Comping

This is not really about songwriting. :eek: :eek:

(But everybody else talks about recording and producing so much, i thought I'd jump in. ;) )

I just want to make you aware (if you're not already) about comping. I'm working with an engineer on a disc. And I had never heard of this (at least to the level it's done and we used it). Comping is comparing and selecting best takes between multiple recordings. Mostly used for vocal. For my tunes we'd do 4, 5, or even 6 takes of each vocal. Then we comp them (compare them) a phrase at a time, and pick the best one. On some places we'd even split a phrase and even a word, because the start was good on one take, but the end of the word was much better on another. It's the way most professional recordings are done. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes.

That's all. back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Yup, that's one way to do it...

I've done this, typically to eliminate the bad parts of a take more than searching for the best of several diffrerent takes. The single word one intrigues me because when I've tried that in the past it left an audible click that I couldn't eliminate. I'd love to hear how to avoid that if anyone knows.

That is neat that you are able to do it, but I think the ability to do this sort of thing has done more harm than good.

Mediocre singers... even bad singers can sound good on a recording. I'm not saying the OP is mediocre or bad or even good for that matter but I do think it adds a lot more potential artist. When we apply the laws of supply and demand add file sharing we get the state of the music industry now.

Just my .02

I don't think this is really applicable to songwriting though... unless you use it as a tool to decide between two different melodies or sets of lyrics, which I could actually see being pretty useful. I'd still want to go back and track the whole thing in one continuous take though.

Everything I do that isn't a live take... I record a minimum of 3 passes. If I'm working as producer/engineer with a singer, I warn them, and I warm them to the idea, that, "Get ready, cause we're going to do this a least 3 times with lots of comments in between to try stuff."

Try hitting it harder

Try hitting it softer

Watch your "p" on pedestrian

You sound not you're not paying attention to the words. Try it again and experience every single phrase as if you were speaking to someone.

I make either mental or paper notes as I go.

At which point, and I do this alone cause singers are such an insecure bunch, I'll go through the whole song phrase by phrase, weighing up all sorts of criterea. Context, emotion, pitch, pockets 'tude. Do I like the way it sounds...

That is neat that you are able to do it, but I think the ability to do this sort of thing has done more harm than good. Mediocre singers... even bad singers can sound good on a recording. I'm not saying the OP is mediocre or bad or even good for that matter but I do think it adds a lot more potential artist. When we apply the laws of supply and demand add file sharing we get the state of the music industry now. Just my .02

true...

But I or the person I'm recording sings the song, head to tail. Every take is a performance. If anything, my technique improves a singer. It's not easy, and every subsequent pass gets scrutinized and suggestions are made for the next pass. Everyone sweats, literally, when they work with me.

That is exactly what I do quite frequently. ^

As an interesting side note, 90% of the good phrases are from take 1. But, that 10% of improved phrases is gold.

And finally, I'm not suggesting this is how everyone should do their vocals, but for me and mine? It is fantastic.

*wants to go to Cali one day and work with Lee Knight*

+1. My rule of thumb is that I keep loop recording until I have two identical keeper takes.

That being said, I find comping my own stuff VERY tedious, so if I find myself doing more than a couple of light edits I'll generally slap the performer upside the head, tell him to do better next time, and go back and re-record.

Come a stay a week. We'll record, go to the beach, drink beer, get ourselves bailed out of the TJ jail... it'll be a hoot!!!

Blue2Blue and I have had this discussion before. For me, the last take is almost always the one that gets printed. Different strokes.

But to clarify, I'm almost never "exploring" when the record light is on - it's all about execution at that point. I'll spend 45 minutes running through my approaches with the mic connected and playback in the headphones for every 15 minutes I spend recording, but once I'm ready to record I know what I want to do with the part.

I don't doubt that each take is a performance. As a singer, I'd rather do the work than have the engineer do it. If the engineer is good enough sure it will sound fine, but it won't necessarily feel right.

I'm not trying to pick a fight (not a big one anyways)

To me, this leads to the type of arguments that try and figure out if singers were better 60 years ago which is analogous to who is the better hitter, Babe Ruth or Mark Mcgwire.

I don't really think this has anything to do with songwriting, even the way LK is describing it. Better performance sure, but not songwriting. They only way I think it is applicable is if you use it to choose multiple melodies or lyrics.

I comp, therefore I Am.

This is not really about songwriting. :eek: :eek:

(But everybody else talks about recording and producing so much, i thought I'd jump in. ;) )

I just want to make you aware (if you're not already) about comping. If you are playing under a soloist (or a confident vocalist) you can support his or her melodic line by re-voicing or altering the chords that you play. If the vocalist is having trouble finding the right pitch in the melody help out by putting the melody note on the top of the chord that you are playing. If the melody is rather static, add motion to the chords. If the melody is quite active try and change as few notes as possible when you transition between chords. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes.

That's all. back to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Hang on is this spam?!? why has it been posted twice!?!?

what the hell?

couldn't resist creating a parody thread.

Hang on is this spam?!? why has it been posted twice!?!?

what the hell?

I really don't get this!

10/10

Yes!!!!

Hope springs eternal.

couldn't resist creating a parody thread.

Ahh that's me being slow!

I thought the spammer had got super clever!

as you were.........

Blue2blue is about to blow through here like a tornado

Wait a minute!!!!

RAM.....SPAM.......

OMG!!!!! I can't believe he sucked me in like this. I thought he was sincere and all this time he's just a spambot with a skinny tie.

I'm mortified!

As a soloist, the chord tones in your solo are the money notes. As an accompanist, your job is to add more money to what the soloist is currently playing, or perhaps suggest where the money is or where he could find more money. And since you can treat the main melody line as if it were a solo, you can start comping almost right off the bat.

I'm sorry, I thought this was about composting techniques...

With everyone talking about comping -- not to mention comping -- I found myself thinking of a more recent approach to production technique and accompaniment...

... the mash up.