Double-click the desktop icon to open your preferred digital audio workstation.
Launch the relevant song session. Methods vary slightly depending on which digital audio workstation you use, but you typically click “File,” “Open” and select the relevant song session from the drop-down menu.
Hit “Play” so you can hear the song.
Click on the lead vocal audio track. This highlights it and assigns subsequent processing procedures to this track specifically, rather than the mix as a whole.
Click the “S” icon on the track, to solo it. This mutes all other audio.
Open a compressor from the “Effects” menu. A compressor lets you smooth out the volume peaks in the vocal.
Adjust the “Threshold” ratio to approximately 70 percent. This means that the loudest 30 percent of the rap vocal will be reduced in volume so it is no louder than the rest of the audio. Because rap is delivered in a style comparable to loud speaking, there are more volume peaks. By reducing the loudest parts, you remove the peaks. Apply the compression effect to all audio, but use a slightly higher threshold.
Open the “Equalizer” tool from the “Effects” menu. This tool lets you boost and cut frequencies in the audio to enhance their natural characteristics. Apply equalization to each audio track individually. To increase the prominence of a particular frequency, raise the “Gain” slider dial underneath the relevant frequency range. Listen to how each adjustment affects the sound. If something becomes “boomy,” reduce the lower frequencies. If it becomes “tinny,” reduce the higher frequencies. Aim to add as much bass as possible to the instrumentation, without making it boom, as this creates an authentic rap sound.
Open the “Mixer” tab. Methods vary, but digital audio workstations typically have a prominent tab that permits you to access the mixer fader tools.
Adjust the levels of each audio channel individually. If you boost the volume of a sound too much, it will distort, causing a red warning light to flash on the channel strip. Set the vocals as loud as possible, before they distort.