Patrick Kane
Superstar
Just wanted to change gears for a minute and discuss some of the sounds in todays music. As someone who grew up during the Golden Age of hip hop and R&B during the 90s and 2000s, I noticed around a lot of 2010 or could have started as early as 2008 but the "sound" in my two favorite genres was changing. The music and artists have evolved and technologically their have been advancements in gear and techniques for sound manipulation but the biggest I have noticed is vocal effects.
When I listen to someone like Travis Scott who I don't typically like but has catchy songs, a lot of his music has an atmosphere to it, so to speak. He uses a lot of vocal effects on his voice to make a "sound" in his music. He has awful lyrics, no real substance in his music or concepts but he definitely knows how to craft a song that sounds good.
Here's an example:
I know he's using some sort of auto tune but is it the engineering of the song (mixing/mastering) that gives it this atmosphere? or more of the vocal effects on his voice? I know when he's in the booth rapping his verse, his voice doesn't sound this way. Does he touch his voice up after spitting his verses? This is really interesting to me.
PND is another example of this who actually does have substance and concepts embedded in his music and has an "atmosphere" to his music as well. He says he sits down with a laptop and mic and records his vocals. I have seen him live and he's not a very good singer at all, like the traditional R&B artist of the 90s/2000s but his music has a vibe to it as well. Is this also due to the engineering and the manipulation of his voice using vocal effects?
Are vocal effects that powerful in today's music that they can make an average singers voice be enhanced this way? I know manipulating vocals in the studio have been done since equipment studios were ever created and people who may not be good singers can be great in studio but I feel like the vocal effects and engineering of today take it to another level. Another example is Majid Jordan:
Did you see their performance with Drake on Ellen Degeneres? I will say they are great musicians in the sense of songwriting and producing, crafting nice songs but again, they are not good singers. In a song like this, the vocals sound clear and crisp, the vocals sound very "timed"? I don't know the engineering terminology but very on beat I guess and the range of their voice sounds enhanced. Is this due to manipulation of their voice? distortions? Do they sing their vocals and then add the effects?
What about Quentin Miller? A lot of people say he is boring and has a sleepy voice but I actually think his voice is unique or is it? There's a vocal effect on his voice he is using on each of his songs but I'm unclear of what it is. Here is an example of what a lot of his songs sound like:
His vocals also lay on top of the track, almost sound wrapped around the beat with no "filler". Am I making sense?
this just fascinates me because some of my favorite rappers like AZ or Ghostface have completely different sounds and their vocals don't sit on tracks like this. I was even listening to Nas' verse on March Madness Remix which he killed but yet he still had that classic Nas feel to it, even though it was a modern beat.
Anyone else who is not a producer or engineer interested in the engineering of tracks beyond the beat and lyrics?
Hopefully we can get a discussion going about the engineering and vocal effects in today's music.
When I listen to someone like Travis Scott who I don't typically like but has catchy songs, a lot of his music has an atmosphere to it, so to speak. He uses a lot of vocal effects on his voice to make a "sound" in his music. He has awful lyrics, no real substance in his music or concepts but he definitely knows how to craft a song that sounds good.
Here's an example:
I know he's using some sort of auto tune but is it the engineering of the song (mixing/mastering) that gives it this atmosphere? or more of the vocal effects on his voice? I know when he's in the booth rapping his verse, his voice doesn't sound this way. Does he touch his voice up after spitting his verses? This is really interesting to me.
PND is another example of this who actually does have substance and concepts embedded in his music and has an "atmosphere" to his music as well. He says he sits down with a laptop and mic and records his vocals. I have seen him live and he's not a very good singer at all, like the traditional R&B artist of the 90s/2000s but his music has a vibe to it as well. Is this also due to the engineering and the manipulation of his voice using vocal effects?
Are vocal effects that powerful in today's music that they can make an average singers voice be enhanced this way? I know manipulating vocals in the studio have been done since equipment studios were ever created and people who may not be good singers can be great in studio but I feel like the vocal effects and engineering of today take it to another level. Another example is Majid Jordan:
Did you see their performance with Drake on Ellen Degeneres? I will say they are great musicians in the sense of songwriting and producing, crafting nice songs but again, they are not good singers. In a song like this, the vocals sound clear and crisp, the vocals sound very "timed"? I don't know the engineering terminology but very on beat I guess and the range of their voice sounds enhanced. Is this due to manipulation of their voice? distortions? Do they sing their vocals and then add the effects?
What about Quentin Miller? A lot of people say he is boring and has a sleepy voice but I actually think his voice is unique or is it? There's a vocal effect on his voice he is using on each of his songs but I'm unclear of what it is. Here is an example of what a lot of his songs sound like:
His vocals also lay on top of the track, almost sound wrapped around the beat with no "filler". Am I making sense?
this just fascinates me because some of my favorite rappers like AZ or Ghostface have completely different sounds and their vocals don't sit on tracks like this. I was even listening to Nas' verse on March Madness Remix which he killed but yet he still had that classic Nas feel to it, even though it was a modern beat.Anyone else who is not a producer or engineer interested in the engineering of tracks beyond the beat and lyrics?
Hopefully we can get a discussion going about the engineering and vocal effects in today's music.
Has to be more than just filters... Party's flow in that No Feelings song has an after effect on his voice. Is that a filter?
