Hottest hip hop beatz ...now you got em..so what do you do with em?

Alright, you found your beats.  You got in your head what you wanna do with em, but we want to give you a few pointers on how to make your vox not only sound right over most tracks but sound great.  First thing, and it's a big one.  Do not use a junk microphone.  If  it's all u got, then you are gonna have to work with it.  Just bcuz a mic looks like a shock mount condenser don't mean it sounds any better than a Mr. Microphone.  Try to find a good deal on a used mic if you need to spend less, but that mic will help define your sound, and give your voice a presence in the mix that a cheap or directional stage mic will not.  Second  When using any condenser mic make sure your board or interface has phantom power to run it.  I've spotted this in mixes a lot where the vocals have no low end and are really low and tinny sounding.  Gotta power a condenser to get it to do it's thing.  Dig the difference when you do.  Most mic boxes have it, and usb mics don't need it, but a good quality studio mic definitely does, and they are your best bet for great vocals on your tracks.  They give you a large sound.  Next get in a booth.  A booth is built in a way to zero that mic signal and minimize bounce noise, and reverb.  Don't try to get by with a mic screen or a 'gobo' Those do not work well and are just an amateur solution that will give you noisy, amateur results.  I don't know why artists think that a 40 dollar piece of foam does what a booth does.  It doesn't.  Plus I know this:  Having recorded a lot of MC's over the years in the booths at the studio.  The booth is a headspace, and helps artists get in there and quickly get on their game.  Yeah it's a mental thing, but it makes a difference.  Plus it's a dedicated spot to at a moments notice, to go in and drop it like it's hot.  Get one, build one out of a closet, or at least find a studio with good rates on using theirs.  This brings me to my next point.  If you just don't have the setup and are really trying to make a hot record.  Bite that bullet and book a studio.  Just make sure to not waste time there.  Practice ahead, get everything set, then get in, get it done, and get out.  A well prepared artist can track a lot of stuff in 4 hours if they are hustlin, and 6 if they are slow.  With studio rates coming down all the time that should only cost your around 100-200 bucks, even with an engineer.  Even if the studio guy costs a little more, it will be worth it to book him, if you don't know how to run their gear.  At some studios it's included, some not, and some it's not even allowed for you to run the consoles.  Check the spots you have in mind and shop around.  Remember quality and clear, precise sound capture is what will give you the material to be able to mix down the tracks in a controllable way, and prepare them for fx, final mastering.  Which is my final point.  This is optional and depends on how good you are at mixing your own tracks down, but a good mastering guy will get better sound out of those vocals and tracks than you ever will.  That's all they do.  We master in house at our studio, but frequently have masters done at outside services specializing in certain types of music because they are specialists.  This service can be expensive or cheap.  Most will master a track for you free as an example.  After you get your mixes fine tuned, give it a try and see what a difference it makes.  This stuff is all pretty basic and we'll get into various effects and what not in later posts.  I just wanted to give out a general overview of some do's and don'ts regarding recording vocals over your beats.  So if you've got the hottest hip hop beats you can find, then we want you to kill it on those beats, and have the knowledge to get the amazing sound you want when finished.  As always any questions can be emailed to us at caliberxbeatz@hotmail.com Stay Blessed!