Comping a Vocal

[TSTW]

Any techniques for comping a vocal? I have 7 takes of a mediocre vocalist and after listening to three takes they started to mould into one and i couldnt differentiate quality.

What do you guys do?

[Bob Olhsson]

Just dive in! And be sure to listen for what's right rather than for what's wrong.

In many cases a weak vocal performance of a new song is the result of a vocalist not having a solid enough concept of how it should be sung. A first comp often gives them that concept (or at least a concept of how it shouldn't go...) and at that point they'll be able to perform the song a lot better.

[Knastratt]

Lower the bar to the average level of performance - whatever that is. Keep everything above. Ditch everything below. We can do much - except miracles. Is this answer banal? So is some of our working situations.

This may be perceived as mumbo jumbo, but the worst problem of the average singer is not lack of skill - it's pure fear of the process. I've found a great way of reducing that fear to a minimum. Let the singer perform those steps - silly or not.

1) Order the singer to lay down flat on the floor on their back. No pillow.

2) Tell the singer that you're gonna give a set of instructions first, THEN the singer will perform them as you repeat them.

They are - as follows:

3) Take a really deep breath. A HUGE breath. Hold it. Close your throat. Let the stomach relax. It can be done. The muscles of the stommy shouldn't any longer carry the weight of the chest - the throat lock should.

4) Stay in that position as long as you can.

5) When you're done - open the throat lock and widen it. Let all air go in one massive exhale. Let the stomach sink "through the floor".

6) Now if you're as relaxed as you're supposed - you should be able to feel the heartbeats in the stomach. Remain as long as you can endure.

7) Inhale deeply. Keep breathing with slow, deep breath ensuring you use the lower part of your abdomen.

8) Repeat. Until relaxed.

I've risen so many average singers a few steps with this excercise it should've been patented.

Sorry if I'm OT - but I didn't wanna start a new thred.

Be well - Pär

[TSTW]

I'll try it out sounds interesting!

[studjo]

sounds good - gotta try that too


Jo

[TSTW]

Okay thought of something. Bob, What if the vocalist believes he has the concept thus not wanting to sway the decision on his performance. How would you convince him otherwise.

They can be stubborn those pesky singers!

[FajitaTone]

tell 'em you want to change some settings and have them sing again, just change the 'verb in their cans. :D

[Tim Halligan]

tell 'em you want to change some settings and have them sing again, just change the 'verb in their cans. :D

Sneaky...


and underhanded.










































I like it. :D



Cheers,
Tim

[dwoz]

If you've got what you've got, and that's it....


What I do is to go through them one-by-one, and on a pad, or using markers in the track, mark the keeper sections for each track, one-by-one, not comparing one to the next.

Then, I look at what I've got. If I have a section where 3 takes are marked as keeper, I revisit them with the same technique, but a higher standard. I don't let a single off note throw the phrase...I can bump in a single note from SOMETHING else.

I mark phrase by phrase...basically demarked by the singer's breaths.

If I have a phrase with no keepers, I look at subphrases. Perhaps I have to lower my standards slightly.

I then go through and look for a particularly brilliant spot, and retrieve that.

So, as bob says, keep the keepers, instead of loosing the clams. Slight but important difference.

dwoz

[Brendo]

And what if you have no keepers for any given line?

[Knastratt]

And what if you have no keepers for any given line?


Change of occupation? :grin:

[Knastratt]

...or clientel? :very happy:

[dnafe]

And what if you have no keepers for any given line?


If it's a pitch issue, gently Auto tune into shape.

If it's a timing issue, C&P

If it just plain sucks re-record

[Bob Olhsson]

There are two levels of timing. The musical is obvious but the breathing requires singing along to feel if the vocal really works and takes you somewhere or just doesn't sound like a clam.

Too many of today's recordings flunk the sing-along test.

[volthause]

And what if you have no keepers for any given line?

then it's time to kick the singer in the ding-ding. :lol:

[otek]

When I track I want to be absolutely focused on the take, because your comping really starts there. If there is a particularly good phrase, a little mental flag goes up, and I either make a note of it after the take, or color code it. I try to make sure I have those "flags" present at least once in every phrase.

Dwoz chooses to listen through each take separately without comparison to the other takes. I usually compare the takes "vertically", phrase by phrase. Both methods work fine.

There is always a phrase that kind of sticks out - not always the one that's best pitch wise, and not always one of the last takes. Sometimes there's interesting stuff happening when a singer is learning a line, for example if changes have been suggested.

Sometimes I will suggest changes based on rhythmic efficiency and lyrical clarity, and sometimes because of pronounciation (I live in a country where English is not the first language).

After having gone through them all, I usually have a first comp ready. I then go through it again to see if there are any individual spots that annoy me, and if so, check to see if there are alternatives to those in other takes. I also listen for the flow of the phrasing, and that the breathing sounds natural. Some vocalists sing it almost exactly the same every time, some introduce slight variations. In the latter case, it can get pretty difficult sometimes to make phrases match. If all else fails, I have them redo the parts that don't work.

[Fulcrum]

While you're comping, if you have the means to color-code your tracks, or (even better) sections of tracks, this can help you separate the wheat from the chaff-- especially if the job spans, say, the end of one session and the beginning of another (as often happens with me).

[Brendo]

then it's time to kick the singer in the ding-ding. :lol:

Or the vag-vag, in the case of a female singer?

[dwoz]

Or the vag-vag, in the case of a female singer?


No....that would be "moneymaker, moneymaker".



dwoz

[TSTW]

Cheers guys thats been really helpful

TSTW