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Editing and Time Based Processing

Published by Willie Green on July 29, 2010 at 10:00 am

Editing

Editing is somewhat of a sore point in the record making process, but is also one of the most important; and can be one of the most rewarding. The scope of this article will be limited to vocal editing, although some of the techniques can be used for other instruments.

Vocal editing generally includes Comping, time aligning, and vocal tuning, which I’ll save for a future column. Artists tend to not enjoy this stage, as some may consider it cheating, and it also exposes deficiencies in their technique. Some producers may also feel the same way. I counter that line of thought like this:

1. Professional records are edited*. Sloppy overdubs and slightly out of tune notes are unprofessional, and distracting. You don’t want your lyrics and music obscured by these problems.

2. This is not 1968, and we have incredible tools to make music. While they shouldn’t be used as a crutch for untalented artists, I see little reason to avoid them as a rule for the sake of making records like they did 40 – 50 years ago.

*I would like to take a moment to clarify the difference between “records” and “albums.” A single recorded song is a “record.” An “album” is a collection of records. This distinction has been confused by the name of the vinyl format, but it is still commonly used.

Comping

Comping (short for compiling) is the process of combining pieces from more than one take to form a full “choice” take. This could be plugging a line or two from one take into another, or weaving words together from a number of performances. I’ve even witnessed people cross-fade syllables from two takes of the words. That is certainly the extreme, but the end result will a perfect performance.

The process begins, obviously, with recording multiple takes of a verse/song. If you hear something in a take that sounds great, keep the take. After recording, you’ll need to put each take on its own track, but lined up at the same spot, so when you play any of them back with the instrumental it’s in time. Also create one empty track for your final comp. Mute all the vocal takes, and unmute them one at a time to listen back. Take notes for each take, and piece together the best parts of the bunch. A lyric sheet will help this greatly. When you’ve made your pick for each section, drag that region to the master comp track. Through the use of crossfades, leveling and a bit of patience, you’ll soon have a perfect choice take.

Time Aligning

Time aligning is a fancy way of saying “lining up overdubs to be in time with the lead vocal.” Slightly out of time doubles will make your leads cloudy and unfocused. Very out of time doubles will just make the song sloppy. Now the ultra-purist will say “just record it again until it’s right,” and that’s certainly one way to do it. This is another.

My preferred method works like this:

1. Mute all the vocals but the lead vocal. Playback the song with just that lead vocal and the instrumental. Make sure you are happy with the timing of the lead against the track.

2. Now mute the instrumental, and unmute the first dub track. (Until you’re confident with this technique, I suggest adding tracks one at a time) Zoom far in, and go line by line aligning the dubs to the lead. This will obviously take longer if the artist doubled the entire verse. (More on the pros and cons of this in future columns). Use your ears, but also keep your eye on the waveforms, they’ll be a good guide to how far you have to move words and syllables.

3. Check the edited vocals with the instrumental, then repeat for any additional vocal tracks.

How tight you align is a matter of taste and also subject to the artist. For something more mainstream, or for an artist with a fast, intricate flow, a tighter edit will likely be more desirable. For something more indie, or with a slower delivery, you’ll have a little more latitude. If there is a full double of every line, however, I strongly suggest tight editing. You want to keep your lead vocal as intelligible as possible.

Once your vocals are time-aligned, go through and delete any significant dead space in the tracks. Do not, however, delete all the breaths before words. People breathe. If you take out all breaths, the performance won’t sound natural. If there’s a particularly loud breath, just turn it down.

In general, I suggest not to have the artist present for the editing process. First, it’s boring. Really. Watching someone edit for hours (because this is not a quick process) is incredibly uninteresting, and they will get antsy and distracting.

Also, correcting someones mistakes and deficiencies can make them very self conscious and possibly embarrassed. This is not something you want to do to an artist, especially not one you’d like to work with again.

Next Month: Vocal Tuning

Time-Based Effects

To really give you mix depth and 3D space, you’ll want to look to time-based effects. This group includes reverbs, delays, chorus and flanging. So far we’ve covered two dimensions; width through panning, height through frequencies and EQ, and now the third dimension. Through careful use of time-based effects, you can achieve great depth in your mixes and really create a great sound stage for your music.

You’ll most often use reverbs and delays on an aux send, allowing you to send as much or little as you want. Chorus and flange are more often found as inserts on the desired instrument. Any time use a time-based effect on a send, make sure to set the wet/dry mix to 100% wet. The dry signal will come from the audio track. If you are using the effect as an insert, use the mix control to adjust how much of the effect there is.

Reverb

This is the king of time-based effects. Most easily described as room sound, reverb is just that – the sound of a space. Depending on the setting, this can provide small ambiance or huge halls – it’s just a matter of what you need. Plate reverbs mimic the classic steel plate reverb units found in many large studios. Experiment with different size rooms and get familiar with different uses. I recommend a nice ambiance or a small room on vocals and drums, to give them some space and make them pop out of the mix. Larger spaces are a more dramatic effect, very useful on horns, strings, and some singing vocals.

Critical parameters of reverb include:

Reverb Time – How long the signal takes to decay

Pre-Delay – the amount of time before the reverb begins.

Size – The size of the room or plate

Some reverbs will include high and low filters, great for shaping the reverb sound. Adjusting the high end when dealing with a very sibilant vocal may be crucial. If you’re sending a drum kit to a verb, rolling off some of the low may keep your mix from being muddy.

Delay or Echo

Pretty self explanatory. Delay time is traditionally measured in milliseconds, the time between the dry sound and the first delay. Most delay plugins can take their tempo from the grid, allowing you to easily set the delay based off the rhythm of the song. (Yet another reason to make sure your session is locked to a grid) I generally start each mix session with both an 1/8th note and a 1/4 note delay. These are standard delay times, and most commonly used. The other major parameter of delay is feedback, which sends the delayed signal back into the effect, creating additional repetitions.

Chorus

Chorus is actually a series of very short delays. Instead of discreet delays, it creates a doubling effect. Since this is a stereo effect, and can be a great way to thicken and widen vocals, particularly on a hook.

Flanging

Flanging is a series of even shorter delays than chorus, creating an effect called “comb filtering.” This is the phase-y sound the flanger makes. By slightly adjusting the delay times, you create the swooshing sound this effect is famous for.

Next Month: More Dynamics Processors

I have many more topics to come, but I am also open to suggestions. If you have something you’d like to hear more about, leave it in a comment and I’ll address it in the coming months.

Purchase Willie Green’s latest project, Dirty Jordans, from his Bandcamp page.

Willie Green
www.WillieGreenMusic.com

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Willie Green is an in-house producer for the Brooklyn-based Backwoodz Studioz record label, and a freelance mixing and mastering engineer. The Berklee College of Music graduate has also managed a number of recording studios throughout the Northeast.

Read more about recording and engineering:

Recording and Mixing: Part 1

Mic Choice & Placement, Mixing Levels & Panning

Mic Pre-Amps, Staging and EQ

Vocal Tracking and the Art of Compression

Rough Mixes, Buss and Mix Compression

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3 Responses

Justin Boland Says:
July 29th, 2010 at 11:05 am

Absolutely. I tell would-be producers about this all the time and the reaction is the same 99% of the time: “That’s too much work and nobody can hear that shit anyway.”

Actually, EVERYONE can hear that shit, they just can’t explain what they’re hearing…beyond knowing your un-edited takes sound amateur and properly analyzed vocals sound “more professional.”

Willie, this series has been kickass all along but your writing/presentation are really improving, too. You’re going to have a serious resource in your hands once you get a few more columns done…
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Pro-Logic with Willie Green

Willie Green is a Producer/Engineer from Hartford, CT and currently residing in Brooklyn.

Green is an in-house producer for the Backwoodz Studioz record label, and has produced for the likes of Cannibal Ox, Reks, Super Chron Flight Brothers and Naledge of Kidz In The Hall. He has also managed a number of studios throughout the Northeast.

In this regular column he will provide expert insight into the behind-the-scenes facets of making music.