question about stacking vocals

  • Thread starter Thread starter fanito
  • Start date Start date
F

fanito

New member
what do they mean when they say you can stack vocals? i understand stacking harmonies on top of the melody but someone told me it's a studio trick to double the melody as well. how do you do that? use two mikes plugged into 2 inputs? you can't sing the melody twice right? you couldn't line them up perfectly could you? i'm soooo confused...
 
One option is to record two seperate vocal tracks both singing the same melody.This can sometimes be a bad idea unless the singer is very accurate.I recorded this one singer and he had the idea to do a second vocal track where he just sang pronunciations to make the words stand out more.It turned out to be a very good idea and made for a crisp vocal. If you have a mixer that has direct outs for each channel,another option would be to loop the vocal signal to other channels,meaning,if the vocal is being played back through channel 8 then run a 1/4 inch cable out of channel 8 into channel 9 to double it up in the mix.These are two of the routes that I usually take that have been succesful for me.Good luck!
 
If you use a delay with a short repeat time (e.g. < 50 ms) and also a little modulation, and record them panned to different parts of the mix, it will fatten up the vocal.

It's difficult to tell you exactly the settings as it's kinda like - "How much Tabasco do you like on your pizza?"

foo
 
Vocals are doubled very frequently. They give the vocal a "fuller" sound. You can't sing one take exactly like another, and the subtle differences between takes are what makes doubling sound nice. You want to try to get takes that sound so close, a casual listener would think they're one voice.

Syncing the parts is a challenge. You need to watch out for the times when the tracks are so far apart that they sound bad. The beginnings or ends of musical phrases are common points where mistakes are made (coming in too early or hanging on a note too long). Certain sounds make mistakes jump out - "T's" and "S's" are common sounds that you need to watch out for. Some people do a bunch of takes to get the ones they need, and others use "punch in's" to fix the bad spots.

But it can certainly be done. I'll usually triple track a lead vocal and double each harmony. There are people around here who will duplicate a vocal track 20 to 30 times.

Doubling guitar tracks is common also.
 
TripleM said:
Vocals are doubled very frequently. They give the vocal a "fuller" sound. You can't sing one take exactly like another, and the subtle differences between takes are what makes doubling sound nice. You want to try to get takes that sound so close, a casual listener would think they're one voice.
Click to expand...

This is also a good option, as it can cover up minor pitch issues that only one voice would be more evident with
 
It's kind of like cheating in a way. Okay, it is cheating, but it sounds cool, so who cares?
 
one of life's great pleasures can be the stacked vocalist...
 
powderfinger said:
This is also a good option, as it can cover up minor pitch issues that only one voice would be more evident with
Click to expand...

I agree. Doubling makes a bad vocalist sound better. Depending on the vocalist, it might make a really good vocalist sound worse, though. There are a lot more bad vocalists in the world than really good vocalists, though.

An entirely separate trick -- which is mentioned above -- is a "whisper track." You just have the vocalists whisper the lyrics in sync with his own sung version. Mix just a little bit in and you make the words more intelligible. That's the theory anyway. It might work, and it might not.
 
It's difficult to tell you exactly the settings as it's kinda like - "How much Tabasco do you like on your pizza?"
Click to expand...
A lot!

If I have the tracks I will do that. But more often than not, they all get used up unless I do a bounce which I try to avoid like the plague.
 
We used computer generated stacks on our last project and it worked out great. I don't know all the details because I am just a singer, but it went like this. We are a trio so after recording a song the producer would take all tracks except the lead one and copy it and make another track out of it. After copying he brought the copy down to about 1/2 volume. It really filled everything in and made the sound fuller. Doing this to the melody (lead) sounds fake.
 
Stacking Vocals

Hey Foo. If i record my lead vocals in mono I can go in on the next vocal lines and pan them left on the second track of vocals and then right on the third and so on ... Computer duplication or the real thing. Wat percentage of panning have you had the most success with. What is modulation?

DVS
 
littledog said:
one of life's great pleasures can be the stacked vocalist...
Click to expand...

I totally agree......the wellerder stacked the betterer (der):D
Also the key reason for:
- Losing the "key" to the vocal booth.
- Setting up the vocal mic right in front of the control room window.
- Turning the aircon off, or better even, turn the heating on before the stack enters the room.
- Turning the aircon back on in the middle of a take (saying "its fixed").
- Lecturing on the effect of clothing to vocal performance (as in "it has been scientifically proven that if one wears a single item of clothing which is very thin and tight fitting, it enhances breething and vocal performance).
- Aiming tracking room spots at the right places (I'll aim these down a bit so they won't shine in your eyes).
 
Hey! I thought those were MY tricks!

(I've got a couple of others, but I think I'd better save them for the CAVE...)
 
thanks ya'll - so much advice - i love it! another question though, why do you try to avoid bouncing tracks like the plague sennheiser (or anyone)? i've yet to try - is it hard to line them up or something?
 
I've done that on my vocals and didn't know it was called anything. Sure brought my vocals to life.
I was just experimenting when I did it.
 
Give Vocalign a shot, its exactly what some of you are looking for.
 
Listen to some early BEATLES. Double tracked lead vocals out the wah-zoo. Even though it's not tight in spots, it's just HUGE.

Also, check out some CROSBY, STILLS & NASH. Probalbly 6 tracks of backing vocals EACH.

I like to double all my background vocals. I used to do the lead too. Now I perfer to use delay and MILD chorus.

titan
peace
 
"I recorded this one singer and he had the idea to do a second vocal track where he just sang pronunciations to make the words stand out more"

Abuscus - what do you mean by 'pronunciations'? There are pronunciations every time you open your mouth and sing or say something - that's what singing and speaking are - pronunciations. :) What did the singer do differently on that second take?
 
so if you recorded to two tracks...one with a slight delay, would you then bounce them together or leave seperate?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top