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Doubletracking
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doubletracking is an audio recording technique, in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded part, for dramatic effect, self-harmonization or to produce a stronger sound than with a single voice or instrument. This practise is also referred to as "multi-phasing" (or, in the vernacular, simply "phasing"), and mimics the impression of vibrato as well as richness.
Artificial or automatic doubletracking, also known as ADT, was developed at Abbey Road Studios by engineers recording the Beatles in the 1960s. It used a combination of synchronised tape recorders and electronic delay to mimic the effect created by doubletracking an instrument or voice. ADT produced a unique sound, which can be imitated to a point by analog or digital delay devices (in a technique called doubling echo), but not precisely duplicated. John Lennon referred to his home-studio technique of overdubbing sounds with a pair of tape recorders to make song demos as "doubletracking", but this usage isn't technically correct; rather than laying the same part over, Lennon would normally add different parts to the originals. His post-Beatles albums frequently employed doubling echo on his vocals, in place of the ADT system the Beatles had; some critics complained that the effect made the impression that Lennon recorded all his vocals in a bathroom.