Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously taped musical recording. A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. ...

The overdub was first used by inventor and guitarist Les Paul on his 1947 "Lover (When You're Near Me)", featuring eight different electric guitar pieces. His later work would be seminal in the popularization of multi-track recording. Les Paul (born June 9, 1915) is best known as a guitarist, and as one of the most important figures in the development of modern electric instruments and recording techniques. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Overdubs can be used for a variety of reasons. One of the most obvious is for convenience; for example, if a bassist is temporarily unavailable, the recording can be made and the bass track added later. Similarly, if only one or two guitarists are available but a song calls for multiple guitar parts, a guitarist can play both lead and rhythm guitar (such as in Cream's hit, "Sunshine of Your Love", when it would have been physically impossible for Eric Clapton to solo and play rhythm at the same time). Singers who also play an instrument find overdubbing a convenience, since it allows them to focus on one role at a time. A Fender Jazz Bass Bass guitar (also called electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply bass) refers to an electric bass or an electric/acoustic string instrument with a similar appearance to the guitar, but with a larger body, commonly four strings, longer scale neck and tuned an octave lower... A guitar is a stringed musical instrument. ... Cream was a seminal 1960s British rock band which featured guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker. ... Sunshine of Your Love, by British supergroup Cream, is from the Disraeli Gears album. ... // Headline text Eric Patrick Slowhand Clapton eric clapton is cool Eric Patrick “Slowhand” Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945) is a Grammy Award winning British composer, singer and guitarist who became one of the most respected and influential artists of the rock era, garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the...

In other cases, overdubbing can be used to enhance the quality of a track, such as adding orchestral pieces (i.e. "A Day In The Life"). Obviously, the alternative (fitting an entire orchestra into a recording studio) would have been less attractive. The members of Queen overdubbed their voices to create the chorus effect for Bohemian Rhapsody. A Day in the Life is a song composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded for the Beatles album Sgt. ... Queen is a British rock band which came to popularity during the mid-1970s, and have amassed an enormous worldwide fanbase that continues to exist to this day. ... In classical music a chorus is any substantial group of performers in a play, revue, musical or opera who act more or less as one. ... Bohemian Rhapsody is a song written by Freddie Mercury and originally recorded by the band Queen for their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. ...

Numerous recording artists have made albums with only (or mostly) themselves performing, using overdubs to serve as their own 'one-man band', including Paul McCartney (McCartney, McCartney II, and 2005's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard), Todd Rundgren (Something/Anything?), and Prince, on many of his 1980s classics. A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Paul McCartney, as photographed by John Kelley for the 1968 LP The Beatles (aka The White Album). Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born June 18, 1942) is a British singer, musician and songwriter, who first came to prominence as a member of The Beatles. ... McCartney is the first solo album by Paul McCartney and was released in 1970. ... McCartney II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chaos and Creation in the Backyard is an album by Paul McCartney released in 2005. ... Todd Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer born in Upper Darby, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Rundgren began his career in Woodys Truck Stop, a locally popular Philadelphia electric blues band on the model of the Paul Butterfield Band, which... Something/Anything? (released in 1972) is Todd Rundgrens third solo album, and is often regarded to be the singer/songwriters magnum opus. ... The term prince (the female form is princess), from the Latin root princeps, when used for a member of the highest aristocracy, has several fundamentally different meanings - one generic, and several types of titles. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ...

Overdubbing can at times have a negative connotation, when it is seen as being used to artificially enhance the musical skills of an artist. The early records of the Monkees were made by groups of studio musicians recording backing tracks to the songs (often in a different studio, and some before the group was even formed), which were later overdubbed with the Monkees' vocals. While the songs became hits, many critics cried foul, and Michael Nesmith in particular disliked having to "duplicate someone else's records" for their television show. No cheating was intended in the practise (with the emphasis on the TV program, and the four members not an experienced group, it was felt that using studio 'ringers' would be more efficient), and numerous other singers and groups had studio help, but this didn't save them from critical and public scorn. The Monkees in 1968 (left to right): Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones The Monkees were a four-person band who appeared in an American television series of the same name, which ran on NBC from 1966 to 1968. ... Michael Nesmith in the Monkees, circa 1967. ...

See also

• Multitrack recording
• Dubbing (music)