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Nathanial Kunkel’s column “In Session” on the back page of Electronic Musician is ALWAYS spot on, but I thought this month’s was particularly excellent. It discusses the importance of IT know how in audio production. I have been saying the same thing for years, if you’re afraid of computers this probably isn’t the industry for you, but he sums up everything quite beautifully in a few paragraphs. Read the article here.
This entry was written by , posted on October 29, 2009 at 10:29 am, filed under News. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Parallel Compression
Just because you failed high school trigonometry doesn’t mean you can’t use and profit from parallel compression in your mixes. Parallel or “upwards” compression is simply the process of combining an un-compressed signal with a compressed-one and blending to taste. This ‘best of both worlds’ approach is designed to preserve the dynamics, openness, punch, character and frequency response of the un-processed signal while solving the issue of the overly dynamic track getting lost in the mix or sound thin/weak.
The Setup:
While many newer dynamics plug-ins feature a built in “wet/dry” mix parameter that allows inline parallel compression tricks, you can easily achieve this effect with any compressor/limiter. Basically we are going to duplicate the track we want to compress, add a lot of compression to the duplicate and blend with the original to taste. Essentially what this is doing is creating a dense ‘bed’ of sorts for the uncompressed track to ride on, preserving all the original dynamics while allowing the track to sit comfortably in the mix. This trick can be used in subtle or extreme ways and works well on almost any source material, especially where transparent and natural sounding dynamics control is desired.
Parallel Compression Tips:
Drum Squash: Create a aux return with an aggressive compressor or limiter on its insert, you can call this “Squash Bus.” Using sends, send all your drum tracks accept the kick drum to this squash track and blend with the original (dry) drums to taste. Leaving the kick drum out prevents the squash track from over-reacting to the dynamics of the kick, which tends to dominate the other drums. You can experiment with including the kick to create cool pumping effects on the squash track. Try EQing this squash track in different ways, or even add distortion for an over-the-top effect.
Automation: Automate your parallel track up and down at different sections of the song, bring it in during the choruses for more power and support, bring it down during the verses for a more intimate feel.
Using a Limiter: For natural dynamics control on vocals, guitars, etc. try using a very fast (brickwall style) limiter on the uncompressed track just to keep the peaks under control so nothing jumps out of the speakers (you know, in that uncontrolled, “karaoke” sounding way). Then use the parallel track to subtly bring up the valleys and fill in the body/sustain of the track. This works really well on vocals with a ton of plosives (e.g. hard P or T sounds) that you don’t want to over compress. The brick wall limiter will transparently grab and control those plosives transients while the parallel track will bring up and support any softer sections without having to squash the crap out of the vocal.
Compensate for any delay to maintain phase coherency: Because some compressors/limiters incur a small amount of processing delay (usually do to look-ahead algorithms) it is important that each component of the parallel chain is delayed by the same amount. For instance, if you were to create a duplicate track of a vocal and apply a L1 Maximizer to the duplicate (parallel) track, there would be a noticeable latency and serious comb filtering would be heard when both tracks are played together. Most DAWs (except for Pro Tools) handle this automatically as part of their built in PDC (plug-in delay compensation) engine. In Pro Tools LE/Mpowered, the easiest way to solve this is to copy the plug-in to the original “dry” track and bypass it, thereby incurring the same delay on each track. A more permanent solution would be to shift the duplicate track backwards by the amount of delay the plug-in is causing. In Pro Tools HD you should always use delay compensation when mixing/editing. Remember, not all plug-ins incur a delay, in fact many do not, so considering using those when creating parallel chains.
This entry was written by , posted on October 28, 2009 at 12:10 pm, filed under Articles, MixTips and tagged compression, mixing, MixTips, pro tools. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I swear, If I hear another R&B “Hit” with out of time vocals I am gonna go crazy. Look, autotune is fine, even appropriate in some instances. People dig it and I understand why; it’s fun, it’s a gimmick and people are suckers for gimmicks. My beef isn’t with autotune itself, it is the ~20 millisecond delay it creates when you insert it on a track. When this delay isn’t compensated for, you will hear an audible lag in the vocal track that tends to make the lyrics drag ever so slightly (not in a good way) and this definitely needs to be addressed. One would think that people making music getting played on the radio/TV would notice this delay and attempt to correct it, but somehow I continue to hear charted R&B and Hip-Hop singles with a noticeable and uncorrected “autotune” latency. Again, I’m not talking about a relaxed, “behind-the-beat” groove on the vocals, I am talking about a straight up, plug-in induced, 20-25ms lag on the entire track that is super obvious and distracting.
Why does this lag even happen in the first place? Allow me to explain. To get your busted vocal sounding like a drunk robot, autotune needs a little time to think things over and make a plan. This is where the latency, or lag comes in. Because autotune “looks ahead,” it has to delay the track a fraction of a second to do its job. Now Autotune 5 could track in real time with a lower latency than Autotune 6 (Evo) can, which has an updated pitch tracking engine, but you still wanted to correct this latency using either manual shifting or PDC (plug-in delay compensation). It is worth noting that all Antares processors with the EVO engine incur this delay and need to be compensated for.
But what if I want to sound like a robot, but correct for this latency? I’m glad you asked. Basically all you need to do is enable automatic delay compensation in your DAW (DAWs other than Pro Tools usually have this enabled by default so you don’t need to worry about it). If you are using Pro Tools LE/Mpowered (which lacks PDC), simply shift the audio on vocal track BACKWARDS in time by the amount of the delay (1380 samples to be exact). This article here explains the process in detail along with some other options. Be sure to track (record) with Autotune 5 if you want to hear the tuning while recording in real time, even if you are going to switch to Evo after the fact, the lower latency will help the performer reconcile what’s coming back through the headphones a little better. When you purchase Autotune EVO, a free license for Autotune 5 is included for this very reason, just install Autotune 5 and your ilok will take care of the rest.
This entry was written by , posted on at 12:02 pm, filed under Articles, featured, News. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
So I use quite a few “wrapped” RTAS plug-ins, meaning that the plug-in was designed for VST and hacked (via FXpansion’s VST-RTAS wrapper utility) to work as RTAS in Pro Tools. For example, all of the UAD stuff shows up as wrapped plug-ins in my inserts menu. This isn’t a big deal, as with most VST plug-ins the wrapper utility works flawlessly, but no matter which plug-in you end up using, it hides itself in the “Wrapped Plug-ins” sub-menu of your inserts menu. I have talked to Avid (Digidesign) about this and unfortunately, as long as they are “wrapped” VST plug-ins there is no way to get them into their correct categories (e.g. EQ, Dynamics, etc), aside from possibly hacking the plug-in .dpm file (I’ve looked into this. Without some sort of hint as to how the category identifier is determined/stored, I can’t see anything obvious when I pull up the files in a hex editor). While there is currently no easy way to get the wrapped plug-ins into their correct catagories, there is an easy workaround of sorts that will get you to your favorite plug-ins quickly.
Default EQ and Dynamics:
The first thing you want to do is set up your mixer’s default EQ and Dynamics plug-ins, these will show up at the highest level of the insert selection menu so put your “go to” EQ and compressor plug-ins in these two slots. To set the default EQ/Dynamics choose Setup > Preferences > Mixing Tab.
Plug-in Favorites:
The default EQ and Dynamics option only allows you to save one favorite within the EQ and Dynamics sub-menu, which blows if you want use a wrapped plug-in as your favorite EQ or compressor. In this case, you can save a plug-in as a “favorite” and it will show up at the top of the plug-ins list (within the plug-in type sub-menu on stereo tracks, e.g. TDM/RTAS or multi-channel/multi-mono).
To save a plug-in as a favorite: Hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) while selecting a plug-in from the inserts menu. The plug-in will not be inserted but will be stored as a favorite. Remember, you must hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) before clicking on the track’s insert selector.
To remove a plug-in favorite: Repeat the steps above, hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) and re-select the plug-in stored as a favorite from the insert selector menu.
You can have as many favorites as you’d like however keeping this list small will ultimately save you more time.
This entry was written by , posted on October 19, 2009 at 12:12 pm, filed under Articles, MixTips and tagged mixing, MixTips, plug-ins, pro tools. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Comping with Playlists in Pro Tools 8
On top of all the fancy new UI enhancements and fantastic sounding Virtual Instruments, Pro Tools 8 has made significant improvements to many of my everyday workflows. Playlists have always been a great way to keep track of alternate takes in Pro Tools, allowing you to easily craft the perfect composite performance or “comp” by piecing together different takes. Pro Tools 8 has enhanced this process infinitely by allowing you to view, edit and audition a track’s playlists within its new “Playlists View.” This week at the corner I will show you some tricks that will cut your comping time in half and share what’s new with playlists in Pro Tools 8.
Playlist Basics
Essentially playlists are just a way for Pro Tools to store the timeline placement of a group of regions on a track. Regions are pointers to raw audio files on your hard disk, while a playlist stores the organization or placement of multiple regions in time. A track in pro tools can have an unlimited number of playlists associated with it, or “virtually unlimited” as we like to say in the DAW world. In other words, you don’t need to worry about running out.
New loop record workflow
Before Pro Tools 8, loop record and playlist comping were sort of mutually exclusive workflows. You generally used either the “takes list” comping method with loop record, or you stopped recording and manually created a new playlist after each take. Fortunately, these two features now work harmoniously in version 8, using the new preference “Automatically create new playlists when loop recording.” When this option is checked, Pro Tools automatically appends each new pass in loop record to a fresh playlist. Let’s check it out.
Step 1: I start by checking the preference “Automatically create new playlists when loop recording,” found under the Operations tab of Setup > Preferences.
Step 2: After creating and naming a new track for my loop record pass, I enable loop recording via Operations > Loop Record or by using the shortcut Option-L (Mac) Alt-L (PC).
Step 3: At this point, I need to make a selection defining the “loop” that I will record each pass over. Remember, loop record mode always requires a selection to define the length of each take. If you need a refresher on the basics of loop record mode, check out my previous article here [http://www.audiomidi.com/classroom/protools_corner/ptcorner_67.cfm].
Step 4: After defining my loop record selection, I can add a bit of pre-roll to get me into the first pass and record enable my track. To make this easier, Pro Tools 8 added three new shortcuts for record, solo and mute track. Shift-R for record, Shift-S for solo, and Shift-M for mute on the selected track.
Step 5: In this example I have recorded 3 takes and Pro Tools has created 3 new playlists, leaving the final pass as the active, or “main” playlist on my track. Because Pro Tools left my final take on the original playlist “LoopRec,” I will double click the track’s nameplate and rename this playlist to “LoopRec.03.”
Tip: You don’t have to complete your loop recording in the initial run, you can stop and start up again as much as you’d like. Because Pro Tools only creates a new playlist for the second pass of a loop record take, just create a fresh playlist for each loop record set you want to do.
Tip: If you have already completed a loop record pass without the preference “automatically create new playlists in loop record mode” checked, you can simply right-click one of the loop recorded regions and choose Matches > Expand Alternates to new Playlists. Alternates are defined by the “match criteria,” to change the match criteria right-click a region and choose Matches > Match Criteria.
Comping with the playlists view:
Now that I have a set of playlists, either ones created automatically via loop record or ones created manually during the recording process, I can easily view these simultaneously by switching the track’s view to “Playlists.” Click on the word “Waveform” and select “Playlists,” or Ctrl+Opt+Cmd-Click (Mac) Start+Alt+Ctrl-Click (PC) on the track’s playlist selector.
Right now the active or “main” playlist is LoopRec.01, but I want to create a new main playlist for my composite take. I can do this by clicking on the track’s playlist selector (the little down arrow next to the track’s name) and choosing “New…” I name this playlist LoopRec.Comp and since it was the last playlist created it now becomes this track’s active or “main” playlist. Remember, whichever playlist is active (selected via the track’s playlist selector) is by default the track’s main playlist, therefore any playlist can be the “main playlist” for a given track.
Hint: When selecting playlists, you can generally ignore the number in parenthesis after the playlist’s name (e.g. “Playlist.01 (XX)”). This is simply a master playlist counter telling me when the playlist was created relative to others. This continues to count up even after tracks/playlists have been deleted or after an undo.
To audition the main playlist for a track I simply hit play. To audition alternate playlists associated with a track, I simply hit the solo button (the “S”) on each alternate playlist. When auditioning, try making a selection and using the key commands Cntrl-P/Cntrl-; (Mac) or Start-P/Start-; (PC) to move the selection up and down in conjunction with Shift-S (track solo key command) to quickly audition each alternate playlist without using the mouse. Tip: In command key focus mode you can use ‘P’ and ‘;’ without a modifier to move the selection up or down.
To promote a selection to the main playlist, simply select the piece you wish to copy, right-click and choose “copy to main playlist,” or use the key command Cntrl+Opt-V (Mac) Start+Alt-V (PC). You can also copy the selection to a new or duplicate playlist from the same menu.
Once you are finished editing you can re-hide the alternate playlists by switching the main track back to “Waveform” view. The alternate playlists will still remain in the session, associated with the track in case you need to do any further comping.
Remember, all of these playlist and loop record workflows will work with MIDI data too!
Rating Regions:
Pro Tools 8 features a brand new region rating system that allows you to give any regions a numerical rating of 1-5. Use this to rate each pass in a loop record take, and then use the playlist view’s “filter lanes” function to show only takes with a rating of 4 or better.
To rate a region: Simply right-click on any region in the edit window and choose Rating > 1-5.
To display the region’s rating: Choose View > Region > Rating.
To filter the playlist lanes: In playlists view, right click on any playlists name and choose “Filter Lanes.”
Tip: each region has a its own numeric rating, if you have already edited a group of regions and wish to rate them as a whole, first consolidate the regions into a new whole region using Edit > Consolidate Region (currently region groups and the rating system don’t work so well together)
Some considerations
While loop recording with new playlists is a great way to speed up your recording and comping workflow, there are a few things you may want to consider. For example, let’s say you loop record 3 passes of your first verse and then you want to loop record 3 passes of your second verse. The system will create an entirely new set of playlists for the second verse’s loop record pass, leaving you with 6 playlists (3 representing the first verse’s takes and 3 representing the second verse’s takes). So depending on how you are used to using playlists and loop record for tracking and comping across a complex multi-part tune, just work out a organizational game plan in your head before hand, otherwise you may end up with 40-50 playlists on each track (which is fine if that is what you want). This is a situation where region rating and lane filtering can really be handy. Imagine a track representing 3 verses of a song. Each verse has 10 takes generated via loop record for a total of 30 playlists. After auditioning and rating each take, the lane’s filter can pair your choices down to only the 4 and 5 star takes, or filter based on regions within the timeline selection, making the comping process much more organized and efficient.
This entry was written by , posted on October 18, 2009 at 7:22 pm, filed under Articles, PT Corner and tagged editing, playlists, pro tools, PT Corner. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
This is an excerpt from my column “The Pro Tools Corner” at audioMIDI.com
Pro Tools 8: MIDI Editor
The MIDI editor in Pro Tools 8 is one new feature that has certainly been turning heads, especially those of other “sequencer heavy” DAWs. While many users have been making comparisons to Logic’s flavor of MIDI editing, the Pro Tools MIDI editor features a few unique tricks that are sure to speed up your sequencing workflow. This week at the Pro Tools Corner I will walk you through the basics of the MIDI editor and help you unlock to true sequencing power of Pro Tools 8.
Opening the MIDI Editor
First off, if you are worried that your current MIDI workflow isn’t going to translate in Pro Tools 8, fear not. You can still work with MIDI data in the edit window just as you had in Pro Tools 7 and earlier, but once you experience the MIDI editor you probably won’t want to.
Working with the MIDI editor is fairly straight forward, and the editor can be accessed in one of two ways:
To open a floating MIDI editor: With the MIDI or Instrument track view set to “regions,” double-click with the grabber tool on any MIDI region or simply select a group of notes and choose Window > MIDI Editor.
Note: double-clicking with the grabber tool in PT 7 and earlier brought up the “rename region” dialog, you can return this functionality in the MIDI tab of your preferences.
To open a “docked” MIDI editor: Choose View > Other Displays > MIDI Editor. This will dock a MIDI editor at the bottom of the Edit window.
If the windows “target” button is active (red), this docked editor will update dynamically as you select new MIDI data in the Edit window and can be resized vertically to the size of your choice. The “target” is the small square in the upper right-hand corner of a floating window.
Hint: Save a window configuration of the docked MIDI editor to toggle it instantly.
Using the MIDI Editor
The beauty of the MIDI editor is that its toolset, zoom settings, grid resolution and edit modes are completely isolated from the Edit window. For example, you could be using the smart tool in grid mode with a resolution of 1 bar in your Edit window and have the pencil tool in slip mode active in the MIDI editor. Generally, all of the tools in the MIDI editor will work the same way as they do while editing MIDI in the Edit window, so you don’t really need to learn any new edit tools, you just have get used to looking at MIDI in another window.
Note: If you are used to using single key shortcuts with command-key focus, you will need to focus them to the MIDI editor while docked. Command-key focus is represented by the “a-z” button in the top right hand corner of the editor.
Like the Edit window, The MIDI editor allows you to view additional MIDI/Instrument track data below the piano roll. By default, Velocity is shown but additional lanes can be shown or hidden by clicking the “plus” or “minus” icons. This can be very handy when you are editing multiple layers of CC data.
To quickly switch the editor into score view, simply click on the score button at the top left hand corner of the editor.
Viewing MIDI in Layers
By default, the MIDI editor shows only the selected track’s MIDI data. By using the track show/hide list attached to the MIDI editor, you can actually view MIDI data in overlapping layers. Think about editing multiple tracks of MIDI drums within a single piano roll and you will understand the power of this special feature.
The black dot to the left of the track name represents the track’s show/hide status, while the pencil to the right lets you know which track you are currently editing.
When you work with MIDI in layers, by default each layer will be represented by its region color. Because many times you may have regions that are the same color, the MIDI editor features two alternate color-coding options for notes.
Color notes by track:
Regardless of track color or region color, this option will assign a different color to each note layer in the MIDI editor. This helps when two tracks have the same region color.
Color notes by velocity:
This option will color code notes based on their velocity. Darker colors represent higher velocities. You can set all MIDI notes to color code by velocity automatically within system preferences, under the “Display” tab.
MIDI Editor Options:
You can set custom scrolling options in the MIDI editor using the discloser triangle at the top right hand corner of the editor
Just like the edit window, you can view additional ruler displays (like meter, tempo, etc).
In Closing:
While it might take you a little time to adjust to editing MIDI in a different window, I think you will find that the new editor makes working with MIDI in Pro Tools much more efficient and intuitive. In the past, I would always have trouble getting the correct level of horizontal, vertical zoom and octave range on my MIDI tracks, the MIDI editor has completely eliminated these navigational inefficiencies for me, and with a little practice I think it will for you as well.
This entry was written by , posted on at 6:28 pm, filed under Articles, PT Corner and tagged editing, MIDI, pro tools, PT Corner. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Pro Tools Automation Part 2:
In the last installment of the Pro Tools corner, I walked you through some basic automation techniques in Pro Tools. Picking up where we left off, this week I will show you a few more ways you can manipulate automation in Pro Tools, including graphic editing and the automation of plug-in parameters. If you missed the first part of this article, you might want to check it out here before you proceed.
Graphic Manipulation of Automation
In the last article I showed you how to view your automation data directly against the track’s waveform and hinted at the fact that the automation points, called “breakpoint” can be manipulated with the edit tools. Some people like to call this “graphic automation” and it is a great alternative or supplement to the real-time automation we learned last week, especially if you don’t own a control surface.
Remember you can switch a track’s view to show any automation graph by simply clicking on a track’s view selector.
Editing Automation with the Grabber Tool:
Editing Automation with the Pencil Tool:
Editing Automation with the Trim Tool:
The trim tool is used to scale existing breakpoints up or down, or make “delta” changes in an already existing automation graph. The trim tool works best by first selecting a range of breakpoint with the selector tool and then trimming them up or down. Notice the “tooltip” in the top left-hand corner of the graph that shows you the current parameter value as well as the “delta” amount or relative change. The trim tool is great for selecting a short passage, say a phrase or word of a vocal, and easily trimming it up or down by a few dBs. Like the grabber, you can hold down the Command key (Mac) or Control key (PC) while you trim for finer trim increments.
Other Editing Tips:
Automating Plug-Ins
Automating plug-ins is pretty much identical to automating volume or pan in the mixer, but there is just one extra step before you start. Because complex plug-ins can have hundreds of automate-able parameters, it would be inefficient to have all these show up under a tracks automation view when most of the time you are only interested in automating a few specific parameters. Because of this, Pro Tools requires you to enable the specific plug-in parameter you wish to automate before adding automation.
To enable a Plug-ins parameter for automation:
Alternatively you can look at the plug-ins entire list of automate-able controls by clicking on the plug-ins automation button, located underneath bypass. This list contains a left hand side of potentially automate-able parameters and a right hand side of parameters currently enabled for automation. Double click a parameter to move it from the left list to the right list. Pro Tools can by default set all plug-in parameters to be enabled for automation as soon as the plug-in is inserted. The preference “Plug-In controls default to auto-enabled” can be found under the Mixing tab of Setup > Preferences.
This entry was written by , posted on at 1:38 pm, filed under Articles, PT Corner and tagged automation, mixing, pro tools, PT Corner. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
The following is an excerpt from my column “The Pro Tools Corner” at audioMIDI.com. It was written for Pro Tools 7 but basic automation workflows havn’t change.
Pro Tools Automation 101
One of the most useful feature sets found in nearly all of today’s DAWs is automation. Traditionally reserved for only the most expensive large format consoles, automation allows you to record parameter changes in the session’s mixer and is a must know technique for any serious Pro Tools user. This week at the Pro Tools Corner, I will walk you through some of Pro Tools’ basic automation features and show you how to record and edit automation in your session.
Why we automate:
While there are many reasons to use automation in Pro Tools, both creative and otherwise, on a basic level automation lets us take once static parameters in the mixer and allows them to change dynamically over the course of a session’s timeline. For example, one may find that while a specific volume level on a lead vocal works well during the verse the same level doesn’t work as well during the chorus. Without splitting the vocal out onto separate tracks, automation provides an easy solution to the level changes needed over the course of the song. Ask around, most of the world’s top mixers would certainly agree that effective use of automation is a huge component in achieving a great sounding, dynamic mix. Pro Tools takes basic level automation a bit further by allowing the user to automate volume, pan, mutes, send levels/pans/mutes and plug-in parameters. Users can record fader moves and parameter changes during playback in real time or edit automation graphically offline.
Recording automation in Pro Tools
Just a like a fancy SSL or Neve console with flying faders, Pro Tools supports the recording and playback of real time fader moves and parameter changes in the mixer. To record changes in the mixer’s state over time, one can simply select a real time automation mode from the track’s automation mode selector and playback the session. Pro Tools will then record any changes made in the mixer during playback and depending on the automation mode selected, will update or ignore existing automation data.
To record real time level/pan/mute/send automation on a track:
Ensure that automation is not suspended and that the parameters you wish automate are write enabled (highlighted in red) in your session’s automation window (Windows > Automation). Any parameter that is not “write enabled” will be ignored when recording real time automation.
Click the track’s automation mode selector (this can be found in both the edit and mix window) and switch it from “read” to “write” in the drop down list. If you want to automate more than one track at a time, simply set those tracks automation to “write” also.
Now playback the session and move the faders, pan, etc as desired. You do not need to record, just playback the session. Automation has its own “record enable” as outlined in step 2 and recording automation has nothing to do with a track’s record enable or the transport master record status.
After an initial automation pass, the track’s automation status will change from write to touch or latch (this is actually a preference found in the mixing tab of Windows>Preferences). This will prevent you from accidentally recording over any previous automation when playing back your track.
Now playback the session and watch those faders fly!When you are finished automating a particular track, set its automation mode back to “read.”
Note: While it is nice to perform in automation with a control surface, you can also use your mouse to record automation in real time.
A quick note on plug-ins:
While plug-in parameters can be automated almost as easily as volume/pans/mutes, it does involve an extra step, which will be coved in part 2 of this article.
Pro Tools automation modes:
All Pro Tools systems feature the following track automation modes:
Off: Automation is suspended for that specific track, mixer parameters revert back to manual control. To suspend all automation in a session, use the master suspend found in the automation window (Windows>Automation)
Read: Previously recorded Automation is played back (if it exists).
Touch: Pro Tools only records automation when a parameter is modified or “touched” but acts like read mode otherwise. This is commonly reffered to as an “update” mode, allowing you to update a previous write pass, appending new automation data only where desired.
Latch: Similar to touch, latch acts like read mode until a parameter is modified or “touched.” After being modified the parameter does not return to its previous state and remains “latched” into its current position.
Write: A destructive mode, write will record any incoming automation disregarding previous automation in the track. Write will destructively “burn over” any and all automation on a track, meaning even if you don’t touch a parameter its current state is being recorded during the entire pass.
Pro Tools HD systems also feature Touch/Latch and Trim automation modes, which we’ll save for another article.
Viewing your automation:
One of the greatest things about working in the computer is the ability to actually see the automation we have recorded, represented visually as a set of breakpoints. By selecting the specific automation graph from a track’s view selector we can not only view the existing breakpoints, but also manipulate them graphically using our edit tools.
To view a tracks volume automation graph:
Switch the track’s view selector from “Waveform” to “Volume.”
Automation graphs are a series of breakpoints connected by a solid black line, sort of like a game of connect the dots. The mixer reads these break points like vector data to change parameters smoothly over the timeline from one breakpoint to the next.
You can select other automation graphs from the tracks view selector, including volume, pan, mute, and send level/mute views.
Note: Automation graphs for sends show up as sends are assigned in the mixer, i.e. if a track doesn’t have any sends, you wont see any automation views for them in the track view selector.
Remember, automation in Pro Tools lives on the track and each track has only one set of automate-able parameters (ie: switching playlists does not switch a tracks automation graph). Once a track contains even one automation breakpoint, it will no longer respond to manual control (unless the track’s automation mode is switched to off, or automation is suspended). To get around this, simply insert the “Trim” plug-in on your track and use that for track wide, or “delta” changes in volume level.
Coming up in part 2:
Stay tuned, in the next installment I will walk you through graphic manipulation of automation breakpoints and show you how to automate plug-in parameters.
This entry was written by , posted on at 1:37 pm, filed under Articles, PT Corner and tagged automation, mixing, pro tools, PT Corner. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Score! Working with the Score Editor in Pro Tools 8
By far one of Pro Tools 8’s most anticipated new features was the score editor, finally providing users a built-in notation package without having to export MIDI data into Sibelius. The Pro Tools 8 score editor introduces basic notation based editing and printing functionality and is surprisingly easy to use once you get the hang of it. This week at the corner I will walk you through a basic workflow using the score editor to create and a print a score directly inside of Pro Tools.
Setting up: Key Signature
Before using the score editor there are a few session level set-up tasks that you will want to consider, starting with the sessions key signature ruler. To view the key signature ruler choose View > Rulers > Key Signature.
To insert an initial key change for the session (which will become the sessions default key), return the edit cursor to measure 1|1 and click on the small plus sign on the key signature ruler.
If there are any other key changes in the session that I want to account for in the score I will continue to add those changes by clicking again on the plus sign of the key signature ruler.
Setting up: Score Setup
Before opening up the score editor, I will open up the score setup menu to enter title and composer info and set up the spacing/layout preferences for the session. To open score setup choose File > Score Setup.
Opening the Score Editor:
In this simple example I have 3 instrument tracks that I will configure in the score editor. To open the score editor simply choose Windows > Score Editor or use the shortcut Ctrl+Option+= on Mac or Start+Alt+= on PC.
Note: Each track’s name is reflected in the score and any print outs so be sure to name your tracks appropriately.
By default all MIDI and Instrument tracks are displayed in the Score Editor, I can selectively show or hide tracks from the score using the tracks list. Simply click on the small circle icon to the left of the track name to show/hide that track from the score. When printing scores use the show/hide menu to print out individual parts.
Formatting the Score:
The default setting for tracks in the score editor is “Grand Staff,” because showing both bass and treble clefs for each track may be unnecessary, Pro Tools allows you to format each track’s settings individually using the “Notation Display Track Settings” dialog. To access a track’s notation settings simply right click on the track in the score and choose “Notation Display Track Settings.”
Here I can set each track’s display settings as well as configure global display settings for quantization, straighten swing and note overlap. Remember that display quantization settings and “straighten swing” have nothing to do with note quantization or swing in the sequencer, it is purely for cleaning up the score to avoid strange looking rhythms. Each track can have its own display quantization settings or be set to follow the global defaults.
After setting up the correct display settings for the 3 instrument tracks my score looks much cleaner and I am no longer wasting space with the grand staff for each track.
Inserting Chord Changes:
The Score Editor can also display a chord chart as defined by the session’s chord ruler. To show the chord ruler switch back to the edit window and choose View > Rulers > Chord Symbols.
To insert a new chord change simply click on the plus sign on the Chord ruler or Cntrl-Click (Mac) Start-Click (PC) anywhere on the Chord ruler.
After inserting my chord symbols I can switch back to the score. Because the spacing might be a little tight with the new chord symbols, I change the “System Spacing” in the Score Setup window to 11.0 to accommodate the chord symbols.
Editing the Score:
While I personally find it easier to edit notes in the matrix editor or event list, you can edit directly within the score editor using the same tools you are use to in the edit window.
To add notes:
Use the pencil tool to add new notes or modify existing ones. The note value and default velocity is set in the top left hand side of the score editor and follows the grid by default. To delete a note simply Option-Click (Mac) or Alt-Click (PC) on the note.
To move or transpose notes:
Use the grabber tool (or pencil tool) to move/transpose single or groups of notes. When notes are selected they will be shown in blue.
Moving the playback cursor:
The edit insertion is represented by a solid blue line in the score, you can click and drag this to start playback from different points.
Docking the Score Editor:
You can easily “Dock” the score editor to view while editing by using the new Window > Arrange commands like “Tile Horizontally.”
Printing the Score:
To Print the score I first activate the double bar line to cut the score at the end of the last midi region.
To Print the score I simply choose File > Print Score or hit Command+P (Mac) or Control+P (PC) and choose print (assuming my printer is hooked up). At this point I could just as easily create a PDF to email.
In closing:
While the Pro Tools 8 score editor provides basic notation resources, great for lead sheets and simple editing, depending on your needs you may still want to invest in a dedicated score editor like Sibelius. For example, currently the notation display preferences don’t have any provisions for displaying percussion notation, tempo, dynamics or lyrics data, basically you get notes on a staff and that is it.
This entry was written by , posted on at 12:09 pm, filed under Articles, PT Corner and tagged editing, MIDI, notation, pro tools. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
My author copies of mixing and mastering in pro tools 8 DVDs finally showed up today. There is nothing quite like holding a tangible, shrink wrapped object.
This entry was written by , posted on October 15, 2009 at 6:27 pm, filed under News and tagged lynda.com, mixing, pro tools, training. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
