Category: Blog

Before we get into it, let’s make sure you’re in the right place. Have you ever gotten everything ready for mixing but the actual thought of mixing your song just overwhelms you? Thinking about actually mixing your song feels like climbing up Mount Everest or something? Does this usually lead to procrastination and cause you to sit on a bunch of songs and chasing new beats to write to?

If any of these sound like you, then this post is meant to fix that. It will give you some shortcuts to knock out most of the mixing process. In the last post, we gain staged your vocals. This should have included verses, adlibs, soundfx, hooks, bridges. By doing this we should have a consistent volume on your vocals. But now that your vocals are gainstaged what do we do next?
Continue reading Mixing Shortcuts

Today we’re going to continue addressing the main problems with recording your own vocals. Last time we addressed how to deal with vocals that are distorted or too hot. After following the instructions in that post, you should have properly recorded vocals.

So if you followed the last post there’s a good chance your vocals might seem too quiet. In this post we’ll address this problem and how to fix this issue.
Continue reading What To Do After Recording Your Vocals (Pt 2)

So you finally recorded your vocals, congrats! But for some reason you can’t get them to sound right. That’s exactly what we’re diving into today. We’ll address the two most common problems with recording your own vocals and how you can fix them.

The whole point with these tips is to process your vocals and get them ready to be made louder. If you skip this, then you will struggle to make your vocals sound decent.
Continue reading What To Do After Recording Your Vocals

So you finally finished writing your song and you’re ready to move on to your final recording. This quick guide will walk you from writing to a completed song ready for your fans to enjoy.

Step 1 – Lights, Camera, Action

First thing you should do is to get footage of you recording your song. You’ll have to get all the video equipment ready, at the very least get the basics. This means a phone or camera, a simple desktop tripod and some decent lighting. Continue reading What To Do After Writing Your Song

In my last post I discussed how and when to use your inspiration. In case you missed it, go check it out here.

By now you probably have a list of go to songs that inspire you. But this post is a brain dump of all non-music things that have inspired me to create. Inspiration is an ongoing thing so it never hurts to have more.

A key thing here is that I’m not really into what most people are into… I like weird, unusual, different, eccentric things. I also love the artform of hip hop so that makes my taste kind of quirky. If this sounds similar to you then this post will give you a boost of inspiration.

In here you’ll find some stuff that is tied to the act of creativity or tied to music but not actually songs.
I would suggest taking in one or two of these at most today or else you could slip into analysis paralysis. Use these as a spark to get you creating fire. You can bookmark this post and check out one or two more of these next time you need a little boost.

Movies

• Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

  One of the most important parts of being a songwriter is imagination. This movie is dripping with imagination. The idea is people in this movie can enter the mind of a thousand year old sage. Throw in the devil, mini me, trippy visuals and surrealism and its a recipe for inspiration.
  Watch Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus Here

• Enter The Void

  Being able to write from different perspectives is super important to reaching your potential as a writer. This movie allows you to explore the perspective of the observer after death. It makes you question many things and gets the creative juices going when it comes to philosophy and spirituality.
  Watch Enter The Void Here

• The Science Of Sleep

  If you like blurring the lines between dreams and reality, then you should definitely check this movie out. Watching the artistry that’s involved in this movie definitely inspired me to make something unusual and out of the ordinary.
  Watch Science Of Sleep Here

• Requiem for a dream

  The way they used editing and closeups to make you feel like you’re there “partying” with the characters. This is what stuck out to me the most, I haven’t seen anything like this before and after this movie. This movie is a bit in the darker side but the creativity and imagination in this movie should trigger some ideas for your own craft.
  Watch Requiem For A Dream Here

• What dreams may come

  As you can probably tell I like dreams 😂 But ironically this isn’t about sleep or dreams. This movie literally “paints” an in depth picture of the afterlife. It gives you a different, more expansive perspective on life. This could inspire many song concepts, album concepts or even music videos, it depends on you.
  Watch What Dreams May Come Here

• Soul (Pixar)

  You’re probably starting to see a pattern in my interests, I like the weird, afterlife, dreams, anything that’s not “normal”. This movie is no different, a lot of the movie takes place in the afterlife and also ties in with other dimensions quite nicely. One of the main takeaways for me was presenting the idea of detachment to your purpose and not becoming an obsessed “monster” but also enjoying your life. If your a fan of music and spirituality then you’ll love this movie.
  Check out the “Soul” movie here.

Documentaries

• Jiro Dreams Of Sushi

  The reason this is on the list is because it’s inspiring to see the passion and dedication that one person can have towards their craft. This man takes dedication and attention to detail to an extreme level, and you can’t help but admire that.
  Watch Jiro Dreams Of Sushi Here
  

• What the Bleep Do We Know!?

  Have you ever felt someone looking at you? Then you experienced a form of Quantum Physics. This documentary is basically Quantum Physics for dummies. This might change the way you interact with your craft and beats and who knows what else. It might give you new perspectives and concepts for songwriting.
  WWatch “What The Bleep Do We Know” here
  

Books

• How To Rap The Art & Science of Hip Hop

  I know this isn’t the most unusual piece of inspiration but it was stll very helpful. But I guess learning from a book these days is unusual 🤣 In this book I found inspiration to improve the technical side of my craft. The things that I didn’t consciously realize and was just doing by feel it by ear, is explained thoroughly here. This book shines light on techniques and how the greats use them throughout their raps.
  Discover the techniques in “How to Rap” here.

  

• The War Of Art by Stephen Pressfield

  This book really highlights the importance of treating your craft like a PRO. Showing up everyday like it’s your job and you needing to be there. This book connects the dots between showing up everyday and how the gods/spirits are intermingled with this. Truly a life changing book, this book and one punch man completely changed the way I approach time management.
  Check out the book here.

  

• Shape Shifter: How to Transform Your Life in 1 Day

  This is the first “motivational” book I ever read. This book shows you that anything is possible, that the only thing standing between you and your dreams is fear. The main idea is our nature as humans is to shapeshift into whatever is in our mind. But the major key that burned itself into my memory was that, anyone with average ability and a strong desire can become a top amateur in any chosen field if they invest 3,000 hours into its study and practice. To become world class they would need to invest 10,000 hours.
  To go in depth into these gems check out the “Shapeshifter” book here.

  

• Russ – Its All In Your Head

  Look I’ma be honest, I’m not the biggest Russ fan, but I do admire his mentality and grind, after listening to the chomp series, I gave this a read. This book will make you want to do everything yourself but keep in mind that those 3,000 hours from above are per skill. So the more roles and skills you try to take on the longer it will take to become world class. But what I did take from this was the hustle, strategy and dedication to the craft.
  To go more in depth with this, check out the “It’s all in your head” book here.

  

• New Psycho-Cybernetics

  Ok imagine you can rewrite your self into the person that can accomplish your wildest goals and dreams.This book teaches you how to do exactly just that and how to use your subconscious to help you come up with solutions to your problems and ideas for you to use. The main idea is that your brain has a Cybernetic mechanism that is designed to get you towards your goal whether your goal is success or failure.
  <Read “Psycho Cybernetics” here

  

Shows

• One Piece

  This show is a masterclass on world building and character writing. Truly will push you to want to flesh out a concept album and push the limits of your creativity. Most importantly since this show has gone on for over 1000 episodes it’s a lesson in persistence paying off. This show really sold me at around “Arlong Park” from that point I was hooked. It also shifts the way you look at the world, and your place in it.
  Watch One Piece Here

• One Punch Man

  Watching this show was pretty cool at first, but the reason this made my list was the main characters training. There was an episode where this super hero’s training is revealed, he says that he did 4 exercises for 3 years without taking a break. This caused him to develop “god-like” strength, speed and invulnerability. I then thought about what would be the 4 things I could focus on without taking a break. This helped me develop my time management system.
  Watch One Punch Man Here

Interviews

• How This Indie Rapper Made $100,000 WITHOUT Going Viral 💎
  
• BE the BEST VERSION of Who YOU Are! – Lupe Fiasco Live Motivation
  

So going back to the beginning, use these as a spark to get you creating. You can bookmark this post and check out one or two more of these next time your not as inspired. Once you start binging inspiration instead of doing something with it, is where the trap is, you gotta make sure you don’t fall for it.

INSPIRED ACTION > ACTION > BINGE INSPIRATION.

Until Next Time

Continue reading Inspiration For The Unusual MC

So if you have ever found yourself vibin to a beat and you like it so much that you actually end up downloading the beat and say to yourself that you’ll definitely get to this beat later. But then something comes up, and you get caught up in the waves of life. Or maybe you tried a beat out and got stuck. If this sounds like you then read on…that’s what I’m addressing in this post…

So what’s the first thing you should do once you find a beat you like?

If you’re able to download the beat, you should.

Once you download you should save the beat in an easy to find folder dedicated for beats.

Secure a time slot where you’ll be able to record and write with no interruptions.

If you’re working a job it would have to be early before you start work, or after work. This depends on if you’re a morning person or not and of course your environment, pick the best time for your situation. So when your finished with this you should have on a specific date written on your calendar From 05:00AM to 07:00 AM work on writing to “X” beat.



If you’re the type of artist that can create easily then just proceed as usual.

If you have often had writers block in the past then, before your session starts go soak up some inspiration.

Here are a few different ways to become inspired:

Nature
Art Museum
Favorite Movies
Favorite Albums/Songs
Favorite Books
Whatever it takes

The point here is to be overflowing with creativity, where it’s hard NOT to create something because you’re sOooOo inspired. Once you’ve soaked the inspiration up, then proceed to your scheduled session with the beat. Also make sure you give yourself a similar time slot every day for at least a week to dedicate to this beat.

A good way to make sure you have a successful session is to copy and paste the beat a few times in your DAW.

This should make your session about 12 to 15 minutes long. Once you laid the beat out, press record and start freestyling to this beat. It doesn’t matter what you freestyle, it can be humming, singing, raps, anything at all.
While you’re recording you should hear something that catches your ear.



If you don’t hear anything you like then try it again. Find the exceptional ideas in your recording and build the song around that. If you don’t get anything in this session, don’t worry, try for 6 more sessions. If nothing comes out after that time you can leave it alone. Move on to a different beat after a week.

One thing you should remember is the power of infinite.

There are infinite flow variations, infinite melodies, infinite verses and infinite concepts that you can use for each beat, so try not to stress over it if your first few ideas are not that great. If you follow this guide I’m sure you will have more success with the beats you download moving forward. But it will only help if you actually apply it to your life, not just from reading it.

Go schedule your time blocks for your next session and good luck! Also leave a comment, so I know your alive! Let me know what you learned, if you agree, disagree, if I sparked anything, drop it in the comments!

Continue reading What To Do After You Download A Beat