Say you have tracked, guit, bass or vox or whatever, have multiple takes and the takes will all have slightly or maybe radically different recorded volumes

Assuming you want to mix the comps onto a single track and do not need / want to use a compressor to even things out.

What’s the preferred approach?

Mix the comps to a single track, then, mix again to a new track using volume automation (or manual) to get the levels right / even

Normalise all of the comp'd takes first separately to the same level, the mix the comps to a new track and level out in the same way as above if needed

Thanks for any replies

PS I realise this is a generic type example and different approaches may be preferred for different situations. Assume you do not have the computing power to leave the comps as is and therefore need to mix down to save MIPs or FLOPs or whatever your preferred measure of computing power is...

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Madman_Greg

I would try and track the takes at the same level.

But If I did find some of them had a slightly different level to other takes then I would just use level automation on the track in the mix. Or if it was available in the DAW I would use region/clip gain to match the level with other regions/clips/takes

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www.Lozjackson.com

Like Bossman, I'd firstly track all takes at the same level.

After that it's simply sbout comping what you have and sorting out levels just as if the track was recorded in one take - compression, automation, or whatever method you would use on a single-take track. The fact that it is comped is irrelevent.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Thanks for the responses

Yes assume all tracks were recorded with the same settings

The point I was trying to make (but may was not clear enough) is say the vocalist postioned themselves differently, further away from the mic for example by a couple of inches, or the bass player played a lighter quieter take.

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Madman_Greg

The problem of working with less than proficient musicians. It's invariably a "suck it and see" approach that works.

Funnily enough I was in this situation recently. The problem with varying source levels is that it's more difficult to assess how well the clips sit with each other.

I know you don't want to fix the problem using a compressor but I found it helped to group all the takes and give them a firm squash. When you've compiled your new track you can just remove the compressor and use volume automation to give a final tweak.

Quote narcoman:

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The problem of working with less than proficient musicians. It's invariably a "suck it and see" approach that works.

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That'll be me then

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Madman_Greg

Quote Madman_Greg:

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The point I was trying to make (but may was not clear enough) is say the vocalist postioned themselves differently, further away from the mic for example by a couple of inches, or the bass player played a lighter quieter take.

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Ideally I'd get them to sing/play again until I had enough similar takes to comp. After that it's back to level control (automation, clip levelling, compression, etc.), just as I said above.

The fact that you're dealing with multiple takes is irrelevent. Vocalists frequently move around during the course of one take - you have to deal with that just the same.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Quote Gary Carey:

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Funnily enough I was in this situation recently. The problem with varying source levels is that it's more difficult to assess how well the clips sit with each other.

I know you don't want to fix the problem using a compressor but I found it helped to group all the takes and give them a firm squash. When you've compiled your new track you can just remove the compressor and use volume automation to give a final tweak.

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Wow, thanks for that idea. I do find it very hard to comp vocals, because of the huge dynamics (not the intentional ones ). I'm going to try having a compressr inserted as I do the comping, to see if that makes it easier to do.

Thanks!

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Alexis -Cubase 6.5.0/SX3.1.1.944, XP SP2, 4GB RAM (1GB not accessible, but used just to balance the computer so it doesn't tip over); Delta 66 in Omni i/O Studio; Motif8; UAD-1

I tend to do this sort of thing by setting the clip envelope to the desired level as I'm doing the comp. But as suggested here there are many ways to approach this.