Lead Vocals - How Many Layers To A Lead Vocal?

[Good Times Ahead]

With some of the music that I have been working on, sometimes I have used 2 or 3 layers on a lead vocal, and younger days I would have gone as heavy as 5 or 6 layers, who knows maybe even 7+ layers in my even younger years and I was just getting the hang of layering vocals and what a great effect it has on the sound.

So The point is... How many layers are there generally on a lead vocal, yes I am very aware the number varies from mix to mix but what is working for you?

 

[bandcoach]

1 layer is my take unless I am deliberately double tracking

If I need to work with more than 1 layer of the vocal track to add different processing to different parts, I will use aux sends each with their own processing and sub group the resulting channels into a single vocal layer.

 

[Hana bi]

I think it really depends on the singer's abilities and what's better for a certain song. There's no rules to that.

 

[dvyce]

there is no rule for this...

there could be anywhere from 1 solo layer to an infinite number of layers.

Look at what the trends are in the genre of music you are doing and for the time period to see what is current.

Then don't be afraid to do whatever you think sounds best.

but there is definitely no rule with regard to this.

 

[Free Spirit]

With some of the music that I have been working on, sometimes I have used 2 or 3 layers on a lead vocal, and younger days I would have gone as heavy as 5 or 6 layers, who knows maybe even 7+ layers in my even younger years and I was just getting the hang of layering vocals and what a great effect it has on the sound.

So The point is... How many layers are there generally on a lead vocal, yes I am very aware the number varies from mix to mix but what is working for you?

Ya, go off of what bandcoach said. Normally you can stick to one unless you deliberately double track, in which case I'll have 2-3 layers then. I wouldn't venture further than that though unless you're gonna pull an Eminem and have something like a whisper track.

So to formally answer your question: normally 1-3 layers.

Then use of processes & reverb/delay also helps to make the vocal sound fuller.