Pro Tools 101 - Pine Lake Music · Pro Tools ® 101: An InTroducTIon To Pro Tools 11 Frank d. cook...

Pro Tools® 101:An InTroducTIon To Pro Tools 11

Frank d. cook

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Pro Tools® 101: An Introduction to Pro Tools 11Frank D. Cook

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This book is dedicated to musicians, sound designers, audio editors, mixing engineers, and Pro Tools enthusiasts everywhere—

industry leaders of the future.

This edition of the book is also dedicated to my friend, bandmate, and fellow Pro Tools user, Joel Kelly, who passed from

this world far too soon. Your music brought a bit of heaven to earth; your smile brought joy to all it reached. You are dearly missed.

Joel Kelly (June 7, 1971 to April 2, 2012)

© E

rnie

Rui

z.

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Foreword

For more than 20 years, Avid has been developing professional training and making it available for various audiences.Pro Tools training has been offered through multiple venues and has grown to encompass a wide network of AvidLearning Partners.

Early on, we recognized the growing need for an official training platform designed around Pro Tools certification.In 2001, we began research and development for this undertaking, meeting with major audio engineering schools andaudio industry leaders. The result was a program that established comprehensive course and exam requirements forstudents with an emphasis in either music production or video post-production. Official training centers have sincebeen established worldwide, offering various levels of Pro Tools certification. The Pro Tools 101 course serves as thefirst step toward certification at any level.

In this latest edition of the Pro Tools 101 book, the content has been updated to reflect changes and enhancementsintroduced in Pro Tools 11, including the transition of the software to a 64-bit native application. Pro Tools 11 incor-porates a new Avid Audio Engine, for uncompromised plug-in performance, and a new Avid Video Engine derivedfrom the engine core of Avid Media Composer.

This edition of the book also covers the long-awaited offline bounce feature, enhancements to the Workspace browser,and other improved Pro Tools capabilities, such as the increase to 64 levels of undo.

Today, the Avid Learning Partner program supports certification in Pro Tools, Media Composer, Sibelius, ICON, andVENUE Live Sound systems.

With more than 600 learning partners in over 45 different countries supporting more than 100,000 student enroll-ments to date, the Avid Learning Partner program is the leading resource for training in Pro Tools software today. TheAvid Certification Directory at www.avid.com offers a searchable database of more than 15,000 certified Pro ToolsUsers, Operators, and Experts. Avid continues to work with industry leaders to promote active recruiting of graduatestrained in the curriculum. We are excited to be offering this updated book to complement the Pro Tools 11 release,and we encourage your participation in our program.

Andy CookAvid Learning Partner ProgramJune 2013

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Acknowledgments

The following individuals have provided critical assistance, input, information, and material for this book and itsmany editions over the years.

Avid/Digidesign (current and former): Andy Cook, Andy Hagerman, Eric Kuehnl, Greg Robles, Jim Metzendorf,Mark Altin, Scott Church, Simon Sherbourne, Tim Mynett, Tom Dambly

Amanda Goodroe, DDB San Francisco

Frank Brooks, DDB San Francisco

Joe Kay, Independent Pro Tools Consultant

Joel Krantz, Independent Pro Tools Consultant

Rob Campbell, formerly at Encompass Audio

Special ThanksSpecial thanks to Cathleen Small for diligently editing the manuscript and to Shawn Morningstar for updating thelayout.

Extra-Special ThanksKudos and extra-special thanks to all Avid Learning Partners and certified instructors, who have tirelessly worked withus to help shape this program and who have generously provided their valuable feedback for our courseware.

About the Author

The courseware for this book was developed by Frank D. Cook, with contributions from numerous Avid staff andindependent contractors. The book is published through an ongoing partnership between Insource Writing Solutionsand Avid Technology, Inc.

Frank is a bass guitarist and longtime Pro Tools user. The owner of Insource Writing Solutions and NextPoint Training,Frank has worked in the technical publications and education industries for more than 17 years. As a writer, editor,technical publications manager, and business owner, Frank has authored and contributed to hundreds of guides, man-uals, reports, textbooks, and other publications for clients in a wide variety of industries. His writing and consultingcompany, Insource Writing Solutions, specializes in documentation for the digital audio industry. His training venture,NextPoint Training, focuses on advanced training in Pro Tools, VENUE, digital media, and related products andtechnologies.

Frank has been a consultant for Digidesign/Avid for the past eight years, helping to define the strategy and to developcurriculum for Avid’s official training and certification programs. Frank also teaches Pro Tools courses as an adjunctprofessor at American River College in Sacramento, California, and is an Avid Master Instructor.

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

PART IBackground Information 1Lesson 1Getting to Know Pro Tools 3What Is Pro Tools?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Post-Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Story of Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

In the Beginning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Evolving into Digidesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Birth of Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Pro Tools Matures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Growth of Avid Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

ICON Integrated Console Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

VENUE Live Sound Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Euphonix Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Pro Tools Becomes an Open Platform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Where We Are Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Basics of Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Basic Parameters of Sound: Waveform, Frequency, and Amplitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Recording and Playing Back Analog Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Analog-to-Digital Conversion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Recording in Digital Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contents

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Pro Tools System Configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Pro Tools 11 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Pro Tools HD Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Included Plug-Ins and Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Cross-Platform Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Keyboard Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

File-Naming Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Review/Discussion Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Exercise 1 Pro Tools Hardware 25Audio Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Lesson 2Getting Inside Pro Tools 27Target Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Pro Tools File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

File Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Starting Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Powering Up Your Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Using the PACE iLok System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Launching Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Optimizing Host-Based Pro Tools Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

The Pro Tools Software Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

The Menu Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Main Pro Tools Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Help Menu Items and Tool Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Edit Tool Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Zoomer Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Trim Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Selector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Grabber Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Scrubber Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Pencil Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Smart Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Edit Mode Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Shuffle Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Slip Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Pro Tools 101: An Introduction to Pro Tools 11viii

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Spot Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Grid Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Time Scales and Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Sub Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Ruler Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

MIDI Control Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Wait for Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Metronome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Countoff Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

MIDI Merge Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Tempo Ruler Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Meter Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Tempo Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54


Exercise 2 The Software Interface 57Pro Tools Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Tools and Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

PART IIWorking with Sessions 61

Lesson 3Creating Your First Session 63Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Creating and Configuring a Pro Tools Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Choosing Session Parameter Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Creating the Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Adding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Naming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Deleting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Adding Audio to Your Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

The Playback Cursor and the Edit Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Playback Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Edit Cursor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Setting the Playback Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Locating the Playback Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Scrolling Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Table of Contents ix

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Saving, Locating, and Opening Existing Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Saving a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Locating and Opening a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74


Exercise 3 Creating a Session 79Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Creating Tracks and Setting the Main Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Lesson 4Making Your First Audio Recording 83Before Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Audio Storage Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Disk Usage Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Preparing to Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Creating a Click Track (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Checking Hardware Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Record-Enabling Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Setting Input Path, Level, and Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Recording and Managing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Organizing after Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Return to Playback Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Organize Audio Files and Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Removing Audio Clips and Deleting Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92


Lesson 5Importing and Working with Media in a Session 97Considerations Prior to Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Bit Depth, Sample Rate, and File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Configuration of Stereo Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Importing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Import Audio Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Importing Audio with the Import Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Importing Audio with Workspace Browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Batch Importing Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Importing Audio from an Audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Importing Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Review/Discussion Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

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Exercise 4 Importing Audio 107Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Importing Audio to the Clip List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Importing Audio to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Lesson 6Making Your First MIDI Recording 109MIDI Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

MIDI in Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Creating MIDI-Compatible Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Sample-Based Operation versus Tick-Based Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Time Scale and Rulers for Working with MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Setting the Session Meter, Tempo, and Key Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Setting the Session Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Setting the Session Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Setting the Session Key Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Preparing to Record MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Connecting a MIDI Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Checking MIDI Inputs/Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Record-Enabling MIDI-Compatible Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Setting Record Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Using Virtual Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Placing a Virtual Instrument on an Instrument Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Using Xpand!2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Using Boom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Using Structure Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Viewing MIDI Data on MIDI-Compatible Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

MIDI Clips View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

MIDI Notes View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Velocity View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

MIDI Editor Window Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130


Exercise 5 Recording MIDI 133Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Configuring the Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Creating New Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

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Recording a MIDI Performance (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Importing a MIDI Performance (Alternative Option) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Lesson 7Selecting and Navigating 139Using the Universe View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Resizing the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

The Current View Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Moving and Scrolling from the Universe View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Types of Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Timeline Selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Working with Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Creating Separate Timeline Selections and Edit Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Making Selections on Multiple Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using the Tab Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Tabbing to Transient Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Adjusting the Session View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Adjusting Track Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Changing the Track Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Using the Zoomer Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Using Zoom Toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Changing the Horizontal and Vertical Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Storing and Recalling Zoom Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Adding Markers to Your Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

About Memory Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Creating a Marker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

The Memory Locations Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Recalling a Marker Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Deleting a Marker Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Creating a Selection Using Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157


Exercise 6 Configuring the Session and Adding Memory Locations 159

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Configuring the Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Creating Memory Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

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Lesson 8Basic Editing Techniques 163Selecting Playback Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Loop Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Using the Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Shuffle Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Slip Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Spot Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Grid Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Snap To Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Configuring the Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Editing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Standard Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Pro Tools–Specific Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Moving and Trimming Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Using the Grabber Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Using the Trim Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Using the Nudge Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Creating Fade Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Fade-Ins and Fade-Outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Crossfades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Fade Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Undoing Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Using Multi-Level Undo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Using Restore Last Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Using Revert to Saved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Restoring from Session Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185


Exercise 7 Editing Audio 187Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Editing the Drums and Guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

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Lesson 9Basic Mixing Techniques 191Basic Mixer Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Sends and Returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

The Pro Tools Mix Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Configuring the Mix Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Basic Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Recording Automation (Write Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Playing Back Automation (Read Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Turning Automation Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Viewing and Editing Breakpoint Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Real-Time Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Real-Time Plug-In Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Real-Time Plug-In Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Plug-Ins Provided with Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200


Exercise 8 Arranging Audio and Creating Shared Effects 205

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Arranging the Vocal Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Creating a Reverb Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Lesson 10Finishing Your Work 209Backing Up Your Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Saving a Session Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Sharing a Session between Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Backing Up Sessions with Gobbler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Creating a Stereo Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Considerations for Bouncing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Bouncing to Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Bouncing to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Adding a Bounce File to Your iTunes Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

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Sharing a Bounce File on SoundCloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Sharing a Bounce File with Gobbler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Burning Songs to CD from iTunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223


Exercise 9 Recording Automation and Creating a Stereo Bounce 227

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Recording Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Bouncing to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Finishing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

PART IIIHands-On Projects 231

OverviewProject Introduction and Setup 233Getting to Know the Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Project 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Project 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Pro Tools System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Installing Project Session Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

System Requirements for Project Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Installation Instructions for Session Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Project 1Music Hands-On Project 237Powering Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Opening the Music Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Locate and Open the Session Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Orient the Session Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Set the Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Connect Monitoring Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242


Create and Name Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Save Your Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Working with MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Add a Virtual Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Drag in a MIDI Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

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Add another Virtual Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Create a MIDI Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Edit MIDI Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Save Work in Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Working with Audio Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Import an Audio File to a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Use Clip Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Import a Clip Group to a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Insert Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251


Mixing in Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Add EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Enhance the Guitar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Add Reverb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254


Mix the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255


Finishing Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Print the Score . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Add Maxim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Add Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Bounce the Song. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Archive Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Project 2Post Hands-On Project 263Powering Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Opening the Post Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Locate and Open the Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Orient the Session Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Set the Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Connect Monitoring Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268


Create and Name a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Save Your Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Importing Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Import a Movie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Import Files to the Clip List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Import Files from the Workspace Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271


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Editing in Pro Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Review the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Add Sound Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Change the Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275


Mixing in Pro Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Remove the Hum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Add Reverb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Enhance the Knock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279


Listen to the Automated Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Finishing Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Bounce the Movie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Archive Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

PART IVCourse Completion Information and Appendixes 285

OverviewInformation for Course Completion 287Locating an Avid Learning Partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Additional Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Course Completion Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Certificate of Completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Pro Tools 110 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Appendix AAvid Pro Tools Plug-Ins 291

Appendix BAIR Creative Collection Plug-Ins 293

Index 295

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Introduction

Congratulations on entering the official Avid training program. This book represents the first step on a journey towardmastery of your Pro Tools system. The information, exercises, and projects you will find here apply to all Pro Tools11 systems. Whether you are interested only in self study or you would like to pursue formal certification through anAvid Learning Partner, this book will develop your core skills and introduce you to the awesome power of Pro Tools.Avid’s award-winning Pro Tools technology is embraced by audio production professionals around the world. Getready to join their ranks as you unleash the creative power and technology of Pro Tools!

About This BookThis book is designed for the audio enthusiast with relatively little Pro Tools experience. While Pro Tools 101 can becompleted through self study, Avid recommends obtaining hands-on experience through an instructor-led class offeredby one of our authorized training partners. For more information on the classes offered through the Avid LearningPartner program, visit www.avid.com, click on Support & Services, and then click on a Training link, or go directlyto www.avid.com/training.

Pro Tools 11.0 EditionThis edition of Pro Tools 101 has been updated and improved for Pro Tools 11.0. The material is focused to cover thebasic principles you need to understand to complete a Pro Tools project, from initial setup to final mixdown. Whetheryour project involves recording live instruments, preparing MIDI sequences for virtual instruments, looping and beat-matching audio files, or editing notation and preparing scores, Pro Tools 101 will teach you the steps required to succeed.

The DVD at the Back of the BookIncluded at the back of this book is a DVD-ROM containing media files for the Pro Tools 101 exercises and hands-onprojects. The DVD also contains a sampling of videos covering Pro Tools 11 and other Avid products.

Supplemental ExercisesThe Exercise Media folder on the DVD provides media files for the exercises included in this book. The CompletedExercises folder provides session files of each completed exercise for reference.

Hands-On ProjectsThe Hands-On Projects folder on the DVD provides content for two projects included in Part III of this book. TheMusic Hands-On Project folder includes a session template file and associated media for Project 1, and the Post Hands-On Project folder includes a session template file and associated media for Project 2. These project folders can becopied to your hard drive for use with Pro Tools.

Video ExtrasThe Video Extras folder on the DVD includes a sampling of Avid video files that provide an introduction to some ofthe new features in Pro Tools 11 and overviews of other Avid products.

These video files are provided in a high-resolution format (1280¥720). For best playback results, you should copy thefiles to a local hard drive prior to viewing them.

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Course PrerequisitesMost Pro Tools enthusiasts today have at least a passing familiarity with operating a computer. If you consider your-self a computer novice, however, you should review some basics before beginning this course. You will need to knowhow to complete such tasks as:

n Starting up the computer

n Using the mouse, standard menus, and keyboard commands for standard operating system commands

n Locating, moving, and renaming files and folders

n Opening, saving, and closing files

This course focuses on using Pro Tools in a digital audio recording and production environment. The work requiresa basic understanding of recording techniques, processes, and equipment, such as the following:

n Miking techniques

n Mixer signal flow

n Audio monitoring equipment

n MIDI devices

If you are a beginner in the field of audio production, you can supplement this text with independently available lit-erature or courses on audio recording tools and techniques. Visit your local bookstore, library, or community collegeto research available study materials and courses.

Course Organization and SequenceThis course has been designed to familiarize you with the practices and processes you will use to complete a record-ing project. The material is organized into four parts. Part I provides background information that will help you under-stand the material that is presented later and put it into context. Part II presents specific processes and techniques thatyou will use to complete a project, from creating a new session to completing a final mixdown. Part III provides tuto-rial-style walkthroughs of various tasks required to complete two hands-on projects using the media included on theenclosed DVD. Part IV, to be completed at any Avid Learning Partner location, includes information on additionalprojects and course completion options.

Part I: Background InformationPart I focuses primarily on background information relevant to Pro Tools and audio production. This part builds afoundation for using Pro Tools by introducing concepts of digital audio, Pro Tools hardware configurations, Pro Toolssession file structures, and the Pro Tools user interface and tool set.

Part II: Working with Sessions Part II provides information and instructions for working with Pro Tools sessions to accomplish common audio pro-duction tasks. This part discusses creating sessions, creating audio and MIDI recordings, navigating within audio andMIDI recordings, and editing and mixing using Pro Tools.

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Part III: Hands-On ProjectsPart III is designed to provide you with experience applying the concepts of Part II. Two projects have been selectedto represent typical scenarios and workflows encountered in music and post-production environments. The projectinstructions follow roughly the same progression as the lessons in Part II. The instructions are written to allow studentsto complete the projects without having first completed Part II, enabling a hands-on learning experience that drawson Part II as a reference.

Part IV: Course Completion Information and AppendixesPart IV of the Pro Tools 101 course can be completed in an instructor-led environment at an authorized Pro Toolstraining center. In this part of the course, students have the opportunity to work on additional projects using a vari-ety of Pro Tools hardware and software components.

Conventions and Symbols Used in This BookFollowing are some of the conventions and symbols used in this book. We’ve tried to use familiar conventions andsymbols whose meanings are self-evident.

Menu choices and keyboard commands are typically capitalized. Hierarchy is shown using the greater than symbol (>),keystroke combinations are indicated using the plus sign (+), and mouse-click operations are indicated by hyphenatedstrings, where needed. Brackets ([ ]) are used to indicate key presses on the numeric keypad.

The Avid Learning Partner ProgramPro Tools 101 has been written as a textbook for teaching and learning Pro Tools 11 software. In addition to beingan off-the-shelf guide for consumers, this book is also the official text for the first course in Avid’s Pro Tools certifi-cation program. By completing the coursework in this text, you are taking an important step toward certification.And consider this: Having a certification from Avid just might help you land that next gig, find others with similarskills and interests, or even obtain your dream job in the industry.

To become certified in Pro Tools, you must enroll in a program at an Avid Learning Partner location, where you cancomplete additional Pro Tools coursework and take one of Avid’s Certification Exams. Detailed information on currentrequirements is available at avid.com/training.

Curriculum and Certification LevelsAvid offers three levels of certification associated with Pro Tools training: Pro Tools User, Pro Tools Operator, and ProTools Expert. The 100-, 200-, and 300-level Pro Tools courses are designed to prepare candidates for each of thesecertification levels, respectively.

Introduction xxi

Convention Action

File > Save Session Choose Save Session from the File menu.

Ctrl+N Hold down the Ctrl key and press the N key.

Command-click (Mac) Hold down the Command key and click the mouse button.

Right-click Click with the right mouse button.

Press [1] Press 1 on the numeric keypad.

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User CertificationThe User certification program prepares individuals to operate a Pro Tools system in an independent production envi-ronment. Courses associated with User certification include Pro Tools 101, Introduction to Pro Tools, and Pro Tools 110,Pro Tools Production I. These core courses can be complemented with Pro Tools 130, Pro Tools for Game Audio.

Operator CertificationThe Operator certification program prepares engineers and editors to competently operate a Pro Tools system in aprofessional environment. Candidates can specialize in Music Production, Post-Production, or both.

Courses associated with Operator certification include Pro Tools 201, Pro Tools Production II, Pro Tools 210M, MusicProduction Techniques, and Pro Tools 210P, Post Production Techniques. A live sound certification option is also avail-able at the Operator level.

Expert CertificationThe Expert curriculum offers professionals the highest level of proficiency with individual or networked Pro Tools systemsoperating in a professional, fast-paced environment. Candidates can specialize in Music Production, Post-Production,and/or ICON worksurface techniques.

Courses associated with Expert certification include Pro Tools 310M, Advanced Music Production Techniques, Pro Tools310P, Advanced Post Production Techniques, and Pro Tools 310I, Advanced ICON Techniques.

Courses Offered in the Training ProgramAvid Learning Partners offer three levels of coursework to help you become proficient using Pro Tools: 100-level, 200-level, and 300-level.

n 100-level Pro Tools courses provide the foundational skills needed to learn and function within the Pro Toolsenvironment at a basic level. The goal of the courses at this level is to help individuals start working on theirown projects in Pro Tools.

The 100-level VENUE coursework covers essential skills for operating a VENUE system in a live sound envi-ronment.

n 200-level courses build the fundamental skills needed to competently operate a Pro Tools HD system, controlsurface, or VENUE system in a professional environment. Pro Tools coursework at this level involves a study ofproduction essentials and post-production and/or music production techniques.

VENUE coursework at the 200-level involves comprehensive hands-on training on a VENUE system, includ-ing system hardware and software configuration.

n 300-level courses focus on advanced operation of Pro Tools systems for music or post-production. Courseworkinvolves working in real-world scenarios through example exercises from advanced music production projects(Music Production track), TV and film production projects (Post-Production track), or direct hands-on work-surface techniques (ICON Worksurface track).

Avid Course ConfigurationThe coursework for the Avid Learning Partner program has evolved and expanded over the years. Avid uses a version-specific approach to course design, enabling authorized training partners to teach classes based on products and soft-ware versions that meet their particular needs and training environments.

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Audio CurriculumAvid’s audio coursework includes programs supporting certification in dedicated focus areas, including Pro Tools,Worksurface Operation, and Live Sound. Available Pro Tools certification paths are illustrated below. Course com-ponents are designed to be completed individually and in sequence. However, individual training partners may offerthe same content through slightly different class configurations.

Descriptions of each of the courses offered through the Avid Learning Partner Program are available on the Avid website. (Go to www.avid.com/US/support/training/curriculum.)

Pro Tools User CertificationPro Tools 101 is the first course of study in the training curriculum targeting User Certification. The User Certificationtraining materials (100-level coursework) prepare students to operate a Pro Tools system in an independent productionenvironment. Following completion of the User Certification coursework and certification exam, students can proceedto the 200-level courses to pursue Operator Certification.

How Can I Learn More?If you want to learn more about the Avid training, please check out our official online resource by going towww.avid.com/training. There you will find information about our training partners, specifics on the various certifi-cation options available, and detailed course descriptions for each course offered through the program.

DVD-ROM DownloadsIf you purchased an ebook version of this book, and the book had a companion DVD-ROM, you may download thecontents from www.cengageptr.com/downloads.

If your book has a DVD-ROM, please check our website for any updates or errata files. You may download files fromwww.cengageptr.com/downloads.

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Figure FM.1 Avid audio certification optionsSource: Avid®.

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