Okay, so let’s get started. why do I need backing vocals? Again, like I mentioned before, really if you feel strongly about this is my main vocal and this is all the song needs, then this is just wonderful. ’cause if you have a strong feeling about something, I think you should go with it. but if you, if you feel like, ah, maybe the hook, I could open up the hook a little more or I feel so confident with my, with my lead vocals, backing vocals are a great option.
They really, really, support the league vocals and the melody in a really nice way. a lot of times they make the production sound better and also different, really think of it as an instrument. so it’s like adding another layer to your production, exactly adding another instrument or vibe to the arrangement can really go into it can really open up another door. if you just add some backing vocals to your tracks, a lot of times, they really do make the vocals sound bigger because obviously it’s just one person singing.
That’s one sound. And if you’ve, if you ever heard a choir sing, I’m sure all of you have heard that, you know, it’s just a wide, it’s just a full blast of voices coming your way. And that’s something really powerful. So, obviously it will make the vocal performance bigger. And then the last one, I’m gonna get into detail on that one ’cause it’s a, it’s a little, it’s sounds pretty harsh, but there’s some truth to that. another idea why a lot of people use backing vocal is to enrich a mediocre elite vocal performance.
That sounds pretty harsh, but, I know a lot of singers that are not really confident singers or go to the studio and record and just don’t feel super happy with it. A lot of them double their vocals. It’s a really, a very, actually quite trendy technique right now. A lot of depending on the genre, but there’s definitely a lot of, singers just doubling their vocals, you know, and just feeling good with that and just having, you know, kind of a combination of two or three of their elite vocals just, you know, singing the whole song and it makes it, you know, it’s a little less detail so you get away with a little more stuff.
so these are all, you know, good, good, suggestions why you should add backing vocals to your track. and let’s move on from here. different type of backing vocals.
So this is kind of the biggest, the biggest thing, the biggest, subject I would say, because there’s really no end to it. I’m just pointing out a few here and there. and there’s obviously a lot more, and, you know, it’s kind of hard to categorize all of them, but I’m gonna, I try to make an effort to kind of, you know, go into certain parts and then give some examples on that. so the first one that we start with is double tracking. I kind of just mentioned that before. so you’re really doubling the lead vocals.
And I’ve, I think some of you, I know a lot of these names, so, I’ve talked to a lot of you about it and I think some of the, students at the a have, have made use of that already, which I think is great. but double tracking. So you have a lead vocal and now here comes the important part that you feel confident with, that you feel good with. So, or let’s say you have a lead vocal that you think, this is my final take for now. don’t, don’t double track over something that you don’t feel happy with.
’cause there’s really no need in double tracking that, if you might change it later on. ’cause then you did all the work for nothing. So, have a lead vocal that you feel good with. And then if you think, let me try to do that double tracking, that means a lot of times you double that lead vocal as close as you can. you can, you can try different options and we get into that later on. But the vocal performance should be as close to your lead vocal as possible.
And a lot of what a lot of people do is sometimes they just double once. So you just have the lead vocal kind of in the middle, and then you have the double, a little more pan to the side. Or maybe the lead vocal just panned like 10% to the side. And then the lead, the other double vocal maybe 30%. a lot of people do that. A more traditional way of double tracking is actually, when you have one lead vocal in the middle and then you double your lead vocal twice and pan it to either side.
Again, still trying to get as close, to that original vocal performance as possible. So always when I, you know, when I tell people, they’re like, what do you mean double checking? You mean like just copying my lead vocal? I’m like, no, you’re actually really tracking your lead vocal again. it can be nice to kind of slightly change the sound of the recording, meaning maybe you step away from the mic a little bit or maybe you even use a whole different mic. We’ll get more into that later on.
But, sometimes it is nice, if, you know, if, if you double, you lead vocal, but the sound is slightly different. ’cause this will already distinguish, you know, the, the, the double from the lead vocal. and now I, I found this quote at sound on sound on the website. You probably know it. and it kind of said, I’m just gonna read this out, but double tracking enhances tonality while blurring the rough edges of a less than perfect performance. It’s often a useful technique to deploy on mediocre or unconfident singers as a flattering effect.
take it as you want. I’m not saying this is necessarily true ’cause I do know a lot of, really good singers, really confident singers who use that technique. I even have used it ’cause I, I loved it. I’ve only done a one on track, on one track, but I just wanted to try it out and I really, really enjoyed it. but I do have to say that, if you don’t feel so confident as a singer, a lot of times that can make the vocal performance slightly better.
it’s just because it, you know, there’s just a, once you, if you have one voice, you know, all your attention is on this one voice. And if you have more kind of like a chorus vibe to your vocals, you know, it’s just a little more, it’s a little warmer, it’s a little less, you know, harsh. Like sometimes on one word you breathe a little less, a little longer on the other one. And all of that would kind of like blur into each other.
So if you don’t feel super confident with your lead vocals, that could be definitely a nice option. and a lot of really famous singers have used it. Just sending out, just seeing some names down here. John Lennon Woman is a really famous one, then Uptown Funk, Bruno Mars. and then last one, Andy Shelf. I’m just gonna play these three songs. So just a small part of these so you just see, how they do it. John Lennon, the Beatles in general used it on a lot of their, recordings.
just doubling their vocals. and not even always super tight, you know, al also a choice. but, John Lennon, woman is a really fa really famous example of that. …..
