Transpose a vocal track down to thicken?

[mark skinner]

I have a partner in musical crime doing a cover of "Hello in There" by John Prine. He always wants his voice deeper and thicker, and I've done all the tricks for him on previous songs. I transposed a live version of the song from Mr. Prine down 1 step for reference (to the key he want's to do it in) I noticed Johns' voice thickened up so much he sounded like a Big Chested Deep Voiced modern country singer. I was wondering if anyone has tried this technique maybe singing only a half step higher than normal , then transposing it back down for the the thickening and deepening effect ?         mark

Edited August 2, 2020 by mark skinner

[Max Arwood]

I never have transposed to make the vocals sound thicker.  I usually use doubling of tracks shifted up 6 cents and down 6 cents  and, or tape fast slap back with saturation.

I usually use - Waves Doubler, J37 tape or  Sound Toys -  Echoboy, Micro shift or Little Alter Boy. I almost always have some type of saturation on the vocals, it helps them to pull out front of the rest of the mix.  There are many plugins and many ways to get the vocals thicker. Formant shifting is another way to change the tone without changing the pitch.

 

[Terry Kelley]

Make a V-Vocal region and lower the formant. You can change the pitch too if you like but slightly lowing the formant alone might do what you want.

[AB99]

1. Are you taking advantage of proximity effect of a microphone?

2.  Some ribbon mics (AEA 44) can help thicken as well.

[lapasoa]

The best way to thicken the voice is to record a new track tryng to sing exactly as the previous one. For some imprecision use Vocal sync.

Edited August 3, 2020 by lapasoa

[mark skinner]

 Thanks for replying . I have used  All of the above suggestions except the V -Vocal one.  None of them created the effect like transposing it. There was something about the change in the Air sound that greatly enhanced it also. I was just wondering if I had missed out on a not so widely used technique..  mark

[bitflipper]

I've never transposed a recorded vocal to make it sound deeper, mainly due to the possibility of noticeable quality loss. It's the same reason I only pitch-correct the worst-offending words and leave the rest alone even if it's not "perfect".

However, picking the right key for a vocalist is crucial, not just for ease of singing but also for tonal quality. Elvis Presley famously sang out of his natural range on purpose. Initially it was because he learned songs from demo recordings made by a guy with a higher voice, but it became apparent that those strained high notes added emotional content that appealed to consumers. Personally, I like to sing below my natural comfort zone because it doesn't sound like me anymore. But only for recording, where I can get away with it; on stage I'm far more likely to pick keys that test the upper end of my range.

Two of the most widely used techniques for vocal thickening, as noted above, are double-tracking and micro-shifting. But both need to be done with care lest they sound obviously artificial. Don't forget less-intrusive effects such as EQ, delays and distortion. These can significantly fatten a vocal without it sounding obviously manipulated.

[mark skinner]

1 hour ago, bitflipper said:

it doesn't sound like me anymore

I didn't want to go there but here it is. That's one reason for doing this to his vocal. So it doesn't sound like "him" anymore.  Not only does he sing bad  , He has No timing or rhythm , but he tries and loves to play and sing. I've improved his vocals so much in the past he actually doesn't know how bad he is , or the hours I've spent cringing during melodyne sessions. Double tracking his performance doesn't work, micro shifting a copy does. This isn't a normal studio situation. If this doesn't work I'll go back to the conventional methods.    Thanks for the input ,  wish me luck ...  mark