The Weeknd has long been in awe of Ariana Grande’s Pro Tools prowess. He called her “a beast” users of the software last year, and now it seems she’s been putting her skills to good use on an upcoming remix of The Weeknd’s Die For You, which first appeared on his 2016 album Starboy.
A video posted on Grande’s social media channels shows her hard at work in the studio, singing and editing vocals in a Pro Tools session.
“Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14-hour day on set,” says the caption, presumably a reference to her current stint filming the film version of the Wicked musical. “This certain exception had to be made,” she added.
Grande doesn’t explain exactly what she’s going, but she appears to be comping vocals at lightning speed using keyboard shortcuts, demonstrating just what a time-saver they can be if you take the time to learn them for your DAW of choice.
The Weeknd shared the clip and has since confirmed that the Die For You remix will be released on Friday (24 February).
Of course, there are still plenty of people out there who have no idea that vocal comping actually takes place. Chat show host David Letterman had his mind blown last year when Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas demonstrated the process in Logic Pro in the project file for the title track of Eilish's 2021 album Happier Than Ever, which actually featured 87 vocal takes.
He's not the only one, either: “None of my friends know that [comping] is a part of making music,” Eilish said at the time.
