When to double and when to triple track vocals

[MoTang]

So with the conclusion of my finals nearing I finally get to resume a project I am working on for a friend who is a vocalist.

This will be my first serious attempt at recording vocals...but tbh I am confused about how I should go about layering the vocals (such as double tracking, triple tracking and the panning associating with these techniques).

How should I pan? When should I only double track usually and when should I triple track? I searched but I only found vague answers that didn't really explain when to double and when to triple...more how to.

Thanks.

 

[DullElysium]

Track more layers than you need. That way you can play with the possibilities afterwards.

I often enjoy double tracked lows panned l/r with single tracked highs in the center for the "heavy" parts that need more aggression. Sometimes just three lows or three highs. Panned and centered.

What i do is i record one track with all the highs and lows in the middle. Then search for parts that need more emphasis and record the left and right tracks. There's no real quide to when to use, but just don't double or triple track the whole song. It's more interesting that way.

 

[ForHerDeadEyes]

It depends on the genre of music and what you want to achieve..
I record at least 5 takes per verse, chorus, etc. but I probably record up to 20 takes..

I do less takes with harmonies, as long as I'm satisified with what I have..

Most questions like this don't have a definite answer in general, but they do have a definite answer when you want to achieve a similiar result of an existing song..
(I'll probably post many questions like it, so I'm hypocrite! Who wants a piece of me?!)
When should you double/triple/mega/giga/ultra track? When you feel you need to, when it doesn't sound like you want it to sound, when you want it to sound like some other song that sounds like they have more than one take on the vocals..

 

[Machinated]

I just do it to add emphasis on certain lines or sections. very few vocalists benefit from having it the whole way through but sometimes its required.

I think of it as an effect and its good to make things stand out but if its there the whole time you get used to it and becomes boring IMO.

 

[xFkx]

Well if you don't have a vision for this then that's bad. I see no reason to strain the vocalist to overdub each song whole three times just to "play it safe". Be the producer (if there is none), record a single vocal line, and then go along and see where you feel a double/harmony/stereo spread/whisper/whatever might be needed.

 

[anotherpaul]

I usually record one full vocal track as it is performed live and pan it to center. I record with a lot of takes, phrase by phrase if necessary as opposed to recording several full song performances in hope that they would make at least one decent full track after editing.
Then backing vocals - usually single track if it's basic harmony line, double track, if it is heard when the main vocals go away. Sometimes double tracked lower harmonies are enough not to double track lead vocals in choruses.
Then if it feels weak at some parts I record additional tracks for main vocals.
For example huge choruses might need two additional vocal tracks panned left and right. If the mix is already packed or there is not enough time or the performer is bad, I might record just one additional track and put a doubler on it.

 

[jval]

agreed with xFkx. Don't record 'extra' layers to decide later, you'll kill the vocalist and it will just be a waste of time. figure out where layers need to be and make it happen.
My usual approach is to have a single lead vocal up the middle. Then i'll triple it (one left double, one right double) for heavy emphasis, or just a one double up the middle if it's something like layering a high scream over a low for emphasis.

 

[jackobme]

Use your best judgement and be creative. Imagine parts layered in your head and have him try it. I usually do this as we're tracking the song rather than after. I also use sample delay for the backing most the time to give it that stereo separation behind the centered vocal.

 

[egan.]

agreed with xFkx. Don't record 'extra' layers to decide later, you'll kill the vocalist and it will just be a waste of time. figure out where layers need to be and make it happen.

Yeah, unless you have a real monster that can one take stuff you run the risk of blowing out the vocalist. If time permits, pre-pro really allows you to figure out what to do where and also what the limitations of the vocalist are.

 

[Clockwork]

Like Egan said pre-pro is your friend. The singer in my band usually spends a day on prepro just doing a single scratch track of vocals for each song to get the phrasing down. Then when he is satisfied he comes back and we track three vocal takes for each song one main track, a second double where needed (usually choruses/prechoruses) and a third "emotion" track that might vary slightly in tone (usually in certain verses or bridges as needed).

Personally I hate it when people have a vocalist track everything 3-5 times because it tends to result in getting a bunch of meh takes that sound okay grouped together when you could have just tried to get one or two really solid takes.

 

[kernelxsanders]

I tend to double track all the time. For main vocals, I just have two takes centered to thicken it up, and for emphasis, I'll automate the panning or use separate tracks to split them L/R with a 3rd take down the center. And for the blended high/low screams, I'll double track the highs, split L/R blended with the doubled lows that are centered. That's my general rule, anyways. I feel like tracking everything twice is a good way to make sure you have options to choose from for good takes without the vocalist's voice giving out from tracking everything more than twice. I do need to experiment with doing whole-song takes with punch-ins vs stanza-by-stanza though. Because I sometimes just record vox to the click. At least with my project, where the time sigs and vocal patterns are odd and we don't do pre-pro to nail the patterns during tracking, so I can just have the takes and slide them where they need to be in the song. Pretty unorthodox, but works for me in the past.