In Bloom On The Double

Doubling is a popular production technique that can add depth, texture and width to a recording. There are many variations to this technique, but perhaps the most common is that used on Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’…

Record It One More Time

Much like a signature, even the best vocalists don’t sing the same phrase exactly the same way every time.

The subtle formant variations between different takes can be put to good use in a process known as ‘doubling’ or ‘double-tracking’.

So, to double a vocal piece, you simply get your singer to run through their track again, as many times as you feel are necessary to get two (or more) compatible takes.

Keeping It Together

In practice, doubling tends to work best if the singer can produce virtually identical performances for each track – the closer they are, the more the sound can be enhanced in a seamless and transparent way. However, more obvious deviations can be musically appealing too, depending on the effect required.

Here’s an example of doubling in action – from one of the seminal albums of the nineties, Nevermind, as demonstrated here by Butch Vig…

If you are doing post-production on a record and only have one one track available, with no artist around to perform additional takes, you can still create a faux-doubling effect.

Take your original track and create two copies – pan one hard left and the other hard right. You can then delay each one by a few milliseconds – and, for added variation, try pitch-shifting the left track down a few cents and the right track up by a similar amount. This may not be as effective as a true double-take, but is still commonly used, particularly for pop vocals – and it can of course be applied to any instrument you care to choose…



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