Um nice....But it better done nautural or else you going to sound like a robot do multi recording one deep voice,2 regular , 3rd light, 4 whisper and eq them to a good sound that u like also pan them

Spaceduck


Clone vocal track twice.
On 1st clone, pan hard L, apply Cakewalk > Pitch Shifter > +01 cent
On 2nd clone, pan hard R, apply Cakewalk > Pitch Shifter > -01 cent

For soupy thick Ozzy vocals,  bump the pitch shift up a few cents and throw some compression on the cloned tracks.

I use JR's advice.... start with a good mic, and use good mic technique in singing. Sing close to the mic....

just my 2 centavos.

mike_mccue


Here's a little ditty I put together yesterday to test out my new Purple MC77 hardware.

http://www.harmoniccycle.com/hc/sounds/mp3/singles/Hickory%20Wind%2004a.mp3

It aint easy to sing a song you don't know while watching all those meters and trying to feel groovy.

I think feeling groovy is the most important.

1 take vocals. Royer 121 into John Hardy M1 into Purple MC77.

I rolled a whole bunch of bass off the vocals when I was done singing.

Everything else was one take as well... I think there's still a bit too much low freq energy in the mix.

I put a schmaltz of Pristine Space reverb over the master.

I've never heard doubling that didn't sort of sound like doubling. Maybe I have and didn't know it? :-) I've never done it myself and not known it... no matter how quiet I make the second track.

best regards,
mike

Love that song...great performance...love it

Guitarhacker


I use JR's advice.... start with a good mic, and use good mic technique in singing. Sing close to the mic....

just my 2 centavos.

Are you a mason?

I have to agree with Mike Mccue. I've never heard doubled vocals that didn't sound like doubled vocals.  I've been listening to music for most of my 40 years. And I listen to all new stufff and the classics. The doubled John Lennon vocals, some of it I think sounds crappy. But the other guy, Paul was it, he had a more "musical" voice.

But some of my favorite indie artist do major doubling. Listen to Elliot Smith, he's all doubled, all the time. One of THE greatest indie artists ever.

And Bon Iver, some of his albums he's like quadrupled sounds like. Mass doubling and effects. But the thing is, I've seen him live on youtube and he sounds good without doubling.

Sometimes people just use the voice more as another instument more than the "voice", so adding effects is just like effecting your guitar. a la pink floyd.

If doubling makes it sound better, than that's all that counts.

"But the other guy, Paul was it,"

Now I feel old.

hilltop

Guitarhacker


I use JR's advice.... start with a good mic, and use good mic technique in singing. Sing close to the mic....

just my 2 centavos.

Are you a mason?

? 

No, he's a hacker.

I'm still new at this, but I'm finding that doubling vocals, and spending a lot of time doing so, is the key to getting a thicker sound. Many of the other posters on here suggesting against it have a good case, because if you notice it then you often get an artificial sounding vocal - but as was mentioned it can be done where you won't notice. Short of getting a better mic, this could be the best route to get a more professional sounding vocal. Start by getting as close to perfect vocal track as you can (comp, use a tuner to be sure you're on pitch, be sure you're on time etc) - then you go over and sing along with that track until you're as close as possible. As was mentioned, then you need to fine tune things and sweep out any imperfections from the two tracks (use one as your main and change the other to resemble that one). Of course it all comes down to hard work, a lot of tracking, editing and comping, etc. One thing to mention - it is not a deal-breaker for the vocal to sound doubled. A lot of old recordings (listen to Franki Valli and the Four Seasons, old Beatles, etc) are obviously doubled vocals. Of course the Beatles were often doing it with multiple voices so the effect was meant to be obvious, but Franki sounds like he doubled everything and in case you didn't know he had a few hits :D Then you have singers like Phil Collins who (at least in the earlier days) were using vocoders and multiple vocal tracks (sometimes harmonies and doubles all layered and mixed to taste) to create artificial sounding vocals on purpose. So again, if you're not Pink Floyd you may be able to hear the double happening, but it's not always a bad thing, just try to mix it as best you can. Learning to record music, I have found, one has to abandon the techniques they've developed for live music and learn how everything in the studio reacts, then you'll get a thicker sound altogether. Hope this helps.

I have a general rule of thumb for recording vocals (and pretty much anything), and it's stolen from IT GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out. Start with a great source, and it's always going to be great. If it's a good mic, and a good singer, it's SOO much better. And I have tried making a purse out of a sours ear in the past... not a good thing.

Others have covered it, sing it well, sing it twice, these days, I use a clone, then I use to bus with a sidechain off comp to delay or other things. Match EQ can be fun too..

Tony