The Nigerian Mvies

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Friday 16 August 2013

4 Tips To Better Vocal Doubling In Hip Hop Production

By Frank Lubsey


The hip hop music genre involves much more than the use of awesome beats and instrumentals. It also involves the use of powerful vocals. Vocal doubling is a technique used in hip hop lyrics to attract and retain the listener's attention and make the track more pleasant to listen to. This technique is commonly used in both rap and rock. Vocal doubling brings together lyrics, beats and instrumentals creating and interesting track. Its main goal is making the main lyrics more prominent. It can be applied on parts of or throughout the song. Here are 4 ways to ensure that you are using vocal doubling the right way.

Select the best take and use it as the lead. If you've produced a hip hop track before, you know that a lot of takes are involved before recording is complete. Always prepare for recording by hydrating to keep your vocal cords in top shape. Keeping the mic at the same distance throughout recording will ensure you get even volume levels. Target yourself to perform your best during takes. If you can sing the whole track or even a verse on a single take, prepare and go for it. After a couple of takes, listen to your vocals and select the best and use it as the lead.

Rule #2. Find A Double For Your Lead Rap. After all the takes that you made to find the best lead vocals, you can compile all others which are good and use it as a 2nd or 3rd version for your double. But, if you venture into it, you can double the lead line by rapping as close to it as possible. This means, another take. One tip that can help you produce a record similar to the previous one is to keep one headset on and one off. This way, you can listen to the original rap while recording its double.

Hide doubles when mixing. The aim of vocal doubling is to make the lead prominent avoiding the illusion of two rappers singing the same lyrics. Keep the volume of the double so that it doesn't take over from the lead. 10dB to 12dB for the double works best as it ensures that the vocals are more comprehensible without giving away the fact that it's doubled. For a spacious effect, two doubles for the lead will work best. To do this, pan one double left and the other right by 0.10 seconds. This technique delays the track by 10 seconds using the left pan and times it earlier by the same time using the right pan. This makes the doubling effect virtually hidden.

Listen to the final production. After mixing the vocal doubles, it's now time to listen to the final production. If you follow the instructions mentioned above, you will easily create vocal doubles that blend well. If the final recording is not what you are targeting, more practice might be necessary to prefect doubling. A great way is to practice using the beats and instrumentals at the same time as training your vocals.




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