Editing Tips

2020/09/07

Summary

The goal of the editing phase is to prep your project for mixing. Tracks should be easily exportable when done. Once complete the project should sound pretty good, even before mixing.

Another tip: I like to think of the “edit” project as if I had just raw pre-recorded tracks and not the raw “source” of the amp sims, midi instruments etc.

  1. Prepare to edit
  2. Sound Prep
  3. Organize Project
  4. Mix Prep
  5. Finalize

1 - Preparing to Edit

1.a - Work with a copy

Can’t stress this enough. Duplicate your “tracking” project and rename the new project to denote that its the “edit” project.

Typically I’ll work with this project separately and wont retrack any new or modified parts into the “edit” project. If I do need to retrack or add some tracks, I’ll do that in the “tracking” project and then import the tracks into the “edit” project using File > Import > Logic Projects…

You will mostly be working outside of the mixer as your focus is on cleaning up each track to its fullest.

1.b - Misc Prep

2 - Sound Prep

Working “in the box” (ITB) makes it easy to manipulate instrument sounds after recording - but it also makes it harder to commit to decisions as you would if you were micing an amp or drums.

I typically have my amp sim sounds set during tracking but I may make some final tweaks in editing if some of the sim settings are causing problems on the track. The reason I make some sound choices in Edit is because once the tracks are cleaned up, you will hear the song differently and it may make sense to tweak sounds at this point.

2.a - Set your drums

Note: This assumes you are using midi drums…

2.b - Set guitar / bass amp sim sounds

2.c - Set other sounds

Finally run through any keys, synths, sound effects and finalize their sounds.

This is important to do with many of the logic pro synth presets because they often have reverb or compression or other “Fat” sounding plugins that sound good in isolation but mess up the mix. Turn off the plugins that dont enhance the sound.

It may also help to “Humanize” any keyboard or synth parts that are quantized.

3. Organize Project

Organizing the project will make mix prep that much easier.

3.a - Arrange tracks by instrument

3.b - Finalize arrangement

4. Mix Prep

Time to clean up all the tracks. I usually start with drums, then bass, then guitar/keys, then vocals. Track by track…one-by-one. Dont be afraid to solo or mute tracks or to adjust levels temporarily so you can hear the current track better or hear it in relation to another track.

4.a - Track cleanup

For each track do the following. You can pretty much do this in any order you see fit. Here’s what works for me.

Note that I will often cleanup tails when I finish up a group. For instance, once I’ve done the track cleanup on vocal tracks, I will fix the tails at that point.

4.a.1 - Disable unnecessary plugins and Sends

If you haven’t done this yet, do this now. Disable any plugins that shouldn’t be printed to the track.

Its also a good idea to disable sends as hearing delay/reverb on tracks makes it more difficult to edit timing and pitch.

4.a.2. - Comp Tracks

If you haven’t comped the track, do that now. Once you are done comping a region, “Flatten and merge” the comp.

TIP There are a lot of good videos on youtube explaining how to comp in Logic Pro.

4.a.3 - Fix timing

Fix the track timing using the Logic Flex Timing tools. There are many good videos on youtube explaining how to use it. Just search for “logic pro flex time”

4.a.4 - Fix pitch

Fix the pitch of vocals using the Logic Pro “Flex Pitch” function. Typically I only do this on vocals. Again use it sparingly and always compare in relation to rest of track.

There are several tutorials on YouTube that explain how to use Flex Pitch.

4.a.5 - Eliminate noise

Clean up any unwanted noise on tracks. We’re talking things like coughing or breathing in between vocal lines. Or guitar noise during parts that should be silent.

An easy way to do this is to use the Remove Silence feature (https://www.iphonefirmware.com/editing-noisey-audio-files-with-remove-silence-in-logic-pro-x/).

You can also use the marquee tool to split and excise noise glitches manually.

Note: if you need to fix fret buzz or finger noise or if it bothers you, you probably need to re-record that part. If you can’t re-record the part you may be able to use automation or other editing to reduce the noise.

4.a.6 - Insert fades/cross fades

If you hear clicks or pops on transitions between recorded regions, you should set up a cross fade between the two regions. (https://support.apple.com/guide/logicpro/create-automatic-crossfades-lgcp9260fa9c/mac)

LMGTFY Again lots of content out there when searching for “logic pro crossfade”.

If you need make performance fade in/fade out…do that now.

4.a.7 - Normalize Region Gain

Because I suck and can’t play a long track, I record in sections. Sometimes I record those sections at different times and forget to write down my guitar/amp/mic settings and end up with a track with different gain on different region. While its possible to manually adjust the gain on each region, you can use a new feature in logic 10.4 to automaticaly do this: (https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/logic-pro-expert/2020/8/6/gain-stage-all-your-tracks-in-one-click-with-logics-awesome-normalize-region-gain-function)

I will typically use the settings: Individual Regions, Loudness, -23lfs. Note however that this may change your sound slightly when using guitar and amp simes. Anecdotally speaking, some people think driving the logic amp sim slightly harder makes it sound better. Use your ears as a guide.

4.b - Time Align (Vocal) Tracks

You will want to Time Align vocal and instrument ensemble “phrases” to tighten up the performance. For instance - if you are singing “oooh” as a group harmony on multiple tracks, it will sound tighter if you have all the “oooh” vocals end at the same time.

This is typically most apparent on vocal harmonies and backing vocals but it applies to guitar and key/synth ensembles as well.

I use the Flex Time tool to do this. This is a decent tutorial: (https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/logic-using-flex-time-vocals)

LMGTFY: “Logic pro time align vocal track”

TIP I will usually tighten up the phrasing and clean tails once I’ve done track cleanup on the ensemble tracks.

4.d - Other

Some other things that you may need to do during editing if you’re your micing multiple tracks might include:

5 - Finalize

Hey. You made it here and you’re almost done!

5.a - Write mix notes

Write up mix instructional notes. Anything that you think is imparative for you or the other person mixing to know. Make sure you identify the track! For example:

> #11: Repeating 1/8th note delays at the end of phrases @ 2:04, 3:31
> #23: Double track guitar artificially 
> Fade out master @4:19

5.b - Panning/Levels

Go ahead and set your panning and levels now and listen again. You may find other things that are in need of editing once you’ve done this.

Bounce out the project and give it a test listen. It probably sounds much better than it did going in.

5.c - Consolidate & Remove unused

Remove your unused recording tracks and consolidate to make your Edit project smaller. (https://brianli.com/how-to-delete-unused-audio-files-in-logic-pro-x/)

5.d - Bounce tracks in place (Optional)

This is totally optional as usually I’m mixing my own music. I find it easier to create a new Mix project and then import in tracks THEN bounce in place (bip).

This wont necessarily work if you are sending to someone else to have mixed. They will typically have their own process. Usually they want you to create stems and “Bounce in Place” your tracks.

If you are sending to me to mix then I would appreciate “BIP”-ing all tracks and grouping them together in a folder stack.

Typically when I’m doing a “bip” I treat it as though I’m “printing” a recorded track.
- remove/disable plugins that aren’t there for sound manipulation purposes - On the export dialog, deselect bypass plugins and include volume/pan info.

Here’s a tip on how to to bounce tracks out as a group: (https://whylogicprorules.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-exporting-your-tracks-out-of-logic-pro-x-part-1-of-3/)

Reference