Playlist and Comping Shortcuts in Pro Tools: Managing Vocal and ADR Take Selection from the Keyboard

In an ADR session we had recorded twelve takes of a single line. The director said, 'start of the third, middle of the seventh, end of the eleventh.' In my first years I solved this by stacking takes on separate tracks and cutting and pasting one by one; the session would balloon to dozens of tracks within a week. Then I learned to use playlists properly: one track, every take inside it, all of it driven from the keyboard. This article covers the playlist shortcuts I use for vocal and ADR comping, checked against Avid's official shortcuts guide.

What Is a Playlist, and Why Not Separate Tracks?

A playlist is an alternate edit layer inside a track. It shares the same track, plugin chain, fader and I/O; only the clips on it change. If you open a new playlist for each take instead of recording over the same one, nothing is lost. You also stop worrying about matching EQ and compression across a dozen tracks: when the comp is done you have one voice on one track.

Creating and Duplicating Playlists

My first habit before recording is to open a new playlist. The previous take stays safe and the new one is recorded on a clean slate. Duplicating serves a different purpose: copying the main playlist as it is so you can cut and experiment boldly. If something goes wrong, you return to the old playlist.

Playlist View: Looking at Takes Side by Side

Comping works best when you can see takes stacked one under the other. In a track's Playlist View each playlist sits in its own lane, with the main playlist on top. With Commands Keyboard Focus on, the hyphen (-) key toggles Playlist View on tracks that contain the Edit selection. Tapping that one key to glance over the takes beats reaching for the arrow button with the mouse.

Auditioning Takes: Lane Solo and Quick Navigation

A line with twelve takes means auditioning each one, and that is the dull part of the job. Shift+S solos the lane under the Edit cursor, and Ctrl+P and Ctrl+; move the cursor between lanes. Put the phrase on Loop Playback and you can compare every take in turn without lifting your hands from the keyboard. I jot notes as I go: which take has the good syllable. The real job in comping isn't picking the best take but finding the best version of each word.

Moving Selections to the Main Playlist

This is the heart of comping: select the part of a take you like and send it to the main playlist. You define the playlist where the Edit is active as the Target and copy the selection there. Avid's guide gives Option+Shift+Up Arrow (or Option+Control+V) to copy the selection to the Target playlist, and Option+Shift+T to move it. When you use them, make sure your selection starts and ends in silences or breaths rather than on sentence boundaries; if a cut lands mid-speech, the seams will be audible.

Setting the Target Playlist and Moving Between Playlists

You must be certain which playlist the selection goes to; copying into the wrong one is a mistake you find an hour later. Set the Target with Command+Shift+Right Arrow and show it as the Main playlist with Shift+Right Arrow. Shift+Left Arrow toggles between the current and the previous Main playlist, which is a lifesaver for my 'show me how it was' reflex.

A Real ADR Comping Workflow

• ―Before recording, press Ctrl+\ to open a new playlist so each take stays in its own.
• ―When takes are done, switch to Playlist View and audition one by one with Shift+S and Ctrl+P / Ctrl+;.
• ―Select the good portion from breaths or silences and copy it to the Target with Option+Shift+Up Arrow.
• ―When the selections are in, listen to the main playlist, check the seams and add crossfades where needed.
• ―Once the comp is approved, duplicate the main playlist so an untouched backup remains.

One more detail: once the comp is done, if the director says 'let's try that once more,' the old takes are still there. Playlists don't save disk space so much as they buy you peace of mind.