Double tracking vocals

[Wayne Tadman]

Hi all
I do struggle with understanding my dp03, even with the owners manual.
Could anyone tell me if its possible to clone a vocal track and move it slightly out of sinc (maybe 2ms) using the move/paste function. As I'm a little confused.
Many thanks
Wayne

 

[Mark Richards]

This is how it's done on a DP-24/32/SD. Maybe something similar (option #2?) can be done on your DP03SD?

 

[Wayne Tadman]

Thank you mark

 

[spantini]

I did this a while back - had to run through it again on my DP-03SD to make sure I had it right.

From Home Screen :

1. Track Edit
2. Clone Track
3. Select Source Track (to be cloned)
4. Select Destination Track (for cloned copy)
5. Exec(ute)

While still in Track Edit menu:

Open
Select cloned track (to be delayed)
Set In to : 00h 00m 00s 00f 0
Set Out to : 00h 00m 00s 00f 2 (play with this value to get desired result - 2 is a good start point for doubling a vocal)

Exec(ute)

 

[Wayne Tadman]

Thanks Spantini
Got it now.
Just curious though. You have the in, out and to time that show
Hrs, mins, secs and frames but what does the final zero represent?

 

[spantini]

Tenths of a frame. After 9 it zeroes and frames increase by 1.

 

[-mjk-]

Just so you know, that is not going to make it sound "doubled". It will make it sound wider and the center may go down while the sides come up. That technique is called precedence effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedence_effect

There is nothing wrong with that technique and I do it all the time - just for stereo widening. If you want to make the vocal track thicker you have to introduce some soft of modulation to it. I would record a copy of the vocal track with a very mild, slow chorus effect and then blend them together, and maybe adjusting the timing a bit for widening. Randomness is better for things like that.

 

[Mark Richards]

I also use the technique mj described on many of my vocal tracks. Another way to play with the cloned track is to keep the original track and cloned track panned center or very slightly left/right, and for the cloned track, experiment with phase reversal, subtle variances in EQ, and different level settings.

 

[-mjk-]

Yes, the more random the better (up to a point, obviously). Sometimes, I have been known to twiddle a knob or 2 while doing a bounce just to introduce a bit of "humanization".

 

[Wayne Tadman]

Been messing about.
On a heavier song I've recorded, I cloned the vocal twice.
Left the origanal centre with very little reverb. One track a tenth of a frame behind and one a tenth in front. panned the two cloned tracks left and right with loads of reverb, dropped the higher frequencies and lowered the level so they sit in the back.
It works well but doesn't leave you with many spare tracks on an 8track though.
I'll have a mess about with modulation as you suggested.

 

[-mjk-]

But you did notice that it got wider?

 

[spantini]

Been messing about.
On a heavier song I've recorded, I cloned the vocal twice.
Left the origanal centre with very little reverb. One track a tenth of a frame behind and one a tenth in front. panned the two cloned tracks left and right with loads of reverb, dropped the higher frequencies and lowered the level so they sit in the back.
It works well but doesn't leave you with many spare tracks on an 8track though.
I'll have a mess about with modulation as you suggested.

To free up a couple of tracks you could bounce the vocals down to a single track, but that would result in one mono track with all vocals. You'd have to be happy with them as is.

 

[Arjan P]

IMO, the best sounding double tracked vocal is a vocal sung twice by the same singer with the same timing (and that last bit is the hard part for most singers).