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Originally Posted by ISayItLikeItIs  For sure, like I also said before, do what you gotta do! There have been mentioned some good techniques in this thread to get the job done.
And as an engineer you need to know how to comp a vocal performance.
But personally I have put myself in a position where I can chose who I want to work with, so I don't have to take the "spending-10-hours-comping-a-vocal-performance" job any more! I'm really tired of that ish.. It's too much work, too much me doing the artists a big favor with artists that don't really deserve that shine anyways..
But hey, once again, DO YOU! If it pays your bills, I can't blame you.. |
You must have been working with some real shitty artists before then. Even if you decide to go and comp a vocal performance, it shouldn't be so bad that it takes you 10 hours to get something you are satisfied with. When I talk about comping vocals, I talk about something I'm doing for no more than 30-40 mins max. During the recording session, as I'm recording takes, I'm already making a mental note of exactly how I'm gonna do the comp and what I'm going to use for what. Sometimes I may even comp on the fly if the artist is giving me a really great performance except for a tricky spot here and there.
You're right it's all about doing what you got to do, but more importantly it's about knowing the best way to go about doing it. Sticking to one method of doing stuff is dumb, and saying "Oh I would never comp" or do something else that can be useful is foolish as well. As an artist, I had little faith in engineers like that. It's engineers like that who inadvertently lead to me being an engineer myself today.