So, but yeah, so I record the lead first and then, once I’ve got the lead, I will start by doing the, the dubs. If I need dubs. So even before I record like harmonies or things like this, I will record the dubs exactly the same. So basically, so, So what do you mean by the dubs? The dubs is, so you sing the chorus, and once I’ve got the lead of the chorus, I will ask the singer to sing exactly the same thing three more times. I might, I might do like a thousand takes of it, but I need three more basically. So I’ve got the lead that’s like mono, that’s right in the front right there.
Then I will record another, exact copy of the lead basically that I will put underneath and still mono. And then I will record two more of the same thing that will pan left and right. So then that lead vocal opens up and it’s thicker and stronger. So that, that’s usually I do. So I have four of the same, the lead and then the, the dubs, what you call the Dubs. And when you pan left and right, do you go hard? Left and right, left and right.
Full, full, all The way I go hard left and right. Yeah, I mean, everybody’s different. You know, people might like different things. That’s what I like. Uh, and then once I’ve got all the dubs, but for example, okay, that’s for the chorus, but if I do that on the chorus, in the pre chorus, if I need dubs, I will do only two more and I will have them left and right. Uh, or again, see, it’s very difficult because it changes again from the song, from the Persian or it’s, it could work also.
Sometimes I will have just one dub in the pre chorus, which is mono, but you can, you feel the, the, you know, the, the thing gets thicker. And then in the chorus, that’s when I left the padding so that you hear the difference, you know, suddenly you go from everything in the middle to the chorus explodes and it gets, you know, pan left and right. once I’ve got those which are called the dubs, then I would start with harmonies. Then I’m like, okay, let’s work out what harmonies we need where, and usually I used to do four, four of each harmonies because there was a time where, again, it, it depends on, on the time really and what music sounds like.
There was a time where it was a thing to have big vocal production. Vocal production was, you know, everything. You’d have like stacks and stacks and stacks of bvs of harmonies. And you, you know, you do, you hear people, they would do like 32 takes of the same freaking the same line just to make it so big and so thick. And so like, I never really liked doing that.
And now vocals are very, it’s at the moment it is not really about big vocal production. It’s more about, you know, sort of one lead and a few things. So now I have two of each harmonies and always pan left and right. That’s what I like to do personally. And, and when you, let’s say that you’ve got, we’ll come to the questions in a moment. when, when you’ve, let’s say that you record four of four takes of one of your vocal harmonies, okay.
Do you take two hard left and too hard? Right. Is it everything hard left and right? Yeah. Right. Okay. That’s, yeah, that’s how I do it too. I’m just, and Sometimes I even, so you have those in the pen left and right, and I would even use like, a spreader or something that would make them even further apart. Yeah. Like, so you try to get as much like, you know, What this does is is it creates space in the middle for your lead vocal.
I mean, we’ll, we’ll talk more about mix later on, but, but generally with a mix, all you really want to hear in the middle is the kick, the bass, and probably the vocal. And that’s, that’s about it, isn’t it? And so because the kick and the bass, they’re not gonna interfere with the lead vocal unless you sing down here somewhere. So that will all be in the middle of your, your mix. And then I, I generally just try and get everything out the way Yeah. Of those. So especially with vocals so hard left and right. I don’t even go in increments on that.
Some people do, but yeah. we’ve got a couple of questions on Yeah, sure, sure. On this. And, who Gracie Gracie there, you’re Gracie, you know, with the dubs, like how do you, how do you get that really full sound while still making it sound like one vocal without making it sound like a double tracked vocal? Does that make sense? Yes. Uh, what do you mean? So, so that they are on time so that they feel, Yeah. And so it, it sounds really full, but not so there’s loads of you singing. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. well first you have to try to get the, before the technology, you had to try to get the singer to sing.
And it’s preferable to do it anyway, to get it absolutely on time. And sometimes it’s good to have that effect when you feel like there’s more of you. But if you want to get it, absolutely on time, I use a plugin. There’s a plugin called Vocal Line, and basically if I, I can sort of show you, I’ve, I I, I’m not gonna do it in this, but I’ll show you the, the plugin. So, ah, no, I don’t have my, my key it, it comes on a dongle, but basically it’s from, synchro Arts, this thing here.
Can you see, or do you want me to make this bigger? I don’t. Do you know what, how do you make this bigger? Because, This is not actually going to Change. No, it won’t. With it, I think I’ll just have to say it loud and slow. Okay. CRO Arts, and it’s there And it’s called Vocal Line. And so what you do, I’m gonna try to load it, but I think it’s not gonna let me Yeah. See it. There you go. Uh, oh, well, here it is actually.
Yay. Basically, you, you, this is the lead vocal, and so I don’t want it on the lead vocal, I want it on the bv, but what you’ll do is if you put it on the channel that you want, you, you, you want your vocal to be in synced with, and you, you side chain it, so say I put it on the BV channel, someone’s just recorded a backing vocal, right? And you want it on time with the lead, I’ll put it, put that plugin on the backing vocal channel, and I’ll side chain it to the lead, and it, it will record the waveform, and then it will change the wave form of the, of the backend vocal and make it the same as the lead, basically.
So it will sync it. That’s excellent. Uh, and that’s, that’s really, really great for like, you know, yeah, it’s great for armies and things, so everything’s on time and everything is, and is That something that’s done quite predominantly in pop music a lot? Yeah, absolutely. Make it sound bigger. It’s done in, in everything. It’s done in, you know, r and b vocals, big, big, like when you have big vocal productions, hip hop, like I do it on, on hip hop a lot.
Like when I get like dubs, when I get just stabs, you have a leader and someone will shout like words, you know, end of sentences. And I, I do that on that as well, just so that everything is super tight.
