What is the signal path that you are using to go to tape?

As far as a vocalist double tracking, it is just 2 separate takes, should'nt be any different from tracking a single track, just another take.

Careful use of Compression and E.Q can do wonders for any tone.

The order in how these two interact is also important.....
.... E.Q then compress .... or .... compress and then E.Q.

In this case , i would suggest E.Q then compress....

With the E.Q , try boosting bottom mids and balance out the spectrum with some slight tops then apply some nice compression .... like 10:1 upwards.
Fast attack and release is preferable so it's almost transparent.

As for double tracking,
you could suggest to the vocalist to only use one side of the headphones ( move the other side of the phones to the back of the head... ) so that they can hear themselves clearly.
Then just feed bass and drums because all guitars or keyboards may be clogging up the mid spectrum where the vocalist needs to hear the previous take properly.
Try and do the second vocal take almost immediately after the first so that mood/emotion performance between the two takes is uniform.
In other words , it's a lot more difficult to do the double take if it's laid down the next day or whatever.

Yeah , the foldback mix is most definately important for any vocalist trying to do a double track.

If you're looking for that deap rich sound that you find on the recordings you like, there is no substitute for layered tracks. You can try other stuf to help, but multiple takes is simply how it's done.

If your vocalist can't stay in sink I would suggest going in and nudging each word this way and that until it matches.

You might consider the space the singer is in. Is it dead to the point that the vocal sounds like the room? I like when the vocalist is standing on wood. What mic are you using and does it compliment the voice or more importantly does it bring out the best in the voice? Mic pre is important as well.

The production ideas mentioned are all good ideas but beware that boosting certain aspects of a vocal's EQ can make the compressor work harder and may not be the sound you want. Or it just may be.

Happy experimenting.

I think i'd get a tube mic and a tube preamp

Try the Rode K2- nice new Tube mic for about 700 bucs... some people swear by the SP T3 and that is $500 bucs... I've haven't heard one though but I got a K2 and its great!

Tell the singer to try and "eat" the mic, this way he or she will be close enough to the mic where the "proximity effect" will come in to place. This can be your best friend when recording vox. Sometimes though you may have problems getting the vocalist to get this close to the microphone and still feel comfortable doing what they do best. I would just try to explain to the vocalist in a "NICE" way that the closer he or she gets to the microphone the better u can make her performance sound after the take has been printed. However, this may not be your problem at all, what kind of mic, preamp, other gear are you using. All of these can play a major part in the sound that u get in your studio. If none of these help then thats when the "engineer" makes the money to do his job. This is when you start tweaking "CAREFULLY" and trying to achieve a sound that u or the vocalist has visioned in the overall material. Hope some of this helps. Peace

Thanks all,

and sorry, i should have written what i am using, c3000B with avalon 737,

MAINTIGER: i have been wanting to try out a sp mic for a while now, i better get off my ass and do it

SEB: Thanks. BTW, i spoke to wayne about your pre's a while ago,
I called him up to see if you had an 8 ch, in the near future i will
get in contact with you, i wanna give your 4 ch's a go ( for drums), i know Adam at toyland studio's has a couple, he said they are great.

Thanks again guys,

cheers!