Let's Begin

1st Verse:

I try not to judge

But still cry when I love...

Even when it hurts I know GOD cares

For better or worse I try and give you my soul laid bare...

In these words and rhymes

In order for us to change the world it's gotta take time...

Because we are men and women only

I try and use my pen to love and defend not so lonely...

When GOD is with us

Tears become less than dust

With fears we can adjust...

To love and glory

I'm still trying to get my head around the whole story...

But the picture 

Is in Biblical literature 

And in return our spiritual is richer.

Hook:

Where do we start

From the brain or the heart

What's your name and do you need help in the dark

I know I do so let's walk together and leave a mark.

2nd Verse:

Love pours out my pen

I applaud God until the end...

It's not just me trying to better myself

Spent a lot of nights crying because the inner weather was hell...

Not the kind of summer I wanted

GOD has our numbers but it's Satan whom taunted...

But it's easy to be deductive

And it's even more breezy to be destructive

So when I pick up a pen I ignore the sword and start being constructive...

Jesus amazes most

Gets us through mazes that we chose...

And his love is greater than great

The good news indeed and I take love and my fate...

Is to be decided when the time-is-right

Let's phase out evil cos it's dynamite 

To the people I hope in your lives there's light.



 

Comments

Suggestions for improving hip hop lyrics

Hi, Alex. I tried recording your hip-hop poem but got stuck at the last two lines:

Let's phase out evil cos it's dynamite 
To the people I hope in your lives there's light.

I am not sure what that means and how to speak it. Evil is dynamite? Evil is dynamite to the people? To say something is "dynamite" can mean explosive or destructive. In other contexts "dynamite" can mean good or attractive. "Your speech was dynamite." "Your dress looks dynamite."

Thanks for looking at this. Never hestitate to rewrite poetry or lyrics. Several rewrites are often needed to make the piece better. 

More awkward phrases:

Love pours out my pen

I think you should say "
Love pours out of my pen" or "Love pours from my pen."

I try and use my pen to love and defend not so lonely

I am not sure what "
defend not so lonely" means. Please clarify.

One more:

And in return our spiritual is richer.

The correct word is spirituality. Or you could say spiritual life.

Thanks for considering my suggestions. - Richard

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

EDIT.

Hi Richard,
                    I just edited this track. I didn't realise how rushed this one felt until going back over it. Thankyou for your suggestions, definatly needed a bit of tweeking. I hope this version reads easier. Thanks for taking the time to help me with editing suggestions. God Bless. Alex. 


1st Verse:
 
 I try not to judge
 
 But still cry when I love...
 
 Even when it hurts I know GOD cares
 
 For better or worse I try and give you my soul laid bare...
 
 In these words and rhymes
 
 In order for us to change the world it's gotta take time...
 
 Because we are men and women only
 
 Until the end my love isn’t phoney
 
 When GOD is with us
 
 Tears become less than dust
 
 With fears we can adjust...
 
 To love and glory
 
 I'm still trying to get my head around the whole story...
 
 But the picture
 
 Is in Biblical literature
 
 The spiritual side of life makes us the right kind of richer.
 
 Hook:
 
 Where do we start
 
 From the brain or the heart
 
 What's your name and do you need help in the dark
 
 I know I do so let's walk together and leave a mark.
 
 2nd Verse:
 
 I’m trying to move forward and not descend
 
 I applaud God until the end...
 
 It's not just me trying to better myself
 
 Spent a lot of nights crying because the inner weather was hell...
 
 Not the kind of summer I wanted
 
 GOD has our numbers but it's Satan whom taunted...
 
 But it's easy to be deductive
 
 And it's even more breezy to be destructive
 
 So when I pick up a pen I ignore the sword and start being constructive...
 
 Jesus amazes most
 
 Gets us through mazes that we chose...
 
 And his love is greater than great
 
 The good news indeed and I take love and my fate...
 
 Is to be decided when the time-is-right
 
 Let's phase out evil because we don’t need to fight
 
 We are people that with love comes light.
 

suggestion for last line

Instead of this for the last line...

We are people that with love comes light.

...how about one of these?

When we love each other, we bring the light.

or 

Let's be the people who bring love and light.

 

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Second one.

Thanks for the suggestions Richard. I really like this line you suggested:

Let's be the people who bring love and light.

 
 
 

That is what I will hiphoperate

OK. Then I think we're set on this number. I'll try to get it "hiphoperated" (recorded) this week. Peace.

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Better

Glad you took a second pass at this. Now I will voice it. Talk soon. 

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Recommended Basic Recording Microphone?

Hi Richard,
                   Hope you have been well. I am looking at recording my mixtape soon as I have just finished all 14 tracks in written form. I don't own any equiptment and was just wondering if you have any recomendations for a cheap basic setup? Hope your well and it's pretty cold here down under but hey that's Melbourne for you. Hope to talk soon. GOD Bless. Alex.

Basic recording setup

Hi, Alex. I can try to help you decide what to get for basic recording hardware and software but a lot depends on your budget as well as whether you have a Mac or Windows computer. So, let's start with your computer. Let me know what it is. I have had a busy year. Sorry that I've been offline so much. I promised I'd voice a couple more of your hip hop narratives.

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

PC with Windows 7

Hi Richard, I have a laptop with Windows 7 but my budget is very small (about $500) and I'm not sure if that will cover the cost of a basic setup. I was thinking of going to a cheap studio to record it but I'm not sure how to go about it. I recorded non-catholic songs when I was much younger on friends setups but I don't speak with them anymore. Any tips or advice would mean a great deal as I'm also not that tech savvy. Cheers Richard.

Let's get started with a DAW

Alex, I recommend starting with this free DAW (digital audio workstation):

T6 DAW (by Tracktion)
www.tracktion.com/products/t6-daw

There are newer versions of Tracktion that cost money (Waveform or T7) but you should start with T6 to see if you like it. Get it installed and then drop me a line.

Next question: Do you have a good smartphone? I get very good voice recordings on my iPhone 6s Plus. I email myself a voice or guitar recording and then bring it into Apple Logic X for further optimizing and layering.

You could look at buying a good USB mic. For example, the Blue Snowball or Blue Yeti mic: 

https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/snowball/
https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/yeti/

A direct-connect USB mic eliminates the need for and audio interface. I believe you only need to capture one audio source at a time – your voice or a drum – as opposed to capturing several voices and/or instruments in several channels. 

Another route for capturing your voice and percussion is to buy a good $200 phantom-powered condenser mic and a USB audio interface. Some midrange mics and USB audio interfaces are bundled with free DAW software. You could visit a local guitar / music shop and ask questions. Focusrite is a good brand of audio interface.

Read up on phantom power: 
dawsons.co.uk/blog/what-is-phantom-power

Also, do you happen to have a digital keyboard with a MIDI interface? Not essential, but it's a helpful method for creating your hip-hop beat tracks. I myself and not very good on keyboard. If I do MIDI tracks, I mostly use a MIDI pencil tool for note input within the DAW.

A DAW is the same as a "sequencer" – a virtual mixer for your tracks. Good DAWs allow for real audio input and MIDI input, and come with a variety of plugins and effects. Is there any mixing software with which you are familiar? Of course, I could tell you to move over to my favorite platform – Mac – but that is a more expensive proposition. I started with GarageBand years ago but now work mostly in Apple Logic Pro X, Steinberg Cubase and Sibelius (which is a sheet music notation program).

I recommend staying away from AVID software (e.g. Pro Tools). Their subscription based model is just far too expensive for beginning users. And if you want perpetual licensing, it costs a bundle. 

And option is to start with Steinberg Cubase Elements for $99: steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/cubase_elements.html

See comparison of three Cubase levels: steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/comparison.html

Do you happen to have access to an education discount? Are you a student or a teacher? Also, if you are affiliated with a church or non-profit organizaton, you can get deep discounts on some software through techsoup.org – but there are not too many offerings in music recording and production software, unfortunately.

Finally, if you have Craigslist in your city, you can find good deadls on used hardware and software.

If you want to buy music hardware or software online, you can shop Sweetwater as a start: www.sweetwater.com

Amazon also has good deals on some stuff.
 

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Thanks!

Hi Richard, Thankyou for helping me with so much info. Basically I was thinking of getting a half decent usb microphone as I have a pretty fast laptop running Windows 7. Also thankyou for all your suggestions. I think I will look into buying Cubase Elements for $99. Also I do have a smartphone (iphone 6) so I could try doing what you recomended. I am not a student or teacher so I won't be eligable for those discounts but what I'm thinking is a $200 usb mic and spend $99 on Cubase. I really appreciate your suggestions and they have helped a great deal. Peace. Alex.

Hi Richard

Hi Richard, sorry I haven't been in touch lately, I've been quite ill but just wanted to check in and say hi and hope your doing well. My wife and I are looking at joining s couples church group so that's pretty exciting for us. Anyway hope you and everyone here is well. Blessings. Alex.

Get well!

Alex, sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I hope and pray for your full recovery. Glad to hear about the couples group you are joining at church. May you be blessed by others and by God. I apologize for my long silence. I'm trying to stay afloat with graphic design jobs, family activities and church singing. Check out my new project with Anthony Moran: www.insong.org

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Thank you.

Hi Richard, I think I'm starting to recover and thank you for having me in your prayers. I'm about to check out the new project you have done with Anthony Moran. I think this website is really cool the way people can network and collaborate for the glory of GOD. Great job running it! All the best. Alex.
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