Vocal Doubling: My Favourite

When recording the last Hello Kelly record, I recorded vocals for maybe 3 songs per day.  Any more than that, and my voice would get too crappy to keep going.  On my last day of tracking, right before catching my flight home, I DOUBLED the vocals for all 13 songs.  In 3 hours.

My voice was ripped to shreds by the end.

For those who don’t know, doubling vocals is a trick that most producers use.  Basically, the vocalist sings the lead vocal part AGAIN – exactly the same as the first – and it beefs up the voice in the final mix.  For some reason, I LOVE singing doubles.  I enjoy it more than singing the lead vocal, I think.

Maybe it’s because I consider myself to be pretty good at it.  You have to listen to every single inflection, breath and tonal character of the original performance … and reproduce it … precisely and exactly.  It’s fun.  Because it’s not about getting the right performance out of nowhere.  That’s already done.  Doubling is just about copying what you’ve already done.  Like a challenge.

So tonight, I was hanging out with Adam Smith, the producer of the NEW Hello Kelly record, and he asked if I’d be able to drop by the studio a couple times over the next month to do some more vocal tracking.  Doubling, whispering, harmonies and other back-up stuff.

Since being in the studio is my favourite part of being a musician, of course I said yes.

Apparently Adam watched a movie about design which caused him to rethink his philosophy towards the work he does.  He’s more focused on creating work that he’s PROUD of than ever before, and I just think that’s wonderful timing for my new record.  So … I’m pretty happy about that.

It will be fun to do more studio work over the next month.  The only drawback is that now I have to take care of my voice … no more milk with my cereal.  Sadness.

Oh well.  No pain, no gain, I guess.

I’m feeling more encouraged lately.  If you’re praying, God is answering!

If you’re a musician, what’s your favourite part of the whole thing?  What does your creative process look like?

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francy