Artists! You get your hands on that fire beat.. doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Immediately lyrics come and you're singing or rapping over the beat, ready to record. But does the way you sing or rap it really work with the beat??
'Riding a beat' has to do with the rhythm and placement of the lyrics over the beat. It's the melody.. the way you express the words.. your "swag" on the track. A lot of times you can ride the beat the very first time you try something over it... and a lot of times you have to try different ways first to see which works best.
The beat will tell you how to put your vocals over top of it. If it's a really simple beat (like lil Wayne's "A Millie" beat), a lot of different styles will work. But if its an involved R&B production with chords, fills, synth solos, hits, etc., then you have to let the beat tell you where your vocal fits in. For example, if there's a main accent of the beat that comes every 2 bars, you don't want to say anything over top of that main synth. Let the track breath, just like you need to breath. Professional producers won't have any really present parts in areas they feel the vocal should fit in, and professional artists have to do the same. You can think of your vocal as an instrument..the solo lead of the song. It should rhythmically mimic OR compliment the beat, and melodically mimic OR compliment the beat's melodies and chords.
If it's hard to hear what I'm talking about, try listening to your hit records... listen to the record with vocals and then without...just the beat. You can probably find just the instrumental on Youtube. Really understand how the vocalist performed on that track, and you'll start to see where you can apply the same techniques in your own original way.
So make sure you ride the beat! And you'll be on your way to making your own hit record! Happy Recording!
http://www.soforealproductions.com/
Real Beats for Real Artists
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