Tips for finding my voice/flow

[Rainboom]

I'm a brony rapper and I've been rapping for 11 years and although my lyrical talent has improved IMMENSELY, My flow and personal voice could use some work. I've noticed a lot of raps are very monotone and aren't very fluid. here's a link to one of my songs:



Any tips you've got for me would be greatly appreciated. I would like to make my upcoming collab with Omnipony sound good.

[indeable]

you sound amazing. all i see wrong is you speed up and down a little fast and randomly. but that might have to do with your multiple recordings.

other than that great job

[Kushy Kallous]

It sounds like you're not really into it. More confidence, it could do wonders for vocals.

[Conduit]

I'm no rapper, but heres a few things I could pick out.

First, as indeable said, you change your speed randomly, and it kinda throws you out of the flow of the track.

Second, your words become a little bit slurred/hard to understand on the faster verses. If you put a little more effort into the enunciation of your words it would be great.

Overall though I really liked the track, you have a great voice for rap, and if you worked on those few things you could be really great.

[Rainboom]

you sound amazing. all i see wrong is you speed up and down a little fast and randomly. but that might have to do with your multiple recordings.

other than that great job

Makes sense. My fans say my flow is great but the pros say I need some work. Maybe I don't need to have a different voice after all, although I would like everypony's opinion on that. Just gotta focus not randomly stopping or slowing syllables. Any tips on how I could avoid that in the writing process?

[indeable]

Just gotta focus not randomly stopping or slowing syllables. Any tips on how I could avoid that in the writing process?

Well it seems you are trying to force words. so try to write lines that are about even in size so it is easier to set a flow. Also try to say a line before writing it and adjust the verbs and such to shorten or lengthen. I find that helps.

[LFP]

I'm no expert in rapping or microphones but to me it sounds like your a bit close to the mic, thus when moving your head the volume lowers a bit which makes odd volume changes in that song. ^^

Try standing a little bit farther away, you can always make the volume higher afterwards.

[Habanc]

Yeah, I'm no rapper either, but doing some diction exercises would help give your words more clarity.

Also, what do you use to record? Do you have a pop filter?

[Rainboom]

Also, what do you use to record? Do you have a pop filter?

My equipment:

Mic: Logitech PS2 USB Mic (for Guitar Hero/Rockband) equipped with On Stage 4" Pop Filter

Software: Kristal Audio Engine (on some occasions Audacity 2.0.2)

Previous hardware (the one the song you heard was recorded on): Acer Aspire 5315 running Vista Home Basic, 70gb HDD, 1.5gb RAM

New Hardware: Toshiba Satellite C855 running 7 Home Premium, 320gb HDD, 2gb RAM

Heres a song I made with the new hardware:

[StevenAD]

Also, what do you use to record? Do you have a pop filter?

Mic: Logitech PS2 USB Mic (for Guitar Hero/Rockband) equipped with On Stage 4" Pop Filter

Get rid of that mic and get you a proper one. I use a blue snowball; they're really good for the price and are very straightforward to use.

[Watashig]

Yeah, I can definitely hear how the mic is relatively lower quality. Since you primarily do vocal work, I suggest you invest more into a good microphone. Try a Shure SM57/58, a Blue Yeti, or something from this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4673

[Rainboom]

My Logitech is a HELL of a lot better than what I was using...but I agree that a better mic would help.

I was thinking about getting the MXL 007 (or a 770) for a while...how does this compare to the AT2020?

[Kushy Kallous]

My Logitech is a HELL of a lot better than what I was using...but I agree that a better mic would help.

I was thinking about getting the MXL 007 (or a 770) for a while...how does this compare to the AT2020?

There is as beginners bundle MXL offers that comes with 2 microphones (the 990 and 991)

If you do choose to go the MXL route, it's a good starting microphone, and actually what I currently use (I use the 990 because I don't have the 991, which is supposedly better for vocals. =p)