Doubling Vocals; Recording Vocal Tips

How to double track vocals is a common question. Some recording engineers know the power of doubling vocals and others barely play with it. What are double tracked vocals? Double tracked vocals are recording the vocal twice or ‘stacking’ vocals in order to thicken the vocal sound in the recording. Vocal doubling has been traced back to the Beatles when they were on four tracks and recording in mono!

When is vocal doubling called for? In my opinion, vocal doubling can be used all the time unless you have a strong vocalist. If you’re working with Cristina Aguilera or Mariah Carey they are both very dynamic singers. Doubling vocals on a simple hook melody or to emphasize a word is recommended but vocal doubling on a verse vocal would take away the uniqueness of their vocal range.

Double tracked vocals are recommended most in hip hop, reggaeton, dance and pop music. The goal is to get the vocalist to execute two really good vocal takes. It’s important to get the first one perfect. If the second vocal take falls short, this is where a great audio engineer can edit the first vocal take to align with the second take. This not only saves the vocalist’s strength but leaves more time for mixing, effects and seasoning.

In this screenshot you can see that each of the vocal stacks is even with each other. These are four vocal stacks. Sometimes on hooks using four stacks gives a thicker sound for the hook vocals to stand out. The idea is to get all the stacks even so the listener doesn’t get distracted by an extra syllable, breath or word.

Mixing vocal recordings with stacks is the last part of how to get a good doubled vocal recording. You’ll want to set the main vocal take to your desired volume. The best way to get a vocal in the pocket is to turn the level down and then gradually life the volume until it gets right in the pocket – not too loud or too soft. Keep that setting for the first perfect vocal take. Now set the vocal doubled takes -8db to -10db before the initial lead vocal. For example, if the lead vocal is at -10db, you’ll set the stacks to be at -18db or -20db. This is a guideline for mixing vocal stacks. Around those decibels you’ll find the sweet spot where the doubled vocals thicken the sound and blend together well.

The goal in using this vocal doubling trick is to get the vocals thick, up front and in your face without hearing the stack. If you hear an echo, the stacks could be turned down. If you hear a reverb, chances are the vocalist didn’t stack the vocals consistently.

To get the best double vocal results, do what I like to call ‘a benchmark vocal test’. Just spend an hour on this trick until you get it sounded great every time. This will save a lot of time during session and give instant results every time when recording vocals.

If you would like more information on this article or interested in enrolling in a music course, just message me.
Kindly,

Ed Unger

Tags: course, double, doubling, engineers, mixing, music, recording, tracked, vocalist, vocals

Comment

You need to be a member of Computer Music Production School Network to add comments!

Join Computer Music Production School Network

Comment by Edward Unger on June 20, 2009 at 3:19pm: Hey Bongani, Recording the vocals 2 times will yield the best results. Duplicating the vocals doesn't necessarily work all the time - do a benchmark test and you'll definitely hear the difference.

Comment by Bongani on June 20, 2009 at 1:56pm: Nice topic. But hey. Im lost. Do you record vocal tracks 2 times if you want to double a vocal track? Or u just double the track you took first time. Re record or duplicate track?

Comment by Adrian on March 27, 2009 at 12:51pm: Hey numanrecords....good decission on the school. It's really fun man!

Comment by Edward Unger on March 26, 2009 at 2:10pm: Triped, doubles, I didn't go that far into it. However, me personally i always use 4-6 on choruses. There is a specific mixing style that needs to take place when doing more than 2 though otherwise it won't sound good - it will sound like 6 takes! :) Over all stick with the double until you get the sound perfected than its easy to explore the creativity of it.

Comment by numanrecords on March 26, 2009 at 2:03pm: i'm with Adrian i've nver heard of tripes.but that's why i'll be attending these classes because there's always something you don't know.

Comment by Edward Unger on March 23, 2009 at 11:20am: Nothing's wrong with echo & reverbs by themselves. However echoes and reverbs from doubling vocals doesn't double the vocal - it just makes an echoe or reverb and doesn't stack or thicken the vocal track

Comment by Jordan Thomas on March 23, 2009 at 8:21am: So what's wrong with echoes and reverbs.

Comment by DJ BD on March 16, 2009 at 8:44pm: Haha, ya know, first off, I got get another picture because my head doesn't show. Second, I've been doing that for years and nobody ever taught me. It was just something I did as your learn how to cut corners...cool.