Double Tracking Vocals/Instruments. What's Standard Practice?

[mikehoman316]

Hi there,

In a typical rock band arrangement, e.g Vocals, Guitar, Keys, Bass and Drums, which instruments generally get doubled up on for a fuller sound?

In my first recordings I just tracked one of each respective instrument, and as a result I found my mixes sounded quite thin, sparse and lopsided. Recently however, I've been doubling my rhythm guitar tracks and panning one to each side for extra thickness and texture.

I was just wondering what people tend to do with other instruments. Specifically, is it standard practice to record doubles of a lead vocal? Is it common to double bass or keyboard parts?

I'd like to get to know what some of you do with regards to this with your own mixes and also what's considered standard practice (if there is such a thing) for tracking instruments.

Thanks

 

[miroslav]

To tell the truth...I rarely "double up" on any tracks.

If you are consistently getting a "thin" sound using one track per instrument/vocal...it could be the gear or techniques you are using for tracking. I mean...there's no *need* to double-track just to get a great sound.

I do record maybe two, three even four guitar rhythm tracks for some things, or do more than one keyboard or vocal track...but they are not "doubles", they each do their own part that is different from the others.

 

[Dogbreath]

I almost always double track my rhythm guitar, usually DT my vocal takes and that's about it. Sometimes, if I'm not happy with a bass guitar, I'll play a low register piano (keyboards) doing the same notes as the bass but that's not often.

Other than that, no doubles, except for shots.

 

[YellowDwarf]

Ozzie doubled his vocal tracks eight times!

Do whatever sounds good!

 

[grimtraveller]

I've gone and from time to time go through doubling phases. At the moment I'm in my doubling or quadrupling acoustic and electric guitars phase. And with the electric, what I may do is one track through one amp, one through an electro acoustic 12 string plugged in or with a cheap bottletop pick up, one overdriven acoustic same as the 12 or maybe out through a different amp and one electric guitar through my bass amp with perhaps an effect.
With the acoustic {6 or 12} I like to do a stereo recording but recently I've been experimenting with the 12 string for a fuller sound. I do my usual double miking set up {which could be any type of esoteric positioning plus combos of dynamics and condensers - or not} then I plug the 12 straight in and I also add a cheap bottletop pick up onto the body and plug into that so there's this unlikely combination ~ but put together at low volume it sounds lovely to my ears.
I'm on a real downer on double tracking my voice. I'm rather tired of it. But most of the other people that'll sing on my stuff, I'll double track because their voices sound good that way.
I don't double track bass in the trad sense, I'll sometimes mic the amp and go DI or even those two plus a line out then I'll blend the three into one bass track.
I'm not trying to thicken the sound though, just trying to make different sounds {which might turn out to be the same thing in the end}.
And sometimes, thin is best.

 

[RAMI]

In my first recordings I just tracked one of each respective instrument, and as a result I found my mixes sounded quite thin, sparse and lopsided.

Like Miroslav said, if your tracks are sounding thin, etc....the problem isn't that they're not doubled. There's obviously something else that's the problem. There's no reaspn you shouldn't get a good sounding, full mix without double-tracking.

Recently however, I've been doubling my rhythm guitar tracks and panning one to each side for extra thickness and texture. s

I know I'm going to kick myself in the ass for asking this....but I have to.....When you say you doubled your tracks, do you mean you copied and pasted them? Or did you actually play them twice????

 

[Hakea]

Like Miroslav said, if your tracks are sounding thin, etc....the problem isn't that they're not doubled. There's obviously something else that's the problem. There's no reaspn you shouldn't get a good sounding, full mix without double-tracking.I know I'm going to kick myself in the ass for asking this....but I have to.....When you say you doubled your tracks, do you mean you copied and pasted them? Or did you actually play them twice????

+ 1

If it's thin then that's an issue that can be addressed in other ways first.

"Doubling" seems to be understood as different things depending on who is using the term. As Rami says, exact copying and pasting won't really make any useful difference. What you really need is two or more tracks that have some variation that will combine to give a more appealing end result. I'm not an expert on this but as far as I know there are a number of ways that you can experiment with - playing/singing twice is the usual thing to do, but you can also try shifting the timing very slightly (i.e. moving one track fractionally along the time-line), making very small adjustment to the pitch of one copy, or generally adding some sort of effect or change to one or both (or whatever number of tracks you have). The only bottom line seems to be that done wrong it can sound like a mess, but done right it can thicken and richen everything up like a good gravy.

 

[YellowDwarf]

Exactly. You can copy and paste and nudge one a few ms, but you'll end up with a flangy or chorus effect, depending on how many times you nudge. Best to record one or more tracks.

 

[MrWrenchey]

I know I'm going to kick myself in the ass for asking this....but I have to.....When you say you doubled your tracks, do you mean you copied and pasted them? Or did you actually play them twice????

Exactly what he's saying.
If you make a copy of one track, pan it hard left, and pan the original hard right, you don't have a thicker stereo sound... You have a mono sound that seems like it's going straight up the center of your mix because the exact same sound is coming out of both speakers.
Hakea also mentioned something that's a way you can kinda "cheat" doubling... It's called the "Haas effect." If you don't have the means to actually track a guitar/vocal twice, you can get a slightly less decent sounding effect by duplicating the track, panning it to the opposite side, and nudging it forward 10-35 ms.