Hip hop can be a challenging genre to master. It’s can be difficult to balance the exaggerated lows and highs- especially without making your mix sound muddied or harsh. Additionally, there’s a wide range of sub-genres, each with its own different sound. In this article, we’ll explain a few of our favourite tips for mastering hip hop to help you dial in the perfect sound.
Use References
The sound of hip hop has changed a lot over the years especially in the last decade or so. From the sounds of classic boom-bap and G-funk records of the 90s to the slick aesthetic of modern trap and melodic rap sub-genres, it’s important to have a goal in mind. Start by finding three to five similar tracks that you think sound great even if it’s just the sound of the bass in one track on the sound of the vocal in another. You’ll see all of these as a reference to help guide your decisions.
REFERENCE- makes it easy and compare your mix to multiple tracks. Just drag and drop your reference tracks, click the level match button, and check the Trinity Display for detailed visual insights to help you match the balance, punch, and stereo width of your reference tracks.
Shape The Low-End
The most important frequency range in any track is the low-end. It needs to be powerful and present, but never muddy. You should be able to feel the kick in your chest, without it rattling the trunk of your car. It’s also important to make the kick and bass are working together in the mix. Use a high filter to roll off any unneeded low-end typically around 30 Hz or so. Use a surgical EQ like BASSROOM to correct any resonances. When working with approx 808s frequency will be the most dominant, and often needs to be tamed. You may also need to cut 160 or 320 Hz to reduce muddliness. Use an analog-modelled shelf EQ with a smooth bottom-end like a pultec to boost or cut the lows, depending on what the song needs.
Compression With Purpose
In most hip hop songs, the vocal is typically upfront and heavily compressed. Because of this, vocals can quickly start to sound over-compressed when applying more compression. To avoid this, take one of two approaches depending on the style of track. Sub-genres like boom-bap, there tends to be less of a contrast between the low and high end. Because of this, typically use compression to enhance the groove of the song and glue tracks together for a more cohesive sound.
With modern tracks, the kick and bass tend to be a focal point of the mix. It can be difficult to apply compression when one frequency range is significantly louder than the others. That’s where multi-band compression comes in. For example- you can apply aggressively compression to the lows to tame unwieldy 808s without affecting the sound of the vocal.
Limit With Lows In Mind
Hip hop mixes, the 808s is the loudest instrument in the mix. Because of this, aggressive limiting often sucks the life out of the low-end. Some of them offer frequency based on limiting, similar to a multi-band compressor. This can work well when trying to increase the loudness of a hip hop track without affecting the balance of the mix. It’s important for the bass to knock for the track to sound louder than someone else’s. You can turn up the volume, but the bass has to be right or your track is getting skipped.
Use these tips next time when it comes to buy exclusive beats or hip hop tracks and you’ll be well on your way to achieving a professional, polished sound.
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