[MUSIC] So once you've decided what you want to change about the performance it's time to consider some different editing techniques. For example, do you want it to sound free and natural? Or, do you want to edit to be perfectly in time? This can usually change, depending on what type of music that you're recording. For example, electronic music tends to be perfect, whereas something like a folk or an indie track, can have a little bit of freedom. >> Editing takes a lot of time. And I think there's two sides of that. We have to be willing to give it the time. And we were talking earlier about, sometimes it's the manual effort that actually gives the best result. And actually a lot of times you might think you might turn to a plug in for, just going into editing can be much more effective. But it does take time, and we're on a short deadline here. So I think it's important to really think about time management in this. I know I can get caught up in the edit and I can get caught up in the mix and look at these tiny details that might not even be audible. >> I often say there's nothing that 40 hours in Protools can't fix. >> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> But do you really want to go there- >> Yeah. >> That's the thing. It's okay to do things efficiently. It's okay to get a couple of bars really good in and repeat them, to actually duplicate them. I've sat in on a lot of sessions lately with Javier Limón who is this Flamenco producer, and actually his productions sound very natural. He beat detectives, everything. Every time anybody puts down anything, he usually takes a two bar or four bar phrase, beat detectives it, and then he loops it. It still sounds natural. It's amazing, really, what you can get away with, and people still can perceive it as a performance. But it really depends on what's appropriate for, context is everything, really. >> But if you don't have 40 hours in Protools it's really important to prioritize. >> Yes, >> So, instead of nitpicking absolutely every single vocal change and timing or every single chord on the guitar. Think about the big picture and that might mean, actually, copying some things. But it also means maybe not sweat the small stuff as much. And focus on what you can accomplish to get the best result for the audience in the most effective amount of time. >> For me, it's about playing the whole track. Just hearing it as a whole and not just that one thing I've been focused on. Turn solo off and listen to the whole thing. And I find, I don't know if you guys do, that actually putting my reference track on pretty often really, really helps me. because my ears get tired fast, and if I can just hear a really good piece of music and the one that is my zone, that's the most useful thing. >> Taking a lot of little breaks. Getting away from it for a while, also, not looking at the screen. Whenever I do an edit, when I'm listening back to it, I always take it off the screen so I'm always not looking at the edit coming by. because it's almost impossible to cognitively tell when somebody's just listening to this, are they going to hear it a certain way if you see that edit going by? And then also bouncing it off other people. Are there roommates that you have or other musicians that that you can just say, give this a listen. And not even necessarily give them a heads up as I want you to listen for the bass edit on the chorus, but just play it for them. >> Never tell them the problem. >> Exactly, what did you notice? And maybe ask them a few questions, but be able to ascertain did I accomplish what I needed to with the edits that I just did? >> Absolutely.
