Doubling vocals cheating?

Im just curious if doubling vocals would be considered cheating. I just think it adds alot in certain songs where a single take sounds plain or boring. Is this practice very common? I think it sounds fuller and adds texture to th voice but it also sounds like you singing it twice and how would you get that effect live?

This is an effect that many try to do...and if it's not done correctly it can really mess up a decent sounding vocal take. Chorusing, slapback echo, recording two or more takes on a vocal track, there are many ways to get this sound.... but the key is to not overdo it.

if you can pull it off successfully...its not cheating.

I discovered quite by ACCIDENT the bennies of actually singing it twice when I thought I was recording OVER a track, but actually was recording a new one. I liked the sound, and now do it frequently. But it amazes me that it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to actually sing it the same TWICE, there are always slight shifts in the phrasing. But that may not suit some people. "Doubling" tracks certainly adds a "fatness" to the sound without the stress caused by trying to match up performances! No "cheating" involved, just depends on what sound you want.

A friend and I recorded a song and he didn't like listening through the headphone and sing at the same time. I had it playing through monitors while he was singing the main vocal track and the song sounds really fat now. Thats not a good practice but I guess you can call that doubling the the vocals?

ORIGINAL: Malakidreams

Im just curious if doubling vocals would be considered cheating. I just think it adds alot in certain songs where a single take sounds plain or boring. Is this practice very common? I think it sounds fuller and adds texture to th voice but it also sounds like you singing it twice and how would you get that effect live?

Nope not cheating at all, very common practice and sounds great when it's done right.

We had a happy accident with this song

Better Days

Tim sang the whole song an octave too low - luckily I kept the take and it sounded fantastic blended under the higher lead vocal.

James that song does sound good.
I'd like to add a question to this thread, are there boxes, effects, or plugins that serve as good vocal doublers?
My mix board has some built in digital combo pitch shift / delay capabilities but so far I am not that impressed with the effect...

Thanks,

John

I sometimes copy a vocal track onto another track, add a little reverb and drag it just a little bit behind the main track until I like how it sounds. I don't there is such a thing as cheating if you get the sound you want.