KVR Audio

saikhuan · Post by **saikhuan** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:25 am

Hi all,

I need some advise on how to record voice harmony. I'm not sure if thats what u call it. The backup voice should sing 4 semitones higher?

And what effect should i apply to the voice?

Thanks.

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:34 am

I don't think you'll get away with 4 semitones higher all throughout as a major third wouldn't fit all the melody notes.
Example: You have an A major chord and the melody note is C#. If you would add a major 3rd (=4 semitones) the resulting note would be an E#, enharmonically the same as an F - defenitely not what you'd usually like to hear over an A major chord.

As far as effects go: Usually vocals (not only backing vocals) are pretty much compressed. But most of all, you'd want to double or triple them (or even more...), at least if you wanted what's common stuff on vocal productions.

saikhuan · Post by **saikhuan** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:56 pm

u do not have to add any reverb effect or anything to the backup vocal? just compress it will do?

mgc3003.com · Post by **mgc3003.com** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:19 pm

Try VOCALIGN PROJECT for vocal overdubs. You'll lose some of the loose, live feel you get from overdubs --- but what you gain is a really tightly produced sound.

What it does is --- it aligns two vocals to be damn near perfectly in sync with each other. Now that I know how it works -- I hear this all the time in major label recordings... (Which makes sense because I learned about it in a Black Eyed Peas interview.)

Anyhow, I highly recommend it. You can do MORE layers of vocals if you use it, because it doesn't get that sloppy loose sound from imperfect timing.

(Obviously tight vs loose --- it depends on what kind of song you're making.)
But it's amazing stuff.

CinningBao · Post by **CinningBao** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:08 pm

a few things I've discovered:

my backing vox are usually quite so I always end up heavily compressing them, first on each channel, then in the vox sub-group. reverb is totally up to you, whether it suits the other music.

backing vox sound best (for me) when more 'in-tune' than the main vocal, so I sometimes use an autotune to tighten up each line a little

have you studied harmony at all? you would get all your interval answers from this knowledge. I've been looking for some online tutorials, but apart from the bbc learning site I can't find much, maybe someone else has

hope that helps a little

birrbits · Post by **birrbits** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:27 pm

In addition to some compression you might play around with hard panning the backing vocals to extreme left & right positions (assuming the lead is centered). This tends to help give the backing vocals that 'backing' feel. A lil chorus when you double is always worth a shot too, or just double and apply an lfo to the double.

CinningBao · Post by **CinningBao** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:02 pm

Just tried VocAlign Project and it bloomin rocks. With the exchange rate being so low at the moment I could be tempted at quid160 (lost my pound sign)
shutup, just shutup, shutup, yeah shutup, just shut the f@#k up

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:43 pm

saikhuan wrote:u do not have to add any reverb effect or anything to the backup vocal? just compress it will do?

Of course you may add reverbs, delays and further effects to suit your taste.
But compression and doubling is like a *must* for those sort of backing vocals you hear like every day.

And yes, as birrbits said, panning is an important thing too. I'd be very careful with chorus though - might sound impressive at first but might also make the backing vocals more muddy. A matter of testing and experience I'd say.

jasonsantiago · Post by **jasonsantiago** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:22 pm

If you are not very experienced with music theory or harmony, try using Perfect 4ths and 5ths (5 semitones and 7 semitones). They are considered the 'strongest' intervals in western music.

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:57 pm

Perfect 4ths UP rarely make it but tend to sound artificial.

TristezaOrange · Post by **TristezaOrange** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:43 am

If I want to harmonise a vocal line, I find it incredibly easy to do by trial and error in a sequencer, using a synth line that represents the main vocal and then trying to double that with another synth line. Helps a lot and you don't have to know much theory. Not any, actually.

saikhuan · Post by **saikhuan** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:17 am

Thanks a lot. i will try out VOCALIGN.

Dont u think perfect 4th or 5th higher is a little bit too high for the singer to sing? How about singing lower than the actual melody line?

xander · Post by **xander** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:17 am

Great advice from Sascha and also everyone else, and, like TristezaOrange says, you can experiment in your sequencer.

I like to experiment with my harmonies by singing into a track in Audition and then nudging the time this way or that. Audition also has a simple but effective native pitch controller that is handy sometimes to layer a simple 3rd over the main vocal -- a simple but clean and effective way to do what you want and still retain that "spontaneous feel", if that's what you're looking for.

*Edit: Mispelled Sascha's name

Andywanders · Post by **Andywanders** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 1:21 am

Compression... Reverb... Panning... ETC...

All very usefull effects, but they won't make any vocals sound good if the parts aren't right to begin with.

Get the harmonies right first...

Wise words from CinningBao...

CinningBao wrote:have you studied harmony at all? you would get all your interval answers from this knowledge. I've been looking for some online tutorials, but apart from the bbc learning site I can't find much, maybe someone else has

You might find some usefull stuff here...

http://www.synthzone.com/theorytb.htm

Voidoid Surrealist · Post by **Voidoid Surrealist** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:55 am

Fifths? Pffft! Parallel seconds all the way!

Advise on voice harmony