Harmonies and choruses strongly shape a song’s sense of space and emotion. However, stacking “more and more” does not automatically create a better result. In this chapter, I’ll summarize practical recording tips for three categories: lead harmonies, pad harmonies, and counter-melody choruses.

1) Recording Lead Harmonies

Lead harmonies (lead chorus) are parts that stack harmony tones—such as thirds or fifths—on top of the main melody. In most cases, they use the same lyrics and the same rhythm as the main vocal.

When recording, focus on:

• matching the main vocal’s rhythm and line endings as closely as possible
• aligning consonant timing with the main vocal as closely as possible

Lead harmonies are often recorded once for the left and once for the right to create a wide stereo image. Depending on the genre and arrangement, you may choose to place them on only one side—so decide based on what fits the song.

2) Recording Pad Harmonies

Pad harmonies are sustained, lyric-less vowel layers—like “ah” or “oo”—that support the chord progression.

The basics are:

• build them around chord tones (1, 3, 5, etc.)
• avoid pitches that sound excessively dissonant

In terms of timing, when you stop can matter more than when you start.

If different tracks end at different moments, the whole layer can feel blurry and messy—so it helps to decide the cutoff timing in advance and record with that target in mind.