Improving articulation?

C

CG Kid

New member
Aight, so I NEED to improve articulation so people understand what I'm saying. I say the words fine, but I do speed rap, and what I'm learning is words almost need to be overly articulated for people to follow what you're saying since it's moving fast.

So far, I've done tongue twisters which have helped a bit. I plan to keep doing them.

I'm just wondering if any of you have worked on improving articulation and what did you do that helped the most?

Thank you!
 
Use actor's vocal warm ups. Slightly different from singer's warm ups, in that you won't have to do scales and arpeggios (which would not hurt though, btw).

https://www.google.com/amp/www.busi...e-in-their-routines-0280069/amp?client=safari

https://www.theatrefolk.com/freebies/vocal-exercises.pdf


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IB6u3kUP238

And stop saying "Aight." Use proper diction, elocution, prrr-o-nunciation, and enunciation! "All-Rrright! All-Rrright! All-Rrrrrr-ight!!!!" (While I generally deplore emojis, I do wish to point out that the last sentence was facetious)

GJ
 
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You sound nasally, try and take pauses and breathe more...

Firstly slow down for a while, it is possible to spit your lyrics slower and still on beat. You're focusing on getting the words out as opposed to emphasising each syllable with your lips and tongue, that's why you're described as mumbly. I'm one of those people who can't understand what you're saying and I listen to fast MCs. One trick to articulation is in the lyrics them selves, write lyrics that kick on each syllable, slick, sick, trick, pick, quick, flick, etc. Bu and Ku and Du and Gu, It and Mit and Tit and Git. I don't know the technical terms, but these sounds have bite to them, they're very clearly spoken it's hard to make these sounds without people understanding what you're saying. Understanding the sounds of each letter and word and using them well in your lyrics automatically makes what you're saying more articulated.

This one is a bit controversial but it's quite simple, listen to and copy over the top of other MCs who have good articulation. The problem with copying is that you imitate people's style and pick up bad habits, but at the same time you learn to use and apply syllables to beats at the same level of articulation as they do. It's then up to you to write your own lyrics and take the skills you've learned from them, and eventually you'll develop the instinct to just know how many syllables fit the beats and what words you can use to fill that space.

The obvious stuff is just to say that what is important is that people hear the words and understand what you say, as opposed to how many words you try and cram into a beat. There's nothing to be gained from hearing that but it's an attitude you can adopt.
 
Listen to the first ten seconds of your clip... then listen to the next ten seconds... and notice the difference. You keep bopping your head because you feel you got it. Watch your eyes and your lips, you open your mouth more, start to relax and you stop straining your face. You can see and hear the difference.
 
In regards to the impact of lyrics and articulation, I guess a good term to use would be compression. For example let's take the phrase "when I'm on the mic." If you tried to say this properly, loud and clear, your mouth would have to move more as you try and articulate each individual sound of the phrase, you would think. But a question to ask is, how can I compress this down so my mouth has to move significantly less but the phrase is still clear and understood? The answer would be something like this... "wenamonemic." The phrase is the same, has similar sounds, but is significantly shorter and easier to rattle off the tongue. It's like that phneonemon where as long as the first and last letters of a word are in place the brain can fill in the gaps and understood what is written. It's a similar thing, you've removed letters, muddled it up into one word, but because all the important sounds are there people can still understand what is being said at speed and thus giving the impression of articulation, even though what you've actually said has cut out pieces of information.

That's not to say you should write all your lyrics like this, but if you have a phrase or senstence that rolls nicely, cut bits out and save the important stuff like mouth movement and breathing to more technical parts of your lyrics.
 
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Here's another example with the word "everybody." Everybody has five syllables, ev-e-ry-bo-dy. For typical beats you can just say it like it is, but with faster beats if you want to sound more articulated again you can take out the unimportant sounds and shorten it down to "eb-e-dy" which is only three syllables. With the speed you're rapping at people don't notice the missing sounds, as long as all the important ones are there people's brains still pick up on what was said. This gives the impression of articulation with speed, you're emphasising the strong sounds, taking out the weak sounds and reducing the amount of syllables, allowing you to fit more words into a beat all while people still understand what you're saying.
 
I think you have potential and def better than a lot of people that I have heard.

But I gotta be honest, and it is really hard to understand some lines due to that double time flipping style you have. And this is probably the reason you are seeking this advice. All I kinda hear is syllables that definitely belong to a language, and probably English...but I really don't want to have to cross examine a flow x3 to even begin to understand what someone is saying...and even then I would be guessing on 1/3 of the material, know what I mean? I tune out quick if someone has a flow that sounds like coded drills of rhythmic sounds using syllables.

I'm big on lyrics, they are important...I'm also big on style, which demands as much, if not more, importance at times.

Probably just my own perception and understanding but I truly think that type of style originally developed due to people trying to hide their lack of lyricism behind a style that masked it with ornate rhythms (aside from Freestyle Fellowship, and some others... they have dope lyrics). I checked out your other song about addiction though, and it's clear that you have substance.

I mean, it's easy for say me or you to understand what we have written and performed because we know what we said. To someone who is new to your sound, it might not be so easy to distinguish.
I would simply start with the basics and ask you on average, how many times are you rehearsing your verses?
More is going to be better.

Are you counting the syllables in your lines? It kinda sounds like you are and treating it like a math problem, belting them out as syllabic drills. This is fine, but as you practice more, you will develop more finesse and flow into your style.

It's really just a matter of practice after everything. I think you will find your sound yourself as you progress.
 
AudioPhorm said:
I'm big on lyrics, they are important...I'm also big on style, which demands as much, if not more, importance at times.
Click to expand...
This is true depending on circumstances, I think my two rules would be to be loud and clear, those are equally important. Part of rapping or MC'ing is that you're adding new layers to a piece of music, and whether the lyrics are important something like Changes from Tupac, is completely different to what you're adding with speed rapping. There's no way you can cram together a masterpiece like that and make it anything as meaningful at these kinds of speeds, they're two different arts.

unless you're this guy...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4X4Fy8YqysY

I guess the reality of speed rapping is that you can only say so much before the lyrics start working against you and it's hard to roll from one word to another, you cant say something that's totally lyrically beautiful and something that's beat entertaining at the same time, like that guys rendition of Bad. There's many analogies to think of it, another way to look at it is like computer programming. You could write a piece of code that works and functions perfectly, but if you want to make it faster and more efficient eventually you have to optimise the code, take parts out, find workarounds to make it function the same but with a better performance. This is where your point of having style over lyrics is evident, it doesn't exactly matter what you're saying, as long as you're creating new beats and entertaining the people who are listening.
 
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