Pro Tools Beginner's Guide

Pro Tools 9: Getting Started Guide

Pro Tools 9 Getting Started Guide A Beginner’s Guide to Recording and Editing with Pro Tools 9 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 User Interface Overview: Edit Window ......................................................................................................................... 2

Mix Window .......................................................................................................................... 3 Commonly Used Tools.................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Section A: Creating a Session & Preparing to Record

Creating a New Session ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Creating New Tracks ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Assigning Inputs to Tracks ..........................................................................................................................................7

Adjusting Input Volume (Gain) ..................................................................................................................................7

Adjusting Monitor Volume (Headphoes) ......................................................................................................... 8

Adjusting Volumes of Individual Tracks .......................................................................................................... 8

Creating and Using a Master Fader .................................................................................................................. 8 Section B: Recording with Pro Tools 9

Non-Destructive Recording..................................................................................................................................... 10

Recording and “Arming” Tracks ........................................................................................................................... 10

Record Scrolling Options .............................................................................................................................................11

Muting and Soloing Tracks ........................................................................................................................................11

Record Safe Mode.............................................................................................................................................................11

Recording Multiple Takes (Playlists) Within a Track ............................................................................12

Cancelling and Deleting a Track During a Bad Take ......................................................................... 13

Loop Recording .................................................................................................................................................................. 13

Punching In and Out ....................................................................................................................................................... 15

Linking and Unlinking Faders................................................................................................................................. 16

Recording Multiple Tracks at Once ................................................................................................................... 16

Adjusting Sample Rate and Latency................................................................................................................ 17

Creating Click Tracks (Metronome) ................................................................................................................... 17 Section C: Editing Tracks & Exporting Audio

Renaming Regions and Tracks.............................................................................................................................. 19

Fading and Crossfading ............................................................................................................................................ 20

Selecting Track View..................................................................................................................................................... 20

Grouping Tracks..................................................................................................................................................................21

Turning Off Voice Dynamics (More Than Mute)..................................................................................... 22

Exporting Regions as Audio Files....................................................................................................................... 22

Importing Audio Using Convert .......................................................................................................................... 23

Exporting or “Bouncing” a Project to an Audio File ........................................................................... 24

BPM Detector (Beat Detective.............................................................................................................................. 25

Undo History........................................................................................................................................................................ 26 Section D: Adjusting EQ & Adding Plugins

Plug-in (Insert) Order .....................................................................................................................................................27

De-Esser....................................................................................................................................................................................27

Elastic Pitch (Pitch Shifter)....................................................................................................................................... 28

Compression ........................................................................................................................................................................ 29

EQ (Equalisation) ..............................................................................................................................................................30

Automating Plug-ins ..................................................................................................................................................... 32

INTRODUCTION Welcome to this introductory guide to Pro Tools 9; the industry standard in professional audio recording software.

As members of the Professional Management Program, associates are given access to the latest software and technology in order to further develop themselves and expand their skillset. This guide will act as a starting point into the world of professional audio recording techniques.

The following is a very basic outline of what Pro Tools can do, and will serve as the foundation for future independant development outside of the PMP.

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A. Toolbar B. Control Bar C. TracklistControl Bar D. Groups E. Tempo Indicator F. Workspace G. Regions

USER INTERFACE OVERIEW: EDIT WINDOW

A. Inserts B. Input & Output Indicator C. Faders

USER INTERFACE OVERIEW: MIX WINDOW

Commonly Used Tools • Below are the tools you will most often be working with while editing in Pro Tools 9.

• Trimmer: Clips the beginning and ends of tracks.

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• Time Stretch: Located within the Trimmer tool, it condenses or lengthens tracks automatically by stretching them rather than clipping them.

• Selector: Allows you to select a portion of a track or region.

F7 • Grabber: Allows you to grab and move regions to a new track or along the timeline within the same track.

F8 • Smart Tool: Intelligently switches between various tools according to where you have your cursor. This tool also allows you to crossfade tracks when placed at the top right or top left corner of a region.

F6 + F7

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Section A: Creating a Session & Preparing to Record

This section will provide an overview of how to create a new session within Pro Tools 9 and how to prepare your tracks for recording. You will learn how to create new tracks, properly monitor audio levels, and set your recording preferences.

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CREATING A NEW SESSION Ctrl + N • Navigate to “File” and choose “New Session” • Select “Blank Session” • Audio file type should be set to BWF (.WAV) • Bit depth can be 24 or 16.

• Higher bit depth is better quality, however it requires

more computing power. CD audio is 16 bit, while

DVD’s are 24 bit.

• Sample rate can be set to 44.1khz or 48khz.

• Higher sample rate is better quality but requires more computing power.

• Sample rate must match the sample rate of any audio

files to be imported.

• I/O (Input and Output) setting can generally be set to last used.

CREATING NEW TRACKS Ctrl + Shift

• Navigate to “Track” and choose “New” +N • Enter the number of desired tracks.

• Select mono or stereo.

• Mono creates one centered channel of audio.

• Stereo creates two channels of audio (one left and one right)

in a single track.

• Select the type of track (audio, midi, aux, etc...)

• You will generally be using Audio tracks to record via a micro

phone or direct input.

• Press the “+” button to create more tracks of a different type. For example if you want 1 Audio track and also 1 Master Fader track.

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Assigning Inputs to Tracks • This is located within the “Mix” window under “I/O” • Click the arrow and select “Interface” • From here, select the proper input (A1, A2, A3, etc...)

• This will most likely be A1 for every track.

• Each new track that is created is assigned

a new input, so remember to set input to A1

if you find yourself unable to record.

Adjusting Input Volume (Gain) • This is set via the physical M-Box Interface • Turn the “Gain” knob located beside input “01” to raise or lower Gain.

• Remember to have a Gain level that is not too loud or too quiet.

• If the visual waveform of the audio being recorded is

very large and is filling in the track to it’s edges, the gain

is too high and will result in distortion.

• If the waveform is barely visible, your input volume may

be too low.

Adjusting Volumes of Individual Tracks • In the “Mix” window, use the fader to increase and decrease the volume.

• This is strictly associated with playback volume of individual tracks and not input volume, or gain.

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Adjusting Monitor Volume (Heaphones) • This is set via the physical M-Box Interface.

• Turn the “Volume” knob located on the right side of the interface.

• It’s important to note that this is separate from input volume (gain) and track volumes.

• This is strictly to increase or decrease the volume of your

monitoring device (ie. headphones or speakers).

Creating and Using a Master Fader Ctrl + N • This controls the playback volume of every track.

• Navigate to “Track” and choose “New” • Under track type, select “Master Fader” • In the “Mix” window, find your Master Fader track. Using the fader, you can increase or decrease the overall volume of every track together.

• In the “Edit” window, you can also drag the volume indicator line up and down to increase or decrease the volume.

• You can also set keyframes in the timeline to increase or decrease the volume at certain points, and also mute the track at certain points.

• In the “Edit” window, select your Master Fader track.

• Hold “Ctrl” and click on the line to set a keyframes, then drag to

reposition and increase or decrease the volume.

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Section B: Recording with Pro Tools 9

This section will provide an overview of how to record tracks within Pro Tools 9. It will detail the variety of recording methods available to you, how to create playlists within a single track, and also how to combat latency while recording.

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Non-Destructive Recording • Navigate to the “Options” • Make sure “Destructive Record” is not checked.

• Non-Destructive recording saves every track you record, even if it’s a bad take, and saves it in the “Regions” window.

• In the event of accidentally recording over a track, the

previously recorded audio is still saved.

• You can also purposely record over a track, and then using the

Trimmer tool, slide back and forth between the previous and the

new take without losing any audio data.

Recording and “Arming” Tracks • Within the main “Edit” window, each track has a small record button.

• Clicking this “arms” the track and designates it ready for recording.

• Check your headphones for audio to ensure input is set

correctly.

• On the Control bar along the top, click the record enable button.

• This readies every track that is armed for recording • Hitting “spacebar” will begin recording your audio tracks.

• Either click “Stop” to stop recording, or hit the “spacebar” again.

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Record Scrolling Options • These options set the scrolling style of the recording screen. Experiment with each to see which you prefer.

• Navigate to “Options” • Select “Edit Window Scrolling” • No Scrolling: Cursor moves off screen while recording.

• After Playback: Jumps to cursor after recording stops.

• Page: Cursor moves across page, and resets when it reaches

the end of the page.

• Continuous: Cursor is always in the center of the screen.

Muting and Soloing Tracks • When recording multiple layers of tracks, mute all unwanted tracks with the “Mute” button.

• Soloing tracks, by clicking the “Solo” button, will mute every other track other than the one that is set to solo.

Record Safe Mode • Used to disable a track from accidentally being recorded over.

• “Ctrl + click” on the arm track button.

• The button will now be greyed out and recording for this track will be disabled.

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Recording Multiple Takes (Playlists) Within a Track • This feature is used to create multiple, different takes of a track and store them all within a single playlist to keep your Edit window less cluttered.

• Within the “Edit” window select the arrow beside the specific track’s input.

• Choose “New”

•

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• A new playlist for that track has been created.

• Proceed to record as you normally would.

When all necessary playlists have been recorded, use the arrow to jump back and forth between the multiple takes you have recorded.

Cancelling and Deleting a Track During a Bad Take • This will cancel and delete a recording, and will not save a copy in the “Regions” window.

• During recording, hit “Ctrl + .”

• Otherwise, a bad take will be saved as a file even if you don’t use it.

Ctrl + .

Loop Recording • Navigate to “Options” and check “Loop Record” (You can also “right click” on the record button and select “Loop.”)

• Using the “Selector Tool” click and drag over the area of a track you want to record over.

• Ensure you select a large enough section according to the amount of time you want to record.

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• Arm tracks as usual and hit the “Record” button (which now appears as “Loop Record”).

• Record as many takes as you need, and hit spacebar to stop.

• All of separate takes are saved to a playlist within the track.

• Click the arrow to view and select specific takes.

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To view all of the playlist recordings within the timeline, change the Track View to “Playlist.”

Click the

•

arrow to select which playlist to listen to.

• To separate them into individual tracks, right click on the recorded loop and select “ Matching Alternates,” and “Expand to New Tracks.”

Punching In and Out • This is used to re-record a section of an existing track.

• “Right Click” on the main “Record” button and select “Quick Punch.”

• •

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Arm the track as usual and press “Play” on the Control Bar. When the cursor reaches the desired location, punch in by hitting “3” on the numpad.

• Hit “3” once more to punch out and stop recording.

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Linking and Unlinking Faders • This is used when you want to boost certain track volumes to hear them more loudly during recording but not alter the volume during playback.

• Navigate to “Setup” • Select “Preferences,” then “Operations Tab” • Uncheck “Link Record and Play Faders.”

• Adjust fader in “Mix” window while track is armed.

• When the track is unarmed, the fader remembers it’s previous

playback volume setting.

Recording Multiple Tracks at Once • Navigate to “Setup” • Select “Preferences” and check “Latch Record Enable.”

• This allows multiple tracks to be armed simultaneously.

• With this option off, only one track can be armed at a time.

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Adjusting Sample Rate and Latency • The sample rate refers to the quality of the audio.

• The higher the quality, the more porcessing power is needed to render the audio during recording and playback.

• If there is a delay in audio during recording due to the sample rate being too high, this is referred to as Latency.

• To prevent latency during recording, navigate to “Setup” • Select “Playback Engine.”

• Buffer size will adjust the sample rate and also affect latency.

• Lowing the buffer size during recording does not affect the

overall quality of the end result. This is strictly adjusting

the monitoring audio to prevent any latency that may occur.

Creating Click Tracks (Metronome) • Navigate to “Track” • Select “Create Click Track.”

• A green Tempo bar will appear along the top of your edit window • Click on the “+” beside tempo

• Change your BPM (beats per minute) to set the click track

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Section C: Editing Tracks & Exporting Audio

This section will provide an overview of the various editing methods and tools within Pro Tools 9. You will learn how to name tracks, how to group tracks, and also how to import and export audio files.

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Renaming Regions and Tracks • It is a good idea to name your tracks and regions to help organize your project.

• Within the Edit Window, Right Click on the Audio Track you want to rename.

• Select “Rename.”

• You can also rename specific regions within a track • Navigate to “View” • Select “Region” and then “Name.”

• To rename regions, Right Click on them inside of the Regions

window and select “Rename.”

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Fading and Crossfading • Select your Smart Tool • Move your cursor over the edge of a region.

• The cursor will change to a box with a diagonal line.

• Click and drag to create a fade.

Selecting Track View • By default, your track view is set to Waveform. Changing your track view enables different editing tools.

• Setting the track view to “Volume” allows you to adjust volume levels with key frames.

• Setting the track view to “Mute” allows you to set mute points.

• Setting the track view to “Pan” allows you to set pan point (shift audio from left ear to right ear)

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Grouping Tracks • In the “Groups” menu along the left, click the • Select “New Group.”

•

•

arrow.

Available tracks to group are located on the left.

• Select desired tracks and click “Add” to group • Click OK. When a Group is highlighted in the menu, ALL tracks within that Group will be selected when ANY single track belonging to the group is clicked on.

• If the Group is not highlighted within the Groups menu, each individual track can be selected separately.

• Each group has a keyboard shortcut associated with it.

• Click the “A/Z” button icon to enable keyboard shortcuts.

• Press the corresponding key to quickly select your groups.

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Turning Off Voice Dynamics (More than Mute) • Pro Tools still renders the audio of a track even when it is muted. Turning off Voice Dynamics of a track tells Pro Tools not to process the audio at all.

• In the “Mix” window, located under the fader, click “dyn” and set it to off.

• This frees up memory and also extra tracks if you have a limited amount.

Exporting Regions as Audio Files • Select the Regions you wish to export (one or more) • “Right Click” on “Regions” menu bar • Select “Export Regions as Files” • Be sure to match the sample rate of your project!

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Importing Audio Using Convert • Navigate to “File” • Select “Import” and then “Audio.”

• Find the track you wish to import • Click convert and make sure to match the source sample rate.

• Check “Apply SRC” • Set Quality to “Tweak Head” for highest quality • Save the converted file to the audio folder of your current Pro Tools session.

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Exporting or “Bouncing” a Project to an Audio File • Exporting and saving your project as an audio file (mp3, wav, etc.) within Pro Tools is referred to as “Bouncing.”

• In order to do this, ensure what you want to be exported is selected.

• Using the top timeline bar, select and highlight either a portion of your project or the entire timeline.

• Also ensure to either mute or solo tracks depending on what you want to be exported.

• Navigate to “File” and select “Bounce to.”

• Select the appropriate settings.

• Stereo interleaved = a single stereo track.

• Multiple mono = two tracks separated into left and right channels.

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BPM Detector (Beat Detective) • Select the audio track you wish to be analyzed.

• Navigate to “Event” and select “Beat Detective.”

• Select Bar|Beat Marker Generation • Capture Selection • Adjust start and ends bars • Select “Generate”

• BPM will be displayed on tempo bar

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Undo History • Navigate to “Window” • Click and Drag to undo and redo

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Section D: Adjusting EQ & Adding Plugins

This section will provide an overview of how to utilize the various plug-in inserts found within Pro Tools 9. It will detail how to automate plug-ins in the timeline, what compression does to an audio track, and how to effectively utilize an EQ.

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Plug-in (Insert) Order • The order of Inserts within Pro Tools is important. The Insert that is placed on the bottom of the chain is the last to be processed and therefore affects every other insert.

• This is the oppostite of how Photoshop or After Effects layers work, where the top layer affetcs all the ones under it.

• If an EQ and compressor are used together on the same track, the compressor should be placed at the bottom of the chain.

• The EQ changes waveform peaks, and the compressor evens them out.

• If the EQ is used after the compressor, it defeats the purpose of the compressor and another would have to be used to even it out again.

De-Esser • Reduces the “S” sound in human speech.

• Navigate to your track Inserts.

• Select “Dynamics” and then “De-Esser.”

• There are specific presets for male and female voices.

• You can also manually adjust frequencies and range to reduce

the “S” sound as much or as little as you want.

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Elastic Pitch (Pitch Shifter) • Elastic audio allows you to control the pitch of a voice or an num8 instrument.

• To enable this on a track, navigate to the Elastic Audio Plug-in insert.

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•

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Select “Polyphonic.”

Highlight the region which you wish to apply elastic audio to with the grabber tool.

• Navigate to “Region,” and select “Elastic Properties.”

• From here you can Pitch Shift up or down semitones.

Compression • Adding a compressor to a track controls audio waveforms to help keep an even volume level throughout.

• To add a compressor to a track, add a new insert, select “Dynamics ” and then “Compressor/Limiter.”

• Threshold: • This allows you to set the decibel level at which the compressor

will kick in and begin limiting the volume level.

• Ratio: • Set how much the volume will lower. For example, a 2:1 ratio will

reduce the volume by half.

• Attack: • Controls the speed at which the compressor kicks in. A higher

attack means faster compression, a lower attack means

it will engage gradually.

• Release: • Controls the speed at which the compression is reduced. A

higher value means a slower release.

• Gain: • Controls the strength of compression and will increase the

volume of quiet sections. A higher value means quiet sections

will be made louder.

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EQ (Equalisation) • Equalisation allows you to boost or lower certain frequencies within a track. Lower frequencies are associated with lower sounding bass tones and higher frequencies are associated with high pitched sounds.

• Mid level frequencies are where human voices tend to be. Anything between about 250HZ to 3.5KHZ. • To add an EQ to your track, select an empty insert and choose “EQ.” Generally a 4-Band EQ works best.

• HPF (High Pass Filter): • Raising the frequency of an HPF will cut off all LOW frequencies

up to a desired point. This generally removes unwanted

“rumbles” from room noise.

• LPF (Low Pass Filter): • Lowering the frequency of an LPF will cut off HIGH frequencies

up to a desired point. This removes hissing or other unwanted

room noises.

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• The colored knobs are associated frequencies: • Red = Bass frequencies • Orange = Bass Mid frequencies • Green = High Mid frequencies • Blue = High frequencies • Frequencies and gain can be adjusted via the knobs. This can also be done by clicking on the colored points on the graph and moving them.

• Increasing a frequency’s gain will boost it and subsequently be

louder in your mix.

• Decreasing a frequency’s gain will remove it from your mix, • Clicking the “Compare” button lets you switch back and forth between the changes you have made and the original.

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Automating Plug-ins • You can turn your plug-in inserts on and off at certain points using control points, which act similar to keyframes in Adobe Premiere and After Effects.

• Open the plug-in window which you wish to automate by clicking on the Insert. This can be done via the Mix window or the Edit window.

Mix Window: Edit Window:

• Click on the Automate button.

• Add any effects you want to automate.

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• In the track view, any Plug-in effects that are enabled for automation can be added as lanes.

• Once the plug-in is selected in track view, control points can be added the same way you would with controlling volume and panning.

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Pro Tools 9: Getting Started Guide

Pro Tools 9 Getting Started Guide A Beginner’s Guide to Recording and Editing with Pro Tools 9