Recording with Waves saves you the hassle of dealing with equipment and cords.
If you want to mix rap vocals straight from your microphone into your computer, Waves -- a software-based audio production program -- makes this process simple. With the proper components, you can create your own rap vocals to be paired with digitally created or enhanced background music, in order to produce your own music. Waves plug-ins, which are individual software add-ons designed to perform a specific audio function, can enhance the overall sound of your rap vocals. So keep this in mind as you record with Waves.
Instructions
1. Connect the USB microphone to the computer that has Waves downloaded onto it. A USB microphone is one that has a USB connector, so that the rap vocals you sing into the mic are directly recorded into the Waves program.
2. Open Waves on the computer. Select the setting in the menu bar for vocal recording. Press "Record" when you are ready to begin. Sing or say your rap vocals into the microphone. Press "Stop" when you are finished recording your vocals. Select the playback option to hear how the vocals turned out. You can delete or save the recorded files, if you want to redo them or keep them.
3. Add your pre-recorded backbeats behind the vocals. Go to the File option in the program and select the file that has your backbeats saved. Open this file, which will add the music into the file you are already working on -- the vocal file you recorded. If you haven't already created backbeats to mix with your rap vocals, you can do so by opening the Sound Modeling option in Waves and selecting the instrument you want to start with, such as bass or drums. Play the notes for the instrument using the digital scale that appears on the computer screen. Set the pace, rhythm and tempo for the instrument with the metronome dial on the screen. This will speed up or slow down the sounds. Press record when you get a beat down that like you, and save the file in the File section.
4. Play the vocal recording with the musical accompaniment by selecting the option to play the vocals with the music. You can also play just the vocals or just the music by checking the Silencer option on each file you work on.
5. Apply any plug-ins that you wish to use for the vocals -- such as a DeEsser, which softens the "ess" sounds, or the DeBreath, which removes the background sounds of you breathing from the song. These are available in the plug-ins tab of the menu bar in the program. Scroll through the plug-in options, which either came with your bundle or you downloaded separately from the Waves website. Click on the plug-in you want to use and it opens a new, smaller window on the music production screen. Now the plug-in is automatically activated. To get rid of the plug-in, close the window for it.
6. Set the timing for your vocals and the music in the background, so that they start when you want them to. Start by playing the backbeats without the vocals. When the backbeats get to the point where you want the vocals to enter, select the vocals option for "Play" and the vocals will start playing along with the music. At the bottom of the screen is a time tracker that displays how many seconds and minutes the song is. It also tells you how many seconds into the song the vocals started.
7. Apply other options to the music with Waves -- such as a delay, which adds an echo-like background to the vocals. This feature can be used for the chorus of rap songs. The delay option can be opened by going to the Special Effects tab in the menu bar and selecting "Delay." This brings up a new window on the screen. Play the song. As you come to the chorus, check the activation tick box in the Delay window and the delay activates. When you want it to stop, deselect the box.
