So it's unnecessary for you and your opinion. Gotcha. Unnecessary for anybody? No not really. If the song calls for two up the middle thats what it is. If the song calls for one with the other buried underneath it thats what it is. If the song calls for two and to spread them out some thats what it is. And contrary to what has been posted here, not all majors do two tracks and mix them down to where it sounds like one. A lot of songs actually only have one lead track that was comped from a lot of other tracks, and the other parts that may come in and out are either ad lib tracks or bits and pieces from the comped tracks that are being used as ad lib tracks.
And for those who don't know what comping is read this:
http://www.protoolsmixing.com/2005/11/vocal-comping.html
Vocal Comping
OK, so vocals seem to be a running theme this week so i'm just gonna run with it. So alot of you up and coming people probably dont know what vocal comping is. Here's a brief description. Vocal comping is like putting together a puzzle and creating a work of art all at the same time.
When i recorded "Seven Days" for Mary J Blige, we had her sing the song from beginning to end many times. Probably fifteen times the first day, and we kept the ten best takes. After she finished singing, she left, the producer went into the lounge, and I stayed to ....... comp the lead vocal. So, what does this mean? OK, I now have ten individual takes of Mary. I only want one take. Should i listen and pick the best single take and just use that one? Hell no! I listen to every line, every phrase, every word, every syllable on every track, and pick the very best pieces, then assemble all of the best pieces into a single "composite" lead vocal track. So, I end up with one lead vocal track, but it was created from pieces of ten different takes. And when i mean pieces, I'm not kidding. Often, I'll have a 3 syllable word in the middle of a line, and I'll use the first syllable from take 3, the second syllable from take 7, and the third syllable from take ten. Not kidding.
So, on "Seven Days", i comp'd those ten tracks down to one. Then brought the producer in to listen. He and i went over it. He asked me to hear a few alternate choices on a few lines. We decided which was best and finished the comp. It felt really good. On mix day, the producer asked Mary to come in one more time and take a few more passes at the lead vocal to see if we could make it even better. Mary sang the song 4 more times and left. I then took the original comp Lead vocal from the first recording day, and put that up against the 4 new takes, found the best of the best and put together a new comp LV. This Lead Vocal was stellar. all in all 14 kept takes, got comp'd down to 1.
I've repeated the above scenario in various forms on countless records. This is the way I prefer to cut vocals. I HATE punching in lead vocals. (do you guys who've never used analog even know what punching means? you should) I've done it alot. Back in the days of analog 24 track recording, alot of my clients called me "Blur" because I could punch in and out so fast they couldnt see my fingers. I had a knack for it, for the timing, and i was really good at it. I miss it actually. But i dont miss recording lead vocals that way. I've always liked giving the singer full takes, then going back and puttting it all together. It flows better for me, and I feel most singers perform better when they dont have to put one line under a microscope and they can just let a performance flow. Sometimes, actually often, i'll go a verse at a time, so they arent worn out by the bridge, or so they have all the energy they need when they hit the chorus. And I'll often sample and fly choruses, and of course now with pro tools its dead simple to copy and move pieces around. We used to have to do it with either digital samplers or my favorite method, flying choruses with an analog 2 track half inch machine. It sounded amazing if you could time it well.
So, nowadays, I'll record vocals until i feel like the singer hits a certain zone where they are really performing well. Then I'll try to get between 4 and 8 really great takes of each section, then afterwards, I'll usually go a bar or two at a time, put it in loop mode, and listen to each take of a particular line. Make my notes, and put together the best pieces of every line into a single comp lead vocal. Sometimes I'll also comp a double track against the lead vocal in similar fashion, if i think the song can benefit from a double track. This is easier than trying to have the singer go back in and double the comp vocal.
Comping is incredibly time consuming and requires a heightened level of concentration and patience, but just so ya know, for you guys and girls out there trying to make major label level records with no budget, this is typically how its done. Not always. but usually. even with great singers like Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey. Now imagine before the days of autotune. But it can make a world of difference to the feel of a song. Now you have the best moments that the singer gave, not just the best single take.
Far too many young bands and artists dont spend much time at all preparing to record vocals, then recording vocals, and comping vocals. Then the singer thinks its a good thing that they "got the song in two takes". whenever i hear a singer say that, i know i'm in for a scary vocal. sometimes, rarely, i am surprised. Sometimes I'll spend 8 hours recording and comping a lead vocal. time very well spent. The lead vocal will make or break the song in the end. make sure its great.
A side note. I get ALOT of stuff in to mix. I always scratch my head when i get songs in to mix that were recorded in a home studio but the vocal is pitchy or not a stellar performance. If you have your own home studio to record your vocals, spend the time to make them amazing.
Anyway, I've got to get back to vocal comping right now in fact. E-dro gave some great performances tonight, and i need to dig thru each take to make sure i've found all the best moments. Just so you know that even great singers get comp'd, here's a short list of artists I've recorded and comp'd......... Mary J Blige, Usher, David Byrne, Lenny Kravitz, Ludacris, Soul Asylum, Diana Ross, Joe Budden, 702, Jaheim, Will Downing, Simply Red, Queen Latifah, Tyrese, Aaron Hall, SWV, etc..... are you getting the idea yet?
Last word of advise. When comping, frequently step back and listen to the big picture, listen to how your comps are flowing, do they make sense from line to line, verse to verse, or does it sound put together? a great comp should sound to the listener like the artist sang it one time and sang it incredibly well. Even the in between breaths. If you solo a vocal I've comp'd, you'll never hear a clipped breath and a glitch. it sounds like one take, even if it was 14 takes.
