Backing vocals for outro

[keysersozeh]

Hello people. I'm new here. I've been creating music for a long time now.. and its purely meant as a hobby. While making my last track i decided to fill some gaps in the outro with backing vocals.

Beneath is part of an outro i'm creating for a song. 

I'm most interested in critique on pitch, voice power, harmonies mix. Thanks in advance guys n galls.

Since my voice isn't perfect for singing i rely on singing softly and breathing out as much as possible, i found out it's the only way to sound reasonably (at least for me).

p.s. Dont mind my own comments pls.. the track is private and is uploaded so i can listen to it when im elsewhere.. i use the comment system it as a notebook for ideas.

[KillerKu]

Something about the fade in makes me dig it a little extra. You see, dude, you came to the wrong forum, not cause it isn't groovin. I like the vocals and I like the style.

 

Pitch doesn't sound bad to me. But I just suck at mixing man. To be honest, most of us do. Your voice is really promising though and I think you should use it more.

 

Your composition has a lot of potential as a soundtrack for kind of an urban setting in a video game, or movie, or something too. I wish I could help, but we need to beg engineers to come in and help us man. Stick around and you might be able to help us more than we can help you.

 

By the way, singing softly is one of the ideal ways of recording harmonies. There is a phenomon called 'chainsaw soprano' effect. For the longest time, I thought I was singing out of tune when really singing more hardcore vocals and was going tone deaf cause my voice wouldn't 'blend' into a harmony. But when singing with a lot of twang (tongue tip at bottom row of teeth, arching up and backwards so it is wide and pressed against the molars) the voice takes on a lot of extra frequencies that can make even a real choir blend poorly:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/vocaltechniquetips/advanced-techniques/twang-pros-and-cons

 

Harmonically, the frequency ranges of some of the more 'aggressive' styles of vocals can really fight with each other even in a real choir setting. It can be 10 times worse when recording close micced, as the frequency spectrums double up. 

 

So it may have been a sign of good ears, that you chose to sing softly. I've had a lot more success if I take a lead and give it more 'oomph' but a lot of times the backing just needs to 'blend.' I've seen it specifically recommended when 'double tracking' vocals too that if one has a lot of 'bite' have the other one breathier. Went completely against my instincts as a singer, to just have every voice equally aggressive.

 

My advice to you is to stick around, learn to sing. Seriously.

[keysersozeh]

Thanks for the extensive reaction
 

Something about the fade in makes me dig it a little extra. You see, dude, you came to the wrong forum, not cause it isn't groovin. I like the vocals and I like the style.

thanks

 

Pitch doesn't sound bad to me. But I just suck at mixing man. To be honest, most of us do. Your voice is really promising though and I think you should use it more.

 

You never think you have a pitch issue until you start recording yourself. Most of the time i mess up pitch at moments that my voice loses energy or when i push too much... and when re-trying its hard for me to stay relaxed which also can affect pitch. Sometimes its also a certain sentence.. like the 1st one in this in the track above.. probably has to do with its vowel combinations "take it to the limit" (ae, i, oo, ae, i.i)... which somehow i cannot do correctly and therefore affects pitch AND energy. Maybe applying a different rhythm to the words can fix that.
 

Your composition has a lot of potential as a soundtrack for kind of an urban setting in a video game, or movie, or something too. I wish I could help, but we need to beg engineers to come in and help us man. Stick around and you might be able to help us more than we can help you.

 

Well when i said mix.. i was really talking about the mix of the voices.. like for instance volume 2nd voice vs 1st voice and 3rd. Or for instance voice vs music. The music itself needs much to be desired.. i really came to this forum to get some reference other than my own. I've been listening around in the "Review my singing" section. I'm here to stay and to learn for sure .
 

By the way, singing softly is one of the ideal ways of recording harmonies. There is a phenomon called 'chainsaw soprano' effect. For the longest time, I thought I was singing out of tune when really singing more hardcore vocals and was going tone deaf cause my voice wouldn't 'blend' into a harmony. But when singing with a lot of twang (tongue tip at bottom row of teeth, arching up and backwards so it is wide and pressed against the molars) the voice takes on a lot of extra frequencies that can make even a real choir blend poorly:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/vocaltechniquetips/advanced-techniques/twang-pros-and-cons

 

Nasically the frequency ranges of some of the more 'aggressive' styles of vocals can really fight with each other even in a real choir setting. It can be 10 times worse when recording close micced, as the frequency spectrums double up. 

Funny. When i started singing the backing vocal parts.. i started with power.. and couldn't get it right until i tried it soft while breathing out a lot to keep the power constant. Thanks for the info and the link which back up my trial and error findings. 

 

 

recommended when 'double tracking' vocals too that if one has a lot of 'bite' have the other one breathier. Went completely against my instincts as a singer, to just have every voice equally aggressive.

 

My advice to you is to stick around, learn to sing. Seriously.

I did double track.. both breathy on the 1st sentence.. one breathy other more bite on 2nd sentence. I can hear what you say.

Thanks for your reaction! Appreciated.

[ronws]

The only time exact pitch is necessary is barbershop quartet where you created the fifth, that harmonic ring. Otherwise, it's okay for backing vocals to be a smidge under 10 cents off, giving a true chorus effect. Also, on backing vocals, back off the consonants. Not only does this help place them behind the lead or behind the instruments, like you are doing here, but it makes it easier to line up tracks. I think some people in the past that had problems with backing vocals had significant t's and b's that were more noticeable when not perfectly aligned. Making those softer or non-existant helps the blend and track alignment.

[keysersozeh]

The only time exact pitch is necessary is barbershop quartet where you created the fifth, that harmonic ring. Otherwise, it's okay for backing vocals to be a smidge under 10 cents off, giving a true chorus effect. Also, on backing vocals, back off the consonants. Not only does this help place them behind the lead or behind the instruments, like you are doing here, but it makes it easier to line up tracks. I think some people in the past that had problems with backing vocals had significant t's and b's that were more noticeable when not perfectly aligned. Making those softer or non-existant helps the blend and track alignment.

1st of all thanks for your reply. Your tip about not using consonants seems so obvious.. still i never thought of it. Thanks for that! As for pitch... i'm not really aiming for pitch perfection. 

A bit oftopic but talking of barbershop quartets.. i love this : 

[KillerKu]

Thanks for posting that link. They've got a huge amount of covers on a lot of different tunes. I think just listening to harmony singing can help harmony singing.

 

I'm huge fan of harmony vocals. It was a dream of mine back in the day to be in a harmony group like the Temptations, Beatles or Beach Boys. Given life circumstances, i wouldn't be a reliable singer for any group, lead or backing, so I just sing with myself from time to time. I still have so much love for harmony singing.

 

The mix on the barbershop thing sounds pretty cool. It looks like they panned them according to the screen order. If they were to include more instruments they'd likely have to dice up the EQ more as it's already pretty full.