The Pro Tools 2023 Post-Audio Cookbook E-Book

Emiliano Paternostro

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 380

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Pro Tools has long been an industry-standard Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for audio professionals, but it can often be overwhelming for new and experienced users alike. The Pro Tools 2023 Post-Audio Cookbook acts as a reference guide to the software and breaks down each stage of a project into manageable phases. From planning a session, editing a sequence, performing a mix to printing the final masters, you can approach this book either sequentially or peruse the self-contained recipes.
You’ll come to grips with workflows for music production, motion picture, and spoken word production, helping you gain expertise in the area of your choice. You'll learn aspects of music mixing like side chain processing to keep instruments from overshadowing each other and conforming for motion picture. The author’s expertise with Pro Tools will help you discover and incorporate different techniques into your workflows. You’ll also learn to build consistent and replicable workflows and templates by understanding what happens behind the scenes in Pro Tools. With this cookbook, you’ll be able to focus on the creative aspects of your audio production and not get mired by the technical hurdles.
By the end of this book, you’ll be well-equipped to handle even the most complex features of Pro Tools to deliver immaculate results for your clients.

Leseprobe

The Pro Tools 2023 Post-Audio Cookbook

A holistic approach to post audio workflows like music production, motion picture, and spoken word

Emiliano Paternostro

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

The Pro Tools 2023 Post-Audio Cookbook

Copyright © 2023 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Group Product Manager: Rohit Rajkumar

Publishing Product Manager: Chayan Majumdar

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First published: August 2023

Production reference: 1050723

Packt Publishing Ltd

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ISBN 978-1-80324-843-1

www.packtpub.com

This book is dedicated to David Chellew. His steadfast determination inspired many people to follow their hearts and his boundless kindness touched them.

– Emiliano Paternostro

Contributors

About the author

Emiliano Paternostro is an Avid-certified Pro Tools Instructor who has worked with audio for more than 25 years. He has worked on countless projects in various capacities and continues to provide post-audio work for podcasts and long-form content. He continues to expand his skill set and is currently researching machine learning tools for cleaning audio signals. You can find a list of his work at www.proximitysound.com.

This book would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my wife, Shannon, to who I owe my unending gratitude.

About the reviewers

Yanni Caldas is a Canadian audio specialist based in the Toronto area. With a focus on immersive storytelling through sound design and implementation, Yanni works independently under his company, AmnesiaSound. His past projects include sound design for AA and indie game studios, composition for national television and broadcast, mixing, production, and recording for major and indie musical acts, and audio restoration for forensics. As an active field recordist, Yanni participates in crowdsource libraries that often contribute to various charities. As he continues to nurture his abilities, what remains is Yanni’s fundamental passion for sound: “Just like photos capture moments, audio recordings capture feelings.”

To learn more about Yanni's work, visit his website www.amnesiasound.ca

Marisa Ewing (she/they) is a dialog editor, sound designer, and mixing/mastering engineer. She edits audio for podcasts, films, and video games, and has previous experience in both live music and corporate audio-visual work. She has been using Pro Tools for over a decade.

In 2020, Marisa founded Hemlock Creek Productions, a production company focused on audio editing needs for remote productions. In 2023, Hemlock Creek Productions released its first original show, the horror audio drama Liars & Leeches, where Marisa worked as an audio engineer, as well as being the show’s creator and director.

Some of Marisa’s past projects include the video game The Last of Us Part 1, as well as the podcasts Maxine Miles and Dark Dice.

To learn more about Marisa's work, visit her website www.hemlockcreekprod.com

Table of Contents

Preface

1

Planning and Preparing Sessions

Technical requirements

Which version of Pro Tools is right for you?

Pro Tools Intro

Pro Tools Artist

Pro Tools Studio

Pro Tools Ultimate

There’s more…

See also

Planning the project on “paper” first

Scripts

Spreadsheets

Track layouts

There’s more…

Setting up the session

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Creating tracks

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Setting up Aux tracks for audio routing

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Organizing with folder tracks

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Grouping tracks for editing, mixing, and viewing

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using memory locations within a project

Getting ready

How to do it…

There’s more…

2

Importing and Organizing Audio

Technical requirements

Importing audio into a session with the Import Audio window

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Dragging audio directly into a session

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Importing audio from an AAF/OMF or another session

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Relinking broken audio

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using the Clip List area for audio management

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

See also

Collaborating with others using session data

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

3

Faster Editing Techniques

Technical requirements

Using the Smart Tool for quick edits

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Editing with the keyboard

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

See also

Generating and manipulating fades

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using Edit modes correctly

When to use the Pencil Tool

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Copying and pasting clips

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Printing effects on clips using AudioSuite

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

4

The Mechanics of Mixing

Technical requirements

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Drawing volume automation to adjust levels

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using faders and automation

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using inserts to add effects to tracks

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Automating plugin effects

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Previewing automation for non-destructive auditioning

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

When and how to use Aux tracks

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Splitting audio with sends

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Routing signal paths for a mix

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

5

Shaping Sounds with Plugins and Effects

Technical requirements

Cleaning up sounds with Noise Reduction and Expanders

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more

Using EQ to shape the tone of a sound

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

How to clean up hum and crackle with Notch Filters

Getting ready...

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Using Reverb to create space

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Making things strange and scary with reverse reverb

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Using compression to control dynamics

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Making sounds louder without killing transients with parallel compression

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Pitch shifting in real time with plugins

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Printing Pitch Shift effects with AudioSuite

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

6

Finishing a Project and Creating Deliverables

Technical requirements

Bouncing a project to a finished file

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Printing directly to a track

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Making changes to a Print track

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Printing stems

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more….

Understanding LUFS

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using Limiters for quality assurance and compliance

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Consolidating and archiving a project

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Creating templates

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

7

Considerations for Music Production

Technical requirements

Setting the correct mix level

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Keeping drums in phase

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Using expanders to create more “punch”

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Applying sidechain compression

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

Working with vocals

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Manipulating tempos

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There’s more...

8

Post Production for Motion Pictures

Technical requirements

Setting up a session for motion picture projects

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Setting up a mix

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Stretching clips with Elastic Audio

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Manipulating timing with warping tools

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Preparing an Additional Dialogue Replacement (ADR) session

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Performing an ADR session

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Conforming a session when things change

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works…

There’s more…

9

Spoken Word and Podcasts

Technical requirements

Setting up a session for spoken word

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Mixing a spoken word project

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

There’s more…

Using edit points to remove errors

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Editing during playback

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Editing while recording

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

The Punch and Roll method to record voice

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Using (reverse) noise gates to fill dead air

Getting ready

How to do it…

How it works…

Appendix

Audio library management tools

There’s more

What’s next?

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface

Since its release in 1991, Pro Tools has been ubiquitous in professional audio environments by providing a powerful software interface with high-quality audio hardware. Even after removing the hardware requirement in 2010, Avid’s digital audio workstation and its accompanying hardware options are seen throughout the professional audio world in music studios and mix theatres for motion pictures. While there are a myriad of audio tools out there, Pro Tools still commands a strong presence in the world of audio, and the ability to use it well can help bolster your path into the industry.

If you ask 100 different Pro Tools users what the best way to perform a specific task is, you’ll get 100 different answers. Pro Tools is powerful in its flexibility but creates a bit of a dilemma when trying to figure out what workflows fit best for certain situations. This book is not the way to use Pro Tools, but my way.

Instead of trying to show you all the tools and how they operate with their nuances, I’ve taken a typical project workflow from start to finish and written out how I do it, focusing on the core competencies. In this book, you’ll find the different ways I’ve learned to get the most out of Pro Tools to complete projects in a fast and efficient manner.

After covering the major aspects of a project workflow, you’ll get some tips and tricks for working with specific mediums. The goals and processes for audio differ depending on whether you’re working on motion pictures, music, or podcasts and spoken word, so the last chapters of this book focus on ways to work within those modes.

Pro Tools can be daunting to begin with, and even after decades of working with it, I still learn new things about it every day. I hope you’ll find new ways to look at your projects and faster techniques through the recipes outlined in this book and have a little fun along the way.

The use of Pro Tools in this work is provided courtesy of Avid Technology, Inc.

© 2023 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. AVID, the Avid logo and the Pro Tools logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Who this book is for

This book is intended for audio professionals and students who use Pro Tools as their main digital audio workstation.

Examples of roles in the audio world that could benefit from the recipes in this cookbook are as follows:

Sound editors for linear media, such as motion pictures, podcasts, and audiobooksSound mixers and re-recordist mixersMusic engineers and producers

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Planning and Preparing Sessions, shows what goes into a Pro Tools project before any audio is brought into it, including track layouts and organization.

Chapter 2, Importing and Organizing Audio, takes you through ingesting media into a Pro Tools session and organizing audio once imported.

Chapter 3, Faster Editing Techniques, shows you how to quickly traverse audio clips and use the keyboard to edit projects with ease.

Chapter 4, The Mechanics of Mixing, takes you through the technical side of the mixing phase of a project from using automation to routing audio via aux tracks.

Chapter 5, Shaping Sounds with Plugins and Effects, covers the creative side of mixing and the tools used to manipulate how something sounds.

Chapter 6, Finishing a Project and Creating Deliverables, examines how a project gets exported when it’s done and what to consider for project delivery.

Chapter 7, Considerations for Music Production, takes you through the nuances of music production and mixing.

Chapter 8, Post Production for Motion Pictures, takes you through how Pro Tools is used for motion picture projects with an emphasis on different dialogue-editing techniques.

Chapter 9, Spoken Word and Podcasts, offers methods for quickly producing spoken word projects, such as podcasts and audiobooks.

To get the most out of this book

While this book will provide you with step-by-step instructions for completing the recipes, having a basic understanding of digital audio workstations and how to operate Pro Tools will be beneficial. This book will not guide you through installing and setting up Pro Tools, for example.

Software/hardware covered in the book

OS requirements

Pro Tools 2023.3

One of the following:

Windows 10

Windows 11

macOS Catalina (10.15.7)

macOS Big Sur (11.7.4)

macOS Monterey (12.6.3)

macOS Ventura (13.2.1)

Please note that certain plugins mentioned in the book are not accessible in the trial version of Pro Tools Ultimate. Kindly make use of the specified version mentioned in the Technical Requirements section of the chapter.

Download the example code files

You can download the example sessions and audio files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/The-Pro-Tools-2023-Post-Audio-Cookbook. In case there’s an update to these files, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/Zwua2.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “Name the rest of the submixes Effects Submix, Foley Submix, Music Submix, and Ambience Submix.”

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: “In the Menu bar, select Setup | Session.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Sections

In this book, you will find several headings that appear frequently (Getting ready, How to do it..., How it works..., There’s more..., and See also).

To give clear instructions on how to complete a recipe, use these sections as follows:

Getting ready

This section tells you what to expect in the recipe and describes how to set up any software or any preliminary settings required for the recipe.

How to do it…

This section contains the steps required to follow the recipe.

How it works…

This section usually consists of a detailed explanation of what happened in the previous section.

There’s more…

This section consists of additional information about the recipe in order to make you more knowledgeable about the recipe.

See also

This section provides helpful links to other useful information for the recipe.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [email protected].

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1

Planning and Preparing Sessions

Before opening Pro Tools or any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), it’s important to set up your project for success. A well-planned, prepared, and laid-out session will save you hassle and frustration down the line when you’re trying to locate and manipulate sounds within the mix. Knowing the ins and outs of track routing and management will mean you can focus more of your time on the creative elements of your project, and you’ll also be able to confidently share your sessions with collaborators, knowing they’ll understand the session structure. Finally, a well-structured session will ensure that, should you revisit a project, you’ll be easily able to pick up where you left off. You may find yourself having to revisit a session years after the fact or refer to it for another project, and you’ll thank yourself for your diligence.

In this chapter, we’ll go over planning your audio project, setting up a session to the correct specifications, and then utilizing the track and routing tools available. We’ll also examine some of the organizational tools, such as track groups and markers.

We’ll cover the following recipes:

Which version of Pro Tools is right for you?Planning the project on “paper” firstSetting up the sessionCreating tracksSetting up aux tracks for audio routingOrganizing with Folder TracksGrouping tracks for editing, mixing and viewingUsing memory locations within a project

Technical requirements

This chapter requires at least Pro Tools Intro installed. Specific recipes will note when higher versions are required.

The example sessions and audio files for each recipe can be found at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/The-Pro-Tools-2023-Post-Audio-Cookbook/.

Which version of Pro Tools is right for you?

Pro Tools has seen many changes over its over-30-yearear history. There are currently four versions of Pro Tools available, and you may not know which one is right for you and your workflow. Avid (the maker of Pro Tools) does provide detailed charts that can help you figure out which route to take, but these can be difficult to parse, especially if you haven’t used Pro Tools before, or even if you have stuck with an older version for a while. Since moving to a subscription model, it is also difficult to find older versions of Pro Tools and their licenses available, so we’re going to break down the four versions of Pro Tools available at the time of writing and determine which one would work best for you. When looking at the costs listed here, keep in mind that Avid also offers discounts for yearly subscriptions, which can be sizable, depending on the version.

Pro Tools Intro

The newest addition to the Pro Tools family, Pro Tools Intro is Avid’s free version of Pro Tools that offers a very small slice of what can be done with the software. While the limits can be very offputting for experienced professionals (including no video support), the number of plugins included is quite versatile and Pro Tools Intro could be perfectly suitable for many smaller audio-only projects. With Intro, you get the following:

Eight tracks each of audio, instruments, and MIDI36 pluginsFour aux tracksOne master trackUp to four tracks of simultaneous recordingStereo output onlyForum support only

If you are just beginning to use Pro Tools or DAWs in general, this version could be a good place to start. Limitations can be beneficial as being exposed to all possible tools can become overwhelming. There’s no financial commitment, so there’s the incentive to continue using it and not be burdened by cost. Pro Tools Intro can also be a great solution for voice actors recording at home, or podcast producers wanting more fine-tuned editorial features while not being encumbered by features you may not need.

Pro Tools Artist

At the lowest paid tier is Pro Tools Artist. For $9.99 per month, you get a more functional DAW, but still no video support. It includes the following:

32 audio and instrument tracks64 MIDI tracks113 plugins32 aux tracks1 master trackUp to 16 tracks of simultaneous recordingStereo output onlyStandard support

Artist provides plenty of power for simple music production and spoken word audio. The plugins included are also quite versatile and getting standard support for issues beats having to rely on forum support. This would be a good choice for those wanting to expand on their audio production skills but who don’t need more advanced tools.

Pro Tools Studio

For $29.99 per month, you can get the full toolset experience from Avid with Pro Tools Studio. This version of Pro Tools is extremely capable for almost all audio production scenarios and offers these things:

512 audio and instrument tracks1,024 MIDI tracks125 plugins128 aux tracks64 master tracksUp to 64 tracks of simultaneous recording128 VCA tracksOne video trackStereo, surround, Dolby Atmos, and Ambisonics outputStandard support

If you’re working on an audio post for a motion picture, or want to work with multichannel audio beyond stereo, then you need to have at least Pro Tools Studio.

Pro Tools Ultimate

The highest tier from Avid is Pro Tools Ultimate, coming in at $99.99 per month. If you are working with large-scale productions or need advanced audio post tools, then you’ll want to consider this version. Pro Tools Ultimate is also required for many of Avid’s hardware acceleration products, such as their HDX and HD Native systems. You can, however, run Pro Tools Ultimate without extra hardware support. Ultimate provides the following:

2,048 audio tracks512 instrument tracks1,024 MIDI tracks125 plugins1,024 aux tracks512 master tracksUp to 256 tracks of simultaneous recording (depending on hardware)128 VCA tracks64 video tracksStereo, surround, Dolby Atmos, and Ambisonics outputExpertPlus support (phone support and higher priority/case response time)

If you are working professionally in audio, then these comparisons should help you decide which version will work best for your needs.

There’s more…

While this book is aimed at Pro Tools users, it’s important to acknowledge that in the end, the DAW you use is just a tool. There are many different DAWs available that focus on different areas of audio production. Almost every DAW comes with a trial period, so you can take them for a test run and see what features and interface work best for you. I also recommend speaking with other audio production professionals and users and getting their opinion on what tools work best for which scenarios and what might work best for you.

Here are some examples of other DAWs you could consider:

ReaperNuendoDigital PerformerStudio OneAbletonLogicArdour

See also

Avid also offers a detailed comparison of all the features on its website: https://www.avid.com/pro-tools/comparison-extended.

Planning the project on “paper” first

The biggest mistake I see from early users of Pro Tools or any DAW, in general, is diving right into a project without a solid plan. After becoming comfortable with the inner workings of a DAW, you may be able to jump right into a project with a basic idea of what’s going to be needed, but there are many advantages to determining the scope and requirements of a session before even opening your DAW. Let’s look at some examples of what works for different types of projects.

Scripts

If you are working on story-based content, then a script is a great place to start. This might seem like extra work for some non-fiction projects – why not simply bring in all the audio and start editing it in the DAW? The reality is that audio clips and waveforms without any pre-planned guidance are much more challenging to cultivate into a cohesive narrative from within Pro Tools and almost every other DAW. Some of the most powerful audio software out there treats the spoken word as text and encourages editing it that way (check out Hindenburg, Descript, and iZotope RX). Here’s an example script from the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast:

Figure 1.1: A Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast Descript project

For this podcast, the different elements are formatted to make it easier to parse. The name of the person speaking is shown on the side, and audio cues for sound effects and music are in brackets and colored gray. The guest audio was not scripted; this was transcribed from an interview first and then decisions were made for which parts would be used in the show. This was all done on “paper” before any audio was edited. The narration was written for the host and all the sounds were also inserted into the script so that the entire team could be on the same page. Whether you are working with a large team or just by yourself, having everything written out first makes it much easier to plan out the project and determine what will be needed.

Spreadsheets

One step further from a script is a spreadsheet. Sometimes called a cue sheet, this takes the information from the script and breaks it down from moment to moment to lay out all the audio materials needed for the project. This is always the first step in any of the motion picture projects for which I have done sound design work. I have a “spotting session” with the director and go moment to moment throughout the piece and determine what should happen at every “spot.” Here is a sheet for a recent project I worked on, Christopher Walsh’s Orchid:

Figure 1.2: Orchid’s sound design log

Having detailed breakdowns of the needs of a project can help immensely. Knowing what sound effects you will need to either source from a library or capture/create means you can better plan your sessions. This also helps you gain a scope of the project when trying to determine what costs might be in terms of labor and time that needs to be put in.

Track layouts

Up until this point, I’ve detailed techniques that are typically used in motion picture post audio and spoken word or podcasts, but what if your project is more musical? A “script” of what the listener’s journey should be could still be very useful. Before the advent of DAWs and automation, songs and mixes would have a script of sorts that would detail what the mixer(s) would need to do when it came time to bounce and print the final product. While there is still great benefit to this practice, I find it especially useful to draw out a track routing layout to help me visualize what the project will look like. Here’s an example from a song I mixed for the artist SMBRZ:

Figure 1.3: Sample track layout chart

The design of a track layout chart or map is dependent on the project and the way you like to visualize things. Color coding is useful for grouping similar tracks, and it can also be useful to add routing notes. The overall goal is to get a sense of what the project will look like as a whole and where things should go. Many times, when I received tracked songs from independent artists, there would be no rhyme or reason to their track layout, and they would simply add tracks as more instruments were needed. This made it very difficult to parse what was happening and communicate with the artist about their needs.

There’s more…

The most important takeaway from this concept is that planning and writing everything down before creating your sessions will make things easier in the long run. You don’t need to commit to your plan, the project will often change, and new requirements will need to be considered, but a visualization of where things should go will help you keep things on track. Finally, making changes on paper is much easier and cheaper than trying to implement them during a project.

Setting up the session

Before you can begin doing any work in Pro Tools, you need to set up a session. Some aspects of a session can be changed after the fact, and some cannot. Knowing the different session formats is important, as well as understanding how to set them up correctly. For this walkthrough, we’ll create a generic session and discuss the different options and their impact/effects.

Getting ready

If you are working with specific audio files, look at what sample rate they are in. On macOS, you can find this out by selecting the file in Finder and going to File | Get Info. On Windows, you can install a third-party tool such as MediaInfo. This will allow you to right-click on the file in File Explorer and select it as an app to open the file with. The app will show you the sample rate, along with other file metadata.

How to do it…

For this recipe, we will be creating a sample project with a sample rate of 44.1 KHz and 24-bit Bit Depth from Pro Tool’s Dashboard window.

Let’s do that by following these steps:

Open Pro Tools. If you are not greeted with the Dashboard window, click File | Create New...On the tab to the left, select Create.Under Name, type Example Session.For the session type, select Local Storage (Session).Deselect Create From Template.For File Type, select BWF (.WAV).For Sample Rate, select 44.1 kHz.For Bit Depth, select 24-bit.For I/O Settings, select Last Used.Deselect Interleaved.Select Prompt for location.Click the Create button:

Figure 1.4: The Dashboard’s CREATE pane

How it works…

Let’s go over all the different project settings and their effects.

Session Type

Avid offers cloud storage and collaborative tools for the higher tiers of Pro Tools, which it refers to as Projects. A Local Storage Session is not able to access those options and will store all the files locally on your computer.

Create from Template

Once you are comfortable using Pro Tools, you can save your sessions as templates to be selected from this menu or opened within the OS. If you want a blank session, make sure this is unchecked.

File Type

Most audio software these days uses Broadcast Wave Format (BWF), often simply called WAV files; these have the WAV file extension. AIFF is Apple’s lossless audio format introduced in the late 90s. For a time, using AIFF was more stable than using Mac software, but currently, BWF is more compatible with most professional post-production software.

Sample Rate

The options available depend on your hardware and audio interface. Higher sample rates are a good choice for sounds that will be slowed down later and to avoid harmonic distortion with specific tools, but other issues can be introduced when converting to the target sample rate at the end of the project. Many audio plugins also oversample to mitigate these issues. Traditionally, 44.1 kHz is used for CD audio, and 48 kHz is used for motion picture. Checking your source material is the best way to avoid issues. If your project matches the source audio, you won’t need to convert the files before working with them.

Bit Depth

The higher the bit depth, the more dynamic range your project will have. The calculation is approximately 6 dB per bit, so a 16-bit file has 96 dB of depth, whereas a 24-bit file has 144 dB. This might not seem important, but to be able to get strong impactful sound, you need headroom, and limiting the amount of depth a session has to work with will make things difficult to mix effectively. It is also possible to mix at 32-bit (float), which gives virtually limitless headroom, with the drawbacks of larger file size and potential quantizing errors when exporting later.

I/O Settings

Like session templates, I/O Settings can be used to pre-set certain routing in a session.

Interleaved

Interleaved audio is what most users are accustomed to when seeing audio files on their computers. Multiple channels of audio (such as left and right for stereo files) are combined into a single file. Interleaved audio is easier to share with collaborators and more convenient to pull from the project’s session folders if needed, but the alternative, which is separate files for each channel, is often needed when providing files for professional delivery. This checkbox will rarely impact your usage of Pro Tools, and ultimately, you can always export files to a different format later.

Prompt for Location

This will force you to pick a location on your system to save the file. If you try to save your session to a drive that is not fully supported (such as Google Drive), you will get a warning that it has to be saved to a recordable (R) drive. You will need to pick another place to save it. You can also select the location it will be saved to in advance with the option below it, but be careful – forgetting this option will often lead to frustration if you forget where your session has been saved.

There’s more…

You can change some options for a session after the fact. With a session open, go to the menu bar and select Setup | Session (Command + 2 on macOS, Ctrl + Numpad 2 on Windows); you will see that almost all options can be changed except for Sample Rate. This is why it’s important to set this correctly when creating a session.

Creating tracks

Now that you have set up a session, it’s time to populate it with some tracks. Pro Tools offers up to nine different tracks, each with functions and purpose. We’ll create some simple tracks with two different methods and explain their purpose in brief.

Getting ready

For this recipe, you will need a blank session. You may use the Example session you created in the previous recipe. In your Pro Tools session, make sure that Track Color is enabled in the Edit window. You can do this by going to the menu bar, selecting View | Edit Window Views, and making sure it is checked or using the Edit Window View selector dropdown directly above the track headers on the left-hand side of the Edit window (see Figure 1.5):

Figure 1.5: The Edit Window View selector dropdown

How to do it…

The New Track window can almost set up an entire session in one shot by allowing you to create a variety of tracks and customize their order. Track names are sequentially incremented, so if you have something such as [Guitar 1, Guitar 2, Guitar 3], you can simply create three tracks named Guitar and it will add the numbers for you.

For this recipe, we’ll create 12 tracks in our session. These will be different types, both in channel count and function. We’ll also color-code the tracks for better organization. Here are the steps to do so:

In the menu, select Track | New… (Command + Shift + N on macOS, Ctrl + Shift + Non Windows).For Create, type 4.For the channel count, select Stereo.For the track type, select Audio Track.Leave the third dropdown set to Samples.For Name, type Stereo Audio Track.Click the + button to the right.For the next row, follow steps 1-7, but change the channel count to Mono and the name to Mono Audio Track.Create three more rows. For these rows, create 1 Stereo Aux track, 1 MIDI track, 1 Stereo Instrument, and 1 Master Fader track and name them accordingly.Click the Create button:

Figure 1.6: The New Tracks window

Go to Window | Color Palette or double-click the colored space on the left side of the Track header.In the Color Palette window, at the top left, click the dropdown and select Tracks (see Figure 1.7):

Figure 1.7: The Color Palette window with Tracks selected

Click on the name of the first track (StereoAudTrck1), then hold Command (Ctrl on Windows), and click on the three other stereo audio tracks.Choose a red color from the Color Palette window.Click on the name of the first mono audio track, hold Shift, and click on the last mono track.Choose a purple color in the Color Palette window.

How it works…

Five main types of tracks are used in Pro Tools. Most tracks can be measured in either samples or ticks. Samples are finite. They directly correspond to a measurement of time and the sample rate of the session. If you have a sample rate of 48 kHz, then you know that each sample is 1/48,000 of a second. Ticks are fluid. They are not directly related to time, but rather the space between beats in a bar of music. Pro Tools provides 960 ticks per beat. Depending on the tempo of the music, a tick can be very short or very long. For example, if a song has 60 beats per minute (BPM), then each beat is 1 second long and has 960 ticks between them. So, one tick is 1/960th of a second. If a song is 120 BPM, then there are two beats per second, doubling the number of ticks per second and increasing the speed of a tick to 1/1,920th of a second. The important thing to note is that increasing or decreasing the tempo of a session will not impact tracks measured in samples, but will impact tracks measured in ticks (they will speed up or slow down).

Audio tracks

Audio tracks hold WAV audio clips. Any files that consist of sampled audio data (as opposed to MIDI instructions) can go here. Tracks can be mono, stereo, or any number of channels that your version of Pro Tools can support. These are typically measured in samples.

Aux (auxiliary) tracks

Aux tracks cannot hold any audio data but instead are used as a way of routing audio for effects or for summing/mixing down signals from other tracks. Other tracks can have their output sent directly to an Aux or can be “split” and sent separately through a send. They can also be mono, stereo, or multi-channel, like audio tracks. These are also typically measured in samples.

MIDI tracks

MIDI tracks hold MIDI note data. They can record MIDI information and can be used to edit MIDI sequences, but they cannot be used to generate sounds. MIDI tracks need their data signal sent to an Aux track with an instrument plugin placed on an insert, or to external MIDI hardware. They cannot have channels such as mono or stereo. These are typically measured in ticks.

Instrument tracks

Instrument tracks are a combination of a MIDI track and an Aux track. A software instrument plugin still needs to be inserted into this track to generate information, but MIDI note data can be directly written to these tracks. These are usually measured in ticks.

Master tracks

Master tracks are the last step before outputting to your hardware. Unlike other tracks, plugins and effects placed on the inserts here are post-fader. I generally avoid using master tracks, but they can be useful for setting master levels while not affecting headroom, or for getting proper level/analysis on signals.

You can tell how many channels a track has by looking at its VU meters, which can be found on the right-hand side of the Track header. The mono tracks we created have only one meter, while the stereo tracks have two. Multi-channel tracks such as surround will also show more VU meters – six for 5.1 tracks, for instance.

Color-coding the tracks makes it much easier to see the types of tracks you have in your session, and your color-coding scheme can follow any convention you see fit for your project. Selecting multiple individual tracks with Command + click (Ctrl + click for Windows) and ranges of tracks with Shift + click is a great way to apply changes to multiple tracks at the same time. You can also Option/Alt + click on a track to deselect them all.

There’s more…

At any time, you can click the arrow at the bottom left of the Edit window to bring the tracklist in and out and see all your tracks from a bird’s-eye view (see Figure 1.8). You can also click and drag the name of tracks from the tracklist or from within the Edit window to rearrange tracks. If you accidentally made too many tracks, you can right-click and select Delete to remove them. If there are audio clips on the track, Pro Tools will warn you and ask you to confirm before the tracks are deleted as you cannot undo this command:

Figure 1.8: The Track sidebar’s Show/Hide button

There are some shortcuts for adding tracks to your edit window as well. In any empty area below a track, double-click to add another track of the same configuration as your most recently added track. If you want a different type of track, try holding the following modifier keys on your keyboard while double-clicking on an empty area:

Command: Add an audio track (Ctrlon Windows)Option: Add an instrument track (Alton Windows)Control: Add an Aux track (the Windows key on Windows)Shift: Add a master track

Setting up Aux tracks for audio routing

Auxiliary tracks, known as Aux tracks in Pro Tools, are a vital part of signal flows. Aux tracks don’t contain any audio data and clips cannot be added to a track, but they can do pretty much anything else an audio track can do. Plugins can be added as inserts, volume and pan information can be adjusted, and Aux tracks can be routed and sent to other tracks. Besides not holding audio data, Aux tracks always have input monitoring enabled, so sound always flows to them. You can use Aux tracks as a way of summing track signals together for better control, or as a place to send signals to when you want to redirect the sound to different tracks.

Getting ready

This recipe requires a Pro Tools session with at least four audio tracks. It helps to have some audio clips in there to see the effect. In your Pro Tools session, make sure that you have both the I/O and Sends