Overdubbing - Citizendia

Overdubbing (the process of making an overdub, or overdubs) is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance. A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties (sound

Tracking (or "laying the basic tracks") of the rhythm section (usually including drums) to a song, then following with overdubs (solo instruments, such as keyboards or guitar, then finally vocals), has been the standard technique for recording popular music since the early 1960s. A rhythm section is the Musicians in a Popular music band or ensemble who establish the Rhythmic pulse of a Song or musical A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a Musical instrument, particularly the piano The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more

Overdubs can be made for a variety of reasons. One of the most obvious is for convenience; for example, if a bass guitarist is temporarily unavailable, the recording can be made and the bass track added later. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the Similarly, if only one or two guitarists are available, but a song calls for multiple guitar parts, a guitarist can play both lead and rhythm guitar (such as in Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love", when it would have been physically impossible for Eric Clapton to solo and play rhythm guitar simultaneously). The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Cream were a 1960s British rock band " Sunshine of Your Love " is a song by the British supergroup Cream, released on the Disraeli Gears album Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer Singers who also play an instrument find overdubbing a convenience, since it allows them to focus on one role at a time.

Many vocalists use overdubbing to effectively sing harmony with themselves, as did Patti Page, Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, The Carpenters, Brian Wilson, and George Harrison (who credited himself as the "George O'Hara-Smith Singers"). Clara Ann Fowler (born November 8, 1927) known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer one of the best-known female artists Harry Edward Nilsson III ( June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994) was an American Songwriter, singer Pianist, and Laura Nyro (born Laura Nigro) ( October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American Composer, Lyricist The Carpenters were a vocal and instrumental duo consisting of Siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942 in Hawthorne, California) is an American Musician best known as the lead George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001 was an English rock Guitarist Singer - Songwriter, Author The members of Queen overdubbed their voices numerous times, to create the chorus effect for "Bohemian Rhapsody". Queen were an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist A chorus effect is A condition in the way people perceive similar sounds coming from multiple sources is a Song written by Freddie Mercury and originally recorded by the band Queen for their 1975 album ''A Night at the Opera''. Sometimes only certain plural-related words (e. Plural is a Grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the Referent in the real world g. , two, us, dual, we) are overdubded, e. g. , on Brian Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy album. Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948 commonly known as Brian Eno (ˈiːnoʊ is an English Musician, producer Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy ( Chinese: 智取威虎山 Pinyin: zhì qǔ wēihǔ shān is a Beijing opera, and one of the Eight model Singers in particular have also used the practice to perfect a recorded performance over several takes. Singer Dusty Springfield is widely reported to have painstakingly assembled individual phrases over time in order to record the ultimate performance. Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE ( 16 April, 1939 &ndash 2 March, 1999) professionally known as Dusty Springfield Overdubbing is also used to solidify a weak singer; doubletracking allows a singer with poor intonation to sound more in tune. Doubletracking is an Audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance usually to produce a stronger or "bigger" (The opposite of this is often used with sampled instruments; detuning the sample slightly can make the sound more lifelike. In Music, sampling is the act of taking a portion or sample, of one Sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording )

Overdubbing has sometimes been viewed negatively, when it is seen as being used to artificially enhance the musical skills of an artist or group, such as with studio-recorded inserts to live recordings, or backing tracks created by session musicians instead of the credited performers. Session musicians are musicians available for hire as opposed to musicians who are either permanent members of a musical outfit or who have acquired fame in their own right The early records of The Monkees were made by groups of studio musicians pre-recording songs (often in a different studio, and some before the band was even formed), which were later overdubbed with the Monkees' vocals. For the group's self-titled album see The Monkees (album. For the TV series see The Monkees (TV series. While the songs became hits, many critics cried foul, and Michael Nesmith in particular disliked having to "duplicate someone else's records" for their television show. Robert Michael Nesmith (b December 30, 1942) in Harris County Texas, is an American musician songwriter Actor, producer No cheating was intended in the practice (with the emphasis on the TV program, and with the four members not an experienced group, it was felt that using studio 'ringers' would be more efficient), and numerous other singers and groups had studio help, but this didn't save the Monkees from critical and public scorn.

History

Perhaps the earliest commercial issue of recordings with overdubs was by RCA Victor in the late 1920s, not long after the introduction of electric microphones into the recording studio. RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. Recordings by the late Enrico Caruso still sold well, so RCA took some of his early records made with only piano accompaniment, added a studio orchestra, and reissued the recordings. Enrico Caruso (born Errico Caruso; February 25 1873 &ndash August 2 1921) was an Italian Opera singer

Sidney Bechet made a pair of famous overdubbed sides in 1941, "Sheik of Araby" and "Blues of Bechet". Sidney Bechet ( May 14, 1897 &ndash May 14, 1959) was an American Jazz saxophonist, Clarinetist and Composer Multi-instrumentalist Bechet recorded on six different instruments; each version had to be recorded onto a new master disc along with the preceding performance, with consequent loss of audio quality. The novelty was issued as "Sidney Bechet's One Man Band". The American Federation of Musicians protested the recording, putting an end to experiments with commercial overdubbing in the United States for years. The American Federation of Musicians ( AFM / AFofM) is a labor union of Professional Musicians in the United States and

The invention of magnetic tape opened up new possibilities for overdubbing, particularly with the development of multitrack recording. Magnetic tape is a medium for Magnetic recording generally consisting of a thin magnetizable coating on a long and narrow strip of Plastic. Multitrack recording ('multitracking' or just 'tracking' for short is a method of Sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create The first commercially released overdubbed recording made on multitrack magnetic tape was by guitarist Les Paul, whose 1947 record "Lover (When You're Near Me)", featured eight different electric guitar parts. Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9 1915) is an American Jazz guitarist and Inventor. His later work would be seminal in the popularization of multitrack recording.

Peter Ustinov performed multiple voices on "Mock Mozart", in a recording produced by George Martin. Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (ˈjuːstɪnɒf or /ˈuːstɪnɒf/ 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) born Peter Alexander Baron von Ustinow Sir George Henry Martin CBE (3 January 1926 is a British record producer arranger and Composer. Abbey Road Studios had no multitrack recorders at the time, so a pair of mono machines was used. Abbey Road Studios, established in November 1931 by EMI in London, England, is a Recording studio located at number 3 Abbey Road, Martin used the same process later for a Peter Sellers comedy record, this time using stereo machines and panning. Richard Henry Sellers, CBE, commonly known as Peter Sellers ( 8 September 1925 &ndash 24 July 1980) was a British Panning is the spread of a Monaural signal in a stereo or multi-channel sound field Bill Evans also is credited as a pioneer in the use of stereo panning. On the album "Conversations with Myself", Evans played separate piano tracks on both channels to overlay counterpoint and harmony.

One of the most famous uses of overdubbing was performed by the vocal ensemble Singers Unlimited. The Singers Unlimited were a four part Jazz vocal goup formed in 1971 by Gene Puerling. A studio-only group, the four members often performed works for up to 16 voices at a time by overdubbing their sound to create intense jazz harmonies.

References

Modern Recording Techniques, by David Miles Huber and Robert E. Runstein

History

References

See also