The dot after the take name (highlighted) tells you that the track contains more than one take.
DP’s comp and take management features help you assemble the perfect performance.
Ideally, every recording would be flawlessly executed in a single take. But the reality is that we often get the most favourable results by piecing together the best parts of multiple takes into one composite track, especially with vocals. DP users are fortunate to have a comprehensive suite of comping features that are powerful and straightforward.
What’s Your Take?
Rename Take is one of many useful commands in the Takes menu.Before getting into the specifics of comping, it’s crucial to understand how DP handles takes, because they are the building blocks of a comp. To make a comp, you need a track that contains at least two takes.
When you add a new track, whether audio, instrument or MIDI, you’ll see in the Takes menu (which you’ll find in the Track Settings Panel of any track in the Sequence Editor) that it’s labeled ‘take 1’ by default. Each time a new take is recorded, the number gets automatically incremented. You can tell if a track contains more than one take because the name in the Takes menu has a dot after it.
During the recording process, you typically create additional takes with the New Take command from the Takes menu before recording each pass. You can change a take’s name with the Rename Take command from that same menu.
If you want your vocalist to record one verse at a time and do multiple versions of each, you could Cycle Record with the Cycle range set for the verse you’re working on.
Getting Cyclical
Another common way to create multiple takes is to record them continuously using Cycle Recording, so that the singer or instrumentalist records a new version each time the Cycle loops. Recording this way works well when focusing on a finite section of a track. For example, if you want your vocalist to record one verse at a time and do multiple versions of each, you could Cycle Record with the Cycle range set for the verse you’re working on.
The Memory Cycle and Overdub buttons are turned on to enable Cycle Recording.
Turn on Cycle Recording by clicking on the Memory Cycle button, which is under the transport controls. Set a time range by dragging in the Memory Cycle Strip, which shows a green line representing the range. You also need to turn on the Overdub button to make Cycle Recording work.
If you’re Cycle Recording over a specific section of a track, such as one phrase of a vocal, it helps also to turn on Auto Record and set your Cycle’s start point a measure or two before the Auto Record region. That way, you have a little time to get ready before DP starts recording again.
The circled section shows the Memory Cycle set longer than the Auto Record region, which allows the performer time to get set before each take.
Absorb Tracks
When using Cycle Recording or creating new takes using the menu command, you’ll record multiple takes into a single track. Occasionally, however, you might run into a situation where you want to create a comp using material recorded on separate tracks. That could happen if you’re comping a performance recorded in another DAW and had to import each take into DP as a separate track. Or, possibly, you recorded in DP but didn’t use the Takes feature.
The answer for such a situation is the Absorb Tracks command in the Takes menu. It lets you combine separate tracks into one track as takes. First, select the tracks you wish to absorb. Then, in the target track, choose the Absorb Tracks command, which gives two choices: Current Takes or All Takes. The former will bring in any other selected track and turn it into a take, but won’t include any takes nested in the absorbed tracks. To do the opposite, you can use the Turn Takes into Tracks command, which is also in the Takes menu. It will convert each take into a separate track. You could use this feature to turn a harmony track, recorded in several passes, into a thicker, layered part. You could also use it to produce a double of a lead vocal track.
Ready To Comp
Once your takes are recorded, you can start the comping process. First, select the Show Takes command in the Takes menu. You’ll then see each take in a separate lane, stacked vertically. MOTU call this the Take Grid.
Above the takes is another lane containing a newly created comp track. Notice that the take is labelled Comp 1, and the headers of the take tracks are slightly indented. Because the comp and the recorded takes are the same colour, you may want to change the Comp track to a different colour to make it stand out even more.
The shaded sections of the Take Grid appear in the comp at the top.
Don’t be confused when you see that Comp 1 already has audio. When you first create a new comp, it will contain audio from take 1, which becomes shaded to indicate that it is currently being used in the comp.
When Show Takes has been invoked, DP’s transport will play whatever is in the comp. That’s a key to how the comping feature works. Using the Comp tool (which I’ll explain shortly), you designate the sections you want from the takes in the Take Grid, and they will show up in the comp.
If you want to listen to a specific take, press the Solo button to the right of the take name. When you do, you’ll see that the entire take is shaded, and DP has moved its content temporarily to the comp track, which makes it active for playback. When you deselect the Solo button, the comp reverts to the previous content.
Take 2’s Solo button is on, temporarily moving its audio to the comp track for playback.
Next, let’s focus on the Comp tool, which resides in the Tool Palette. You can quickly invoke it by hitting the B key twice. Alternatively, you could set it as the Alternate tool and call it up by holding down the X key.
The Comp tool is the one selected in the second row.
The Comp tool has a few functions, but the main one is to designate the sections in the Take Grid that will appear in the comp. You do this by clicking and dragging the Comp tool over the section of the take you want to use and then releasing the mouse. You’ll see that DP creates vertical red divider lines at the beginning and end of your designated region, across all takes. When you click on any take between the two dividers, that area gets shaded, and DP sends it to the comp track.
DP’s grid snapping applies to the Take Grid and comp track. So if you want to make your section dividers line up with bars or beats, turn snapping on. For unconstrained selection, turn snapping off.
You can select a dividing line by clicking on it with the Comp tool, which turns it white. Once selected, you can drag it to reposition it or press Delete to remove it.
Clicking a section in Take 1 with the Comp tool.
Strategic Thinking
How best to divide the Take Grid will depend on the material and your work style, but for vocals, separating every phrase is an excellent place to start. That way, you can compare the various takes one line at a time.
An effective way to compare your takes involves DP’s Memory Cycle feature. Start by using the Comp tool to define the section you want to concentrate on, whether a phrase, a verse or any other element. Next, turn on Memory Cycle and set its range to be the same as that section. Hit play, and as the section loops, you can listen to the various takes by clicking on them with the Comp tool.
Using Memory Cycle, you can easily listen to each take of a particular section.
When you’ve finished assembling your comp, choose Hide Takes from the Takes menu. The Take Grid will disappear, and the track will contain your comp. You may need to crossfade the various Soundbites within it and clean up any extraneous audio. (You can also edit your takes while they’re in the Take Grid. The editing features are the same as in a normal DP audio track.)
If, later on, you decide you need to go back into the comp’s Take Grid to make adjustments, make sure the comp is currently selected in the Take menu and then simply choose Show Takes again.
DP lets you assemble as many comps as you want. Here’s how to create another comp: With Hide Takes invoked, reopen the Takes menu and select New Take. Next, choose Show Takes; your takes will appear without the dividers from the previous comp and with a blank comp track at the top. You can then freely switch between multiple comps. Like so much in DP, the comping features are deep and flexible.