Rap vocal

Role in the mix

In rap the vocal is rhythm, timbre and lyrics: the words must be crystal clear and "on top of" the beat, with an aggressive, constant presence, often much drier and closer than a pop vocal. The main relationship is with the 808, kick and snare: the vocal sits in the center above an enormous low end, so it must be cleaned up in the low register and made dense in the mids (1–5 kHz). Typical structure: lead (the main verse), doubles/stacks (doubles of key words and phrase endings), ad-libs (see the dedicated guide), a sung or melodic hook (often with Auto-Tune).

Recording and preparation

• Dynamic (SM7B) or condenser (U87, TLM 103, C414), at 10–20 cm, very dry room; in rap, recording is often done by punching in phrase by phrase.
• Editing: reduced breaths, alignment of the doubles to the lead (VocAlign, Melodyne, or by hand in the playlist), clicks and plosives.
• Clip gain of the phrases: rap has consonant peaks and weaker phrase endings.
• Auto-Tune in trap and melodic rap: hard tune (retune 0–10 ms) as an effect, in the correct key; in FL Pitcher (Speed at minimum) or NewTone.

Gain staging

Peaks −10/−6 dBFS after clip gain.

Corrective EQ

• HP 80–120 Hz (even 150 Hz with very present 808s).
• Mud/proximity 200–400 Hz: −2/−4 dB (very common with SM7B and close mics).
• Boxiness 500–800 Hz: −1/−3 dB.
• Harshness 2.5–5 kHz: dynamic EQ.
• Plosives and hard consonants: editing or wide de-esser.

Creative EQ

• Aggressive presence +2/+4 dB at 2–5 kHz (in boom bap at 1–3 kHz, more "midrange").
• Air +2/+4 dB at 10–12 kHz in modern trap (bright vocal).
• Boom bap/old school: less air, more mids, gentle LP at 12 kHz.

Compression

• More compression than pop: serial FET + opto, 6–10 dB in total. Derek Ali, on Kendrick Lamar's vocal ("To Pimp a Butterfly"), uses a Waves Renaissance Compressor in opto mode to keep the peaks in the mids in check and a Distressor for grit and presence in the highs.
• FET (1176) fast attack (consonants), fast release, 4:1–8:1.
• Opto 3–4 dB for leveling.
• Aggressive parallel (FET all-buttons) for density.
• Light final limiter/clipper for a vocal "glued" to the beat.

De-esser

5–9 kHz, 3–6 dB; a bright, compressed rap vocal has very prominent sibilants. Derek Ali uses a hardware or plugin de-esser depending on the case.

Transient shaper

Light Attack + for more incisive consonants in fast flows.

Saturation and distortion

• Saturation (Decapitator, Saturn 2, Distructor, Distressor) for grit.
• Obvious distortion as an effect in rage, drill, punk rap (Fruity Blood Overdrive, Fast Dist, Trash), also in parallel.
• Telephone/radio: bandpass 300 Hz–3 kHz + saturation for intros and bridges.

Delay

• Often no continuous delay in the verse (dry vocal).
• Throw at 1/4 or 1/8 on the last words of phrases.
• Short, low slap (80–120 ms) for thickness in boom bap.
• Ping-pong delay on the hook.

Reverb

• Verse: very little (short room or plate, 0.6–1.2 s, at a low level) or none.
• Hook and melodic parts: wider plate.
• Derek Ali uses a plate (EMT 250) on Kendrick's vocal; dedicated reverbs in the closing sections.
• Pre-delay 20–60 ms and HP on the return.

Modulation

• Chorus/pitch shift as effects (Derek Ali uses an Eventide H3500 for pitch shift and chorus).
• Imagers/wideners on the vocal: Derek Ali uses the Waves S1 Imager to "open up" Kendrick's vocal and make it sit above the beat; use it with caution and check mono.

Stereo and panning

• Lead in the center, mono.
• Doubles: one in the center under the lead (−6/−10 dB) or two panned ±30–70 on key words.
• Ad-libs at the sides (see the ad-lib guide).
• Pan automation as an effect (Derek Ali: vocals that move left and right in the last verse of "These Walls").

Sidechain

• The vocal ducks the beat in the 1–5 kHz zone (dynamic EQ on synths, samples, hi-hats).
• The 808 is rarely ducked by the vocal (1–2 dB) if the mix is very dense.

Automation

• Ride of phrases and phrase endings.
• Delay throws, telephone effects in intros, filters in bridges.

Differences by genre

Common mistakes

• Unfiltered low end that adds up with the 808.
• Unaligned doubles: a flam on every word.
• Too much reverb in the verse: it loses its punch.
• Sibilants exaggerated by compression and air.
• Vocal too low out of fear of "covering the beat".