u/LJMusicandFilms

My very first attempt at singing rap with the excellent u/BazsSOUL

Collaborating with u/BazsSOUL. This is my first attempt at the Rapping and u/BazsSOUL is a natural. Attempting a fusion between Indian music and New York style underground rap music. Happy to say we will be released today at 6pm on YouTube. I would love for the music lovers to listen and give us your feedback.

Getting a lot of things out of my checklist

Singing Rap

Singing Raunchy Materials.

I felt very Mumbaiya (Indian from Mumbai) when I sang this. Actually enjoyed singing them curse words.

Wish us luck on the track, thank you Reddit Family.

I am not sure if I can post about this release or add links to the release. The link is on my page and I did not post it here to respect all rules and guidelines. I would love to get all feedback. We have scheduled a YouTube premier release at 6pm EST today

Did any of you collaborate with other reddit members here?

My main daily workout is a 6 to 10-mile bike ride. It’s my go-to for keeping the blood flowing and staying active.

​

To be honest, I much prefer riding with a group or even just one other person—having that company up front and sharing the pace makes a huge difference. But between work, life, and conflicting schedules, I almost always wind up hitting the road completely alone.

​

Initially I stopped riding my bicycle because I didn't want to do it alone. But as it was affecting my health I started doing it alone and I'm still getting the miles in and enjoying the health benefits, but I definitely miss the camaraderie.

​

Has not having a companion affected your workout or kept you from staying active?

I’m currently reviewing our organization's payroll projection process, and the sheer number of moving parts is driving me insane.

​

To do it accurately,

​

I’m tracking:

Onboard Employees: Exact salaries, grades, steps, locality pay, and mid-year adjustments ( promotions, reassignments) mapped to their actual effective dates.

​

Vacancies & Attrition: Factoring in vacancy savings, estimated onboarding timelines, anticipated retirements, and resignations.

​

Benefits & Premium Pay: Calculating employer retirement contributions, health insurance, overtime, night differentials, and holiday pay based on historical trends.

​

Awards & Risks: Performance incentives, retention bonuses, and building in buffer room for unexpected hiring delays or shifting organizational priorities.

​

We are reconciling all of this against authorized headcount to see if we're trending toward a surplus or a shortfall. Currently, it's a massive web of complex spreadsheets and Power BI reports that require constant babysitting because one tiny timing assumption change completely alters the year-end forecast.

​

There has to be a more efficient, less manual way to manage this.

​

What tools, software, or specific workflows is your organization using to automate payroll forecasting?

We are constantly bombarded with ultimate wellness rules. Drink a gallon of water a day, hit 10k steps minimum, try intermittent fasting, cut out all carbs, force yourself through grueling 5 AM workouts... the list never ends.

​

But lately, it feels like the sheer stress of trying to maintain these "perfect" health routines causes more inflammation and exhaustion than the benefits they are supposed to bring.

​

I recently backed off 5am work outs, a strict health trend that everyone swears by, and almost immediately, my energy bounced back, my digestion cleared up, and my sleep improved. It made me realize how much "wellness culture" is just marketing rather than actual health.

​

What was the habit? (e.g., a specific diet, a workout style, a supplement routine, an aggressive sleep schedule)

What happened when you stopped? How long did it take to realize your body actually hated it?

What is the one universally praised health habit you finally dumped, and what did you replace it with that actually worked for your body?

We track our macros, obsess over protein intake, count every single gram of creatine, and make sure we never miss leg day. But when it comes to the simplest, cheapest performance enhancer out there—plain old water—so many of us are falling short.

​

I've noticed a huge trend at my gym where people smash high-stim pre-workouts, but barely finish a single 500ml bottle of water during a brutal 90-minute session. Especially with the intense weather across most of India right now, trying to hit heavy squats or intense cardio while chronically dehydrated is just asking for a plateau (or major cramps).

​

Since I consciously forced myself to hit 3.5 to 4 liters a day, my recovery has skyrocketed, my strength feels more consistent, and those mid-day energy crashes vanished.

​

Let's be real: How much water are you actually tracking daily? If you struggle to hit your target, what's holding you back—forgetting, or just hating constant bathroom trips?

We always hear about how hard it is to hit protein targets on a traditional Indian diet, but what’s the one specific food, habit, or "healthy" misconception that completely derailed your progress before you caught it?

​

​For me, it was realizing just how much oil is hidden in everyday ghar ka khaana (even when mom says she barely used any) and thinking that a bowl of dal was a primary protein source rather than mostly carbs. ​Once you start tracking macros seriously, the reality check hits hard. ​

​

What was that eye-opening realization for you? Is it the portion sizes of rice/roti, the obsession with dairy fat, or something else entirely? Let’s talk.

​

​

A friend and I are currently deep in the trenches of producing a fusion project that blends traditional Indian musical elements with modern hip-hop. Conceptually, the energy matches up perfectly—the rhythmic complexity of Indian classical music should theoretically lock right into a heavy hip-hop pocket.

​

But actually putting it together is a complete psychological and technical minefield.

​

For us, the biggest headache is the battle for the low-end and vocal space. Indian classical instruments like the sitar or veena have these incredibly rich, resonant mid-range frequencies and sympathetic strings, while traditional percussion like the tabla has a very distinct, expressive low-mid pitch. The moment you drop a heavy, compressed 808 or a hard-hitting trap kick under that, the mix completely chokes. It either buries the intricate beauty of the acoustic instruments, or the hip-hop elements lose all their knock.

​

We keep asking ourselves: Are we making a hip-hop track with a sample, or are we making an Indian track with a rap beat? Finding that exact 50/50 equilibrium without making it sound like a cheap gimmick is exhausting.

​

For the producers and artists here who have crossed these specific cultural or genre boundaries: What is the number one roadblock you hit when trying to make two completely different musical worlds play nice? Is it a frequency/mixing nightmare, or is it an arrangement issue?

I have a deep baritone voice, but I feel like I'm constantly fighting my audio settings and processing chain just to make it sound natural and present. Half the time, the low-end warmth gets completely lost or turns into a muddy mess, and

I lose that actual depth and character.

​

For the low-end vocalists here: what are your go-to settings or hardware tricks to keep your natural depth intact? Do you lean heavily on high-pass filters, specific compression ratios, or is it mostly a mic-technique fix for you?

I remember a period when I completely transformed my lifestyle and committed to a rigorous dietary regimen—specifically, a strict, low-carbohydrate, high-protein approach focused on lean meats, vegetables, and intense meal prepping, combined with intermittent fasting. Driven by meticulous daily planning, the momentum was incredible, and over the course of about a year, I managed to lose 70 pounds.

​

For months, that strict routine felt like an unbreakable shield. The results kept me motivated, my energy levels felt stable, and turning down junk food became second nature because the biological momentum was entirely on my side.

​

But then, after the Covid vaccine I became allergic to something and it took me almost a year to find out what I was allergic to. Now I find It extremely hard to be in the mental space of where I was when I was first following the dietary regiment

​

Have any of you had such similar roadblocks?

I’m relatively new to the Pro Tools world, and I’m trying to build solid, fast workflow habits right from the start instead of learning the hard way down the road.

​

I know the software is a powerhouse, but it can also be intimidating with how many different ways there are to do the exact same task. I want to skip past the clunky beginner stage and learn how the experts actually move fast.

What is that one feature, key command, or workflow habit you adopted that completely changed the game for your music production or mixing efficiency?

​

Whether it's a specific way you handle routing, a hidden shortcut that saves you hours of clicking, or a preference setting that changed everything—what's the best habit I should start building today?

​

Appreciate any tips you can throw my way!

I’m working on dialling in a reliable vocal chain in Pro Tools for singing, mostly using stock or standard plugins. My goal is to get a clean, up-front vocal that sits nicely in the mix without sounding completely crushed.

​

I'm using a serial compression approach (one fast compressor for peaks, followed by a slower one for leveling).

​

Here is the exact setup I have right now:

​

1. Pro Tools EQ III (7-Band)

HPF (High-Pass Filter): Engaged at 90 Hz, with an 18 dB/oct slope to clear out low-end rumble. Low-Mid Cut: A narrow parametric band at 280 Hz, cutting by 2.5 dB to clean up some of that baritone "mud" that buries the vocal. Presence Boost: A wide band at 3.5 kHz, boosted gently by 1.5 dB to help it cut through the instrumental.

High Shelf: A 1 dB boost at 10 kHz to add some high-end "air."

​

2. Pro Tools BF-76 Compressor (The Peak Tamer)

Ratio: 4:1 Attack: Set to 3 (to clamp down on explosive notes). Release: Set to 7 (blazing fast so it lets go right after catching a loud peak). Input: Turned up just enough to catch the loudest peaks by 2 to 3 dB of gain reduction.

​

3. Pro Tools ProComp / Dyn3 Compressor (The Smooth Leveler)

Ratio: 2:1 or 3:1 Attack: 30ms (slower, to let the consonants breathe before compressing). Release: 250ms (slower and more musical to level out sustained singing).Threshold: Adjusted for a steady, gentle 3 to 4 dB of constant gain reduction.

​

Does this look like a solid baseline to you guys?

​

Specifically, I'd love advice on a couple of things:

Is my EQ placement right, or should I be doing my surgical cuts before the BF-76 and moves like the high shelf after the compressors?

​

Are there any red flags with my attack/release times for the dual-compressor setup?

I've recently started recording my own vocals in Pro Tools and I'm struggling with muddy sounding vocals.

​

I was listening to a track from an artist I've been talking to lately (u/BazsSoul) and one thing that stood out was how clear and present the vocals sounded in the mix.

​

My recordings seem to have a lot of low-mid buildup and don't cut through the beat the same way.

​

For those of you recording your own vocals, what are the biggest things that improved vocal clarity? EQ? Compression? Mic technique? Room treatment?

​

I'm recording at home and trying to learn the basics, so any advice would be appreciated.