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5 Background Vocal Techniques to Elevate Your Lead | Pop Vocal Production

5 Background Vocal Techniques to Elevate Your Lead | Pop Vocal Production

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5 Background Vocal Techniques to Elevate Your Lead | Pop Vocal Production


Recording background vocals can make your lead vocal pop and stand out. In this background vocal tutorial, music producer Alex Wilke and artist Francis Karel demonstrate a variety of techniques that can add power and punch to your song. Simply doubling the lead can add width and emotion, and moving it up or down an octave expands the range and dimension. A whisper track can create an entirely new sonic character and emphasize certain words in the lyrics. A close harmony backing vocal can thicken the texture—while using a pedal tone can provide a similar effect while leaving more space in the frequency spectrum. Vowel tracks can add that background vocal ear candy that captivates listeners. Even if you aren’t able to record all these layers, you can mine alternate takes, use samples from Hooked, and pitch shift existing material to a similar effect.

See how the song they are working on was inspired by a Hooked vocal sample:

00:00 Intro
00:27 Doubles
02:15 Octaves
03:44 Whisper
04:14 Harmony
04:53 Pedal Tones
05:43 Vowel Tracks
06:21 Final Thoughts

Find inspiring samples and loops in Arcade: https://go.output.com/3XeeO0n

Keep up with Alex Wilke: https://www.instagram.com/wilkeway/

Subscribe to @FrancisKarelOfficial and check out his music: https://www.instagram.com/francis_karel/

#musicproduction #vocalproducer #ableton

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