Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters) voice processing?

[Shroom]

This is the best place I could think of to post this thread, so I'm sorry if it's out of place.

Anyways, has anyone else noticed that there's something not totally natural about Dave Grohl's voice on any Foo Fighters CD? Many songs will sound just fine, but others I think have some extremely subtle processing which make it sound exponentially better, in my opinion. It could be the most gentle touch of some kind of reverb, or there could be an almost unnoticeable hint of chorus, or even some kind of early reflection or other obscure delay effect. Sometimes I think it might just be one of the other guys in the band with an extremely similar voice singing along, but with their voice at a really low volume in the mix. Whatever it is, I love it, and I'd love to be able to figure it out so I could put it to use myself. Anyone have any idea?

If you need a song example, take a listen to just about any of their hits: Monkey Wrench, The Pretender, Best of You, Everlong, you name it.

[Ampeg SVT]

Well the drummer Taylor Hawkins can sing VERY well, just watch him sing "Tie Your Mother Down". I think in later years Dave's voice has been giving out, I remember seeing videos of Dave back during the TCATS and the thirs album and his voice is very spot on. however from One By One on his voice has not been that great unless its during an acoustic gig because he generally screams during electric perfomances.

Im not really sure, the new record seems like there is something wrong in my opinion. it just doesnt seem like a normal Foo record.

[Shroom]

Originally Posted by Ampeg SVT

Well the drummer Taylor Hawkins can sing VERY well, just watch him sing "Tie Your Mother Down". I think in later years Dave's voice has been giving out, I remember seeing videos of Dave back during the TCATS and the thirs album and his voice is very spot on. however from One By One on his voice has not been that great unless its during an acoustic gig because he generally screams during electric perfomances.

Im not really sure, the new record seems like there is something wrong in my opinion. it just doesn't seem like a normal Foo record.

I knew Taylor Hawkins sang, but I was never sure how much. There are some spots in the recordings where you can hear distinctly separate voices, so I figured it was only those times.

Agreed on the thing about the new album. I thing I saw an interview where Dave was saying a lot of the songs are about what happened with Kurt Cobain and stuff, which would explain why most of the songs feel sort of disturbed.

[bilson]

That kind of sucks.. it seems like that's more of a "name dropping" kind of thing now, that the songs are about Kurt. I mean, he's had lots of albums before this one, with this one being like.. 13 years after Kurt's death.

Anyway, I'm loving the new Foo cd. It's different for sure.. I think much more "mature".

[maxgrant]

Originally Posted by Shroom

This is the best place I could think of to post this thread, so I'm sorry if it's out of place.

Anyways, has anyone else noticed that there's something not totally natural about Dave Grohl's voice on any Foo Fighters CD? Many songs will sound just fine, but others I think have some extremely subtle processing which make it sound exponentially better, in my opinion. It could be the most gentle touch of some kind of reverb, or there could be an almost unnoticeable hint of chorus, or even some kind of early reflection or other obscure delay effect. Sometimes I think it might just be one of the other guys in the band with an extremely similar voice singing along, but with their voice at a really low volume in the mix. Whatever it is, I love it, and I'd love to be able to figure it out so I could put it to use myself. Anyone have any idea?

If you need a song example, take a listen to just about any of their hits: Monkey Wrench, The Pretender, Best of You, Everlong, you name it.

He's doubling his own vocal. That's a common recording technique going back to the Beatles. Grohl is a very precise musician so you don't catch a lot of mismatched syllables, but I can clearly hear two of him.

Listening to Monkey Wrench right now.

[Shroom]

Originally Posted by maxgrant

He's doubling his own vocal. That's a common recording technique going back to the Beatles. Grohl is a very precise musician so you don't catch a lot of mismatched syllables, but I can clearly hear two of him.

Listening to Monkey Wrench right now.

Holy geez that must be a pain to record :O , unless it's just the same track put a milisecond out of time or something

I guess I wasn't too far off when I guessed it could be a chorus effect

[santucci218]

off topic i know, but i hate when you can notice pitch bending on vocal tracks. IT SOUNDS SO BAD!!!

[bigsnack]

I think Dave has been doubling his vocal since the first Foo record. I've heard that effect on every single CD they've put out!

[Messiah25]

Originally Posted by Shroom

Holy geez that must be a pain to record :O , unless it's just the same track put a milisecond out of time or something

I guess I wasn't too far off when I guessed it could be a chorus effect

+1

Thats exactly what it is.
I've been doing that in some of my production for a rap group.
I doubled the track and moved a milisecond one of them to get the natural chorus effect. It also makes the voice stand out much more with the right compression.

I think the Foo's latest cd is one of the best musically IMO

[musicelectronix]

Originally Posted by Shroom

This is the best place I could think of to post this thread, so I'm sorry if it's out of place.

Anyways, has anyone else noticed that there's something not totally natural about Dave Grohl's voice on any Foo Fighters CD? Many songs will sound just fine, but others I think have some extremely subtle processing which make it sound exponentially better, in my opinion. It could be the most gentle touch of some kind of reverb, or there could be an almost unnoticeable hint of chorus, or even some kind of early reflection or other obscure delay effect. Sometimes I think it might just be one of the other guys in the band with an extremely similar voice singing along, but with their voice at a really low volume in the mix. Whatever it is, I love it, and I'd love to be able to figure it out so I could put it to use myself. Anyone have any idea?

If you need a song example, take a listen to just about any of their hits: Monkey Wrench, The Pretender, Best of You, Everlong, you name it.

Using effects in vocal tracks is not something new and every process you mention is utilized heavily on vocal tracks at almost any recording you hear. These are not tricks, they are just basic pre-mastering tecniques, even compression and harmonic enhancers are included on that list.

Common rule in this, if he doesn't sound like him (pitch, heavy alteration, frequency sweep, etc), then we have a problem

Edit: Actually it is known as stereo effect, rather than subtle chorus effect. It can be done by dublicating a track and push one of them forward, just by miliseconds or recording the same thing twice, which is more professional and harder (no one can play or sing exactly the same with exact same syncopes, however when a good recording artist does that, it seems like it is exactly the same. In simplest truth, waveforms of both tracks has differences between them). The main goal is to fatten up the track, make it somewhat richer and fuller.

[Stay Gold 1337]

Doubling is something a lot of people do, not just for vocals but guitar parts and stuff too. it makes things seem more full and have more depth.

[Shroom]

That's really interesting. A friend and I are gonna be getting into home recording soon, so I'm hoping more tips like this'll keep coming my way

[sleepy_monkey]

I would say that most bands double their own voice in the studio. During a live show it doesn't matter as much b/c you have screaming people and extreme loudness so if the backup singer is a bit off key it isn't as noticeable as a record you spent $100k + on to have tip top.

Did anyone happen to see the Live Earth show? If you saw the Live Earth show where he sang Everlong you would want him to double his vocals on albums...he has a great voice. And the backup singer can sing too...but if the backup singer could sing better, he wouldn't be the backup singer...haha.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Ampeg SVT

Well the drummer Taylor Hawkins can sing VERY well, just watch him sing "Tie Your Mother Down". I think in later years Dave's voice has been giving out, I remember seeing videos of Dave back during the TCATS and the thirs album and his voice is very spot on. however from One By One on his voice has not been that great unless its during an acoustic gig because he generally screams during electric perfomances.

I've always loved Dave Grohl's voice on record and for a few years he sounded really good live too. Now he's approaching Chris Cornell in terms of still sounding great on record but not being able to come close to matching it live.

Here in this live version the chorus of Pretender lacks the raw energy of the album version. To be honest I'm surprised he hasn't blown his voice out already considering years of tours singing like this for two hours at a time.

[Ampeg SVT]

Yeah I saw that live version, man it shocked me at how bad it was. Dave sings lower while Taylor sang (screamed if you want to call it that) the chorus pretty much you can barely hear taylor in that video. It sounds better in a few other videos

[Barkbuster]

Dave freely says in an interview that on his first album he more than doubles his singing. I think it was q magazine [ a uk rock mag]

[Shroom]

I guess this thread has gone off topic enough already for me to just say that I love the way he screams. Most people, including me, don't like most "screaming" like the crap in hardcore and death metal bands, me personally because it's dissonant, often out of place with the music, and sounds completely artificial as far as the emotions behind the music go. Dave on the other hand just sounds like a guy who's just got some intense **** he's letting out through his music, and is just experiencing natural emotions. Not to mention, most of the time he still manages to actually sing in key where necessary, even while screaming. It's a shame his voice is going.

In conclusion, Dave Grohl is awesome as a singer/songwriter/musician and one of my heroes, at least in the music industry. The end.

[Pikasoll]

Just one thing. Dave is in no way a "precise" musician, just hear a live recording. They arent really good live.... At least from what i`ve seen.

[maxgrant]

Originally Posted by Pikasoll

Just one thing. Dave is in no way a "precise" musician, just hear a live recording. They arent really good live.... At least from what i`ve seen.

When he overdubs in a studio, at least on his first Foo album, he was extremely precise.

Live is a different situation. Dave may not be interested in precision live, and may go for raw energy. Considering his roots I'd say that's exactly what he's after. How much of the precision of the performance is the crowd going to care about. It sucks to go to a live show where the musicians are perfect but stand still as statues.

[agreatheight]

There is a lot of talk about how Dave is precise in the studio for his vocal doubling. Obviously, I was not in the studio for these sessions, but it's very possible (and at least a little bit likely) that the engineer is using time alignment and pitch correction plugins to perfect and match up the performances. The amount of processing that can be done in the studio is staggering, and it's common practice these days.