CSWThere might be 2 guys writing all that stuff. 

No...you're totally wrong man.  It's 3 guys!!!! (Wish I was lying about that....)
 

CSWHave you noticed how most every country song sounds the same these days.

This is the frustration I battle on a daily basis...while at the same time my publisher tells me to "be original" and "write fresh and different"...if you haven't seen/heard this....it's worth a few minutes of your time...
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o

KeniI think they were "pulling your leg"... ;-)

Well...maybe they exaggerated a "bit"...but just the other day my cowriter was asked if he wanted to sing his bgvs or just "fly them in" from the choruses.  First time he had ever heard that before.  And he was recording his EP at the same studio that tracked Eric Church, Little Big Town, and other HUGE acts in town...
 

caminitic
OK so my mind was blown yesterday when I was talking to a few Nashville "pro studio guys" who said that almost ALL of the background vocals they do these days for demos/album tracks are simply Melodyne cloned lead tracks re-tuned to the proper harmony notes.  I obviously knew about using Melodyne for such a purpose, but didn't realize the prevalence of it.
 
Am I the only one still singing/syncing real harmonies these days?
 
And, related...if you ARE using Melodyne for "fake" bgvs, what is the best/quickest method for accomplishing that within Sonar (i.e. Melodyne in EFX bin, create Region FX, etc.)
 
Just curious!!! (And still shocked...).  Thanks in advance.

Every song, every time!
 

caminitic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o

That was so incredibly well done! Without the video, people unfamiliar with those songs would definitely hear that as one.

Don't laugh: I've been listening to "hit radio" the past couple of months (it used to be called "Top 40," but I don't think their current playlists are that long) and I have noticed a trend among young female singers (Taylor Swift, Arianna Grande - you know the type) of multiple layers of absolutely perfect harmonies and doubling. The timing, phrasing, pitch and vibrato are so tight it's unbelievable. I don't think the modern listener is aware of what's going on, it's become simply de rigueur, the latest style for a certain type of song and singer, but the sound is inhumanly flawless. I believe it must be done electronically, with pitch shifting and vocal alignment. Can't say I like it, but it is awesome to imagine some little 20-year-old with that kind of ability.

Someone didn't show up for the background singing and the engineer did it.  So the producer asked himself do I pay for a chorus of singers or for editing?  Gee, such hard choices.

Do all my own stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqe_8rujK5w
 

Well I do them myself, but whether it could be called actually be called singing is another matter.
 
Melodyne is a fantastic tool though and I do use it for minor tweaking. Cheating ? Yeah, but I'm subtle with it so you can still tell that I couldn't call myself a real singer if my life depended on it.
 
Anyway, the way I see it is that just about all production is pretty much cheating really......
 

Always sing my background vox. Grew up loving the "perfection" of CSN and have spent years de-conditioning myself to allow more organic natural imperfection. While I still love the purity and tightness, I feel more real if I allow the variations of doubling prevail.
 
The early Beatles doubling, at the time to my untrained ear, sounded so spot on, but later in life I was able to hear the "truth" of the recording more.
 
That being said, so grateful for Melodyne as someone who looks just like me tends to go off pitch a touch. That I still can't bear. So...I guess I'm almost human.
 
And, there's nothing like a beautiful blend of different voices that really resonate with each other. Best doubling and harmonizing, in my view.

The harmonies and doubling on this album are all sung.  The first song (Fifteen Minutes of Fame) has harmonies, but #2 (Bambicide) has 25 voices on the chorus.  You can hear layered voices in the bridge of the last song (Track #14), about 2/3 of the way through.  Some of the chords have some very tight parts (like a C# and D together).
 
http://www.themightykonrad.com/