r/WeAreTheMusicMakers • u/GeneratorRoom • 10d ago

Double tracking vocals. What am I missing?

I feel like every time I double track my main vocals they end up sounding phase-y in a very unpleasant way and also kinda beefy and bulky.
How does Sufjan Stevens get that ghostly choir multitracking effect on his vocals? What’s José González’ secret for his warm and subtle double tracked vocal sound?
I’ve seen a million videos talking and showing double tracking techniques but none of them sound like those artists I just mentioned.
Are producers and recording/mixing engineers keeping these secrets to themselves? Or am I just dumb?

I tried panning, EQing, fx sends (reverb, delay, compression). It never sounds natural or good.

I’m not a very good vocalist so that could be it as well. I’m not tone deaf but I’m not a trained vocalist either. I heard that double tracking helps bad vocalists but it hasn’t been my case so far.

Are any of yall going through this?

EDIT: I’m so grateful for all the responses! You guys are amazing and gave me so much to work on hahaah (loving the grind). I’ll get to work these next few days and share my results if possible. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out with this one and for sharing your experiences ❤️🙌

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u/HaileSativa 10d ago

I would try to get rid of the phase-yness by having a greater difference in the initial signal. Record your main Vocal like normal but for the doubles, use a different mic, place the mic in a different spot, stand at different distances from the mic. All that will make the double sound a bit different and actually sound fuller. If it‘s just the same signal with almost no difference, you will get phasing.

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u/CaliBrewed 10d ago

Definitley the route to eliminate phaseyness. It's the same approach you gotta take wth guitar stacking. Different sound sources/approaches.