after having received help on two comping-related topics, which I started on this forum (great community!), I still struggle with a new challenge:
In my latest project, the words of my vocals are close to each other (with no big spaces of silence in between) that I have difficulties when comping them: my timing is not exact enough to avoid cut words when taking comping slices from different lanes.
I am aware of the “audio alignment” feature, but as far as I know, it cannot be applied to multiple “comping” lanes of one track.
I can image the following approach:
To manually sort the lanes’ content to different (new/empty) tracks, applying audio alignment there, and then to move them back to the comping lanes of ONE track and then do the comping.
Before I do that: do you know an easier approach to my problem?
And if not: now can I make sure, that the events are in the correct place (regarding timing) when moving them back to to the lanes?
Thanks in advance.
For the sake of completeness, let me link the two topics here, which were already resolved by @raino and @reco29:
The Alignment feature is really meant for stuff like tightening up the timing of multiple backup singers.
It sounds more like you have multiple takes of a vocal line that you want to Comp into a single performance. For that I’d avoid using the Alignment feature (actually even for aligning backing Vocals I’ll do what’s below since I can do it fast and it offers greater control).
I’d recommend taking a more traditional approach and hand edit your Comp. While initially this might seem like slow going, it speeds up a bunch with some practice. That said here’s some tips to help.
Turn off Snap and Zero Crossings - you need to be able to move & cut exactly where you want. Except of course when you want things aligned to a bar’s start.
Zoom in enough to gain needed resolution. I find having about 3-5 words across a monitor screen works well. Your mileage may vary.
Use your eyes to assist your ears. With some experience you’ll find it easy to visually ID some sounds, especially percussive sounds like “k”, “t”, “b” etc.
There are 2 ways to cut the Audio, use the one appropriate to your current task. 1) If you make your cut on the Track at the top & not a Lane, then the cut will occur across all the Lanes. 2) But a cut made on a Lane only occurs on that Lane. So if you have different Takes where the words start in slightly different places you probably want those cuts to be on the Lanes
Cutting in the wrong spot is easy to correct. Just drag the lower corners of the Audio right & left to expose or hide portions of the Audio. To accomplish this you may want to also resize or delete adjacent bits of Audio.
I like to put my cursor where I intend to cut just to verify I’m catching the word’s start. But again easy to fix if needed.
While you can drag your Audio to change its timing, if you want to fine tune its position that can be easier done via the Info Line.
Track Versions are your friend. Use them to create “backup points” that you can return to if things get messed up or you just want to try out different ideas.
I wouldn’t recommend alignment, too. More often than not the results are not what you are looking for (same with pro alignment tools).
Another thing: Sometimes it works to blend small fractions of different takes if you cannot find a perfect phrase. That takes a bit of trickery involving EQ, panning, compression etc. This is a last resort if you have to deal with what you got. Be creative, sometimes the best phrases are the result of a poor performance in the first place. I am not saying this works each time, but occasionally it does.
Well I think our common message is there are a variety of tools that are useful in this space and we’re just pointing out different ones. Wouldn’t be surprised if others add a few more.
Was going to reply: it looks like I need to review comping. I never cut while comping, i only use the Comp tool (the “hand”, which incidentally for me benefits greatly from assigning it a key command).
I’ll switch back & forth between tools as needed. I typically make the bulk of my cuts (aka the obvious easy to identify ones) before deciding which bits to include in the comp. Hadn’t thought about it, but I tend to go through 3 phases 1) mostly cutting 2) mostly selecting what’s included in the comp 3) jumping back & forth between cutting & selecting for the trickier sections.
Also when I am jumping between cutting & selecting I mostly use the Arrow tool, and not the Scissors or Comp Tools. There’s a little box at the center bottom of the Audio - clicking it with the Arrow is the same using the Comp for Selection. And Alt+Click with the Arrow behaves like the Scissors.