Download your FREE, 21-day RipX DAW trial:
Some have a natural propensity for singing vocal harmonies and backing vocals, but for those who don't let's today take a closer take a look at how harmonies actually work, what options we have for producing support vocals for a song, and how a few of these famous singers and groups created their backing vocals.
The outro music to this video is my track "Clap" which you can hear in full on Spotify:.
And, an additional special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel's Patreon saints!.
SOURCES:.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions within this video are those of David Bennett Music and not always those of Struck 'n' Mix Ltd. The creators of RipX, Hit 'n' Mix Ltd, do not condone ripping of audio without the suitable copyright consents. David Bennett Music takes complete legal duty and is totally accountable for the choice of tunes and artist trademarks utilized in this video and any modifying and blending used to them. David Bennett Music indemnifies Hit 'n' Mix Ltd versus any expenses emerging from said usage of tunes and hallmarks. No copyright infringement is planned, and this video is for private knowing, study functions, and parody only.
ASSISTANCE ME ON PATREON:.
0:00 Introduction.
0:20 Thirds.
2:38 Sixths.
3:17 Fifths.
4:23 3-part harmony.
6:13 Oblique harmony.
7:27 Unison.
8:22 Double tracking.
10:50 RipX Daw.
11:35 Oohs & Aahs.
13:23 Call & Reaction.
14:02 Counterpoint.
15:19 Support vocals take the lead.
16:14 Patreon.
Click Here To Learn Piano or Keyboard
immediately a beatles example
What can he say? The Beatlez did everything 😅
They were the best
The Beach Boys were levels ahead, yet he used one of their very early songs and that’s it!
Much as I adore The Beach Boys, I’d wager that The Beatles were more “wide” in their discovery of musical idioms (in lack of a better term) than TBB. Hoping you will not flame me, I’ll risk saying that TBB sounded more the same over time than Beatles. That is, in my opinion, why Beatles is one of the top picks for use in examples. That, and that probably more people are familiar with The Beatles work.
I’ll say this though: For n-part harmonies with n > 2, The Beach Boys are the richer well to drink from.
Naturally.
When I see Lennon in the thumbnail, I click.
Have to say. When the harmony is in thirds and they do it “literally” all the time it kind of starts sounding robotic and as if it’s just digital doubling which makes the more “weaving” kind of barbershop harmonies so much more satisfying.
Good point 😊
LOVE YOU ! UR VIDEOS ARE SO FUN TO WATCH AND SO EDUCATING! KEEP GOING !
Harmonies are literally one of my favorite things in music! Period! I am so glad you included Simon and Garfunkel, as they usually come to mind, but I also think of bands like, Steely Dan, The Guess Who, or CSNY. Just to name a few! (And of course from my time in choir)
Funny you mention the Beatles after Nirvana – Kurt did not want to double any of his vocals until Butch told him ‘look, the Beatles did it on everything, go in and double the vocals’
what kurt did wasn’t vocal harmony.
It’s a nice effect in “I’ve Got a Feeling” when Paul and John sing different lyrics at the same time at the end of the song (a preview of going solo, perhaps?)
Simon and Garfunkel’s version of Scarborough fair has a great counter melody
This video was so much fun! I know you cab never be comprehensive on a giant subject like vocal harmonies, but if you ever want to do a second part to this one, I would be super interested to hear your take on barbershop harmonies, and the way those close harmonies create the warm overtone the style is so famous for. If you wanted to include some more avant garde harmony techniques, overtone singing is pretty wild, where the singer can harmonize with him or herself.
Thanks for the good stuff! Inspiring, educational, entertaining 🙂
Fun Fact: Kurt Cobain didn’t like to do double tracking. So Butch Vig had to remind him that “John Lennon did it” in order to get Kurt to do it.
I can still remember the first time I heard “If I Fell” by the Beatles when I was just a young kid of 12 sitting in a movie theatre and knew nothing about harmonies. It was like being transported into a whole new magical world. Their harmonies were so good I still get that feeling today – 60 years later.
‘Parcels – Tape’ has some incredible harmonies in the chorus where the backing vocals sort of “stagger” behind the main vocal, you should check it out!
Matthew Wilder, who wrote the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan, has described the song as a “very odd pop song” and I can see why. The part that begins with the line “I’m never gonna catch my breath” is especially odd, as it is either a bridge that happens before the first chorus, or it is a pre-chorus that only occurs once in the song.
This would be an interesting subject to bring up in a future video.
this is exactly what I was hoping you would work on, thanks david!!!
When I think of counterpoint and call-and-response, I think of the husband/wife indie rock duo Mates Of State. They perfectly exemplify this, especially in their earlier stuff
The Eagles and CSN&Y are probably my 2 favorites in terms of harmonies. But an overlooked song, in my opinion, is “Bus Stop” by The Hollies. I’ve always loved how the harmonies in that song sound.
The Night Before, one of my favorite Beatles songs, has three different types of harmonies: Double tracking, call and response, and Ahhhs.
Something I love are the three parts harmony that are delayed in time, in God Only Knows and Golden Brown by the stranglers, it’s got a never ending feeling that’s very satisfying
Some people were meant to sing together. I’ve always been fascinated with the way Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson voices matches together in the B-52’s.
Depeche Mode have some of my favorite 2-part vocal arrangements of all time. They often use counterpoint, or call-and-response, or singing a few lines in octaves. But my absolute favorite is when Dave and Martin sing in unison or harmony, and Martin suddenly goes really high on one note, like on “People Are People,” “Stripped,” or “Broken.” On “Broken” they sing entirely different melodic lines really close to each other and it somehow works!