Double recording of single vocal performance

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:33 pm

Anybody else do this?

I like recording electric guitars in "stereo", using two separate chains for left and right.

I have, a few times lately, done the same with the lead vocal using the best of my limited equipment, ex., one channel an SM58 into a VTB1 into a dbx163X, the other an AT4040 into a Meek VC3q.

On mixdown I find that if I pan them at about 11:30 and 12:30 respectively, because of the difference in the chains I get a thick vocal track that moves a bit between left and right.

Another option, of course, is kinda like the Visconti/Bowie "Heroes" thing of using the different tracks at different points in the song.

It gets really fun when using a separate delay on each, either with the same or complimentary settings.

And if I use a 2nd compressor individually on each track, but with the same ratio, I can get a little more cohesion, without eradicating the cool differences.

Another trick is to adjust the panning, say on a held note at the end of a phrase, going all the way to opposite sides.

So, anybody else do this kinda thing, or something similar?

Any cool variations?

firesine · Post by **firesine** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:22 am

Sounds interesting. I've done vocals with multiple mics but they were all going through the same minimal chain. It still offered some fun options during the mix.

I like splitting a guitar signal into two amps, each feeding a separate isolated cab. That's the only way I have been able to pan a single performance L-R and not get a phasey mess.

allyouneedisears · Post by **allyouneedisears** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:22 pm

I know during the recording of the first Mars Volta album they had a 57 up in addition to the main vocal mic. The signal from the 57 was just for effects... lots... and lots... and loooots of effects.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:23 pm

I was working on a project when I thought to do this post.

The lead voc and the guitar both have this done.

The piano is apparently a traditional stereo track.

You can find it, if ya wanna, here.

Post by **TapeOpLarry** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:42 pm

I did a few songs for Black Heart Procession and most of the time tracked a clean mic and a mic going through effects and a small gtr amp. To separate tracks for messing with later, but will lots of bleed so it sounds crazy!

Corey Y · Post by **Corey Y** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:43 pm

I've done it a few times, but usually not panned. The last time I did this I used an SM7 for the main vocal and a Shinybox ribbon off axis. I used the ribbon for an all "character" vocal track. Extreme eq, some light distortion, moderately heavy compression. That was for a metal vocalist that had that "cookie monster" type vocal style. I ended up mixing it just under the SM7 to accentuate the growl in his vocals without going overboard on the whole thing. It worked pretty well.

I would consider doing the same thing for a pop/rock track, either keeping both track and playing with the mix or maybe just editing one for accentuating certain parts. Using a stereo pair as mentioned by the OP sounds like a cool idea.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:25 pm

I do it occasionally. Not all the time, but it's fun when something "extra" is required.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

lotusstudio · Post by **lotusstudio** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:43 am

One of my favorite things to do for texture involves one of these old mics - either clean, through an amp, or through weird effects and folded into the song.

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:28 pm

Lotus, that's a beautiful collection of mics! Any personal favorites in there? They look like they might have an interesting story behind them.

wedge · Post by **wedge** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:49 pm

Something about that picture makes me wanna have rough sex... That's normal, right?!?

lotusstudio · Post by **lotusstudio** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:55 am

Something about that picture makes me wanna have rough sex... That's normal, right?!?

Well, since you call yourself Wedge, I guess that would be normal

Lotus, that's a beautiful collection of mics! Any personal favorites in there? They look like they might have an interesting story behind them.

Hey thanks. My favorite one is often the red one. It's a Shure harmonica mic with a "controlled-magnetic transducer" element. The others are either dymanic mics or have crystal elements like a telephone.

They all have a limited frequency range and all sound different. The sound can be changed wildly by having the singer cup the hands and sing right into it.

Most of them came from Ebay and were well under $100 each. They certainly add a lot of lo-fi texture and soul to the sound of my digital recordings and can take a song in a new direction. They are lots of fun and I also like to mic guitar amps with them.

I haven't done it yet, but I would like to record several songs using just these types of old mics!

On my lotusstudio page below, a lot of that red mic is woven into the vocals on the Paul Sprawl song "Here".

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:00 am

I was starting to wonder if you stole those from Jay Howard. They look a lot like a box of mics he loaned us for a video shoot for Jason Hausman years ago. I love the mic with the fin on top (above the red one). I think that's what appeared as Jason's vocal mic on the cover of his EP.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

weatherbox · Post by **weatherbox** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:47 am

I like taking two mics on a vocalist from time to time. If there's going to be heavy processing or specific reverb tricks, or sometimes two mics just blend in a neat way. Recent session used one mic with a very midrangey limited bandwidth and another that was fairly scooped sounding, each with different compression setups, and in the end it was a really neat texture we'd never heard for this vocalist before. Singer also commented that the etched midrange sound of the "lo-fi" mic actually made it easier for him to monitor himself.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:39 pm

I just did this on a record for a group called "mad love."
It is people from Fantomas/Melvins/Mr Bungle... that crew....

The singer is great, named Sunny Kim, from korea, and we used here handheld vocal mic, and Audix, running through FX she had control of, with an M49 right in front of her..

Sometimes I will have a room mic that I will gate with a band pass filter on the siechain so it only opens on one note in the chorus, with delay or verb or both on it... So when the singer hits the root, or the 5, or whatever we think is fun, it sort of "blooms" into the room a bit more. Sometimes we will use multiple copies of the same track for that kind of thing, with a couple of bandpass filters on sidechained gates and a plate verb send off them or something. Fun times.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:56 pm

Very cool.

I'm in CEP2.1, so sidechains are a PITA, so I end up sometimes just doing it by editing.

The singer-controlling-the-FX reminds me of Perry Farrell, and what I read about Plant doing on ... Clarksdale.

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Double recording of single vocal performance

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