Sing Your Own Backing Vocals

I'm a little embarassed to say that I don't exactly understand the definition of what harmony means but if I understand what it is to sing harmonies, the harmonies would need to be at a different pitch that the main vocal line. Correct?

If you were just singing at the same pitch it wouldn't technically be a harmony. For the backup vocals to be in harmony they would need to be some interval (3rd, 6th) above or below the main vocal line.

Hoping someone else takes a look and can comment.

Good point, cnev. Might have been the wrong term. It's me, singing with a recording of me in same manner and style. no changes. Just relying on human imperfections timing-wise to make it sound like two people singing.

I'm a little embarassed to say that I don't exactly understand the definition of what harmony means but if I understand what it is to sing harmonies, the harmonies would need to be at a different pitch that the main vocal line. Correct?

If you were just singing at the same pitch it wouldn't technically be a harmony. For the backup vocals to be in harmony they would need to be some interval (3rd, 6th) above or below the main vocal line.

Hoping someone else takes a look and can comment.

Thats correct. Many times the harmony is based upon 3rds in a given key. But there are a number of ways that harmonies can be expressed.

Sean

Thanks Sean. My bad.

Roy I was gonna ask you how you did it since I can't keep my singing on the same pitch let alone try to sing in some interval. :lol:

Roy I was gonna ask you how you did it since I can't keep my singing on the same pitch let alone try to sing in some interval. :lol:
Very simplistic approach using Reaper. I sang and recorded the main vocals and then recorded another track singing again, but this time keeping in time with the first vocal track. I sort of sang with myself. Illegal in some NC counties. :lol:

Kind of like a chorus effect, just a doubling of the vocal line. Have you recorded anything with The Pusher? I'd be interested to hear it if you ever get around to do it. I'm suppose to jame with a few guys tonight and one of them is the guy that likes The Pusher so I'm sure we'll be playing that.

My sister's a professional singer and gave me a great tip:
The backup vocals just sing portions of the lyric/phrases. That way, even if you're singing without harmonies there's a dynamic and a lead stands out.
:)

Have you recorded anything with The Pusher?
"The Pusher", is currently a 4-track masterpiece. :lol: :lol:

Seriously though, I've got a fake bass-line (palm mute low-E and have at it), semi-clean rhythm, slightly gritty rhythm and lead/fill tracks. I'll send you if you like.

I should post Ride Captain Ride in hear hear and let yooze all bash it to bits and add suggestions for backing vocals.

Nice suggestion, Boxboy. I'll give that a try too.

I probably can only listen if it's an MP3 file though. I don't have any other software to play it.

I have both the song that I'm doing the vocals for and the other song cnev and I were talking about. (cnev, both are mp3)

Ride Captain Ride is here. https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=50305
choruses at:
1:12
2:42
4:45 (I made the song longer - wanted more jam time.)

Other song cnev and I are talking about, The Pusher, is here. https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=50304

Both are works in progress. Be gentle.

Cool I'll have a listen when I get home. Thanks.

Interesting timing. I just started reading a book on Tom petty. It's in an interview format. The writer asks him about singing harmonies in the early days when he was 15-18 years old in the mid-60's. He said that he and his band started by just sort of all singing at once together, but soon learned what different people had to sing and how to sing it and ended up accidently, sort of, how to do harmonies properly.

Just like you'all have been saying. Just another thing to consider when arranging a song, even if it's just a loose cover.

Regarding recording with Reaper:

If you record yourself singing, one small trick I learned, was to put a slight amount of delay on the doubled track and back it down in the mix slightly...it adds a little more blend depth and presence in a subtle way. Leave the main track "dry" and blend the two voices together.

Also while 3rds is a common pitch there are other voices you can mix and/or match, such as 5ths and 7ths. A caveat about working with 7ths, is depending upon the chord harmony, they differ: If you understand the key you are in, and basic diatonic harmony, then you want to make sure that when dealing with 7ths, that you know what chord is being implied in the harmony. Major have major 7ths, Dominant uses b7 as does Minor.

So, understanding theory and diatonic harmony really helps. For example if I were in the Key of C Major and I wanted to experiment with a harmonized 7 on a G note, I know that the G in the key of C is the V chord, (Because I have a foundation and understanding of Music Theory, which really gives us the "big picture" of whats going on musically) and as such, it's Dominant in function, so I'd want to try a b7 harmony, or basically sing an F note over the G.

Another learning tool, is to isolate both melodies in a piece of music and then analyse the notes themselves to see what intervals were used. This can really add real-world insights into common harmonization practices. For example, Harmonies by the Beach Boys are drastically different than Harmonies by Layne Staley/Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. But both are valid listening examples to understand different possibilities for coming up with harmonies.

Best,

Sean