Comp Tool 2.0: Edit Region Splitter Track for channel Lanes +Edit Regions +Mutiple Comp Track Comping +More Than 1 Comp

Cubase
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Comp Tool 2.0: Edit Region Splitter Track for channel Lanes +Edit Regions +Mutiple Comp Track Comping +More Than 1 Comp Track per Channel.


Hi Steinberg, I will give you one more of my many amazing ideas for Cubase for free but you should really pay me to give you many more great ideas like this in the future. I see you implemented my mixer undo button idea which was awesome :slight_smile:


Cubase does most things better than ProTools and the comp tool is superior to the comping method in ProTools but it has one major downfall. Comping newly recorded takes recorded over previously comped channels. This has been partially solved by track versions but at the moment, even if you used the track versions work around, it’s still hard to combine two comp tracks together. Plus having to keep swapping between track versions is time consuming at it still doesn’t easily let you combine takes from say a recording session 1 and a recording session 2 that both had comped tracks created at the time of the session.

What if, after comping a vocal, you could split the edit region by adding an Edit Region Splitter Track within the lanes, which can be enabled or disabled at the click of a button. This way you could comp takes at any part in the recording process. The Edit Region Splitter Track when enabled means the Comp Tool now only comps above or below the Edit Region Splitter track instead of comping all the takes and placing a separate comp track lane within the Edit Region Splitter track which can be soloed and listened to by itself.



Example of workflow speed enhancement

  1. Tracking session 1. Track a whole band and track the vocals.

  2. Comp everything maybe even do a mix. Band listens to it, maybe even leaves the studio. Decides they could have played better.

  3. They come back and play over the comped tracks except… An Edit Region Splitter track was placed at the end of each lane from session 1.

  4. Record session 2. Go to comp session 2 using the fast comp tool which only applies to those takes above or below the Edit Region Splitter track, in this scenario, below. The band wants to hear the session 1 comps when comping session 2. Select ‘Show and Edit Comp Tracks Only’ (applies to all grouped tracks) from the track drop down menu, all takes and lanes disappear, leaving you with two comp tracks to comp between but if you select the Comp Tool now, it prompts to ‘Create Master Comp Track?’, you hit ‘Ok’. This should also be selectable from the track channel drop down menu.

  5. Now when you use the comp tool on the prior two comp tracks you can comp between the comps and have the results printed onto a 3rd comp track called ‘Master comp’. This 3rd comp track does not have all the lane data behind it but it does have the actual takes that were selected on top so you can fix your cross fades and drag take start and end times

  6. If you hit the lanes button to collaps the track lanes, only master comp track will be shown but you can preview others by clicking in the track drop down menu and selecting the 'Edit Region: “Edit Region Splitter Comp Track 1”, “Edit Region Splitter Comp Track 2” etc… Maybe let users rename the Edit Region Splitter tracks too so they can give them a name they like, Eg, Session 1, Session 2, Powerful Vocal Comp, Softvocal Comp etc…

  7. You can also use the existing functionality of Track Versions to create new Comp Tracks automatically by selecting something in the channel drop down menu like “Track Versions to Separate Comp Tracks”.




    Why this is a workflow enhancement?

At the moment, you can only use the comp tool once, once you record over a comped track, your comps are gone. You can create track versions but it makes it hard still to comp the new takes from one track version and combine it with existing comps that were already recorded.

You used to be able to mute the newly recorded tracks but in Cubase 9.0.40 (have not tested in 9.5, I assume it hasn’t been fixed) with the mute tool and hear the previous comps and edit the newly record tracks in the old skool way without the comp tool selecting all the new tracks with the select tool and using the scissors to make cuts if you didn’t want to affect the previous comp but muted tracks in a lane no longer allow you to hear previous takes and comps as of Cubase 9, I assume this is a bug, I wrote a bug report here: Muted takes in a channel playlist prevents prior takes from playing (unlike in prior versions of Cubase) - Cubase - Steinberg Forums When writing the bug report I thought, why do we have to comp newly recorded takes this way anyway, ProTools is better in that way with allowing multiple comp tracks but this method above takes the Cubase method of comping which is superior but adds the functionality of multiple comp track in Pro Tools and solves an issue that was created by this alternative comping method used in Cubase.


I’m sure if it was implemented, almost everyone would be like, “I never knew I needed this” but be super happy. Those that do know that you need it. Request it below. Thanks




How do you market this? I’d call it something simple like “Comp Tool 2.0, no compromise comping. Multiple Comp Tracks & Edit Regions on a single channel”