U2's "DAY!!!!"

[natmj]

How does U2 get that huge background vocals effect on the chorus of Beautiful Day? I wondered if maybe it was by overlaying a lot of vocals dubs, but then I saw them on SNL and realized that unless they were cheating live by playing a pre-recorded track, they were really just running the background vocals through some sort of effect.

 

[mikemoritz]

It sounds like screaming to me, but I know what you're trying to get at. I think it's the edge doing the background screaming. It sounds like they overlay the same vocal track at about 4 intervals giving a delay sort of effect, but at the end when the overdubs all match at the same pitch it gives an airy effect. That's all I can tell ya.