).
lol sort if reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?=1&v=wL4MxhtLUBM

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