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BigEZ
The Devil Has Blue Eyes
If it helps at all, I'm using an AKG C414XLII with a UA710 Twinfinity to a Focusrite PRO24DSP FireWire interface.
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
^^^THIS^^^
I'm certainly not saying that double tracking is bad at all. In my personal music taste, I don't like the sound from double tracking. I can almost always tell when a person double tracked and tried to hide it. I'm not an average listener though
Quite a bit of this is personal preference. This isn't like treating your room. Everyone here will say "start off with broadband absorbers on the corners" when it comes to that. This is obviously different. I'm not harping on double tracking the vocals. I'm only mentioning the other options you can use.
Now at the risk of sounding defensive, I'll throw in some smileys lol.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Defensive smileys? Brilliant!!!!
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
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BigEZ
The Devil Has Blue Eyes
I don't have a great room which is why I asked about effects, EQ, etc. I built myself a small dead booth in my basement.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
I am glad you mentioned this. Something I neglect to mention myself, as it is just something that is obvious to me. The performance that is captured starts with the room, before any other variable. Some mics can minimize the rooms effect, but even a SM7 will pick up reflections that can be detrimental (I said 'mental') to the sound of the track. Choosing the right mic for a particular singer/instrument, in a room that allows proper recording of the voice at hand, is the first, and probably most important variable. Even a great performance cant shine if the environment that captures the recording isn't good. From there, the recording chain, and it's capability and user experience comes into play.
Double this, double that, don't make nothin if cant get good vocal from that cat...
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Ouch. I am not a fan of the whole vocal booth thing. Unless it is at least the size of a bedroom, it will likely give the sound that a small room gives. The sound of a small room. Unless you have so much issue with external noises, just record in the most open (biggest) room you have. Treating reflections from the back side of the mic alone, will have drastic affect to the quality of your vocal tracks. Trust me, I have done the dead room thing. It never seems to work well, for me (in other studios/singers) anyway.
MrWrenchey
Member
I don't think you get that chorusy sound out of all double tracking like that... Switchfoot's latest album has them doing doubled vocal tracks a few times. Check out the song "Dark Horses" by them. When the chorus first pops in at about 48 seconds in, he double tracks the vocals to give it more power and a tighter overall vocal sound. Foreman just made sure to line up his s's and t's (like I stated earlier), and it gives it a much cleaner impression without any chorusy sound. You only really get a chorusy sound if you're not a very solid singer, in which case Melodyne is about $100 for the cheap version...
TheChikenMaster
I'm Unbalanced
I agree, although i would put mic placement in the number 1 spot
Beat Poet
New member
Maybe it's already been mentioned, but find a singer with a sweet voice?
CFox
Banned
Read my awesome post here. Take from it what you need but you NEED Boot EQMKII ( and tiny bit of verb... tiny bit)
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Olijanovi
New member
I mentioned this previously, but I have worked in many studios and never did I saw or heard the singer double his/her voice. Could it be that the engineer didn't say anything and used another take of it? I also called one of the singer I currently work with and she said that they never asked her to double a track.
CFox
Banned
Forget doubling, it's for light pop voices in light pop songs and can always be detected. Doubling in rock songs is even more obvious. The engineer wouldnt have done it secretly.
Get Boot EQ MKII
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
Some pretty good free plugins, but he doesn't NEED that.
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
I mentioned this earlier too. You don't "have" to double track the vocals. Look, I'm assuming the studios you went to were pretty nice. Those studios have great rooms, great gear, great engineers and the vocalists in the studios are pretty decent too. In the home recording realm, where some of those traits are less present, double tracking the vocals starts to go up on the list to "get a sweet vocal sound."
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Olijanovi
New member
Thanks, now I understand much better. That's my main problem lately is that I worked in really nice studios and I am trying to get something close to what I am use for. Now I know that it will never be the same but enough to be commercialized.
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Olijanovi
New member
Boot EQ MKII, is there a version to try on mac? + What's the difference with all the other ones?
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
Which other ones? If you are talking about the other 2 that he showed, those are a compressor and reverb plugin.
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Olijanovi
New member
With the other EQ's on the market.
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
Ahh. That one is free, the others are not lol. But in seriousness, the sound. Apart from the visual graph, compare an Oxford EQ to this free plugin. You will hear a difference. Aside from that, there are always other features as well. Many EQs I have seen have a "vintage or modern" switch. The one CFox mentioned has that. Ehh. Go ahead and give it a go if you can. It's free! Everything sounds better when it's free