The Choir Chorus Effect?

[Cota332]

Ello! Forgive my noobness, I've only really been into audio engineering for maybe 3 months now(and first post on the forums) ..

My simple question is; how do you get that crazy stereo effect where all the music cuts/fades out dramatically(except for maybe the drums) during the chorus, and there's almost a choir singing the rest of the chorus, then the band cuts back in.. Don't think of it so much as a choir singing, but imagine you were playing a live show, and everybody knew your chorus and you had the crowd sing it instead..

Sadly, the best example I can currently think of/find is the song "If It Means Alot To You" by A Day To Remember.. (if you listen to this, skip to about 3:12)...anyways, can somebody just explain how this effect is achieved? Would I need an actual choir type set up to get this sound?
Thanks!
-C332

 

[TripleM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21YJcWdiNfI

Sounds to me like they just did quite a few layers. Sounds like two to four people - maybe two male and and two female. I'm hearing one male voice that has a higher register and another that has a lower register. Female could have possibly been one person. The female did the part an octave higher than the male. Each of them probably did 3-4 takes of that passage (NOTE: they did *not* perform single takes and copy/paste). They're all blended together and it sounds like a choir. So maybe there are 8-12 layers all blended together. They probably panned half of them to the left side and half to the right. There is also quite a bit of reverb - maybe a medium hall reverb?

Anyway that's what it sounds like to me. I'm kind of half guessing.

 

[mjbphotos]

Multiple tracks of singing, and mixing the instruments low.

 

[Cota332]

Thanks guys! I have a crazy project that I'd like to use this effect for.
Alrighty, well so just imagine four singers. Would I have each of them singing into one mic together, or track each member separately and mix it in my DAW?

 

[MrWrenchey]

Yeah, I've recorded a ton of metal bands that do this. Usually I just get as many of them as I can (usually around 3-5 members, then I'll join in myself too) to stand around 10 feet away from a mic, then all just shout/sing into the microphone. Layer 5 times, pan two hard L/R, pan two closer inside, somewhere around 40-70, then one center to make it wide.

In the example you gave, it sounds like it's clearer and less roomy, but that might just be that the lead vocals are loud too. I'd recommend maybe 3-5 feet away in a decently dead room, then add maybe a hall verb like the others have suggested.