Dance Music Vocals. Yes Or No?

Some music genres dont mind having dance music vocals in their mix. For others it can be quite rare.

But what you will notice it that, like most things in the world, depends upon what you are trying to do.

What dance music vocals are

Most people believe that vocals within a mix are odd, but what they dont realise is that vocals are an instrument.

Professional singers can hit certain notes, certain ranges and keep their voice at that point. They are an instrument. Therefore you have to treat them as one.

When you look at music, vocals of any sort are not just thrown in. There is a reason to why they are there. They can either:

be the track- following the beat
allow the track to be created around the vocals
be supportive to the idea of the track

Examples

I love examples, and even though some of these tracks are old they certainly highlight the point of having electronic dance music vocals.

Underworld- Born Slippy.
A fantastic track with a thundering kick drum that drives the track forward, the synths are the "glue" to the track and then when the vocals kick in, they sound very much like synth lines. They dont jump around too much and stay pretty much within a range of a few notes.

Another amazing track is Faithless- Killers Lullaby. A rap which also has some minor singing elements added as well. If you listen in the background there are also vocal FX. The beat follows the lyrics, the rap is the instrument of the song- which also stop when the main synth comes in. Then a "vocal synth" compliments the lead synth. When you listen to the whole track you start to understand the process. The lyrics show anger then calming then back to anger- highlighted perfectly in this song.

Some of the very best groups to utilise sound effects, making them completely musical is Basement Jaxx. The use of vocals and vocal sound effects in their songs makes them original, difficult to copy, and relistenable- a huge desirable factor in any type of electronic dance music. Check out Basement Jaxx- Where's You Head At.

Scooter- The Logical Song.
Quickened up lyrics from SuperTramps Logical Song, Scooter has based all the track around the notes used within the song. I dont particularly like the lead singer of Scooter singing over the track- for me it doesn't fit. But with this track, the sampled song is the song/ the main hook of the song.

Messiah- Temple Of Dreams.
I've tried to jump it to the area which demonstrates what I want to show. Here the vocals and the keys line up, they also form the basis of the song and the main hook. The Roland Juno (where the lead synth comes from) follows the "who loves you" part. I think it is done awesomely. Then you have the beat behind and they all line up perfectly. It works really well when you listen to the song in its entirety.

Madonna- Frozen.
Such a lovely song that has dance/ ambient elements which allows the vocals to flow with the music, to become the chorus. I really enjoy the background chorus music change bringing in some orchestral sounds.

The point?

When you create a song, you need to understand where it is coming from. What vibe you want. Adding angry rap lyrics might be OK with Madonnas Frozen but in the big scheme of things it might just be out of place. However, that also could be the hook that you are looking for. Again, it depends upon what you are after and how well it can be mixed together without being forced.

So with the Faithless track which one came first? The lyrics or the song? Doesn't really matter, but you have to understand what will fit and what doesn't. As a side note. Elton John creates music to lyrics that are written. The Pet Shop Boys do the same- music gets made first and then lyrics are composed after.

Yes, there are dance music vocals that are song like, thats cool. Sure, there are pop songs that have vocals, there are some dance songs which have very few vocals. This again, is not the point. We are not saying that you should or shouldnt add vocals. But what you should do is treat vocals like an instrument. So do you need that instrument or not. Is it going to add something or not?

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