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As we patiently await the availability of Pro Tools 7, I
thought that this might be a good week to discuss resources
for learning how to use Pro Tools. Although I am a bit
bias, perhaps more than a bit even, I think the preferred
method is to enroll in a Digidesign
Certification course. Not only is Digidesign’s
curriculum designed very well for studying music and/or
post, but learning from an expert who really know the
ins- and outs- of Pro Tools, gives you the chance to
see how these techniques are used in the real-world.
In addition, meeting the other musicians and creative
professionals taking the class with you is a great opportunity
for networking and making new friends.
There are definitely other avenues for exploring Pro Tools,
and recently Bruce Tambling, a mentor and one of the first
Pro Tool Certified Experts, turned me on to several great
resources that are worth sharing.
Pro
Tools Method One DVD:
If you are new to Pro Tools, or want to develop a better
foundation from which to build, this DVD by Eddie Heidenreich
(a Digidesign-certified Pro Tools Expert Instructor) is a
great place to start. The DVD is just under 2 hours, and
Eddie explains all of the fundamental techniques for working
with Pro Tools in an extremely concise fashion. This is arguably
one of the most efficient ways for learning how to set up
a Pro Tools system, and quickly begin recording and editing
your own projects. He does a great job covering the key commands
for both Macintosh and PC systems, and manages to impart
some very practical techniques for recording along the way.
The production work on this DVD is outstanding, and makes
for a top-notch experience.
One you have mastered the basics, and have developed a strong
technical understanding of Pro Tools, you might find yourself
searching for ways to improve your mixing technique -- after
all mixing and working with plug-ins is probably one of the
most exciting parts of this gig!
Mix it Like a Record:
A Comprehensive Mixing Course by Charles Dye: I believe
that whenever
you get an opportunity to study another engineer’s
workflow and artistic process, you are a better person for
it. Charles Dye is a Grammy Award-winning engineer/mixer/producer
who is somewhat of a Pro Tool celebrity, as he is the first
to credited by Mix Magazine to have engineered a number one
record completely “inside the box,” with his
work on Ricky Martin’s Living La Vida Loca. In this
DVD, Charles reveals his thoughts on mixing theory, assuring
us that great mixing can be learned, and walks us through
his mix of a very catchy song by the band eL.
Charles does a wonderful job of demonstrating and using a
wide variety of effects and techniques to craft an aggressive,
yet warm and emotional mix. Session files of the various
incarnations of the mix are included so you can really dissect
and hear what each plug-in is contributing to the mix. I
will warn you, Charles uses a lot of plug-ins and if you
want to open the full mix, you will need a fully-loaded Pro
Tools HD rig. However, sessions containing several stems
of the various tracks have been included as well, so that
these mixes can be opened on basic HD and LE systems as well.
Although this DVD is three hours in length, I feel like I
could spend much more time learning about the intricacies
of the mix and more about how he arrives at the various settings
of all these wonderful plug-ins. Not only do I hope a follow-up
to this DVD is well-underway, I hope that other professionals
in the industry will follow his lead, and afford us all a
look into their approach and ideas as well.
Production,
Mixing and Mastering with Waves:
Not too long ago I actually sold my Waves plug-ins, in an
attempt to avoid the WUP fees by relying primarily on the
Sony Oxford
plug-ins. Although the Sony Oxford plug-ins are indeed amazing,
the reality is that not only are Waves plug-ins quite good
(I am very excited about GTR and Tune), they are the swiss-army
knife of plug-ins and everyone uses them, making them essential
in collaborating with others. So I recently, bought them
all over again.
One of the perks of having the Waves plug-ins, is that they
have produced a wonderful book (now in its third edition)
by Anthony Egizil, which walks you through mixing five different
songs. As with the Charles Dye DVD, I really wish Anthony
spent more time of what to listen for and how to dial in
the settings of each effect, but a great deal of insight
and guidance is provided none the less. The included session
files allow for further exploration and scrutiny, and is
a wonderful resources for working with a ubiquitous set of
plug-ins.
If you have any favorite resources you would like to share,
I would love to know about them. I feel that the more information
we share, the better the better we become as a community
of musicians and engineers. Having the ability to study Pro
Tools sessions is an amazing phenomenon, and something that
we can all learn from.
Pro Tools Tidbits for the Week
AES was a great show with many exciting announcements for
Pro Tools users and others alike. The dust is beginning
to settle, but I still have a few more goodies to share
since reporting last week:
- Waves has announced
two new vocal processors: Tune (via ReWire) and DeBreath.
For those of
you that already own a Waves bundle, a version of Tune
with fewer features, Tune LT, is now included in Waves'
Gold,
Broadcast & Production, Platinum, and Diamond Bundles.
Registered users of those bundles who are currently covered
by the Waves Update Plan (WUP) receive Tune LT at no charge.
An upgrade to the full version of Tune is available for
$300.
- Native Instruments released nine new products at AES: B4 II, NI Essentials,
NI Komplete
3, NI Komplete Sound 2, Komplete Care 2006, Guitar Rig
2 (along with a new hardware interface), Kontakt 2, Traktor
3 and Bandstand. I am a NI Komplete owner myself, and it
has become an essential part of my Pro Tools system, so
keep an eye out here for an upcoming discussion of the new versions.
- BIAS has announced that it will be offering the Master Perfection
suite, as a separate
product (it is currently only available as part of Peak
XT 5). The
Master Perfection Suite includes RTAS versions of: Repli-Q
(spectral/EQ matching), PitchCraft (pitch correction/manipulation),
Reveal (seven tool analysis suite), Sqweez-3 & -5 (linear
phase multi-band compressor/limiter/expander), SuperFreq
(new edition of the 4,6,8, and 10-band parametric equalizer
suite), and GateEx (gate/downward expander).
- Solid State
Logic has released a
free plug-in. The LMC-1 is a version of their
Classic 1980s SL 4000 Series' Listen Mic Compressor available
for Macintosh only, as an AudioUnit and VST plug-in. For
us Pro Tools users, we will need to use a VST-to-RTAS wrapper,
but it is a free SLL plug-in none the less.
- Solid State
Logic has announced
XLogic ESignature Channel and XLogic X-Rack Dynamics
Processor. As much as I love working inside the box,
using great microphones, pre-amps and compressors on the
way
in, makes all the difference in the world.
Tips & Tricks Sidebar
Commands (Hocus) Focus...Last week we talked about how useful
the key commands in Pro Tools are. This week, we will attempt
to unlock even more of that universe for you and introduce
single key shortcuts. Before you can use these very special
single key short cuts, you have to enable the Commands
Focus in the Edit window.
To assign the Keyboard Focus to Commands Focus, click the
 button at the top left on the Edit window (just to the right
of the Tab to Transients button). With this enabled, each
key on our alpha-numeric keyboard will act as a shortcut,
without having to use a modifier key, such as control, option,
command.
There a many single key shortcuts available. I am sure we
will make our way to each one as this column continues, but
for now, here are a few of my favorites:
- Press the R key to Zoom Out
- Press the T key to Zoom In
- Press 4 on the numeric keypad
for enable Loop Playback
- Press 7 on the Numeric Keypad
to toggle the Metronome
Pro
Tools Q&A Wrap-Up
If you have a Pro Tools related question that you would like
me to take a shot at answering or have any feedback, please
send it to scott@audioMIDI.com. I will do my best to select
the questions that seem to stump the most people.
As always, stay tuned to the audioMIDI.com eNews for the latest reviews and new product info.
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