Third Take

Doubling vocals is no secret technique - everyone knows about it and most home-recorders have tried it. The doubled lead vocal is a staple of modern recordings, and a key element of big sounding vocals. If done right, it can make your lead vocal sound huge, your singer sound better, and your song come together. If done wrong, it sounds terrible. Here are a few tips to doing it right.

Double for effect

This falls into the “production” realm, rather than the engineering realm, but it is critically important. Don’t double everything. Sometimes, a song needs a fragile, vulnerable, lone vocal track quivering above the music to convey the emotion of the lyrics. Doubling the performance would kill the mood.

You can also double only parts of the song - the choruses are the usual example. Leave the lone vocal track on the verses, and double up on the chorus for extra punch. Another great trick is to only double for lyrical emphasis - double every other line, or the heavy-hitting phrases. Use the power of the doubled vocal to add contrast to the vocal track.

Take it a phrase at a time

Unless you’re intentionally going for a sloppy sound (which is a cool thing for some songs), your doubled vocal needs to match exactly with the main track. Words need to start at the same time, and end at the same time. Every syllable needs to be perfect. You want it to sound like a single, powerful voice - not some guy singing with himself.

I think the best way to do this is to take the doubled vocal a phrase at a time. Let the singer study a single phrase, and then record that phrase until it’s perfect. In my experience, approaching it this way is faster than trying to do several takes of the whole song, piece the phrases together, and then punch anything that is still missing.

In a recent session, I used the phrase at a time approach and we knocked out the double track quickly. We did all the choruses back to back, and then went back and did the verses.

Lose the consonants

Consonants at the end of words can be troubling. Nothing sounds worse than two Ts or Ds at the end of a word hitting at slightly different times. If the singer is having trouble, try having him sing the doubled word without the final consonant.

For example, if the line was “I’ll never forget,” try having him sing “I’ll never forgeh” on the double track. It will still thicken up the vocal, but won’t sound sloppy. “Don’t wait for me” might become “Don way for me” on the doubled track. It sounds crazy, but it works - try it.

Make use of loop recording

Sonar, and other DAW software, allows you to set loop points and record a series of takes while looping over the same section of a song. If the singer is having a hard time on a phrase, it is a great opportunity to make use of your software. Set the loop points, tell the singer to “practice with the track” and press record. When he finally nails the line, you’ll have it.

Sonar conveniently saves all the takes on the same track in track layers. It even mutes previous takes when the loop starts over. It practically does all the work for you.

Try special effects

No article on doubling would be complete without mention of the “special effect” types of doubling. Try recording a track of the singer whispering the words along with the lead vocal; or, instead of whispering, have him scream the words. Have him sing an octave higher or lower. You get the idea.