Lessons

Lesson Info

Recording Digital Audio: Comping Vocals

So here you see, we're starting to put together a really great song got drums came in, we have two different guitarist plaintiff multiple takes a couple different parts and then we get a full stack of vocals here that we're going to work with go back to that first track that we had question please genius doesn't automatically just put it into a track folder that's what we recorded over the top of it that's what it's going to do for us unless we're doing we set it up to do the punch where demonstrated before going on a punch that's and then it's going toe sort of seem it into there for us, but that's all going to put stacked over each other and like we see here we can pick from and this is what we'll talk about right now within the tracks here you notice on her first one well, we can see and let me go and we'll turn off some of our inputs that we have here and what we have going on here is again the disclosure trying other revealed as we can see the different takes on the one on top is ...

just showing us what were playing on it but the other ones below that are darker grayed out I'm not playing this one same as the one up at the top there we can sort through in there also click and go between the three different takes that we have here and also it's showing us that we're gonna be able to do some different things as far as putting these together into one perfect track all right, let's take a look though with the sounds of that one again in the solo it will get rid of the beginning, eh? I've loved it since I met you, man it's always gonna be this way I don't wanna go back to the library while we're listen with never went together bird singing whiskeys everybody a sense of what these patches were doing for the problem with you using plays I've heard it all that long enough feel like our love is saw comes double dragon and dick close the door uh spencer telephone la la la la la la la great you get just a great collection of different sounds at once typically people are asking, you know, like in the studio the astros like I want a warm vocal I want something's a bit brighter and clear or I want something a little more double dragon andare when with telephone. But remember with each of these enough feel all so we could go back and get it with be with controllers and decco zlata la la la la la la la la la la I loathe library once we've recorded it same ideas, in fact, I'm going to jump back here and get this out of track stack vocal, but what I want to do is go in that classic one and show us that what we actually recorded the same with the guitars. I've loved you since it wasn't the sound with all these three effects and stuff that we remember that what we could do with all the way cut out all these different things wait, get down to what we had was a dry, original vocal, so anything that we do with the different effects sends the inserts it's temporary, you know, it's, just what we're hearing at that time, but what we recorded was a pure, clean vocal, and we can go any direction we want, so don't worry about committing to these sounds from the patches or from the library is there for us to listen to and then change any time we want. All right? But I want to do now stopping here what I would do is jump in question, please. Is it just a really good microphone, or did you do anything to take out? You're just that good, but e I didn't hear any of the backtrack in the recording and that's amazing. No it's low volumes. So you know, this is the ideal set up. I was tryingto warn everybody against, you know, keeping that mike funds by the speakers and stuff like that. But honestly, if you do a few things, a few things that just sort of ah harmoniously worked here was that we want to get you on a camera and I want to do that be looking that way to point the microphone away from the speakers and over there into some of the baffling and have you over there. So also a good directional microphone. Mikey, the good sound engineer that he is, is always travelling with a sure beta fifty eight s. So we popped that one up in there on dh it's great for sort of isolating some of the other things normally in the studio, we might have use something like a condenser microphone, which would give a great sound, you know, that's that one's bad at all, but it might have picked up a little bit more stuff around. So yeah, for thirty years, almost every album that was made was made with those microphones from elvis presley to the beatles, you know, I mean, it's feels, then use a made fifty eight. Well, the fifty eight itself sure, fifty eight asleep the workhorse it's, a popular microsoft okay, now we're really geeking out talking about the mikes the needle are used to things going level let's get back here to logic pro ten for a little bit, but I love I love the question you have is that yeah, when should get it clear down there, it's something important to do, though whenever you tracked them, make sure you know what, you listen to it before you say, okay, I'm done listen back to the tracks and if you're using a really cool setting like sometimes this just happened me, you get excited while you're working, I have a certain patch set up on their maybe recorded vocal or I'll be recording a guitar or something and maybe we'll have double dragon on maybe we'll have a distortion on me like that was distorted, but then when I go to clean it out later and realize maybe I want a cleaner one might find out, oh, it was distorted all the time because I didn't have the right mike pre setting or maybe, you know, has been a little too aggressive with the settings that we had so good idea to do what we just did there, which were clear everything out, make sure that everything's suspended, I want to do those one of the times he against could see how it could bring those things different components of it out, maybe I want to just drop the delay for a bit. Maybe I just want to drop the compressor or the or something, but go back and listen to all that. Then you can go back and shot. Three facts in china is always gonna be and of course, customize any of those things we want whenever we're together, as we listen to it, but the last concept we're gonna be able to talk to about today, something you want to talk about is now that we did all those takes, I promised because, you know, say, do that takes do them full and is going to be easier for us to actually go back and fix them? So we're going to take a look at comping attract together, making compilation of come together from different takes the perfect take. Now, the only problem with the demonstration that we have here with the song is these are all really great takes, so I wish, you know, I wish you could've been a little bit worse. It would had something more of the show, but you did incredible. We'll just pretend that we have a problem with some of these tracks and that we need to fix something with it, so first of all, when we get back and we listen to stuff sullivan's a good idea if we wanna listen for quality and things like that. But some other times having some kind of a rhythmic reference this time I bring over that and that's what I'm doing now is we're just listening. Of course I've opened up this takes we've got really two solid takes in this one he's drinking just a little bit so we can see everything. So on our first vocal track, we had your initial take which I gave you the false start so we have just a little blurb on it in the top one second take that's where we got all the way through did such a great job on then you did the third take, which we have active right now and that's. Why he's showing up in the main vocal one take three laying up here, but what we can do is now listen through if you have a favorite one or normally start with that one so let's, just pretend that I actually like the spontaneous action of this first one so you could see what I did is inside the take folder. What we have is its own tool. I'm no longer working the pointer tool no longer working with that marquee when I get down into here. Suffering that lower half where I can always go and cut some different parts out but in the top half instead of the pointer when I could do and take two is just swipe it swipe and you see it's getting rid of the blue and the other one and leaving that black and gray we also noticed that up at the top it's now throwing in there it's tommy hey that's comp a because I have mostly to but you might see I've got just a little bit of take three and they're so slide that all the way that I can and it will eventually tell us that yeah you have to stop the cop there because you're working with one bit that was a little bit longer and to take three so mostly we're looking at take two up in the top let's take a listen and go through hey now loved it since I met you man it's always gonna be this way whenever we're together by the birds singing with way all right here's a great example of where there's no problems in this at all and I don't think we could listen to this over and over again and we're not going to find your problems but what I can tell just from looking at the wave forms from the audio that we made were listen to this one again and blue down here and on this phrase that we had right back here way never together by the birds singing with this way that's beautiful but I see that there's another sort of version like you didn't get his loud I don't know if I like it more or not I can tell just by looking at it all I know is that it looks different and if we've got so much good stuff from you maybe we should check out what some of these other things are so we're gonna do here his watch is this other take again is the one that we haven't listened to I'm just going to quickly swipe across that part that I'm interested in that was back it up a little ways what we're going to hear is going to be the take that we were enjoying before so that take to we're going to hear the first part but now in that part where I want to hear what the other one is it's automatically going to skip right up to that take three and then back to take to again was check out what it does and it's always gonna be this way hey when never read together brother bird singing with a little sway vs throw it back here way never together by the birds singing with way that cool too quickly just go back and forth did anyone have a preference will start with your opinion take two that we had one that was one that was more one that was more along the lines of with with the rest of us you mean the first one that we listen to hiss that's it whenever wets who gather the birds singing with the way I like them both let's go with that one for now let's just keep listening along its back to take two now wait I'm with you using way along the way that's another case where we have a little bit different so let's listen to that way when I'm with you music plains along the way let me jump to that other take so again I'm just swiping it's giving me my little window tell me how much I'm moving with the length wass its way with you using heard it all the way along no that's great too there's differences I think there was a breath in the other one that was not as appeasing second you I could take three appear right first one second one take two take three getting organized you can see the huge saying that knowing what we're talking about so yeah let's go with that one little bit more on what's listen what happens when it goes from up and take three back down to our second takedown enough feel like our love is so and the difference of that would be if we stayed with the other one the long enough feel like our love is so that's one you like better he's take three or take two, please two yeah, so I was right, so whatever I could undo that last swiped that I did and get right back to where it was given a quick listen enough feel like our love is so just like tim came in garage band so much work tohave to, like replace or re record or whatever I'm telling you guys like, you know, from like the idea of having to punch those little things, which again was bad enough not being able to, you know, just say go do another take, which keeps everyone feeling happy, but we don't have any mistakes here see, I can imagine a time where I was in tape or we didn't have logics ability to do this quick flight com pain is what they're going to call it if we didn't have that and I needed to rely on mistakes to try something else. Look at all the magic you'd miss, you have no mistakes and what you saying there? But you have all these cool little subtle options between it. You know, when I listen to music, especially with a really great vocalist, it's those little teeny things in their voice was like a hit a note or maybe it's a little quiver in their voice when they sing some part that's what I love and now we have the ability was due three, four, five, six takes find those magic little bits and pull it in I don't want to stop it, please tell me you basically just answered it, but I I was wondering if there was any limit to how many tracks I just thought I was going to search for somebody else that had that I need to check. I know I've done tons and tons and tons of them like enough to exhaust singers, why I'm working through them, it's overwhelming and daunting if you want me to go to many, but I haven't found an exact number, I'm going to get one for us just you're like no more than for a bunch of haven't gotten one from yeah online and I I know I know that I must have done you no more than twenty takes in folders before, yeah, is that after a while you start to lose track of where the good parts were? Absolutely I mean, but I hope everyone out there sees this that when you start doing this with yourself, you know, what's always take it from now here we have a situation where I was doing the engineering and on spencer was up here doing the awesome singing, but when it's yourself the ability, you know, we can set up the loop record on this too, just like we did with the other ones let it make its folders off of all those sitting just do your thing where there's a guitar singing and just go for, you know, let loose a little bit and maybe you messed up the whole bunch of stuff while trying to reach for something, but maybe you hit some magic note, maybe you just did something cool that your voice is never going to do again and there it is and here we go, we're going to dis wipe that one right into it and to everyone else in the world that's ever going to listen? You did that that that that that all in one perfect take and there's no way that we're ever going to hear that there was some kind of difference between it, you know? So we're able to go in here and do that, and in fact we're going to see that we're gonna be able to get some finally nudged up little bits were going to talk a little bit more of the editing in another segment when it comes up with one do some sort of end of the song editing, but we're going to see that we have the ability to put this exactly where we want it to be and also we're going to be able to when we close this up fayed between those gaps as well so we can't even sort of be on top of a number while we're doing them but I want o can go through and I think example is the best way was listened to and see if we can find a couple of little differences here and dick goes no versus these are ones where I just listen to him four sections and echoes la la la la la la la second half the second big chunk second big chunk move well actually the proof of the the first part of the that course is right here yeah first part first three bars move those pop those up and from here you mean yeah put those through no no back up back up just those first three bars and that gap between the first three chunks of music right before no sit down sit anybody I'm before what bar number from eighteen to twenty one and a quarter okay on this track here is where you want to go wait listen what? I'm right on top of a note here I just want to see it a little mormon example check out what's gonna happen if we're not read on this work fades my elbows later pretty seamlessly still jumps across them any way you can really come to get him in but you were talking about right there, right? You see how fun it is when you work with your friends doing some editing as well, you start getting about everyone's cool ideas with it and working back and forth I know some people will go in and be so critical of themselves that they want me to go word by word by word that's fine because they're all of them, they're all you know they're takes, they just want to put the perfect one together. I think they normally make some really great tracks will work that way now imagine we have all those other ones that we can work with is well inside of that folder where with a number where I said originally we could do I could just pop up the takes which one's going to be on top first and only I will do that when I was sent through to see you know which one maybe has the most material and we can put some stuff up with it. We can start with it that way. This is showing us that we have a certain calm parade here. We can also go in and make different camps with it so we could get some different versions of it if we were, you know well was trying a different one so we could duplicate that comp when then start over and make some changes with it would be our can't be we could also go in and renamed the comp, so once it's finished, we could say no, this is the final vocal or what to lead them and do these things like flatten, flatten and merge export active cop to a new track, so whatever sitting on the top just put it on its own track move active camp, huh? We are sorry that would export it put a whole new file with it could also just move it. We could also with these tracks, and this is some stuff that I've done before and what I want to make sure that we showed it is that we can unpack or unpack this two new tracks, so unpack means it would just kick out all those different takes but also unpack it to new tracks. What I find sometimes is that I'll have somebody do like a lead vocal, and they'll be really perfect in the next tape will also be just like their timing, impeccable pitch, perfect everything like that, we talked about doubling some tracks where that could be a great way to sort of thinking the texture of your boys have a really pleasant sound to it. Thank you sound like a super singer that's got, you know, the little subtle differences that people don't notice make it almost like a coral affect a really cool sometimes I'll have it it's in the same track folder right so there's no way I can calm from both together to play at the same time it's one or the other where you know one of whatever we're playing with so that's where this unpacked two new tracks can be great or if I have one highlighted unpack that one now it's its own track now I've got my double set then within those too if I had the other parts I needed to come from it that could work super well it really great as well let's go back was you know this so perfect again we don't have the time to go and listen to just be vanity s starting to think the best parts of it which is something we should definitely d'oh but as far as the compound goes let me do it uh one more thing here with it imagine again that we're happy with this take when you close it you know when I'm still like not done with the song meaning we're going to do some other things this is the way I leave it and if we look you can see just fine little lines behind there so we can actually see that yeah this one's being comped together the word comp is in there when you play you never hear those little incision so that's a great way to just leave it if you want to you know, on work on everything else, but normally when I get down to it, what I'm gonna do here is get back into this view here look at my calm and I'll do one of these things here where I can go in and flatten or flatten emerge when you flatten it we'll save go on what it does is it just takes it and now my folders gone okay, so this is definitely the things that I do save us notice me do a savory before ends or a save as or even if you exported this out, then you could do this flattened but I get flattened and what we're looking at now it's all those different cuts we had but who can identify for me one of those things in between like those air called crossfit does our call across veins were fading from one to the next? So if for example when you know maybe I want to cut rate on a word I've seen this before were people like have a great strong beginning to a world where they're going to sore for a while with it you know, it was really perfect in the beginning, but then their voice cracks or something so in the middle of actual sustained words is something we can cut them did emerge and if there's any kind of volume difference in like that have a fade go across it so as one means you guys are the reversible have one starting right here and we go on we want to cut it to the next one you can have the volume of one go down just as the volume going up on the other one crossing that's what we see here we have the ability to change left and right where was it also in there we can go in and then adjust the fades will notice I get a little fade tool where I can adjust what side is that fade on there as I stretch it you'll see where it will really go across those so from both ends I can pull a little bit this way a little bit that way and also yet another tool when I get right on those lines I can change the curvature from one way to the next scene no matter what's happening you're getting to click a papa difference maybe one taking it a little bit more air so it's just a little bit baltimore volume and the other one a little bit quieter we can adjust that now with these different tools zooming in is always the big thing we're doing some of these at its you know where you can move something where you can put something or access a tool it's going to be kind of based on where exactly we put our zoo matt so you go through now and listen, make sure there's no clicks and pops when let's make sure everything is fine with it. It then when we've done that, we could go if you leave it just like it is. Or we could do another thing where we go it actually seal these into one full thing on dh that's called merging that's also let me undo everything that we did spars with phase when we're in here when it said to go into flatten and merge when I do that watch what's gonna happen right here really quickly. It went put in the cross fades random across printed a new file. There we go. We've got a new audio file now that sits with all that stuff in there. That's. Awesome. Uh, how we were doing that? Can I ask you a quick question? Jose, can you leave an empty space in a take folder when you are swiped? Comping a silence, for example, I believe we can. If I had, uh, on open, like, basically we would have to do is like recording silence to do it. But but please don't know. You know, lovey lou, you know that. There's. Some other ways that we could weaken, strip some silence and a couple of different ways. And when we get into the mix, we won't talk about, like, some little bits of, like, guitar noise before and stuff like that. We're going to go through and actually leave a little bit of silence in some places to get rid of some side effect noise. But we could do it as an effect as well. If, you know one of the tracks has recorded silence, like right here, of course we can. But as far as like, look, I have an empty take down here with nothing's ever been recorded, I don't get the quick swipe tool. I've got to be someplace where there actually was a recorded region. Great question.