MC in the studio. Your steps to finishing a track.

[Loose Cannon]

I wanna get an idea of how most of you do your tracks, start to finish. I dont mean the kind of track that takes you a month from start to finish. I mean the ones when you got an MC, MPC, MultiTrack Recorder, Speakers, 12 Hours to do it, and Yourself. Or wutever you got, but i mean the track that you do in a day.

My-Directions:
-You and the MC('s) are in the studio wit all your equipment, food, drinks, weed, and some real comfortable chairs.
-You both come up with the idea of the track: diss, club/radio, anthem, about your girl, wutever you decide.
-Find your palette of sounds you gonna use. Lay em out.
-Start makin the beat givin opinions or ideas or wutever.
-Get the base or foundation of the track done, then start writin the hook or chorus.
-Warm up by doin the chorus a couple times to get more ideas.
-Start writin your verse.
-Roll another blunt.
-Smoke it.
-MC finish verses while producer/beatmaker finishes beat.
-Record rough draft (sketchy vokalz, unmixed beat)
-Go watch some stand up comedy, smoke another blunt.
-Warm up again, then record vokalz for real.
-Mix Beat, Vokalz, then both.
-Burn to CD. Bring Cd to Computer then re-master.
-Burn to final CD. And Make a Copy on Cassette. Wrap 'em both up and throw them in that shoebox full of tapes you got in your closet.
-Smoke another blunt.
-Say Peace.



That's how my tracks usually go.

Drop your directions to a track on here.

 

[Agent Smith]

-produce outside of studio sessions, trying to capture a mood that me and my mc had talked about previously.
-mc writes outside of studio time
-we get in and put the beat in pro tools
-mc records a rough draft to get his lyrics on beat.
-once the mc gets his lyrics on beat, we lay down the first verse and then reprogram the beat to complement the verse (pauses, empty outs etc)
do the rest of the song, perhaps change the beat up for the hook

peace

 

[jnxe]

usually i write outside the studio but...

get my squad together...listen to a beat and toss out ideas while smoking a blunt.

wait till the high comedown then spit the verses. it take anywhere from 1 to 5 hours.

listen to everything, add effects and accent the vocals.
smoke a few more blunts as the track is being mixed down and where done

 

[MIKELABZ]

GIVE HIME THE STUDIO RAPE DRUG. WORKS EVERYTIME.

 

[berserk]

^^ hahaha... yeah... so it consists of... make a beat, smoke a blunt, rap... sounds familiar...

 

[luxx]

I have like 800 beats on my comp some complete some just little 4 bars,

-so usually mcs come by with a song idea and we seach for beats that might complement it

-then If need be i make a hook for the beat or do touch ups while they touch up ryhmes and/or come up w/ a hook

-do a couple dry runs to see where drope outs and breaks will sound good

-start recording, depending on how many blunts and the amount of alcohol in the lab and how late it is the track might or might not get done that day


-

 

[bigdmakintrax]

I have a collection of tracks but if the MC has certain style I look for something that goes with their style, delivery or flow. A lot of times if the MC wants a commercial track I tell them to bring me one of their favorite instrumentals or if they already have something down get a copy to me so I can study it.......as we know that there are different levels of MC skills, some you have to coach some that can help you with the session, for the most part use your ear during the session to get right levels and minimize sloppiness.
help the MC if he is lazy or not hype with the delivery, you will be wasting your time if the MC has a bad day or is just not hype on the track and focused........I try and identify that early so I can tell them you might want to try that again or let them know that it wasn't a good take....I avoid sessions where the MC has to retake more than 5 times, I like them to have their written lyrics either practiced a few times and if it is possible get them beat at least a few days before so they can practice......I know a few cats though that flow straight from the dome with no paper so that's not possible....but of cours after all of that is the fun part, trimming, compressing, mixing, copying and pasting and getting the final mix....that process will be about 2-3 hours if you want it sound ok.....I always save my protool original session as a new one that I use as the working session just in case I want to go back to the original take before the mixing process, I never apply any fx to the vocals or instrumental until afterwards.