Overdubbing: The process of recording additional sounds to previously recorded material.

When you have one track recorded and you record another track to add to the song, you are overdubbing. Every subsequently recorded part (the second, third, fourth and fifth track) is considered an overdub. Overdubbing is a recording technique that allows a band to fill out their recordings for a bigger/more professional sound, to record tracks with more parts than the band could play live, or even to allow one musician to record a song as if he were a full band. Some artists add so many additional parts to their songs that they reach up to forty overdubs – sometimes even more than that! You can keep adding parts until you reach the “track limit” of the recording program you are using. I am currently running a Pro Tools LE rig that allows me to record up to 48 tracks. This means I can record one part then add up to 47 more! Overdubs can later be blended together to augment your music.

Since the early 1960’s, overdubbing has been a standard technique in recording pop music. The rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar) would record the foundation of the song, then overdub piano, guitar solos, lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion and anything else they might think of.

There are some advantages to overdubbing. For example, one guitar player can record both the rhythm and lead parts to a song. The rhythm guitar part can be played and recorded from the beginning to the end of the song. After that, the guitarist can use the rhythm guitar recording as a guide and overdub the guitar solo. Another example is if the lead singer is out of town, the band can go into the studio and record some songs without the vocalist. When the vocalist is back in town, she can go into the studio and overdub her vocal parts by herself! Furthermore, the vocalist can overdub harmonies and backing vocals. Incidentally, this is how many pop songs are recorded today: the music may be done weeks before the vocalist arrives to sing!

With overdubbing, it is possible to record a single part several times and then choose the best performance! While the overdubbing technique was used as early as 1941, Les Paul later revolutionized the use of overdubbing in the late 1940’s. One of the ultimate examples of vocal overdubbing is Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” They overdubbed their vocal parts over and over until the four of them sounded like a very large chorus of singers!

The first audio example consists of guitar and buzuq. I recorded this idea using the Audacity program, a pair of headphones, buzuq, guitar, and my laptop. I recorded the rhythm guitar part first and then added the single-note buzuq melodies second. (Note: recording with a pair of headphones will make the overdubbing process much easier! Please see the “Headphones” tutorial.)

In the “Guitar and Buzuq” example, you will hear Four Countoff Clicks (see Click Tracks and Count Off Tutorials) and then four measures of rhythm guitar. After four bars of rhythm guitar, you will hear the overdubbed buzuq melody come in. The original rhythm guitar recording paired with the buzuq melody gives us a total of two “tracks.” In this example, I used the technique of overdubbing to add another part to previously recorded material. I used two different instruments and started the buzuq melody a little later in the audio example so you could easily hear the second part come in. As you develop your listening skills, you will be able to pick out, hear and dissect individual parts of completed mixes. This will help you figure out how each individual part combines with the others to form a completed song. Critical Listening is a skill that is developed over time and requires focus and thought.

Besides adding different parts over an original track, overdubs can be used to “thicken” or “widen” a sound. Recording the same part twice is a trick that professional recording engineers keep up their sleeve for making their projects sound BIG! Let’s say we have one acoustic guitar part strumming some chords – as in the example below. Listening back to the track, it might seem plain or unexciting. To remedy this, we can record the same guitar part alongside the original performance. This is what is sometimes referred to as “double tracking.” Double tracking is a technique used in audio recording in which the performer records a previously recorded performance as closely as possible to the original performance. The goal is to try to exactly duplicate the original performance! You want two separate performances of the same part playing at the same time. When both tracks are blended together while listening, the result usually sounds “bigger” or “wider.” Double tracking can add “depth” or “space” to the material. Try putting one guitar in the right speaker and the other guitar in the left. When you play it back, you will hear how the guitar now sounds “bigger” and wider” – especially when listening with headphones! I like how the little performance discrepancies make the guitar sounds bounce between the speakers.

All of the above can be heard in the next example.

The first 8 measures are comprised of just one acoustic guitar. On the 9th measure, the second guitar makes its entrance and immediately adds life to the sound. This technique of “doubling” guitars is very popular. Sometimes I will record two lead vocal tracks, choose the best performance and blend the second performance underneath to add support to the main vocal. I sing and record the vocals one time, then record another vocal track trying to sing it exactly the same way as I did the first. I then listen to each vocal performance all the way through and choose my favorite performance to use as the main vocal. When blending the vocals, I will keep the best performance louder than the second vocal performance – so it sounds like one vocal performance. The second vocal track is used to support the main vocal. I tuck it just under the main vocal performance – so it is barely audible. You will know you have the right balance between the two when it sounds like you are listening to one vocal track, but when you take out the support vocal and feel like something is missing. However, if having both vocal tracks at equal volume is the effect you are looking for, by all means keep it! Doubling the vocals is a lot like singing a duet with yourself in perfect unison!

We hope this is helpful!

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YallaFan