Hello everybody,
I have a comping question.
I’ve recorded 2 mics of 1 source (2 tracks of audio of 1 guitar part.
I’ve done a couple of takes and want to comp those to 1 great take.
Is there a way to do group comping? I’ve searched the forum and the web but i can’t find any info.
Thanks.
Try dragging one audio event on top of the other, then select Show Lanes. Drag the uppermost event to Lane 2. Use the Comp tool to assemble the perfect take.
If you’re working with multiple tracks from one source and want to edit them as one, then you need to put them in a folder and select the Group Editing function (the = button). Fortunately, there is a function for this: select the tracks in question, right-click and select ‘Move selected tracks to new folder’. A new folder is created containing these tracks (but you still have to select Group Editing on the folder track). Now any edits you make on one track will be applied to all within the folder.
BUT!!!
It doesn’t work from inside the editors. For example, changing event lengths using the handles will only change the selected, not both, so you need to work from the Project window.
Group Editing is very fussy about what it regards as synchronisation between tracks. Events have to be the same length (amongst other things; I think there’s something in the documentation). For this reason, NEVER use ‘Snap to Zero Crossing’ (in the toolbar, next to the grid selector) or you will get a ragged edge to your cuts. It may be so slight that you can’t see it without zooming all the way in, but it’s there and it’s enough to cough up a synchronisation warning. (Even if the cuts are close enough for you, you will lose the ability to select all equivalent events, so something will get you further down the line.) It took me bloody ages to work this one out and even longer to unpick the mess, so be warned…
Open the Lanes for each track and comping should now be a breeze… 
Yes Group Editing mode could help… but IMO in its classic configuration it’s not so good where regular comping is concerned when a choice is being made between different versions of the same source (which is probably the OP’s case above). In other words, we might assume that only one version of the source is playing at any one time. However, reading it again the OP may want to hear the guitar parts playing in pairs, both mics at the same time.
If the OP needs to edit the guitar parts in pairs then this would actually need both the technique I describe above and Group Editiing mode.
Look at track versions as well once you’ve assembled your comp take using lanes - I like to have the final comp in it’s own separate track version so I can delete overlaps. I find it easier to get any crossfades etc right without 10 takes slowing down my editing.
When I’m recording multiple mics on guitar I record as a stereo track, or even a quad track type (to include clean DI and pedal FX for potential re-amping later). I then send that channel to multiple stereo groups, one for each individual track. The first plugin in each group would be Mix6to2 which allows you to select only one of the tracks coming in, e.g. left. I’d then blend those groups back down to a final stereo group and apply overall guitar FX.
I find this way of working makes the comping so much easier than using group editing! If you already have mono files, you could render them to stereo and re-import.
Mike.
This is the method I like to use as well, for 2 channels you can create a single stereo audio on 1 track, then use any panning plugin to mix the versions as you like.
Anyway the OP sounds like he/she would like to use either or at any one time, so then I’d use two individual tracks then use scissors and then mute to get the arrangement you like - this is easier IMHO than some elaborate automation - which is yet another option to check out and experiment with…