How to Mix a Rap Song : How to Mix the Compression in a Rap Song

[mfumu101]

Would be a lot more helpful if you demonstrated what you mean that way we are all on the same page... Otherwise all's good.

[jR1977]

COME ON CUZZ!!! what was i supposed to get from that??????????thats like me making a video saying:to write a rap-first think about what you wanna say and then make sure the last word rhymes!......Ok hope that helped check my next video!......? are you serious !! FYI anyone can make a video saying how to make a cake..but it helps when they see you make it........................!?

[KamRobTv]

that .. didnt help.. lol he didnt teach me HOW to do shit..

[MrChrishollis]

Jesus H Christ.

This is TERRIBLE advice.

Where do Expert Village find these people?!!!

[vegunited06]

haha, the title of this video is wrong in the first place "how to mix the compression in a rap song" jesus christ!

[poopslice123]

you dont compress during mixing, you compress during mastering

[YoungTorrey1]

ima young singer coming up check out my video... the storm Eddy. L

[redrumb1]

Actually, it depends on many things. The musician, being the first. Each musician has different techniques on how they compose, produce, mix and master their music. Secondly, the song you're working on. Compression on the master track may work in some cases, but not all. It also depends on how the song is mixed, and what kind of genre you make. I do Synthpop, and the techniques of making a Synthpop track are very different from Hip-Hop. It's just not the same. I'm just giving you a heads up. ;)

[fuqeezyBABY]

Hey everyone, I'm getting into music producing, and I think I may want this to be what I go to college for, but I would like to start producing now. I'm making beats, and have made a few actually, but the HARDEST thing for me to do is mix and master. I'm literally clueless as to what's going on. On one of my current projects, I have it mixed wrong, and the bass, or something, is making the overall track fade in and out, and I have NO idea what to do to fix it. Can someone please help me?

[kawasakikid800]

what's compression?

[ihopeyouredone]

Haha he's telling me "you WANT to do this and do that.." Eeer, no mate.

[wots72]

You'd be better off pushing buttons randomly in your studio than listen to this guy.

[tbmagis]

This guy's tracks probably are distorted and he can't figure out why ;)

[wetbobo]

Actually, to those of you who say you wouldn't compress a final mix - ever hear of master buss compression, or the "Sound like a Record" button on SSL consoles (aka the master buss compressor). Many (if not all) of today's mix engineers working on the stuff we all listen to on Top 40 actually START their mixes with a very mild master buss compressor instantiated. You shouldn't actually HEAR the effect, it's so mild. But, it helps glue the mix AS you mix. Don't add at the end. That's the trick!

[golgod7n]

DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS DUDE THIS IS NOT TRUE AT ALL. THIS GUY IS AN IDIOT. ALL OF MY AUDIO ENGINEERING PROFESSORS AT CAPITAL UNIVERSITY WOULD AGREE.

[mhmoretti]

Freakin' Compression? How does it work?!?!

[DonP132]

hOW DO YOU COMPRESS A SONG?

[ihopeyouredone]

@DonP132 Cup the song in your hands and squeeze.

[truso]

i need help understanding and using the compressor. somebody hit me up in the inbox pleasssseee...lol

thanks

[Speakersoxx]

@truso Look for Sonic Acadamy - Undederstanding Compression

[preshaofkpe]

@GorillaBeatz I agree with you also I tend to mix everything down to -3db 

[jtb727]

BOTTOM LINE-If it sounds good it is good every mix engineer has there own special tricks. This guys method happens to be rather impractical, I wouldn't compress the overall mix unless I was attempting to master it which is a whole other can of worms. He said when your recording your song put the compression on the overall mix, folks please do not do this because it will alter the way you hear what you are recording.

[gusomusic]

This guy sucks. If you expect real advices of a real engineer, go elsewhere.

[MegaMixking]

im convinced this guy is a moron now.

i cant think of worse advice than this.

[djadenty]

@MegaMixking umm not really, im new to this editing thing with my raps i make and need to know all the advice i can get and if he says compression starts before you do anything with the mix or rap or whatever then thats helpfull cause i garetee he knows what he is talking about more then what i would know

[righren]

LOL by watching this i've learned nuffing.

[xhimiz14]

wow expert village has just too much videos!!!!!!!!

[CROWPARTY]

this makes sense a little; times change.......

[EUROPOUNDDOLLARYEN]

This is very counter progressive, this guy needs to go to school and burn this crappy studio

[RScottBeatty]

+1 to the point of this video. Compressors react differently to everything that comes into it based on the dynamics of the original sound. Loud parts react differently than soft parts and the end result is varied. So you can't set all your levels and then put a compressor on the whole thing. Your result will sound too different than the original. If you're gona put a comp on the whole mix, do it first so you don't have to go back and reset all levels.

[ycb254]

why compress? i never used compression before on any of my beats. ive tried it but never knew what good compression was an didnt really hear a difference

[sk8njam]

@ycb254 get familiar with it man have someone show u the difference between compressed and non-compressed tracks...you'll never go without it once u do :)

[bppoupore]

i used to compress after finishing a song all the time, it really sucks.

[ScorchinBeats]

I never though of compressing the master before mixing. GREAT Idea, I always had problems mastering because my song sounded totally different after my master fx (especially with limiting, compression, and exciting)

[realisticguy1]

everyone mix a little different n he is right. you should compress the master track so your vocals can blend in with the beat n plus compress your vocals also so every word can be on the same level. The only thing i do different is compress the master track last. If it sounds bad then u r compressing it too much

[Vanjal]

OPUSMONK....darkembassymusic..­..

You are RAP HOUSE BREAKBEAT NOOOOOBS. You don't know SHIT about MUSIC itself . Your fucking FAKE in music. Don't waste your time on me. Go learn fucking UUUUSIIICC. Compression won't help you to be producers and musicians. Heal your hearing disabilities by learning MUUUUSIIIC.

[naterip23]

do you compress the beat too.???

[OpusMonk]

Vanjal ... I studied Audio Engineering and learned everything you should know about how to apply compression.. Ok, Maybe this guy should mention his theory is based on HipHop beats, But you know every different genre has the gear it uses but its applied differently.. because he's speak of hiphop.. So your the reason I became an Engineer.. POMPOUS ASSHOLES THAT THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL AND JUDGE>. SO FUCK YOU.. Take your banjo and compress that PRICK!.. YOU KNOW SHIT!..

[Vanjal]

"Overalll compresion"....I can't believe that those noobs are actually having their videos on HOW TO...

Every single word he said is wrong....fucking rap "producers"...beats and shit....get into music man, learn at least how to use compresion.

[darkembassymusic]

@Vanjal - Don't know what the fuck you're talking about coz you just said a load of crap there. My tracks sounds best especially when compression is applied before you even work on it!! So he is definitely right there! And I ain't even talking Rap I'm talking House/Breakbeat tracks. So you sir, are full of shit! Pick up a few magazines or better yet, do the experiment yourself before you sound like a fuckin' idiot! This compression method is a technique I found by accident and IT WORKS!!!

[yungblaze1917]

check out the song on my page produced by royal beatz 07 n da pro vocal tutorial i did on cool edit pro n leave a comment n subscribe

[Wes3455]

Man I totally disagree.. You really should put a brickwall limiter and leave the master bus @ -.1 db, and mix accordingly. Adding compression on a track will only give you a false representation of the song in its entirety. It also closes the track making it sound muffled. Each instrument (or frequency range) should really have its own compression. Not ever frequency or instrument need the same amount of compression. Especially when you get into high quality mixing.

[djdiscomikki]

I know lots of professional mastering engineers that use compressors on the main output. Not heavy compression of course but just to smooth the mix out and catch any sneaky peaks...

[onedeep01]

That is my bad. The ppl I sat with did not do that. However one of my partners said, he did sit with pros that used compressors, before the amp. However the same mastering house mastered their music. Every body that masters your music may not use the same ratio. This is why sometimes it seems like you lost too much bass or kick drum after mastering. When you use a comp before amp to mix make sure you send a reference cd to mastering. So they know exactly what you expect.

[onedeep01]

There is no really special way. You can do an overall compression right before you bounce the entire mix to a stereo track. Experts do not mix though compressors, but it is not a bad idea. Be careful I have sat with experts, they are truly great wih an eq. Hint!

[FCO0710]

really, they dont mix with compression? news to me

[GorillaBeatz1]

That's not true. You need to listen to your overall mix and adjust each INST accordingly so that the Master Fader is not clipping. you would only compress where needed bouncing the file down to the same SR/BD as when you started recording without dithering . Then you would lower the Master Fader to somewhere around -4 to -6db, from here you would add compression to the over all mix DURING THE MASTERING PROCESS.

[onedeep01]

That's how you do it. I see that working. There are alot of different ways, but that works.

[kokodioko123]

Do you remove that overall compression before bouncing your mix for mastering or you just leave it on?

Thanks

[experiment0003]

the whole idea of it is to color the sound in a very musical way...

Analog consoles like Neve, API, and SSL add coloration to the mix in a very warm and punchy way, whereas digital mix buses don't.

So you really don't want to over-compress.. mastering engineers don't like that. You just want to add a little coloration to your sound...

You add emulations of analog circuitry and stereo bus compressors and do your entire mix through it...

[FCO0710]

generally a bad idea to use it

[onedeep01]

Na it is ok to use one. That depends on you. EQ ing and tuning the room is what does it. Bringing the music in your face and losing dynamics is the inevitable. Except you want to lose desired dynamics. Remember with a different ratio and different treshold. In order to get lose the dynamics that you desire usually does not happen because the desired freq will be out of phase. You are just going to get mad with mastering, like everybody else.

[JACKTOWNNIG]

ol dae dae lookin ass nigga!next friday face ass nigga!welcome home rosco lookin ass nigga!that bitch scratched my bmw face ass nigga!

[celestialrainafall89]

he has a good point. but i wouldnt advise beginners to try this. overall compression during recording works better for those who are more experienced and sure of what sound they want

[midihendrix]

@celestialrainafall89 this is very true

[farjedi]

I would have been better had he explained why he chooses mix bus compression,and why its a good thing to hear your whole track compressed. Cos it glues sounds and makes things gel or  means individual tracks dont need as much compression, perhaps? some engineers put a top boost on the master bus so they dont have to add top boosts to individual tracks, but some engineers loathe the technique,its an individual thing,coming down to taste and what works for you.Dont do it just because tho...

[freddysocram]

Hummm, not to sure about this advice

[losangelesstrippers]

I have lost all respect for expert village. I thought they do a little DD before they put someone on youtube videos...this guy is clueless. I been mixing for over 20 years and have never heard such rubbish.

[ATXaudio]

????????!!!!

[Chatty707]

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong... Leave the master Track empty, That's for mastering. Don't put anything on the master track NOT EVEN DITHER UNTIL MASTERING. Trust me with all respect this guy doesn't know what he's talking about!

[XL3NT]

i agree!!!! but he does know what his talking about to a certain extent because his not talking to timbaland hes talking to bedroom producers and he did say a "lil"

[Chatty707]

I understand that, but alot of these guys act like their teachers on youtube and send people for a loop doing things wrong until they realize 1 year later they've been doing it wrong. Digi design has alot of good vids on youtube and Presonus has alot of good reading on the use of all effects. Reverb, Dynamics, Eq's.... Read People!

[xmoopzx]

He's not necessarily wrong. He actually makes a fair point. You will have a better idea of what your mix will sound like at the end of mastering if you mix with with compression on. After you've finished the mix you can take off the compression and then begin mastering from scratch.

[lostsoul1079]

now this dude sounds like he knows a lilttle bit about mixing, but heres a tip 4 you if you move your lcd screen for in front of your speakers you might be able to hear the sound comeing out of you left speaker lmao

[blipping784]

man, you talk too much, show some demonstration.this is not helpful

[rcssaxby]

Wow! I am more and more impressed by each of the responses I am reading. Every one of you are so intelligent. Obviously you are great men and people like this fellow here telling us how to use compression in a rap song should stand back in awh of your recording and mixing wisdom NOT!

[kingdavetheproducer]

lol doulos24..i was just thinking the same thing..i've heard this guy give some horrible advice but thats probably the worst

[doulos24]

go ahead and add a compressor on the mix bus and make it a pain in the ass for the mastering engineer great pro tip heres a free tip never take expert advice from a sound engineer who bought a behringer mixer and said yea thats gonna make my studio better

[06012108]

Haha I echo that!

[zodiacie]

Please enlighten me, what is the mix bus?

[deshawnpenrose]

is where the mix ends up so that you can control it with one fader. example...drum kit......Kick track.1 snare track. 2 hat track.3....you send each track/channel to the mix bus so you can control each sound with one fader and send it to the master to record to tape....

[zodiacie]

I see, kind of like sending different tracks to the same bus to use the same reverb effect

[deshawnpenrose]

right......

[da805boy]

he does know a little what he's talking about. some engineers put a compressor on the master buss after the track is mixed to give the artist that "radio feel". You should not mix with any plugs on the Master fader unless you really know what your doin. If you put one on anyway, set threshold low ratio 1.5:1 to 2:1 attack and release medium, then adjust to taste. This will give you a punchier track without over compressing

[dazzelya]

I agree that you should only but a compressor on the mixbus if you know what you are doing but many if not pretty much all professional engineers will have a stereo compressor on the mix bus even before starting the mix.

Then again, if you want your material to be properly mixed. Got to a real studio to get it mixed.

That radio feel you are talking about is part of the mastering engineer's job description. (If that is what the producer/artist/label is looking for.)

[Jerettfranklin]

lol i don't know too much about mixing but how many times did he sound compression?

[nexusdb]

Listen people! NEVER put a compressor on the master out! You shouldn't really be putting anything on the master out! Leave this to the mastering engineers!

[KayBeats]

true that!

[ThisisDavidBeck]

yah, well, maybe rap is different, but the music I make had DYNAMICS

[dazzelya]

Perhaps you know little to nothing about recording and/or mixing (no offense) but most mixing engineers will put a stereo compressor and the mix bus. Depending on the quality and characteristics of the compressor you get great 'glue'. The mastering engineer won't be doing anything with the master out as he'll be in a proper mastering studio working with the two track.

[nexusdb]

dont kid yourself. by "master out", im talking about the final stereo mix which the mastering engineer is given. they put compression and eq on the final mix. if the mixing engineer starts putting things on the master during the mixing stage, you can ruin the entire mix. its always best the put compression, eq, etc on individual tracks as every track needs different settings.

[dazzelya]

Excuse me if the following will sound arrogant or disrespectful: I'm a professional engineer and sole proprietor of a large (professional) recording studio. What I said before and what I will say next is all from the perspective of it being my profession.

The 'master out' is a pair of outputs from the console back to the 2 track recorder or via the converters to a stereo track in the DAW. I think you meant to say final stereo track.

[dazzelya]

Additionally; if you would actually engineer professionally or knew people who do it for a living you would know that a stereo bus compressor is a technique used very often for a certain 'glue'. Individual settings are only applied if needed. Ever heard of a group track/buss? As long as the two track isn't too 'hot' the ME shouldn't have a problem with it. They'll only put compression if needed. Same goes for eq.

[nexusdb]

do what you want. from the professionals i've talked to, the books i've read and my own personal experience, you can ruin a mix by putting things on the master out. the only thing i ever put on the master is sometimes a limiter without any real limiting on it. just enough to control a few peaks throughout the track. and as far as the terminology goes, you know what i meant. the stereo pair the signal that comes from the master out.

[dazzelya]

You can ruin a mix by randomly putting stuff on the mix bus. I agree (FX and stuff that doesn't belong there). However, you said 'Listen people! NEVER put a compressor on the master out!'

this is just plain incorrect. Now if you said something like 'never limit the fuck out of a track' I would agree. There is nothing wrong about putting a stereo compressor on the mix bus, IF you know what you are doing.

Do what you want, just don't give out incorrect info.

[nexusdb]

I don't think I was giving out incorrect info. That is what I have found to work best. At the end of the day; if it sounds good, go for it. Everyone has their own way of doing things, but I think we can both agree; if you are going to put something like a compressor on the master, use light settings to preserve the dynamics of the track.

[dazzelya]

If you are going to put a stereocomp on the mix bus, do it for a reason. Not just to make things louder. Heavy or light settings depend on the song, TH, ratio, attack, hold, release etc.

I agree with if it sounds good, go for it.

But also, if you want your stuff up to par. Get a industry professional to do it for you. Looking over his shoulder to pick up stuff is an added bonus.

[dazzelya]

Let's just leave it at that. This could go on for ever hehe.

[jenxstud25]

t I took Digidesign ProTools classes, and Sound Engineering classes when first getting started, and been mixing, and recording music for artists and radio personalities for roughly 4 years, and dazzelya is righfrom what I have read. There have been many instances where I would put a compresser on the final mix, or run what I have done in my DAW to an analog compressor such as a ART Pro-VLA II. You can compress each track as needed, and then bus them all to one compressor.

[nexusdb]

i find half the fun is learning to do it yourself and becoming a professional.

[dazzelya]

Sorry but that's just screaming for a reply. You don't just 'become' a professional. That sounds like playing basketball with a deflated ball, on your own without a team/coach and becoming an NBA player.

Becoming a professional requires a lot of hard work, experience, facilities and money (if you are building a professional recording studio to standards.)

It took myself years and 10's thousand hours of studying/practicing to get where I am not to mention a couple hundred k to build my studio.

[dazzelya]

If you can, intern at a studio for a couple years and perhaps you'll make it as junior staff engineer. From there you might open up a studio too.

It's not as easy as people make it seem.

I'll stop here because from the looks of things, this we go on forever.

[nexusdb]

It's all good, man. I've been at this for 2 years, 8 hours a day with cracked software xD. As soon as I start releasing tracks, I'll buy the software though. I'd say I'm pretty good at what I do, but there is a shit load more to learn. Take it easy.

[dazzelya]

That's a good mentality. Take it easy.

[sydbryce]

this guy sounds like he has no idea what compression even does. there's differing philosophies regarding mix compression, but he doesn't even seem to have one. he can't properly explain why he's even putting compression on the mix.

[sharade27]

Its really all about the sounds for sure like he said. If you need any samples for your MPC or MV, I have over 1900 titles in all formats-akai-emu-wav-acid loops-etc and also 750gb hard drives full of sounds. Theres also a 750gb Program Drive for both Mac and PC with all the best RTAS-VST-AU instruments out.

Email me at pcosxtech @ yahoo for the list or check these screen shots of the drives to see how they are arranged.

[dokumentary]

I agree with madcaprex - This is good advice but really need more details. Can help with this?

[madcaprex]

yeah mix compression is necessary... but the settings are everything. How do you like to set your threshhold, ratio, attack and release?

[tasteofink2s0]

ratio 3:1, attack fast, slow release, threshold is to preference. your output gain should only be a little above standard also.

[Capeau]

if different for every track

[NLightNdOnE305]

EXACTLY... there is no such thing as a UNIVERSAL SETTING for anything in mixing, wether it be EQ, Reverb, Compression, etc... every track is different and everyone's voice is diff... everything depends on the actual track itself and the number one rule i was thought is, "How does it sound?" if it sounds good, then u got it...

[fixxxer602]

very nice once again

[bluntstarrr]

people should know what your talking about .... hopefully ...

nice one for all ya vids....confirmed and corrected a few things for me