LA Music Review | Art, stories and advice
by Linn Holmstedt
Recording background vocals is an art of its own.
There are various techniques to the actual process of recording them, but also in terms of arrangement and texture. Different songs has different elements, leading to them naturally requiring various kinds of background vocals to help elevate – not just the lead vocal – but the song as a whole. To help assist you in this process, here are 5 tips for recording your background vocals.
1. Get to know what mics work well with your voice!
Different mics has different characteristics and various qualities to offer – learning what mics sound best with your timbre is a great skill to have! That way you can optimize your sound and enhance your takes in the studio.
Perhaps a brighter sounding mic will suit your tone better, or maybe a mic with a warmer quality will give your voice that sound you’ve been looking for. Doing your research and looking online is great, but you can also visit stores selling this piece of equipment and try it out for yourself (if they allow it of course) to see what you like!
You can also ask your fellow producer for advice or someone else who knows your voice. Knowing how to lift your craft to the next level and how to complement your talent is a great strength.
2. Learn the material well – including pronunciation, phrasing and inflection
Another way to perfect your background vocal takes, that I find often is very overlooked, is to throughout learn the material and making sure to have every single little detail of the lead vocal down to a tea. Really knowing the music can separate the good from the great.
When trying to line up with another vocal – whether it is someone else’s lead vocal or your own – you want it to lock in perfectly and to not have any word, inflection or sound stick out like a sore thumb. Now of course this can be edited and fixed in the process of mixing and mastering a track – however, even though time consuming, really getting down to the details and learning the music well will make a huge difference in terms of your performance and highly improve the takes that you record.
3. Be creative – but wise – with your selection of techniques!
The arrangement is your canvas and the techniques are your brushes, but be wise with how you use them.
There are many different background vocal techniques that has different effects on a track – including doubling, adding octaves, harmonizing, whisper, etc – get to know how they can help enhance a lead vocal and what effect they have when added to the session.
For example, a whisper track can help create more sonic elements and put extra emphasis on certain words in the lyrics, while adding harmony can help thicken the texture and elevate a phrase to make it stand out more.
Knowing the different effects of the different techniques will be an amazing asset when trying to accommodate and elevate a lead vocal, as well as making an interesting vocal arrangement for the song!
4. Use different textures
Another tip – short but very effective – is using different textures when recording your takes. This can be done in a handful of ways when tracking the layers, as you often will want to record one or multiple doubles of your background vocal takes.
One way to achieve this, is by changing the tone of your voice for the different takes – perhaps one take has a brighter timbre while the other features a more deep, husky tone. However, don’t go too overboard with the texture as the goal is still for the takes to blend well with one another.
A second option, in which this can be done, is by using different preamps when tracking or to even hire multiple singers to track the same thing, just to add more textures to the parts and to create a bigger, more full sound.
5. Be aware of the space you record in!
The room in which you decide to track your vocals is essential for the sound of the takes. In general, smaller rooms tend to provide a more ”boxy” sound while larger spaces with more acoustics will give you a richer sound. High ceilings and asymmetrical walls are often preferred, but recording from an untreated room (not treated to improve acoustic qualities) such as a bedroom or living room can give you some great sounding takes as well.
Choose a room with hard flooring over carpet, and perhaps a room that is the least susceptible to outside noise. If you have a room in the space you are in which has higher ceilings and more acoustics – amazing! You can also alter this further by how close you place your mic to however is singing – general rule of thumb is often referred to as 3:1 ratio of distance between mic and singer, but try out different placements and see how the sound changes. Different qualities require different placements and can create some really cool effects!
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