Into the Dark (with the aid of double-tracking)

Post date: Dec 09, 2012 1:10:8 AM

I'm not really a fan of Death Cab for Cutie; I find their sound generic and safe for the most part.  However, it was suggested that I listen to the song "I Will Follow You Into the Dark".  Coincidentally, before I had a chance to look up the song, I heard a cover version of the song by Amy Millan on the radio one day and when I looked up the song I recognized the name.  Sometimes events come full circle in an interesting way!

The song is a departure from the normal more produced and pop-oriented music that is characteristic of Death Cab for Cutie.  Apparently, this is because the song was recorded by mistake.  According to wikipedia:

"Gibbard picked up his Stella guitar and began playing "I Will Follow You into the Dark", originally planned to be recorded later in the sessions. Gibbard's playing was still going through the vocal microphone while playing, and Walla was impressed by the sound, leading him to suggest they do a quick tracking of the performance. It was this mono recording that appears on the album Plans, with the only editing being mild compression and de-essing."

This happens to be how I do a lot of recording as well, since it sounds so authentic to me.  I decided it would sound interesting if the vocal were double-tracked (a technique where the main vocal is sung twice and layered to add depth).  Both versions are below, which one do you prefer?

Production notes: original recording was done with a Zoom H1 in stereo in two takes (spliced together).  Double-tracked vocal was added with Reaper using an AT4040 large diaphragm condenser microphone.  EQ, reverb, and some compression (just for the double-tracked vocal) were added.