Hey guys. I am going to be making a music video for a rap artist and the song he wants to use does not sound radio/CD quality. The beat is fine but it is the vocals.

I really want to tell him kindly to re-do the vocal track, and just tell him that before he spends 1000 on a music video to make sure the track is at its best.

Should I tell him my thoughts? Or just let it go; and do what he came for?

thanks

I know you mean well, but:

If you are a professional you might want to just go ahead and do your job. If it sounds good to the artist, then your only choice is whether to do the jig or not (and not whether to comment on the music or not). If you don't like the music, don't do it.

Think about it this way: there are many songs (even with big artists) where the bad singing, poor mixing or amateurish arrangement is plain obvious. But that didn't stop the artists, music companies or radio stations, did it? The same number of professionals worked on those crappy songs as compared to the good songs. That's what professionals do, like doctors who treat criminals.

Encourage and support him if you can. He can remix the song at a later date and still have this great music video made by a professional who gave his best regardless. With all due respect.

I disagree with Sareesh. If you're a professional, nothing should leave your desk with your ame on it that's not the highest quality that you can make it. As the producer of the video, it's your job to make sure everything is as perfect as you can make it. Good enough, never is. The trick is to employ your people skills to sway the artist to your point of view.

What exactly is wrong with the vocals?

I'm with Steve on this. A poor audio track can ruin even the best made video. Does the rap artist record his own tracks? If you've got a strong audio background, you can be a valuable asset to him by tweaking his studio setup. Sometimes, it's just a matter of controlling echo within his recording space, and making sure that he is using quality gear.

As the saying goes, the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. Why would you want to spend valuable time and effort on a video with substandard audio?

Is the issue overmodulation or pitch?

If the track is distorted then you could approach it from a technical point of view as"expert" input. If he can't carry a tune then I would leave it alone :)

I was in a similar position a while ago... We were doing a live video for a band and after a lot of persuading I finally convinced the band to get a desk recording rather than an ambient mic recording. I compared the camera sound to the desk mix and they surprised at the difference.

In my experience with musicians, there's always a tight budget. If that $1,000 is all your rap artist has left, then my concern would be that spending money re-recording his song would mean that there is no money left for you to make that video. Talk to the artist and see what you can work out.

If you're a professional, nothing should leave your desk with your name on it that's not the highest quality that you can make it.

While I agree with Steve, if you can have the best of both worlds (video and audio) then push for it, but if money is an issue then you'll have to decide whether it's better to complete a project that you feel is sub par or if it's better to not do a project at all.

Should I tell him my thoughts? Or just let it go; and do what he came for?

if you care about the final product - talk to the rapper, if you just in need of money - don't put your name on the video;
I've been in similar situation twice, two times in polite form I've been advised to focus on video , and I did, but my name is not on the video.

Well you may think I'm a pompous ass, but what did the Rapper want to hire you to do, critique his song or make a $1000 music video? To put things into perspective... if the guy had the funds/producer to put out a radio ready hit, do you really think he would be asking you to shoot a $1000 music video?
Do the job and pay some bills, or don't.

Good Luck!

Dave

If he's not 50 cent you could tell him that u don't like ;)

Run it through auto tune for him. that fixes everything !

...Or sing it yourself and ask him what he thinks!!

No... bad idea!

Seriously though, I would personally make the video and leave the musical arrangement to him.
We're all working in a subjective business. You wouldn't like him to tell you how to do your job, so what gives you the right to tell him? And don't forget... he's the paying client!!

Ahh... The music video business is one area of the industry where the customer is always right! ;-)