Music Mixing Megatips: Layering Your Vocals

Sure you have your lyrics wrote down already, do you know the proper steps to take when recording your vocals on a computer based programs? Layering your vocals not only brings out the "life" in them, it make the song sound fuller as opposed to weak.

Lead Vocals

When doing your lead vocals you have to remember to do them twice! I know a lot of people say only do them once, but take it from me, do them twice! This doesn't mean just simply copying and pasting the first take you did, this means do 2 different recordings of the same verse. Let me also note that you must do them "dry", meaning it can't have any effects as of right now. Once you've done both recording, listen back to them in the headphones. Monitor speakers tend to split the sound of the vocals to make them blend in, with headphones you hear it exactly as it sounds! Make sure that each and every word blends in with the first take, if you hear the slightest bit of untimed wording, re-do the verse and try to get it perfect, never settle for less. To make my recording sound twice as strong, I double the first and second recordings so I have 2 verses of each, you will hear how strong it sounds.

Ad-Libs

When layering your ad-libs, you will have to go about it a different way than lead vocals. Ad-lids are basically the add-on's to the song, meaning you emphasize the words you want stronger. Take the line "I love you so much", you would ad-lib it like "I-ov-oo-o-much", it may sound strange but it really works, try it! When doing ad-libs it's always best to use the pan feature. I stick to panning one track to the right and one to the left when I do ad-libs. When doing ad-libs, make sure to say the same words at the same time, otherwise your ad-libs will truthfully sound sloppy and "beginnerish". After you have successfully recorded ad-libs on the left and right, double the tracks to make them sound strong, if that's the effect you're looking for. Once you have the two major ad-lib tracks down, you can proceed to add on other ad-lib tracks saying whatever you choose. Make sure to either keep the pan feature in the center or different from your other pan tracks. Too many pans to the same side will sound muffled and distorted!