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12 Creative Hip Hop Production Tips with Jeff Ellis

Nov 21, 2023 | 24,542 Views

From rap vocals to 808s to adding crunch to your entire mix, learn these 12 creative tricks for your hip productions, from Grammy-winning producer/engineer Jeff Ellis (Frank Ocean, Doja Cat, Kali Uchis).

Check out all of Jeff’s personal chain presets in StudioVerse.

The plugins used in this video are on special here, or available in the Waves Ultimate subscription.

  • 0:00 – Introduction
  • 1:25 – #1 “Unhinge” the vocal with delay
  • 4:11 – #2 Splash crazy color on vocals
  • 7:36 – #3 Make the backing vocals sound “faded”
  • 9:00 – #4 Make adlibs swirl
  • 11:35 – #5 Make your samples more unique
  • 14:15 – #6 Turn your snare into a monk chant!
  • 14:57 – #7 Wrap the backing track around the vocal
  • 16:07 – #8 Filter 808s differently during different sections
  • 20:00 – #9 Help drum samples not sound super-samply
  • 22:12 – #10 Soften your snare to keep attention on the vocal
  • 24:11 – #11 Auto-pan hi-hats so they don’t block the vocal
  • 25:15 – #12 Add crunch to the entire mix
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