doubling up vocals
- Thread starter JLinardi
- Start date
I see a TC Helicon VoiceOne in your future.
Easiest way to double your vocals. The Backstreet Boys (and probably 99% of pop stars) can't be wrong!
Easiest way to double your vocals. The Backstreet Boys (and probably 99% of pop stars) can't be wrong!
doubling vocals
I have a hard time with my own vocals and maybe its' just a subjective thing, but I have successfully done others. Male and female voices. Sometimes its the materials fault. But, overall, I think it's a subjective thing, because if you really listen, you can hear that a lead vocal is doubled. Otherwise, you don't notice. The stated technique is to sing a duplicate part and then mix the second part a little below the main vocal. sometimes the parts are panned hard right and left. (Lynard Skynard did that on "Call me the breeze". All of my successful doubling came about from second takes that were as good as the first and just got left on by accident. I would assume that's how they came up with the technique in the first place. It doesn't seem used as much these days and doubling by electronic means doesn't sound the same to me. That can sound like ADT or digital delay. ADT was something the Beatles started using because they got so tired of double tracking. About the time of Revolver. I think it was something like digital delay and to my ears, it sounds tinny and artificial. It might be the reason for how the vocals sound on that album.
I have a hard time with my own vocals and maybe its' just a subjective thing, but I have successfully done others. Male and female voices. Sometimes its the materials fault. But, overall, I think it's a subjective thing, because if you really listen, you can hear that a lead vocal is doubled. Otherwise, you don't notice. The stated technique is to sing a duplicate part and then mix the second part a little below the main vocal. sometimes the parts are panned hard right and left. (Lynard Skynard did that on "Call me the breeze". All of my successful doubling came about from second takes that were as good as the first and just got left on by accident. I would assume that's how they came up with the technique in the first place. It doesn't seem used as much these days and doubling by electronic means doesn't sound the same to me. That can sound like ADT or digital delay. ADT was something the Beatles started using because they got so tired of double tracking. About the time of Revolver. I think it was something like digital delay and to my ears, it sounds tinny and artificial. It might be the reason for how the vocals sound on that album.
Apple said:
ADT was a device built by an engineer that used tape lag (which would alter the pitch as well) to produce a 'double' of the vocal. Cool technique that adds a different vibe to those Beatles recordings.
TC Helicon's advanced doubling programs DON'T sound 'fakey'... they are frighteningly amazing. Heck, you can even make them imperfect if you want, or sound like someone else is doubling you.
Amazing technology.
TC Helicon
i've looked at this unit a few times as well as the Antares vocal producer unit - just out of interest will it handle polyphonic sources as well - say a choir on L&R, to make them sound fuller?
i guess it works best on stable monophonic sources, but just wondered if anyone had tried it - i seem to be plagued with choral recordings at the mo!
ta guys
i've looked at this unit a few times as well as the Antares vocal producer unit - just out of interest will it handle polyphonic sources as well - say a choir on L&R, to make them sound fuller?
i guess it works best on stable monophonic sources, but just wondered if anyone had tried it - i seem to be plagued with choral recordings at the mo!
ta guys
It probably won't work on a chorus. Too many sound sources.
Farview said:
If you're lucky!
ecktronic
Mixing and Mastering.
If you double track right using only the one recorded vocal (on two tracks obviously) for BACKING vocals this can sound great. Remember to pan and budge one of the tracks slightly out of time around maybe 20ms to give a sense of space. I dont think i would double track the main vocal as you get a nasty sound, kind of phasing.
Farview said:
However, if you record people for cash you quickly realize that there are a lot of bad singers out there. Hence things like the VoiceOne. Pull up crap singer and almost instantly:
Correct their crappy intonation
Correct their wavering pitch
Thicken their thin voice with a little chest resonance
Add some good vibrato
Double the voice--recreating a seperate performance that is "on" but off enough to sound good
When you play the mix back to the unsuspecting client they will do one or two of three following things:
1.) congratulate you on your engineering genius
2.) ask how you got such a great performance, to which you reply: "I used the STC-8 compressor to bring out those characteristics in your voice."
3.) say nothing because their ego is so out of whack they think they actually sound half that good
Farview
Well-known member
If you do that, the singer will never have the need to learn how to sing. Anyway the pitch correcters reaaly don't work very well on someone who just can't sing, even when you correct the pitch manually. Doubling? Why would you want 2 bad vocals playing at the same time.
Hardware and plugins are not a substitute for talent and hard work.
Hardware and plugins are not a substitute for talent and hard work.
