Boosting presence is generally a good idea with hip hop vocals - but the SMB7 is already quite the present microphone and 3-6 dB might be much too much.
You'll probably want to place a low cut at about 120 Hz. Most voices don't lose anything as their fundamental frequency is above this.
Around 7 kHz there's sibilance, so you might want to cut that a little if de-essing doesn't work well with the rapper's voice.
Generally, do boosts with a low Q (wide) and cuts with a high Q (narrow) - and don't try to get something out of the recording that isn't there - if your EQ looks like a rollercoaster ride you're probably doing something wrong and the vocals will sound very unnatural.

An alternative or supplement to compression, especially in "aggressive" rap music, is saturating or distorting the voice, which will also compress it. Works especially well with dynamic mic's like the SMB7 because they've generally got more punch. When you do compress, be careful not to use a too-low Attack time as this will greatly decrease intelligibility.

Of course it's hard to give more advice without hearing the mixes. It's like

once half-jokingly said, "Every song and every mix is a new battle."

Cheers,
Moritz

Very helpful. Cheers!

I'm going to be mixing a lot of vocals soon. Anyone have some general guidelines/EQ sweet spots?

What genre is the music? What mic was used?

A Shure SMB7 through an avalon VT 737, hip-hop.

Thanks for the tips, everyone! And I'll look into that Vocal Rider...

I'm going to be mixing a lot of vocals soon. Anyone have some general guidelines/EQ sweet spots?

Yes, don't take my commentary as discouragement. Reason helped me a lot for years, and I don't want to imply that it's an expected "graduation" you have to make out of it. For all I know, new versions are better anyway.

I always enjoyed writing things in Reason back in the day. My approach with it might have been different than most but it was a fun platform.

If anyone was into the "minimal techno" thing at all, the first Tractile record and much of the live show material was originally written in Reason. (on Minus / Hawtin's label)

I encountered those pops and clicks back in Reason 4 and 5, but after adopting Record's new engine, Reason 6 doesn't have those problems anymore. I used to rewire into Ableton to use mastering VSTs, but I haven't had to do that since upgrading. One of the first things I said to a friend after messing around in the new version was "It just sounds better in general."

It feels good not to rewire at all now.

When version 5 (I think it was 5) was announced, I approached Propellerhead, asking if they would finally fix certain problems, which I laid out in exquisite detail. A representative contacted me, and seemed to beat around the bush while hyping up a couple of the new devices, but insisted that the problems should be resolved and if not, using the new devices would remedy most of them.

I'm very curious about this.

Anyways, I've used pretty much every other DAW, and the fact that Reason doesn't crash + starts up near instantly has earned lots of points with me over the last 5 years. Most routing I do is muscle-memory at this point, and with two screens, there no window juggling to do.

I always tell people to use whatever DAW they have the most fun with, because the problems people have with them are always subjective.

I got Reason 6 last month, and if you're using Reason 5, I really suggest upgrading. The new mixer's master compressor is a great analog recreation and is almost worth the upgrade price alone for how it can magically make a track sound good. The mixer's EQs also add a wonderful sparkle to things. And finally, proper gates on every channel.

I put Pulverizer on basically every sample I chop because it gives things a warm, cohesive sound. It's also great for adding tone when recording real instruments, and if you experiment a bit, it can make insane experimental sounds with its follower and LFO.

The Bass and Guitar Pods are good but limited recreations of their real counterparts due to a pretty limited selection of amps, but Pulverizer works well on top of these for some more tone control.

The Alligator triple gate is a very welcome new unit, and I've found myself both using its patterns and controlling it manually to pan and effect pads and samples. Throwing it on top of something with an arpeggiator is awesome.

And finally, The Echo, which as they put it, is an echo unit you can play like an instrument. What they mean is, you should be automating its knobs when you use it because it can do filter-sweeped echoes and other fun stuff. It can also do the whole beat-repeating thing like Ableton, so we can finally do cool stutters without jumping through 5 hoops.

I give it a big 

A 32 second looper that's supposed to bring out your investigative blood! Features retro synths and lots of crunchiness, as I was trying to meld that cheesy 80's investigative feel with modern hip-hop production sensibilities. So, throw on your 3d glasses and your tan trenchcoat and solve this mess!

A thousand times this. Learn every technicality you can. If you had a true creative spirit to start with, it will only be strengthened by knowledge.

But there lies a problem. There is not enough time for one persons life to learn everything that can possibly be learnt. In worst case scenario, you end up only learning more and gathering more information and in the end you still don't have anything meaningful art that you've made. Music in particular is quite interesting because within the media you can do a lot with very little. That's why it is great medium for expressing creativity without getting lost in technicalities.

Again I like to compare this medium to painting/drawing and writing (assuming one can write to start with). Entry level is very low and you can put your creativity in play instantly. Sure there are a lot theories and technicalities that can be learnt within all of those mediums, but oddly enough, they are not actually required.

Are we talking about the same thing? You can easily learn music theory in a few years, not nearly your entire life. And when you learn music theory, you gain an infinitely more intimate relationship with music and what you can create with it, as well as a mutually understandable way to discuss it.

What I'm saying is, if you learned music theory, you'd be able to talk to us about music, rather than contribute nothing with these shitty philosophy 101 arguments. Furthermore, as someone who's grown up in a family of musicians, I don't think you've ever seen a living example of what your talking about and are just spouting conjecture.

I feel I have addressed this question enough.
Creativity is a hungry beast that needs to be fed with both imagination and learning, or it will wither. Ask anyone. Read any interview. There is nothing like "knowing too much" when it comes to creating if you know how to handle it.

A thousand times this. Learn every technicality you can. If you had a true creative spirit to start with, it will only be strengthened by knowledge.

A new one I'd like to show off!

http://soundcloud.com/postpre/rubin

Big bassy chillout/hip-hop with some touches of c64 drums and general lushness in the mids. I'd love to get an ear or two on it!

I recently put two beats on my soundcloud.

http://soundcloud.com/postpre/uglad

http://soundcloud.com/postpre/clitch-in-the-matrix

Thoughts? Comments?

I'm currently at my project limit, but keep me in mind if you're still working on it in a few months.

Not really our music but our remix/medley, most definitely!

Zelda Medley based on the Wind Waker tunes, and a touch of Ocarina of Time too, just a touch.

http://soundcloud.com/chris-tg/hoy-small-fry-zelda-medley

HOY SMALL FRY!

Wow. The production quality on this blows me away. Sick!

Two pretty different tracks this time:

http://soundcloud.com/postpre/gkys

Combining electronic and organic sounds is lots of fun. If you like 90's hip-hop, you'll like this beat.



On the other hand, if you like Eprom and other modern electronic hip-hop, you'll like this one. Mega fat.

And hey. If you like bobbing your head, you'll like both 

http://soundcloud.com/postpre/blue-grey

Here's one I made for fun. Housish, airy and open with hard hitting bass and dreamy melody. Lots of different percussion, too. Enjoy!

Shot you an email, my friend.

it's been a while since my last post. I'm on board a few really promising projects, and honing my music game to a sharp point. Here's a WIP:

http://tindeck.com/listen/etbn

Cheers, everyone! Keep at it!

Here's a short jam I imagine being in some sort of robot game: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4775209/music/Jam%201%20final.mp3
Here's the draft before adding the background texture: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4775209/music/Jam%201%20draft.mp3

Damn, you're talented.

I've been working on reason for about 3 or 4 self-taught years, it's an incredibly fun and hands-on program to work with. I love KONG, it's almost an MPC

Watch this video, see how easy it is to make the fattest synth. And that vocoder trick is awesome! I'm sure this series of videos has a lot more handy tricks like that.





As for my work, I've been working on making giant textured synths myself, like in this track:
http://soundcloud.com/postpre/trisomy

And more melodic/orchestral things as well:
http://soundcloud.com/postpre/postpre-the-black-leaf

It's very worth it to search out some good sample packs for NN-XT.
And feel free to ask questions.

You can make a good amount of chiptune sounds with an analog oscillator, a noise oscillator, and a shaper. And hey, Thor in Reason has that and more

I've got a few projects, but I'd love to talk. Shoot me an email!