How I Recorded Backing Vocals For My Song At Home.

Adding backing vocals to your recordings, whether at home or in the studio is an essential part of the recording process. It adds weight to your overall sound and really makes your lead vocals shine. No matter what style of music you’re in to, whether you prefer acoustic singer songwriter styles, you front a rock band or you prefer R&B and Soul, you should really consider the importance of adding backing vocals to your sound as they add emotion to the overall feel of the song and can really bring out the best in a chorus or vocal hook.

If you’re recording at home or in the studio, you’ll want to know how to record backing vocals or “BV’s” as they’re known in the studio. So in this piece we’re going to look at the equipment you’ll need to add all styles of backing vocals to your tracks including microphones, software and some examples for context.

Although singing a lead vocal line is all about being expressive and bringing out the raw emotion of the track, adding to the song and directing the way you want your listener to react, backing vocals need to be a little more “strict”. A lot of BV’s need to be approached as if they’re another instrument entirely and one that follows a certain path, otherwise it can sound messy — like there are too many voices competing for attention. Each backing vocal needs to be written in a way that adds to the weight or emotion or brings out the best in the lead vocal, whether it’s through a simple harmony or multi tracked vocal supporting what’s being sung. Are you going to let the lead vocal do its thing for the verses and then beef up the chorus? Or are you going to add a harmony all the way through and take it out the bridge or drop down to make the listener take notice? Each part needs to be written just like you would a musical instrument. But first, let’s explain the different parts…

Double tracking is achieved by singing the same thing over a lead vocal recording, capturing the same nuances as the first vocal as much as possible. You’re essentially duplicating the same performance manually. This is especially useful if you have a singer lacking in confidence or want to smooth out some of the rough edges of a vocal performance. It adds weight to the track easily, but be warned, it could take the intimacy of the original vocal away.

Harmonies can add such depth to your song, to the point where it becomes a vital part of the finished product — without it, the song just wouldn’t sound the same. A good example of a spine tingling harmony line can be found in the song ‘Poison & Wine’ by The Civil Wars.

Another great way of adding weight to your lead vocals, especially during the chorus it to duplicate the lead vocal an octave up or down. When isolated, this can sound quite funny — especially if you’re adding a falsetto vocal, but in the context of a song sounds great. This type of backing vocal is extremely common in pop songs, such as DNCE — ‘Cake By The Ocean’ where if you listen closely the backing vocals are also falsetto.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the likes of Bon Iver, who utilises lower octaves or a ‘chest voice’ in many of his songs to contrast the overall falsetto aesthetic of his sound. This type of backing vocal should be coupled with a little bit of reverb, so make sure you try adding it to both the high octave or low octave backing vocal parts to get the best sound for your track. Yes, it might sound a little silly at first, but stop laughing and get stuck in as it’s totally worth it. Pop acts and even Bono from U2 use this recording technique constantly. If you find you can’t hit the higher notes of the chorus, try backing it up with a guitar or keyboard instead and leave the octave backing vocals to the verse.

In summary, when recording backing vocals you need to:

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