Famous 'Ghost Vocals' From The Analog Era

Have you ever heard something in a song that doesn't seem like it was supposed to be there? You might have been hearing what is sometimes referred to as a "ghost vocal," which is usually a leftover vocal from an earlier take from a recording.

#Music #YCUT

Note: In order to hear some of these anomalies, I recommend listening with a pair of headphones and setting your YouTube player to full HD quality. If you still can't hear them, use the time codes from the video and listen to the tracks on the streaming service of your choice in maximum quality.

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Questions / Comments / Ideas:

[CraftSized]

You forgot the fourth possibility: they noticed, but weren't able to remove it due to it being glued to another track.

[pauldzim]

This is what rock was supposed to be back then, raw and imperfect

[davidkieltyka]

Near the end of Yer Blues, after the hard edit out of the guitar soloing back to the verse, you can hear Lennon’s guide vocal all by itself without any lead vocal overdub. It’s a great example of the loose approach that makes the White Album such a fun & engaging listen.

[guruuDev]

I love those raw bleed throughs on the White Album -- the blood sweat a tears of the recording process, the mechanics under the hood, allowed to show through.

[seanrichey]

The Long and Winding Road near the end, there's an extra "don't leave me waiting here" after the main vocal finishes. It's one of my favorite things in a recording ever, I think it sounds so cool.

[BenWillyums]

First example is called 'bleed' . As in when a sound 'bleeds' on to a different mic. 'Audible guide' or 'ghost' vocals are called 'scratch vocals' or 'scratch tracks' . The band plays together to make it natural, but you're trying to record just one of the instruments, and the other players are indeed acting as a guide for the one being recorded. Just thought some people might be interested in the terminology most often used. Great channel.

[gregorybrian]

I always assumed it was intentional, at least for the Zeppelin stuff. It adds a mystique and depth to the music.

[mpw]

Analog had those imperfections that made it more perfect that is why those original LP's still are treasures. Some of the recent remixes take out all those imperfections. Long live Analog recordings!

[neil]

Not Mick doing a guide. That's Keith "singing" the Ohhh on same take.

[antoniosciuchetti]

Hey man I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate your videos. I hope that you continue to make them as they are great quality!

[Nightdog]

Here's the option you left out from a studio rat of over 50 years. They didn't rewind the tape properly before storing. You should always fast forward the 2inch reels to store them. Sometimes and engineer would be so tired or the helper, not knowing better, would just hit rewind and store the tape. This can cause the magnetic tape to lay differently and the reverb tracks would sometimes "bleed" through the tape. That's what I've always been told about such albums as Led Zepplin 2 where you faintly hear the vocals before they are actually played. This too is another form of "ghosting." I still Love the sound of the analog tape btw. I love the smell of opening a new box with a 2 inch reel of tape in it. For me, as an artist, I always thought that smell was a blank canvas just waiting to be painted with all sorts of textures and sounds. Much warmer than digital in my humble opinion.

[memriloc]

Yup. Simple. Because he was singing live for the base track. One of the things I love about these recordings. You can hear the same thing with George's guitar on can't by me love as well as many others. I think it sounds great

[DrewArmstrongMusic]

I think the coolest example of "ghost vocals" will always be in Zep's Whole Lotta Love, where Plant sings the "Way down inside" line at the end, where you can hear his ghost vocals slightly BEFORE he sings. It was recorded so hot that the tape magnetized itself

[sassulusmagnus]

Print through also resulted in some ghost vocals, as heard in the Led Zeppelin II track Whole Lotta Love.

[YouCantUnhearThis]

New video!! Also, an update on my channel: I've been dealing with some YouTube copyright claim issues lately, but more videos on the way soon. I'm thrilled to see how much attention and conversation this channel has sparked recently. Thanks for watching!! Also: look out for a podcast version of the series, coming soon.

[Nanimo]

In Helter Skelter, about 2:20 seconds, you can here the vocal from Paul and John, and in 3:00, Paul seems to saying something but I can't hear it...

[carlosgutierrez-xdds]

This is the type of channel real beetle fans have been dying for, no bs trivia that's been said to death just interesting tidbits to geek out to! pls keep it up we all appreciate it

[whanowa]

A great way to discover background secrets is to only plug in your audio jack half way in to only listen to one channel. It happened to me on accident when I listened to KoRn as a teen and it was marvelous to hear all these new things in the songs I had never noticed. Everything sounded really roomy and dreamy.

[Putaspellonyou]

And in most of today's DAW recording platforms you can actually create the effect of microphone bleeds artificially.

[cheesewhistle]

Even recording digitally with my bands, I like to leave my scratch track vocals very low in the mix. It adds a little depth that almost isn't noticeable. I don't do it with every song, but it's fun to leave it in sometimes.