Chapter 7

Comping and Alternate Takes

The Search for Perfection

Comping, or compiling, is the process of putting together one “master” take from a number of alternate takes, using the best parts from each to create one final version. It is a very widely used technique, but possibly the most common application is vocal comping. Because of that we will focus on using all the things, we have learned so far to comp a vocal. Most of the things we cover will be common to comping all different kinds of instruments and voices, but there will be specific issues for certain types of instruments, and there is additional information on the website about these additional considerations.

But first, why do we bother comping? To answer that, we need to accept ...

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