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How can I get this particular sound?


I.M. Groot

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I hope this is the right forum to post this question in...if not, please feel free to move me to the right place.

 

I'm currently in the process of recording some multiple-harmony vocals in Logic Pro X, and I'd love to get as close as possible to that super-tight "Queen" vocal harmony sound.

 

Obviously a big part of it is nailing the harmonies themselves--which I'm of course hoping to do--but there must also be some processing or production techniques I can use, to get closer to that airy, "Bohemian Rhapsody"-style vocal harmony sound. 

 

Does anyone have any tips about how to help approximate this particular sound? Some gate or filter, perhaps, or some kind of compressor maybe?

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Those vocal arrangements are very tightly harmonized and they use at least four or five-voiced chords (voice meaning note in a chord).  Each voice is doubled or tripled and they are presented completely dry of reverb from what i can tell.  I think they occasionally add some flanger or something for effect, but nothing too crazy on the entire arrangement, except for EQ and compression to make them blend well together.

 

It will likely require some trial and error to get the sound you're looking for.

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I think they occasionally add some flanger or something for effect, but nothing too crazy on the entire arrangement, except for EQ and compression to make them blend well together.

Thanks, Paul. 

Is this analysis based solely on what you're hearing with your ear? Or did you read about Queen's production process somewhere?

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Thanks, Paul. 

Is this analysis based solely on what you're hearing with your ear? Or did you read about Queen's production process somewhere?

 

Just my ear. I'm sure there's someone out there with much better ears who's done a more in-depth analysis, especially on what the exact harmonies are. But those closed voicings are the magic of that piece, and the song itself of course.

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If you care to "dumpster-dive" into that particular segment of our audio history, you will discover that many bands were pushing different parts of the same envelope.  Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody has certainly received its more-than fair-share of analysis e.g. on WikiPedia, but almost the same amount of technical attention has been lavished on the studio work of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and with very good reason!

 

A great many musical artists in those days regarded the recording studio as a creative instrument ... thumbing their noses (thank dear-god, "successfully!") at the awful technical limitations of 24-track magnetic tape ... to the utter shock(!!) of their financial backers (who, as it fortuitously turned out, were subsequently oh-so richly rewarded).

 

... but I also rather prefer to keep in mind that "it is very possible to over-analyze historical mega-successes," and to thereby entertain the thought that their subsequent commercial mega-success was pre-ordained in the recording studio. (If this were actually true, then we would all be gazillionaires ... of course.)

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If you care to "dumpster-dive" into that particular segment of our audio history, you will discover that many bands were pushing different parts of the same envelope.  Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody has certainly received its more-than fair-share of analysis e.g. on WikiPedia, but almost the same amount of technical attention has been lavished on the studio work of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and with very good reason!

 

A great many musical artists in those days regarded the recording studio as a creative instrument ... thumbing their noses (thank dear-god, "successfully!") at the awful technical limitations of 24-track magnetic tape ... to the utter shock(!!) of their financial backers (who, as it fortuitously turned out, were subsequently oh-so richly rewarded).

 

... but I also rather prefer to keep in mind that "it is very possible to over-analyze historical mega-successes," and to thereby entertain the thought that their subsequent commercial mega-success was pre-ordained in the recording studio. (If this were actually true, then we would all be gazillionaires ... of course.)

Interesting post Mike, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

I agree the Beach Boys had some beautiful harmonies as well. Bit of a different production style, maybe: more reverb, perhaps.

 

I like your approach: the recording studio should indeed be a place for creativity and innovation.

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To get that kind of high-sheen group vocal sound, I will wash out ALL the lows and low-mid, rolling off everything below 500 to 1K Hz.  Triple every part, and manually align anything that wasn't perfectly in synch (hey, we can't all be Freddie).

 

If you have more than one singer, have the group sing in unison for each part, triple that part, and then every sings in unison again, and is tripled again. This will take 15 tracks for a five part harmony (although most five-voice harmonies are a bit overmuch for pop music). "The double sounds good, but the triple is where the magic happens." - (source: a terrific engineer I worked with back east)

 

At this point I will mix the "choir" down to stereo, will all the lows rolled off each track, and bask in the massive, tight vocal shower.

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To get that kind of high-sheen group vocal sound, I will wash out ALL the lows and low-mid, rolling off everything below 500 to 1K Hz.  Triple every part, and manually align anything that wasn't perfectly in synch (hey, we can't all be Freddie).

 

If you have more than one singer, have the group sing in unison for each part, triple that part, and then every sings in unison again, and is tripled again. This will take 15 tracks for a five part harmony (although most five-voice harmonies are a bit overmuch for pop music). "The double sounds good, but the triple is where the magic happens." - (source: a terrific engineer I worked with back east)

 

At this point I will mix the "choir" down to stereo, will all the lows rolled off each track, and bask in the massive, tight vocal shower.

Awesome! Thanks Gravity Jim, this is just the kind of input I was looking for.

You sound like you have actual experience doing this...by any chance do you have any examples I could listen to?

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I think it’s important to point out that while production expertise is very important, the magic of that song is in the writing and not just clever engineering.

I totally agree about the magic, Paul: it's unquestionably the prodigious talent of Queen that elevates that song to a celestial level.

 

The fact that the song also happens to have such a finely nuanced level of production is a (big) bonus.

 

I may never have the talent of Freddie Mercury or Brian May...but I could conceivably try to emulate some of their production ideas.

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We're not talking about the "magic" of a great song: we're talking about how to make a good group vocal sound.

 

Yes, I've done dozens of jingles that feature those shiny bckgrnd vocals, and I even have presets in all my EQ plug-ins for this kind of processing. Roll off the lows, maybe e very tiny and narrow bump around 4K for intelligibility. It goes without saying that the singers need to drill the pitch without vibrato... that's how you get that sonorous "pipe organ sound."

 

I'll dig in my archives for some examples. In the meantime, feel free to visit www.gravitymusic.com and listen to the "Hook Barrage" track under "Jingles," and see if you find what you're looking for.

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We're not talking about the "magic" of a great song: we're talking about how to make a good group vocal sound.

 

Yes, I've done dozens of jingles that feature those shiny bckgrnd vocals, and I even have presets in all my EQ plug-ins for this kind of processing. Roll off the lows, maybe e very tiny and narrow bump around 4K for intelligibility. It goes without saying that the singers need to drill the pitch without vibrato... that's how you get that sonorous "pipe organ sound."

 

I'll dig in my archives for some examples. In the meantime, feel free to visit http://www.gravitymusic.com and listen to the "Hook Barrage" track under "Jingles," and see if you find what you're looking for.

That was super-fun, Jim! Listened to the whole loop twice with pleasure.

I've always felt that the "jingle" was kind of a discrete musical form, with its own set of stylistic elements, and that it would be fun to compose a jingle one day. You've mastered this form! Nice work.

 

Didn't necessarily hear the "Queen" style too much in that batch, but I do see why you pointed me to it, as there are plenty of examples of multi-voice melodic close harmony.

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