Originally Posted By: JoanneCooper
For anybody who is interested I did a full blog post on exactly how I went about producing these vocals.

I saw the blog - very cool! It got me thinking about some additional tips:

  • Sing background vocals as background vocals. They support the main vocal, but they're not the lead. Plus, the more bland the vocal, the less artifacts you'll get if you pitch shift them.
  • Avoid the temptation of simply pitch-shift the lead vocal to get the background vocals. Having voices not exactly in sync will give a fuller sound.
  • Group the background vocals onto the same buss on your DAW, so effects are applied to all of them equally.
  • Highpass the background so you don't get a buildup of mud. You're probably already cutting it at 100-200Hz, but the background vocals can often take a higher cut.
  • On the top end, lowpass the background vocals so the lead shines through on the high end.
  • Similar to the prior tip, EQ the background vocals in the opposite direction of the lead vocal. Got frequencies you boost the lead vocal to give it clarity? Cut the background vocals at those frequencies.

-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?