Mixing Unison Vocals

So three vocal takes all singing the same thing, same notes, same timing etc?

If so, I'd typically choose the best one for centre and pan the other two left and right. How wide depends. Probably wouldn't go 100% as it'll leave a gap which I personally don't like (between centre and hard side image). Doesn't mean it's wrong though. Artistic decision. Then knock the outside levels down a bit. Also be careful with sibilant and plosive sounds. If the timing is slightly off on these it doesn't sound like one big vocal any more and can sound off. Sometimes singing without them or softening it in the backup parts can blend better. Almost sounds like you're singing with a lisp. Or you can manually edit them out, or align perfectly. Probably compress the backup ones a bit harder as they will be lower in level so you'll want them to always cut through. Even using a different mic too could work. Maybe something less bright if you want a warm, thick sound to engulf the main lead. Even a dynamic mic and then a condenser for the lead could work nice. Really a lot you can do. Can you elaborate more what you want? Maybe with examples on professional stuff?

Personally, I love the sound of just 2 unison voices, panned no more than about 20-30% L+R, with identical levels, sends, Fx etc

I've been working on this very thing with the last few tunes I have done. 

On my soundclick site (links on my website) the song Missing Person (2012) has a total of 10 vocal tracks in it. The 2 leads are unison... in several places they (2 different singers) are singing together. They also sing solo in the track. 

When they are solo, I have them panned 10% to a consistent side.... when they sing together, the panning goes to 35% or so to give them distance. 
The 8 tracks of BGV are mixed much lower and panning is a bit more one sided, but there is balance. The 10 vocal tracks soloed as a group, present a fairly wide stereo image. 

Now: I have also used 3 tracks as you describe. I generally use this to "thicken" the main solo vocal in a track. The song is not a "group sing" but is intended to be a solo preformance.  I do choose one.... the better one IMHO to be down the center of the mix. It is set to the center of the stereo field and the level is up where the singer should be in the mix.  

The other 2 tracks are panned R/L by at least 30% up to about 60% but generally no more.  The panned tracks must be as close to perfect as possible to the lead. Timing, pitch, and all aspects of the performance of these tracks is critical. Especially the ending of words with s's in them.  

I normally will send these tracks to a bus with a slight verb.... panned according to taste....and with levels set low. I want the levels so low that when I solo all the vocals I can barely hear the BGV tracks. Once the instrument mix is put into the picture..... that tends to mask the BGV a bit but they are still there, at the same level and the result is a thickening or fattening of the solo vocal track. I used this method on Ode To Wolf on the lead..... there are also harmony vocals in places where I kept the levels low to add the harmony without being too obvious with the singers...

I use envelopes a lot. Volume and panning.  For example.... on Missing person... 2 singers in 2 different studios recording the unison vocal track...... no way will that come out picture perfect. And it didn't.  In one place, my vocal sang a word and stopped..... Robby sang that same word and held it slightly longer. (the second time in the song ... "touch herrrrrr"  right before the chorus)  That is in a part of the song where we sang it together in unison..... the solution was to use the envelope to pull the level down on Robby's word so it ended with mine.  The result sounds good.  Same thing on the "s" sounds at the ends of words.... I use envelopes to make the ones not in sync disappear. One track ending properly will give completeness to that sound.... 3 ending slightly off  from each other sounds sloppy. 

There are no hard and fast rules. I have developed this method through trial and error and I know as time goes on these methods I currently use will evolve as I learn more about mixing. 

Experiment and see what works for you. 

Thanks.  You all are brilliant and have given me lots of ideas to try.  I'm dying to get back to the DAW and start working on it (so that means you're inspirational too).

I'm with the doubling and panning, but nudge the doubled tracks to get more of a wide sound. (Stereo Separation/Widening. There are plugs for such a thing, but if you rather not go that route).

Have the doubled voices behind the lead or even amongst themselves off by a few ticks. 5-10 usually works for me as anything more will make them sound obviously off.

This method, to me at least eliminates phase if one comes across it when the voices are stacked on top one another. It's not only good for vocals, but other doubled instruments as well.


You can even transpose the vocals/instruments by a few cents to get "chorus" instead of just applying said effect.

Have the lead sing @ 440, but the doubles @ 450.

Bristol_Jonesey

mattplaysguitar


Every approach mentioned here and pretty much any you can think of has probably been pulled off with success. Anything can work really, assuming it's applied well. I think the one Bristol mentions tends to be a pretty common one for pop these days. Used typically in a chorus. Often will take a hell of a lot of tightening to get it to work as well as you hear on the radio. Lots of hours go into it. There might then be a big stack of harmonies below all this too adding meat and thickness to the sound, but with two main leads kicking out at front.

Yes Matt - I seem to spend more time correcting timing variations using V-Vocal than I ever do for pitch correction, especially on 'S' and 'T' sounds

The kind of job that sucks all the artistic life right out of you ;) That's why the pros give these jobs to the assistant! Wish I had an assistant :( I always try to do these kind of 'housework' type editing components on a different day to any mixing that I'm doing for lack of artistic breath that leaves my lungs following a good hit of comping.

AudioSnap is your friend when aligning double-tracked vocals and harmonies.

For same-panned double-tracked lead vocals you can go as far as editing out the hard consonants entirely from the doubles. You get no thickening effect on a "T" or a "K" from doubling, just less definition, so let the primary vocal track carry them alone.

Didn't Gilmour do most of the singing on "Dark Side"?