How to Comp a Vocal Track

The art of comping a vocal track goes as far back as using a razor blade and editing block. Of course, this was in the days of using magnetic tape. Now we have DAWS to aid in the digital editing.

The practice of comping (composite) a vocal together is to assemble the best parts from multiple takes to create a seamless performance.

I will show you how this is done.

*In this example I will be using ProTools HD and note that it applies to software prior to Version 8.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• DAW
• Multiple vocal takes

1. With the session open in ProTools you'll want to begin by organizing it making it easier to navigate.
   
   Start by moving the lead vocal directly to the bottom and expand the window to visualize the full wave form.
   
   Create a separate track and label it "Vocal Comp" or something equally distinguishing.
   
   Under the Options Menu select Loop Playback.

2. Assuming all takes are on separate playlists within the same track you can easily switch back and forth among the takes.
   
   Play the track and select the first vocal line. It can be just the first line of the lyric. Highlight this section so that it can loop.

3. With the selection highlighted scroll through the various takes. Listen to each take for the best performance. You will be looking for tone, character and continuity among all the lines. Listening to the tracks this way will allow you to hear each take quickly and make instinctive decisions. Go with your gut!

4. Each time you hear a great vocal passage take note of it. You will get down to two or three that sound best. Take note of the keepers and choose the best of the lot.
   
   Copy the selection to the adjacent Vocal Comp track. This can be accomplished with great ease by enabling Command Focus (a/z button). With this enabled you can copy the selection then move it down to the comp track using the (;) key and back up by using the (p) key.

5. Once you have a complete lyric comped, say the first verse or first few lines of the verse, check it for continuity. It is common to have multiple takes with different tones and inflections. The vocalist's voice will change the more he sings, so pay close attention to how the takes are assembled.
   
   After you are happy with the vocal track you can now edit and consolidate it into one continuous file. Now deactivate and hide the original track because you may need to refer to it later.

Tips & Warnings

• You can apply AutoTune to the track from which you are comping to maintain more objectivity. It's easy to become distracted by pitch imperfections when comping. This will allow you to focus more on the performance.