Stereo Vocals???

[sunpowder]

Here is a question I have been pondering lately:

Some artists that I appreciate seem to get a great stereo effect on their vocals in songs.

For example, Elliott Smith seems to use a "stereo" or doubling effect to build a song's presence or tension. In the first verse the vocals sound great: immediate, breathy, dynamic, etc. Then in the second verse [where some bands will add to the mix with more instrument layers, drums kick in, etc, etc. to "build the song up" sonically, his vocal lines seem to "double"?? They seem huge and fuller and "stereophonic".

I was thinking of trying this and wondered if anyone knows what the hell i am talking about and how I might achieve it??? Is the best way to simply double the track and "bi-polar" pan each new track. Or is he most likely singing the track again and panning each one. Or stereo micing like you would an acoustic guitar??

If you wanted to stereo mic a vocal, how would you do it> X-Y micing?? Or one close mic and one more ambient mic??

Any suggestions??? On indie-folkie stuff that I love it seems a really cool way to add fullness and texture with limited instrumentation.

Any help would be valued?? Thanks.+

 

[version2]

I have done X-Y micing for vocals. You can do it that way. You can also do some cool things with ambient mics and burying them back in the mix. Usually, you can get that creepy and strong vox stereo effect by doubling and panning hard.

 

[Pirateking]

I'm pretty sure that Elliot Smith records at least 2 different vocal tracks, not doubles up one vocal track. Since it's pretty hard to sing exactly the same way twice, the 2 vocal tracks create some cool sounds in their differences, whereas if you double up one track and seperate them in the stereo mix, you're essentially only messing with where the vocals are placed.

 

[version2]

Hehe. Sorry, by doubling...I meant recording two vocal tracks seperately.

 

[gnarled]

I do a lot of double tracking on vocals. Usually like the other posters suggested by essentially trying to sing the same thing and panning it to create that huge sound that sounds like one big voice with chorus-like effects. But theres no rule that says you have to try and sing the same thing. If you listen to some other stuff like Neutral Milk Hotel, they do double vocals but sing it intentionally different on each track and then pan it hard. It actually sounds very much like two different tracks if you listen to it with good stereo separation (headphones).

BTW, like the others said, if you just copy the track and pan the two, it is no different than just panning the one track you started with. You can try applying different delays or verbs to each, but to get the effect I think you're after, you need to sing twice, or even thrice.

For an example of two (maybe three, I can't remember) separate vocal tracks, you can check out Discount Love Affair at my mp3.com site. The song Infidel Acoustic has one main vocal and three 'whisper' tracks in the background. Hell, even the third song down, For This Season, has double vocals (they're toward the end of the song) with a little different panning.

my mp3.com site

 

[sunpowder]

Thanks gnarled and others who responded. I guess the consensus is to double track the vocal parts i want in stereo. and pan, pan, pan.

By the way gnarled you have recorded some cool sounding stuff. I am not sure about the Crowded House reference, but i really liked the song. What is your perferred recorder? Computer or standalone HD unit??

 

[gnarled]

Well, thanks. I'm not sure I hear the crowded house thing either, but oh well.

I use a Gadget Labs Wave 8/24 into a PC now running Vegas Audio 2.0 (used Cakewalk 9 on some of that stuff). Gadget Labs is now out of business, but the unit has 8 analog I/O with 24 bit converters.

 

[-Nightwolf-]

If you duplicate a vocal track and "pan" them both.
(panning is basically merging the sound from right to left/ vice versa.)
Lets say for example - You have 2 vocal tracks (one above the other)
and they are exactly the same.

You pan the top one 58% left and the one below it 58% right.
It does something to the volume as well as balance of your vocals.
(But that isn't the extremely cool thing)
If you understand what I am talking about and haven't tried it.-
Decrease the bass with your balancing tools on one of those
tracks and you will hear the tracks sound somewhat differant.

I've come up with some pretty neat sounds applying this technique.
If you don't understand what I am talking about sorry.
If you do. Try it with duplicated tracks sometime when your bored...
Good Luck,