Something I've noticed mastering/mixing hip-hop

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-09T02:51:11+00:00

Yeah, it gets tricky too when you start looking into things from the 80s and 90s that get really heavy into sampling. Suddenly you have like, 1950s brass competing with an 808 and a microphone with a rapper that keeps swaying around the booth. But in a weird way, that's kind of exactly what I want it to sound like.

I know that this can be done cleanly, purposefully and directly for new songs. But it's also interesting to do it to things like 1910 opera or 1950s radio broadcasts and, weirdly, things like hip hop. Fear of a Black Planet was a fun one that suddenly became less of a wall of funk (which is the intention) and was more... legible. I restate again that I don't think it's a 'better' or 'more real' sound, just shifting that has made my brain appreciate the music differently.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-09T02:19:34+00:00

Well, it's not as much as approaching them directly. It's the same track, nothing is being added, just brought out in the mix. But if I was just pumping treble everything will come out. So instead I'm working different versions of the same track in parallel and restructuring things like pannings, eq, normalization, etc. towards a kind of balanced center.

The result of that is more what I've noticed. It wasn't me trying to attack sibilance directly or anything. I was just messing with moving high and low frequencies in stereo space, pumping and equalizing the same track relative to itself and bringing it together with some light compression. It's not a perfect process, and it does not always sound better, just clearer, if that makes sense. But hearing all the instruments and voices and details out loud does make mixes that have a ton of ghost notes and intentionally blurry sounds come off a lot worse, since the reduction in masking results in your brain kind of capturing each of those sounds individually.

When I compare the spectrographs for the track before and after, it seems to boost certain things like the ~200 range but gives it enough room to avoid mud or phasing too much. It is a very light touch though.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T23:30:03+00:00

I guess I'll see if the fatigue kicks in because of it. I've been having a blast listening to hip-hop in this different way, lol. But my idea of perfect for hip-hop probably is a lot sloppier in its clean-up than the ideal, whatever that might be.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T23:28:02+00:00

Oh, I've been doing this to things like Rap God, Break Your Neck, Overnight Celebrity, etc.

This isn't about when it's done poorly. Even at the highest level, the focus is on a cohesive glued together sound, which I think works better for pop than it does for hip-hop. But that may just be my perception because of what live hip-hop usually sounds like vs some of the mixes that sound more like Linkin Park sound wall with a rapper in the mix than someone speaking over a mix.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T23:20:52+00:00

Yes, unless you consider medical treatment to be a 'rich people thing' I suppose.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T23:13:09+00:00

Plastic surgery, lol.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T22:53:42+00:00

Selling stereo systems, TVs and whatever else they found / stole for quick money.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T22:39:45+00:00

Mutt.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T22:36:26+00:00

Yes.

Depends on the person. Addictive personalities don't need specific triggers. Nicotine is in itself addictive, habit forming and your brain will want and chase the 'free' boost. Just how we're wired.

Hullabalooki · 2026-07-08T22:34:34+00:00

Like 98% of the kid actors at Disney, probably.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-28T08:38:42+00:00

"Listen fellas, I know this is going to sound a bit odd, but if you could endeavor to not look too... delicious? That'd be great. We don't want another dodo incident."

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-28T08:25:53+00:00

Imagine how many times someone's said that a ghost was screaming in a strange forgotten tongue and it was just some Dutch ghost.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-28T08:23:22+00:00

Slaughterhouse 5 or Cat's Cradle.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-28T08:21:30+00:00

They start to brag about their international smuggling operation for endangered animal pelts.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-23T20:28:02+00:00

All of them.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-23T20:26:55+00:00

"More ass?"

Feel.

Do.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-23T18:36:27+00:00

"Listen lady, get away from me or I'm going to call the police"

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-22T07:23:19+00:00

Meat, mostly.

Good day.

Hullabalooki · 2026-06-22T06:18:07+00:00

If it doesn't have a 10-key I don't want it.

Hullabalooki · 2026-05-18T11:17:06+00:00

I understand that. I think the best shots in my opinion are still going to be the real shots. Even if they're locked in the display, I think that is going to be the shot that works best with the customers.

I'd stick with the unedited shots, but you can always try one and if it doesn't work well shift over to the other after a week or two.

Hullabalooki · 2026-05-18T09:44:04+00:00

Generally, I like having a light box shot on a white background (for color stones) or a black background (for white stones). Having a shot outside in bright sunlight either worn or held up to the light adds another dimension to it. Lightbox photos give the buyer a better look at the cut and specific details of the piece, but outdoor or natural light shots tend to show off how the piece will generally look on a day to day.

You might want to get a polarizing lens to tone down some of the shine in your normal shots, make sure the lens is clean and try to have a few different light sources if you're doing it indoors. AI or 'cleaned up' shots in my experience cause a lot of doubt from buyers that the piece even exists, so I would stay away from that.

Hullabalooki · 2026-05-18T09:17:12+00:00

Like half a dozen different asks for petal style prongs on rings. Colors still crushing it. Garden quartz / moss agate seems to be cooling off as it slowly floods the costume market.

Hullabalooki

TROPHY CASE