How do I get that professional sounding high end on my master?

[samwashere]

I'm based in Nova Scotia, Canada. I'm actually set to meet with a local producer at a studio here on Thursday to talk about mixing etc. but I wanted to post here in the meantime in hopes of working through it myself.

I've heard not to use compression when recording however the style of music i'm recording is mainly rap and autotuned rap or pop style vocals so I find a bit of compression helps, there is never any peaking I've noticed. Maybe I should go back and revisit things, and read up more on recording hip hop/rap vocals..

[The Elf]

It's not about not using compression - it's about not using *software* compression. To do anything meaningful you need a hardware compressor ahead of the audio interface.

I would forget about reading up about 'rap vocals' and just read up on recording and audio basics. Without the fundamentals you don't have a solid foundation to work from. A basic understanding of gain-staging, digital audio and basic levels will help massively and stop the guesswork that I believe is probably tripping you up right now.

[Sam Inglis]

Actually nothing about the mix that the OP has posted suggests any problems with gain structure to my ear. It isn't wildly out of kilter and nothing is obviously clipping.

[Drew Stephenson]

But, as an aside, if you do want to delve a little deeper into vocal production, I definitely recommend this tutorial set from Eddie Bazil (aka Zukan): https://samplecraze.com/product/vocal-p ... sterclass/
And it's got £5 off at the moment!

[The Elf]

Actually nothing about the mix that the OP has posted suggests any problems with gain structure to my ear. It isn't wildly out of kilter and nothing is obviously clipping.

I'm not saying it's the one and only problem, but you need to start at the beginning! Some fundamentals need to be in place if this guy is going to help himself out of the problems he's hearing. Without the fundamentals that's not easy.

Straining the audio chain on the way in may be skewing the recording from the very start - it doesn't need to have obvious clipping to make a difference. Faders get raised, plug-ins are pushed hard, other stuff is added louder to compensate, faders get raised, D/A is strained and mix choices are made based on all of this, faders are raised... I've seen it happen many times. It's hard to know, obviously, but to sort this out you have to start from the very beginning of the chain. If we can be sure we have clean recordings then we can move to other options.

And I'd second the vote for Eddie's guidance!

[Sam Inglis]

You're right that it's best to have the fundamentals down, but in this particular case I really think gain structure is a non issue. The song is constructed from synths and samples, over which the OP has successfully recorded a vocal that sounds fine to me. He's also mixed it pretty well -- yes there's some room for improvement but it's no beginner effort.

Many vocalists like to hear themselves with compression, and as long as nothing's clipping, there is no reason not to use a software compressor to get the sound right in the headphones and inspire the rapper or singer to deliver a good performance.

[The Elf]

No, nothing wrong with that, but if it's being used to adjust the recorded level then it's potentially masking problems further up the chain. I still say the fundamentals need to be in place - without a compressor to muddy the waters - then he can move forward.