Okay, most of you cats know I record and mix my own vocals. I'll drop some ish on what I do,,,but what works for me and my mic,,,may not for yours,,but whatever,,take it for what it is,,,
First off, I goie thru a verse a few times on the mic without recordin. Like Hypno said,,,REHEARSE. This is prolly the biggest part of recordin. You can't go wrong because you cxan learn from mistakes here. Plus, if it's a new verse, you may not have the right feel for it, and may want to try different approaches. Like last week, me, Clev and Fury were in the lab recordin(a hot joint comin along nicely) and there were spots we had to change on our verses. I needed to change the delivery and Fury I think needed to switch up a breathe spot. Lil things like this go a long way. But practice makes perfect.
When I'm done I usually leave it alone for a day or two. Whether at Cleverwon studios or last Son,,,,I save my data and let it sit for a day or two. Doin everything in one day sometimes seems rushed and that'snot what you guys want to do. I like to listen to the ruff untouched mix for quite a few round before startin on the levels and effects.
Some cats like to take the breaths out. this depends on you. Personally, I take out some of the heavier breaths that are more audible. But on some joints, it doesn't really take effect so i leave them alone. Then again, some artists dread there breaths so they ask to take them out. (B.Grimm hates em, you'll never hear his,,,ever!) lol
Once i feel confident with my vocals, its then time to add some weight to them.(and for my fat ass, it's easy,,lol) Jus playin but for real,,,,I'm a fat ass...movin on,,,,,,,,,seriously, Formant once told me that a lil compression goes a long way, and he's right! You really don't want to mess with too much compression,,it will take away from the artist's vocals. I don't do numbers here, I go by what sounds right. As long as the verse sounds leveled out,,,I'm cool.
Once the verse is compressed, i like to add a touch of reverb. Some of yall have the reverb set up as you record...ignore,,,okay, for those of yall software after-reverb guys,,,,check it,,,too much reverb sucks a tremendous amount of booty!!! Don't get me wrong, on certain beats they may need to be beefed up.(See, "Children Who have never Seen" off Immaculate Deception",,,released this summer)shameless plug, but a good example none the less. This track is produced by Illmuzik's own, Wings. Wings has those very atmospheric beats that allow for some unconventional methods to be tried. For more on this,,,pick up Halo-Dim...Holla MERC! Anyways, on this track, we decided that a higher reverb then normal would definitly balance the vocals and the beat. For those who aren'y into thgis type of beat or formula,,,you WILL be pleasently suprprised.
But, reverb is a good way to go on any track,,IMO. Just don't overdue it. Too many effects will steal the artist's pressence. Other then that, it's a learn as you go process.