Multitrack Recording Techniques
There are some standard techniques that you can use only when you use multitrack recording compared to doing a live recording of your group. Consider these techniques as you sit down to plan your recording. You have to put yourself into a different mindset as you record an album and this section should help you think about possibilities.
We're bringing out these possibilities before you record so that you can plan them right and save money in the studio by managing your time. For example, if you know that you're going to use vocal thickening ahead of time, you can plan for it.
Vocal Thickening
A lot of professionally recorded rock music beefs up the main vocal by using a technique called vocal thickening. The idea is simple and easy to do but it can make a big difference in the sound, adding a lot of depth to the vocals. It can also be used with a main horn line or guitar although that is less common.
To use this technique, have the vocalist sing the main part as well as they can. Fix this part first if you need to do punch-ins or make any changes to the phrasing and notes that you're going to use. Then, simply record the exact same part again using the same vocalist in unison with the first part on a different track. Make sure that the first part is turned up when you do this second recording so that the vocalist can clearly hear the first part and match it.
Once this second part is completed, pan each of the two vocals slightly off center during mixdown. One should be slightly left and one should be slightly right.
If you haven't heard this effect, it's simple to try out to hear how it sounds before you decide to do this. Sometimes, the effect is used only occasionally on choruses or even on the ends of phrases. You can even use it just on certain words to "underline" them. A lot of hiphop and rap songs use this technique. Just listen for words that sound "thicker" in the middle of a rap and you'll hear that it's the same person recorded two or three times. Usually, the second vocal is just slightly off with timing or pitch, so there's just a little bit of dissonance that sometimes adds a very cool sound.
For a similar, interesting effect with horns, try recording a line and then record the same line an octave higher on a different instrument.
It Takes a Village...and You Have One
Since multitrack lets you record "in parallel" on many tracks, you can effectively take one person, and make them into a band. If a musician plays drums, bass, and guitar, they can do all three on the recording even though it would be impossible live. They're just recording these one at a time.
If you have a single trumpet, you have a trumpet section. If you have a sax, a trumpet, and a trombone, you have a big band! It's quite normal to have horns harmonize with themselves, as individual musicians tend to match their own phrasing and tuning easier than having a second player try to do it.
Also, with a single vocalist, you have a chorus of voices. If you've ever wondered how Queen got their incredible sound on songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, it was Freddie Mercury singing the same part over and over. The word about their recordings is that he did this as many as 64 times! That's why it sounds like a huge auditorium full of voices. It's a single voice and a single sound harmonized perfectly dozens of times.
Consider how this technique can be used to add interest to your recording. And don't forget that you have a vocalist or an instrumentalist playing the main part who can also do the backgrounds. If you listen to some recordings, sometimes you can tell that it would be impossible to play live because the lines run on top of each other with one beginning before another one ends. It's all possible when you get into the studio.
Ornaments
Once you have a recording, the best parts are sometimes the small items added to the recording here and there to give it interest, like adding a vibra-slap in two places on a song, or adding more cowbell. Sometimes, it's adding some shouting to some parts of the song. We once recorded a song and decided afterwards that it would sound best if we pretended like it was played at an open-mic night. We recorded an intro by an "emcee" and then took the same four people and recoded conversation and bottles clinking three times in a row on different tracks. The effect was surprisingly realistic.
Making music is kind of like making soup. You can put a lot of little flavors and interesting things in the mix that will blend with the rest. But it's those extra items that make it interesting. And with any reasonable synthesizer, you usually have access to an astounding number of sounds and effects. If you ever wondered what those sound settings were that just had random effects, or odd sounds, try playing with them and see what comes out of it. Again, any live performance doesn't have these things but a recording makes it possible.