Malakidreams
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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?
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RobertB
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/08 21:11:16
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I don't believe it's cheating at all. I have read where Enya has layered over 100 vocal takes to get that trademark sound. I have done the same thing with guitar, but it's tricky, trying to play the same part. It's those subtle variations that add the depth to the sound. Live? I don't know, but that would explain 30 backup singers for a solo artist.
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Guitarhacker
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/08 21:33:40
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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.
post edited by Guitarhacker - 2008/09/08 21:35:13
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rob.pulman
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/09 09:20:17
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I don't think doubling anything is cheating. We all know that any studio production is totally different to the real live sound anyway. Jimmy Page layered 7 guitar tracks to get the riff sounding right on Black Dog on their 4th album. The song played live is totally thinned out (still one of the best live songs they played though!) I'm all for doubling, tripling, whatever it takes lol (I just wish I could use this technique properly myself)
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Greek2Me
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/09 17:50:59
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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.
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ascottdesign
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 12:02:47
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superc_1
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 14:23:44
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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?
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57Gregy
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 14:51:31
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Shucks, that's how they overdubbed before multi-tracks; record 1 track, play it back through the speakers while recording that on another tape deck while playing along.
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jamesg1213
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 15:17:00
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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.
post edited by jamesg1213 - 2008/09/12 15:18:27
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Nutty
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 16:24:15
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That does sound good James. I had the opposite experience. I did the harmony 1 octave lower for one of my songs. I thought it sounded okay. I ran the song by my sister-in-law and she was talking about the man's voice. Let's just say I dropped the lower octave! Annette
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JohnBTV
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 16:57:38
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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
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Beagle
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/12 17:03:08
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no, not really that come with MC. you can buy stuff like TC Helicon, Antares or other hardware and software packages which would allow you to create pitch shifted vocals but the pitch shifter included with MC doesn't really do a very good job and those others are quite expensive, so they're supposed to work well. you can try a shareware vst called CLONE ENSEMBLE but I've not been super impressed with it myself either: http://www.cloneensemble.com/
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kavonkavon
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/13 10:05:32
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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.
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jamesg1213
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RE: Doubling vocals cheating?
2008/09/13 13:36:39
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ORIGINAL: kavonkavon 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. Absolutely - if it sounds good, it is good. Sometimes I clone the lead vocal twice, pan them hard right & left, then pitchshift each one just a little, and as you say, drag 'em back a couple of milliseconds (make each clone different to get the stereo effect), then reverb to taste. With a fairly dry main vocal in the centre this makes for a nice BIG lead vocal!
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