The Cutting Room - Editing Audio Tracks [Recording Vocals Pt 5]

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The Cutting Room - Editing Audio Tracks
Recording Vocals Pt 5

• http//homerecordinghome.com/the-cutting-room-edit
  ing-audio-tracks/

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So far, you have an excellent vocal track
strong, present, and free of sonic interference.
But, are you wondering why it sounds a little
junky? That is because the human voice produces
more noises than the pleasant tones you are
looking for. In editing, you cut away the excess
to get to the most essential parts, before
refining even further.
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Make Room for the Crowd
Recording is often about taking things away
to make more room.  Its important to hone that
ability to trim away the fat. When you have only
a few tracks, the imperfections and excess are
plainly visible. As you add tracks, noise really
adds up and clouds your tracks.
Image bass_nroll via Compfight
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Comping
The first step is compiling a complete,
continuous track, a process known as comping.
Even your efforts to get the best take of a
vocalist can be stymied by some minor
mistakes. Make sure that you get familiar with
crossfades. Sometimes, you cut very close to
words, perhaps even mid-word. Without
crossfading, youll create a choppy and uneven
take.
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Taking Out the Trash
Its time to unearth the perfect track thats
hiding inside it. It can be a really good way of
focusing your cleanup duties by showing what
needs work and what doesnt. This saves some
time, but it can also take away crucial elements
of the track without your noticing it.  
Image bass_nroll via Compfight
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At the Gates.
Noise gates are also fine choices for reducing
junky vocal sounds. Once you set the threshold,
attack, and release parameters, you should have a
squeaky clean vocal track. Just take some time to
solo the vocals and make sure that you examine
the track for integrity. 
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Hand Jive
Removing all extraneous vocal noises eliminates
some of the humanity of a track, so I like to
leave a few in. It sounds like torture, but I can
usually get through a track pretty fast this way
with some piece of mind that the entire track is
up to my standards.
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What Was Lost
After editing, take some time to listen to the
vocals in context. Youll notice a bit more
clarity that is difficult to identify. This is
the last step of the production phase. Now,
youre ready to get started on post-production.
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The Cutting Room - Editing Audio Tracks
Recording Vocals Pt 5

• http//homerecordinghome.com/the-cutting-room-edit
  ing-audio-tracks/