Jamie Lidell's Secret Vocal Harmony Trick

Watch in real-time as Jamie builds up background vocal harmonies using a unique varispeed trick and Little AlterBoy's formant control on “Building A Beginning” from his new album by the same name. Get inspired to try some new vocal production techniques with Little AlterBoy. A huge thank you goes out to the insanely talented Mr. Lidell for sharing his technique, and for his moving and soulful vocals.
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Watch more Jamie - / jamielidell

[@f0kxi]

So that’s why he’s smiling so much, cause that soulful voice exists within him

[@Azzlad]

Stevie Wonder and Bill Ding, together in perfect harmony.

[@dekumusik2500]

hahaha awesome

[@LuenetonstudioLueneburg]

same I thought- so damn Stevie Wonder, what a magic voice in a white guy - such a beautyful voice - keep on singing LOVE IT!

[@princeamoakwa4057]

Felt he was reminiscent of Stevie Wonder. Had my head in the right space indeed then.

[@DuhAverageJoe]

I was not expecting those soulful vocals to come out of you. I’m thoroughly impressed!!

[@alvinedwards434]

Thought the same thing. Totally unexpected. Great voice!

[@RJ1J]

Went to school with him. Everyone knew he was going to be a big shot. He looked like a Michael Hutchence when he was 18. Wore leather jackets to conservative school and got away with it! Every girl wanted him. And a few guys too. He wasn't an ego maniac but seemed really aloof. My sister was in one of his many school bands. Funny to see him so ordinary now.

[@RobCartwright]

He's such a beast. Every person interested in recording, producing, songwriting, or music in general should be listening to his podcast.

[@barneyrubble8255]

where can i find his podcast? Whats it called?

[@kelvinchilezi1615]

would love to know as well.

[@cal3033]

@@kelvinchilezi1615 its on apple podcasts look it up at his website

[@1d0ru]

his pod is called Hanging Out With Audiophiles - every episode has a "Nitty Gritty" segment, where he explores some new music production technique in depth. There really isn't anything like it elsewhere online.

[@tommy2capa]

who is "bill ding"?

[@nikorussian7]

Lol 😂

[@b3naqua]

u don't want to know, trust me

[@demonitized6208]

ur mom

[@justindavidson6917]

This is in the top 3 comments that I have laughed the hardest at.

[@cfnts8665]

I think it is a Bob's Dabelina step brother.

[@jTacticsBeats]

So the true secret is having an amazing singing voice lol

[@kevinmccluskey8899]

Perfect!

[@ricklazaroff]

Let me get this straight. You are inferring that Lidell has an amazing singing voice. (if that is not what u r inferring disregard my comment). First off, I had / have no idea who Lidell is but got pulled in to watching by the vid's title. Yeah, I'm up for a secret vocal harmony trick. Pressed start and the show began. Some geeky white guy doing a bad Stevie Wonder-ish imitation. Wait, what an idiot I am. It's a parody right?. My wife, who is a singer, assured me this was not a parody. C'mon I said; the hilarious swaying back and forth as he sings (pitchy as hell) is a serious attempt at soulful RnB vocals? I suppose the world has gone mad. Trump has "the best words" and Lidell has an "amazing singing voice". My wife then loses her shit and starts laughing maniacally, "of course it's a parody" she says. "You can be so gullible sometimes".

[@DaxisGameplays]

@Melvin MelvinHe says that he looks retarded when he sang high notes.

[@ricklazaroff]

@Melvin Melvin Thanks for your comment Mel. When I say "pitchy" I'm saying that Lidell (when singing) has a problem with pitch or as some people would say, "singing in tune". I know in this instance he's doing or trying to do a Stevie Wonder type RnB vocal track which includes a lot of slurs, vibrato and interval jumps which are usual in this type of music. He's not singing long notes void of vibrato. Basically, he's not singing straight forward simple lines. These soulful RnB vocals which are done so well by Stevie Wonder and others are difficult to do well. Lidell fails miserably in his attempt. When I asked "is this a parody" I was implying (or inferring, not sure) that this must a joke vid. He's so bad at what he's trying to do it seems like he's "putting us on". A parody of this type of singing style which as I said earlier is very difficult to do well. A bit of context in the validity of my opinion; I've been a pro Musician since the early 70's, have played on several albums that have been released in at least a dozen countries, have played live in some iconic venues including the Hammersmith Odeon ( which is called something else these days) in London U.K, more than once at Massey Hall in Toronto, all the huge Hockey arenas across Canada, all throughout the U.S., the U.K., and one gig in Holland (lol) etc. So yes, I have a lot of experience in the studio and live. I played the vid for my wife who is a very talented vocalist. Her reply was, "huh, I definitely did not get anything out of that." Over the years I've learned a lot from her regarding vocalists who can really sing. She has pointed out subtleties that I previously didn't notice. She's a big fan of soulful RnB vocalists like Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight etc. On the other side of the coin, she can also appreciate vocalists like Sting who mostly sings without vibrato. Sorry for the long reply. I'm discovering I have problems trying to make a point while keeping it short. I could have just said "as a vocalist, Lidell really sucks. There are plenty of white dudes that can cop this vocal style, Lidell is not one of them". And what's with the creepy swaying? "Man, he's really feeling it, he's in the groove". Ok, now I'm done.

[@thomhawak]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ_FcqmKZrpqbpo

[@djdrewpyroproduction]

First off your vocals are amazing! Second this trick is awesome too!! 🎧🙏🏾 🎤

[@JayAyers]

Dude, I thought he was only the producer. Then he started singing and I was like "wait, what?" Great voice (with and without the mods)

[@nobodyhome3753]

Thank The Beatles lol.

[@x2beaches]

Seems really similar to Stevie Wonder's approach when using varispeed tape. Not surprising considering he sounds so much like Stevie in the first place. Amazing technique and execution regardless, Jamie Lidell is on another level and deserves all the recognition and respect he gets.

[@PatrickStefan]

Please tell me more! Massive stevie fan here, didn't know he used half speed tape to record

[@velanche]

One of the most amazing shows I’ve ever seen was watching him perform live at Coachella, building a song from scratch with just his voice: vocals, percussion, leads and bass. It was absolutely fantastic. He is a gift to music; highly underrated.

[@LacklusterOfficial]

guy has releases out on warp records, i mean, he could be WAY bigger than he is, i'm sure, but he's pretty known and rated. and his work with cristian vogel as super_collider was reallly hot.

[@velanche]

LacklusterOfficial That Supercollider project was my first intro to Jamie Liddell, when I was on radio. Couldn’t stop playing tracks off of that for awhile. I didn’t know that he had more superpowers until later. I agree...that album was hot!

[@bencolemanart]

@@velanche super_collider were fucking great. One of the best things The Wire Magazine ever turned me onto.

[@herb-music]

No surprise if you follow Jimmie's productions, podcast etc. One of the most creative minds and also greatest singers today, totally underrated in my opinion...

[@Barncore]

Don't forget amazing producer

[@MariaBareiss]

I was happy to find out about Jamie Liddell through Big Data, and I love the new single Monster with him singing!

[@LacklusterOfficial]

hold on, jamie lidell has a podcast?? tell me more?

[@Barncore]

@@LacklusterOfficial It's called "hanging out with audiophiles" and it's awesome if you're a producer or musician.

[@latebloomer6179]

Mind blown on so many levels. Clearly I have been missing out on Jamie Lidell. Truly excellent & inspiring stuff.

[@BMoRideNGrind]

Jamie’s just so incredible. Effortless creative flow.

[@manonthedollar]

Coool maaaan. I do similar things to this. I always feel ashamed, like I'm cheating and talentless, but then I see videos like this, where the absolute pros are doing the same kinds of things, and it makes me feel so much better. Thanks so much for your videos.

[@Skrenja]

Everyone successful "cheats" in the music industry.

[@ChristophersMind]

WTF where did you come from? This is why I love youtube

[@IFeelSoTongueTied]

same

[@CarlosRamirez-wt4yi]

Have you checked out jamie lidell green light. I heard this song in a movie a while back and it hooked me.

[@WrvrUgoThrUR]

I know that's right!!

[@CarlosRamirez-wt4yi]

Bag of hammers 2011 movie

[@JakeHawken]

You are in for such a treat! I've been a huge JL fan since like 2005. He's a delight.

[@michellew.3691]

Wow! Very inspiring approach! Love it! Thank you so much! Please do more of those videos!

[@hammertime598]

This is the first video I've seen of an artist explaining the creation of their song and their song is actually great. Awesome video!

[@barryjdwyer]

Ace vocals as always. Prince was all about this trick too.

[@rhythmdroid]

I surprised people haven't mentioned this. I feel like it's all over "If I was your girlfriend"

[@guitarsANDcars39]

This dude can sing. Those vocal harmonies are great too.

[@titusrivers5059]

many years has passed and this is still magic

[@kennyday7085]

Jamie Lidell is my hippest new found influence! so adept at the tech that makes the modern recording platform, with the musicality of the great Soul/Funk/R&B artists I learned from. Hat's off to Jamie. ageless music!

[@cahlajthepoetmc9746]

That was dope. I never thought about approaching it like that. Dope concept.

[@PaulDoesIt]

I love how the content on youtube keeps getting better

[@cw2544]

Great voice, great soul, and a FANTASTIC tip. Thank you! Rock on Jamie Lidell...

[@revol40]

Dude. Love your songs from the electronic days to the great soul stuff. Cheers.

[@charles_van_doren]

Honestly? One of my favourite videos on the internet.

[@beatz04]

There's nothing i'd love to watch more than if Jamie Lidell was doing regular production tutorials on YT. Come on, it's Xmas and a person can hope :) Also, this trick (actually it was two) is awesome - thanks !

[@Officialcbr]

Hadn't heard of Jamie until today but I recently bought the full Soundtoys package and I like them both even more!

[@DJayFreeDoo]

If only any male voice could be turned into sounding like a genuine woman like yours can. You could sing a duett with yourself. :P

[@Balthazar2242]

He has literally just shown you how anyone can do what he did.

[@DJayFreeDoo]

@@Balthazar2242 not everyone will sound like a woman with formant filters. I guess i'm just too masculine for that to work on my voice.

[@nilsschinkandtheohanacrew2583]

@@DJayFreeDoo 😂😂😂😂

[@0xfeedcafe]

@@Balthazar2242 i did it and it doesn't sound like a woman :(

[@MrDonc78]

I used this trick in the 90s with a fostex 4 track. Opened a lot of options for harmony with other instruments, as well. Nice voice! Subbed!

[@adz19751]

Man...your voice is amazing. Thanks for the great tips, much appreciated.

[@dapliff]

Lidell rocks always!! So cool!!!

[@kevinmccluskey8899]

Brill! Luv your vibe, bro. A little tricky I learned in the 70's, from Mr. Roger Troutman, was to "halo" the vocals, singing the same part on a second track. The subtle differences in the performance would make the vocals pop up like 3D. Another trick I use currently is to copy the initial performance to a second track, then offset it by 50 Ms do one hears a "real" delay. Not digital mind you, but two sonic events chasing each other through time. Cheers!

[@HollywoodSavage]

That's a really cool way to use Alterboy Jamie...great chops by the way :)

[@Ricky_Olckers]

Wow dude. You have such a legendary voice! You have an awesome tone and musical brain. Looking forward to buying your work. Keep on man. Brilliant.

[@davidphilipsmusic]

Ahhh Mr. Lidell's voice! Always a pleasure to hear.

[@dinmentor]

Awesome trick and superb artist,gotta check him out

[@SOTKProductions]

this is a fire technique ! dope!

[@trippdaly8262]

What a great vibe on this track, excellent throwback niceness!

[@DjLeoZero]

Great vid! love Jamie - the slowed down harmonies are genius

[@rivierror1251]

Why is my high school english teacher making baby makers?

[@JakeJon]

Rivi Era 😂

[@furryz666]

Haaaaaa

[@Canilho]

B'cause, students don't appear out of thin air.

[@lordundhimself1310]

@@Canilho Comment of the year

[@healinginnovations2143]

you mean building baby makers hahaha!

[@debmurray2734]

Tip #1: Do Not Judge a Book by it's Cover Tip #2: Buy Alter Boy Tip #3: Learn how to groove and to sing soulfully

[@Azzlad]

4 Throw away your copy of songs in the key of life. 5 Dare to be different.

[@LennartSalomon]

Make tip #3 number #2.

[@avalemert]

That's so good, my goosebumps have goosebumps. So good. I can't wait to try this technique out. Thank you Jamie, thank you Soundtoys for making one of my favorite plugins! I haven't used it a lot for my vocals, but it is FUN to tune down my tenor sax riffs to a "faux bari" or up for a "faux soprano" !

[@JSmith-hy8oq]

I love Jamie Lidell. He can sing anything (and often does).. Great video looking into his process.

[@COSCOSBEATS]

Jamie Lidell ft. The Internet would be a jam 🌊

[@------YeahOK------]

Lidell is the embodiment of soul music! Awesome :-)

[@patrickcudd9312]

YeahOK he’s white

[@jasmadams]

@@patrickcudd9312 And that's why we call it "Blue-eyed Soul."

[@philippdrflr]

This definitely is one of the greatest things I've seen on music production ever... Wow!

[@JulianChown]

I love this track and what a wonderful voice to go with it. Thanks Jamie

[@chadwicksteinmetz3459]

Harry Potter and the Family Stone...

[@jaydubbs99]

Chadwick Steinmetz 💯

[@tomcoryell]

Hilarious!

[@bikesandbeats4693]

LMFAO

[@texmexdragon2160]

Like the other poster I literally laughed out loud at this! Fricking hilarious and spot on!

[@iHaveSomethingForYouToSniff]

😂

[@biglenny3773]

I never wanted to hear Andre 3000 teach me a life lesson on a verse more after hearing this song.

[@abhijeetholambe9861]

This is pretty amazing dude. Keep these videos coming

[@intheblink]

What a genius idea to get new vocal ideas! I think he’s right that your mind will prioritize certain rhythms which will then inform the melody and you could get some great ideas that might not otherwise seem obvious. So cool!

[@BlackNapkin61]

wow! not come across you before.. impressive vocals m8.. a pleasure to hear.. love the dry atmosphere in this track.. all sounds lush.. cool track 10/10 all round gonna have to sub and like ;)

[@JulianHills]

The part starting at 6:18!! Those adlibs and harmonies are amazing.

[@precisionsoundworksstudio]

So good... Can't stop watching this vid... thank you for posting!

[@marcelmiagi4579]

Incredible tip! Thank you. Can’t wait to try this.

[@kbm4067]

at first I thought it was a cover of Al Green's simply beautiful

[@TheMcShay]

That man can sing!

[@mulisaurus]

Absolutely beautiful!

[@nomirusso20]

Okayyyy...what did I just stumble on to?! Vocals are SWEEETT! Thank you for sharing!! Off to iTunes I merrily go!!!!

[@jacquelamontharenberg]

Very soulful vocal lines... Love the plugin...

[@newpolarities]

I like how he sings like Jamie Lidell

[@simonhmackie]

Of course it helps when you have good source material to work with!

[@robertsyrett1992]

Right? And can just endlessly riff variations to muck about with xD

[@GareyKennebrew]

this changed my life ...no joke thank you!!!

[@hamsdean]

I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie and his wife few years back. He was so humble and generous. He played to a half-full venue and it was a complete shame. What an incredible show!

[@SinAsTheTic]

okay Stevie. haha! nice work!

[@pressplay3243]

It is crazy to me how someone can come up with something like this. Such a creative trick!

[@LondonSteveLee]

Nothing new, the Beatles were doing exactly this 45 years ago via vari-speed tape.

[@AlexanderOspanov]

Such a great song! I've heard it for the first time, but I played your track in my dj sets a lot of times! :) Thank you!

[@flyoverfredusa]

never heard of Jamie, off to check his stuff out now - vocal skills on point !!

[@Sensillum]

Step one: have an amazing voice.

[@dbwproductions]

Great tip and great voice! This also works nicely in Logic X using Varispeed mode.

[@theHumanBryno]

I was wondering what the Logic Pro X equivalent would be.

[@papertheproducer]

@@theHumanBryno flex time/pitch

[@CWarrenMusic]

I’m having trouble making it work in logic, when I change varispeed and record, my recorded track doesn’t work in the same varispeed timing. I’m confused .

[@CWarrenMusic]

Can one of you help?

[@dbwproductions]

@@CWarrenMusic Chose "Vaispeed (Speed and Pitch) version. If you just do speed it won't work.

[@diablefernal]

I literally fell in love with this man !!

[@SiaNas]

What a beautiful voice, so soulful.

[@KendrickCreates]

Wait a minute, that voice came out of this cat?!? Damn man, I'm a fan

[@quirkyfunguy]

This is what the Beach Boys did from time to time with tape. Saw a video of Brian Wilson and Brian Epstein talking about their production processes, pretty amazing stuff

[@EL_N0IR_2201]

I love this guys voice, so soulful and relented🔥🔥🔥

[@thpthp]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing this cool idea!

[@16bitworld2]

"Record man play my song on the radio, You too busy tryin' to find that blue eyed soul"

[@OakKnobFarm]

Jamie Lidell's Vocal Harmony Trick: Sing like an angel. That's it. That's the trick, sorry folks. We suck. No chance of sounding as great as Jamie....

[@YoungBlaze]

With money you can

[@lorenzowoodmusic]

You’re right oak knob

[@slowmotion421]

i was actually thinking that. This guy is killing it!!! vocal riffs and timing fire.... didn't see that coming

[@daleonov]

this.

[@SimonTebbenhamMusic]

@@YoungBlaze How so?

[@tjbrady2877]

Absolutely fantastic voice.... Pleasure listening will be checking all your future stuff.... cheers

[@tyniprice]

Man, killer technique! Will be trying this out! Thank you for the video 🙏🏻

[@luizfloripa]

the secret = his voice.

[@supersquare]

Cool trick, but call me when Little Alter Boy can make my voice sound like Jamie Lidell’s :P

[@supersquare]

I assume it’s a feature forthcoming in Big Alter Boy

[@ronaldjmartin]

Brilliant. I'm an instant fan.

[@swinxx386]

The thing is: you dont need any plugins for this superb voice! This is just amazing!! Love it!

[@joehoppard814]

Slowed down Jamie Lidell nails Unknown Mortal Orchestra

[@tjbaysinger8504]

THANK YOU. I knew it sounded familiar

[@JazzySpazzy103]

Omg you're right

[@bennyjetsonmontreal6113]

YES

[@thegeorgewhite]

I was totally thinking UMO the whole time!

[@ThePhantomJack]

Damn, that's a sexy voice. And then it turns into another sexy black lady. That's a plot twist.

[@louieyesthatismyname]

AHAHAH! I thought the same thing!

[@funkymack]

Hahahah “plot twist” 😂

[@thedocks4936]

Game of Tones.

[@ray2663]

HAHAHAH

[@Utubesuxmycock]

hahahahaha

[@Quin.CR7]

fantastic, Jamie!! thank you!

[@abielcotto2392]

You killed those vocals brother!! Love this technic. Keep it up...

[@DominikDale]

wtf instant black woman choir if he kept stacking this

[@terrymiller111]

"Colored girls go: do do do do do do do do."

[@jaredrush6750]

Holy crap Chevy Chase can sing!!

[@jaredrush6750]

@Hawk Holloway let me be very clear about two things: I don't live in my parents basement, and I absolutely love Jamie and his work. He's super smart and talented and a forward thinker both in the musical world and audio world. I was merely making a joke that he looks so normal on the outside and is completely super human on the inside.

[@bobs.stevenson9704]

you made it worse by the lengthy reply

[@YoungBlaze]

@@bobs.stevenson9704 lmao he really did feed the troll

[@jTacticsBeats]

He really does look like a younger chevy chase

[@JamesWilliams-ki7im]

All he needs now is cousin Eddie on backing vocals... 😆

[@she3po945]

I love this guy’s smoooooth voice omg! And of course, Little Alter Boy is my favorite VST for vocals. 🤌

[@bungeechord1]

Brilliant! Thankyou!

[@Anzel23]

Jamie.. What’s on your vocal chain after the SM7B??

[@Zaflon]

This guy's talent is just limitless

[@Sumbibebe]

Best vocal example of anything I’ve ever seen!!

[@smokestackstudiosgem]

Awesome slow down technique. I’m gonna try that idea on my next recording. Thanks for sharing man.🤘

[@BAND-MAID-USA]

That was badass. All of a sudden you got Eryka Badu & Stevie Wonder to guest star on your track.

[@EL_N0IR_2201]

Holy shit if that’s not humble bragging lol but damn is he silky smooth like butter. He is a veteran at this man, I’m defenetly mirin the skills. A producer and singer.

[@bpierce79]

Great trick! Sir, you have one of the greatest voices! Just incredible!

[@nicholasparis5281]

That's some freely genius layering up of the VOX, and really the whole song therein.. the application of this creative approach took a solid song and made it stellar, and it's impressive to be able to capture it between speeds and get creative and immediate results like that.. & lol, I really do mean it even though it sounds facetious to say that you really do sound great as either gender, Jamie! Brav-O! (& a shout out to Soundtoys for yet another high quality product!) Great work all around!