P R O TO O LS

F U N DA M E N TA LS I
PT101

Avid Official Curriculum

2023 Avid Learning Series
User Certification

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 Pro Tools
Fundamentals I
For Pro Tools 2023.6 Software

Avid Technology, Inc.

 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Copyright and Disclaimer

© 2023 Avid Technology, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
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The media provided with this book, and any accompanying course material, is to be used only to complete the
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Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.

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All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For a full list of Avid trademarks, see:

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Legal Disclaimer
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ISBN: 979-8-9870463-8-8

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Part Number: 9321-00033-00– November 2023

This book includes material that was developed in part by the Avid Technical Publications department and the
Avid Learning Services department.

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Acknowledgements
Avid Learning Services would like to recognize the following contributors for the development of this book:

John Patrick Delangin & Janine Gauiran, Copy Editors and book layout

Curtis Poole, Book layout

Alex Brooke, Doug Deems, Joe Simmonds, Felipe Capilla, Joseph Sierzputowski, Rachel Becker Wright,
Christian Valente, Stefano Pinzi, and Fabio Nicholls.

We would also like to recognize the immeasurable contributions of the worldwide community of Avid Certified
Instructors for their ongoing suggestions and comments, based on their experience in the classroom and their
professional expertise, which have resulted in the continued improvement of Avid’s curriculum.

About the Author

Andrew Hagerman has been a professional musician and teacher for the majority of his 50+ years. Beginning
his musical life at the early age of eight as a tubist and bassist, Andy continued his studies at the prestigious
Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. During his time there, MIDI and computer music were in their
infancy, and Andy recognized the usefulness of these new technologies in aiding the creative process. He had
the unique opportunity to learn these tools as they were being created and refined, and his quest for the best
in audio and music technology ultimately led him to use and teach Avid’s Pro Tools.

Andy has accumulated varied experience as a performer, composer, arranger, and producer, including as a
musician and arranger for Walt Disney productions and Tokyo Disneyland, to composer, arranger, and
producer on a wide range of music projects and post-production work. As an educator, he began teaching at
Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, where he rose to the position of Associate Course Director of
Advanced Audio Workstation Studies. in 2005, he joined the training team at Avid Technology as Training
Services Manager for the Asia-Pacific region (with his office based in Tokyo Japan, where he resides today) and
is now audio curriculum manager within the learning services team. During this period, he has authored
numerous books on music and audio production and continues to create content to inspire the next generation
of creative professionals.

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... iii
About the Author........................................................................................................ iii
Using This Book ..........................................................................................................xv
Using The Course Material .........................................................................................xv
Prerequisites ..............................................................................................................xv
System Requirements ...............................................................................................xvi
Becoming Avid Certified............................................................................................xvi
Pro Tools Certification .................................................................................................. xvi
Lesson 1: Getting Started................................................................................... 1
Audio Basics................................................................................................................ 2
Waveform ...................................................................................................................... 2
Compression and Rarefaction........................................................................................ 2
Frequency ...................................................................................................................... 4
Amplitude ....................................................................................................................... 5
Digital Audio Basics..................................................................................................... 6
Samples and Sample Rates ............................................................................................ 6
Bit Depth .........................................................................................................................7
The Impact of Sample Rate and Bit Depth on File Size.................................................... 8
DAWs and Pro Tools – An Introduction ........................................................................ 9
DAW Basics .....................................................................................................................9
Pro Tools—The Industry Standard.................................................................................. 10
What Makes Up A Pro Tools System? ......................................................................... 11
The Heart of Your DAW: The Computer .......................................................................... 11
Getting Audio In, Getting Audio Out: Audio Interfaces .................................................. 13
Great Resources............................................................................................................ 15
Powering Up Your System ..........................................................................................15
Opening and Playing a Pro Tools Session ..................................................................16
Opening a Session......................................................................................................... 16
Choosing a Playback Engine......................................................................................... 17
Starting and Stopping Playback ................................................................................... 18
Saving a Session and Quitting Pro Tools ...................................................................20

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Lesson 1 Review & Knowledge Check ............................................................... 21

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ..................................................21
Knowledge Check ..................................................................................................... 22
Exercise 1: Opening and Playing a Session.......................................................23
Part 1: Opening a Session ......................................................................................... 23
Opening a Session.........................................................................................................23
Setting Up the Playback Engine Device ........................................................................ 24
Part 2: Playing the Session........................................................................................ 24
Part 3: Saving As....................................................................................................... 24
Lesson 2: Getting to Know Pro Tools................................................................25
Creating a Pro Tools Session..................................................................................... 26
Creating a Blank Session.............................................................................................. 26
Creating a Session from a Template .............................................................................29
Pro Tools File Hierarchy.............................................................................................30
Session Folder .............................................................................................................. 30
Session Components .................................................................................................... 30
The Edit Window ....................................................................................................... 33
Edit Window Toolbar .....................................................................................................33
Rulers ........................................................................................................................... 35
Tracks List, Groups List, and Clips List ..........................................................................36
Tracks Area ...................................................................................................................37
Customizing the Edit Window....................................................................................... 38
The Mix Window........................................................................................................ 39
Tracks Area ...................................................................................................................39
Tracks List and Groups List ...........................................................................................39
Customizing the Mix Window ....................................................................................... 40
The Transport Window ..............................................................................................40
Customizing the Transport Window ............................................................................. 42
Themes, Views, and Menus ....................................................................................... 42
Themes......................................................................................................................... 42
Views ............................................................................................................................ 43
Mix Window Views ........................................................................................................ 45
Menu Structure............................................................................................................. 45

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Lesson 2 Review & Knowledge Check...............................................................47

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ................................................. 47
Knowledge Check .....................................................................................................48
Exercise 2: Getting Around in Pro Tools ...........................................................49
Part 1: Getting Started .............................................................................................. 49
Opening a Session.........................................................................................................49
Part 2: Changing the Main Counter..........................................................................50
Part 3: Changing Edit Window Views ........................................................................50
Part 4: Customizing the Mix and Transport Windows.................................................51
Show and Hide Mix Window Views................................................................................. 51
Show and Hide Transport Window Views ...................................................................... 52
Part 5: Wrapping Up ................................................................................................. 52
Lesson 3: Basic Audio Track Techniques ..........................................................53
Track Types ..............................................................................................................54
Audio Tracks................................................................................................................. 54
Auxiliary Input Tracks ................................................................................................... 54
MIDI Tracks................................................................................................................... 55
Instrument Tracks......................................................................................................... 55
Master Fader Tracks..................................................................................................... 56
Video Tracks ................................................................................................................. 56
Folder Tracks.................................................................................................................57
Mono, Stereo, and Surround Tracks ..............................................................................57
Creating Tracks ........................................................................................................58
Creating Multiple Tracks ...............................................................................................59
Setting Track Output ................................................................................................60
Working with Tracks.................................................................................................. 62
Selecting (and Deselecting) Tracks ............................................................................... 62
Showing and Hiding Tracks ...........................................................................................63
Naming and Renaming Tracks ......................................................................................63
Changing Track Order ................................................................................................. 64
Changing Track Height ................................................................................................ 64
Muting and Soloing ...................................................................................................... 65
Deleting Tracks............................................................................................................. 66

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Importing Audio ........................................................................................................ 67

Importing from the File menu.........................................................................................67
Importing from a File Browser........................................................................................ 71
Importing Audio with the Workspace Browser ........................................................... 72
Opening the Workspace Browser ..................................................................................72
Understanding the Workspace Browser.........................................................................73
Searching with the Workspace Browser.........................................................................75
Previewing Audio ...........................................................................................................78
Importing from the Workspace Browser ........................................................................ 81
Lesson 3 Review & Knowledge Check...............................................................83
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ................................................. 83
Knowledge Check .....................................................................................................85
Exercise 3: Working with Tracks.......................................................................87
Part 1: Opening a Blank Session ................................................................................ 87
Part 2: Creating Tracks.............................................................................................88
Checking Outputs ........................................................................................................ 90
Part 3: Importing Audio .............................................................................................90
Part 4: Wrapping Up ................................................................................................. 92
Lesson 4: Editing Fundamentals.......................................................................93
Part 1: Navigation Tools............................................................................................. 94
Getting Around the Timeline ..................................................................................... 94
Counters .......................................................................................................................94
Selecting a Playback Point ............................................................................................95
Selecting a Playback Area.............................................................................................96
Timeline and Edit Selections ..........................................................................................96
Timeline Selections and Loop Playback .........................................................................97
Working with the Playback Cursor............................................................................ 98
Insertion Follows Playback ............................................................................................98
Locating the Playback Cursor.......................................................................................99
Scrolling and Zooming in the Edit Window ................................................................ 99
Scrolling ........................................................................................................................99
Zooming ...................................................................................................................... 100
The Zoomer Tool .......................................................................................................... 102
Scrolling Options ......................................................................................................... 103

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

The Big Three: Trim, Selector, and Grabber Tools.................................................... 104

The Trim tool................................................................................................................ 104
The Selector Tool ......................................................................................................... 105
The Grabber Tool ........................................................................................................ 106
Introducing the Smart Tool.......................................................................................107
What is the Smart Tool? .............................................................................................. 107
Activating the Smart Tool ............................................................................................ 107
Using the Smart Tool ................................................................................................... 107
The Edit Modes........................................................................................................ 108
Slip Mode .................................................................................................................... 108
Shuffle Mode ............................................................................................................... 108
The Grid Modes ........................................................................................................... 109
Spot Mode....................................................................................................................110
Accessing the Edit Modes with F Keys ....................................................................... 111
Lesson 4 Review & Knowledge Check..............................................................112
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ................................................ 112
Knowledge Check .................................................................................................... 113
Exercise 4: Editing an Arrangement ................................................................115
Part 1: Getting Started ............................................................................................. 115
Opening a Session........................................................................................................ 115
Changing the Counter ................................................................................................. 116
Part 2: Starting in Slip Mode .................................................................................... 116
Part 3: Building the Arrangement ..............................................................................117
Part 4: Grid Mode Clean-up .................................................................................... 118
Part 5: Finishing Touches ......................................................................................... 119
Adding a Drum Fill ........................................................................................................ 119
Last Hit......................................................................................................................... 119
Some Sweetening ........................................................................................................ 120
Part 6: Saving and Closing ..................................................................................... 120
Lesson 5: Recording Audio ..............................................................................121
Setting Tempo and Meter.........................................................................................123
Tempo ......................................................................................................................... 123
Meter........................................................................................................................... 124
Tempo and Meter Rulers.............................................................................................. 126

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Setting Up a Click Track...........................................................................................126

Preparing Tracks for Recording................................................................................128
The Importance of Track Names ................................................................................... 131
Managing Your Space: The Disk Usage Window........................................................... 131
Basic Recording .......................................................................................................132
Recording Shortcuts.................................................................................................... 133
Recording Selections................................................................................................133
Working with Selections .............................................................................................. 133
Adjusting Selections .................................................................................................... 134
Pre-Roll and Post-Roll.................................................................................................. 135
QuickPunch Recording ............................................................................................ 137
Loop Recording........................................................................................................138
Whole File Clips and Subset Clips ............................................................................... 139
After Recording ....................................................................................................... 140
Lesson 5 Review and Knowledge Check........................................................ 143
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ................................................143
Knowledge Check ....................................................................................................144
Exercise 5: Basic Recording ........................................................................... 145
Part 1: Recording a Voiceover...................................................................................145
Part 2: Recording Music ...........................................................................................148
Lesson 6: MIDI.................................................................................................151
MIDI Basics...............................................................................................................152
"Digital Music Paper" ...............................................................................................152
How Sound is Created with MIDI ................................................................................. 153
Virtual Instruments ...................................................................................................... 153
MIDI and Instrument Tracks .....................................................................................154
MIDI/Auxiliary Input Track Workflow ........................................................................... 154
Instrument Tracks........................................................................................................ 155
Checking Your Work.................................................................................................... 157
MIDI Controls ...........................................................................................................158
Wait For Note .............................................................................................................. 158
MIDI Merge .................................................................................................................. 159
Importing and Recording MIDI .................................................................................159
Importing MIDI Clips.................................................................................................... 159
Recording MIDI ............................................................................................................. 161

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Working with Virtual Instruments .............................................................................164

Choosing Sounds ........................................................................................................ 164
Time and MIDI ..........................................................................................................166
What is a Tick? ............................................................................................................ 166
Timebases and Rulers.................................................................................................. 168
Timebases and Tracks ................................................................................................. 168
Editing MIDI..............................................................................................................169
MIDI Track Views ......................................................................................................... 169
MIDI Velocity ................................................................................................................ 171
Editing MIDI with the Pencil Tool .................................................................................. 172
Lesson 6 Review and Knowledge Check ........................................................ 175
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ................................................175
Knowledge Check ....................................................................................................176
Exercise 6: Setting Up a MIDI Session ..............................................................177
Part 1: Getting Started .............................................................................................178
Creating a Session ...................................................................................................... 178
Part 2: Importing MIDI .............................................................................................. 179
Part 3: Adding More Parts ....................................................................................... 180
Part 4: Editing MIDI .................................................................................................. 181
Fixing Short Notes ........................................................................................................ 181
Fixing Pitch.................................................................................................................. 182
Tweaking Velocity........................................................................................................ 182
Lesson 7: Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level.......................................... 185
Managing Multiple Tracks ........................................................................................186
Selecting Multiple Tracks ............................................................................................. 186
Changing Multiple Tracks ........................................................................................... 186
Making Timeline Selections on Multiple Tracks............................................................. 186
Clip Editing ..............................................................................................................187
Duplicate and Repeat.................................................................................................. 189
Duplicate..................................................................................................................... 189
Repeat ........................................................................................................................ 189
Separating and Consolidating .................................................................................190
Separating Clips ......................................................................................................... 190
Separating on a Grid.................................................................................................... 191
Consolidating.............................................................................................................. 192

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Basic Clip Nudging ..................................................................................................193

Using Fades .............................................................................................................194
Creating a Fade-in or Fade-out .................................................................................. 195
Creating a Crossfade.................................................................................................. 197
Creating Fades with Shortcuts .................................................................................... 198
Editing Fades ...........................................................................................................199
Using the Tab Key ...................................................................................................200
Basic Tabbing............................................................................................................. 200
Tab to Transients......................................................................................................... 201
Making Selections While Tabbing ................................................................................ 201
Lesson 7 Review and Knowledge Check ........................................................ 203
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ...............................................203
Knowledge Check ...................................................................................................205
Exercise 7: Mini-Gauntlet...............................................................................207
Part 1: Setting Up ....................................................................................................208
Part 2: Selecting Tracks ..........................................................................................208
Part 3: Trimming Clips ............................................................................................208
Part 4: Creating Fades............................................................................................209
Part 5: Nudging....................................................................................................... 210
Lesson 8: Getting Started with Mixing ........................................................... 213
What is Mixing?........................................................................................................214
The Components of a Good Mix .................................................................................. 214
"Out of the Box" and "In the Box" Mixing ..................................................................... 214
Mixing and Mastering.................................................................................................. 215
Signal Flow ..............................................................................................................216
The First Step: a “Static” Mix...................................................................................220
Setting Up a Static Mix ............................................................................................... 220
Adjusting Volume Levels ............................................................................................. 220
Adjusting Pan Positions ............................................................................................... 221
Controlling Your Mix with Subgroups ...................................................................... 222
What is a Subgroup?...................................................................................................222
Creating Subgroups....................................................................................................223
Solo Safe .....................................................................................................................224

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Using Master Faders ............................................................................................... 225

What is a Master Fader? ............................................................................................ 225
Master Fader Signal Flow ............................................................................................226
Setting Up a Master Fader Track .................................................................................227
Using a Master Fader Track.........................................................................................227
Watch Your Levels!.................................................................................................. 228
Clipping ......................................................................................................................228
Pre-Fader vs. Post-Fader Metering..............................................................................229
Lesson 8 Review & Knowledge Check........................................................... 230
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ...............................................230
Knowledge Check ....................................................................................................231
Exercise 8: Creating a Basic Mix ....................................................................233
Part 1: Getting Started ............................................................................................ 233
Opening a Session.......................................................................................................233
Part 2: Setting Up Your Mixing Environment ............................................................ 234
Part 3: Creating a Static Mix................................................................................... 235
Part 4: Managing Your Mix...................................................................................... 236
Adding Subgroups.......................................................................................................236
Adding a Master Fader................................................................................................237
Improving Your Static Mix............................................................................................237
Lesson 9: Using Effects ..................................................................................239
Inserts ..................................................................................................................... 240
What is an Insert?....................................................................................................... 240
Using Inserts ............................................................................................................... 240
Moving and Copying Plug-ins .....................................................................................242
Bypassing Plug-ins......................................................................................................242
Deactivating Inserts.....................................................................................................242
Removing Inserts .........................................................................................................243
Inserts on Master faders ..............................................................................................243
Plug-in Effects ........................................................................................................ 244
Plug-In Formats.......................................................................................................... 244
Getting Around the Plug-in Window........................................................................... 245
Plug-ins on Multi-channel Tracks ............................................................................... 248
Using Multi-Mono Plug-ins.......................................................................................... 248

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Using Effects Sends.................................................................................................250

Sends and Returns ..................................................................................................... 250
Creating Effect Sends ................................................................................................. 251
Working with Sends.................................................................................................... 256
Another Way to Work: AudioSuite ........................................................................... 257
Getting Around the AudioSuite Plug-in Window ......................................................... 258
Reverse Effects ........................................................................................................... 260
Lesson 9 Review & Knowledge Check ............................................................ 261
Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ............................................... 262
Knowledge Check ................................................................................................... 263
Exercise 9: Adding Effects to a Mix.................................................................265
Part 1: Getting Started ............................................................................................ 265
Part 2: Sculpting the Guitars .................................................................................. 266
Part 3: Taming the Bass .......................................................................................... 267
Part 4: Adding Ambience......................................................................................... 268
Part 5: Mix Bus Processing ...................................................................................... 269
Lesson 10: Basic Automation and Mixdown .................................................... 271
What is Mix Automation? ........................................................................................ 272
Viewing Automation in Pro Tools..................................................................................272
Writing Automation................................................................................................. 273
Reading Automation ............................................................................................... 275
Changing Automation Modes......................................................................................276
Reading Automation with Auto Read Mode .................................................................276
Suspending Automation with Auto Off Mode ...............................................................276
Editing Automation ................................................................................................. 277
Automation and the Trim Tool ..................................................................................... 277
Automation and the Grabber Tool............................................................................... 277
Automating Plug-in Effects ..................................................................................... 278
Enabling Parameters for Automation...........................................................................278
Creating a Mixdown................................................................................................280
Archiving Your Work with Save Copy In .................................................................. 284
More Archiving Tips ................................................................................................. 285
Clearing Unused Clips................................................................................................ 285
Compacting Files ........................................................................................................287

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Lesson 10 Review and Knowledge Check ......................................................289

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson ............................................... 289
Knowledge Check ...................................................................................................290
Exercise 10: Automation and Mixdown ........................................................... 291
Part 1: Getting Started .............................................................................................291
Part 2: Automating by Section ................................................................................ 292
Part 3: Tweaking with Tools..................................................................................... 293
Part 4: Creating a Fade-Out................................................................................... 293
Part 5: Exporting Your Mix....................................................................................... 293
Part 6: Archiving Your Mix ....................................................................................... 294

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on beginning your study of Pro Tools with the Avid Learning Series. Avid’s award-
winning Pro Tools technology is embraced by recording artists and audio production professionals
around the world. This is your opportunity to join their ranks, unleashing the power and productivity
of your own Pro Tools system.
This book represents the first step on a journey toward mastering Pro Tools software. The
information, exercises, and projects you will find here are written for Pro Tools version 2023.6
software. However, the vast majority of the book applies equally to earlier software versions.
Whether you are interested only in self-study, or you would like to pursue formal certification
through an Avid Learning Partner, this book will develop your core skills and introduce you to the
awesome power of Pro Tools software and hardware.

Using This Book

This book provides a course outline for the audio enthusiast with relatively little Pro Tools
experience. While this course can be completed through self-study, Avid recommends obtaining
hands-on experience through an instructor-led class offered by an Avid-authorized learning partner.
For more information on the classes offered through the Avid Learning Partner program, go to
www.avid.com/learning.

Using The Course Material

This book makes use of media files for the included exercises and supplemental projects. The media
files can be downloaded by pointing your browser to http://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises. The
download will begin automatically.

Prerequisites
• No experience with Avid Pro Tools software is required
• A working knowledge of Windows or Macintosh or operating systems

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

• Basic audio recording and DAW knowledge, such as a familiarity with microphones,
understanding of basic audio and MIDI recording techniques, knowledge of basic multi-track
mixing concepts (such as setting levels and panning), and familiarity with digital audio
equipment such as MIDI controllers and audio interfaces
For a quick introduction to the basics of Pro Tools, check out the Pro Tools Fast Start series:
https://www.avid.com/pro-tools/getting-started

System Requirements
This book assumes that you have a system configuration suitable to run Pro Tools software. To
verify the most recent system requirements, visit https://tinyurl.com/PTsystemReqs.
This course’s exercises employ a number of plug-in effects. These effects are all free, and included
with Pro Tools, but they should be installed on your system prior to beginning the first exercise. The
required plug-ins are:
• Click II

• D-Verb

• Dither

• Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter
• EQ3 7-Band

• SansAmp PSA-1

• Xpand!2

Becoming Avid Certified

Avid Certification helps professionals attain and demonstrate the skills and credentials they need to
increase their value, competency, and efficiency in the highly competitive music, video and media
industries. Recognized by top music, post-production, movie, television, and broadcast facilities
worldwide, Avid Certifications serve to validate a person’s expertise.
To become certified in Pro Tools, you must enroll in a program at an Avid Learning Partner, where
you can complete additional Pro Tools coursework if needed and take your certification exam. To
locate an Avid Learning Partner, visit https://www.avid.com/learning.

Pro Tools Certification

Avid offers three levels of professional Pro Tools certification: Avid Certified | Specialist, Avid
Certified | Professional, and Avid Certified | Expert. The 100-, 200-, and 300-level Pro Tools courses
are designed to prepare candidates for each of these certification levels, respectively.

Specialist Certification
To gain the title of Avid Certified | Pro Tools Specialist, you must take two foundational courses, Pro
Tools Fundamentals I (PT101) and Pro Tools Fundamentals II (PT110), before sitting and passing the
associated certification exam.

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 Pro Tools® Fundamentals I Introduction

Becoming an Avid Certified | Pro Tools Specialist verifies that you possess a fundamental
understanding of and the capability to use Avid Pro Tools to engineer a project through to
completion, with all of the fundamental operational skills to record, edit, mix and output the finished
session.

For more information about Avid’s certification programs, please visit

https://www.avid.com/learning/certification.

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 LESSON 1
Getting Started

Welcome to the world of Pro Tools, and congratulations! Throughout its decades-long history, Avid’s
Pro Tools has established itself as a leader in audio technology and the preeminent Digital Audio
Workstation (DAW) worldwide. Pro Tools can be found in virtually every facet of the audio industry:
from music production for streaming services to surround sound for movie soundtracks. The skills
you will learn at the beginning of your journey can take you all the way to the top of the professional
audio world.
This lesson will focus on the basics: Sound—how does it exist in the physical world and the digital
domain? How has digital audio technology evolved over the years, giving us the current powerful
tools that we enjoy today? And why Pro Tools?
In this lesson, you'll also learn some basic Pro Tools skills, including opening, playing, and saving a
Pro Tools session.

Duration: 30 Minutes

GOALS

• Learn how audio behaves in the real world

• Understand audio conversion to (and from) digital formats
• Learn about Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) including Pro Tools
• Identify different components that make up a Pro Tools system
• Learn how to open and play a Pro Tools session
 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Audio Basics
Any discussion of audio production is incomplete without first understanding the nature
of sound. The three most critical parts of the audio that you hear are waveform, frequency,
and amplitude. Let's look at each of these aspects.

Waveform
Waveform is perhaps the most recognizable part of a sound. It refers to the shape of a sound.
For example, here is a picture of a sine wave with its
distinctive smooth shape:

Sine wave

And here is a picture of a square wave…

Square wave

And a triangle wave…

Triangle wave

You’ll see here that even though the waveforms have different shapes, they share a few common
features. For example, whenever we look at a waveform graph (which is what these images are),
there is a horizontal line in the middle of the graph, which indicates zero energy. A silent waveform
would appear as a straight horizontal line following this zero line.

Compression and Rarefaction

With every audio waveform (except for silent audio), the waveform line begins by ascending
from the zero line. Since all sounds in the real world require energy, you’ll see this same
behavior in all naturally occurring audio waveforms.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

This energy will reach its peak, and then go back down to the zero line. This part of the audio
waveform—energy going up and then coming back down—is called the compression phase of
an audio waveform. The term comes from the fact that air pressure (or the pressure of
whatever medium thesound is passing through) increases in this part of an audio wave.
Because sound has a natural back-and-forth motion (since its energy comes from something
vibrating), its energy will then drop below the zero line into negative territory. Here again, it will
have a (negative) peak and return to the zero line. This is called the rarefaction phase of an audio
waveform. Every audio waveform is comprised of a series of compression and rarefaction.

Compression and rarefaction phases of a sine wave

In the natural world, a sound never

immediately stops. As the energy making
the sound stops, the waveform will settle
down back to the zero line and silence.
This is easy to see with a brief sound, like
the snare drum hit shown here, as a
brief burst of audio energy quickly
settling back down to silence.
A snare drum hit

A sound’s waveform is critically important—the

shape of the audio waveform represents the
tone (or timbre) of the sound. For example, a
sine wave is a very simple and pure sound, quite
different from a square wave of the same pitch
and loudness. As sound waves become more
complex, their waveforms become more
The waveform of a human voice
complex as well, as you can see with this waveform
of a human voice.
Even though this waveform is highly detailed, it still follows the same general
compression/rarefaction structure as every other sound you hear every day (though you can see
that within each compression or rarefaction phase, there can be multiple peaks and dips).

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Frequency
When we refer to the frequency of a sound, we’re talking about that sound’s pitch. High-pitched
sounds have a high frequency value, and low-pitched sounds have a low frequency value. On the
surface, understanding frequency is a very simple and straightforward matter, but let’s dig a little
deeper into the science behind the sound.
An understanding of frequency builds upon our previous discussion of waveforms: As you’ve already
learned, waveforms have a compression phase followed by a rarefaction phase (followed by another
compression phase, then another rarefaction phase, and so on until the sound ends). One period of
compression followed by one period of rarefaction is called a cycle.

Two cycles of a sine wave

So far, the waveforms that we’ve looked at represent very short amounts of time. Any sound
of a significant duration has many cycles. Frequency is measured in cycles per second, in units
called Hertz (Hz). A lower-frequency sound has fewer cycles per second, and thereforea lower
Hertz value. A higher-frequency sound has more cycles per second and a higher value.

Here’s how a low-frequency

sound compared to a high-
frequency sound might appear.
Note that in this case, both waves
are sine waves—they have similar
waveforms—and the only
difference between them is the
number of cycles that each has in
a given amount of time.

Two sine waves of different frequencies

Different animals can hear different frequencies. That’s how a dog whistle works—it makes a loud
sound at a frequency that dogs can hear, but human beings cannot. A human being’s frequency
range is generally considered to be 20 Hz up to 20,000 Hz (or 20 kilohertz, represented by the
abbreviation kHz).

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Although a hearing range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz is often quoted for human beings, it really doesn't apply to
everyone. As we age, and depending on our listening habits, humans generally lose high-end frequency
sensitivity over time. In general, our sensitivity to frequencies above 10 kHz begins to decrease significantly,
beginning in our 30s.

Amplitude
Amplitude, like frequency, is easy to recognize visually in a waveform. Amplitude refers to the energy
level of a sound and is visually represented in a waveform by its height. Sound with a greater
amplitude will be a taller waveform, and lower-amplitude waves will be shorter.

Here, you can see two waves that are identical

in all aspects except one. They are both sine
waves with the same frequency, but at
different amplitudes.

Two sine waves of different amplitudes

Amplitude can be affected in many ways: you can hit a drum harder or softer, blow more air through
a tuba, or turn up the volume and send more voltage to a speaker. No matter how energy is
supplied, though, the result is the same: Waveforms with greater amplitude have stronger
compression and rarefaction phases, moving more air, and can be heard over greater distances.
Just as the unit of measurement for frequency is Hertz, amplitude has its unit of measurement
called Decibel (dB). And just as humans have a frequency range of hearing, there is also a range of
Decibels (or "dynamic range”) that we can withstand as well. The maximum human dynamic range is
from 0 dB (which is silent) up to around 120 dB, after which sound becomes painful. Again, this
range, often called the threshold of hearing to the threshold of pain, varies from person to person.
There are a few different Decibel scales, depending upon the measurement being made. In the audio world,
we use dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level) to measure the amplitude of sound traveling through the air, and
dB FS (Full Scale) to measure the amplitude of digital audio signals in a DAW like Pro Tools.

There are a few terms that could be used in place of amplitude, like volume, gain, or
even voltage (when talking in terms of an audio signal going to a speaker). Be careful, though, of
using the word loudness if what you’re really talking about is amplitude (especially when talking to
professionals). Loudness deals with how sound is perceived, and the human ear is more sensitive to
some frequencies than others. This means that two waveforms with identical shapes (for example,
two sine waves) and amplitudes, but with different frequencies, could be perceived by people as
having different levels of loudness.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Digital Audio Basics

When audio is recorded (for example, from a microphone or guitar pickup), sonic energy is
converted to electrical energy. This electrical signal can then be stored on a variety of media - from
vinyl disks to magnetic tape, to a computer system's hard drive. From the medium, the signal can be
edited, mixed, and played back, converting the stored data back to an electrical signal, and then to
audible sound.
When audio is recorded to a digital medium, the process is called analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion, and
when it is played back, the process is known as digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion.

Now that you know how sound operates in the physical world, let’s explore how it works in the
digital realm.

Samples and Sample Rates

The word sample is used in several ways in the audio world – from drum hits and short recordings
to the fundamental aspect of digital audio that we’ll discuss here. When we use this term as it relates
to the basics of digital audio, a sample can be defined as an instantaneous measurement of an
audio signal. A sample measures one thing only, and that is the amplitude of an audio signal at a
specific moment in time.
A single sample isn’t nearly enough
information to record or reproduce
a sound. What’s needed are several
samples, spaced evenly in time to
re-create (or create) a sound
properly. Individually, a sample
represents only an amplitude
value, but together they can represent Sample points on a sine wave

a complete waveform!
The number of samples used per second is called the sample rate. Now, here’s where it might get a
little confusing—sample rates are measured in Hertz and Kilohertz, just like frequency.
Here are some commonly-used sample rates:
• 44.1 kHz (44,100 samples per second)
• 48 kHz (48,000 samples per second)
• 88.2 kHz (88,200 samples per second)
• 96 kHz (96,000 samples per second)
• 176.4 kHz (176,400 samples per second)
• 192 kHz (192,000 samples per second)
Let’s talk a little bit about the math behind sample rates, so you can make your best choice when
working with Pro Tools.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Sample rate theory finds its roots from a mathematician named Harry Nyquist, who is one of the
fathers of digital audio and the co-creator of the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem. Put simply, the
Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem states that in order to accurately record or reproduce a sound,
the sample rate must be at least twice the highest frequency of that sound. In other words, you
need at least one sample in each compression phase, and one sample in each rarefaction phase.
A sine wave with a sample rate
like the one shown here, since it
satisfies the Nyquist-Shannon
sampling theorem, can be
accurately recorded and played
back.
Plenty of samples for playback

However, if there are less than two samples per cycle when recording, something interesting
happens: Instead of the correct frequency being recorded, a lower frequency is created—this is
called foldback or aliasing.
Here, you can see an example of
what can happen when you break
the Nyquist-Shannon sampling
theorem's rule (too few samples),
with the blue waveform being
what would actually be recorded.
Too few samples for playback

Considering that the highest frequency that a human can hear is 20 kHz, and at least two samples
are needed per cycle, then initially a 44.1 kHz sample rate seems more than adequate, but there is
another important point to consider: When sound is recorded digitally, there is a small amount of
distortion in the frequencies very near the Nyquist frequency (the frequency that is ½ of the sample
rate, or the highest frequency that can be accurately recorded). When recording at 44.1 kHz, the
corresponding Nyquist frequency is 22.05 kHz (44.1 divided by 2). In some cases, this high-frequency
distortion can be audible—especially with sounds that have a lot of high frequency content, like
cymbals.
When recording at 96 kHz, however, you’re working with a Nyquist frequency of 48 kHz, which is well
above the audible range. And if you record at 192 kHz, your Nyquist frequency 96 kHz—even further
beyond our ability to hear. In both cases, the distortion near the Nyquist frequency is still there, but
it's so far out of the human hearing range that it doesn’t become a problem. While many
professionals can hear a difference between 44.1 kHz sample rate audio and 96 kHz audio, fewer
can hear a difference between 96 kHz and 192 kHz.

Bit Depth
Each sample is a digital measurement of only the amplitude of a sound in an instant of time. As with
all computer data, this measurement consists of ones and zeroes, and the number of those ones
and zeros in a sample is something that we call bit depth. In the audio production world, the most
common bit depths are 16-bit and 24-bit.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

There are two ways to think about bit depths. The first relates to accuracy: The more bits in each
sample, the more accurate the measurement of amplitude can be. For example, with 16-bit audio,
the maximum number of values is 65,536, which is 2 to the 16th power (216). This means that there
are 65,536 discrete amplitude levels that can be represented with digital audio at this bit depth. On
the other hand, the maximum number of amplitude levels that 24-bit audio (224) represents is
16,777,216, meaning that significantly more accurate measurements can be made, resulting in more
faithful recording and reproduction of an audio signal.
There's another dimension to bit depth: if you're using bits to measure the height of a waveform,
using more bits will allow you to measure greater heights. Higher bit depths will allow you to record
with a greater dynamic range. Here’s an easy formula for you to use for 16-bit or 24-bit audio: each
bit will give you approximately 6 dB of dynamic range, so a 16-bit audio has a maximum dynamic
range of 96 dB (16x6) while a 24-bit audio has a maximum dynamic range of 144 dB (24x6).
When it comes to which bit depth to use, the answer is straightforward. As you learned earlier in this
lesson, the maximum dynamic range of a human being is roughly 120 dB. A 16-bit audio doesn't
have more than a 96 dB dynamic range, which is well short of the human dynamic range. However,
with a 144 dB dynamic range, 24-bit audio can record all the dynamic range you can hear and more.
While it is true that a 24-bit audio file will be 50% larger than a 16-bit file of the same sample rate
and duration, the increased dynamic range is a major benefit in many situations.
16-bit and 24-bit depths are called fixed point bit depths. There is another bit depth option in Pro Tools; 32-
bit floating point (called 32-bit float in the Pro Tools software). This is a fundamentally different bit-depth
format and is covered in other courses in the Avid Learning series.

The Impact of Sample Rate and Bit Depth on File Size

The choices you make regarding sample rate and bit depth will influence how much you can do with
your Digital Audio Workstation. The more samples or the more bits that you use, the more numbers
will be stored on a hard drive or processed by the CPU. In practical terms, higher sample rates and
bit-depths can translate into fewer tracks and plug-ins before your system reaches its storage and
computing limits.

Here are a few standard figures to bear in mind when working with digital audio:

• One minute of 16-bit/44.1 kHz mono audio requires about 5 MB of storage space.
• One minute of 24-bit/44.1 kHz mono audio requires about 8 MB of storage space.

• One minute of 32-bit/44.1 kHz mono audio requires about 10.5 MB of storage.
From there, it's basic multiplication: Double the sample rate, you'll double the file size, and stereo files
(having two channels) will be twice the size of a mono file.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

The following chart lists sample rates, bit-depths, and the resultant file size for a mono, one-minute
audio file with greater specificity (rounded to the nearest tenth of a Megabyte).
Sample Rates, Bit-Depth, and File Size
(Mono, 1 minute)

16-Bit 24-Bit 32-Bit Float

44.1 kHz 5.04 MB 7.57 MB 10.09 MB

48 kHz 5.49 MB 8.23 MB 10.98 MB

88.2 kHz 10.09 MB 15.14 MB 20.18 MB

96 kHz 10.98 MB 16.47 MB 21.97 MB

176.4 kHz 20.18 MB 30.28 MB 40.37 MB

192 kHz 21.97 MB 32.95 MB 43.94 MB

For those interested in diving deeper into the science behind digital audio, here are two valuable
resources:

• First, check out Digital Domain (digido.com). This website, run by world-famous mastering engineer
Bob Katz, features in-depth articles on a wide range of topics relating to digital audio, mixing, and
mastering.

• Also, a book called Principals of Digital Audio by Ken Pohlmann, is worth reading for those who are
curious about fundamental digital audio science. Now in its sixth edition, this excellent read goes
deep into the physics and math of digital audio.

DAWs and Pro Tools – An Introduction

Before digital audio came on the scene, audio was recorded on magnetic analog audio tape, in
expensive recording studios. In the mid-1980s, music technology took massive evolutionary leaps,
introducing MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) and digital audio that could be recorded to a
hard drive (instead of tape).
Around this time, a company named Digidesign came out with the digital audio recorder Sound
Designer, which in turn evolved to the “tapeless studio system” called Sound Tools, and then the
pioneering Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) Pro Tools in 1991. In 1994, Digidesign merged with
another company called Avid Technology (itself a leader in the video production world).

DAW Basics
Digital Audio Workstations combine comprehensive Audio and MIDI recording, editing, and mixing
tools, putting the power of a full audio production facility in a computer. Let’s take a look at how
DAWs work.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Sessions and Projects

DAWs generally have “master” files—files that bring together all the different media elements you
need for your work. In the case of Pro Tools, you can go two ways: As a rule, if you’re working on
media that resides in a local drive, that master file is called a session file. If your work resides in the
cloud, the master file is called a project. Session files and project files are fairly small files
themselves, but they are important because they are the master files for your work and enable you
to interact with the media that you use.

Files and Clips

When you record audio into Pro Tools (or any modern DAW), a file will be created. That file will not
be part of your Session file, but rather a separate audio file. Pro Tools enables users to access audio
(and video) files through visual objects in the software environment called clips. A clip represents (or
“points to”) an audio file on your hard drive.

Non-Linear, Non-Destructive
Working with clips has many advantages, and one of the first that you'll discover is that you can
move clips earlier or later on the Pro Tools timeline and position them anywhere you want. An
environment like this, in which you have the ability to manipulate multiple elements independently
on the timeline, is commonly described as being non-linear.
Another great advantage of clip-based DAWs is that you can non-destructively edit your audio. This
means that you can change the start and end times of clips (removing audio from your session’s
timeline), and since you’re not operating on a file directly, no data is lost. If you don't like an edit
you’ve just done, you can try something different or undo what you did with no damage done to the
original audio.

Real-time processing
Back in the days of tape, if you wanted an effect to be added to a sound, you had to record (or re-
record) with that effect. With today’s DAWs, most of the effects that you use in your session run in
real time. This means that your effects are non-destructive, and if you want to change a particular
effect’s settings in real time, you can do that easily.

Pro Tools—The Industry Standard

There are a number of DAWs on the market, but it is Pro Tools that the industry has picked to be
their standard. Let’s take a look at why so many pros choose Pro Tools.

Features and Workflows

Pro Tools is true to its digital audio roots, and throughout its evolution, audio quality has been a
priority. Avid audio hardware captures and plays back audio with high fidelity, and audio processing
(done within the Pro Tools software) preserves a clean signal, allowing professionals to get the best
possible results.
But audio is not all that Pro Tools can do—Pro Tools has many powerful MIDI functions as well,
which means that you can compose music, record live performances, and edit and mix MIDI and

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

audio together, all in one software environment. And if you can read music notation, there’s great
news for you—you can view MIDI data as traditional notation, as well as in a “piano roll” view.
You’ll learn more about MIDI in Pro Tools in other Lesson 6 in this course.

There’s a word you’ll hear thrown around when talking about audio production: workflow. This refers
to a series of steps or features used to get a job done. The better-designed those features are, the
smoother and more efficient your workflow will be. Further, if these features are designed with
varied kinds of work in mind, there will be multiple ways in which these features can be employed,
giving the user the flexibility to work how they want in any situation. When it comes to recording,
editing, and especially mixing, Pro Tools’ workflow features are top-of-the-line.

Pro Tools Versions

There are four versions of Pro Tools: Pro Tools Intro, Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio, and Pro Tools
Ultimate. Though priced differently, with different levels of features, they all share a common
fundamental architecture. This means, for example, that the skills that you learn with Pro Tools
Artist can be used on the most advanced Pro Tools | Ultimate systems. Let’s look at how the
different versions compare:
• Inputs and outputs: The more inputs and outputs you have, the more individual audio
signals you can record and play back. Pro Tools Intro allows you to record up to 4 signals at a
time, Pro Tools Artist will let you record up to 16 signals at a time, Pro Tools Studio supports
up to 64 separate audio input or outputs, and Pro Tools Ultimate maxes out at a whopping
256 channels of input and output.
• Tracks: You learn more about tracks throughout this course, but for now know this: The
more tracks you can work with, the more complex your session or project can get. The
number of tracks in Pro Tools Intro is relatively small, progressively increasing as you
upgrade to Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate. You’ll learn specific
track types and the numbers you can use later in this course.
• Stereo versus Surround: You can work on stereo mixes in Pro Tools Artist, but
for surround sound mixing, Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate are required.
As you might expect, features get more powerful as you upgrade—upgrading to standard Pro Tools
Studio from Pro Tools Artist will give you access to numerous new tools and features, while
upgrading from Pro Tools Studio to Pro Tools Ultimate will take you even further.

What Makes Up A Pro Tools System?

Pro Tools, or any DAW, is a key part of any audio production system, but it’s not the only part. Many
different components work together to make a complete audio production system.

The Heart of Your DAW: The Computer

Your computer is the cornerstone of your Pro Tools system. Pro Tools software can run on Windows
or Mac, on a desktop computer or a laptop, but it’s important to have the right kind of power to
make the most out of it.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Mac or PC?
When building a Pro Tools system, the computer's operating system is often one of the first
questions to be answered. Mac or PC? The good news is that Pro Tools runs on either platform. The
biggest difference between the two platforms—beyond the operating system itself—are the
modifier keys and shortcuts that Pro Tools will use.
Even if you're more comfortable on one platform than the other, you can still easily switch between
them by bearing in mind the keyboard equivalents:

Mac Windows

Command Ctrl

Option Alt

Control Start

Shift Shift

Return Enter

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

In order to reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1) From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts.

2) In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button.

3) In the Are You Sure? dialog box, click the Yes button.

CPU
Pro Tools systems can operate in one of two ways: Native, where the host computer is responsible
for all processing tasks, or with a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), where specific hardware has been
added to offload much of these tasks, simultaneously increasing capacity and improving
performance.
Pro Tools Intro, Pro Tools Artist, and Pro Tools Studio systems operate natively, meaning that the
computer’s central processing unit (CPU) will do everything from mixing to real-time effects
processing and more. The more power your CPU has, the more powerful your Pro Tools software
can be.
Pro Tools | Ultimate can operate as either a native or DSP system, depending upon the system
setup. The more advanced DSP system configurations are discussed in later courses in the Avid
Learning Series.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

RAM
In addition to CPU power, your computer’s Random-Access Memory (RAM) plays an important role
in how your Pro Tools system will perform. RAM serves as a short-term memory for your CPU, and
here again, more is generally better. Pro Tools Artist requires a minimum of 4 GB of RAM to run, but
Avid recommends at least 8 GB. Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate systems require a
minimum of 16 GB of RAM, with a recommendation of at least 32 GB.

Hard Drives
Just as tape-based recording studios relied on magnetic audio tape as a storage medium in the old
days, DAWs rely on hard drives to store their audio. Two key factors when choosing a hard drive for
Pro Tools are size and speed. A larger-capacity hard drive enables you to store more minutes of
audio data, higher-resolution data, or both. Most recording studios don’t deal with gigabytes of
storage, but rather multiple terabytes of hard drive space. It's also important that the data can be
retrieved quickly, so the speed of the drive is very important. Avid recommends drives that have a
minimum rotational speed of 7200 RPM if they are traditional hard drive, or the use of SSD drives.
Beginners might be tempted to use their computer’s internal system drive for all their audio tasks.
While this can work for smaller jobs, at a certain point your system drive won’t be able to do all its
normal system work and meet the demands of Pro Tools. For that reason, it’s highly recommended
to use a separate hard drive dedicated to audio data storage when using Pro Tools.

Not to be Overlooked—Mice, Trackballs, Keyboards

Technical specifications aside, it's important to have a comfortable work setup, as Pro Tools users
tend to spend long hours at their computers. Make sure that your keyboard is comfortable to type
on, to avoid wrist fatigue. Choosing a mouse or trackball is a matter of personal preference, but it’s
worth noting that trackballs generally take up less space, and so are commonly seen on professional
recording studio desks.
There’s no single right answer for what to use. Choose what is comfortable and what will stand up
to many hours of use—you’ll be glad you did in the long run.

Getting Audio In, Getting Audio Out: Audio Interfaces

Your computer probably has a built-in microphone and speakers, but these won’t be good enough
for any kind of serious work. To get high-quality audio in and out of your computer, you need to use
an audio interface. The good news is that there are a lot of choices, and you won't need to break the
bank.

Computer Connections
Audio interfaces can connect to your computer in different ways, such as USB, Thunderbolt, and
FireWire. As a rule, the faster the connection between the interface and the computer, the more
channels of input and output or the higher quality audio you will be able to play and record.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Analog Audio Connections

The number of inputs that your interface has is important, and your needs will determine what you
should purchase. If you're working by yourself and only recording one instrument at a time, a single
stereo input might be just fine. If you want to record multiple musicians at the same time, however,
you'll need more channels of input.
The kinds of inputs your interface has is also important, and you’ll want to make sure that the gear
you purchase can accommodate the kinds of devices you want to attach to it:
• Line level inputs are generally used for connecting devices, such as synthesizers, drum
machines, and audio and video media players. Line inputs usually use a quarter-inch phone
connector.
• Microphone inputs are used to connect microphones to your interface. These generally use
3-pin XLR type connectors. Some microphones require a bit of extra voltage to be carried
through that cable, called phantom power, which is sometimes labeled as “48v” on an
interface. If your microphone requires phantom power, make sure that your interface can
supply it.
• If you want to record a guitar or bass, you'll want to make sure that your interface has
a DI (Direct Injection), also sometimes called an “instrument” input. This is where you will
plug your instrument in. DI inputs also use a quarter-inch phone connection.
The types of outputs on your interface are also crucial. Monitor speakers (something we'll talk about
later in this lesson) commonly use quarter-inch or XLR connectors. Make sure that your audio
interface supports the same connection as your speakers. A headphone output is also convenient to
have.

Digital Audio Connections

Many audio interfaces, including some entry-level products, have digital audio inputs and outputs of
some extent. Digital inputs are commonly used to receive signals from other digital devices, and
digital outputs will often go to speakers that have digital inputs. Digital audio formats include S/PDIF,
ADAT optical, AES/EBU and Dante. Here again, make sure you have the kinds of connections that
your digital peripheral gear (if you have any) requires.
The topic of digital audio connections is beyond the scope of this book but is covered in detail in other
courses of the Avid Learning Series.

Addendum: Hearing the Real Mix: Monitor Speakers

Whether you're mixing on speakers or headphones,

the monitors you choose will greatly impact your work.
In this addendum, we explore what to look for in monitor
speakers and mixing headphones.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add1-1

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Great Resources
As you put together your system, you might have some questions. Here are a few places to get up-
to-date answers.

Avid’s Compatibility documents

Avid maintains a list of Pro Tools system requirements, which it updates as new versions are
released. To find out what you need to run Pro Tools, go
to https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/compatibility/Pro-Tools-System-Requirements.

Knowledge Base
Avid also has a database called “Knowledge Base,” where you can search for information on a variety
of technical topics. To access it, go to https://www.avid.com/search#t=KB&sort=relevancy.

In-Application Help
Once you’ve installed Pro Tools, you'll find that there are helpful resources within the Pro Tools
software itself. From the Help menu, you can search topics based on keywords, or access Pro Tools
online help and support.

Powering Up Your System

When computers and audio interfaces are turned on or off, they will sometimes send a spike of
voltage from their outputs. If your speakers are on at the time, that voltage spike will sound like a
loud pop or thump. Over time, these pops and thumps will wear out your speakers. So, here is a
cardinal rule among professional and semi-professional studios of all kinds: Your monitor speakers
should be the last thing you turn on when starting up your system, and the first thing that you turn
off when shutting it down.
This isn't just a picky detail—when professional studios spend significant money and time on their
setups, they want to make sure their gear is properly taken care of. Making sure that speakers aren't
inadvertently damaged by power on/off voltage spikes is considered basic professional etiquette,
and it’s a good habit to get into from the start.
Here’s the recommended order of powering up your system:
1. Start with all devices powered down.
2. Excluding your computer, turn on any devices that use external power (this can include
external drives, audio or MIDI interfaces, and so on). Depending on the device. you might
need to wait for them to initialize.
3. Power up your computer. If you have devices that are USB bus-powered, wait for them to
initialize.
4. Launch Pro Tools.
5. Turn on your monitor speakers.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

More complex systems often require special power-up processes. Refer to your equipment's documentation
for specific details.

Many audio interfaces are muted upon startup, as an extra precaution to protect the attached speakers. For
these devices, remember to unmute the interface after your system is completely powered up.

Powering down the system, the steps are reversed with the most important step being to turn your
monitor speakers off first.

Opening and Playing a Pro Tools Session

Pro Tools is installed and ready. Now, let's go through the basic steps of opening and playing a
session.

Addendum: Installing Pro Tools

If you haven’t installed Pro Tools yet, now’s the time to do it.,
This addendum lists the steps to getting Pro Tools licensed,
installed, and activated.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add1-2

When Pro Tools users create a session, they’re creating a master file that will refer to other media
(audio or video files) that can exist anywhere on the user’s hard drives or local networks. The
amount of audio that a session can use is limited only by the amount of the local storage, and there
is a great deal of flexibility in where files and folders can be organized.

Opening a Session
To start, let's open a pre-existing session:
1. Click on the Pro Tools icon to launch the
software (according to the conventions of
your computer’s operating system).Once
launched, Pro Tools will present you with
the Dashboard window.
2. On the left-hand side of the Dashboard,
you'll find three tabs: Create, Recent,
and Projects. The Recent tab will display a
list of your 10 most recently created and
opened sessions or projects for easy
access. If you're just getting started with
Pro Tools, this list will be empty.
3. In the lower right-hand portion of the
Dashboard, click the Open from
Disk... button.5 The Pro Tools Dashboard

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

4. In the browser window that appears, navigate to the folder that contains your session file.
5. Locate the session file. A Pro Tools session file has a .ptx file extension.
6. Do one of the following:
o Click on the session file to select it, and then click the Open button.
o Double-click the session file.

Choosing a Playback Engine

When you first launch Pro Tools, you'll be presented with a dialog box that will guide the through the
process of choosing the right hardware for recording and playback:

1. When launching Pro Tools for the first

time, you’ll be presented with this
dialog box. Click the Next button to
proceed.

The first Playback Engine dialog box

2. In many cases, the device shown in the

Playback Engine menu will be the right
choice for your system, but if it’s not
the hardware you want to use, just click
the disclosure triangle to the right of
the Playback Engine selector and
choose it from the list. Then click the
OK button, and you're on your way!

Choosing a Playback Engine

If at any time after the initial launching of Pro Tools you want to change the hardware that Pro Tools
is using, you can do this from the Playback Engine dialog box:
1. From the Setup menu, choose Playback Engine.
The Playback Engine dialog will appear.
2. In the Device field, click the
disclosure triangle and
choose the hardware that is
attached to your speakers or
headphones.

Choosing a device in the Playback Engine dialog box

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

If your audio interface is connected but not showing up on the Device list, it might be due to missing drivers.
Make sure that your hardware drivers are installed and up to date.

On Mac-based systems, Pro Tools creates a new Playback Engine Device called the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O. If
you want to use your Mac’s built-in input and output together, that is the engine you must choose.

If a session is open when changing Playback Engine Devices, Pro Tools will present a message letting you
know that Pro Tools will save and close your session before reopening the session with the new Playback
Engine settings.

3. Click the OK button in the lower right-hand corner of the Playback Engine dialog box to apply
your changes.

Starting and Stopping Playback

Your system's put together, and you’ve opened a session. The window below is called
the Edit window, and the colored blocks are audio and MIDI clips. Depending on the session you
open, the details of those clips will be different, but the overall look of the window will be similar.

The Pro Tools Edit window

Video clips can also be shown in the Edit window but aren't included in the session shown here.

MIDI clips will be explored in detail in Lesson 6 in this course.

If you're not seeing the Edit window, you can show it by going to the Window menu and then choosing Edit.
Windows that are shown are indicated in the menu with a check mark (✓).

Later in this lesson, you’ll learn the Pro Tools Graphic User Interface (or GUI) in detail. For now, let's
go through some of the basic ways to play and hear your session.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

The most basic way of controlling playback is from Pro Tool's Transport window:
1. From the Window menu, choose Transport. The Transport window will open.
The default shortcut for opening (and closing) the Transport window is Command+1 (on the keyboard's
numeric keypad) on a Mac computer, or Ctrl+1 (on the keyboard's numeric keypad) on a Windows
computer.

2. As with most windows in Pro Tools, there are aspects of the Transport window that can be
shown or hidden. No matter the configuration though, you will see a row of standard
transport icons. Click the green triangular button to begin playback.

Starting playback from the Transport window

As your session plays, you will see a vertical line traveling from left to right. This is commonly called
the play line, playback cursor, or timeline insertion, which indicates where you are in the session's
timeline. You will also see large green numbers at the top of the Edit window, which shows where
the playback cursor is located in time.
On the left-hand side of the Edit window, you’ll see volume level meters showing the volume level of
each individual row (each row is a track, which we’ll talk more about later in this course).

Playing a Session

3. To stop playback, just press the square Stop button (immediately to the left of the Play
button) in the Transport window.
Alternately, you can press your keyboard’s Spacebar to start and stop playback.

The Transport window also includes a few other useful navigational buttons:
• Clicking the Return to Zero button will take
the playback cursor to the beginning of the The Return to
Zero button
session's timeline.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

• Clicking and holding the Rewind button The Rewind

will move the playback cursor backwards on button

the timeline.

The Fast
• Clicking and holding the Fast Forward button will Forward button
move the playback cursor forward on the timeline.

• Clicking the Go to End button will take The Go to End

the playback cursor to the end of the session's button
timeline.

Using the Spacebar to Start and Stop Playback

Shortcuts are important part of mastering Pro Tools—you won't need to memorize them all, but
there are a few that apply to just about everyone. Here's one: Pressing your keyboard’s Spacebar will
start and stop playback.

Saving a Session and Quitting Pro Tools

When you're done with your work, you will want to save what you've done, and safely quit the Pro
Tools software. This process follows the typical rules of your computer's operating system:
1. Navigate to the File menu.
2. Do one of the following:
o Click Close Session to close the session without saving.
o Click Save to overwrite the session file you opened with any changes you've made.
o Click Save As to create a new session file, leaving the session file that you opened
unchanged.
Here is a useful default shortcut for saving your work: Command+S (Mac) or Ctrl+S (Windows). The default
shortcut for Save As is Command+Control+S (Mac) or Ctrl+Start+S (Windows).

Quitting the Pro Tools application follows the convention of your computer's operating system.
On a Mac computer:
1. Navigate to the Pro Tools menu.
2. Click Quit Pro Tools.
And on a Windows computer:
1. Navigate to the File menu
2. Click Exit.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Lesson 1
Review & Knowledge Check

You've completed your first Pro Tools lesson. Well done!

In this lesson, you learned:
• How audio behaves in the real world, in terms of waveform, frequency, and amplitude
• How audio is converted to (and from) a digital format, and the importance of sample
rate and bit depth
• What DAWs are and how they work
• The different components that make up a Pro Tools system

• The proper order in which to power up (or power down) your system

• How to open Pro Tools and open a session, including the changing of the playback device (if
needed)

• Basic playback of a Pro Tools session.

• How to close and save a Pro Tools session, and quit Pro Tools

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.
To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog box
will appear.

Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 1 Getting Started

Action Default Shortcut

Show or hide the Transport window Command+[1] (Mac) or Ctrl+[1] (Windows)

Start and stop playback Spacebar

Move the playback cursor to the beginning of the session's Return (Mac), or Enter (Windows)
timeline

Move the playback cursor to the end of the session's timeline Option+Return (Mac) or Alt+Enter (Windows)

Save your session Command+S (Mac) or Ctrl+S (Windows)

Open the Save As dialog box Command+Control+S (Mac) or Ctrl+Start+S (Windows)

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online
knowledge check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC1

| 22
 Exercise 1
Opening and Playing a Session
In this exercise, you’ll open, play, and save a Pro Tools session.

Media: PT101 2023 Exercise 1 (Low Roar)

Duration: 10 Minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise1
TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Opening a Session

Now it's time to have a little hands-on practice where you will launch Pro Tools, open a session, and
do some basic playback:

Opening a Session
1. Launch Pro Tools.
2. Do one of the following:
o In the Dashboard window, click the Open from Disk button.
o From the File menu, choose Open Session.
3. In the browser window that appears, navigate to Pro Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023
Exercise 1 (Low Roar) > PT101 2023 Exercise 1 (Low Roar).ptx. Double-click this session file to
open the session.
 Exercise 1 Opening and Playing a Session

Throughout this course, when you open a session, you may see a Session Notes dialog box, saying that
“Some inputs or outputs may have become inactive because your audio hardware device has changed.”
This is a message that often appears when a session was created on a different system from the one it is
being opened on. You can safely click the No button, after which your Session will open.

Setting Up the Playback Engine Device

4. In the Playback Engine dialog box, make sure that you have the correct audio interface
selected in the Device section.

Part 2: Playing the Session

1. Start playback of the PT101 2023 Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session by clicking the Play button (In
the Transport window or Edit window toolbar) or pressing the Spacebar. You should be able
to hear the session play—if you can't, there might be something misconfigured in the
Playback Engine.
2. After listening for a while, stop playback by clicking the Stop button or pressing
the Spacebar.

Part 3: Saving As
One of the most important parts of any workflow is properly saving your work. let's create a new
session file based on the one you've just opened, in a way that identifies your name and today's
date. This leaves the session file you opened unchanged.
1. From the File menu, choose Save As.
2. In the browser window that appears, navigate to the location where you want to save your
session (for example, the Pro Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 1 (Low Roar)
folder).
3. Name the session descriptively. Here's a possible name - PT101 2023 Exercise 1 (Low Roar) -
[Your Name] [today's date]. When you’re ready, click the Save button in the browser window.
4. Close the session by going to the File menu and choosing Close Session.

Remember that you cannot close a Pro Tools session by closing its windows. You must choose Close
Session from the File menu.

This completes Exercise 1.

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 LESSON 2
Getting to Know Pro Tools
This lesson will cover a lot of ground—from creating a new session to understanding Pro Tools’
windows (and how to make the most of them). Mastering these fundamentals is an important step
on the road to Pro Tools mastery!

Duration: 30 Minutes

GOALS
• Create a new session
• Understand the file hierarchy of a Pro Tools session
• Learn the layout and function of Pro Tools windows
• Learn how to work with Pro Tools' various views and menus
 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Creating a Pro Tools Session

In the previous section, you opened a session. Now, let’s create a new one from scratch. As with
many things in Pro Tools, there are a few ways that you can approach this.

Creating a Blank Session

Let’s start by creating a blank session—in other words, a session that has no tracks in it:
1. Do one of the following:
o Launch Pro Tools. The Dashboard window will appear. Click the Create tab if it isn’t
already selected.
o If Pro Tools is already open, from the File menu, choose Create New. The Dashboard
window will appear with the Create tab already selected.
The default shortcut to create a new session is Command+N on a Mac or Ctrl+N on a Windows
computer.

2. At the top of the Dashboard, name your session descriptively—the default name of Untitled
won't tell anybody what your session is about!

There are certain characters that are "illegal" in both Windows and Mac computer systems, and should be
avoided when naming your session:

* | " : < > ? / \

You can use these characters when working within Pro Tools (for tasks like naming tracks, to be discussed
in the next lesson), but not for naming of a Session file.

3. The Dashboard window enables you to create sessions and projects (which will be discussed
later in this course). To create a session, choose the Local Storage (Session) radio button.
4. We won’t be creating a session from a template in this case, so make sure the Create from
Template check box is unchecked.

Choosing settings for your session

Creating a blank session (not from a template)

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

5. Choose the File Type that your session will use. This will determine the kinds of files that will
be created when recording audio into your session. You have two choices:

Choosing settings for your session

o BWF (.WAV): Choosing this option will create .wav files (short for Waveform Audio
File) when you record into Pro Tools. Specifically, the kind of .wav file that will be
created is a Broadcast Wave Format (BWF), which has specific advantages for more
advanced post-production workflows. This is the default format for Pro Tools and is
chosen in most situations.
o AIFF: Choosing this option will create .aiff files (Audio Interchange File Format).
Originally a Mac-only format, Pro Tools does provide this option on both Mac and
Windows-based Pro Tools systems. This is used in circumstances where files might
be shared with systems that don't support .wav files.
6. Choose a Sample Rate for your session. This list will vary depending upon the sample rates
supported by the device that you've chosen in the Playback Engine dialog box.
7. Choose a Bit Depth for your session. Your choices are 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit float.
8. Your I/O Settings determine the number, naming, and organization of your audio inputs and
outputs. This will be discussed in detail later in this course, but for now, there are two
settings that can get you started:
o Stereo Mix: This option will load default input and output settings for your device,
based on the device you have chosen in the Playback Engine dialog box. This is often
a good starting-off point, especially if you are creating a Pro Tools session on an
unfamiliar system.
o Last Used: If you've successfully created an I/O setup for the previously-opened
session (and if you're sure that nobody else has created a new session on your
system), the Last Used I/O setup will create a new session with the previously
opened session's I/O configuration.
9. Next, you can choose whether your session will use Interleaved files or not. Here again, you
have options:
o Unchecked: Any audio recorded on a stereo track will be stored as two mono audio
files (one for the left channel and one for the right channel).
o Checked: Any audio recorded on a stereo track will be stored as a single stereo
audio file, comprising both left and right channels.

Whether you choose to use interleaved files or not has no impact on the functioning of Pro Tools, or any
aspect of the production process within the Pro Tools software. This setting only determines the type and
quantity of audio files created when recording and working with audio tracks.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

10. Near the bottom of the Create tab of the Dashboard window are two radio buttons, which
will enable you to control where your session will be created:

Location options for your new session

o When the Prompt for location radio button is selected, Pro Tools will present you
with a browser window, allowing you to choose a location for your session from
among your local drives.
o When the bottom radio button is checked, Pro Tools will automatically create your
session in the indicated location (in the case of the image below, it would be the Pro
Tools default location - /Users/[username]/Avid/Documents). You can choose any
location as a destination for newly created sessions by clicking the Location button
and choosing a default location for your Pro Tools sessions.
TIP: The Pro Tools default location (your computer's Documents folder) is a convenient choice if you plan to
store all of your sessions in one place. However, most professionals choose to store their sessions on
dedicated audio hard drives.

11. To create your session, click the Create button in the lower right-hand corner of the window.
If you have chosen the Prompt for Location option, you will be presented with a browser
window, from which you will choose the location of your session. Otherwise, your session
will be created in the default location you've chosen.
You've probably noticed the Show on startup checkbox in the lower left-hand corner of the Dashboard
window. When checked, the Dashboard will appear upon launching Pro Tools. Otherwise, it will only
appear when creating a new session (or project) or opening a project. Projects will be discussed later in
this course.
If a session is already open before you created a new one, you’ll be given the option of saving or not
saving your work before the new session is created. You’ll see the Pro Tools Edit window just as you did
earlier in this lesson, but in this case, there are no tracks or clips.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Creating a Session from a Template

Here’s another way to create a new session—from a template. A Pro Tools template is a
preconfigured set of tracks, and when you create a new session from a template, you're not starting
with an empty Edit window.
Creating a session from a template is similar to creating a blank session with only a few differences:
1. Just as when creating a blank session, you'll need to get to the Dashboard window, and click
the Create tab.
2. We're still creating a Local
Storage (Session), but in this
case, make sure the Create from
Template check box is checked.
You will see a list of templates
that you can choose from.
3. Click the Template Group pop-up
menu. A list of template
categories will appear. This list
can vary based upon the templates that you Creating a session from a template

have created (in addition to templates that are

included when Pro Tools is installed).
4. Choose a template category. The list of templates in the Dashboard will display all templates
in that category.
5. Choose the template that you wish to use for your new session.
6. Even though Pro Tools will populate the name field with the name of the template that you
choose, you should get into the good habit of naming all your sessions descriptively, so
choose your own name for the new session (in the Name field at the top of the Dashboard).
7. After this, the process is identical to creating a blank session. Choose your session settings:
o File Type
o Sample Rate
o Bit Depth
o I/O Settings
o Interleaved
8. Just as you did before, choose a location for your new session.
9. Click the Create button, and your new session will be created.
When you create a session from a template, your session will come preloaded with tracks that you
can play with, instead of a blank Edit window. Different templates will give you different tracks, so
experiment!

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Addendum: Session Audio Settings

Whether you're mixing on speakers or headphones,

the monitors you choose will greatly impact your work.
In this addendum, we explore what to look for in monitor
speakers and mixing headphones.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add02-1

Pro Tools File Hierarchy

After creating a new session, you might reasonably assume that you've created a session file, and
you'd be right—but that's not the only thing that you've created! A Pro Tools session is an ecosystem
of different elements that work together to get the job done.
Let's quickly look at Pro Tools' file hierarchy.

Session Folder
When you create a session, Pro Tools will automatically create a folder to put it and the other
elements of the session into for easy organization. The folder is named for the session that you've
created.

Session Components
Within the session folder, you'll find different files and folders that contribute to how a Pro Tools
session operates. Let's take a look at each element individually and the role that it plays:
Some folders are automatically created by Pro Tools when you create a session—others will be created later
if needed. If you're not seeing all the folders discussed in this section in your own session, it's because your
session doesn't need them.

Session File
Your Pro Tools session file is the nexus of your Pro Tools work, and
the platform where you'll be doing all your recording, editing, mixing
and more.
You can perform a number of production tasks using the Pro Tools
session file only—working with MIDI and balancing levels of different
tracks just to name a few—but for other jobs, a Pro Tools session will
act as a map, "pointing" to other media files on your system and
controlling when they will play back on your session's timeline.
A Pro Tools session file
When you create a Pro Tools session, a Pro Tools session file will be
created within the session folder. Both the session folder and session file
will have the same name, with the session file having a .ptx file extension.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Pro Tools sessions, like most files on your computer, has a 3-character file extension. This can vary based
on the version of Pro Tools:

• Sessions created by Pro Tools 10 and later have a .ptx file extension.
• Sessions created by Pro Tools 7-9 have a .ptf file extension.

• Sessions created by Pro Tools 5.1-6.9 have a .pts file extension.

WaveCache.wfm
When you are looking at an audio waveform in Pro Tools, you're not
seeing an audio file itself, but a visual representation of that audio
file's waveform. This visual picture (and the graphic representation
of all audio files in your session) is stored in a file
called WaveCache.wfm.
The WaveCache file is automatically created by Pro Tools, located in
A Pro Tools Wavecache
the session folder. Unlike the session file though, this file isn't named
file
after the session—it's always named WaveCache.wfm.
If you delete the WaveCache file, or neglect to include this file when moving a session, this will not harm the
session. When the session file is launched again, Pro Tools will simply reconstruct the WaveCache file in the
session folder, without data loss.

If your session doesn't involve any audio clips, you won't see a WaveCache.wfm file in your session folder.

Subfolders
Pro Tools will create a variety of subfolders, based upon the needs of the session. These subfolders
include:
• Audio Files: This is the default location for any audio files created as a result of recording on
audio tracks in Pro Tools. Each recording is typically stored as a separate file within this
folder.
Within the Audio Files folder, WAV files will have a .wav file extension, and AIFF files will be indicated by
a .aif file extension.

• Video Files: In certain workflows, when you import a video file into Pro Tools, the video file
will be copied, with the copy being placed in the Video Files subfolder. This does not apply to
all video import workflows, howeverꟷonly those where the video is being copied upon
import.
• Rendered Files: There are a number of features within Pro Tools that involve an audio file to
be temporarily rendered. The Rendered Files subfolder is created to store these files. Like
the Audio Files folder, the files within are either .wav or .aif audio files, but unlike the Audio
Files folder, these files are dynamically managed by Pro Tools (created and deleted as
needed).
• Bounced Files: When you are done with your mixing work, you will often want to "mix it
down" to a single stereo audio file that can be listened to outside the Pro Tools environment.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

One method of mixing down is called "bouncing" the mix, and the default location for the
resultant audio files is the Bounced Files folder.
• Clip Groups: Clip Groups is an editing feature within Pro Tools that enables the user to
combine multiple clips into a single editable object on the Pro Tools timeline. Clip groups are
normally part of the session file, but they can be exported for use in other sessions. The
default location for exported clip groups is the Clip Groups subfolder within the session
folder.
The topic of Clip Groups is discussed in the Pro Tools 110 course.

• Session File Backups: Based on your Pro Tools preference settings, Pro Tools can
periodically back up your session file, protecting you from losing all your work if something
goes wrong. In the Pro Tools preferences, you can choose how many backups to keep, and
how frequently a new backup file is created. These backed-up session files are saved in
the Session File Backups folder.

Addendum: Working with Session Backups

Computers, being complex machines, will fail—the question
is not if, but when. System crashes can arise from a variety of causes,
resulting in loss of work. Our goal is to minimize that loss of work,
and fortunately Pro Tools helps us with its Auto Backup preferences.
In this addendum, you'll learn how to configure and use this powerful feature.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add02-2

Addendum: Pro Tools Projects

Most of the work done in Pro Tools are based around sessions—using
local files saved to your computer's hard drives as described in this section.
Pro Tools also lets you create a different kind of document, known as a
project file. A project is essentially a cloud-based session file that can be
used for collaboration. Projects are beyond the scope of this course, but
if you're interested in learning more about using Pro Tools projects and
collaboration tools, you can start your journey here!

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add2-3

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

The Edit Window

The first step to using any software is to understand the Graphic User Interface (or GUI). Let’s look at
Pro Tools' main windows and learn how to customize them to suit your personal style.
So far in this lesson, you've created a blank session and taken a look at some of the files that are created
during that process. For the remainder of this lesson, the images that you'll see are based upon the session
you opened in Exercise 1 ("Low Roar"). If you want to explore Pro Tools GUI along with this lesson, it's
recommended that you open that session now.

The Edit window is where many professionals do most of their work. It’s where you will import your
media, arrange your clips, and (as the name suggests) do your editing. It may look complex at first,
but if you break it down to its component parts, it's pretty easy to get around.

The Pro Tools Edit window

To show the Edit window in Pro Tools, go to the Window menu and choose Edit. Displayed windows will be
indicated by check marks in the menu.

Edit Window Toolbar

At the top of the Edit window, you'll see a row of buttons and icons, collectively known as the Edit
window toolbar. Here, tools are arranged in clusters according to their function.

The Edit window toolbar

This toolbar includes a wide variety of tool clusters that can be shown. For now, we'll focus on a brief
naming and description of the tools you'll learn more about in this course and the Pro Tools 110
course:

Edit Mode Buttons

The tool cluster typically at the far left of the toolbar are the Edit
Modes. You’ll learn more about these modes later in this course, but
for now, just know that you have four of them: Shuffle, Slip, Spot,
and Grid. Edit Mode Buttons, with Grid mode active

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Edit Tools
Edit Tools are grouped together in
the cluster shown here. These
buttons will be explored in greater
detail later in this course (and other
courses in the Avid Learning Series),
but for now think of them as
different ways to control the ways in
which you work with clips in your session. Edit Tools

Counter and Edit Selection

The Counter and Edit Selection section will give you very important information. On the top left, you’ll
see the Main Counter, which tells you exactly where your timeline insertion is on your session's
timeline. This counter can show position in a number of time scales (Minutes and Seconds, Bars and
Beats, Timecode, and so on) and can even show two scales simultaneously (as shown here, you're
seeing Bars and Beats on the top, and Minutes and Seconds below).

Counter and Edit Selection

To the right of the Main Counter, you’ll see Edit Selection indicators, which will tell you the start, end,
and duration (length) of any selection you might have made on the timeline. The bottom row of the
Counter and Edit Selection section has a collection of indicators as well, including the position of
your cursor and various status indicators.

Grid and Nudge

The Grid edit mode and the Nudge editing feature both rely on the
user setting the increments that they want to use. You can easily
choose the scale and increment for either of these by clicking the
appropriate selector (triangle button) to the right of the value.
There are additional tool clusters that can be shown or hidden by Grid and Nudge values
the user, according to their needs. These include:

Zoom Controls
Zoom controls allow the user to quickly zoom in or out horizontally
on the timeline, or vertically for audio or MIDI clips in the session.
Zoom levels can also be saved as one of five Zoom Presets, accessible
from the bottom row of buttons.
Zoom controls

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Transport/Expanded Transport
You've already worked with Transport Controls earlier in the lesson, in the Transport window. You
can also show these controls in the Edit window toolbar, in two ways:
• Transport: This includes basic transport controls only.
• Expanded Transport: This includes extra controls, including Pre-roll, Post-roll, Fade-in, and
timeline selection Start, End, and Length—all features you'll learn more about in this course
and the PT110 course.

Transport controls (Left) and Expanded Transport controls

MIDI Controls
When working with MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital
Interface), you'll need to control aspects of your session
like Tempo, Meter and Count Off. The MIDI Controls cluster
enables you to do that, and more.

MIDI controls
Output Meters
The session's Output Meters will show the total level
coming out of any outputs that you choose. It’s
commonly used to show the level of signals that are
routed to the main output path.

Rulers Output Meters

Just below the Edit window toolbar, you'll find

another horizontal strip subdivided into
segments. These are your session's rulers,
which will measure and mark the passage of
time in different ways. The rulers display your
current position within the session, as will also
enable you to set start and end points for
playback and recording.

Rulers in the Pro Tools Edit window

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

You can show or hide any of the following rulers in the Edit window. These rulers are divided into
two categories: Timebase rulers, which indicate the progress of time, and Conductor rulers, which
display other important events that can occur as your session plays.
The Timebase rulers include:
• Bars|Beats (Bars and Beats)
• Min:Secs (Minutes and Seconds)
• Timecode (SMPTE timecode)
• Timecode 2 (a second SMPTE timecode ruler, for viewing multiple frame rates
simultaneously)
• Feet+Frames (a post-production format, based on length of film)
• Samples
And the Conductor rulers are
• Markers
• Tempo
• Chords
• Meter
• Key
TIP: As you begin to use Pro Tools, you'll often find a thin vertical red line in your ruler area. This is a very
useful visual indicator, which will be positioned above your cursor if it is in the main (Tracks) area of the edit
window. If you can't find your cursor, looking for that red line in the rulers is a good place to start!

Tracks List, Groups List, and Clips List

The column on the left-hand side of the Edit window is comprised of
two sections: From top to bottom they are the Tracks List and
the Groups List.

Tracks List
The Tracks List will show you a list of all tracks in your session, in the
order that they appear in the main area of the Edit window. Here, you
can select, show, hide, or reorder your tracks.

The Tracks List

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Groups List
Edit Groups are powerful tools, allowing the user to make changes on
multiple grouped tracks simultaneously. The Groups List in the Edit
window is directly below the Tracks List, and it is here where you can
view and work with the various Edit Groups in your session.
Workflows that involve the use of Edit Groups are beyond the scope of this
course but are discussed in detail in the Pro Tools 110 course of the Avid
Learning Series.

The Groups List

Clips List
On the right side of the Edit window, you'll see the Clips List.
Just as the Tracks List shows all tracks in your session, the
Clips List will display clips of various types that are in your
session (whether they are actively used in tracks or not). Your
Clips List is a comprehensive list of the media in your session.

On all versions of Pro Tools, audio, MIDI, and clip group clips are
shown. On a Pro Tools Ultimate system, video clips are also shown
in the Clips List.
The Clips List

Tracks Area
In the main part of the Edit window is
the Tracks area, where you'll see
horizontal strips with descriptive names
like "Vocals", "SFX", "Strings", and so on
displayed to the left of each row. Each
one of these rows is a Track, and the
colored blocks on the strips are
called Clips.
The number of tracks in your session, and
the number of clips on each track vary
depending on the requirements of the
work that you're doing (if you haven't
created any tracks in your session, this
The Tracks Area of the Edit window
area will be blank).

There's a term that you'll learn more about in later courses—playlists. Simply put, an edit playlist is a
sequence of clips on a track, including the order and position of clips on a given track. For that reason, the
tracks area of the Edit window is also referred to as the playlist area.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Customizing the Edit Window

Different workflows will require different window layouts—here are a few ways that you can make
the most of the Edit window:

• In the upper right-hand corner of the Edit window, you

will see a small circular icon with a downward-facing
triangle, called the Edit window pop-up menu button.
Clicking it will display a menu of items that can be
shown or hidden. The top section of this menu includes
Edit window toolbar controls, with a check mark
indicating shown controls (in the image shown,
Synchronization, Ableton Link, and Output Meters are
being displayed). Clicking outside of the menu will close
the pop-up menu.
The Edit window pop-up menu

• You can move different tool clusters laterally along the Edit window toolbar to suit your
preference. While holding the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows), move your cursor
to the tool cluster that you want to move. When the icon is displayed as a hand, click and
drag the tools to your desired location. As you move along the Edit window toolbar, you'll
see a yellow bar indicating where the tool cluster will be positioned when your mouse is
released.
• In the Grid and Nudge controls, the word "Grid" isn't just
a label—it's also the Show Grid Lines button. When "Grid"
is in black text against a green background, grid lines will
be visible in the tracks area. When the word is in green
text against a black background, the grid lines are hidden.
The Show Grid Lines button

• You can show or hide either the left or right columns (the Tracks/Groups Lists or the Clips
List) by clicking the small side-facing arrow buttons in the lower corners of the track's area.
• You can also customize your Edit window by changing the width of your side columns. Just
move your cursor to the border between the column and the tracks area—your cursor will
then change to a double arrow. Resize the column by dragging left or right to suit your
needs.
Double-clicking with the cursor positioned at the column border (where the cursor changes to a double
arrow) will hide the column.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

The Mix Window

The process of combining multiple individual tracks into a final cohesive product is called mixing.
Though it’s certainly common to do some mixing in the Edit window, Pro Tools has a window
dedicated to this process, appropriately called the Mix window.

The Pro Tools Mix window

There are two easy ways to get to the Mix window from the Edit window:
• From the Window menu, click Mix.
• Moving from the Edit window to the Mix window and back again is something that you'll do
many times, so memorizing the shortcut will be useful. The default shortcut to toggle
between the Mix and Edit windows is Command+= (Mac) or Ctrl+= (Windows).
The Mix window is a bit simpler than the Edit window and will look familiar to anyone who’s ever sat
behind a mixer.

Tracks Area
Like the Edit window, there is a large Tracks area in the Mix
window. Each of the vertical strips in the Mix window represents a
track, in the same order as they appear in the Edit window (tracks
are listed from top to bottom in the Edit window, and from left to
right in the Mix window). Just as with the Edit window, if your
session doesn't have any tracks, this area will be blank.

Tracks List and Groups List

The Mix window's Tracks area doesn't show clips, so there is no
purpose for a Clips List on the right side of the window. However, a
The Mix window Tracks area
left-hand column comprises of the Tracks List and the Groups List,
similar to the left column of the Edit window.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Tracks List
Just as in the Edit window, the Tracks List will show you a list of all tracks in your session, in the order
that they appear in the Tracks area of the Mix window. Here as well, you can select, show, hide, or
reorder your tracks.
Note that the Tracks List in the Edit window and Tracks List in the Mix window are linked, meaning
the changes you make in one list will be similarly applied to the other. This also means that the
tracks shown and selected in the Tracks area of the Mix and Edit windows are identical.
There is one exception to the linkage of the Tracks Lists in the Mix and Edit windows ꟷ video tracks. Video
tracks do not appear in the Mix window and will not be shown in the Mix window's Tracks List, even if there
are video tracks visible in the Edit window.

Groups List
Just as Edit groups are powerful tools when editing, Mix Groups will help you when you're mixing,
enabling you to make changes to multiple grouped tracks at once. The Groups List in the Mix window
is directly below the Tracks List, and it is here where you can view and work with the various Mix
Groups that you have in your session.
Workflows that involve the use of Mix Groups are beyond the scope of this course but are discussed in detail
in the Pro Tools 110 course of the Avid Learning Series.

Customizing the Mix Window

Though critical to audio production, the Mix window is simple to navigate, and there are a few easy
ways that you can customize your mixing space:
• You can show or hide the Mix window column by clicking the small side-facing arrow button
in the lower corners of the track's area.
• You can also change the width of the Mix window column. Just move your cursor to the
border between the column and the tracks area—your cursor will change appearance to a
double arrow. Resize the column by dragging left or right to suit your needs.
• Especially with sessions that have numerous tracks, it can be useful to see as many tracks at
the same time as possible. This is where a choosing Narrow Mix view can help—from
the View menu, choose Narrow Mix. The width of each track's strip will decrease, showing
more tracks in the window. The default shortcut to change between Narrow Mix view and
normal view is Option+ Command+M (Mac) or Alt+Ctrl+M (Windows).

The Transport Window

Although the Edit window and the Mix window are the most important environments in which you’ll
work, you should learn one more main window as you begin work in Pro Tools:
The Transport window.
There are two easy
ways to show or hide
the Transport window:
The Transport window

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

• From the Window menu, choose Transport.

• Press Command+1 (on your computer’s numeric keypad) on a Mac computer, or Ctrl+1 (on
your computer’s numeric keypad) on a Windows computer.
You must use the numeric keypad of your keyboard (usually located on the right-hand side) to perform the
default shortcut for opening and closing the Transport window. Using the number keys at the top of your
keyboard won’t work. There are many uses for the numeric keypad in the various versions of Pro Tools, so
you’ll often see keyboards with numeric keypads in professional studios.

As we’ve done in the Edit window, let’s limit our discussion to the controls you’ll use in the Pro Tools
101 and Pro Tools 110 courses:

Transport Controls
You'll find controls similar to the ones in the
Transport Controls cluster of the Edit window. On
the top from left to right, they are Online, Return to
Zero, Rewind, Fast Forward, Go to End, Stop, Play,
and Record Enable. Below these buttons, on the left-
hand side, you’ll see Pre-roll, Post-roll, and Fade-in
Transport Controls
(all important controls which will be discussed later in this and
other Avid Learning Series courses).

Counter Controls
If you choose, you can also see Counter controls
displayed in the Transport window. You'll see
the Main Counter above the Sub-Counter, enabling
you to see the passage of time in two scales. In this
example, the Main Counter's time scale is set to
Bars and Beats, and the Sub-Counter is set to
Minutes and Seconds.

Counter Controls
MIDI Controls
The Transport window’s MIDI Controls mirror the MIDI Controls in the Edit window.

Output Meters
The session's Output Meters will show the total level coming out of any outputs that you choose. It is
commonly used to show the output level of your session's main output path.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Customizing the Transport Window

In the upper right-hand corner of the Transport window, you'll see the Transport window pop-up
menu button. Clicking it will display a menu that will enable you to choose what to see in the
Transport window.

The Transport Window pop-up menu

• You can show or hide elements of the Transport window (Counters, MIDI
Controls, Synchronization, Ableton Link, and Output Meters) by clicking the corresponding menu
item. Displayed controls will be indicated by a check mark.
• Clicking the Expanded Transport menu option will show or hide the more advanced aspects of
each displayed section. When this option is active, the menu item will be indicated by a
check mark.

Themes, Views, and Menus

Threre are three more aspects to working with Pro Tools that bear mentioning before we close this
lesson: Color themes, window views, and Pro Tools' menus:

Themes
Relatively recently in Pro Tools' long history, users have gained increasingly more control over the
appearance of various Pro Tools windows. Among the latest improvements are the two themes of
Pro Tools—Dark and Classic.
These themes are ultimately a matter of personal taste and the lighting in your studio. Choosing the
one you prefer is easy:
1. From the Setup menu, choose Preferences.
The Preferences dialog box will appear.
2. Click the Display tab at the top of the
Preferences dialog box.
3. In the Basics section, click the UI
Theme menu. A choice of Classic or Dark will
appear. Choose the theme that you want to
use.
4. Click the Preferences dialog box's OK button
to confirm your choice.

Choosing a Color Theme

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

As Pro Tools' default mode, the majority of images presented in this course use the Dark UI theme. The
layout of controls and operation of Pro Tools is identical with either of these themes.

Views
When we're talking about views in Pro Tools, we're talking about the ability to show parts of a
window. There are a number of ways that you can work with a wide variety of views:

Ruler Views
Previously, you learned about rulers and that they can be selectively shown or hidden based upon
your needs. Here are two ways to do it:

• In the upper right-hand corner of the rulers

area, you'll see a small rectangular icon
called the Ruler View Selector. Clicking on this
icon will display a list of rulers that you can
show or hide, with displayed rulers indicated
with a check mark. Click on the desired
menu item to show or hide the
corresponding ruler.

The Edit Window’s Ruler View selector

• From the View menu, move your cursor to

the Rulers menu item. The Rulers sub-menu
will appear, showing a list of rulers that you
can show or hide. Here again, displayed
rulers will be indicated by a check mark.
Click on the desired menu item to show or
hide the corresponding ruler.
Working with Rulers from the View menu

Working with Rulers from the View menu

Edit Window Views

Earlier in this lesson, you've learned about elements of the Edit window that can be shown, hidden,
or adjusted to suit your workflow. Let's add to that toolbox—the Edit Window Views.
As with rulers, there are two ways to show or hide individual Edit window views:

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

• In the upper left-hand corner of the Tracks area,

you'll see a small rectangular icon called the Edit
Window View Selector. Clicking on this icon will
display a list of views that you can show or hide,
with displayed controls indicated with a check mark.
Click on the desired menu item to show or hide the
corresponding Edit Window View, which will appear
as a column in the Edit window's Tracks area.

The Edit Window View selector

• From the View menu, move your cursor to

the Edit Window Views menu item—the Edit
Window Views sub-menu will appear, showing
a list of views that you can show or hide. Here
again, displayed views will be indicated by a
check mark. Click on the desired menu item to
show or hide the corresponding column in the
Edit window.

Working with Rulers from the View menu

You can also open the Edit window View menu by right-clicking on the heading of any Edit window View
column.

You can hide any Edit window View by Option-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (Windows) on the heading of any
Edit window View column.

If there is one Edit window View that goes under-utilized, it’s probably the Comments view. In this Edit
window View, you can type detailed information about a track, which can be valuable information for
collaborators and other engineers that might work on your session. It's also an easy way of keeping good
records, so if there's something you don't want to forget about a track, write it down in the Comments
view.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Mix Window Views

Like the Edit window, the Mix window has its own Mix window Views, which can be shown or hidden
depending upon your needs. Whereas Edit window Views appear as columns to the left side of each
track, Mix window Views will appear as rows for each Track.
Just as in the Edit window, there are two ways to show or hide any of these Mix window Views:

• At the bottom left corner of the Mix

window, you'll find a small rectangular
icon - this is the Mix Window View Selector.
Clicking on this icon will display a list of
views that you can show or hide, with
displayed controls indicated with a check
mark. Click on the desired menu item to
show or hide the corresponding Mix
Window View.

The Mix window View selector

• From the View menu, move your cursor to the Mix Window Views menu item. The Mix
Window Views sub-menu will appear, showing a list of views that you can show or hide. Here
again, displayed views will be indicated by a check mark. Click on the desired menu item to
show or hide the corresponding controls in the Mix window.
You can also reveal the Mix window View menu by right-clicking on the heading of any Mix window View on
any track’s channel strip.

You can hide any Mix window View by Option-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (Windows) on the heading of any
Mix window View on any track’s channel strip.

Menu Structure
At the top of the Pro Tools’ Edit or Mix windows, you’ll find a number of menus. While it’s not
important to memorize everything in these menus at this point, it is important to get a sense of what
each menu covers:

Pro Tools Menus

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LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

• File: The File menu follows most of the common conventions of any software, allowing you
to open and close sessions, save, and so on. Here, you can also import audio and MIDI and
export your final mixes.
• Edit: In the Edit Menu, you'll find tools for cutting, copying, pasting, and other common
operations. Towards the bottom of this menu, you can also access other editing processes
that we’ll discuss in depth in this and other Avid Learning Series courses.
• View: You’ve already seen a bit of the View menu, when you worked with showing or hiding
Rulers, Edit Window Views, or Mix Window views. If you want to show or hide an aspect of a
window, the View menu is the place to do it.
• Track: If it relates to the creation, duplication, deletion, or modification of tracks, you'll find it
in the Track menu.
• Clip: The Clip menu can be thought of as a sibling of the Edit menu. It is here where you can
do more advanced clip-based editing and processes.
• Event: Here's a simple rule—if it has anything to do with time or with MIDI, look first in
the Event menu.
• AudioSuite: When we start to discuss more about mixing and how to use plugin effects,
you’ll learn that these effects fall into two types: Real-time and file-based. In
the AudioSuite menu, you can find your file-based effects.
• Options: Here’s another menu memorization trick—if it can be turned on or off or enabled
or disabled), you can find it in the Options menu (think “O” for “On”, “O” for “Off”, and “O”
for Options). In the Options menu, enabled features are indicated by a check mark. You can
enable (or disable) any feature by clicking it.
• Setup: The Setup menu is where you go to configure how things will behave. You’ve done
this already in the Playback Engine and Hardware Setup dialog boxes. This menu will enable
you to configure other aspects of your Pro Tools system, including the Pro
Tools' Preferences dialog box at the bottom of the menu.
• Window: The Window menu is easy—it's used to show, hide, or arrange Pro Tools windows,
very similar to other software you’ve probably used.
• Avid Link: The Avid Link menu allows you to access various areas of the Avid Link
application without leaving Pro Tools (each menu item corresponds to a different page
within the Avid Link app). It’s useful for collaborative workflows, to check software versions
and make purchases, or to check out and see what's happening in the Avid Lounges.
• Help: Finally, the Help menu is the place to go to search for information on a topic by
keyword, or access Pro Tools online help and support pages. It also provides quick access to
important documentation, the Pro Tools Reference Guide, and a comprehensive list of the
default shortcuts.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Lesson 2
Review & Knowledge Check

You've completed your second Pro Tools lesson. Well done!

In this lesson, you learned:
• How to create a new blank session, or new session from a template.
• The file hierarchy of a Pro Tools session, and the function of the various files and folder.
• The layout and function of Pro Tools main windows: Edit, Mix, and Transport.
• How to work with Pro Tools' various views and menus.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 2 Getting to Know Pro Tools

Action Default Shortcut

Create a new session Ctrl+N (Windows) or Command+N (Mac)

Move tool clusters laterally along the Edit window toolbar Hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows)
and click and drag the tool cluster to a new location

Toggle between the Mix and Edit windows Ctrl+= (Windows) or Command+= (Mac)

Show or hide the Transport window Command+[1] (Mac) or Ctrl+[1] (Windows)

Toggle between Narrow Mix view and Normal view Shift+Ctrl+M (Windows) or Shift+Command+M (Mac)

Hide any Edit window Option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) on the

heading of any Edit window View column

Hide any Mix window View Option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) on the
heading of any Mix window View on any track’s
channel strip

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online
knowledge check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC02

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 Exercise 2
Getting Around in Pro Tools
In this exercise, you'll learn basic customization of the various Pro Tools windows.

Media: PT101 2023 Exercise 2 (Low Roar)

Duration: 10 Minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise2
TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Getting Started

Opening a Session
1. Launch Pro Tools.
2. Do one of the following:
o In the Dashboard window, click the Open from Disk button.
o From the File menu, choose Open Session.
3. In the browser window that appears, navigate to Pro Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023
Exercise 2 (Low Roar) > PT101 2023 Exercise 2 (Low Roar).ptx. Double-click this session file to
open the session.
Just as you’ve done in the first exercise of this course, let’s save your work as a separate Pro Tools
session file, noting your name and today’s date:
4. From the File menu, choose Save As.
5. In the browser window that appears, navigate to the location where you want to save your
session (for example, the Pro Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 2 (Low Roar)
 Exercise 2 Getting Around in Pro Tools

folder). Name the session descriptively. Here's a possible name – PT101 2023 Exercise 2 (Low
Roar) - [Your Name] [today's date].

Part 2: Changing the Main Counter

Let's start by changing the way that we view time in this session. Since you've just opened the
session and haven't made any changes (yet), your main counter shows time in minutes and seconds.
Let's change it to show time in bars and beats:
1. In the Counters section of the Edit window, click the downward-facing triangle next to the
main counter and choose Bars|Beats from the pop-up menu.

Notice that in the Edit window, three things have changed:

• The Edit window’s Counter has changed its Time Scale from Minutes and Seconds to Bars
and Beats.
• To the right of the Counter, the Edit Selection Start, Edit Selection End, and Edit Selection
Length fields have changed timescales from Minutes and Seconds to Bars and Beats.
• In this session, there is only one visible ruler. Notice that it has changed format from
Minutes and Seconds to Bars and Beats.

Part 3: Changing Edit Window Views

If you haven't made any changes to the Low Roar session, the only Edit window View that is
displayed is I/O. You'll also notice that though you are seeing the Clips List on the left,
you're not seeing the Tracks and Groups Lists. Let's make a few changes:
1. Show the left column (which includes the Tracks List and Groups List).
2. Hide the right column (the Clips List).
3. From the View menu or Edit Window View selector, show the following Edit window views:
o Comments
o Inserts A-E
o Sends A-E
o I/O (which should already be visible)

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 Exercise 2 Getting Around in Pro Tools

o Track Color
4. From the Edit window toolbar pop-up menu (the small circular button in the upper right-
hand corner of the window), show the Transport controls.
When you’re done, your Edit window should look like this:

Part 4: Customizing the Mix and Transport Windows

Let's switch our focus to the Mix window:
1. Using any method, switch from the Edit window to the Mix window.
2. Since the Mix window doesn’t include any transport controls (but the Transport
window does), show the Transport window.

Show and Hide Mix Window Views

The Mix window is a bit sparse. Let's show some more information:
3. From the View menu or Mix Window View selector, show the following Edit window views:
o Instrument
o Inserts A-E
o Sends A-E
o Meters and Faders (which should already be visible)
o I/O (which should already be visible)
o Track Color (which should already be visible)
o Comments

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 Exercise 2 Getting Around in Pro Tools

Show and Hide Transport Window Views

4. The Transport window is taking a little too much space. From the Transport window pop-up
menu, hide all views except:
o Output Meters
o Expanded Transport
When you're done, your Mix/Transport window desktop should look something like this:

Part 5: Wrapping Up
Before we leave this exercise, let's save your work:
1. From the File menu, choose Save.
2. Close the session by going to the File menu and choosing Close Session.

This completes Exercise 2.

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 LESSON 3
Basic Audio Track Techniques

In the previous lesson, you learned how to create a blank session. While a blank session is a great
starting-off point, in this lesson you’ll learn how to create tracks and import audio onto them!

Duration: 60 Minutes

GOALS

• Learn about the different track types

• Create new tracks
• Set track outputs
• Manage tracks in a variety of ways
• Mute and solo tracks
• Import audio
 LESSON 3 Basic Audio Track Techniques

Track Types
Before you can start creating tracks, it's important to understand the types of tracks available to you,
and their different functions in a session. To get things started, we’ll limit our discussion to track
types that are covered in the Pro Tools 101 and Pro Tools 110 courses.
In the section that follows, we'll discuss the basic track types found in a Pro Tools session. For learners that
would like to see these different track types in action, please open the Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session.

Audio Tracks
Audio tracks are the foundation upon which Pro Tools stands. All
audio clips, if they’re going to be heard in your session, will reside on an
Audio track. When you record audio, the audio that you record will be
on an audio track.
In the Mix window or Tracks List, Audio tracks can be visibly identified
by a waveform icon (next to the track name in the Tracks list, and just
above the track name in the Mix window):

Audio Track Counts An Audio Track in the Tracks List

Different versions of Pro Tools support different maximum numbers

of Audio tracks:
• Pro Tools Intro supports up to 8 mono or stereo Audio tracks.
• Pro Tools Artist supports up to 32 mono or stereo Audio tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio supports up to 512 mono or stereo Audio tracks.
• Pro Tools Ultimate supports up to 2048 mono, stereo, or surround Audio tracks.
For learners that are referring to the Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session, the Lead Vocal (Dry) track is an example of
an Audio track.

Auxiliary Input Tracks

Auxiliary Input tracks (commonly called Aux tracks for short) are like
Audio tracks, with one important difference: An Auxiliary Input track
cannot hold audio clips. While it might seem strange to have a track
that can’t hold clips, Aux tracks play several important roles that you’ll
learn about later in this course.
In the Mix window or Tracks List, Auxiliary Input tracks can be identified
by an arrow icon (next to the track name in the Tracks list, and just
above the track name in the Mix window).
An Auxiliary Input track
in the Tracks List

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 LESSON 3 Basic Audio Track Techniques

Auxiliary Input Track Counts

Like Audio tracks, different versions of Pro Tools support different numbers of Aux tracks:
• Pro Tools Intro supports up to 4 mono or stereo Auxiliary Input tracks.
• Pro Tools Artist supports up to 32 mono or stereo Auxiliary Input tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio supports up to 128 mono, stereo, or surround Auxiliary Input tracks.
• Pro Tools Ultimate supports up to 1024 mono, stereo, or surround Auxiliary Input tracks.
For learners that are referring to the Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session, the RVB track is an example of an Auxiliary
Input track

MIDI Tracks
MIDI tracks are one of two track types where you can put a MIDI clip or
record MIDI data from a MIDI Instrument. A MIDI track is a very basic
track that cannot be heard on its own—it’s commonly used in
combination with an Auxiliary Input track.
In the Mix window or Tracks List, MIDI tracks can be visibly identified by
a small circular MIDI plug icon (next to the track name in the Tracks list,
and just above the track name in the Mix window):

MIDI Track Counts A MIDI track

in the Tracks List
When it comes to MIDI tracks, there are only three different levels of
maximum track count:
• Pro Tools Intro supports up to 8 MIDI tracks.
• Pro Tools Artist supports up to 64 MIDI tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate support up to 1024 MIDI tracks.
For learners that are referring to the Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session, the Dulcimer track is an example of a MIDI
track.

Instrument Tracks
Instrument tracks are the other kind of track where you could
put a MIDI clip or record MIDI. This track type can be thought of
as the combination of a MIDI track and an Auxiliary Input
track, allowing MIDI to be heard in a single track.
In the Mix window or Tracks List, Instrument tracks can be
identified by a keyboard icon (next to the track name in
the Tracks list, and just above the track name in the
Mix window):
An Instrument track
in the Tracks List

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Instrument Track Counts

Like MIDI tracks, Instrument tracks have only three different maximum track limits:
• Pro Tools Intro supports up to 8 mono or stereo Instrument tracks.
• Pro Tools Artist supports up to 32 mono or stereo Instrument tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio supports up to 512 mono or stereo Instrument tracks.

For learners that are referring to the Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session, the Low End String track is an example of
an Instrument track.

Master Fader Tracks

Master Fader tracks are powerful tools, especially when you’re
mixing. Like Auxiliary Input tracks, Master Faders cannot hold
clips, but are used to control the level of an output. Master Faders
are frequently underused or even misused, so we’ll pay special
attention to this track type—and how to use it—when we discuss
the mixing process.
In the Mix window or Tracks List, Master Fader tracks can be
distinguished by the Greek letter Sigma (Σ), which means sum in
mathematical terms (next to the track name in the Tracks list, A Master Fader track
and just above the track name in the Mix window): in the Tracks List

Master Fader Track Counts

• Pro Tools Intro and Pro tools Artist support up to 1 mono or stereo Master Fader tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio supports up to 64 mono or stereo or surround Master Fader tracks.
• Pro Tools Ultimate supports up to 512 mono, stereo, or surround Master Fader tracks.

For learners that are referring to the Exercise 1 (Low Roar) session, the Master 1 track is an example of a
Master Fader track.

Video Tracks
So far, all the tracks we've discussed are related to what you can
hear—Video tracks relate to what you can see. Video tracks let
you include video clips on your timeline, represented only in the
Edit window. In the Edit window's Tracks List, Video tracks are
identified by a film icon:
A Video track in the
Edit window's Tracks List
Video Track Counts
• Pro Tools Intro and Pro Tools Artist do not support Video tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio supports a single Video track.
• Pro Tools Ultimate supports up to 64 Video tracks.
The topic of Video tracks is discussed in the Pro Tools 110 course.

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Folder Tracks
On your computer, you probably use folders to organize your various files. Folders are a great way
to remove clutter and be able to quickly find what you're looking for. Folder tracks fill that same role
within Pro Tools—they are tracks that you can put other tracks into, simplifying otherwise complex
and track-heavy scenarios
Introduced in early 2020, Folder tracks are relative newcomers to Pro Tools. Unlike other kinds of
tracks, Folder tracks are available in two different types:
• Basic Folder Tracks: Used for the simple organization of tracks, with some limited controls
over the tracks within them.
• Routing Folder Tracks: Combining the organizational convenience of a Basic Folder with the
signal flow functionality of an Auxiliary Input track. These tracks simultaneously help simplify
larger sessions and play their part in the mix process.
In the Mix window's tracks area, Basic Folder tracks can be
identified by a folder icon just above the track name, and are
indicated by a disclosure triangle next to the track name in the
Tracks List:

Basic Folder Track Counts

• All versions of Pro Tools support up to 2000 Basic Folder
tracks.

Routing Folder Track Counts A Folder track in the Tracks List

• Pro Tools Intro supports up to 4 mono or stereo Routing Folder tracks.

• Pro Tools Artist supports up to 32 mono or stereo Routing Folder tracks.
• Pro Tools Studio supports up to 128 mono, stereo, or surround Routing Folder tracks.
• Pro Tools Ultimate supports up to 1024 mono, stereo, or surround Routing Folder tracks.
The topic of Folder tracks is discussed in the Pro Tools 110 course.

Mono, Stereo, and Surround Tracks

In Pro Tools Artist, Audio tracks, Auxiliary Input tracks Instrument tracks, and Master Faders can be
either mono (meaning they only have one input) or stereo tracks (which have two input channels—a
left side and a right side). In the case of Audio tracks, mono audio clips can only be put on a mono
track. If an audio file you want to use in your session includes a left side and a right side, the clip
would be a stereo clip, which would be put on a stereo audio track.
The track format relates to the input of the track, not the output. For example, a mono audio track
can be routed to a stereo output, and vice versa. A classic example of this would be the recording of
a single vocalist—since there's a single sound source, this is typically recorded on a mono Audio
track. During the mixing process, that single sound can be freely positioned in a stereo or surround
mix.

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Although Pro Tools Intro and Pro Tools Artist is limited to mono and stereo tracks, Pro Tools Studio
and Pro Tools Ultimate support a variety of multichannel track types, including Ambisonics surround
tracks and Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 tracks.
For the purposes of this course, our discussion will be limited to using mono and stereo tracks.

Since MIDI on its own makes no sound, a MIDI track is neither mono, stereo, or surround. Using MIDI tracks
is discussed in Lesson 6 of this course.

Creating Tracks
Making new tracks is straightforward and—as with many things in Pro Tools—you can do it in a
couple of ways:
1. Do one of the following:
o From the Track menu, choose New.
o The shortcut for creating new tracks is Shift+Command+N (Mac)
or Shift+Ctrl+N (Windows).
The New Tracks dialog box will appear:

The New Tracks dialog box

The process of creating tracks works well if you work from left to right:

2. Choose how many tracks you want of a given track type and enter that value in
the Create field.
3. You’ll need to choose the channel "width" of your track (in other words, the number of
inputs that it will have). Click the Track Format menu button (next to the word “new”) to
reveal your choices:
Here’s a useful little shortcut that will allow you to toggle through the stereo or mono options: Press
and hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) and press either the Left or Right Arrow keys.

4. To choose what kind of track you're going to create, click on the Track Type menu button to
reveal the drop-down menu.
You can similarly use a shortcut to cycle through the different track types: Pro Tools' default shortcut is
to press and hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) and press either
the Up or Down Arrow keys.
Note that video tracks aren't shown as options here. In Pro Tools Studio (as opposed to Pro Tools
Ultimate), video can be imported to a new track only, a topic that will be discussed in the Pro Tools 110
course. Pro Tools Intro and Pro Tools Artist do not support video tracks.

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At the bottom of the Track Type menu, you'll see Track Presets. Track Presets, and how to use them, are
discussed in detail in other courses in the Avid Learning Series.

5. All tracks that you create have a timebase—the way that they deal with tempo and time.
Tracks can be either sample-based or tick-based. In Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate,
MIDI and Instrument tracks are tick-based by default, and all other tracks are sample-based
by default. For the purpose of this course, we’ll stay with the defaults.
Working with different track bases is explored in the PT110 course in the Avid Learning Series.

6. The importance of naming your tracks cannot be overstated. Without a descriptive name,
who can tell what kinds of clips (for example, Vocal, Bass, or Effects) are on the track? Just like
powering your system on and off correctly, naming your tracks and sessions descriptively is
basic etiquette, and a good habit to get into from the start. There are a few ways you can
name a track—one way is to name it as it is created in the New Tracks dialog box:
TIP: Many professionals try to keep their track names as short as possible, for a very good reason:
Short track names can appear in each track (and in the Tracks List) without being abbreviated.

7. You’ve done all the hard work. Now, just click the Create button, and your new track(s) will be
added to your session.

Creating Multiple Tracks

When you create multiple tracks in a single row of the New Tracks dialog box, Pro Tools will append
a space and a number to each created track's name. For example, if you choose to create 3 mono
audio tracks, with the name "Vocal" in the name field…

Creating 3 mono audio tracks with the name "Vocal"...

…The result will be three mono audio tracks, named "Vocal 1", "Vocal 2", and "Vocal 3".

…and the resulting three tracks.

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In addition to creating single tracks or multiple tracks of a single type, you can create multiple tracks
of multiple types in a single operation:
1. At the right side of the New Tracks dialog
box, you'll see button with a plus (+)
symbol. This is the Add Row button, which
when clicked will add a new row, allowing
you to create a new kind of track.
2. If you want to rearrange the tracks’ order
The Add Row button
before they’re created, just click and hold on
the Move Row icon at the far right of each row. A blue outline will appear around that row,
and from there, you can drag and drop this row to rearrange the order of the tracks as
needed.
3. Finally, click the Create button, and the tracks will be created in the order that they appear in
the New Tracks dialog box (top to bottom in the Edit window and left to right in the Mix
window).

Setting Track Output

Once tracks have been created, your next job
is to make sure that you can hear them.
That’s where a track’s outputs come into play:
You can set a track’s input and output from
the I/O (which stands for Inputs/Outputs)
view. Here's what the I/O View looks like in
the Edit window...

The I/O Edit window view

...And this is what it looks like in the Mix window:

The two I/O views share similar design, and as one might expect, any change
made to a track's input or output in one window will be reflected in the other
window.
In the Edit window, the I/O View can look a bit different depending upon the height
of the track (changing track height is something you'll learn to do later in this
lesson). For example, if the track height is set to small, the Input and Output Path
selectors are side-by-side with the Input selector on the left and the Output selector
on the right.
The I/O
The images in the following sections show the setting of inputs and outputs in the I/O Mix window view
view of the Edit window. The process is identical in the Mix window.

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Setting a track's input traditionally relates to recording (which will be explored in Lesson 5) and
mixing (a larger discussion that will begin in Lesson 8). For now, we'll focus on setting a track's
output, so that it can be heard properly.
the Output Path selector is the second button from the top in the I/O view, and enables you to
choose where a given track’s signal is going. For example, if a track's Output Path selector reads "No
Output", you won't hear it. Changing the output of a track to the one that is connected to your
speakers fixes the problem quickly.
1. Click the desired track's Output Path selector. A menu will appear, based on your audio
interface and I/O setup.

Clicking a track’s Output Path selector

2. From the menu, click on the desired output. The menu will close, and the selection will be
applied.

Setting Default Inputs and Outputs

If you've set your Playback Engine device properly but aren't seeing the inputs or outputs that you're
expecting, the problem might lie in the I/O Setup dialog box. The use of this dialog box can get quite
involved and is discussed in detail in later courses in the Avid Learning Series. To get you started though,
here's how to create the default inputs and outputs you need:
1) Go to the Setup menu.

2) Choose I/O. The I/O Setup dialog box will appear.

3) In the Input tab, click the Default button.

4) In the Output tab, click the Default button.

5) In the Bus tab, click the Default button.

6) Click the OK button. The I/O Setup dialog box will close, and your inputs and outputs will be set to their
default settings for your audio device

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Working with Tracks

Here are few ways you can work with the tracks you create:

Selecting (and Deselecting) Tracks

Selecting a Track
Selecting a track is easy to do— here are three ways:
• In the Tracks List (in either the Mix or Edit window), click the name of the track that you want
to select.
• In the Edit window tracks area, click the track name of the track (at the left end of each track)
that you want to select.
• In the Mix window tracks area, click the track name (at the bottom of each track) of the track
that you want to select.
No matter how you do it, the result will be the same: the name of any selected track will be
highlighted in the Tracks List, the Edit window, and the Mix window.

Deselecting a Track
Deselecting a selected track has a trick to it; it's not as simple as just clicking on the track name:
• Holding the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows), click on the name of the track that
you want to deselect (in the Tracks List, Edit window tracks area, or Mix window tracks area).

Selecting or Deselecting Multiple Tracks

There are a few techniques you can use when selecting or deselecting multiple tracks:
• Normally, when you select a track, any previously selected track(s) will be deselected. You
can bypass this by holding the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) when you select a
new track. The new track will be selected, without deselecting the previously selected
track(s).
• You can select a range of tracks by selecting the first track in the range the normal way (by
clicking the name), and then while holding the Shift key, select the last track in the range.
• You can select (and deselect) all tracks in your session by clicking any track name while
holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows).

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Showing and Hiding Tracks

Sometimes you'll want to see all the tracks in your
session, but other times you want to show or hide
individual tracks. It’s easy to do this in Pro Tools.
In the Tracks List, in either the Mix or Edit windows,
you'll find a small circle to the left of each track
name, called the Track Show/Hide icon. A darker-
colored circle indicates that the track is hidden, and
a lighter-colored circle will indicate that it is visible. In the Shown and hidden tracks in the Tracks List
image shown here, there are three visible tracks.
If using the classic GUI theme, a dark dot indicates a shown track, and a light grey dot indicates a hidden
track.

To show or hide a track, do one of the following:

• Click on the track's corresponding Show/Hide icon, changing the track's view state. This will
affect the tracks shown in both the Edit window and Mix window.
• Right-click the track name (in the Track List, Edit window tracks area, or Mix window track
area). A menu will appear—choose Show or Hide from that menu.
• You can show (or hide) all tracks in your session by clicking any track's Show/Hide icon while
holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows).
Hidden tracks are still audible. When you hide a track, you’re simply removing it from view, not from your
mix.

Naming and Renaming Tracks

Naming your tracks is critical, but you don't have to do it when the track is being created, as we have
done so far in this lesson. You can also rename a track after it's been created:
1. Do one of the following:
o In the Edit window's or Mix window's tracks area, double-click the name of the track
whose name you want to change.
o In the Edit window's or Mix window's tracks area, or in the Tracks List, right-click the
name of the track to be changed. In the menu that appears, choose Rename.
2. In the dialog box that appears, you can type a new
name for the track (and/or comments for that track). If
you’ve gotten to this dialog box by double-clicking the
track name, you can navigate to
the Previous or Next tracks with the appropriate
buttons at the bottom of the dialog box. To confirm
your change, click the OK button.

Renaming a track

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Here are useful shortcuts when naming multiple tracks. When the Track Name dialog box is open:

• Holding Command (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows), press the Right Arrow key to advance to the next tracks'
Track Name dialog box.
• Holding Command (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows), press the Left Arrow key to go back to the previous
tracks' Track Name dialog box.

Changing Track Order

At some point, you'll want to re-order your tracks after you've created them. Here are three ways:
• In the Tracks List, click and drag the track name of the desired track up or down.
• In the Edit window tracks area, click and drag the track name of the desired track up or
down.
• In the Mix window tracks area, click and drag the track name of the desired track left or right.
In all three cases, a yellow line will indicate where the track will be placed once you let go of the
mouse.

Changing Track Height

In the Edit window, not only can you change the track order to suit your taste, but you can also
change individual track heights as well. For example, if have a large number of tracks and you want
to see most of them in your Edit window, you might want to set them relatively narrow. On the other
hand, if you want to take a closer look at a track’s waveform, making the track taller will give you that
visibility.
Tracks can be resized individually to any of the following preset heights:
• Micro
• Mini
• Small
• Medium
• Large
• Jumbo
• Extreme
• Fit to window
Here are a number ways to change your track height—in
this lesson we'll look at three commonly-used methods.
Changing Track Height from the Vertical Zoom Scale:
1. Click in the area immediately to the left of the
desired track’s clip area (called the Vertical Zoom
Scale).
The "Bass Gtr" track's Vertical Zoom Scale area

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2. A menu will appear, giving you a choice of different track heights for the track, with the
currently selected height indicated with a check mark. Choose the track height you want.
Changing Track Height from the Track Options Menu:
1. Click the track’s Track Options menu button
(the small circular icon to the left of each track
name). Depending on the current track height,
different menus may appear, one of which will
be Track Height.
2. Choose the desired track height. Clicking the "Bass Gtr" track's Track Options menu

With track heights smaller than medium, controls are resized, rearranged, or hidden. Clicking the
track's Track Options menu button will give access to the hidden controls.

Changing Track Height by Dragging:

• Move your cursor to the bottom boundary of the track that you want to resize. A double
arrow icon will appear—click it and drag up or down to your desired height.
Here are two useful shortcuts for changing track height:

• You can change the height of all tracks in your session by changing any track's height while holding
the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows).

• You can change the height of all selected tracks in your session by changing any selected track's
height while holding the Option+Shift key (Mac) or Alt+Shift key (Windows).

Muting and Soloing

Sometimes, you don't want to hear a given track in your mix, or you want to hear it in isolation,
without other distractions. That's where the Mute and Solo buttons come into play.

A track that is muted will not

be heard. To mute a track,
just click the track’s Mute
button (marked with an “M”)
in the Mix or Edit window.

A muted track as it appears in the Edit and Mix windows

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When a track is soloed, that

track will be the only one
heard—all non-soloed tracks
will be silent (or muted). To
solo a track, click the Solo
button (marked with an "S") in
the Edit or Mix window. The
adjacent Mute button (marked
with an "M") on any non-
soloed tracks will be a dark
orange color, indicating that
they have been muted as a
result of another track being A soloed track as it appears in the Edit and Mix windows
soloed.
Here are two useful shortcuts for changing track height:

• You can solo or mute all tracks in your session by soloing or muting any track while holding
the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows).

• You can solo or mute all selected tracks in your session by soloing or muting any selected track
while holding the Option+Shift key (Mac) or Alt+Shift key (Windows).

Using the Option/Alt Keys

You've probably noticed in this section a few recurring shortcuts. In Pro Tools, a frequently used key is
the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (Windows). Among other useful functions, this key enables you to
apply the changes you make on one track to all tracks.

There's an easy way to remember this shortcut, especially if you're a Windows user: The Alt key applies
changes to all tracks—think "A" for Alt, and "A" for All. For Mac users, it's not quite as straightforward of a
memorization trick, but Option could stand for the Latin translation of "all", which is "Omnis".

Many keys can work in combination, and that is the case here as well. The Shift key often relates to
working with selection, and here's another easy memorization trick: "S" for Shift, "S" for Selection. When
you add this to the Option/Alt key, you can apply changes to All Selected tracks - Option+Shift (Mac)
or Alt+Shift (Windows).

Deleting Tracks
Deleting tracks is easy to do—perhaps too easy. Deleting tracks irreversible (not undo-able). When
you delete a track, it’s gone forever, so make doubly sure that you don’t need that track before
deleting it!
WARNING! Deleting a track will also clear your session's Undo History, which means you cannot undo the
deletion of a track, and you also cannot undo anything you did before deleting the track! It's another reason
to think before you delete.

With that warning in mind, here are two ways you can delete a track.
• From the Track menu, choose Delete. All selected tracks will be deleted.

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• Right-click on the track name of a track and choose Delete from the menu that appears. All
selected tracks will be deleted.

Deleting a track will not delete clips in the Clips List.

Importing Audio
You've created a new session and a few new empty audio tracks. Now, it's time to put some audio
clips in those tracks. One way is to record audio to the tracks, but it's not the only way—you can
also import and audio file (or files) to a track.
Importing audio is a part of many workflows, from adding a drum loop to a song to bringing in pre-
recorded sound effects to a movie soundtrack. The process is straightforward, but there are
important details to be mindful of.

Importing from the File menu

Importing from the File menu gives you a few options, and illustrates the difference
between adding and copying audio into your session:
1. From the File menu, move your cursor to the Import menu item. A submenu will appear.
2. From the Import submenu, choose Audio.
The Import Audio dialog box will appear:

The Import Audio dialog box

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If the controls shown here aren't appearing in your system, click the Options button in the lower left-hand
corner of the Import Audio dialog box.

This dialog box is one of the more complicated ones that you’ll encounter in Pro Tools, so we’ll take a
look at each element one at a time:
• [1] Navigation: The top of the Import Audio dialog box consists of standard navigation tools,
similar to your computer's file browser. The appearance and features of this section will vary
slightly between Mac and Windows systems.
• [2] File Browser: Like the navigation tools at the top of the dialog box, these will be familiar
looking, and follow the conventions of your computer. In this section, you can further
navigate within folders and select files to import. It's worth noting that though you can see
non-audio files in this section, only audio files can be selected.
• [3] File Properties: Once a file is selected, the file properties section will show important
information, including type, length, file size, sample rate, bit-depth, and number of channels.
• [4] Comments: This section will give you valuable information relating to your different
import options.
• [5] Clips in Current File: Every audio file that you select will have at least one clip visible in
this field. This clip represents the entire clip and is called a Whole File clip. Some audio files
that you import might have additional clip definitions in the file, representing a portion of
the file—these are called Subset clips. Whole file clips are differentiated by subset clips by
their icons (you’ll learn about these two kinds of clips in Lesson 5 of this course).
• [6] Add/Convert/Copy Controls: The Add Clip and Convert Clip/Copy Clip buttons will give
you control as to how the media files are dealt with (a topic that will be discussed in more
detail later in this section). Clicking any of these buttons will populate the Clips to
Import section.
• [7] Clips to Import: The Clips to Import section lists the audio clips that you will import into
your session (once you click the Open button). This list can be adjusted with the Remove and
Remove All buttons at the bottom of this section.
• [8] Clip Details: This section will show the start time, end time of the clip selected in the Clips
in Current File section (times are in relation to the start time of the audio file).
• [9] Audition Controls: You can preview any clip that is selected in the Clips in Current
File area. The horizontal slider will allow to navigate the file, and the vertical slider will adjust
the preview volume.
• [10] Sample Rate Conversion Controls: When sample rate conversion is required, this
section will activate, providing options for determining the source sample rate, destination
sample rate, and the quality of the conversion.
3. Using the navigation and file browser controls of the Import Audio dialog box, select the file
(or files) that you want to import. Selected files will automatically be added to the Clips in
Current File section of the dialog box.

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4. If a single clip is in the Clips in

Current File list, it will be selected
by default, and hence the details of
the file will be shown above the list,
and the preview controls will also
play that clip. If there are multiple
clips in the list, then you must click
on a single clip to see the clip
details and preview the clip.

Previewing the "Lesson 3 - Overheads" audio file

5. At this point, you have a choice to make as to how your audio files will be treated. Your
options are to Add, Copy, or Convert:
• Add: Clicking this button will bring only the selected clip (in the Clips in Current
File list) into the Clips to Import list. When imported, the session will refer to the audio
file in its original location on your system's hard drive.
• Add All: Clicking this button will bring all clips in the Clips in Current File list into
the Clips to Import list. When imported, the session will refer to the audio files in their
original location on your system's hard drive.
WARNING! Clips that don't match the sample rate of your session can be imported into your
session using the Add and Add All buttons. But be careful—they will not play back at the correct
pitch and speed. It's a good idea to check the message area directly above the Clips to Import list: If
it reads "[File Name] can be added directly to the session, but it will play back at the wrong speed," you
know that your sample rates don't match.

When adding files, if the audio files are moved or otherwise inaccessible, the session will no
longer be able to play the referenced files.

• Copy: Clicking this button will bring only the selected clip (in the Clips in Current
File list) into the Clips to Import list. When imported, the file will be copied to a new
location. The session will refer to the copied file, not to the original.
• Copy All: Clicking this button will bring all clips in the Clips in Current File list into
the Clips to Import list. When imported, the file will be copied to a new location. The
session will refer to the copied file, not to the original.
Some audio files are incompatible with a given session; they might have a different
sample rate, or be of a type that isn't directly supported by Pro Tools (MP3 files, for
example). In these cases, neither adding nor copying will do the trick; the file must
be converted.
When an incompatible clip is in the Clips in Current File list, the Copy and Copy
All buttons are replaced by Convert and Convert All:

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• Convert: Clicking this button will bring only the selected clip (in the Clips in Current
File list) into the Clips to Import list. When imported, the new file will be created that
matches the audio settings for that session. The session will refer to the converted
file, not to the original.
• Convert All: Clicking this button will bring all clips in the Clips in Current File list
into the Clips to Import list. When imported, a new file will be created that matches
the audio settings for that session. The session will refer to the converted file, not
to the original.
6. Click the Open button to import the clips into your session.
7. If you're copying or converting files, a file browser will appear, allowing you to select a
location for the new files. By default, this will be your session's Audio Files subfolder.
8. You have some options when importing—you can import to a new track or to the Clips list:
• New Track: Choosing this option will create a
new track (or tracks) and place the imported
audio clip(s) on them. The clips will also be
represented in the Clips List.
• Clip List: Choosing this option will place the
imported clips in the Clips List only. They won't
be audible in your session until they are placed
on a track.
If you choose to import to New Track, clicking The Audio Import Options dialog box
the Location menu will reveal a menu of options
relating to the placement of the clips on your session's
timeline:
• Session Start: This option will place the clips
at the beginning of your session's timeline.
• Song Start: The Song Start is the point on the
timeline that corresponds to the beginning of
the first measure (or "bar"). By default, the
Song Start and Session Start are the same, but
the Song Start can be changed by the user.
The Location menu of the Audio
When the Song Start is different from the
Import Options dialog box
Session Start, this option will become
selectable.
• Selection: When this option is selected, clips will be placed at the start of any selected area
on the timeline.
• Spot: This option will open the Spot Dialog dialog box, enabling the user to type a location
for the clip.
The Spot option when importing files is similar in many ways to Pro Tools' Spot edit mode, discussed in
Lesson 4 of this course.

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9. Click the OK button of the Audio Import Options dialog box to import the clips into your
session.

Importing from a File Browser

You can also import audio into a session using your computer’s file browser, and this method gives
you a bit more flexibility:
1. Open your computer’s file browser (Mac Finder or Windows Explorer) and navigate to the file
that you want to import.
2. Drag the file from the browser into Pro Tools’ Edit window. There are a few ways to do this
that will give you different results:
• If you drag a file from the browser window into the Clips list, a new clip will be added to the
Clips List only—no tracks will be created.
• If you drag a file from the browser window into the Tracks List, a new track will be created,
and the clip will be placed at the beginning of the timeline.
• If you drag a file onto an existing track, you will see an outline where that file will be
deposited once the mouse is released. Once the mouse is released, a new clip will be placed
on the track.
Mono audio files cannot be dropped onto stereo Audio tracks. Conversely, if you drag a stereo audio
file (a file that has two channels) onto multiple mono tracks, two separate mono clips will be created on
two mono tracks.

• If you drag from the browser into a blank area in the Edit window’s track area (where there
are no tracks), you will see an outline where the file will be deposited. Once you drop the file,
a new Audio track will be created, with a clip placed where the outline was. Note that the
track name follows the name of the imported file.
Whether you’re using the File > Import menu or dragging from a file browser window, you can import
multiple audio files at the same time.

Added or Copied?
When you drag a file from a browser into Pro Tools, a question arises: "Was the
file added or copied into your session?" Here are the rules:
• If the file does not require any conversion (in other words, if the sample rate and file
formatare compatible with the session), the default behavior of Pro Tools is to add the file,
with Pro Tools referring to the file in its original location.
• If a conversion is required due to sample rate or file format, Pro Tools will create a new file
that matches the audio settings for that session. The session will refer to the converted file,
not to the original.
While this default behavior of Pro Tools is useful in conserving hard drive space (and in certain other
workflows), it is sometimes desirable to have all a session's audio in a single location (the Audio Files
folder).

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An easy way to do this is to open Pro Tools' Preferences

dialog box (Setup > Preferences), navigate to the
Processing tab and check the box next to "Automatically
Copy Files on Import" (in the Import section). With this
preference activated, Pro Tools will create a new file in
the session's Audio Files subfolder, even if no conversion
is necessary. Pro Tools will refer to the copied file, not the
original.
Here’s another way to force Pro tools to copy on import:
Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while
dragging a file into Pro Tools. Pro Tools will create a new
file in the session's Audio Files subfolder, even if no
conversion is necessary. Pro Tools will refer to the copied
file, not the original. This works when dragging from a file
Enabling the Automatically Copy Files on
browser, or from Pro Tools' Workspace browser, which will Import preference
be discussed in the next section.

Importing Audio with the Workspace Browser

While dragging audio files from your computer’s operating system is certainly one way to import
audio, searching for the file you want can be painful. For example, if we search for “vocal” in the
Mac’s Finder window, we're liable to see PDF files, videos, emails—everything with the word “vocal”
in it! Fortunately, there’s another way to locate files that’s customized for Pro Tools: The Workspace
browser.
Think of the Workspace as being similar to your computer’s file browser but designed specifically for
use within Pro Tools. From here, you can quickly find audio files, sessions, and other Pro Tools-
related files without any of the distractions that commonly come with using a generic file browser.

Opening the Workspace Browser

To open a new Workspace browser, do one of the following:
• From the Window menu, move your cursor to the New Workspace menu item. A submenu
will appear. In the submenu, choose Default. A new Workspace browser window will appear.
• The default shortcut to open a new Workspace browser is Option+I (Mac),
or Alt+I (Windows).

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Just as with your computer’s file browser

windows, you can have multiple Workspace
browser windows open at once, enabling you
to have multiple views of your system. When
one or more windows are open,
the Window > Workspaces submenu becomes
active, giving you control over any open
browsers. This includes bringing all
Workspaces to the front or back or viewing any
specific Workspace.
In the image shown, three Workspace browser
windows have been opened.
The Window > Workspaces submenu gives
The Window > Workspaces submenu
access to these browsers.
The default shortcut to bring all Workspace browsers to the front is Option+J (Mac), or Alt+J (Windows).

Understanding the Workspace Browser

At a basic level, the Workspace browser is divided into two main sections (or panes), with useful
browsing tools at the top of the window.

A Workspace browser window

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The Locations Pane

The Locations pane (on the left-hand side of the browser
window) allows you to navigate through your system and
control where you’ll search for files. There are several items in
this list:

• Sound Libraries: This item gives you quick and easy

access to any folders that you designate as locations
for your sound libraries, in addition to the sound
libraries that are automatically installed when Pro
Tools is installed. Working with sound libraries is
covered in the Pro Tools 110 course. The Workspace browser's Locations pane

• Volumes: Clicking on the disclosure triangle next

to the Volumes item will display all attached hard drives (including your internal hard drive),
enabling you to navigate to specific locations, similar to a traditional computer’s file browser.
Any selected volume’s contents will be visible in the main area of the Workspace browser
window.
• Session: The next item will be named after your session and will allow you to see the
individual audio files imported or recorded into your session.
• Track Presets: The topic of Track Presets is beyond the scope of this course, but when you
create them, they will be accessible from here.
• Catalogs: This is another topic that is beyond the scope of this book, but simply put,
Catalogs are a collection of file aliases, allowing users to set up quickly searchable folders of
their favorite sounds.
• User: Disclosing this item will give you quick access to your Desktop, Documents folder, and
User folder.

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The Browser Pane

The Browser pane (which occupies much of the browser window) will display the contents of any
drive or folder that has been selected in the Locations pane, or the results of any search. There’s
valuable information that's shown in this area in addition to file names: For example, in the
Waveform column, you will see a graphic representation of the audio’s waveform; in the Tempo
column, you’ll see the tempo that the audio was originally recorded at, file comments, and more.

The Workspace browser's Browser pane

You can change what a column is showing by right-clicking in the column heading, which will reveal a
list of options for you to choose from. Column types that are already shown in the Browser pane are
indicated with a check mark.
Don't worry if there’s not enough space in your window to see all the columns that you want to see: You can
use the scroll bar at the bottom of the Browser pane to navigate left or right in the Browser pane.

Searching with the Workspace Browser

There are a variety of ways that you can search within the Workspace browser. In this lesson, we'll
focus on two: simple search and advanced search.

Simple Searching
1. As with many file browsers, there is a
search field in the upper-right corner of
the Workspace browser. Typing in this
field will immediately begin to populate
the Browser pane of the Workspace with
search results: Searching for "Bass"

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2. As soon as the search started, the Locations pane changes slightly, but significantly, with the
addition of a small check box in the upper left-hand corner. This check box is called
the Search Checked button.

• When this button is dark grey, any search you do will be

limited to your selected location. For example, in the
image shown here, the search is limited to the Drop
Box drive.

Searching The Drop Box

• When you click the Search Checked button, it will turn

green. Now, you can search multiple locations
simultaneously. You can choose the locations that you
want to search by clicking the appropriate check box.
In this example, the search includes the Sound
Libraries, Audio Drive #1 drive, and Drop Box drive.

Searching the Sound Libraries,

Audio Drive #1, and Drop Box

While the search is in progress, a spinning circle around an "X" will appear to the right of the search
field (this is the Simple Search button, which will normally appear as a magnifying glass). As this
search progresses, additional items may be added in the Browser pane.

A Search in progress

• To stop a search in progress, click the Simple Search ("X") button to the right of the search
field. The spinning circle will disappear, and only the "X" will remain. The search results will
remain, but no additional search results will appear.
• To clear the search, click the Simple Search button one more time. The results will be
cleared, and the button will return to its default (magnifying glass) icon.

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Advanced Searching
When you search by keyword only, the results that you’ll see in the Browser pane might be more
than what you’re actually looking for. For example, searching the word “guitar” might show many
kinds of different files, all of which have relevance to Pro Tools in some way, but may not be the kind
of file you're looking for. Fortunately, the Advanced Search options will help you filter your results.
Here's a typical workflow using Advanced Search tools:
1. Type the key word into the search field. The Workspace browser will immediately start
searching your system (based on your selected locations) and populating the Browser pane
with results.
2. Click the Advanced Search button, which appears as a magnifying glass with a plus sign (+).

Starting an Advanced Search

A new section of the Workspace browser will appear, called the Advanced Search Settings pane, with
at least a single row visible. From left to right, the row's first menu will display the search criterion
type, and in this case reads Any Text Column. The second menu will display the search criterion status
(“Contains”). The final field will display the value you typed in the search field.

A single row in the Advanced Search Settings pane

At this point, your results are identical to any Simple Search workflow, but the Advanced Search
Settings pane will give you new ways to filter your search:
3. Click the Add Row button (indicated by
a plus (+) sign) to add another criterion
to your search. A new row will appear
below the current row.

Adding an Advanced Search row

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4. If you want to change one of the filters, just click on the Search Column Selector menu to
change your search type. For example, if you want this new row to filter the search to show
only audio files, set the search criterion to Kind.
5. The other menus in the row will change based on the search criterion. For example, if you
want to show only audio files, the first column would filter by Kind, the second column would
be set to Is, and the final menu would be set to Audio File.6
6. You can further refine your search by adding more rows. For example, if you wanted to show
only stereo audio files, you'd add a new row and set the columns appropriately:
• Column 1: # Channels
• Column 2: Equal to
• Column 3: 2

Refining a search to show only stereo files

Previewing Audio
Once the Browser pane shows you the files you want (either by searching or by navigating to the
desired folder), you’ll probably want to preview some before you commit to importing them. It is
here where the Workspace browser really shines, giving you a number of ways to audition your
audio files before you import.
At the top of the Workspace browser are
tools that will assist you in previewing
your audio.
Preview controls in the Workspace browser

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Preview Button
On the leftmost side of the preview controls, the Preview button will
start and stop playback of the audio file selected in the Browser pane. If
you right-click this button, four preview options will appear:
• Loop Preview: When this option is selected, your previewed file
will play and repeat endlessly until you press the Preview button Preview button
again to stop playback. This is especially useful for previewing
phrases that will repeat in your session, like drum loops.
• When the Auto-Preview option is selected, selecting a file (by clicking it in the Browser pane)
will automatically begin the preview process. To stop preview, click the Preview button.
• Spacebar Toggles File Preview: When this option is enabled, pressing your
computer’s Spacebar will start and stop preview of the selected file (just as
your Spacebar starts and stops playback in the Edit and Mix windows.
• Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo: This is a powerful tool when you need it: When
enabled, any previewed audio file will automatically match the tempo of the currently open
session, even if the file was recorded at a different tempo. This enables you to listen to your
audio at the right tempo before you import it.
When audio is being previewed, the Preview button will be colored green. When not, the button will be grey
(with a green Play triangle icon).

Preview Volume
Right next to the Preview button is your Preview
Volume display and control, showing the level of your
previewed audio’s playback. The preview volume be
changed by clicking and holding on the display or the
fader icon to the right of the display. A fader will be
revealed. Continuing to hold down your mouse, drag
the fader up or down to reach the desired preview The Workspace browser's Preview Volume controls
volume (the value in the preview volume display will
change as you make your adjustments). The small
meter to the right of the control will indicate the
output level of your previewed audio as it plays.

Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo

To the right of the preview volume control, the Audio Files
Conform to Session Tempo button mirrors the option of the
same name in the Preview button menu. You can enable or
disable this option by clicking the button—if the button is
colored green, the option is enabled.

The Workspace browser's Audio Files Conform

to Session Tempo button (disabled)

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With the function of these tools in mind, here's how to a preview a file:
1. Select the file that you want to preview.
2. Click the Preview button.
TIP: Multiple files may be selected, and they will be previewed in sequence.

Here's another way to do it:

1. Make sure that the Waveform column
is visible.
2. Click the small Waveform
Preview button (the small triangular
button to the left of the waveform),

Previewing from the Waveform Column

In either case, you'll see a small vertical line in the waveform view of the audio file, which moves
from left to right as the file plays. This gives you a visual indication of how your playback is
progressing.

There's one more way to preview audio, using

that vertical line: Click at the desired location
within the waveform display, and preview will
begin at the point where you clicked. This
allows you to begin previewing a file from
places other than the beginning, which can be
a big help with longer audio files.

Previewing from various places within a file

Regardless of how you preview your file, your preview will follow the options that are selected in
the Preview button menu. Again, to get to this menu, just right-click on the Preview button, or choose the
options from the Browser pop-up menu.

As you learned already, you can adjust the volume of your previewed file by adjusting the preview
volume controls. Clicking the Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo button will ensure that any
musical phrases that you preview will be played in the tempo of your current session, regardless of
their original tempo! These two features are huge timesavers that a computer’s file browser can't
match.

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But the news gets better. You can preview audio in the Workspace browser while your session is
playing. For example, you could start a looped selection in your Edit window (the phrase will play
repeatedly), and then go into Workspace. If the Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo button is
green, any previewed musical phrase will play back in the same tempo as your session. It will even
wait until the downbeat to start play back, so that your phrases are aligned properly!
For this workflow to work properly, your session's tempo must be set correctly. You'll learn about this later in
this course.

Of course, not all audio files are musical phrases, so not all files should change according to the
tempo of your session. Not a problem, though—Pro Tools will analyze the files in your browser
before you preview, looking for a recognizable pattern of transients (rapid changes in amplitude, like
drum hits). If Pro Tools finds a pattern, it will assume that the file is a musical phrase and can
conform it to the session tempo. If there is no pattern (as would be the case in a single drum hit),
Pro Tools will determine that the file is not a musical phrase and will play it at its original speed,
regardless of the Audio Files Conform to Session Tempo setting.

Importing from the Workspace Browser

You searched for your audio and previewed a few of your options, and now you're ready to import
your choice into your session. This process is very similar to importing from your computer’s file
browser window.
1. Select the file that you want to import in the Workspace's Browser pane.
2. Position your cursor in the Browser pane, over the name or icon
of the file that you wish to import. Your cursor will turn into a
small hand icon.
3. Now you’re ready to drag your audio from the Workspace
browser into your session, and just like dragging from your
computer’s browser window, there are different ways that you
can do it:
o If you drag a file into the Clips List, a new clip will be
added to the Clips list only—no tracks will be created.
o If you drag a file into the Tracks List, a new track will be Ready to import a Kick drum
created, and the clip will be placed at the beginning of the
timeline.
o If you drag a file onto an existing track, you will see an outline where that file will be
deposited once the mouse is released. Once the mouse is released, a new clip will be
placed on the track.
o If you drag from the browser into a blank area in the Edit window’s track area (where
there are no tracks), you will see an outline where the file will be deposited. Once
you drop the file, a new Audio track will be created with a clip placed where the
outline was previously. Note that the track name follows the name of the imported
file.

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Added or Copied?
Like importing a file from your computer's file browser, importing audio from the Workspace follows
a few rules:
• If the file does not require any conversion (in other words, if the sample rate and file format
are compatible with the session) the default behavior of Pro Tools is to add the file, with Pro
Tools referring to the file in its original location.
• If a conversion is required due to sample rate or file format, Pro tools will create a new file
that matches the audio settings for that session. The session will refer to the converted file,
not to the original.
Similar to importing from your computer's file browser, holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows)
while dragging a file into Pro Tools will create a new file in the session's Audio Files subfolder, even if no
conversion is necessary. Pro Tools will refer to the copied file, not the original.

The Pro Tools preference "Automatically Copy Files on Import" also applies to dragged files from the
Workspace browser. With this preference activated, Pro Tools will create a new file in the session's Audio
Files subfolder, even if no conversion is necessary. Pro Tools will refer to the copied file, not the original.

Addendum: The Soundbase Browser

Perhaps the best way to think of Pro Tools' Soundbase browser

is to view it as a preset configuration of the Workspace browser.
In this optional module, we take a quick look at the Soundbase.
Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add3-1

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Lesson 3
Review & Knowledge Check
You've completed your second Pro Tools lesson. Well done!
In this lesson, you learned:
• The different track types, and their unique roles within Pro Tools
• How to create new tracks—individually or by creating multiple tracks at once
• Setting your tracks' outputs
• Managing your tracks in a variety of ways (including selecting, showing, naming, and
reordering)
• Muting and soloing tracks
• Importing audio in a variety of ways: From the File menu, your computer's file browser, and
Pro Tools' Workspace browser window

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.
To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog box
will appear.

Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 3 Basic Audio Track Techniques

Action Default Shortcut

Open the New Tracks dialog box Shift+Command+N (Mac)

Shift+Ctrl+N (Windows)

Toggle through the stereo or mono options of the New Press and hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows)
Tracks dialog box and press either the Left or Right Arrow keys

Cycle through the different track types in the New Tracks Press and hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows)
dialog box and press either the Up or Down Arrow keys

Select a track without deselecting the currently selected Hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) and click
track(s) on the track name (in the Tracks List, Edit window tracks area,
or Mix window tracks area)

Select a range of tracks Select the first track in a range by clicking the name, then
hold the Shift key and select the last track in the range

Select (and deselect) all tracks in your session Click any track name while holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt
key (Windows)

Show (or hide) all tracks in your session Click any track's Show/Hide icon while holding the Option key
(Mac) or Alt key (Windows)

Advance to the next or previous tracks' Track Name In the Name Tracks dialog box, hold Command (Mac) or Ctrl
dialog box (Windows) and press the Right Arrow key or the Left Arrow
key

Change the height of all tracks in your session Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while
changing any track's height

Change the height of all selected tracks in your session Hold the Option+Shift key (Mac) or Alt+Shift key (Windows)
while changing any selected track's height

Solo or mute all tracks in your session Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while soloing
or muting any track

Solo or mute all selected tracks in your session Hold the Option+Shift key (Mac) or Alt+Shift key (Windows)
while soloing or muting any selected track

Open the Import Audio dialog box Shift+Command+I (Mac)

Shift+Ctrl+I (Windows)

Force-copy when dragging from a computer's file browser Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while
or Pro Tools' Workspace browser dragging a file into Pro Tools

Open a new Workspace browser Option+I (Mac)

Alt+I (Windows)

Bring all Workspace browsers to the front Option+J (Mac), or Alt+J (Windows)

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Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC3

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LESSON 3 Basic Audio Track Techniques

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 Exercise 3
Working with Tracks
In this exercise, you'll start with a blank session, add some tracks, and import audio.

Media: PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff), PT101 2023 Exercise 3 - Files for Import
Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise3

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Opening a Blank Session

Before we can create tracks, we'll need to open a blank session for them.

1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:
• In the Dashboard, click the Open From Disk button at the bottom of the window.
• From the File menu, choose Open Session.
3. Navigate to your downloaded exercise materials and open the Pro Tools 101 (2023)
Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff and Files) > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky
Riff) > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff).ptx file (Either double-click to open the session or
select the session and click the Open button).
let's create a new session file based on the one you've just opened, in a way that identifies
your name and today's date.
4. From the File menu, choose Save As.
 Exercise 3 Working with Tracks

5. In the browser window that appears, navigate to the location where you want to save your
session (for example, the Pro Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff and
Files) > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff) folder). Name the session descriptively. Here's a
possible name - PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff) - [Your Name] [today's date].
This session has been created specifically for the files that you will be importing, but let's check a few
things first:
• In the upper-left corner of the Edit window,
make sure that the button that reads "Shuffle"
is red (you'll learn more about this in the next
lesson of this course).

• The main counter should be

in Bars|Beats mode, as shown here.

• In the tempo ruler, you'll see a small number indicating the tempo of the song at the
beginning of the timeline. Make sure that the tempo reads "97.1194". (You'll learn more
about working with tempo later in this course.)

• Make sure that your Tracks List is visible.

• Make sure that your Clips List is visible.
You're all set, and ready to move on!

Part 2: Creating Tracks

The next step is to create a few blank tracks to work with. For demonstration's sake, we'll do this in a
few different ways.
1. Create a single mono audio track, named "Bass".

2. Click the Create button, and the track will appear in your Edit window.

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 Exercise 3 Working with Tracks

Now let’s create a number of different tracks in one process (Don’t click the Create button
until you get to step #4):
3. Next create 3 mono audio tracks named "Drum" and 2 stereo audio tracks named "Drum".
4. Just to give us a bit of volume control if we need it, create a stereo Master Fader track,
named "MAIN MSTR".

5. Click the Create button.

You should have 7 empty tracks in your session, named (from top to bottom):
o Bass
o Drum 1
o Drum 2
o Drum 3
o Drum 4
o Drum 5
o MAIN MTSR
6. Let's name the drum tracks a bit more
descriptively. Rename the drum tracks,
from top to bottom, to:
o Hat
o Snare
o Kick
o Room
o Overhead

When you’re done, your session should look

like the image shown.

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 Exercise 3 Working with Tracks

Checking Outputs
7. Let’s check your output settings. If it isn't already shown, make sure that the I/O View is
visible.
8. Set the output of each of these tracks to match the connections that are routed to your
monitor speakers or headphones.

Note that Master Fader track has no inputs, only outputs. That’s not a bug; Master Faders only control the
level of the assigned output, without the need for an input.

Part 3: Importing Audio

Here again, let's try a few different ways of importing audio:
1. Using the File > Import > Audio method, select the "Arpeggio" and "Pad" audio files in the Pro
Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 (Funky Riff and Files) > PT101 2023 Exercise 3 -
Files for Import folder.
2. When both files are in the Clips to Import list, you're ready to click the Open button.
3. Choose your session's Audio Files folder as the location for the converted files (this is the
default).
4. In the Audio Import Options dialog box that appears, choose New Track, with the location
of Session Start.
5. The track names of your newly created tracks will follow the imported file names. This is a
little verbose. Let's remove the "Exercise 3 -" from the name, so that just "Arpeggio" and
"Pad" remain.
6. These two tracks are both at the bottom of your Edit window (and the far right in the Mix
window). Let's drag them both up to the top of the list, so that "Arpeggio" is the first track,
and "Pad is the second one.
Now let's switch over to the Workspace browser:
7. Open a Workspace browser window from the Window menu.
8. In the Locations pane, make sure the Volumes item is selected. This will ensure that you
search your entire system (which you won't always do in actual practice but suits this
exercise).
9. In the search field, type "Exercise3". You'll immediately begin searching your entire system,
and results will populate the Browser pane.
10. Let's limit our search to only audio files. Click the Advanced Search button, and add another
criterion: The first column should be set to Kind, the second to Is, and the last column
to Audio File:

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Exercise 3 Working with Tracks

11. When you're seeing the files shown below, you can click the Simple Search button (X) once to
stop the search. Don't click it a second time, or you'll clear the search and have to start
again!

12. Preview the various files, to get a sense of what they sound like before importing them.
Because the tempo of the session and the tempo of the audio files are the same, these files will
preview (and import) at the proper speed regardless of whether the "Audio Files Conform to Session
Tempo" button (the metronome button at the top of the Workspace browser is enabled or disabled.

13. Drag files to the corresponding tracks:

o Exercise 3 - Bass.wav to the "Bass" track
o Exercise 3 - Hat.wav to the "Hat" track
o Exercise 3 - Snare.wav to the "Snare" track
o Exercise 3 - Kick.wav to the "Kick" track
o Exercise 3 - Room.wav to the "Room" track
o Exercise 3 - Overheads.wav to the "Overhead" track
TIP: You'll find that every time you click outside the Workspace browser, the window will disappear. It's
actually still there, but behind the Edit window. You can show it again from
the Window > Workspaces menu, but here's a useful shortcut: Option+J (Mac), or Alt+J (Windows) will
bring all browsers to the front.

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 Exercise 3 Working with Tracks

When you're done, your Edit window should look like this:

The hard work is over. Pressing the Play button in the Edit window toolbar, or pressing
the Spacebar key will start playback. If it's too loud or soft, you can adjust the overall volume by
changing the Master Fader (there are a number of ways to change the Master Fader level, but the
easiest at this point is to go to the Mix window and move the fader for that track).

Part 4: Wrapping Up
Before we leave this exercise, let's save your work:
1. From the File menu, choose Save.
2. Close the session by going to the File menu and choosing Close Session.

This completes Exercise 3.

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 LESSON 4
Editing Fundamentals

Navigating your Pro Tools session and editing go hand in hand—you have to be able to locate
sections that you want to work with before you can make any changes. This lesson is divided into
two parts—Navigation Tools and Editing Tools.

Duration: 45 Minutes

GOALS

• Play from any place on the session's timeline with Counters and Rulers
• Navigate in the Edit window
• Differentiate between different scrolling options
• Understand the behavior of the playback cursor
• Understand the three primary editing tools—Trim, Selector, and Grabber
• Understand the different Edit modes
 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Part 1: Navigation Tools

To edit efficiently, you’ll need to be able to quickly make selections and control playback in different
ways. So far in this course, we've touched upon some of these—now let’s review and expand on
them:
If you want to follow along with these steps and practice session navigation, but you don’t have any of your
own sessions to work with, it’s recommended that you open the session that you used in Exercise 1 (Low
Roar) now.

Getting Around the Timeline

Getting to specific points of your session’s timeline can be done in a number of ways, to suit a
variety of working situations. In this section, we’ll look at some of the most fundamental ways

Counters
The counters and indicators at the top of the Edit window show the location of the timeline
insertion, and the beginning of any selected area. For example, as shown here, if we were to start
playback, it would begin at measure three. This display not only shows location; you can also type in
a value to move the playback cursor to any desired location.

The playback cursor at the beginning of measure 3 (3|1|000)

If you're seeing a single value in the counter field, you're looking at what is more accurately called
the Main counter, which can be set to various timescales. To change the time scale of the main
counter:
1. Click the Main Counter selector (the triangle to the right of the main counter). A menu of
time scale options will appear:
• Bars|Beats (Bars and Beats)
• Min:Secs (Minutes and
Seconds)
• Timecode
• Feet+Frames
• Samples
Choosing a new time scale for the Main counter

2. Choose a desired time scale from the list. The Main Counter will change accordingly.

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Changing the Main Counter's time scale will correspondingly change the edit selection's timescales and will
show the corresponding ruler if it is not already visible.

Another way to change the Main counter is to click on the name of any timebase ruler
(Bars|Beats, Min:Secs, Timecode, Feet+Frames, and Samples). The ruler will become highlighted (with the Ruler
View selector icon next to the name), and the Main counter's time scale will change accordingly.

Sub Counter
When it comes to the Counter section, you don't have to choose only one time scale—you can view a
second scale with the Sub Counter. For example, if you're working on a music project, you might
want to be able to see the passage of time in Bars and Beats and Minutes and Seconds—the Su-
Counter enables you to do just that:
1. From the Main Time Scale
selector menu, choose Show Sub
Counter.
2. Like the Main Counter, the Sub
Counter can be set to a number of
time scales. You can set the time scale
by clicking the selector (the disclosure
triangle to the right of the Sub counter). Choosing a Sub Time Scale

The Main and Sub Counters are similar in most regards, except that the Main Counter's time scale
determines the time scale of the Edit Selection fields, and that the Main Counter's corresponding
ruler will always be shown.
The Main and Sub Counters of the Edit window and Transport window are mirrored, meaning that changing
the Main or Sub Counter's time scale in one window will be similarly applied in the other.

Selecting a Playback Point

One of the great advantages of DAWs over tape is the ability to navigate instantly to any location in
your work. With Pro Tools, you can do this in several ways:
• Typing a Location: You can choose a position where you want playback to start by typing a
number in the Main or Sub Counter field at the top of the Edit (or Transport) window. Just
type the number of the place you want your playback cursor to move to, confirm the
number by pressing the Return key (Mac) or the Enter key (Windows), and the blue arrow
icon will move to that position, indicating that playback will start at that point.
• Using Rulers to Select a Point: The Edit window's rulers not only mark the passage of time
in the Edit window but can also allow you to start playback anywhere you want. Just click any
timeline ruler at the point in time where you want playback to begin. A small blue arrow icon
will appear on the ruler corresponding to the Main Counter's time scale, indicating where
playback will start once you click the Play button or hit the Spacebar.

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Selecting a Playback Area

You can also select an area to be played back:
• Typing a Playback Area: You can also
select an area on your timeline by typing
values into the various fields (Start, End,
and Length) in the Edit Selection Area.
Here as with the Main Counter, you will
need to press the Return key (Mac) or the
Enter key (Windows) to confirm your
entry. This is useful when you know
Selecting an area on the timeline in the Edit Location fields
exactly where you need your selection to
begin and/or end.
• Using Rulers to Select a Playback Area: You can easily select an area on your timeline by
clicking on a point in the ruler area and dragging the cursor horizontally. A selected area will
appear on the timeline. To confirm the selection, just release the mouse. When you select an
area, the arrow icon is split into two half-arrows, indicating the start and end of your
selected area, and the area will be highlighted in the ruler.
This area will determine your playback range, starting at the beginning of the selected area and
ending at the end of it. Drag the blue arrow icons on either side of the selected area to adjust the
beginning or end.

Go to Zero and Go to End

Two shortcuts mentioned already in this course, but which bear repeating:
• To move the playback cursor to the beginning of your timeline, press the Return key (Mac) or
the Enter key (Windows).
• To move the playback cursor to the end of your timeline, hold the Option key (Mac)
or Alt key, and press the Return key (Mac) or the Enter key (Windows).
You can add the Shift key to make selections:
• Holding the Shift key and pressing the Return key (Mac) or the Enter key (Windows) will make
a selection on your timeline from your playback cursor's position to the beginning of the
session's timeline.
• Holding the Shift+Option keys (Mac) or Shift+Alt keys (Windows) and pressing the Return key
(Mac) or the Enter key (Windows) will make a selection on your timeline from your playback
cursor's position to the end of the session's timeline.

Timeline and Edit Selections

When you choose a playback point (or select an area in your rulers, you're making
a timeline selection. There is another kind of selection that you can make, called an edit selection,
which is made when you use various tools (which will be discussed later in this lesson) to select clips
or areas in the tracks area of the Edit window.

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In many workflows, your sessions' timeline and edit selections should be linked, and for the
purposes of this course, these two selections should always be linked. If they're not, you may find
that playback doesn't behave as expected.
There are two ways that you can confirm that your timeline and edit selections are linked:
• From the Options menu, make sure that the Link Timeline and Edit Selection item is checked.
• Refer to the Edit window toolbar—if the Link Timeline and Edit Selection button is colored
blue, the option is enabled.

The Link Timeline and Edit Selection button

Workflows that involve unlinking your session's timeline and edit selection are explored in the Pro Tools 110
course.

When you make a selection on a timeline ruler with Link Timeline and Edit Selection activated, your selection
will be mirrored in the Edit window's tracks area. However, when a playback selection is made in any of the
conductor rulers, no corresponding selection will be made on any tracks.

Later in this lesson, you'll learn about the Selector and Grabber tools, and how they can be used to make
selections in your tracks. With Link Timeline and Edit Selection enabled, this will also make a corresponding
section in your timeline.

Timeline Selections and Loop Playback

A selected area on your session's timeline will determine playback, and in a basic playback scenario,
playback will begin at the start (left-hand edge) of the selection and stop at the end of the selected
area. But it's not the only way you can play your session—when an area is selected, you might opt
for another mode, called Loop Playback. With this mode selected, your selected area will repeat until
playback is stopped.
1. Select the area on your timeline that you want
to hear.
2. Do one of the following:
• From the Options menu, choose Loop
Playback.
• Right-click on the Play button in either
the Transport window, or the Transport
controls of the Edit window's toolbar.
From the menu that appears, choose Loop. Activating Loop Playback

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When Loop Playback is active, the Play button

will appear with a looping arrow:

3. Click the Play button or press the Spacebar to

start playback. Once the end of the selected area is Loop Playback active
reached, playback will seamlessly start from the beginning
again.

Working with the Playback Cursor

The Playback Cursor (also called the Timeline Insertion) is an important visual indication, showing
precisely where you are on the timeline. Here are a few tips on how to work with it:

Insertion Follows Playback

The Insertion Follows Playback option is perhaps best described in a workflow context.
Let's say that you:
• Start playback at the beginning of your session
• Play your session for exactly one minute
• Stop playback
Where is your playback cursor now? The answer to that question depends on whether you have
the Insertion Follows Playback option selected:
• When Insertion Follows Playback is disabled, the timeline insertion jumps back to where it
was originally set. When you start playback again, it will start from this original position. In
the scenario described above, if you started playback again, your session would once more
play from the beginning.
• When Insertion Follows Playback is enabled, the timeline insertion will stay at the point
where playback ended. When you start again, playback will pick up where you left off. In the
scenario described above, if you start playback again, it would be playing from one minute
into your session.
When it comes to Insertion Follows Playback, there’s no right or wrong setting—it depends on what
you’re doing at the moment and choosing the setting that will let you work faster.
Three ways to enable or disable Insertion Follows Playback:
• Click the Insertion Follows Playback button
in the Edit tools cluster of the Edit window.
When enabled, the button is colored blue, as
shown.

The Insertion Follows Playback button

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• From the Options menu, the Insertion Follows Playback item can be clicked to be enabled or
disabled. When enabled, the menu item is marked with a check mark.
• The shortcut for enabling or disabling Insertion Follows Playback is the N key on your
computer's keyboard.
When playing back a selected area, take note as to whether Insertion Follows Playback is enabled or
disabled. if it’s enabled, you will lose your selected area once playback is stopped.

Locating the Playback Cursor

As you scroll horizontally, or as a result of your
active scrolling option, you will occasionally
find that your playback cursor has moved
off the Edit window's screen. If you want to
quickly find it, Pro Tools points the way!
• If the playback cursor is off your
screen to the left (earlier on the
A Playback Cursor Locator indicating that the Playback Cursor is
timeline), you'll see a left-facing to the left of the visible area.
triangular icon on the left-hand side
of your rulers.

• Conversely, you'll see a right-facing

triangular icon when your cursor is
A Playback Cursor Locator indicating that the Playback Cursor
off your screen to the right (later in
is to the left of the visible area.
your timeline).

Two shortcuts that will let you quickly scroll to your Playback cursor:
• Pressing the Left Arrow key will scroll your Edit window screen to your Playback cursor, or
the beginning of a selected area on your timeline.

• Pressing the Right Arrow key will scroll your Edit window screen to your Playback cursor, or
the end of a selected area on your timeline.

Scrolling and Zooming in the Edit Window

in addition to using your rulers and counters, you’ve got two other ways to get around: scrolling and
zooming.

Scrolling
Scrolling in Pro Tools, on a basic level, isn't all that different from scrolling a webpage, except that
there is vertical and horizontal scrolling.

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Horizontal Scrolling
At the bottom of the Edit window, there is a Horizontal scroll bar that will allow you to shift your view
earlier or later in time.
Additionally, Clicking on the left- or right-facing triangle buttons on
the bottom edge of the Edit window will scroll your view earlier or
later in the timeline (the amount of that shift will depend on your
zoom level, which you’ll learn about later in this section).

Vertical Scrolling Horizontal Scroll controls

Clicking and dragging on the Vertical scroll bar (on the right edge of the
Edit window) will enable you to navigate up and down the Edit window. This is the kind of scrolling
you’ll be doing if you want to see different tracks.
Clicking on the upward- or downward-facing triangle buttons on the
right edge of the Edit window will scroll your view up or down by one-
track increments. These buttons will only appear when the shown
tracks in your session exceed the visible height of your Edit window.
Vertical Scroll controls
Scrolling with a Scroll Wheel
If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use this to scroll as well. Using the scroll wheel (with
no modifier key) will scroll your Edit window up and down, and by holding the Shift key while using
the scroll wheel, you can scroll your window left or right (earlier or later in the timeline).

Zooming
Zooming is also critically important, so much that there is a dedicated Zoom tool just for that
purpose. Like scrolling, you can zoom horizontally and vertically:

Horizontal Zooming
Horizontally zooming out or in will change how much time you will see in your session—
zooming out will show more time in your Edit window, while zooming in will show you more detail in
your clips, but less time in the Edit window. There are, as with most things in Pro Tools, different
ways to accomplish this to suit different workflows.

• In the Edit window's toolbar, you can show a Zoom

controls cluster. In this cluster, you will see two side-facing
triangle buttons. Clicking the left triangle (Horizontal Zoom
Out) button will show more time on the timeline, while the
right triangle (Horizontal Zoom In) button will show less
time on the timeline.
Clicking and dragging horizontally on either of these
Edit Window Zoom controls
buttons will smoothly zoom in or out (dragging left will
zoom out and dragging right will zoom in).

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• Here's another way to zoom: In the lower right-hand

corner of the Edit window are two small buttons (marked
with minus and plus signs) next to the horizontal scroll
controls. Clicking the "-" (Zoom Out) button will show
more of your timeline and clicking the "+" (Zoom In)
button will show less. Here again, you can click and drag
horizontally to smoothly zoom. Edit Window Zoom controls

• You’re going to do a lot of zooming, so learning some easy shortcuts is time well spent.
Pressing the R key will zoom out (showing more time in the Edit window) and Pressing
the T key will zoom in (giving you more detail of your audio files but showing less time in the
Edit window).

Activating Edit Keyboard Focus

The R and T keys rely on Pro Tools being in Edit Keyboard Focus
to work. This is a topic discussed in greater detail in other courses
in the Avid Learning Series, but for now, you can easily put your
system into Edit Keyboard Focus mode by clicking the Edit
Keyboard Focus button in the upper right-hand corner of the Edit
window's tracks area. When active, the button will be yellow,
as shown here.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro Tools 110 courses, Activating Edit Keyboard Focus
the Edit Keyboard Focus should always be enabled.

Zooming with a Scroll Wheel

If your mouse has a scroll wheel (or if you've set your trackpad up so that you can use it to scroll),
the default behavior of that wheel is to scroll the tracks area of the Edit window up and down—there
are modifiers that can allow you to use it to horizontally zoom as well:
• Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while scrolling up to zoom in.
• Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while scrolling down to zoom out.

Vertical Zooming
Horizontally zooming in or out of the timeline isn’t the only way you can zoom—you can also zoom
in or out vertically, which can be useful in seeing more detail in your audio files. Again, there are a
few ways that you can do this.
Vertical zooming, though it will change the size of your audio waveforms, will not change the amplitude of
your audio, but it will give you the ability to see low-amplitude waveforms more clearly.

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• The two buttons in the center of the Zoom controls cluster

of the Edit window are the Audio Zoom In/Out button on
the left and the MIDI Zoom In/Out button on the right.
The Audio Zoom In/Out button will enable you to vertically
zoom in on your audio clips. The MIDI Zoom In/Out button
will similarly let you vertically zoom in on MIDI notes. For
this lesson, we'll focus on audio zooming, but the effects
are similar between the two buttons.
Clicking the top half of the Audio Zoom In/Out button will
Vertical Zoom tools in the Edit window
zoom up vertically on your audio clips, making the audio
waveform appear taller. If you click the bottom half of this
button, you will
zoom down vertically.
Clicking the top or bottom half of the button will incrementally zoom your audio (or MIDI) up or down.
For a smooth zoom up or down, just click and hold this
button and drag up or down with your mouse.

• In the upper right-hand corner of your tracks area,

you'll see miniature versions of the Audio Zoom
In/Out and MIDI Zoom In/Out buttons.

Vertical Zoom tools in the Edit window

The Zoomer Tool

In addition to the different zoom controls
already discussed, The Zoomer tool is
dedicated to zooming in and out. In the Edit
window's toolbar, the Zoomer tool is shown as
a magnifying glass-looking icon:
The Zoomer tool in the Edit window's Edit tools cluster
1. Do one of the following to activate the
Zoomer Tool:

• Click the Zoomer tool button in the Edit window’s Edit tools cluster.
• Press the F5 key.

2. What you do next will determine how the Zoomer tool behaves. Do one of the following (and
if you're new to the Zoomer tool, try all these different techniques):

• Position the Zoomer tool anywhere on your tracks area and click once—this will
incrementally zoom in on your timeline.

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• Position the Zoomer tool anywhere on

your tracks area while holding
the Option key (Mac) or Alt key
(Windows) and click once—this will
incrementally zoom out on your timeline. Zooming out with the Zoomer tool

When zooming out, the magnifying glass

will show a minus sign (-).
• If you have a particular area that you want to zoom in on, click and drag over it. A
marquee box will appear. Once you let go of the mouse, your view will be zoomed in on
that selected area.
• Double-clicking the Zoomer tool will zoom out your view of the session to show the
longest shown track in its entirety. This is particularly useful when you want to quickly
see your entire timeline. This is also an easy way to reset your vertical zoom settings.

Scrolling Options
You’ve learned how to manually scroll (horizontally or vertically) in your Edit window. In addition,
there are also a few scrolling options that you have to choose from, which will determine how (or if)
your Edit window will scroll as your session plays.
1. From the Options menu, move your cursor to the Edit Window Scrolling menu item. A
submenu will appear, with the active mode indicated by a check mark.
2. Choose the desired item from the menu. The different scrolling options will cause your
system to behave differently during playback:
• No Scrolling: When "No Scrolling" is selected, Pro Tools will not automatically scroll as
your session plays back. This means that if your playback cursor moves off the right
edge of your Edit window as your session plays, you will no longer see it.
When using the "No Scrolling" option, Insertion Follows Playback is usually disabled.

• After Playback: With this option selected, the behavior during playback will be identical
during playback to the "No Scrolling" option—if your playback cursor moves off your
screen, Pro Tools will not scroll. The difference with this option comes into play when
you stop playback, at which time your Edit window will horizontally snap to the point
where playback was stopped.
When using the "After Playback" scrolling option, Insertion Follows Playback is usually enabled.

• Page: When "Page" scrolling is chosen, when the playback cursor reaches the rightmost
edge of the Edit window's timeline, Pro Tools will immediately shift later, so that the
cursor is suddenly at the left side, continuing to play. When it reaches the right edge
again, Pro Tools will "turn the page" and scroll again. This option has the advantage of
enabling you to always see your playback cursor as your session plays.
Page scrolling isn't especially effective when you're zoomed into a very small part of your session's
timeline, and may not behave properly under particularly high zoom magnification settings.

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• Continuous: Continuous scrolling is unique in that the playback cursor is in a fixed

position in the middle of your Edit window's timeline. When playback starts, the
playhead stays put, with the Edit window smoothly scrolling as your session plays.
• Center Playhead: This mode behaves much like Continuous, but with an important
(and useful) difference: When you scroll in the edit window, the playhead will re-start
playback at the point on the timeline when you stopped scrolling. This behavior, unique
to Center Playhead scrolling, allows for quick navigation of different sections on the
timeline.
When Center Playhead is active, the playback cursor will be displayed as a blue vertical line in the
edit window, or red if any tracks are record-enabled.

There are two things to bear in mind when using Continuous or Center Playhead as scrolling
options:

• Of the five scrolling options in Pro Tools, Continuous and Center Playheadwill consume
the most of your computer's processing resources.
• When you are at the beginning of your session, you will see a blank area to the left of the
playback cursor. This is normal, since the playback cursor is in a fixed position in the
center of the Edit window's timeline.

The Big Three: Trim, Selector, and Grabber Tools

Pro Tools has a wide variety of Edit tools and features, but three tools stand above the rest:
The Trim tool, Selector tool, and Grabber tool. These are at the heart of most of the editing you’ll do,
so it’s important to understand how they work.
In this section, we'll begin to rely the "F Keys" at the top of your keyboard more than we have so far in this
course. If you’re on a Mac computer and your Function ("F") keys aren't behaving the way you expect, it's
probably because your F keys are assigned to different functions. For dedicated Pro Tools computers, you'll
want your F keys to change your Edit Modes and tools. To do it: From your System Preferences, choose
Keyboard, and then check the Use F1, F2, etc. Keys as Standard Function Keys check box.

Later in this Lesson, you’ll learn about Pro Tools’ Edit Modes, and how that
can affect how your edit tools behave. For now, make sure you have Slip
mode selected at the top of your Edit window, as shown here.

The Trim tool Choosing Slip mode

The Trim tool enables you to adjust the boundaries of clips

in your session. Here is an example of how it might be used
in a typical editing workflow. Look at the waveform on the
audio clip below; there are four distinct phrases within this
clip. Let's say that we want to cut the first two phrases out
of the clip—the Trim tool can get the job done. Four phrases in an audio clip

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

1. To activate the Trim Tool, do one of

the following:
• Select the Trim tool in the Edit
window’s Edit Tools section.
• Press the F6 key.
Choosing the Trim tool

2. Move your cursor within the clip that you want

to trim, near the beginning (left) or the end
(right) boundary. Since we want to remove
material from the beginning in this example,
we’ll move the cursor towards the beginning of
the clip. The cursor will become a bracketed
Ready to trim from the beginning of the clip
icon, indicating that we're ready to trim the clip.
3. To trim the clip, just click and drag left or right (in this case, we'll drag towards the right).
When you’re done, just release the mouse—your clip has been trimmed!
Pro Tools, like most DAWs, is not a destructive editing platform, meaning that even though you might
remove audio content from the timeline, no audio data will be permanently deleted. In the example you just
saw, if you wanted to show any previously trimmed material, just click and drag with the Trim tool (in the
opposite direction) to reveal what had been hidden.

If you look very closely at the Trim tool button, you'll see a very small, downward-pointing triangle. If you click
and hold on the Trim tool button, you’ll see a menu of Trim tool variations, including Standard, TCE, and
Loop. In this lesson, you’ll just be dealing with the Standard Trim tool, but we’ll explore the other Trim tools
in the Pro Tools 110 course.

The Selector Tool

Next to the Trim tool is the Selector tool. Using the Selector tool, you can click and drag anywhere on
a track or ruler.
Here's another common scenario: We're looking again at the clip you saw before. Now, instead of
cutting the first two phrases and leaving the last two to be audible, we want to cut the second
phrase and just leave the first, third, and fourth phrases as audible:
1. To activate the Selector Tool, do one of the following:
• Select the Selector tool in the Edit
window’s Edit Tools section.
• Press the F7 key.
2. Click and drag over the area that you want
to select (in this hypothetical example, the
Choosing the Selector tool
second phrase in the clip).

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Selected areas can be used for a number of

purposes. For example, if we wanted to cut the
selected area, we could just press the Delete key
and the selected area would be removed.

Selecting the second phrase

You can also use the Selector tool to select clips or your entire track:
• Double-clicking a clip with the Selector tool will select the entire clip.
• Triple-clicking in a track with the Selector tool will select all clips on that track.

The Grabber Tool

The last of the three primary Edit tools is the Grabber tool. Like the Selector tool, it does what you
might expect: just click on the clip that you want to move, and drag it left or right to move it earlier
or later in your session's timeline. You can also drag clips up and down to move them to other
tracks.
1. To activate the Grabber Tool, do one of the following:
• Select the Grabber tool in the Edit
window’s Edit Tools section.
• Press the F8 key.

Choosing the Grabber tool

2. Using the Grabber tool, just drag and drop your clip to a new location on the timeline (or a
different track in your session). You'll see the clip as you move it.
3. The standard Grabber tool is more properly called the Time Grabber. Using this tool will allow
you to move blocks of time. This means that you can select multiple clips and move them
with the Time Grabber, moving the clips and any spaces between them.
You can also use the Grabber tool to select clips or name your clips:
• Clicking a clip with the Grabber tool will select the entire clip.
• Double-clicking an audio clip with the Grabber tool will open the Clip Name dialog box,
enabling you to rename a clip (MIDI clips can be treated differently, which is covered the Pro
Tools 110 course).

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Here’s a handy tip: Holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while moving a clip with the
Grabber tool will make a copy of that clip. This allows you to move a copy of the clip to a new
location while leaving the original clip in its original position.
If you look closely at the Grabber tool button, you'll see a very small, downward-pointing triangle. If you click
and hold on the button, you’ll see a menu of Grabber tool variations. These variations are beyond the scope
of this course but are discussed in detail in the Pro Tools 110 course.

Addendum: More Edit Tools

The Trim, Selector, and Grabber tools might be the most used edit
tools, but they're not the only ones. In this addendum, we take a
quick look at two more Edit tools: the Scrubber and the Pencil:
Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add4-1

Introducing the Smart Tool

The mark of an accomplished editor is that they can get things done quickly and with minimal effort.
Any technique that removes even a single mouse click can be immensely valuable to a Pro Tools
user—the Smart tool does that and more. Though it takes a little bit of practice to get used to, once
you get comfortable with it, you’ll use the Smart tool frequently.

What is the Smart Tool?

The Smart tool isn't a single tool, but a combination of multiple tools. With the Smart tool, you can
change the active edit tool by changing the position of your cursor on the screen. But the power
goes beyond that, enabling you to access other tools more easily, making the Smart tool an
indispensable part of efficient editing.

Activating the Smart Tool

There are two commonly used ways to activate the Smart tool to suit different workflows:
• Click the bracket above the Trim, Selector, and Grabber Tools. The bracket and all three tools
will turn blue, indicating that the Smart tool is now active.
• The Shortcut to activate the Smart tool is any two- or three-key combination of F6, F7,
and F8.

Using the Smart Tool

Once the Smart tool is active, you'll see that you can
switch between the "big three" edit tools—
Trim, Selector, and Grabber:
Clicking to activate the Smart tool

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

• If your cursor is in the upper half of a track, the active tool is the Selector tool.
• If your cursor is in the bottom half of the track, the active tool is the Grabber tool.
• If your cursor is at either end of a clip, the active tool is the Trim tool.
When you change edit tools using the Smart tool, the majority of modifier keys associated with that tool are
still applicable. For example, if you hold the Option key while dragging a clip using the Smart tool in "Grabber
tool mode," the clip will be copied, just as it would be if you were using the Grabber tool.

To deactivate the Smart tool, choose any single edit tool by clicking the corresponding button with
your mouse or using shortcuts.

The Edit Modes

You’ll choose your Edit tools—Trim, Selector, Grabber, and so on—
based on what you want to do to a clip. There's another choice that
you must make, and that is which Edit mode to use. Your Edit mode
choice will determine how your Edit tools behave.
Your Edit modes are shown at the top left-hand corner of the Edit
window. They are Shuffle, Slip, Spot, and Grid. The currently active
mode is indicated by a colored field. In the image shown here, Slip
The Pro Tools Edit modes
mode is the currently active mode, so let’s start with that one.

Slip Mode
The most flexible of the Edit modes is called Slip mode:
1. Activate Slip mode by clicking the word SLIP in the Edit window toolbar. You’ll know that this
is the active Edit mode when the field around the word is colored green.
Simply put, when you’re in Slip mode, your tools will move smoothly and freely:
• When using the Grabber tool, you can drag clips forward or backward in time to any location
you want. This mode suits fine-tuning the position of clips quite well.
• If you're using the Selector tool, any selection you make can start and end at any point.
• When using the Trim tool, you can adjust the beginnings and ends of clips with a high degree
of flexibility.

Shuffle Mode
Shuffle mode is a powerful tool in certain workflows—for example, when you want to put together
an arrangement of clips that perfectly align end-to-end.
1. Activate Shuffle mode by clicking the word SHUFFLE in the Edit window toolbar. You’ll know
that this is the active Edit mode when the field around the word is colored red.
With this mode active, Pro Tools will make sure that clips are aligned with no gaps between. there
are three behaviors to remember when working in this mode:
• If a clip is dragged onto an empty track, it will snap to the beginning of the timeline.

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• If a clip is dragged onto a track with a clip (or clips) on it, it will snap to the end of the nearest
clip. A yellow line will appear, indicating where the dragged clip will be placed when the
mouse is released.
• You can rearrange clips but maintain a gapless arrangement. Here again, a yellow line will
indicate where your clip will be positioned when the mouse is released, and all clips that are
later on the timeline will move accordingly.
TIP: Shuffle mode is certainly useful, but it is only suited for certain workflows. It’s a great tool for a song
editor who is dragging together sections of a song (like in the example we just covered). However, if you’re
using the Trim tool while in Shuffle mode, you must be aware that as you drag it to adjust a clip’s boundary,
Shuffle mode will ensure no gap or overlap between clips, meaning any edit you make on a track will affect
the location of any clips later in the timeline. This behavior makes Shuffle mode unsuitable for other kinds of
workflows, and why it’s generally avoided for post-production work.

Shuffle mode is the only one of the edit modes in which moving or adding a clip can affect the timing of
other clips.

The Grid Modes

Grid mode comes in two types—Absolute Grid mode and Relative Grid mode. Let's start
with Absolute Grid mode.

Absolute Grid Mode

Let’s explore Grid mode in a practical situation using the Grabber tool. In this first scenario, we want
to move a clip so that it starts exactly on the second beat of the second measure.
1. First, we’ll turn on Grid mode. Click , and you’ll see a blue
field around the word "Grid", indicating that Absolute Grid
Mode is active (if the field is not blue, click the small triangle
in the right side of the button and choose "Absolute Grid"
from the menu).

Activating Absolute Grid mode

2. Next, we’ll set a Grid Value. The Grid Value that we

choose will determine the spacing of the grid lines,
and how our clip will snap. Clicking the Grid Value
selector (the triangle icon next to the Grid Value) in
the Edit window toolbar will allow us to change the
spacing of the grid. In this case, we’ll change the grid
to a quarter note.
It’s worth noting at this point that the grid values
that you see at the top of the menu are determined
by the timescale that you choose at the bottom of
the menu. The reason that this image shows quarter
notes is because the timescale is Bars|Beats.
Different timescales will give you different grid options. Changing the Grid value

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

When using Grid mode, you’ll probably want to see your

grid lines. You can show (or hide) these lines by clicking
the Show Grid Lines button. When the field around the word
"Grid" is green, your grid lines will appear in your tracks area. Showing (or hiding) grid lines
with the Show Grid Lines button

3. From there it’s easy: Using the Grabber tool, drag your clip to the desired location (in our
hypothetical case, the second beat of the second measure). Even if your clip isn't on a grid
line, it will snap to the nearest grid line as you drag.
Absolute Grid mode affects the behavior of your other Edit tools as well:
• If you're using the Selector tool, any selection you make will immediately snap to the nearest
grid lines. If you make a selection that is exactly one bar long, set your grid value to one bar,
and selecting that amount will become very easy.
• When using the Trim tool, adjustments to the beginning or the end of a clip will snap to the
nearest grid line.

Relative Grid Mode

While Absolute Grid is arguably the more used of the Grid modes, there’s another Grid mode
available to you called Relative Grid mode.
Here’s another scenario: Let's say that we have a snare drum hit that is close to a grid line but not
exactly on it. We want to move the clip later in the session's timeline but want it to maintain that
distance from the grid. That's where Relative Grid mode comes in:
1. In the Edit modes section, you'll see a small triangle beside
the word “GRID”. Clicking and holding the Grid Mode button
will reveal a menu showing the two different grid modes.
We’ll change to Relative Grid mode, and the field around the
text will change to a purple color, indicating that we're now in
Relative Grid mode.

Activating Relative Grid mode

2. Now, when we drag a clip with the Grabber, it won't snap to the closest grid line, but will
instead move by the grid amount. As the clip is moved, it maintains the same relative
distance from the nearest line, hence the name Relative Grid mode.

Spot Mode
Last on the list is Spot mode. Although it could be used in any situation, this mode is most commonly
used in post-production. Spot mode operates by enabling the user to type a specific location for
where a clip will be placed.

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Let's use one more hypothetical situation to show how Spot mode might be used. In this situation,
we have imported an explosion sound effect, and the director has told us that it needs to be placed
exactly at 1 hour, 1 minute, and 3.2 seconds.

1. First, click the SPOT button. An amber color will indicate that
Spot mode is active.
2. With the Grabber tool, click the clip that you want to move.
The Spot Dialog box will immediately appear.

Activating Spot mode

3. At the top of the Spot Dialog box is the Time

Scale pop-up menu, which is used to change how time
is displayed in the Spot Dialog box. Since in this case
we need to position it in hours, minutes, and seconds,
we’ll choose Min:Secs.
4. In the Start field, you’ll see a numbered field, with
minutes and seconds separated by a colon symbol (:).
we’ll type 61:03.200. This will place the beginning of
our clip at 1 hour (60 minutes), 1 minute, 3.2 seconds.
5. Click the OK button, and the clip will be moved to the
location that was typed.

The Spot Dialog box

The other fields in the Spot Dialog box (Sync Point, End, and Duration) can also be used to position a clip.
Working with these fields is beyond the scope of this course and is discussed in other courses in the Avid
Learning Series.

Playback selections made on the ruler will depend upon your active Edit mode. For example, if you want to
make a selection without any restrictions, choose Slip mode, but if you want your selected area to snap to a
grid, use Grid mode, and so on.

Accessing the Edit Modes with F Keys

Changing your Edit modes is frequently done in many kinds of workflows, so doing it quickly can be
a real timesaver. Here are some shortcuts:
• Pressing the F1 key will activate Shuffle Mode.
• Pressing the F2 key will activate Slip Mode.
• Pressing the F3 key will activate Spot Mode.
• Pressing the F4 key will activate Grid Mode. Repeatedly pressing the F4 key will toggle
between Absolute Grid mode and Relative Grid mode.

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Lesson 4
Review & Knowledge Check

In this lesson, you learned:

• How to use your Counters and Rulers to play your session from any place on your session's
timeline.
• How to scroll vertically and horizontally in the Edit window.
• How to zoom vertically and horizontally in the Edit window.
• How to differentiate between the different scrolling options, and choose the one that best
suits your workflow.
• Choose how your playback cursor will behave to suit your workflow needs, and quickly
locate it when it is off-screen.
• Understand the three primary editing tools—Trim, Selector, and Grabber.

• How the Smart tool combines the big three edit tools (Trim, Selector, and Grabber) and
more, enabling you to perform complex editing workflows without clicking a button
• Understand the different Edit modes—how they differ in their behavior, and when to use
them as you use Pro Tools.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

Action Default Shortcut

Move the playback cursor to the beginning of the timeline Return key (Mac) or Enter key (Windows)

Move the playback cursor to the end of the timeline Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows), and press
the Return key (Mac) or the Enter key (Windows)

Make a selection on the timeline from the playback cursor's Hold the Shift key and press the Return key (Mac) or the
position to the beginning of the session's timeline Enter key (Windows)

Make a selection on the timeline from the playback cursor's Hold the Shift+Option keys (Mac) or Shift+Alt keys
previous to the end of the session's timeline (Windows) and press the Return key (Mac) or the Enter key
(Windows)

Horizontally Zoom Out R key

Horizontally Zoom In T key

Zoom out with the Zoomer tool Hold the Option key (Mac)
Alt key (Windows)

Zoom out the view of the session to show the longest shown Double-click the Zoomer tool
track in its entirety

Enable or disable Insertion Follows Playback N key

Scroll the Edit window screen to the Playback cursor, or the Left Arrow key
beginning of a selected area on the timeline

Scroll the Edit window screen to the Playback cursor, or the Right Arrow key
end of a selected area on the timeline

Shuffle Edit Mode F1 key

Slip Edit Mode F2 key

Spot Edit Mode F3 key

Grid Edit Mode F4 key

Zoomer tool F5 key

Trim tool F6 key

Selector tool F7 key

Grabber tool F8 key

Smart tool Any combination of F6, F7, and F8

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC4

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LESSON 4 Editing Fundamentals

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 Exercise 4
Editing an Arrangement

Now that you understand the basic Edit tools and the Edit modes, you can do quite a bit. Let's take a
few loops and build something with them.

Media: PT101 2023 Exercise 4 (Mambo)

Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises
• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise4
TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

A bit of back-story on this exercise: This is a simple loop-based session inspired by, of all things, some
background music heard while shopping. Thanks to Alex Brooke, for playing guitar on it!

Part 1: Getting Started

A session has been created for you to use in this exercise to make things easy!

Opening a Session
1. Launch Pro Tools.
2. Do one of the following:
• In the Dashboard window, click the Open from Disk button.
• From the File menu, choose Open Session.
 Exercise 4 Editing an Arrangement

3. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercise 4 (Mambo) subfolder
4. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 4 (Mambo).ptx session file.
Here's what you'll see in the
Edit window: In the Clips List,
you'll see a number of different
clips, one of which is already on
the Bass track. The job at hand
is to build an arrangement
around that track.
Before we go further, let’s save
your work as a separate Pro
Tools session file, noting your
name and today’s date:
5. From the File menu, choose Save As.
6. In the browser window that appears, navigate to the location where you want to save your
session (for example, the Pro Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 4 (Mambo)
folder). Name the session descriptively. Here's a possible name – PT101 2023 Exercise 4
(Mambo) - [Your Name] [today's date].

Changing the Counter

This is a music project, but the Main Counter is not displaying Bars and Beats. Changing it now will
make life much easier for us as we go through this exercise:
7. Change the Main Counter's time scale from Min:Secs (Minutes and
Seconds) to Bars|Beats (Bars and Beats).

Part 2: Starting in Slip Mode

The bass part isn't too bad, but at around measure 9—before he was supposed to start playing—he
tuned his bass while we were recording! Not a problem; we can easily use the Trim tool and Slip
mode to remove that part from the timeline.
1. Make sure that you're in Slip edit mode.
2. Click the Trim tool
3. Trim the clip on the bass track from the beginning of the clip so that the clip starts at about
measure 18 (about one measure before the playing starts).
4. Let's trim some of the silence from the end of the clip. Still using the Trim tool in Slip mode,
trim the end of the clip, so that it ends around bar 60.

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 Exercise 4 Editing an Arrangement

Part 3: Building the Arrangement

The majority of our work will be in Grid mode:
1. Activate Absolute Grid mode. The color of
the GRID mode button will be blue (as
opposed to purple, which is the color for
Relative Grid mode).
2. Just under the Counter display, check
that your grid lines are displayed by
making sure that the GRID button is
highlighted in green (click
the GRID button if it is not), and set your
grid value to 1 bar.

Editing is a repetitious process by nature, so this exercise is going to require some patience and
perseverance.
3. Let’s take the Saxes first: Drag the Exercise 4 - Saxes clip from the Clips List onto
the Saxes track. Place copies of the Saxes clip at bars 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 27, 29, 31, 33, 44,
46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58. Use the scroll bar and zoom as needed.
TIP: As an alternative to dragging each clip from the Clips List, you can use the Grabber tool to drag a
clip that's already in the track, holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (windows) to make a copy as you
drag with the Grabber tool.

TIP: As you drag your clip, the Main Counter won't change accordingly, and so won't be too much help.
However, the Start field of the Edit Selection section will change when you drag your clips, and will let
you know where to drop them.

4. Trumpets: Drag the Exercise 4 - Trumpet clip to bars 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 52, 54, 56,
and 58.
5. Guitar 1: Drag the Exercise 4 - Guitar 1 clip to bars 13,15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 39, 41, 48, 50,
52, 54, 56, and 58.
6. Guitar 2: Drag the Exercise 4 - Guitar 2 clip to bars 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31,
33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58.
7. Piano: Drag the Exercise 4 - Piano clip to bars 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41,
52, 54, 56, and 58.
8. Hi-Hat: Drag the Exercise 4 - Hi-Hat clip to bars 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33,
39, 41, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58.
9. Kick 1: Drag the Exercise 4 - Kick 1 clip to bars 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31,
33, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58.
10. Kick 2: Drag the Exercise 4 - Kick 2 clip to bars 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31,
33, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, and 58.

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 Exercise 4 Editing an Arrangement

At this point, your Edit window should look something like this:

Part 4: Grid Mode Clean-up

Most of the hard work is done - now we'll use some different tools and grid resolutions to add some
detail:
1. You'll notice that all the tracks you've constructed play on longer than the Bass track. This is
easily fixed, and you can stay with the same grid value you're using right now: Using
the Trim tool, trim one bar from the end of all tracks except the Bass track. This changes
each clip at the end from being a 2-bar clip to a 1-bar clip.
2. You've now got two 1-bar kick clips (Kick 1 and Kick 2) at the end of their respective tracks.
Using the Grabber tool (and holding the Option or Alt key), drag a copy of these clips so that
they start a bar 43.
3. Still using the Grabber tool, copy any one of the 2-bar Exercise 4 - Kick 2 clips so that they
start at bars 39 and 41.
4. Now let's focus on the Drums track (which at this point is still empty):
• Drag the Exercise 4 - Drums 2 clip onto the Drums track at bar 19.
• Drag the Exercise 4 - Drums 2 clip onto the Drums track again, this time at bar 35. Next,
trim that clip so that it ends at bar 43.
• Drag the Exercise 4 - Drums 2 clip onto the Drums track one more time, this time at bar
44. Trim that clip so that it ends at bar 59.
• Drag the Exercise 4 - Final Crash clip onto the Drums track, so that it starts at bar 59.

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 Exercise 4 Editing an Arrangement

You're nearing the home stretch, and at this stage, your Edit window should look like this:

Part 5: Finishing Touches

By now, things have taken shape, but let's add some detail that will make it sound better!

Adding a Drum Fill

There's a nice snare riff that would fit in well, but it's not a loop like most of the other clips...
1. Staying in Grid mode, change your grid value to a 1/16 Note.
2. Drag the Exercise 4 - Drums 1 clip onto the Drums track, so that it starts at 18|1|480. You will
probably need to zoom in horizontally to correctly position the clip.
3. If you place your playback cursor a few measures before the fill, you'll find that it seems a
little too long. Using the Trim tool, trim the clip's beginning so that it starts at 18|3|240.

If you're unsure what these Bars and Beats numbers mean, don't worry - we'll explore this and
other MIDI-related topics in Lesson 6.

Last Hit
As it stands now, the whole arrangement ends with just a bass note and a cymbal crash. Let's fix that
now.
To do the job, we'll use Spot mode:
4. Change to Spot mode.
5. Drag the Exercise 4 - Final Hit clip onto the Final Hit track and drop the clip anywhere on the
timeline. Because you're in Spot mode, the Spot Dialog box will appear.
6. In the Spot Dialog box, change the Time Scale to Min:Secs.

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 Exercise 4 Editing an Arrangement

7. In the Start field, type 1:55.800. The clip will snap to the location. Test your work by moving
your Playback cursor a few measures before the end and playing the session.

Some Sweetening
There's one track that's still empty - the Breakdown FX track.
8. Switch to Slip mode.
9. Drag the Exercise 4 - Breakdown FX clip to the Breakdown FX track, so that the sound of the clip
begins around bar 35. You can take some time to find a timing to suit your tastes!
TIP: You'll probably want to listen to that section a few times, and it'd be convenient in this case for
playback to start at the same place every time. For that behavior, make sure that
the Options > Insertion Follows Playback option is disabled.

When you're done, your session should look something like this:

In your session's Clips List, you'll find one clip that we haven't used, called Exercise 4 (Mambo) - Reference
Track. This is an edit that was created as this exercise was created. You can—if you want—use to compare
your work with this clip.

Part 6: Saving and Closing

1. Hopefully you've been periodically saving your work, and now is the time to do it again.
2. After you’ve saved the session, you can close the session, and you’re done!

This completes Exercise 4.

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 LESSON 5
Recording Audio

The things you’ve learned in the previous lessons are important skills towards becoming a strong
Pro Tools user. Sooner or later though, you’ll need to move beyond simply importing audio and
actually record a performance. The ability to record quickly and easily is a key area where Pro Tools
really shines, and its flexibility helped it earn its place as a leader in the audio field. This lesson will
start you on the road to recording!

Duration: 30 Minutes

GOALS

• Set tempo and meter

• Prepare tracks for recording
• Complete a basic record pass
 LESSON 5 Recording Audio

Addendum: Microphones

An important component of recording is the microphone you use,

but what is the right choice for you? In this optional section, we'll
take a quick look at the different microphone types and polarity patterns.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add5-1

Addendum: More Signal Types

In addition to microphone signals (which require preamplification),
there are a few other audio inputs you'll typically encounter in recording
sessions. In this section, you'll learn about line level, DI, and some common
digital audio formats.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add5-2

Addendum: Your Recording Space

Recording spaces come in all shapes and sizes, depending upon the
kind of recording work being done. If you’re only recording line level
or instrument level signals directly into an audio interface—for example,
playing a guitar or keyboard synthesizer that’s plugged into an interface
—pretty much any room will do the trick. Recording with microphones,
though—that’s another story.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add5-3

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 LESSON 5 Recording Audio

Setting Tempo and Meter

You have your microphones and prepared your room. Now, you're ready to record. Let’s go through
a pre-session checklist.
If you’re working on a music project, it's quite common to have performers playing to a click track—a
track with a steady clicking sound indicating the tempo. For the click track to work correctly though,
you'll need to set up your song’s meter and tempo first.

Tempo
Tempo is the speed at which beats are played. In music, tempo is measured in Beats Per Minute, or
BPM. By default, Pro Tools’ tempo is 120 BPM, but you can set it up to be anything you like:

Tempo and the Conductor Track

In the MIDI controls section in either the Edit window or
Transport window, you'll see a button resembling a
conductor holding a baton. This is the Conductor
Track button, which determines how your session will
deal with tempo:

• When the Conductor Track button

is disabled (grey), your session will be Activating the Conductor Track

in Manual Tempo mode, and your tempo will

simply be the value that is set in the Tempo field directly above the Conductor Track button.
Any tempo settings in the Tempo ruler will be disregarded. For situations where one tempo
will be in effect throughout the session, this is a quick and easy way to work.
• When the Conductor Track button is enabled (blue), any tempo settings that you've made in
the Tempo ruler will be in effect. The Tempo ruler enables you to create tempo changes at
various points on your session's timeline.

Setting Tempo when the Conductor Track is Disabled

When the Conductor track is disabled, the Tempo field in your MIDI controls section will enable you
to create a single tempo for your session:

1. In the MIDI controls section of the Edit window or

Transport window, click on the Tempo field. You
can either click the section prior to the decimal
point or after, but not both.

2. Just type the tempo value that you want and

confirm your choice by clicking the Return key
(Mac) or Enter key (Windows). Clicking the Tempo field in the MIDI controls section

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Setting Tempo when the Conductor Track is Enabled

When the Conductor Track is enabled, you'll need to create your tempo in the Tempo ruler:

1. Click the plus (+) button to the right of the

word Tempo in the Rulers area of the Edit
window. The Tempo Change dialog box will
appear.

Another way to set your tempo

2. In the Tempo Change dialog box you can choose the

location where your tempo change will start (In the
image shown here, it would start at bar 1, beat 1,
tick 000-the beginning of the session's timeline).
In the BPM field, you can type your desired
tempo.

3. Click the OK button, and the tempo change will

be applied.

The Tempo Change dialog box

By choosing a different location in the Tempo Change dialog box, you can create tempo changes anywhere
on your session's timeline.

Tap Tempo
Sometimes you might not know the number value of a tempo. No problem—just highlight
the tempo field of the Edit window's MIDI controls (if the Conductor Track is disabled) or
the BPM field of the Tempo Change dialog box and press the T key on your keyboard in tempo. As
you tap it, Pro Tools will quickly calculate the tempo of your song.

Meter
Without getting too deep into music theory, a song’s meter (also commonly called Time Signature)
determines the number of beats in a measure (the first number), and which note value gets one
beat (the second number). Most songs that you hear on the radio have a 4/4 meter, meaning that
there are four beats in a measure and a quarter note gets one beat. However, many other meters
are commonly used as well, and it is your task as a Pro Tools producer to be able to give your
musician clients the meter that they want.

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By default, Pro Tools’ meter is 4/4, but if you need to change it:

1. Do one of the following:

• In the MIDI controls section of the Edit window or
Transport window, double-click the Meter value.
• In the Meters ruler, click the plus (+) button to the right of
the word "Meter" in the Rulers area of the Edit window. Double-clicking the Meter value in
the MIDI controls section

Clicking in the Meter Ruler

2. In the Meter Change dialog box that will appear, you can choose the
location for your meter (in the image shown here, the meter change
will happen at measure 1, beat 1, and tick 000—the beginning of the
song). Then type in the Meter you want (in this case it’s 4/4), and
finally you can choose your click value (in this case a quarter note).

The Meter Change dialog box

In the Meter Change dialog box, you’ll see a check box in the upper left-hand corner called Snap To
Bar. With this enabled, even if you clicked in the middle of a bar, the meter change will be applied on
beat 1 of the bar. It is very rare to change meter at any point other than the beginning of a bar, so you
can safely leave this box checked in most cases.

3. When you’re happy with your settings, click the OK button and the meter event will be
created.

Although many songs will have the same meter throughout the entire piece, it's not uncommon to
have the meter change during the course of a piece of music. By choosing a different location in the
Meter Change dialog box, you can create meter changes anywhere on your session's timeline.

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Tempo and Meter Rulers

Once you’ve made your tempo and meter changes, you can check them by looking at your Meter
and Tempo rulers. Initial meter and tempo settings will be shown at the far left of the ruler. In the
image shown here, the starting tempo is 120 BPM and the starting meter is 4/4 time—the Pro Tools
defaults.

Tempo and Meter rulers

As mentioned, both meter and tempo changes can happen at any time on your timeline. The image
shown here includes a tempo change at measure 3 from 120 BPM down to 100 BPM.

Changing tempo at Measure 3

Tempo changes can be shown

not only in the ruler but also in
the Tempo Editor, which can be
shown by clicking the
expand/collapse triangle to the
left of the word Tempo (or from
the View menu).

Showing the Tempo Editor

Setting Up a Click Track

Not all recording situations require a "Click" track (a track that plays regular short tones indicating
the tempo), but many music recording scenarios do. If you've taken the time to set your meter and
tempo, you're almost done—all you need to do is to create the click track itself, and choose how it
will behave:

Creating a Click Track

The most straightforward way to create a click track is from the Track menu:
• From the Track menu, choose Create Click Track.
The track type that is created is an Auxiliary Input Track, which will have one plug-in on it called Click
II. This simple plug-in plays short notes to indicate tempo.

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Click and Countoff Options

Now that the click track is set up, you've got some choices as to how it will behave, which you can
make from the Setup menu:

1. Do one of the following:

o From the Setup menu, choose Click/Countoff.

o Double-click the Metronome button in the
MIDI controls section in the Edit window or
Transport window.
Double-Clicking the Metronome button

The Click/Countoff Options dialog box will appear, where you can choose how your click will
behave.

2. At the top of the Click/Countoff dialog box are three radio buttons that will determine when
the click will be heard. Choose one of the following:

o During Play and Record: With

this option selected, you'll
hear the click track during
playback and when you're
recording. Since click tracks are
commonly used only during
recording, this is not a common
choice.
o Only During Record: This is the
most common option in most
recording situations. When your
session is only playing, and not
recording any tracks, the click
track will be silent. The click track
will only be heard when at least
one track is in the process of recording.
The Click/Countoff Options dialog box
o Only During Countoff: Countoff is the number
of beats before recording starts, allowing musicians to get comfortable with the
tempo before they start recording. With this option chosen, the click will be heard
only during the countoff—once recording begins, the click track will be silent.

The middle section, immediately below the three radio buttons, is largely unused these days.
This section allows you to choose how MIDI data will be transmitted to an external sound
module, creating a click sound. If you’re using a click track within Pro Tools and the Click II
plug-in, this section can be skipped.

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3. As already mentioned, countoff is the number of beats played in tempo before recording
begins. In the bottom section of the Click/Countoff Options dialog box (called Countoff), you
can set how many measures (or "bars") of countoff you’ll hear. Typically, countoff is only
used during recording, so it's common to check the Only During Record check box.

4. Click the OK button, and your settings will be applied.

If you're going to use a click track, there’s only one more step, and that is to enable your
metronome. There are two ways to do it:
• From the Options menu, you can see the status of your
metronome. If your click is enabled, you’ll see a check
mark next to the Click menu item. If there’s no check
mark, just click the Click menu item to turn it on.
• Click the Metronome button to activate it. An active
click track will be indicated by a blue metronome
button.

Activating the Metronome

Preparing Tracks for Recording

We're getting close to being ready to record, but before that, we need to choose where your signal is
coming from and where it's going:
For this section, you need to see the I/O View in the Edit window (or Mix window). You learned how to show
and hide these window views in Lesson 2 of this course.

1. On the track on which you wish to record, click the Input Path selector (the top button in
each track's I/O view), and choose the input that corresponds with your audio source.

Pro Tools can record multiple tracks at once, but each recording track should have a different input
selected. For example, if you have one singer being recorded using the A Mic 1 input, as shown above, a
second singer should be recording to another track with a different input (A Mic 2 for example) to make
sure that each track is recording an individual sonic element.

2. Directly below the Input Path selector is the Output Path selector. Clicking this selector will
also display a menu of output options. Choose the path that corresponds to the connection
that you’ll use for monitoring your session as you record.

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Setting Default Inputs and Outputs

If you've set your Playback Engine device properly but aren't seeing the inputs or outputs that you're
expecting, the problem might lie in the I/O Setup dialog box. The use of this dialog box can get quite
involved and is discussed in detail in later courses in the Avid Learning Series.

To get you started though, here's how to create the default inputs and outputs you need:

1. Go to the Setup menu.

2. Choose I/O. The I/O Setup dialog box will appear.

3. In the Input tab, click the Default button.

4. In the Output tab, click the Default button.

5. In the Bus tab, click the Default button.

6. Click the OK button. The I/O Setup dialog box will close, and your inputs and outputs will be set to
their default settings for your audio device.

3. Ensure that you are avoiding any feedback situations—if you’re recording with a microphone
in the same room as your monitor speakers, turn your speakers off, and ensure that you can
hear your mix through closed-back headphones.

4. Check to see if signal is coming to

your destination track. There are
a number of ways that you can do
it, but here’s one that has a few
additional benefits in various
recording workflows: Click
the TrackInput Monitor button
(when this is active, the button
will be green). Once active, the Activating the TrackInput Monitor feature for the Lead Vocal track
track will have a “live” input, and
you’ll hear your incoming signal.

5. This is a crucial step: Once your track’s input is being monitored, the meter on the track will
show the level of the signal as it comes to the track. At this point, adjust the output of the
sound source so that it is strong, but not clipping (or overloading the input of the track, as
indicated by a red light at the top of the meter). There are several schools of thought on the
perfect recording level, but to start out with, set a target that your levels are in the light
green section of the meter, but not in the yellow range.

The only setting that affects the audio recorded to your hard drive is the input—the output that you
choose will only determine how you can hear the audio that has been recorded. Once that output
path has been selected for monitoring, you can further affect how you hear your recordings by
setting an output volume level and pan on a track-by-track basis in the Edit or Mix window.

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You can adjust your monitoring level in a number of ways—here are two:
• In the Mix window, set the Volume fader
on the track that you are recording on,
or click and hold on the Volume indicator
of the track that you’re recording on in
the Edit window. Your settings here
will not affect the audio being recorded.
Set the monitoring volume level so that
you and your talent can comfortably
hear yourselves.4

Changing a track’s monitoring volume in the Edit window

• Changing the pan of the track will

shift the output of your recording
track left or right. Although this
parameter is mostly used when
mixing, it can come into play in some
recording situations. For example, if
you have a person in your studio
who doesn't want to wear the left
headphone, you might pan the
recording track to the right.
Changing a track’s monitoring panning in the Edit window

The changes you make on the output volume and output pan controls will affect the track's output only, not
its input level. This means if you’re recording an especially loud signal that is clipping (distorting) your input,
you’ll need to bring down the level of your sound source (instrument, microphone, and so on) rather than
the volume fader on the track in Pro Tools.

Using an Output Window

Here's another way to view and manipulate essential track-related data: A track’s Output
window (sometimes called a "tear-away strip") enables you to adjust many of a track’s parameters
through a single mixer-like interface. In recording situations, it's an alternate way to set your
monitoring levels and panning.
You can launch the Output window from either the Mix window or the Edit window, but for this
demonstration, let's open it from the Edit window:
1. Click on the Output window button
to the right of the Output Path
selector. (See image: The icon looks
like a tiny fader.) The track’s Output
window will appear.

Opening the Output Window for the Lead Vocal track

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The track name for the output window will be displayed at the top of the window (useful
for when you have multiple output windows open), and you'll see a range of output
controls in this single floating window.
TIP: You can quickly reset your volume to unity (0.0) or your pan to center (0) by holding
the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and clicking on the volume or pan controls in
either the track’s display fields or the Output window.

The Output Window for

the Lead Vocal track

The Importance of Track Names

One of the most important single steps in the recording process is perhaps one you might not
expect—the naming of your tracks. Why?
The way that Pro Tools works, when you record onto a track (and this goes for Audio and MIDI
recording), the naming of the clips on that track (and the files that are created in the case of audio
recording) are based on the name of the track that they're recorded onto at the time of the
recording.
For example, let's say that you have a track named "Lead Vocal", as you've seen so far in this section.
When you record onto the track for the first time, the name of the clip (and audio file in the Audio
Files folder) will be Lead Vocal_01, with the number at the end of the clip indicating that this is the
first clip recorded on this track. Subsequent recordings on this track will be named Lead
Vocal_02, Lead Vocal_03, Lead Vocal_04, and so on.
Changing the name of the track after recordings are made will not change the name of the clips or
files—the names are based on the name of the track at the time of the recording.
The names of the files in your session's Audio Files subfolder and the clips in the Clips List are going
to be vitally important as you continue your production process. Recording to tracks using their
default names of "Audio 1", "Audio 2", and so on are likely to cause confusion and frustration later,
as you face a long list of generically named clips that give no clue as to what they sound like.
Therefore, the best practice for a recording session is to descriptively name your tracks prior to
recording.

Managing Your Space: The Disk Usage Window

In the days of analog tape recording, your total recording time was limited by the amount of tape
you had—when your tape reel ran out, your recording was over. In addition to that, how fast your
tape was traveling made a difference; A faster-moving tape (measured in ips, or inches per second)
would give you higher-quality audio, but less recording time.

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In a Pro Tools studio, your hard disk does the job that tape used to do in an analog studio—when
your drive is full, you won't be able to record any longer. Also, though higher sample rates and bit-
depths might give you higher quality audio (see Lesson 1 for more detail on that), it will also
consume your hard drive at a faster rate.
Fortunately, Pro Tools gives you visibility to how much available space you have, in the form of
the Disk Usage window:
1. From the Window menu, click Disk Usage.
The Disk Usage window will appear.

The Disk Usage window

This window will give you valuable information on your system:

• Disk Name: The names of the various drives that are connected to your computer. Bear in
mind that in a basic recording situation, your audio is recorded to the Audio Files subfolder of
your session, so it's important to know which drive is holding your session.
• Size: The total size of each drive connected to your computer.
• Avail: The available space on each drive connected to your computer.
• %: The percentage available on each drive.
• [the sample rate and bit-depth of your session] Track Min.: This is especially useful,
showing you how many minutes of recording could be done on each drive connected to your
computer.
The last thing you want is to run out of disk space in the middle of a recording session. If you're
unsure about how much available space you have on your recording drive, it's a good idea to quickly
check the Disk Usage window before beginning to record.

Basic Recording
1. Once you’re happy with the incoming level of the track, click the TrackInput Monitor button
to disable TrackInput monitoring.

2. Click on the Track Record

Enable button to "arm" the
desired track(s) for recording.
Bear in mind that as soon as the
track is armed, its input will be
active (similar to TrackInput
monitoring), so take care to avoid
situations that can cause
feedback. Record-enabling the Lead Vocal track

Note that the playback cursor in the rulers area, which is colored blue when playing a session, is colored red
whenever any track in your session is record-enabled.

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3. Recording will start at the position of the playback cursor or any selected area on your
timeline. Either position your playback cursor where you want recording to begin or select
the area on your timeline where you want to record (in the next section we'll talk more
about recording selections).

4. Click on the Record button in the Transport window or in the Edit window’s Transport
controls. The Record button will begin to flash.

5. Click on the Play button (again, either in the Transport window or in the Edit window’s
Transport controls). Recording will begin.

6. Click the Stop button when you want to stop recording. A new clip will be shown in the track.
If you're recording a selected area, recording will stop at the end of the selection.

Recording Shortcuts
Here are some shortcuts that will initiate recording immediately (instead of having to click the
Record button and then the Play button):
• Command+Spacebar keys (Mac) or Ctrl+Spacebar keys (Windows)
• The F12 key
• The 3 key on your keyboard’s numeric keypad

Recording Selections
Although having a perfect recording take with no mistakes from start to finish is the goal, it rarely
happens in real life. Here’s where punch-in recording comes into the workflow. As you’ve already
learned, recording will either start at the location of the playback cursor or any selected area on the
timeline. This latter method—recording a selected area—can come in particularly handy when you
are “punching in” on a section that needs to be re-recorded. When making selections for recording,
the beginning of your selection will be where recording starts (called the punch in point) and the end
of your selection will be where recording ends (called the punch out point).
Being able to record defined sections of a track is an essential component of any recording session.
Let's take a look at a few workflows that will make the process easy.

Working with Selections

The first step with most punch in/out workflows is to define the selection that you want to record.
You’ve already learned a few ways to create a selected area on your timeline—let’s take a look at
some additional techniques that work well in recording scenarios:

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Making a Selection During Playback

Back in the days of tape, recording small sections of a track (called "punching in" and "punching
out") were done live—and if you made a mistake, you'd have to try again. Fortunately there are
easier ways to select time on your session's timeline, but you can still use a tape-like workflow by
making a selection "on the fly"—the main difference being that you’re only making a selection,
rather than destructively recording to tape.
1. Begin playback before where you want to make your selection.
2. When you get to the point where you want your selection to begin, press the Down Arrow
key.
3. When you get to the point where you want your selection to end, press the Up Arrow key.
When you're done, you'll see two half-arrow icons, which will be colored differently depending on
whether or not a track in your session is record-
enabled:
• If no tracks are record-enabled, you'll see a
pair of blue half-arrow icons that mark the
beginning and end of your timeline
selection.
• If any tracks are record-enabled, you'll see
a pair of red half-arrow icons that mark the
beginning and end of your timeline
selection.

Adjusting Selections
Back in the days of analog tape, being able to nail the perfect punch in and punch out point was an
acquired skill, and that applies to DAWs as well. However, when you set punch points during
playback in a DAW like Pro Tools, you can easily tweak the two points.
• By moving your cursor to the timeline
selection icon that you want to change, you
can drag horizontally to change the start,
end, and duration of the timeline selection.

Changing a punch out point

• If the duration of the selection is correct, but the whole selection needs to be moved without
changing the duration, hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and move either the
punch in or punch out point. Both points will be moved together, enabling you to change the
position of the timeline selection without changing its length.

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Pre-Roll and Post-Roll

Once you’ve made your selection for your recording, you’re off to a good start, but there’s a
potential problem: Both playback and recording will start immediately at the beginning of the
selection (or if you have countoff enabled, countoff will happen, and then playback and recording
will start simultaneously). Sometimes that’s not a problem, but frequently the recording talent will
want to hear a bit of the session before the punch in, and sometimes a bit of playback after the
punch out. That’s where pre-roll and post-roll come into play.
Pre-roll is an amount of time that you can set for playback to occur before the beginning of the
selection, when recording starts. This is useful in giving the performer a sense of tempo, volume,
context, and so on before recording begins. Post-roll is a similarly user-defined amount of time for
playback to occur after the punch out point before playback is stopped.
You can set up a pre-roll and/or post-roll in different ways—let’s start with the most straightforward:
1. Open the Transport window in one of the following ways:
• From the Window menu, choose Transport.
• Use the shortcut (Command+1 on the numeric keypad on a Mac system or Ctrl+1 on the
numeric keypad on a Windows system).
2. In the Pre-roll field, type the amount that you
want to hear before recording will start. Press
the Return key (Mac) or Enter key (Windows) to
confirm your settings. The Pre-rol button will
turn green, indicating that it is active.
3. If you also want a post-roll, type a value into the
Setting the Pre-roll
Post-roll field. Again, you can confirm your settings
by pressing the Return key (Mac) or Enter key (Windows).
You'll see the pre-roll and post-
roll indicated by two flag icons. In
the image to the right, you can
see a pre-roll of three seconds
prior to the beginning of a
selection, and a post-roll of three
seconds after the selection:
And here's how it works:
• Playback will start at the pre-
roll position. The artist (and
you, the producer) will hear
the pre-recorded material.
A recording selection with
• Once the playback cursor reaches the pre-roll and post-roll enabled
beginning of the selected area, the
record-enabled track(s) will begin recording. Your recording subject will then hear only
what they are performing during that time (and the playback of any non-record-enabled
tracks).

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• Once the playback cursor reaches the end of the selected area, the recording tracks will
stop recording. If there is no post-roll enabled, playback will also stop at this point.
• If post-roll is enabled, then playback will continue until the playback cursor reaches the
post-roll location.
There are a few ways that you can work with pre-roll and post-roll:
• Instead of typing a different value in either the Pre-roll or Post-roll fields, you can move your
cursor to the desired flag and drag it. As the position changes, the value in the
corresponding field will update.
• You can individually activate and deactivate your pre-roll and post-roll by clicking the Pre-roll
or Post-roll button. The settings will be retained, so you can re-enable either pre- roll or post-
roll with one click, without having to type in new values.
• You can activate or deactivate both pre-roll and post-roll in two ways:
• Go to the Options menu and clicking Pre/Post-Roll. When pre-roll and/or post-roll are
active, the menu item will be indicated with a check mark.
• Press Command+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows).

Setting Pre/Post-Roll: A New Workflow

If you’re looking for a quicker way activate and set your pre/post-roll, here's a workflow that does
both!
This workflow requires that the Link Timeline and Edit Selection feature be active (the Link Timeline and Edit
Selection button will be blue, and in the Options menu, the Link Timeline and Edit Selection menu item will
be checked).

1. Select the area that you want to record.

2. Using the Selector tool, hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and click in the tracks
area of the Edit window at the point where you want your pre-roll to begin. Pre-roll will be
activated and the Pre-Roll Flag icon will appear on the timeline before the selected area.
3. If a post-roll is also needed, still using the Selector tool, hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key
(Windows) and click in the tracks area of the Edit window at the point where you want your
post-roll to end. Post-roll will be activated and the Post-Roll Flag icon will appear on the
timeline after the selected area.
4. But it gets even better: Still holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows), if you click in
the first half of the selected area, you'll reset the pre-roll to zero, and disable Pre-roll. Doing
the same in the latter half of the selected area will do the same for post-roll (resetting to
zero and disabling).

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QuickPunch Recording
Making a selection and punching in and out is a great way to fix a single problem, but it’s a one-shot
workflow—if you need to fix another part in the same area, you need to make another selection and
record that one as a separate take. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way that you could just punch
in and out a number of times in a single recording pass?
QuickPunch recording will do just that, and like punching in and out, the workflow is pretty
straightforward:
1. Do one of the following:
• From the Options menu, choose QuickPunch.
• Right-click the Record button, and choose
QuickPunch from the menu.
Activating QuickPunch
record mode

Whichever method you choose, when QuickPunch

recording mode is active, you’ll see a small letter “P” in the
Record button.

QuickPunch mode active

2. Record-enable the track(s) that you want to record.

3. Position your playback cursor to a point before where you want to start your first punch-in.
4. Begin playback (either by pressing the Play button or the Spacebar key).
5. To start recording, press the Record button.
6. To stop recording, press the button. Playback will continue.
7. You can punch in and out at any time during playback (up to 200 times per playback).
The same shortcuts that you learned to initiate playback when recording normally will also work when in
QuickPunch mode.:

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Here's an example: We want to punch in on a pre-existing track (to fix wrong notes, missed words,
and so on). For the purposes of illustration, we'll record silence when we punch in, so that you can
see the difference between the original take and the various punch-in/punch-out clips.

Recording using QuickPunch mode

This kind of recording has obvious advantages, and a huge advantage that isn't so apparent: When
you record using QuickPunch mode, your track is simultaneously playing back and recording. The
individual clips that you create when using QuickPunch mode are actually subset clips of an audio
file that begins when you start playback and ends when you stop playback.
This means that if you are late on a punch-in, or early on a punch-out, you're not out of luck—you
can trim the clip freely, all the way to the point where you started playback and ended it. That makes
it easy to adjust the clip boundaries after your recording pass, without losing any of the newly
recorded audio!

Loop Recording
There’s one more way of recording left to discuss before we finish our discussion on recording: Loop
Record mode. With this mode of recording, a selected area is recorded over and over again, saving
each take as a separate clip.
Though Loop Record mode is used in a variety of situations, its traditional origins are in music
production. Let’s say you have a guitar solo over a 16-bar phrase: Loop recording allows the guitar
player to record that section over and over, typically with some good and not-so-good takes. After
the recording is done (with multiple takes of the guitar solo), the best take can be chosen (or the
best bits of each take can be compiled into a single solo—a process called “comping”).

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The workflow follows much of what you’ve done already with Normal and QuickPunch recording:
1. Do one of the following:
• From the Options menu, choose Loop Record
• Right-click the Record button, and choose Loop
from the menu
Activating Loop
record mode

Whichever method you choose, when Loop recording mode

is active, you’ll see a record icon with a curved arrow in the
Record button.
2. Record-enable the track(s) that you want to record to.
3. Select the area that you want to loop. Ready for Loop recording
If your selection includes a portion of an existing clip, Pro Tools will
automatically separate the selection when recording begins.

TIP: The area that will be recorded is based on the timeline selection. In many workflows, the selected
area for recording is made in the track's playlist area, so it's important in most cases that Link Timeline
and Edit Selection be enabled (from the Options menu, or by clicking the Link Timeline and Edit
Selection button).

4. To begin recording, press the Record button. If there is a pre-roll set and active, playback will
start from the pre-roll position, and recording will start at the beginning of the selected area.
5. Once the end of the selected area is reached, the playback cursor will jump back to the
beginning of the selected area, and recording will continue without a pause (pre-roll will not
be heard for these subsequent takes).
6. Stopping playback also stop recording. The clip that you will see on your timeline depends
on when you stop recording:
• If you stop playback in the first half of your selected area, the last full loop will appear
as a clip that spans your entire selected area.
• If you stop playback in the latter half of your selected area, the current take will appear
as a clip that is less than the full span of your selected area.

Whole File Clips and Subset Clips

When you finish loop recording, it's important to know what you'll end up with. In the example
shown here, we've recorded four passes at a guitar solo, but we have five clips! Now's a good time to
learn the difference between whole-file and subset clips.
When you do a basic recording pass (as opposed to Loop recording), you're creating a clip on your
timeline that starts on the first sample of the recorded audio file and ends at the last sample of that
file. Put another way, the clip on your timeline represents an entire audio file—a whole file—that
was recorded on your hard drive. These are called whole-file clips.

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 LESSON 5 Recording Audio

On the other hand, any clip that doesn't represent a complete file is called a subset clip. For example,
if you use the Trim tool to change the beginning or end of a whole-file clip, then the clip no longer
represents an entire file and would fall into the category of a subset clip.
Here’s what each loop recording will create:
• One subset clip for each individual
loop of the loop recording. In the
image shown here, Guitar Solo_01-01,
Guitar Solo_01-02, Guitar Solo_01-03,
and Guitar Solo_01-04 are individual
takes of the record selection.
• One whole-file clip that represents all
of the takes back-to-back. In the
image shown here, the Guitar
Solo_01 whole-file clip includes all
four record takes as a single linear
clip (and a single audio file). The subset takes and whole-file parent clip of a loop recording

Loop recording is only one of many techniques that can create whole-file and subset clips, and
Identifying these two different types of clips is an important part of your media management.
Fortunately, they're easy to pick out if you know where to look:
• Whole-file audio clips appear in the Clips List in a bold font.
• Audio clips that are not in bold are subset clips.
You can also see by the naming convention a relationship between the different types of clips. For
example, in the image above, Guitar Solo_01 is a whole-file clip, with Guitar solo_01-01 being a
subset clip related to it. The whole-file clip is sometimes referred to as the parent of the subset.

After Recording
You're done recording—Good job! What's next?
When you're done recording, it's generally a good idea to get into a playback-only mode of
operation, to make sure that you don't accidentally record over what you've just done!

Disarm
Before you listen to your track, click on the Track
Record Enable button (to disarm the track).

Disarming the Vocal track

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 LESSON 5 Recording Audio

Exit Record Mode

Make sure the Record button in the Transport controls
section in the Edit window or Transport window is not
highlighted.

Disabling Record mode

At this point, you can play back as normal: Use the Selector tool to position your playback cursor at
the desired position on your timeline, and then click on the Play button (or press the Spacebar) to
hear your newly created track.

Addendum: Managing Clips

Once you've completed recording, you'll find that you have new clips
in your Clips List. Though the removal of unwanted clips is commonly
done at the end of a project, there are times when you'll want to clean
up your clips list after a recording session. In this addendum, we'll take
a look at a few techniques for managing your clips.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add5-4

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 LESSON 5 Recording Audio

Lesson 5
Review and Knowledge Check

The recording process is simple when you break it down to its component parts.
In this lesson, you learned:

• How to set the tempo and meter for your music recording sessions

• How to set up a click track

• How to prepare your tracks for recording

• How to complete a basic record pass

• How to record selections

• How to use QuickPunch and Loop recording modes

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 5 Recording Audio

Action Default Shortcut

Tap to set tempo Highlight the tempo field of the Edit window's MIDI
controls or the BPM field of the Tempo Change dialog box,
and press the T key on your keyboard in tempo

Reset your volume to unity (0.0) or your pan to center (0) Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and click
on the volume or pan control

Begin Recording • Command+Spacebar (Mac)

• Ctrl+Spacebar (Windows)
• F12
• 3 key on the numeric keypad

Move a selection without changing its length Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and move
either the punch in or punch out point.

Enable or disable Pre-roll and Post roll Command+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (windows)

Set a pre-roll or post-roll point Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and click in
the tracks area of the Edit window at the point where you
want your pre-roll or post roll to be positioned.

Disable and reset pre-roll or post-roll • Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and
click in the first half of the selection to reset and
disable pre-roll to zero.
• Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and
click in the latter half of the selection to reset and
disable pre-roll to zero.

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC5

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LESSON 5 Recording Audio

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 Exercise 5
Basic Recording

Now that you understand basic recording workflows, let’s put them into practice. This lesson's
exercise is a mock-up up of a couple of typical simple recording scenarios: A small bit of voiceover
for a podcast, and then a guitar solo over a reggae groove.

Media: PT101 2023 Exercise 5a (Recording)

Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises
• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise5

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Recording a Voiceover

A small bit of voiceover for a podcast: In this situation, the engineer (you) and the producer are in a
control room. In a separate recording space is the voice talent, who is listening to a cue mix on
closed-back headphones.

Special thanks to live sound engineer Doug Deems, for playing the role of the producer!

Opening a Session
1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dashboard window, click the Open From Disk button.

• From the File menu, choose Open Session.
 Exercise 5 Basic Recording

3. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercise 5 (Recording) subfolder.

4. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 5a (Voiceover) session file.

5. Using File > Save As, save a new version of the session file, naming the session descriptively.
Here's a possible name: PT101 2023 Exercise 5a (Voiceover) - [Your Name] [today's date]. As you
have in previous exercises, take care of where you save the session file (for example, the Pro
Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 5 (Recording) folder).

Here's what you're looking at:

• There is one visible track,
called Control Room. This is commonly
used in recording, called a "Slate
Track". A slate track is often used in
different recording scenarios, for
different purposes. When recording
in situations like this, many
producers will have a microphone
nearby where they can record their
notes in the timeline while the
performers are being recorded.
Often this track isn't heard by the performer, but it will be in this simulated workflow.
• There is also a hidden track, called Voice. This is a pre-recorded mock-up of a performance, if
you don't have a microphone handy.
In this example, there will be a narration recorded, reading from this script:

There are many ways to define success, but perhaps the poet *Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best in his
poem, “Success:”

To laugh often and love much;

To win the respect of intelligent persons
And the affection of children;
To earn the approbation (a·pruh·bay·shn) of honest critics
And to endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one's self;
To leave the world a little better,
Whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch
Or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm
And sung with exultation;
To know that even one life has breathed easier
Because you have lived
This is to have succeeded.

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 Exercise 5 Basic Recording

This poem is also attributed to Bessie Anderson Stanley. The version used here is the Ralph Waldo Emerson
attribution.

This script is not different from other scripts that you'll see: The lines are broken by phrase, and
there’s one word—approbation—that is phonetically spelled out.

6. Create a new mono audio track, and name it "Narration."

7. You'll need to see your track's inputs and outputs, so show the I/O view in the Edit window.

8. Do one of the following:

• Here you have a choice: If you have a microphone, and want to read the script yourself,
set the input of the Narration track to match the input path that is connected to your
microphone.
• If you don’t have a microphone (or don’t want to read the script), click
the Narration track’s Input Path selector, and then choose Bus from the menu. From
there, choose Andy's Mic.
A Bus is a way of routing the output of one track to the input of another track within Pro Tools. You’ll
learn more about how to use busses later in this course.

9. Record-enable the Narration track.

10. In this case, you’ll want recording to begin at the start of your timeline. Using the Selector
tool, position your playback cursor at the beginning of your session's timeline (or press
the Return key (Mac) or Enter key (Windows) to quickly position the playback cursor at the
beginning of your session's timeline).

11. Record a first pass of the entire script. Based on whether you're recording live or using
the Andy's Mic input, this will vary slightly:

• If you're recording live, you'll hear the Control Room track first ask if you're OK, and then
say "Ready when you are!" Anytime after that line, you can start reading the script.
• If you're using the Andy's Mic input to simulate the process, you'll hear a response to
the control room, after which the script will be read.
You see a clip progressively created as you record.

12. After recording the last line of the script, stop recording.

13. Disarm the Narration track.

In the Edit window, your two tracks should look something like this:

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 Exercise 5 Basic Recording

14. Play your session. You should now hear the newly recorded audio. Before we move on,
please make sure that you save your work.

Part 2: Recording Music

Next, let's record a guitar solo!

Thanks to Alex Brooke for recording the guitar and bass!

1. From the File menu, choose Open Session.

2. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercises 5 (Recording) subfolder

3. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 5b (Reggae) session file.

4. Using File > Save As, save a new version of the session file, naming the session descriptively.
Here's a possible name: PT101 2023 Exercise 5b (Reggae) - [Your Name] [today's date]. Again,
take care of where you save the session file (for example, the Pro Tools 101 (2023)
Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 5 (Recording) folder).

Here's what you're looking at:

• There are three

visible tracks—
Rhythm GTR, Bass,
and Drums—that
represent a section
of a reggae groove.
• There is also a
hidden track,
called Alex. This is a
pre-recorded guitar
part that you'll
record as if it were a
live recording
session.
This session isn't set up for music recording in a number of important ways. Let's take care
of that first:
5. Change the Main Counter's time scale from Minutes and Seconds (Min:Secs) to Bars and
Beats (Bars|Beats).
6. Change the tempo (in the Tempo field of the Edit window toolbar) from 120.0000 to 80.0000.
Note that when you do this, your grid lines will change accordingly.
7. A one-bar countoff won't be enough for our performer. Change the Countoff value from one
measure to two measures (in the Setup > Click/Countoff dialog box).

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 Exercise 5 Basic Recording

TIP: You can also access the Click/Countoff dialog box by double-clicking the Count Off value in the Edit
window toolbar.

In this example, we're imagining that we're recording a living person, in which case, a click
track would be very helpful:

8. From the Track menu, create a click track.

9. From the Setup > Click/Countoff dialog box, make sure that the click is set to play Only
During Record.

10. Make sure that the click is enabled, either from the Options menu, or by clicking
the Metronome button in the Edit window toolbar (when enabled, that button will be colored
blue)

We're now ready to set up our track and start recording!

11. Create a new mono audio track, and name it "Solo GTR"

12. Click the Solo GTR track’s Input Path selector, and then choose Bus from the menu. From
there, choose Alex Guitar.

13. Record-enable the Solo GTR track.

14. In this example, the recording will start at the beginning of bar 9. In the Main Counter,
enter 9|1|000.

15. Begin recording. You'll hear two bars of click, and then the recording will begin. As the guitar
track is recorded, you'll hear the click playing in tempo.

16. Any time after measure 35, stop recording and disarm the Solo GTR track.

Your session's Edit window should look something like this:

17. Play your session. You should now hear the newly recorded audio. Since you're not
recording, you should not hear the click track.

18. Save your session.

This completes Exercise 5.

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Exercise 5 Basic Recording

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 LESSON 6
MIDI

MIDI (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a language that enables keyboards,
synthesizers, and other musical devices to interact with each other. Invented in the early ’80s, MIDI
transformed the music industry, and has since been an invaluable tool for music creation of all
kinds.
A mastery of music and MIDI is a full course of study in itself. For the purposes of this lesson, we’ll
specifically limit the discussion to the basics of what MIDI is, how it’s commonly used in Pro Tools,
and the types of skills that any engineer might call upon when working with a MIDI musician in a
studio environment.

Duration: 45 Minutes

GOALS

• Understand the basics of MIDI

• Set up MIDI in Pro Tools
• Learn about MIDI controls in the Edit or Transport windows
• Import and record MIDI
• Work with Virtual Instruments
• Learn how MIDI treats timing
• Edit different kinds of MIDI data
 LESSON 6 MIDI

MIDI Basics
As with some other topics in this course, in order to understand MIDI, we need to go back to the
early days of music technology. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, many different electronic music
manufacturers (primarily focused on keyboard synthesizers) built new, powerful sound-making
tools, but designed with specific proprietary ways of working. For example, a keyboard made by a
certain manufacturer would be incompatible with a sound module made by another, and therefore
both could not be used together.
Enter the National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM). Founded in 1901, it was a long-
standing professional association well-positioned to break down barriers between manufacturers.
At the 1981 NAMM convention, two companies (Sequential Circuits and Roland) proposed an idea of
a way to connect musical devices in a kind of network so that different tools (even those made by
different manufacturers) could easily communicate. Its creation was enthusiastically assisted by
other forward-thinking companies, mostly based in Japan.
After three years, MIDI was unveiled at the 1984 NAMM convention. This revolutionary standard,
adopted by virtually all music manufacturers worldwide, allows for musical devices of various types
and manufacture to be used together in flexible ways. In the early days of audio and music
technology, software could only work with audio or MIDI, but not both (MIDI platforms were called
MIDI "sequencers"). Thankfully, with the advent of modern DAWs like Pro Tools, the creative power
of MIDI and the advantages of digital audio have now been incorporated into a single powerful
platform.

"Digital Music Paper"

One thing to remember about MIDI is that it has no sound by itself—it is only information that
controls an instrument. MIDI controls sound-producing devices in much the same way printed music
controls musicians.
Think of it this way: A piece of music is placed before a tuba player, who reads various kinds of
information—notes, tempo, dynamics, and so on. When they play the music, that musical
information would sound like a tuba. Now, if the same music was put in front of a saxophone player,
they would be reading the same musical information, but in their case, we would hear a sax. The
printed music that guides both players has no sound on its own—MIDI works the same way.
Without getting too technical, MIDI data is broken into different types. Here are the most important
ones:
• Channels: Most MIDI data is assigned to one of 16 MIDI channels. Channels allow for
specific MIDI data to be directed to specific devices. For example, a MIDI instrument can
have a piano sound assigned to respond to data on one channel and drums to respond to a
different channel. This allows a DAW like Pro Tools to send a single stream of data to the
instrument, but control both sounds discreetly.
• Note Data: Individual notes can be recorded and played back as note data, including
aspects such as pitch, timing, duration, and velocity (which we’ll discuss later in this lesson).
All this information is stored numerically.

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• Continuous Controllers: MIDI can store other non-note data as well, like volume, pitch
change, and expression, which can change smoothly over time, so that notes can change
during the course of a performance, or even within the performance of a single note.
• MIDI also stores messages which affect a song globally, such as tempo, meter, and key.

How Sound is Created with MIDI

Through the years, different kinds of MIDI setups have evolved. Let’s take a look at some of the most
common ones.

Controllers and Sound Modules

Remember that MIDI was invented in the early
1980s, at a time when personal computers had
barely arrived on the scene. Back then, it was
primarily used to connect keyboard MIDI
controllers with sound-creating hardware
modules. This connection was made with a five- A 5-pin cable
pin DIN connector.
The connection was easy enough—one end of the cable was connected to the MIDI controller’s MIDI
Out port, which was then connected to a synthesizer module’s MIDI In port. Many synthesizer
devices also had a MIDI Thru port, which allowed the MIDI information to pass through the module
to additional sound generating devices. This allowed a single keyboard controller to trigger sounds
on multiple devices.
Over the years, MIDI controllers have taken
on many forms, moving beyond the initial
keyboard style. For example, alternative
controllers like the Akai EWI (Electronic Wind
Instrument) and Moog Theremini (a MIDI
version of a theremin), though they both
create MIDI data, enable the performer to
interact with that data in different ways.
Alternate controllers – a Moog Theremini (top) and an Akai EWI

If you don't have a MIDI controller, you're not out of luck—Pro Tools includes a Virtual MIDI Keyboard (VMK),
enabling you to "play" your computer's keyboard. The Virtual MIDI Keyboard will be explored later in this
lesson.

Virtual Instruments
Due to a number of factors, not the least of which being cost, hardware sound modules are not as
common as they used to be. These days, MIDI controllers are still being used, but they are
controlling software synthesizers commonly called Virtual Instruments (or VIs). Virtual Instruments
can be either standalone software applications or operate as plug-ins in a DAW (which is what we’ll
be working with in this lesson).

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Virtual Instruments bring with them a few advantages: First, they’re generally less expensive than
their hardware counterparts. They’re also easy to use within software DAWs, requiring no cabling or
mounting into hardware racks. Further, a single Virtual Instrument plug-in can be used multiple
times in a single session—something that can’t be easily done with physical hardware sound
modules.
With the advent of virtual instruments, the way that MIDI controllers are connected has also
changed. Although the traditional 5-pin cable is still around, it is also common for MIDI controllers to
be connected to computers via a USB connection. This removes the necessity of having a separate
MIDI interface (which is needed for MIDI controllers that don’t support USB).

MIDI and Instrument Tracks

MIDI is not audio. MIDI isn’t even audible on its own—it’s a digital language that enables musical
devices to communicate with each other. It’s a common misconception that MIDI and audio are
somehow directly related, and this misunderstanding can cause frustration in getting MIDI to work
the way that it should.
There are two common ways that MIDI is set up in Pro Tools: through a MIDI track/Auxiliary Input
track combination, or with an Instrument track.

MIDI/Auxiliary Input Track Workflow

The oldest method of setting up virtual instruments in Pro Tools is to use a MIDI track (which can
record and play back MIDI data, but has no sound on its own), and an Auxiliary Input track (which
cannot hold MIDI or audio clips, but can host a virtual instrument plug-in). Let’s tackle this first:
For demonstration purposes, the images in this section are taken from the Edit window, but these workflows
could be accomplished in the Mix window as well.

1. Create a MIDI track and assign it a

descriptive name. (Refer to Lesson 2 if
you need a refresher on how to do this.)
You’ll notice that the overall layout of a
MIDI track is consistent with other
tracks you’ve seen so far. A MIDI track

You'll learn how to record MIDI later in this lesson, but for the purpose of demonstration,
let's assume that some MIDI has been recorded. Now, how to get that MIDI to be audible?
For that, we'll create an Auxiliary Input track, and use a virtual instrument.

Even though an Auxiliary Input track is an audible track, it isn’t an Audio track. The main
difference between the two is that an Audio track can play back clips in your session (as
you’ve already seen), whereas an Aux track cannot. This makes an Aux track a good choice
for hosting a Virtual Instrument.

2. Create a new Stereo Aux Input track and assign it a descriptive name. (This is the track you’ll
use to hear your MIDI device.)

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3. Assign the output of this Aux track to the audio outputs to which your monitor speakers are
connected.

For the next part of the process, we'll do something we haven't done so far in this
course—launch a plug-in on a track's Insert:
4. Make sure that you’re seeing one of
your Inserts views (either Inserts A-
E or Inserts F-J).

5. Click on any of the Insert

Selector slots.

6. The first menu you’ll see is the Plug-in

Type Menu. Move your cursor to
the Multichannel Plug-in item to
Clicking Insert A
reveal a list of different plug-in types.

7. Move your cursor to the Instrument category to reveal a list of plug-in virtual instruments.

8. Choose your desired instrument.

You're nearly done; you just have to make one more connection:

9. Click on the MIDI track’s Output Selector. The Output menu will appear.

10. After you’ve launched a virtual instrument plug-in, it will appear as an output option for your
MIDI track (along with the track that it's residing on). Select the instrument including the
desired MIDI channel if the plug-in supports multiple MIDI channels (not all do).

At this point, you’ve completely configured a basic MIDI signal flow, as well as the audio signal
routing that will enable you to listen to your sound-producing device. Any MIDI data on the track (or
any MIDI input coming into the track) will trigger your sound-producing Virtual Instrument. The
instrument will respond by making sound, which you’ll hear through the Auxiliary Input track
(assuming that your track's output is set correctly).

Instrument Tracks
Instrument tracks are real timesavers for MIDI production, combining the power of a MIDI track and
an Aux track in a single track:

1. Open the New Tracks dialog

box and create a Stereo
Instrument track (giving the
track a descriptive name).
When you click Create, a new
Instrument track will be created. An Instrument track

Below the track name, you’ll see some familiar-looking buttons, including Record
Enable, Solo, Mute, and so on. However, some other controls that aren't immediately visible:

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 LESSON 6 MIDI

2. If you’re not seeing the Instrument column, click the Edit window View selector and
choose Instrument. (Visible View columns will be indicated by check marks.)
The Instrument Edit window view can also be shown (or hidden) from the View menu (View > Edit
Window Views)

The Instrument view mirrors the functionality of a MIDI track’s I/O view (See image):
o [1] MIDI Input Selector: This
controls where the MIDI signal is
coming from—something that
will be discussed when we
explore MIDI recording.
o [2] Mute: This will mute all MIDI
data.
o [3] MIDI Output Selector: This
determines where MIDI data is
going to—typically a Virtual
Instrument view
Instrument (VI).
o [4] MIDI Volume: This displays the MIDI volume level for the track.
o [5] MIDI Pan: This displays the MIDI Pan position for the track.
o [6] MIDI Velocity Meter: You'll learn more about what velocity is later in this
lesson—for now, just think of it as how energetically you play your MIDI instrument.

3. The Inserts view of an Instrument track functions just like the Inserts view of an Auxiliary
Input track. Simply choose the desired virtual instrument plug-in on this track, just as you did
before with an Auxiliary Input track. Your plug-in will be inserted, and the MIDI Output
selector of the Instrument track will automatically change to match the plug-in, making an
Instrument track even more convenient. If you need to change that MIDI output for any
reason, you can do it easily by clicking the MIDI Output selector.

4. The I/O view of an Instrument track is identical to the I/O view of an Auxiliary Input track, and
you’ll use it the same way. Set the output of the Instrument track to the audio outputs to
which your monitor speakers are connected.

5. Lastly, adjust your track’s output level and pan as needed.

It's standard practice to control the volume level of an Instrument track from the audio volume fader rather
than the MIDI volume fader (which is in the Instrument view).

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Checking Your Work

Whether you're using an Instrument track, or the more traditional MIDI/Auxiliary Input track
combination, the signal flow behind setting up MIDI so that it can be heard is the same:
• MIDI data resides on the MIDI or Instrument track, or is captured live during recording
(which will be discussed later in this lesson).
• The MIDI Output goes to either an external MIDI device or a Virtual Instrument, which exists
as a plug-in on an Insert.
• The device or Virtual Instrument responds to the MIDI data by creating audible sound.
There are a few ways that you could test this kind of setup. For example, you could record-enable
the MIDI track and play some notes. If you see the meters on the MIDI track react, then you know
that you have MIDI data going to the MIDI track. That MIDI data should then go to the virtual
instrument that you’ve chosen as the output of your MIDI track, which should respond to your MIDI
data by making sound, causing the meters on the Auxiliary Input track or Instrument track to react.
If you don't have a keyboard handy, there's another way to test your setup—one which will also
introduce a new bit of information to your growing Pro Tools skill set: The Track View selector.

1. On the track you want to test (either a MIDI or Instrument track), click the Track View
selector (which will initially read “Clips”). A menu will appear.

2. The Track View selector will show you

the available view options for this
track, with the currently active view
indicated by a check mark. To check
your connection, choose Notes from
the menu.

3. One interesting aspect of Notes view

is that clicking on any note on the
mini keyboard to the left of your
MIDI track’s playlist area will trigger a
note. If everything is set up properly,
MIDI data will be created, the data
will be sent to the virtual instrument, Track View Selectors on MIDI and Instrument tracks
and the instrument will sound.

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 LESSON 6 MIDI

MIDI Controls
In Lesson 2 we first learned of the MIDI controls section of the Edit window toolbar. In lesson 5, we
started to use a few of these controls to set up a music recording session's click track. To review,
here are the tools that were covered in Lesson 5:
• Count Off: The number of clicks played in
tempo prior to recording. Clicking the words
"Count Off" will enable or disable the feature
(when the Count Off button is active the
words will be shown in a green box).
• Meter tells musicians how many beats are in
one measure (or bar), and what kind of written
The Edit Window’s MIDI controls
note has a one-beat value. For example, a meter of 4/4
tells musicians that there are 4 beats in a measure, and a quarter note gets one beat.
• Tempo: The speed of the beats in a musical piece, and is measured in Beats Per Minute or
BPM. Tempo works differently depending upon whether the session is in Manual Tempo
mode, or using the Tempo Ruler.
• The Metronome button is an easy way to enable or disable your click track. When enabled
(the Metronome button will be colored blue), the click track will be audible, following the
settings in the Click/Countoff Options dialog box.
• Conductor Track: Pro Tools can work with regard to tempo in two ways—by operating in
Manual Tempo mode or by using the Tempo Ruler. When working in Manual mode, the
tempo set in the tempo field will be applied for the entire session. If you want to have the
tempo change at any point during the session—that's when you want to switch to Tempo
Ruler mode. When the Tempo Ruler is enabled (the Conductor Track button will be colored
blue), tempo changes in the Tempo ruler will be applied to your session. When disabled,
your session will play at the single tempo shown in the Tempo value field.
Now lets look at the remaining features in this tool cluster:

Wait For Note

Normally, recording will begin when the Record button is pressed. Sometimes though, this isn't
possible, especially when you're working alone and your MIDI keyboard isn't close to your Pro Tools
system. That's where Wait for Note comes in very handy.
When enabled (the Wait for Note button will be colored
blue), recording will not begin until a MIDI event is received
(for example, a note played on a keyboard).
Enabling Wait for Note will automatically disable Count Off.

Wait for Note

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Since Wait for Note can play a big role in many MIDI-
centric workflows, there is a way to get to it even easier
for those who use the feature frequently: From the Pro
Tools Preferences dialog box (Setup > Preferences), in
the MIDI tab, there is a preference that will enable
the F11 key to activate or deactivate Wait For Note.

Using the F11 Key to enable Wait For Note

MIDI Merge
Normally, when you record MIDI over pre-existing MIDI data, the new MIDI will replace the older
MIDI. For example, if you performed a new melody over an older performance, you'd hear only the
new performance.
When MIDI Merge is enabled (the MIDI Merge button will be
colored blue) when you record over pre-existing MIDI, you
will not overwrite previously-existing data. This is especially
useful for things like drum writing, allowing for new drums
to be added without removing previously created drum
notes.
MIDI Merge can be enabled or disabled by pressing the 9 key MIDI Merge
on your computer's numeric keypad (to the right of the letter
keys).

Workflows involving MIDI Merge are explored later in this lesson and in the Pro Tools 110 course.

Importing and Recording MIDI

Now that we have set up our tracks, let's turn to the topic of acquiring MIDI data into our session!

Importing MIDI Clips

Importing MIDI into your session is similar in many ways to importing audio, but differs in one
significant way—unlike importing audio (or video), imported MIDI isn't referred to, but becomes part
of the session file itself. The reason for this difference comes down to the size of the data: Audio and
video files are relatively large, but MIDI data is so small that it's easy to incorporate into the session
file.
This has the effect of simplifying the import process. Let's take a look at a few ways that you can
import a Standard MIDI File into your session:

1. Do one of the following:

• From your computer's file browser, navigate to the MIDI file (with a .mid file extension)
that you want to import. Once located, drag the MIDI file into your session's Edit
window.

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• From Pro Tools' Workspace browser, navigate to the MIDI file (with a .mid file extension)
that you want to import. Once located, drag the MIDI file into your session's Edit
window.
• From the File menu, move
your cursor
to Import menu item.
The Import submenu will
appear. From the
submenu, choose MIDI. A
file browser will appear.
Navigate to the MIDI file
that you want to import
and click
Importing MIDI from the File menu
the Open button.
2. The MIDI Import Options dialog box will appear, and it’s here that you will need to choose
how your MIDI will be imported:
o [1] New Track(s): Choosing this option
will import your MIDI to a new track (or
tracks). If you choose this option, you
can choose whether the tracks will be
Instrument or MIDI tracks (from the
menu under the radio button).
o [2] Clip List: Clicking this radio button
will import the MIDI data to the Clips
List only.
o [3] Location: When you import MIDI to
new tracks, you can choose where on
the timeline that MIDI will start. Your
available choices are Session Start,
Song Start (if different from Session
Start), Selection, and Spot (this will open
the Spot dialog box).
o [4] Import Tempo map from MIDI
File: When checked, the tempo settings
MIDI Import Options dialog box
from the imported MIDI will overwrite the
tempo settings currently existing in your session. When unchecked, your session's
tempo settings will be unchanged by the imported MIDI data.
o [5] Import Key Signature from MIDI File: When checked, the key signature settings
from the imported MIDI will overwrite the key signature settings currently existing in
your session. When unchecked, your session's key signature settings will be
unchanged by the imported MIDI data.
o [6] Remove existing instrument tracks: When checked, any Instrument tracks in
your session will be permanently deleted. When unchecked, any Instrument tracks in

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your session will remain unchanged. (NOTE: If there are no MIDI tracks in your
session, this will be greyed-out.)
o [7] Remove existing MIDI tracks: When checked, any MIDI tracks in your session
will be permanently deleted. When unchecked, any MIDI tracks in your session will
remain unchanged. (NOTE: If there are no MIDI tracks in your session, this will be
greyed-out.)
o [8] Remove existing MIDI clips: When checked, any MIDI clips in your session will be
permanently deleted. When unchecked, any MIDI clips in your session will remain
unchanged. (NOTE: If there are no MIDI clips in your session, this will be greyed-out.)

3. After choosing the appropriate settings in the MIDI Import Options dialog box, click
the OK button, and your MIDI will be imported.

Recording MIDI
The process of recording MIDI is similar to audio recording in many respects, but with some
additional flexibility.
Before you start recording, you might want to set up a click track (which you learned about in Lesson 5).
Remember to click on the Metronome button to enable your click track.

The setup of external MIDI devices in your computer's operating system is beyond the scope of this
course, but here are some resources to help you get set up:

Mac: https://support.apple.com/guide/audio-midi-setup/set-up-midi-devices-ams875bae1e0/mac

Windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1FOCBxYGT8

Basic MIDI Recording

The first thing to address is where the
MIDI data is coming from.

1. Click on the MIDI Input

Selector of the track that you
want to record on (on a MIDI
track the button will be in
the I/O column, and on an
Instrument track it will be in
the Instrument column).
Setting a MIDI track’s input

The Input menu will appear, including the following options.

• By default, a new MIDI or Instrument track will have All set as the input, which will
enable the track to accept MIDI data from any port on any channel. This is a convenient
way to work if you’re a single user in a multi-keyboard studio. With All selected as an
input, you can play any MIDI device in your studio and have it recorded to the track,
without having to change your input selection.

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• Each input device you’ve specified in your computer's MIDI setup will appear as an input
option. You can choose a single device or even a specific MIDI channel on a given device
as an input for your track. This is useful in multi-keyboard setups in which you have
multiple musicians playing simultaneously. You can assign multiple tracks to accept
input from specific MIDI sources, isolating each musician’s performance to separate
tracks.

2. Select the input that suits your situation.

With MIDI, the device you physically play does not necessarily have to be the device that you hear.

3. Click on the Track Record Enable button to arm the track (MIDI or Instrument) for recording.

4. Click on the Record button in the Transport window (or in the Transport controls at the top
of the Edit window).

5. Click on the Play button. Recording will begin (after a count off if you have set one up). You’ll
play your MIDI instrument at this point, sending MIDI data to the recording track.

6. When you’re finished, stop playback. When you're done, you’ll have a clip, as you did when
you recorded audio. This time, however, you’ll see MIDI note data within the clip rather than
audio waveforms.

Recording with MIDI Merge

When MIDI Merge is enabled, recording will happen a little differently than normal. Instead of
overwriting any preexisting clips or MIDI data when recording (similar to when recording audio), new
MIDI data will be added to any MIDI that might already be on the track.
A classic example of this involves recording a drum kit: With MIDI Merge enabled, you can play the
kick drum part first, then stack a snare drum on top of it, then put hi-hat cymbals, and so on.
Although you might only play one of these drums per pass, you’ll end up with a single clip that
contains all of the notes that you played in each pass.
The steps for MIDI Merge mode recording are a little different than normal recording:

1. With MIDI Merge either enabled or disabled, record a first pass of your MIDI (for example,
the Kick drum of a drum beat. Alternately, you could create the notes with the Pencil tool
(which will be covered later in this lesson).

2. Enable MIDI Merge by clicking the MIDI Merge button. When enabled, the button will be
blue.

From here on, the workflow is similar to normal recording:

3. Move the playback cursor to where you want to start adding more MIDI data.

4. If this track isn't already armed for recording, click on the track's Record Enable button to
arm the track (MIDI or Instrument) for recording.

5. Click on the Record button in the Transport window (or in the Transport controls at the top
of the Edit window).

6. Click on the Play button. Recording will begin (after a count-off if you've set one up).

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7. With MIDI Merge recording, there’s no rush since there’s no requirement to play each time
your selection repeats. Whenever you do play, though, you’ll add MIDI data to the clip.

When you’re finished, you’ll have a clip that includes all the notes (and other MIDI data) that you’ve
played, plus what was there before you began recording. In this example shown below, we now
have Kick and Snare notes, each recorded in separate record passes.

After MIDI Merge

recording

Recording with the Virtual MIDI Keyboard

In the past, if you didn't have a MIDI keyboard (or other external controller), you couldn't record
MIDI into Pro Tools. That's no longer true, thanks to a relatively new addition to Pro Tools (added in
early 2021)—the Virtual MIDI Keyboard—which let's you play your computer's keyboard as an
external MIDI controller! Let's take a look:

1. On the MIDI or Instrument track that you want to record on, set the MIDI input to All.

2. Do one of the following:

• From the Window menu, choose MIDI Keyboard. The Virtual MIDI Keyboard will appear.
• Press Shift+K (on both Mac and Windows computers)
This window is very simple, but let's break it down:
• A-K Keys: The black and white
piano keys of the Virtual MIDI
keyboard allow you to play notes.
Don't think of the terms of the
notes in absolute terms - for
example, the "A" key plays a "C",
but rather in terms of layout. If you
look down at your keyboard, you'll
see that the physical layout is
similar to a piano's keyboard.
• Z and X Keys: You'll see that this Pro Tools’ Virtual MIDI Keyboard
window is fairly small (this is intentional, to
conserve space on your screen) and the range is one octave (from one "C" to another). You
can shift the octave of the keyboard down by pressing the Z key, or up by one octave by
pressing the X key. The current octave is displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the
screen, indicating the starting pitch of the octave that you can play.
• C and V Keys: Your computer's keyboard isn't sensitive to the velocity at which you press
your keys, but you do have some control over the MIDI velocity of the notes that you play
(we'll talk about MIDI velocity later in this lesson). You can decrease the velocity by pressing
the C key, or increase it by pressing the V key.

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TIP: In addition to using the keys on your computer's keyboard, you can play the Virtual MIDI Keyboard (or
change octave or velocity) by clicking the appropriate button with your mouse.

The Z and X keys act slightly differently than the C and V keys. Pressing and holding the Z or X keys will only
trigger one octave change, but if you press and hold the C or V key, the velocity will decrease or increase until
the key is released.

The recording process is identical to recording from an external MIDI controller:

1. Click on the Track Record Enable button to arm the track (MIDI or Instrument) for recording.

2. Click on the Record button in the Transport window (or in the Transport controls at the top
of the Edit window).

3. Click on the Play button. Recording will begin (after a count off if you have set one up). You’ll
play the Virtual MIDI Keyboard at this point, sending MIDI data to the recording track.
Pro Tools' Virtual MIDI Keyboard makes recording MIDI easier and more portable than ever before!

Working with Virtual Instruments

Now that you know how to create the right tracks and get MIDI data onto them, let's talk about
Virtual Instruments—how to choose the right one for the job, and how to pick a sound for your
tracks.

Addendum: Pro Tools’ Virtual Instrument Plug-ins

Just like physical instruments, Virtual Instruments—VIs for
short—come in all shapes and sizes. There are numerous VIs
to choose from, with a dizzying array of creative tools. To get
you started, let's go through the instruments that are included
free with Pro Tools!

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add6-1

When launching a virtual instrument on a multichannel (non-mono) track, you'll see two
options: multichannel plug-ins and multi-mono plug-ins. On a mono track, you'll only be able to use mono
virtual instrument plug-ins.

Choosing Sounds
Once you've chosen which instrument (external or virtual), your next step is to pick a sound that you
want to use. In this course, we'll focus on Virtual Instruments (by far the more commonly used).
Most plug-ins have a number of preset settings that you can use—this goes not only for
instruments, but also for other plug-ins that you'll use later in this course. If you’re using a virtual
instrument (such as Xpand!2), the preset you choose will determine the sound that you hear:

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Sound presets on both external and virtual instruments are often referred to as patches. This term finds its
roots in the earliest days of synthesis, where different sounds were created by connecting (or "patching")
different electronic components.

1. If the plug-in window isn’t open already, click the virtual instrument’s Insert button. It will be
highlighted, and the plug-in window will open.

2. At the top of the plug-in window is the Librarian Menu, which will display the currently active
sound (<factor default> when it's first launched). A menu of available sounds will appear,
sometimes nested into submenus.

Opening a preset from a plug-in’s Librarian Menu button

3. Choose the desired sound from the menu. The menu will close, and your choice will be
applied.
Here’s an alternative method:

1. Click the Plug-in Settings

Select button. The Plug-in Settings
dialog box will open.

Clicking the Plug-in Settings Select button

2. If your plug-in presets are

organized into submenus, click the
Folder pop-up menu. The subfolder
hierarchy will be displayed. Select
the desired subfolder from the list.
When you make your selection, the
programs in that subfolder will be
displayed in the window.

3. Select the desired sound.

Folders in the Plug-in Settings Select dialog box

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4. Click the Done button in the lower right-hand corner of the Plug-in Settings dialog box.

TIP: If you’re searching for just the right sound, the Increment Setting Every [#] Seconds check box (in the
bottom-right corner of the plug-in settings dialog box) can come in handy. Just enable the feature to cycle
through all the sounds automatically, allowing you to keep playing while the patches change.

Time and MIDI

Early in this course, you learned about samples and how they relate to digital audio. Audio files have
a set number of samples per second, which (in a perfect world) play back perfectly every time and
doesn't change. For example, an audio file that lasts for a minute will always be one minute long.
Audio files are based on “real” time (hours, minutes, and seconds) and typically won’t change their
placement or duration based on tempo changes. MIDI, on the other hand, is entirely different:
different — you typically do want your MIDI notes to change their speed, placement, and duration
based on tempo. In this section, we’ll look at how MIDI makes this happen.

What is a Tick?
If a sample is the smallest unit of time
that we deal with when working with
digital audio, then a tick is the smallest
unit of time when working with MIDI.
Without getting too deep into the world 960 subdivisions, called Ticks, between each beat in a measure
of music theory, ticks are subdivisions of
quarter notes. With Pro Tools, there are 960 ticks per quarter note. Ticks are tremendously
important, enabling us to capture the humanity of live MIDI recording.
Here’s a scenario: Let’s say that a musician has a piece of music in front of them, and that there are
four quarter notes in a bar.
Being human, they have a low chance of playing these notes
with complete mathematical precision. Here’s how they played
the notes:
Four written quarter notes
• The first quarter note was close, but a little bit late
compared to the click track.
• The second quarter note was played even later (a late second beat is an essential part of
many styles of music).
• Unbelievably, the third quarter note fell exactly on the beat!
• The last quarter note was played a little bit early, in relation to the click track.
So, the live performance might be represented by the red
dots representing where the notes were actually played:

Four written quarter notes

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Here’s how the notes they played might

look in a MIDI or Instrument track.

A live performance on a MIDI track

Ticks (and because we have so many of them) will allow us to capture the human imperfection of a
performance. Here’s how the performance went, in ticks:
• The first note, played a little bit
late, has a location of bar 1,
beat 1, and tick 023. This is
represented as 1|1|023.

• The second note, played later,

has a location of bar 1, beat 2,
and tick 136. This is
represented as 1|2|136

• The third note, played right on

the beat, has a location of bar 1,
beat 3, and tick 000. This is
represented as 1|3|000.

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• The last note was played

early, meaning it was played
before the fourth beat on the
timeline. Hence, it is in bar
1, beat 3 (because beat 4
hadn’t happened yet), and
tick 897. This is
represented as 1|3|897.

The beginnings of notes aren’t the only thing that has tick-based timing; the ends of notes are also tick-
based, which means that the starts, ends, and durations of the notes that you play are timed down to
1/960th of a quarter note.

Timebases and Rulers

The timing of everything on your session's timeline is either going to be sample-based or tick-based.
To best view it, is a matter of setting the right Main Time Scale in the Edit window’s Main Counter.
You've already learned how to choose a timebase for the Main counter. Choosing Bars|Beats will
enable you to view the passage of time in your session in ticks. The spacing of the grids will change
depending upon your session tempo: the higher the tempo, the faster the beats (and therefore the
ticks) will play, and your grid will be more narrowly spaced.

Timebases and Tracks

Typically, you want your MIDI to respond to tempo and your audio not to respond to tempo.
However, sometimes you want to change the way data will react to tempo changes on a given track.
That’s when you’ll want to change a track’s timebase.
By default, MIDI tracks and Instrument tracks are tick-based, meaning the clips, notes, and other
data on the track are locked to a tick (bars, beats, and ticks) location. When tempo is changed, the
data will move in sync to preserve its musical location.

A tick-based track is indicated by a green metronome icon in the

lower left-hand corner of the track:

A tick-based track

You can change a track from tick-based to sample-based by clicking on the track's Timebase Selector
and choosing Samples from the menu that appears. A sample-based track is indicated by a small
blue clock icon in the lower left-hand corner of the track.
When a track is set to be sample-based, clips (and in a MIDI or Instrument track’s case, notes and
other musical performance information) will not respond to tempo changes. Although this isn’t

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commonly done when working with MIDI, there are cases when you want this kind of behavior (for
example, when you’re using MIDI for non-musical purposes, like triggering sound effects meant to
sync with video).
Auxiliary Input tracks, and Master Fader tracks are sample based by default (this can be changed in Pro
Tools’ preferences, in the Editing tab, with the “New Tracks Default to Tick Timebase” preference).

Just as you can change a MIDI or Instrument track from tick-based to sample-based, you can also change an
Audio (or Aux, or Master Fader) track from sample-based to tick-based. Clips and other data on a tick-based
track will be locked to a tick-based location and will change location based upon the tempo settings (and
tempo changes) in your session. Workflows involving tick-based audio are discussed in the Pro Tools 110
course.

Editing MIDI
You’ve already learned how to use the basic Edit tools (Trim, Selector, and Grabber) with audio clips.
These still apply, but because MIDI is fundamentally different than audio, even more editing tools
are available to you!

MIDI Track Views

You can take your MIDI editing to the next level by changing your views. You can change your views
by clicking a track's Track View Selector, located just below the Record, Solo, and Mute buttons. This
selector will display the currently active view.
Clicking this selector will reveal the different kinds of
information you can see on any given track (different
track types will have different items on this list). For
the purposes of this lesson, we'll focus on the
primary views for a MIDI or Instrument track.
A MIDI track's Track View Selector
Clips View
The default view of a MIDI or Instrument track is the Clips view. When you’re in Clips view, you’ll see
your MIDI data in clip-sized blocks.

Clips view on a MIDI track

If you need to trim, select, or move a clip, this is the view you want. In this track view, editing is very
similar to the work you’ve already done with Audio tracks.

Notes View
Clips view is good for some kinds of work, but if you want to get specific with individual notes, it’s not
always the best view. Changing to Notes view will give you access to individual notes, so that you can
change them independently of other notes.

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Click the Track View Selector to reveal a list of options (the currently active view is indicated by a
check mark). On any MIDI or Instrument track, you’ll find Notes just below the Clips view menu item.
Click Notes, and your track view will be changed.
Sometimes in this view, you'll see notes that are narrower than the others—for example in the
image shown below, the first and last of the four notes are shorter. This indicates that they are out
of range of the current view (In other words, below or above the note range that you can see—in
this case, it’s from A2 to D3). You can shift the viewing range by clicking the up or down arrow icons
at the top or bottom of the Mini Keyboard (the side-facing keyboard on the left side of the track).

Notes out of the visible range

The thickness of your MIDI notes will also determine how many pitches you can view in a MIDI or Instrument
track. The MIDI Zoom In/Out button in the Edit window toolbar (which you learned about in Lesson 4)
enables you to change the note thickness to suit your needs.

Now that you are in Notes view, your Edit tools will take on different functions:
• The Trim tool will now change the beginning or end of a note. Just move your cursor near
the start or end of a note and drag it to the desired location. Note that these changes will
depend on the currently active Edit mode (choose Slip mode for smooth dragging or
choose Grid mode to have your note start or end snap to the grid).
• The Selector tool operates a little differently than you might expect. If you select an area in
Notes view, only the notes whose beginning is in your selected area will be selected. After
being selected, the notes can be further edited (copied, deleted, and so on).
• Other ways to use the Selector tool in Notes view:
o Double-clicking with the Selector tool will select the area of the clip (or space
between clips) that you are clicking.
o Triple-clicking with the Selector tool will select all clips on the entire track.
• Clicking on a note with the Grabber tool will select that note, after which you can drag it to a
new location (changing timing and/or pitch). To select multiple notes, just hold the Shift key
while clicking notes. Another way to select notes (or multiple notes) is to move your cursor to
an area where there are no notes, and click and drag to create a box (any notes within that
box will be selected and can then be dragged).
• Other ways to use the Grabber tool in Notes view:
o Holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) will create a copy as you drag,
leaving the selected note(s) in their original position.
o Double-clicking on a note with the Grabber tool will delete the note.

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MIDI Velocity
MIDI velocity is a very powerful MIDI parameter that can breathe life into your MIDI projects. The
good news is that it’s easy to work with in Pro Tools, but first, let’s discuss what exactly MIDI
velocity is.
If you look up the word velocity in the dictionary, you’ll see that it means “speed,” and that’s exactly
what it means in the world of MIDI as well. Consider this: You have a drummer playing real drums
(not MIDI), and you tell him to play louder.
How does he do that? He hits the drums with more force, of course. He strikes the drum faster, with
more velocity, which changes the amplitude of the drum and the timbre of the sound (a snare drum
gently tapped has a different tone than one forcefully whacked). Other instruments deal with
velocity in different ways, but changes in velocity will generally result in changes in amplitude as well
as tonal color.
TIP: If you’re trying to get your MIDI composition to sound more lifelike, and looking for a “louder”
instrument, raise the velocity before you reach for the volume fader. This will give you an amplitude and
tonal change that will more naturally emulate what “real” instruments do.

Now that you know what velocity is, how do you use it in Pro Tools?

1. Click the Track View Selector.

2. On any MIDI or Instrument track, you’ll find Velocity just below the Notes view menu item.
Click Velocity, and your track view will be changed.

When you’re viewing Velocity, you’ll see a vertical stalk at the beginning of each note, which indicates
the velocity value for that note—in other words, how fast you’re striking the MIDI controller's key.
As with Notes view, your familiar Edit tools will take on different kinds of functions:
• The Selector tool will allow you to
select multiple velocity stalks. After
selecting, dragging with the Trim or
Grabber tool will increase or
decrease the velocity values of the
selected notes.

Changing Velocity with the Selector tool

• When using the Grabber tool,

moving your cursor near the top of
any velocity stalk will change the
cursor icon to a finger. Just drag up
or down to change the velocity
value for selected notes.

Changing Velocity with the Grabber tool

Changing velocity on an unselected note
will cause the note to be selected.

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• If you move your Trim tool close to

the top of one of the velocity stalks,
you’ll see that the Trim tool will be
downward facing. Just click and drag
upward or downward to change the
velocity value for any selected notes.

Changing Velocity with the Trim tool

TIP: The Trim tool will change to a Grabber when
your cursor is moved close to any individual note.

Editing MIDI with the Pencil Tool

So far in this course, you haven’t had
much cause to use the Pencil tool, but in
Notes view, it’ll really shine, combining
tools similar to the way that the Smart
tool works. The secret is in the position
of your cursor:
Selecting the Pencil tool

• Placing your cursor over the

middle of a note will make
the Pencil tool behave like
the Grabber tool, enabling
you to move the note.

Using the Pencil tool to move a note

• Placing your cursor close to

the beginning or end of a
note will make
the Pencil tool behave like
the Trim tool.

Using the Pencil tool to trim a note

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 LESSON 6 MIDI

• If you move your cursor to an area

where there is no note, the Pencil
tool will allow you to create a new
MIDI note. Just click when you see a
Pencil icon, and a new note will be
created.

Using the Pencil tool to create a new MIDI note

• Holding the Option key (Mac)

or Alt key (Windows) will flip the
Pencil tool to become an eraser.
Clicking on a note while using the
eraser will delete it.

Using the Pencil tool to delete a MIDI note

• When viewing velocity, the Pencil tool can be quite powerful: You can click and drag to “draw”
velocity changes over multiple MIDI notes. Many musicians think of musical phrases as
organic curves, with their own peaks and valleys—the Pencil tool will make it easy to draw
those kinds of velocity changes.
When drawing velocity with the Pencil tool, the shape of your “drawing” will depend upon the shape of your
Pencil tool (Freehand, Line, and Triangle, and so on). Click and hold on this tool to see a list of available
options.

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 LESSON 6 MIDI

Addendum: Volume, Pan, and Continuous Controllers

Other views are available to you in the Track View pop-up menu—
parameters like MIDI Volume, MIDI Pan, and MIDI Continuous Controllers.
This kind of data is independent of note data, and changes continuously
over time. In this addendum, we dig deeper into how to create and edit
this MIDI data.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add6-2

Addendum: More Ways to Work with MIDI

More advanced music production workflows are covered in the

Pro Tools 110 and other courses in the Avid Learning Series.
In this addendum, we take a sneak peek at a few more ways to
work with MIDI within Pro Tools.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add6-3

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 LESSON 6 MIDI

Lesson 6
Review and Knowledge Check
In this lesson, we talked about the basics of MIDI—from its functioning to how to implement it in Pro
Tools. There's certainly more to talk about in the wide world of electronic music, but if you
understand the concepts in this lesson, you're off to a strong start.
In this lesson, you learned:
• The basics of MIDI—what it is and what it can do.
• How to set up MIDI in Pro Tools in two different ways—using a MIDI track/Auxiliary
Input track combination, or through the use of an Instrument track.
• The function and purpose of each of the MIDI controls in the Edit or Transport windows.
• The basics of importing and recording MIDI.
• How to choose the right Virtual Instrument for the job, and then how to choose the right
sound (or "Patch") within that plug-in.
• The difference between ticks and samples, and how MIDI treats timing.
• How to edit different kinds of MIDI data, using the various Edit tools (including the Pencil
tool) and different track views in the Pro Tools Edit window.

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 6 MIDI

Action Default Shortcut

Wait for note F11 (if the preference in the MIDI tab of the Preferences
dialog box is enabled)

Virtual MIDI Keyboard Shift+K (on both Mac and Windows computers)

Flip the Pencil tool to become an eraser. Clicking on a note Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows)
while using the eraser will delete it

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC6

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 Exercise 6
Setting Up a MIDI Session
As you've seen through this lesson, the topic of MIDI—even at a basic level—are deep waters
indeed. For this exercise, we'll keep things simple, and present a situation that any Pro Tools user
(even one that isn't a MIDI expert) might encounter from time to time.
Scenario: You have a client who has done some MIDI work (in this case, an arrangement of
Pachelbel's Canon) on their own, and now they want to come to your studio to take their project to
the next level. Before they come to the studio though, you will need to set up a Pro Tools session
with the client's MIDI all set up, so that you can hit the ground running. The good news is that in this
lesson, you've learned everything you need to get the job done!

Media: PT 101 2023 Exercise 6 (Canon - Part 1).mid, PT 101 2023 Exercise 6 (Canon - Part 2).mid
Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise6

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Virtual Instrument Needed

For simplicity's sake, this exercise relies on only one Virtual Instrument plug-in—Xpand!2. If you haven't
installed that by now, you should do it before proceeding (of course, if you have additional Virtual
Instruments installed, that's no problem!).
 Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

Part 1: Getting Started

Before we can create tracks, we'll need to create a blank session for them.

Creating a Session
1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dashboard window, click the Create tab.

• From the File menu, choose Create New.

3. In the Dashboard, here are the settings you should use for your session:

• Name: PT101 2023 Exercise 6 - Canon - [Your Name] [today's date]

• Local Storage (Session)
• File Type: BWF (.WAV)
• Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
• Bit Depth: 24-bit
• I/O Settings: Stereo Mix
• Interleaved

4. Click Create. If you have chosen Prompt for Location, you'll need to choose a location for your
session. After that, your session will appear, showing a blank Edit or Mix window.

5. Let's check some settings that will make your work easier:

• Set the Main Counter to Bars|Beats.

• Set your Grid Value to 1 Bar.
• Enable the Conductor Track (Tempo Ruler).

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 Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

Part 2: Importing MIDI

Your client has attached a MIDI file to an email. Your first job is to get that MIDI data into your new
Pro Tools session.

1. Import the MIDI file named PT101 2023 Exercise 6 (Canon- Part 1).mid into your session using
the File > Import > MIDI method.

from the MIDI Import Options dialog box, here are the options
you should choose:

o Import to New Tracks (the track type will

be Instrument Track).
o Location should be Session Start.
o The composer has included some tempo changes, so
check the Import Tempo Map from MIDI File check
box.
After importing the data from the MIDI file, you will have 7 Instrument
tracks, and 7 MIDI clips in the Clips List. You'll also see that you have a
few tempo changes starting just before measure 33.
You're on your way—next step is to set up some Virtual Instruments:

2. Making sure that you can see Inserts A-E, launch one Xpand!2 plug-in on each of the tracks in
the Insert A position.

3. Assign the following presets to each track's Xpand!2 plug-in:

o Guitar: 21 Guitars > +07 Finger Nylon Acoustic

o Bass: 25 Basses > +03 Acoustic Fretless
o Pad: 01 Soft Pads > +02 Heavenly Bell Pad
o Arpeggio 1: 09 Multitrack Arpeggios > +02 Romantic String Ens
o Arpeggio 2: 09 Multitrack Arpeggios > +02 Romantic String Ens
o Arpeggio 3: 10 Simple Arpeggios > +12 DX Dreams
o Beat: 26 Drums > 28 Funk Drums
When you play back your session, you should be hearing the music properly.
With work like this, the details are very important. Here are a few things to watch out for:
• If you're seeing meters but not hearing your tracks, use what you've learned so far in this
course to make sure that your outputs are routed correctly.
• Are the sounds matching the track names? If not, perhaps you chose the wrong preset.
• Is the tempo too fast? Make sure that the Conductor Track (tempo ruler) is enabled. The
session should play at 45 BPM, with a ritardando (gradual decrease in tempo) at the end.

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 Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

• This is a tricky one: Make sure that the meters on each track matches the MIDI—when notes
play, you should see the levels on the track's meters react accordingly. If that's not
happening, show the Instrument Edit window view. Make sure that the MIDI output on each
track is pointing to the right plugin on the right track. Clicking the MIDI Output selector will
display the track name as well as the plug-in name, making this easy. For this exercise,
use Channel 1 for each of the Xpand!2 plug-ins.

Part 3: Adding More Parts

You think you're all set, and then you get another email from the client: There are two more parts
that need to be added. Let's use this opportunity to work with MIDI in a different way.

1. Import the PT101 2023 Exercise 6 (Canon- Part 2).mid file into your session. This time let's just
click the Clip List as a destination for these clips.

2. Since we've imported to the Clips List only (and not to a new MIDI or Instrument track), you'll
need to create a few new tracks:

o 2 MIDI tracks, named Lead 1 and Lead 2.

o 2 stereo Auxiliary Input tracks, named Lead 1 VI and Lead 2 VI.

3. Drag the two new MIDI clips to their respective tracks. Make sure that the clips start at the
beginning of the timeline. (Hint: Shuffle mode makes this easy!)

4. Place one new Xpand!2 plug-in on each of the new Auxiliary Input tracks in the Insert
A position.

5. Assign the following presets to each Auxiliary Input track's Xpand!2 plug-in:

o Lead 1 VI: 11 Soft Leads > +13 Eurodance

o Lead 2 VI: 06 Polysynths > +07 OK Choral

6. Route the Output of each MIDI track to the corresponding Virtual Instrument (the output
of Lead 1 to the Xpand!2 on the Lead 1 VI track, and the output of Lead 2 to the Xpand!2 on
the Lead 2 VI track). Here again, use Channel 1 for each of the Xpand!2 plug-ins.

By now the arrangement is sounding more complete, but there are some problems...

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 Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

Part 4: Editing MIDI

You've got things set up, but when the client arrives, they hear that there are some mistakes with
the MIDI tracks—you've got it covered:

Fixing Short Notes

In measure 15, there are some notes that are audibly shorter than the others. Let's fix that first.

1. Set your Edit mode to Absolute Grid.

2. Set your Grid Value to 1/4 note.

3. Zoom in horizontally so that you can clearly see about 4 measures on your timeline.

4. Scroll horizontally so that you can see measure 15 clearly.

You will see that on the Bass, Arpeggio

1, Arpeggio 2, and Arpeggio 3 tracks that
the notes that start on beat 3 are a bit
shorter in duration than the others.

5. Using the Trim tool, extend the end of

these notes so that the noes that start
on 15|3|00 end at 15|4|00. Here are
some things to bear in mind:

o You will need to switch your

view to Notes on those tracks
to edit the individual notes.
o You will need to vertically scroll
(using the arrow buttons at the
top and bottom of the side-
facing keyboard on the left
edge
of the track) to access these notes.
o Bear in mind that the Bass track has only one note that needs to be extended, but
each of the Arpeggio tracks will have two notes that need trimming.

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 Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

When you're done, your tracks should look something like this:

Fixing Pitch
In the Lead 1 track, the second note played in measure 16 is clearly the wrong pitch. That's next on
our "to do" list:

6. Change the Lead 1 track to Notes view.

7. Vertically scroll so that you can clearly see the second note in measure 16.

8. The note starts on tick 480, so we could change the grid to 8th notes, but let's try something
different. Change from Absolute Grid mode to Relative Grid mode.

9. Using the Grabber tool, drag the note (which is an E-flat 5) down by one half-step to D5.
Being in Relative Grid mode will ensure that the note stays in relation to the grid line, so you
just need to drag the note down to the next pitch.

Tweaking Velocity
The last thing to fix—the client notices that the Lead 2 track isn't playing strongly enough during the
second phrase (starting at measure 13 and ending at measure 17). Let's fix that with velocity.

10. Still in Clips view, select from the middle of measure 12 to the middle of measure 17 of
the Lead 2 track.

11. Change the Lead 2 track view to Velocity.

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 Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

12. You'll see that the contour of this phrase is fine, but the velocity is overall too low. Start
playback, and with the velocity stalks selected, use the Grabber tool to raise all of the
phrase's velocity values at once. You'll be able to hear your changes as your session plays.

13. Release the mouse when your velocities are at a musically appropriate value (always let your
ears be your guide!).

14. Before you finish this exercise, please save your work.

This completes Exercise 6.

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Exercise 6 Setting Up a MIDI Session

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 LESSON 7
Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level
You’ve already learned the basics of DAWs, how to navigate Pro Tools easily and efficiently, how to
import and record audio, perform basic editing, and work with MIDI. You’ve covered an impressive
amount of ground, so take pride in that.
Before we move on to mixing in this course, let’s take a deeper look at workflow. The different things
you'll do during production are fairly simple (you’ve learned many of these already in this course),
but you’ll do them countless times during the course of your work. The trick is to execute these
individual steps quickly and efficiently—the faster and easier you work, the more work you’ll get
done, and at a higher quality. That's what we mean when we talk about building your workflow skills.
This lesson isn’t so much a discussion of new editing concepts as much as a grab-bag of new ways to
work, boosting your Pro Tools power!

Duration: 45 Minutes

GOALS

• Work on multiple tracks simultaneously

• Perform clip editing techniques
• Duplicate, repeat, separate and consolidate clips
• Nudge clips
• Create and edit fade-ins, fade-outs, and crossfades
• Use the Tab key including the Tab to Transient variant to navigate
 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

Managing Multiple Tracks

Working with individual tracks is one thing, but the ability to deal with multiple tracks simultaneously
can be a huge time-saver!

Selecting Multiple Tracks

You already know that you can select a track. To review, here are the different ways:
• Click on the track name in the Edit window.
• Click on the track name in the Mix window (at the bottom of the channel strip).
• Click on the track name in the Tracks List (in either the Edit window or Mix window).
Here’s how you can select multiple tracks (in the Edit window, Mix window, or Tracks List):
• To select a range of tracks, click on the first track name, press and hold the Shift key, and
click the last track name in the range.
• To individually select (or deselect) multiple tracks, press and hold the Command key (Mac)
or Ctrl key (Windows), and click the track name of the tracks that you want to select (or
deselect).
• To select all tracks, press and hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and select any
unselected track. All tracks will be selected. You can use the same process to deselect tracks:
Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and select any selected track to unselect
them all.
Using the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) in the Track List will select or deselect all tracks, shown and
hidden. When used in the Edit or Mix window's Tracks area, this will select or only deselect shown tracks.

Changing Multiple Tracks

Now, let’s say that you want to change a setting on multiple tracks (for example, change an input or
output). Easy!
The modifiers in this section apply to both the Edit and Mix windows, so let's change things up and
show this in the Mix window:
• In order to make a change to all shown tracks, hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key
(Windows) and make the change on any track. All tracks will be similarly changed.
• In order to make a change to all selected tracks, hold the Shift+Option key (Mac)
or Shift+Alt key (Windows) and make the change on any selected track. All selected tracks will
be similarly changed.

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 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

Making Timeline Selections on Multiple Tracks

Making selections on multiple tracks can be a real time-saver, and you have a great deal of flexibility
on the selections you make:
• Making Timeline Selections on Adjacent Tracks with the Selector tool:
When using the Selector tool, if you click and drag horizontally, you'll make a selection on a
single track. However, you can easily make a selection on multiple tracks by clicking and
dragging vertically over the tracks (and the area) that you want to select.
• Making Timeline Selections on Non-Adjacent Tracks with the Selector tool:
If you have a selected area on a track that you want to also make on another track, one way
to do it is to hold the Shift key and click anywhere on the timeline of the track where you
want to add the selected area.

Link Track and Edit Selection

Here's a Pro Tools feature that will allow you to make much more of your track selection skills—Link
Track and Edit Selection.
Simply put, when this option is enabled, any selection that you make on a track will automatically
select that track, and if you select another track (or tracks), that selection will move accordingly.
There are a few ways to access it:
• From the Options menu, choose Link
Track and Edit Selection. When
enabled, the menu item will be
indicated by a check mark.
• Click the Link Track and Edit
Selection button in the Edit window
toolbar. When enabled, the button will Enabling Link Track and Edit Selection
be colored blue.
Here's how the Link Track and Edit Selection option works:
• When disabled, any selection on a track and the selected track is completely unrelated.
• When enabled, any track that has a selected area will be selected and changing track
selection will move the selection as well.
The ability to manage multiple tracks (and multiple tracks’ edit selections) quickly and efficiently is a
skill that will help you in a number of situations, from recording, to editing, to mixing and beyond.

Clip Editing
You’ve already looked at Pro Tools’ key edit tools, now let’s look at other ways that you can work with
clips. If you’ve ever typed an email or used any kind of text-based application, you’ll understand how
cut, copy, and paste works. Let’s look at how these processes (and a few others) work in Pro Tools.

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 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

Cut
You can cut an area in two ways:
• From the Edit menu, choose Cut.
• Press Command+X (Mac) or Ctrl+X (Windows).
When you Cut a selected area, it will be removed from your timeline and put onto a data clipboard
for pasting later. This includes any empty areas and clips in that selected area.

Copy
You can copy an area in two ways:
• From the Edit menu, choose Copy.
• Press Command+C (Mac) or Ctrl+C (Windows).
Copy works the same as Cut, but it does not remove the selected area from the timeline. Just like
when you cut, the entire selection (including any empty area) will be added to the clipboard.

Paste
You can past in two ways:
• From the Edit menu, choose Paste.
• Press Command+V (Mac) or Ctrl+V (Windows).
Paste will deposit the data from the clipboard to the timeline of the destination track at the edit
insertion position. For example, if you copy measures 1-5 from a track (adding that data to the
clipboard), and then move your Edit cursor to measure 7, the pasted area would be from 7-11.

Clear
In addition to cutting, you have the ability to Clear clips, which will remove them from the timeline,
but will not put them onto the clipboard. Put another way, if you cut a selection from your timeline,
you can paste it elsewhere—you can’t do that if you clear a selection.
You can clear in two ways:
• From the Edit menu, choose Clear.
• Press Command+B (Mac) or Ctrl+B (Windows).

Undo/Redo
When you edit, you will from time to time make a mistake or do something that you want to undo.
Probably the most traditional way to undo or redo an action is to access it from the Edit menu, like
many other programs.

To undo the last thing you’ve done:

• From the Edit menu, choose Undo. The Undo menu item will let you know which operation is
most recent.
• Press Command+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Windows).

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 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

If you’ve undone something, and want to redo it:

• From the Edit menu, choose Redo. Just like the Undo menu item, the Redo menu item will
include the action that is to be redone.
• Press Shift+Command+Z (Mac) or Shift+Ctrl+Z (Windows).

Duplicate and Repeat

In many editing situations, you’ll want to repeat a clip, like a measure of drums that you want to use
over many measures. Of course, you could just Option-drag (Mac) or Alt-drag (Windows) the same
clip onto a track over and over (like you did earlier in this course) to create a looping phrase, but that
can get very time-consuming. Duplicating and Repeating are two ways to get the job done quicker.

Duplicate
Duplicating a clip will create a copy of a clip or selection and place it immediately after the original:

1. Select the clip or area that you want to duplicate (either by single-clicking with the Grabber
tool or by double-clicking with the Selector tool).

2. Do one of the following:

• From the Edit menu, choose Duplicate.

• Press Command+D (Mac) or Ctrl+D (Windows).
A duplicate of the selected clip (or area) will appear immediately after the selection.

Repeat
Duplicating a clip is a one-off operation—creating a duplicate of a selected clip, for example, will
create a single new clip immediately after the selected clip. Although you could do multiple
duplications, Repeating a clip might be a better way to go: You can create multiple repetitions in one
quick process.

1. Select the clip or area that you want to repeat (either by single-clicking with the Grabber tool
or by double-clicking with the Selector tool).

2. Do one of the following:

• From the Edit menu, choose Repeat.

• Press Option+R (Mac) or Alt+R (Windows).

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 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

The Repeat dialog box will open.

3. Type the number of times you want the clip to

repeat (excluding the original) in the Number of
Repeats text box.

4. Click on the OK button. The selected clip or

selected area will be repeated the specified
number of times, just as if you had used the
Duplicate command multiple times.

The Repeat dialog box

Separating and Consolidating
Two other skills that will increase your efficiency will be the ability to split clips and to merge them—
that's where Separate and Consolidate come into the picture!

Separating Clips
Separating a clip involves breaking a single clip into two or more smaller clips. There are a few ways
to do this:

Basic Separate
Separating a clip is easy:

1. Using the Selector tool, select an area or click once to move the Edit cursor to the location
where you want to make the separation.

2. Do one of the following:

• Click on the Edit menu, then move

your cursor to Separate clip. From
the submenu that appears, choose
At Selection.
• Press Command+E (Mac) or Ctrl+E
(Windows).
Edit > Separate Clip > At Selection
Depending on what you’ve selected, you’ll get one of two
results:
• If you’ve clicked at a specific point (with no area selected), your clip will be split into two
smaller clips.
• If you’ve selected an area, your clip will be split into three smaller clips—one clip before your
selection starts, one clip after your selection ends, and one clip that represents your selected
area.

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 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

TIP: There’s an old rule among editors when separating (or trimming) a clip: Because all naturally occurring
audio waveforms begin from a zero-voltage level (silence) with a compression phase, always cut your clips at
either silence, or the zero-crossing line, with the waveform ascending. This is a good habit to get into and
ensures that you won’t hear any unwanted clicks and pops, and that your sound will behave in a natural
manner. There are workarounds to this rule, which will explored in the Pro Tools 110 course.

Separating on a Grid
Here’s a useful variation on the basic separation workflow that will create separate clips at each grid
line.

1. Set your Grid value at the interval at which you want to make separations.

2. Select an area where you want to make grid-line separations.

3. Click on the Edit menu, then move your cursor to Separate clip. From the submenu that
appears, choose On Grid. The Pre-Separate Amount dialog box will appear.

Any value in the pre-separate amount will shift your

separations earlier in time. For example, if you have a
pre-separate value of 3 milliseconds (mSec), then
separations will be made 3 milliseconds before each
grid line. If you want the separations to be made
precisely on each grid line, leave the value at 0.

TIP: Entering a value in the pre-separate field can come in handy The Pre-Separate Amount dialog box
in preserving the beginnings of sounds that begin somewhat
before the grid line.

4. Click the OK button, and your separations will be made.

Here’s an example of what

you might end up with: The
Grid value is set to one bar.
Within the selected area,
there are separations at
each grid line.

Activating the Conductor Track

Separating on Transients
A variation on Separate > On Grid, this is a handy little feature that creates a new clip boundary at
each detected transient.

What is a transient?

Simply put, a transient is a rapid increase in amplitude (loudness) often found at the beginning of a
percussive waveform, such as a pick or a hammer hitting a string, or a drumstick hitting the head of a
drum. Different types of instruments have different kinds of transients, but they tend to be good visual
cues when editing, indicating the beginnings of notes (or words, in the case of a vocal track).

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 LESSON 7 Taking Your Workflow to the Next Level

1. Select an area where you want to make transient separations.

2. Click on the Edit menu, then move your cursor to Separate clip. From the submenu that
appears, choose On Grid. The Pre-Separate Amount dialog box will appear.

Here again, setting any value above zero in the Pre-Separate Amount dialog box will add
padding to the clips you are about to create. The greater the value, the farther ahead of each
transient the separations will be. To separate clips exactly at the beginning of each transient,
choose 0.

3. When you’re ready, click on the OK button.

Again, you’ll see your clip immediately separated into a number of clips. The placement of the clip
boundaries will be a little different from when you separated at each grid line. This time, you’ll see
that your clip has been separated at each transient (or just ahead of the transient, if you entered a
Pre-Separate amount).

Heal Separation
If you separated a clip, or deleted a section in the middle of a clip, and then changed your mind,
Heal Separation can come to the rescue:

1. Select an area where you want to remove separations.

2. Do one of the following:

• From the Edit menu, click Heal Separation.

• Press Command+H (Mac) or Ctrl+H (Windows).
Any separations within the selected area will be removed.
TIP: You can only heal a separation if all the clips involved haven’t been moved in relation to each other. For
example, if you split a clip into two smaller clips, and then move one of the smaller clips, you’ll no longer be
able to heal that separation.

Consolidating
As you progress in an editing session, you’ll tend to accumulate more and more clips as you cut,
copy, paste, and move clips on your timeline. At some point, the sheer number of clips on a track
can become a nuisance, and you’ll want to combine some clips into a new, single clip. That’s when
you’ll need to consolidate clips.
You can think of Pro Tools’ Consolidate feature as rendering a number of clips (audio or MIDI) into a
single clip (and in the case of audio, as a single new audio file). Here’s how it works:

1. Select the area that you want to consolidate (even completely empty areas can be
consolidated).

2. Do one of the following:

• From the Edit menu, choose Consolidate Clip.

• Press Shift+Option+3 (Mac) or Shift+Alt+3 (Windows).

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In the area that you’ve selected, instead of multiple clips and spaces, you’ll see a single clip. Any
spaces between clips will been “rendered” as silence.

Basic Clip Nudging

Moving clips in large increments is easy, but it’s tricky to move them in surgically fine small bits.
That’s when you’ll want to stop dragging a clip and start Nudging.
First, though, you’ll have to choose a Nudge value. Setting up your Nudge value is nearly identical to
setting up your Grid value (which you’ve learned in Lesson 4):

1. Click on the disclosure button to the right of the

Nudge value. The Nudge Value pop-up menu will
appear.

Accessing the Nudge value pop-up menu

2. In the lower section of the pop-up menu,

select the Time Scale with which you want to
nudge your clip. The currently chosen Time
Scale will be indicated by a checkmark. (In
this image, Bars|Beats is chosen, which is
well suited for music projects, but let's
change it to Min:Secs) Based on the Time
Scale you choose, the options at the top of
the list will change.

3. Select the increment by which you want to

nudge your clip. The currently chosen
increment will be indicated by a checkmark.

Once you have the Nudge value you want,

using the feature is very straightforward.
Choosing a timescale
4. Using the Selector or Grabber tool, select the clip(s) you want to
move.

5. Do one of the following:

• Press the Plus (+) key on your keyboard’s numeric keypad to move your selected clip(s)
later in time (to the right) by the nudge amount.
• Press the Minus (-) key on your keyboard’s numeric keypad to move your selected clip(s)
earlier in time (to the left) by the nudge amount.
TIP: The default shortcuts for nudging are the Plus (+) and Minus (-) keys on the numeric keypad, not the plus
and minus keys in the top row of the QWERTY keyboard (above the P and Bracket keys)

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Some keyboards (most notably, windows laptop keyboards) have an embedded numeric keypad that is
accessible by holding the fn key. With these kinds of keyboards, holding this key and clicking the numeric
keypad plus and minus keys will nudge your clips.

If you don’t have a numeric keypad on your computer, you can still nudge (though for many reasons,
having a numeric keypad is recommended when using Pro Tools):
• Pressing the Comma (,) key will nudge earlier in time.
• Pressing the Period (.) key will nudge later in time.

Using Fades
Fade-ins and fade-outs are used to gradually transition into or out of a clip. Additionally, you can
create crossfades between clips to make a smooth transition from one clip to another. The topic of
fades, since they change the level of clips over time, overlaps on the larger topic of mixing (which
you’ll explore in the next lesson), but you’ll also create fades in the editing process. Let’s tackle it
now.

Creating a Fade-in or Fade-out

Everybody has heard fade-ins used on a mix, such as when a song starts from a silent beginning and
gets gradually louder until it reaches its running volume. A fade-out is just the opposite, with the
sound getting progressively softer until it reaches silence.
In Pro Tools, you can create a fade-in or fade-out for an individual clip within a mix as well. Here’s
how:

1. Using the Selector tool, select the area of a clip that you want to turn into a fade-in or fade-
out. The selection you make is important:

• If you want to create a fade-in, you must make sure your selection starts at or before
the clip begins, and that it ends where you want the fade-in to end.
• If you want to create a fade-out, it’s important to start your selected area where you
want the fade-out to start, and then end your selection at or after the clip ends.

If you don't select at least to the beginning (or end) of a clip boundary, Pro Tools will get
confused about what you want to do. In these cases, if you go to the Edit menu and select
Fades, the Create option will be greyed out and unavailable.

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2. Do one of the following:

• Click on the Edit menu, then move your cursor to

Fades. From the submenu that appears, choose
Create.
• Press Command+F (Mac) or Ctrl+F (Windows).
A Fade dialog box will open.

The curves shown in the Fade dialog box will be

different depending on whether you’re creating a fade-
in or fade-out, but the controls are the same.

A Fade In dialog box

Often, when creating a fade, it’s useful to audition the sound of

the fade before you create it. In the Fades dialog box, you’ll see a
small button in the upper-left corner that will do just that. Click
the button to hear the effect of the fade curve on the audio clip.
You won’t hear any other tracks in your session; just the fade
that you’re creating.

The Audition button

To the immediate right of the Audition button, you'll find additional buttons on stereo tracks, that will allow
you to view and preview the left channel only (by clicking the 1 button), the right channel only (by clicking
the 2 button), or both channels
(by clicking the Both button).

On the left of the waveform display, you’ll see four buttons that will
allow you to view the waveform in a number of different ways (or not
view it at all, which happens if you click the top of the four buttons).
These options won’t affect your view much when dealing with a
simple fade-in or fade-out, but they will give you more useful options
when working with crossfades.

Waveform View buttons

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Below the view options, you’ll see two

buttons, which you can click to vertically
zoom your waveform up or down.

Waveform Zoom buttons

The In Shape section of the Fade-In dialog box (and the Out Shape of the
Fade-Out dialog box) enable you to control the contour of your fade.
Here, you have three main options:
• Click on the Standard option button in the Shape section to
select a basic linear fade or logarithmic curve for the new
fade. (This will depend on what you choose in the Slope
section, which we'll delve into during our discussion on
crossfades.)
The In Shape Controls
• Click on the S-Curve option button in the Shape section to
select an S-shaped curve for the new fade.
• Click on the Preset Curve option button to use a standard fade curve chosen from a
menu.

3. If you haven't chosen a preset curve, you can further adjust the contour of your fade by
clicking and dragging on the fade curve line. The line will change in response to your
movements, and the waveform view will adjust accordingly.

4. Once you have the fade curve you want, click on the OK button. The Fades dialog box will
close.

If you’re creating a fade-in at the beginning of the clip, you’ll

now see a new fade shown with an ascending line,
indicating that it is a fade-in, as well as showing the fade-in’s
curve.

A fade-in

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Here’s what a fade-out looks like (with a linear fade shape):

A fade-out

Creating a Crossfade
A crossfade is a simultaneous fading out of one sound while another sound fades in, creating a
smooth transition from one sound to the other. Here’s how to create a crossfade between two
overlapping clips:

1. Select an area of two

overlapping clips that you
want to become a
crossfade.

Selecting an area for a crossfade

2. Do one of the following:

• Click on the Edit menu, then move your cursor to Fades. From the submenu that
appears, choose Create.
• Press Command+F (Mac) or Ctrl+F (Windows).

The Crossfade dialog box will open.

As you saw when working with fade-ins, the display

buttons to the left of the waveform display will allow you
to choose the view that works best. When working with
crossfades, the differences between these views are more
evident than when working with fade-ins or fade-outs
3. Set up the In Shape portion of your crossfade the
same way you would a standalone fade-in.

4. Set up the Out Shape portion of the crossfade the

same way you would a standalone fade-out.

5. Drag the crossing point of your crossfade earlier

or later, depending on your preference for this
particular crossfade.
The Crossfade dialog box

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You’ll notice that the fade-in and fade-out curves are linked. Changes made to either curve will affect
the other. You have a few options when it comes to exactly how your fade curves will be linked (Let
your ears be your ultimate guide as to which is the best in any given situation.) The Link
Out/In section enables you to change the way in which gain is treated as your clips crossfade. Here,
you have three options:
• Equal Gain: When you select this as the linking option, the midpoint of the fade curves will
not be boosted in any way. When you are crossfading identical or very similar audio, this
linking will often give you the desired smooth transition from clip to clip.
• Equal Power: This linking option will compensate for the volume drop that sometimes occur
when significantly different waveforms are combined by boosting the midpoint of the fade
curves. It is usually heard as a smooth transition between dissimilar clips.
• None: This option (available only when crossfading) will enable you to change one half of a
crossfade without changing the other half. Although it’s the least commonly used of all the
linking options, it will give you a degree of flexibility that the other linking options don’t
provide. When linking is set to None, you can adjust the shape, beginning, and end of either
curve independently. Just click on the small black handle at the beginning or end of a fade
curve and drag it to the desired position.
Although None linking might not be the most commonly used mode of crossfading, it’s the best choice if you
need a specific nonlinear transition.

6. Once you’re happy with your crossfade’s settings, click the OK button in the Fades dialog
box.

Usually at this point, a crossfade will be created, but if there’s not enough overlapping audio
in both clips, you’ll see a message — this isn’t a bug, but rather a notification giving you the
choice of either skipping the crossfade, or letting Pro Tools adjust the fade’s boundaries to
give you the largest possible area of crossfade.

Insufficient audio message box

Creating Fades with Shortcuts

Here's another way to create a fade-in or fade-out — let’s start with creating a fade-in:
As a reminder, for the purposes of this course, Pro Tools' default shortcuts are described, and Edit Keyboard
focus should be enabled.

1. Using the Selector tool, click at the point where you want a fade-in to end.

2. Press the D key.

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And here’s how to create a fade-out:

1. Using the Selector tool, click at the point where you want a fade-out to begin.

2. Press the G key.

And here’s how to create a crossfade:

1. Using the Selector tool (or the Smart tool in Selector tool mode), select an area of two
overlapping clips that you want to become a crossfade.

2. Press the F key.

Editing Fades
If you create a fade in your session and later decide that you want to change its contour, there are a
few ways to do it:
• Just double-click on the fade with the Grabber tool. The Fades dialog box will open again, so
you can adjust the individual fade.
• Right-click a fade (or a
selection that has fades in it)
that you want to change. In
the menu that appears, there
is a Fades submenu, and from
there, you can change the
shape of the fade.

Changing a fade from the Fades submenu

• Here’s a cool way to change the shape of a fade: Using the Selector tool, hold the Command
key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows), and move your cursor into a fade. When the cursor shape
changes to a fade icon, click and drag the curve to the desired shape (as you drag, the fade
curve will be highlighted in yellow).
The Trim and Grabber tools can be applied to fades in a way that's similar to audio clips:
• Click and drag a fade with the Grabber tool to change the position of the fade. Note that as
you drag the fade, you are fading (in or out) different pieces of audio.
• Use the Trim tool to change the duration of a fade by clicking on either the beginning or end
of the fade and dragging, just as you would do with an audio clip.

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Deleting Fades
Deleting fades is easy, and there are a number of ways you can do it:
• Select the fade that you want to delete and press the Delete key. The fade will be removed,
and the original (non-faded audio) will remain.
• Right-click a fade (or a selection that has fades in it) that you want to delete. In the menu that
appears, choose the Delete Fades menu item, which will delete the fade (or delete multiple
fades, if you’re right-clicking on a selection that has multiple fades in it).
• Another easy way to delete multiple fades: Select a fade (or make a selection that includes
multiple fades). From the Edit menu, choose Fades. In the Fades submenu, choose Delete.

Using the Tab Key

The Tab key is not only a great way to navigate your session, but also a great editing tool! It can be
set up to operate in one of two different modes: Standard and Tab to Transients.

Basic Tabbing
We’ll look at the most basic mode first, so we need to make sure that the Tab to Transients mode is
disabled:

1. Do one of the following:

o Immediately below the Zoomer

tool in the Edit tools section,
you’ll find the Tab to
Transients button. When
enabled, this button is colored
blue. Because you want this
The Tab to Transients button
mode to be disabled for now,
make sure the Tab to
Transients button is toggled off
and is shown in a basic grey color.
o In the Options menu, you’ll find Tab to Transient. When enabled, there will be a
checkmark next to the menu item. Since you want to disable this mode for now, make
sure that there’s no checkmark by that menu item (if there is, just click Tab to
Transient to remove the checkmark and disable the feature).
Now that Tab to Transients has been disabled, let's see how the Tab key behaves normally.

2. Using the Selector tool, click on a track with several clips, before a given clip. The Edit
insertion will appear wherever you click.

3. Press the Tab key. The Edit insertion will move to the next clip boundary (in this case, the
start of a clip). Each time you press the Tab key, the Edit insertion will move accordingly to
the next clip boundary (moving from left to right).

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TIP: The way you press the Tab key will change its behavior. A quick, momentary press will advance one
boundary at a time. If you press and hold down the key, the Edit cursor will rapidly move from boundary to
boundary until the key is released.

TIP: Here’s a twist on using the Tab key: Hold the Option key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) while you press
the Tab key to move the Edit insertion to the previous clip boundary (moving right to left).

Tab to Transients
With Tab to Transients enabled, the Tab key will continue to jump to clip boundaries, but it
will also stop at each transient.
1. The first step in the process is to turn Tab to Transients on:
• The Tab to Transients button will let you know if it’s enabled or disabled. When enabled,
this button will be colored blue. If the button is disabled (the color will be a basic grey),
just click on the Tab to Transients button to turn it on.
• You can also check Tab to Transient’s status in the Options menu. When active, there
will be a checkmark next to the Tab to Transient menu item. Just click Tab to
Transient to toggle the feature.
Here’s how the Tab key behaves with Tab to Transients enabled:
2. Using the Selector tool, click on a track with several clips before a given clip. The Edit
insertion will appear wherever you click.
3. Press the Tab key. The Edit insertion will immediately jump to the start of the clip. Regardless
of whether Tab to Transients is enabled or disabled, the Tab key can always be used to
quickly move to clip boundaries (start or end).
4. Press the Tab key again. This time, instead of moving directly to the next clip boundary (as
would be the case if Tab to Transients was not active), the Edit insertion will jump from
transient to transient. This is a fantastic way to locate drum hits and other transient-based
audio.
Here again, holding the Option key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) while you press the Tab key will move the Edit
insertion to the previous transient (moving right to left).

Making Selections While Tabbing

If you want to make a selection while moving with the Tab key (with Tab to Transients on or off), just
hold down the Shift key as you tab. This is a quick and effective way to select clips (or the space
between clips), and with Tab to Transients on, is also a great way of chopping up drum tracks into
loopable segments. Let’s take a look at that workflow:

1. If Tab to Transients isn’t already enabled, click on the Tab to Transients button. When
enabled, it will be colored blue.

2. Use the Selector tool to set the Edit insertion a little before the transient at which you want
to start your selection.

3. Press the Tab key once. The Edit insertion will jump to the next transient (where you want to
begin your selection).

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4. Press and hold the Shift key and press the Tab key. As you’ve seen before, the Edit insertion
will jump from transient to transient each time you press the Tab key, but the addition of
the Shift key will cause a selection to be made in the process.

5. When you reach the end of your desired selection, stop pressing the Tab key. Now you’ve
made a selection based on Pro Tools’ analysis of the transients, which can help you find the
right start and end points for a loopable drum beat!

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Lesson 7
Review and Knowledge Check
This lesson is focused on taking your workflow and making it even more efficient!
In this lesson, you learned:
• How to work on multiple tracks simultaneously
• Basic clip editing techniques (Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear, and Undo), and when to use each
• How to duplicate and repeat clips
• Different ways to separate and consolidate clips
• How to nudge clips
• How to create and edit fade-ins, fade-outs, and crossfades
• How to use the Tab key to navigate in your session, including the Tab to Transient variant of
the key's function

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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Action Default Shortcut

cut Command+X (Mac) or Ctrl+X (Windows)

copy Command+C (Mac) or Ctrl+C (Windows)

paste Command+V (Mac) or Ctrl+V (Windows)

clear Command+B (Mac) or Ctrl+B (Windows)

undo Command+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Windows)

redo Shift+Command+Z (Mac) or Shift+Ctrl+Z (Windows)

Duplicate Command+D (Mac) or Ctrl+D (Windows)

Repeat Option+R (Mac) or Alt+R (Windows)

Separate Clip At Selection Command+E (Mac) or Ctrl+E (Windows)

Heal Separation Command+H (Mac) or Ctrl+H (Windows)

Consolidate Clip Shift+Option+3 (Mac) or Shift+Alt+3 (Windows)

Nudge later in time Plus (+) key on the numeric keypad, or the Comma (,) key

Nudge earlier in time Minus (-) key on the numeric keypad, or the Period (.) key

Select a range of tracks To select a range of tracks, click on the first track name,
press and hold the Shift key, and click the last track name
in the range

Individually select (or deselect) multiple tracks Press and hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key
(Windows), and click the track name of the tracks that
you want to select (or deselect)

Select all tracks Press and hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows)
and select any unselected track

Change aspects, such as inputs or outputs of all shown tracks Press and hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows)
and change any track

Change aspects, such as inputs or outputs of all selected Press and hold the Shift+Option key (Mac) or Shift+Alt
tracks key (Windows) and change any selected track

Add a selected area on one track to another track while using Hold the Shift key and click anywhere on the timeline of
the Selector tool the track where you want to add the selection

Create a Fade-in, fade-out, or crossfade Command+F (Mac) or Ctrl+F (Windows)

Create a Fade-in from the start of a clip to the Edit cursor D key
position

Create a Fade-out from the end of a clip to the Edit cursor G key
position

Create a crossfade over a selected area F key

Move the Edit insertion to the previous clip boundary (moving Hold the Option key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) while
right to left) you press the Tab key

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Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC7

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 Exercise 7
Mini-Gauntlet
A good workflow comes down to two things: Speed and accuracy. Up to this lesson, the hands-on
exercises in this course have dealt with some common workflow examples, albeit at a basic level.
Since this lesson is about improving and refining how you do specific things, that’s what this exercise
will address as well.
Avid has three levels of official certification: User, Operator, and Expert. The exams become more
difficult as the levels increase, and the Expert exam is tough. At the Expert level, there’s a hands-on
test that we at Avid call “The Gauntlet,” where the tester tells the student what to do, and the
student must execute it quickly and without errors (often limited to using shortcuts). If they don’t get
it done perfectly within 5 seconds, they lose points. Suffice to say, when you meet an Avid Certified
Expert, you’re meeting someone who really knows their stuff!
This hands-on exercise isn’t a test, but it is a challenge: How fast can you get things done, and still do
exactly what’s being asked in each step? In this lesson, many topics that were covered showing
different ways to get the job done, plus other techniques that were explored in previous lessons. Go
through this exercise trying out different methods and try to improve your time!

Media: PT 101 2023 Exercise 7 (Mini-Gauntlet).ptx

Duration: 15 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise7

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.
 Exercise 7 Mini-Gauntlet

Part 1: Setting Up
1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dashboard window, click the Open From Disk button.

• From the File menu, choose Open Session.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercise 7 (Mini-Gauntlet) subfolder.

4. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 7 (Mini-Gauntlet) session file.

5. Using File > Save As, save a new version of the session file, naming the session descriptively.
Here's a possible name - PT101 2023 Exercise 7 (Mini-Gauntlet) - [Your Name] [today's date].

Part 2: Selecting Tracks

1. Change the output of all tracks at the same time to an output that can be heard on your
system.

2. Select Track 1, Track 3, and Track 5 only.

3. Mute only the selected tracks at the same time.

Part 3: Trimming Clips

Sine waves are notoriously unforgiving when it comes to editing. Your next step is to take a sine
wave clip and trim it so that it loops perfectly.

1. Make sure that Loop Playback is enabled.

2. Make sure that Slip Mode is enabled.

3. Solo only the Sine Wave track and select the Sine Wave clip.

4. Play the clip back. You’ll hear a click every time the playback loops. This is because the clip’s
start and/or end isn’t cut on the zero-crossing line with the waveform ascending.

5. Move your Edit cursor near the beginning of the clip and zoom in (horizontally and vertically,
so that you can clearly see the waveform.

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6. Trim the start of the clip to a point at the zero-volt line with the waveform ascending.

7. Zoom out so that you can see the entire clip, and then move your cursor near the end of the
clip.

8. Zoom in (horizontally and vertically), so that you can clearly see the waveform.

9. Trim the end of the clip to a point at the zero-volt line with the waveform ascending.

10. Finally, it’s time to check your work: Duplicate or repeat the newly-trimmed clip, so that there
are a number of clips back-to-back-to-back. Play the block of repetitions. If you hear no clicks
and the level meter is steady, you’ve done it!

The ability to cut on the zero-volt line is an important skill, but don't worry if you don't get it right on the first
try. If you hear small glitches when the clip repeats, it is probably only a matter of a sample or two. Undo
what you've done and try again!

Part 4: Creating Fades

If you play the clip on the Rise track, you’ll hear that it starts out loud, and the audio cuts out
abruptly. Let’s sculpt this clip a bit with fades.

1. Solo only the Rise track.

2. Create a long fade-in, so that the volume increases as the pitch rises. The fade should end
when the pitch stops rising (use the Trim tool to adjust the end of the fade to get the timing
right).

3. Create a fade-out that begins shortly after the pitch stops rising (at around 4 seconds).

4. Change the curve shape of the fade-in to be a gentle exponential curve.

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5. Change the shape of the fade-out to create a more drastic exponential shape.

Let your ears be your guide, but your final clip might look a bit like this:

Part 5: Nudging
The last thing to do is nudge a snare drum part so that it sits in the groove.
When it comes to many styles of music, mathematically perfect timing isn’t artistically correct. One
example of this is found in some funk or R&B grooves, where the snare drum is played a bit late
compared with perfect timing. Musicians often call this “laying back.”
The last three tracks in this hands-on exercise are Kick, Snare, and Hat (hi-hat cymbal), and while
you’ll see that the kick and hi-hat are long, complete clips, the clips on the snare track represent only
the first two hits (on bar 1, beats 2 and 4).

1. Solo only the Kick, Snare, and Hat tracks.

2. Make sure that you’re in Grid mode, and that your Grid value is set to a musical value (bar,
quarter note, eighth note, and so on.)

3. On any of the three tracks, select exactly (and only) the first bar. Grid mode will help you do
this.

4. Since you’re going to be moving the snare clips in very small amounts, set your Nudge value
to be 1 millisecond (1 msec).

5. Make sure that you’re in Loop Playback mode.

6. Play the tracks. You should hear only the first bar of only the Kick, Snare, and Hat tracks.
Once you’ve confirmed this, stop playback.

Here’s the problem: The snare is a bit too early, and the style of the music requires that it
should lay back a bit. We’re not talking about large differences in time here, though, so
dragging these clips around with the Grabber tool isn’t a great way to fix it.

The order of the next steps is important, so take a second to read steps 7 through 10 before
you take them:

7. Start Loop Playback.

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8. Without stopping playback, select the two snare clips (selecting both because you’ll be
nudging both). The Grabber tool is a good way to do this. Note that making this new
selection doesn’t change playback as long as you don’t stop playback.

9. Start nudging the clips later in time, taking a moment to listen to the very subtle effect of the
relationship of the timing of the snare hits to the rest of the drums. At some point, you’ll
have gone too far, and will notice that the snares are clearly laying back too much. At that
point, start nudging the clips forward in time, until the groove sounds good to you.

10. Stop playback.

Now that you’ve got the snare hits where you want them, you’ll need to repeat them to fill
the rest of the drums. Here’s one way to do it:

11. Make sure that your Grid value is set to a musical value (one bar works well here).

12. Make sure that you’re in Grid Mode.

13. On the Snare track, select the first bar.

Here's an optional step: Consolidate the selection. While this isn’t strictly necessary, it can make clips
more manageable in some workflow scenarios.

14. Duplicate or Repeat the clip so that it covers the entire drum beat (4 bars) .

When you’re done, your tracks should look something like this:

15. As always, save your work before moving on. This completes Exercise 7.

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Exercise 7 Mini-Gauntlet

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 LESSON 8
Getting Started with Mixing

Mixing — it’s a big topic. It’s big because it’s generally at the end of the production process and
represents the culmination of all the composition, recording, and editing. It’s big because there are
numerous schools of thought in mixing, including various techniques, tips, and tricks debated
vigorously among professionals. It’s also vast because it’s nuanced; even the tiniest tweak can make
or break a mix, and the process requires the careful execution of a series of small steps.
At its core, mixing is the combination of individual elements (such as vocal tracks, bass tracks, sound
effects tracks, and so on) into a final product that can be heard by the audience. This goes beyond
simply mashing tracks together—care must be taken to make sure that these elements work well
collectively, sculpting individual sounds to create a harmonious whole. Within this definition is a
multitude of details, and the art of mixing is a pursuit that takes massive dedication.
But don’t be discouraged. Despite its rigorous demands, mixing is also a heck of a lot of fun, and one
of the parts of production where your artistic vision can really shine. And even though mixing
techniques and approaches may vary, its fundamental rules are consistent and simple enough for
you to get started quickly.

Duration: 40 Minutes

GOALS

• Understand mixing concepts, including "in the box" and "out of the box" mixing
• Learn about signal flow of Audio, Auxiliary Input, and Instrument tracks
• Set up and create a "static" mix
• Control the mix with subgroups
• Use Master Faders in the mix
• Learn what level meters mean and how to use them
 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

What is Mixing?
Multitrack recording became popular in the ‘60s, and with that technology came the need to blend
individual recorded tracks. In the early days, the idea of a dedicated mixing engineer wasn’t yet
common—typically, the same person who recorded the music would do the mixing as well. As
mixing tools and effects evolved, though, mixing as a job in and of itself became more common. By
the ‘80s, famous mix engineers like Dave Pensado, Chris Lord-Alge, and Bob Clearmountain started
making names for themselves due to their iconic mixes.
But what constitutes a "good" mix? That's a loaded question, and there's no single answer—mixing
is a topic that involves no small amount of subjectivity, and whether a mix is "good" or "bad" is
ultimately a matter of personal preference. Let's start this discussion with some basic mixing
concepts:

The Components of a Good Mix

At its most basic level, mixing is the combination of different simultaneous audio elements (different
sounds heard at the same time) into a cohesive whole. There are a lot of ways that we can achieve
that cohesion. Here are just a few:
• First, we manage the levels of different tracks with each other, so that they are appropriately
loud in relation to each other, making choices on which sounds should be more prominent.
For example, in a normal movie, the single most important element is the dialog. If any other
sounds are so loud that what’s being said can’t be heard, the mixer needs to lower those
other sounds, raise the dialog, or a bit of both.
• We also need to make sure that sounds can be clearly heard (even sounds that are relatively
quiet in the mix). To do this, we’ll use tools that will allow us to change the timbre of the
sound. A classic example is a song that has kick drum and bass: Both instruments have
strong frequency content in the same range and can obscure each other. Through tonal
shaping tools like equalization (EQ), we can carve out frequencies in one or both of the
tracks, allowing them to coexist in a way both musical parts can be clearly heard.
• Next, mixers will commonly add ambient effects like reverb and delay, to give a sense
of space to the mix. This is especially important if the original recordings were made in
sonically dead recording studios. Through careful use of ambient effects, you can create the
illusion of depth to your mix.
• Some styles of music (and film) have trademark sounds, and many of these iconic sounds
are part of the mixing process. It’s important for mix engineers to thoroughly understand
the stylistic requirements of the work to be done, and their mix choices should support the
artists’ vision.

"Out of the Box" and "In the Box" Mixing

Before the digital audio revolution, the mixing tools of the trade were large analog mixing consoles.
Hardware effects modules (typically mounted in racks) were used for effects like reverbs and delays.
There were — and still are — pros and cons for using analog hardware for mixing, but it can’t be

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ignored that the price of building even a modest analog mixing studio was out of reach for most
people.
The advent of DAWs changed all that. Now, the power of yesterday’s million-dollar facility is right
there in your computer, and more. The mixing power in the modern DAW (and in particular Pro
Tools, the industry’s preferred choice) has allowed for professional work to be done entirely within
the computer at a fraction of the cost of building a studio.
Which brings us to two different ways of approaching mixing: out of the box and in the box.
When you hear people talking about mixing out of the box, they’re referring to mixing outside of a
computer (the "box"). In these situations, audio is typically recorded into a DAW (like Pro Tools),
where it is also edited, and perhaps even mixed to some degree. The output of each track is then
routed out of the computer (through many channels of output from the computer’s audio interface
with each track having its own output) into an analog mixing console where the majority of the
mixing is done (usually in conjunction with hardware effect devices). The output of the console is
then usually recorded back to a DAW as a single final mix.
On the other hand, mixing in the box means that you’re recording, editing, and mixing all within a
DAW. Not only can basic mix parameters like levels and panning be adjusted inside the DAW—plug-
in effects within the DAW itself can be used as well. The only outputs that the computer needs are
the outputs going to the monitor speakers for the mix engineer to hear—everything else occurs
within the DAW itself.
There’s lively discussion (and often not a polite one!) within the professional community regarding
the virtues of mixing outside versus inside the box. Both sides have valid points, but for the end
user, it all boils down to this essential truth: Great work is being done using both methods, and
people should follow the path that best enables them to realize their creative vision. For the
purposes of this course, we’ll focus on mixing inside the box using Pro Tools. The concepts you’ll
learn here are applicable to a wide range of mixing scenarios, and many will apply equally to
outside-the-box mixing.

Mixing and Mastering

When you’re mixing a song, a few things define the process. First, you’re dealing with individual
elements of your session in fine detail, such as different volume levels of multiple tracks and clips
and the settings of specific effects. Secondly, you’ll (ideally) mix in a room that is a good sonic space,
so that you can clearly hear all of the detail of the sound (professional mixing rooms, built with
sound treatment, are specifically designed for that purpose). The final output of the mixing stage is a
file that could be played outside the studio by anyone, like a stereo mix of a song (which in your
DAW was comprised of several individual tracks).
In many kinds of work (particularly music projects), there is an additional final stage called mastering.
People often think of mastering and mixing as being related phases of production, and they are, up
to a point: Once a final mix (or what the mixer thinks is final) is created, a "mixed-down" file—
typically a stereo file—is sent to a mastering engineer, whose goal is to “polish” the mix and make it
sound as good as possible using tools and techniques that you normally would not use during the
mixing process.

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An important goal when mastering is to make sure that the song sounds good in as wide a variety of
listening environments as possible. There are limits, of course; for example, your song won’t sound
the same over cheap headphones compared with professional studio monitor speakers. However,
those differences can be reduced in different ways, and it is the job of the mastering engineer to
make the most of the final mix, so that it can be fully enjoyed on many different playback devices.
These days, mastering tools have gotten inexpensive enough that many producers also master their
own mixes. If a project’s budget allows it, many professionals will opt to use a dedicated mastering
engineer—someone who has devoted their professional life to mastering mixes will often be able to
bring things out of a track that a producer can’t. Also, it’s always great to get a second set of ears to
listen and have someone bring their deep understanding of genre to the mix. That said, there are
great masters being done by non-mastering engineers as well—as always, let your ears be your
guide.

Bob Katz is one of the world’s most sought-after mastering engineers, whose technical and artistic
expertise is matched only by his generosity in sharing what he knows. His website, Digital Domain
(www.digido.com) is a great place to learn more about the mastering engineer’s world, as well as a great
source of information on a wide range of audio and music production topics.

Signal Flow
When you talk about mixing, you’re fundamentally talking about signal flow. The more complex your
mix gets, the more complex signal routing can be, but even the most complex mixes can be reduced
to a few simple elements working in a specific order.
Signal flow in Pro Tools is very straightforward and consistent. Let’s start off by taking a look at the
signal flow of an audio track:

Stage 1: Input
On an audio track that is record enabled (or with Track Input enabled), the input of the track will be
the input or bus that is chosen in the track's Input selector. If an audio track is only playing back clips
that are already on the track, the clips themselves serve as this first stage of signal flow
(representing input coming from files on your hard drive).
You’ll learn more about busses later in this lesson. For now, think of an interface input as a signal coming
from outside of Pro Tools (like a recording instrument), and think of a bus as a signal routed from one track
in Pro Tools to another track, completely within the Pro Tools environment.

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Stage 2: Inserts
Inserts are most commonly used for effects. For example, if a
plug-in effect is placed on an insert, the entire signal of the
track would be routed through that effect before passing on to
the next step in the track’s signal flow.
Inserts are processed in series, meaning the signal from the input
(or a clip) goes first to any plug-in inserted into slot A and is
Two inserts on a track
processed by it. Then, the resultant signal will go to any plug-in inserted into
slot B, which is then processed by that plug-in before being sent to slot C,
and so on. This is an important detail — changing the order of effects can give you different results.

Stage 3: Pre-Fader Sends

A send makes a copy of the signal to be routed to another destination.
A pre-fader send makes that copy before the signal hits your volume fader.
The destination of this send can be an interface output or a bus.
A pre-fader send is indicated by the blue Send Selector button to the left of
the send's output path name.
A pre-fader send

You’ll learn more about how to use inserts and sends in Lesson 9.

Stage 4: Volume (Fader)

This is where you control the output amplitude of the track.
TIP: Remember that the Volume fader on a track only controls the output of that track,
meaning that the fader has absolutely no effect on the input coming to the track.

A track’s volume fader

Stage 5: Post-Fader Sends

This kind of send makes a copy after the signal has been altered
by the volume fader. As with a pre-fader send, the destination
can be an interface output or a bus.
A post-fader send is indicated by the grey Send Selector button
to the left of the send's output path name.
A post-fader send

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 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

Stage 6: Pan
Next is panning, which controls the balance of the signal between a number of
outputs (left and right, in the case of a stereo mix). This is how you can create a
stereo mix of several mono or stereo tracks. If, on the other hand, you route
your track to a single output, no pan knob will be needed, and you won't see
one in the channel strip.

Pan controls

Stage 7: Output
After all these stages, the signal goes out of an interface output or bus.
Technically, outputs don’t go directly to an interface output or a bus. The output of a
track or send goes to something commonly referred to as a mix engine. A
DAWs mix engine is designed to combine multiple signals for routing to an output.
The mix engine allows us to assign multiple tracks to the same output, and still hear
all of them.

A track’s Output
Selector

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The layout of a channel in the Mix window doesn’t exactly follow this signal flow from top to bottom.
Let’s take a look at the layout of an audio track in the Mix window from a signal flow point of view:

1. The I/O view of the Mix window allows you to choose

the Input (the first step in the signal flow chain) and the
output (the last step). Following analog mixing
conventions, the input selector is above the output
selector.

2. After the input stage are the Inserts. In each Pro Tools
audio track, you have 10 insert slots, broken up into two
banks of 5—Inserts A-E and Inserts F-J—which can be
individually shown or hidden.

3. The Sends view looks a bit like the Inserts view, with 10
send slots separated into two banks of 5 each. Sends,
unlike Inserts, aren’t processed in series, so the order of
the sends won’t change the sound of the track in any way.
They can be individually set up as either being pre-fader
or post-fader sends. Pre-fader sends are next in the
track's signal flow, immediately after the inserts.

4. The Volume fader (which in the order of signal flow

comes after the pre-fader sends and before post-fader
sends) allows you to raise or lower the volume of a track.
Following normal mixing console conventions, when you
create a new track, the Volume fader is set to 0 dB,
commonly called unity. You can raise the level of a track
by 12 dB, or reduce it to silence, indicated by an infinity
sign (-∞).

The small rectangular area below the fader is the Volume

indicator, which displays the Volume fader level (in the
image on the right, the level is set to 0 dB, or unity).
To the immediate right of your Volume fader you’ll see
your level meter, giving you important visual feedback
about the output of the track.

5. After the volume fader are your track's Post-fader sends.

6. The last step before output, the Pan control (located above the Volume fader) will enable
you to position your track spatially. In the most basic stereo mix situation, it will allow you to
balance the signal between the left and right speakers.

Below the Pan control(s) is a small rectangular area that will display your pan value. Shown
left, the pan is set at a value of 0, meaning the signal is positioned exactly in the center in
your mix. The range of panning is from 100 Left to 100 Right.

7. Finally, the track's Output — the track's output selector is directly below the track's input
selector.

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 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

If you understand the signal flow of an audio track, and how it relates to the layout of the Mix
window, you’ve accomplished quite a lot! The signal flow of an Auxiliary Input track is identical to
that of an Audio track, except that a clip cannot be an input for an Aux track (since Aux tracks cannot
hold audio clips). You also understand the signal flow of an Instrument track, since an Instrument
track is the combination of a MIDI track (which has no audio signal flow) and an Auxiliary Track. The
only track type that is significantly different is a Master Fader track, discussed later in this lesson.

The First Step: a “Static” Mix

A static mix is the simplest kind of mix — it’s where the settings of the volume fader and pan knobs
(and plug-in effects, which we’ll talk about later) don’t change over time. Static mixes are rarely final
mixes, but they’re often a great place to start. Creating a good-sounding static mix provides a strong
foundation for later tweaking and can save a lot of time in the long run.

Setting Up a Static Mix

There are a few things to check before we're ready to start mixing:

1. Show all of your active tracks and make sure that you can hear them.

2. Later in this course you’ll learn about something called mix automation,
which will enable you to have your controls move on their own during
playback. For a static mix, we want to make sure our faders won’t move
unexpectedly. Click the Automation Mode selector (which will
read Off, Read, Touch, Latch, or Write), and choose Off from the menu.

TIP: As you learned in Lesson 7, you can apply any change made on one track to all
tracks by holding the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (Windows). This applies to
automation modes as well—if you hold this modifier key and change the automation
mode on one track, all tracks will change to the same mode!

The Automation
Adjusting Volume Levels Mode Selector

The first step is typically to start mixing by adjusting the volume faders for the
various tracks in your session. The goal is to get the relative levels sounding good, and to start
building a sonic landscape (you can think of your volume controls as a way to control the distance of
individual tracks from the listener. The goal is to get the relative levels sounding good, and to start
building a sonic landscape (you can think of your volume controls as a way to control the distance of
individual tracks from the listener).
Adjusting the Volume fader works pretty much like you would expect—just click and drag up or
down to change the volume level. Here are some tips when adjusting your levels:
• To quickly reset your volume levels to unity (0.0 dB) on your faders, hold the Option key
(Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and click the fader. The fader will jump back to 0.0 dB.
• If you’re a very specific mixer, you’ll find that there will be some volume settings that you
can’t access. As you normally drag a fader, you’ll see that the settings will change in .2~.3 dB
increments. That’s because you’re working in coarse resolution (the normal mode of

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operation with faders). You can move in fine resolution (.1 dB steps) by holding the
Command key (Mac) or the Ctrl key (Windows), while clicking and dragging.
TIP: Many other controls work in coarse resolution as a default (like panning and many plug-in parameters).
The Command/Ctrl modifier method works for those as well.

Though this kind of work typically is done in the Mix window, there are a few ways to access volume
controls in the Edit window as well:
• You can mix from the Edit window. Just click and hold on
the Volume Indicator, and a small fader will appear. This
fader is a bit small to do any fine tuning (unless you’re
holding down Command/Ctrl for fine resolution
movement), but it’s a quick way to make volume changes
from the Edit window.

Changing volume in the Edit window

• There’s one more way to access your

volume controls, from either the Mix or
Edit window: The Output Window. You’ll
find the Output window button to the
immediate right of the Output Path
selector of either the Mix or Edit window.
Clicking this button will reveal the Output
window, which will give you Output path
selectors, Automation selector, Pan
controls, Solo, Mute, and the Volume fader.
Showing the Output window for a track
This window might be a bit redundant when
working in the Mix window, but it can be very useful
when you’re mixing from the Edit window.
TIP: By default, if you have an Output window open already and you click on the Output window button for
another track, that currently open Output window will change to show the values for the newly-clicked track.
In other words, by default, you’ll only have one Output window open at a time. If you want to open multiple
Output windows, just hold the Shift key as you click on additional Output window buttons, and new
additional windows will appear.

Adjusting Pan Positions

When you hear a live group performing a song, or a group of people having a conversation, they are
not occupying the same space, but rather have their own individual positions in relation to you, the
listener. That’s essentially what we want to do when we pan: to create a sonic landscape with
different elements placed in different locations. Not only does it reinforce a sense of realism, but it
also allows for the different elements to be heard as clearly as possible.

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In addition to volume settings, which can be thought of as "front to back" controls, you can use pan
controls to position various elements "left to right" in a stereo mix. Changing your tracks’ pan
positions is as intuitive as setting your volume levels—just rotate the pan knob counterclockwise to
move a signal left, and clockwise to move it to the right.
On a mono track, you’ll see only a single pan knob, which will allow you to allocate the single signal to the left
and right channel. For a stereo track, you’ll have two pan knobs, and you can position each signal (nominally
the left and right side of the stereo track) individually to the two-channel output.

Addendum: Static Mix Tips

They say that “rules are made to be broken”, and that is never truer
than when you’re mixing. Some of the most famous mixes in the world
have been made using unconventional techniques. That being said,
some common traditions have evolved over time precisely because
they tend to work in most cases, and rules are always best learned
before broken.

So, with that in mind, here are a few common approaches to choose from when creating a static mix.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add8-1

Controlling Your Mix with Subgroups

After trying to create a static mix by altering individual tracks, you probably think that there must be
a better way of controlling multiple tracks at the same time. You’re right—there are a few ways to do
it, each with its own advantages. In this section, we'll take a look at subgroups, and as with everything
regarding mixing, if you keep the signal flow in mind, you can take your mixing to the next level with
minimal effort.

What is a Subgroup?
When focusing on a number of related tracks (for example, a number of drum tracks that comprise
a drum kit), you might start off getting the relative levels of all the tracks just right, only to find out
that all of these tracks' levels need to change in order to blend with the overall mix. It would be great
if there was an easy way to control the levels of multiple tracks with a single track. For this,
subgroups are the solution to your problem.
Simply put, a subgroup is an arrangement whereby the output of a number of tracks is routed to the
input of a single track (traditionally a stereo Auxiliary Input track). This has the effect of funneling the
audio through this single track (often referred to as a subgroup master), making levels and effects
easier to manage.
Routing folder tracks are also used in subgroup workflows. Routing Folder tracks—and how they are used in
mixing workflows—are discussed in detail in the PT110 course of the Avid Learning Series.

In many situations, subgroups are often referred to as stems, particularly in post-production (video) circles.

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Creating Subgroups
Creating a subgroup is easy, as long as you think of the process in terms of signal flow. Just by way
of example, the steps shown here will demonstrate the one way to create a subgroup of a session's
drum tracks (which you’ll do yourself in the next hands-on exercise):
If you want to follow along with these steps now and you don't have any tracks to work with, create a blank
session with five mono audio tracks named Drum 1, Drum 2, Drum 3, and so on.

1. Create an Auxiliary Input track to be your subgroup master—the track that will control the
level of the other tracks. In We’ll name the track Drum SUB.

2. Because we’ll be using internal routing in this sort of situation, and busses are used for
internal routing, let's choose an available bus for the input of the subgroup master. (In the
image below, Bus 1-2.)

3. Assign the outputs of the tracks to be subgrouped (in this example, all the drum tracks in
this session) to the same bus you’ve chosen for the input of your subgroup master.

TIP: Earlier in this course, you learned that the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) is an easy way to make
changes to all the tracks in your session, and that Shift+Option (Mac) or Shift+Alt (Windows) will make
changes to all selected tracks. This is a great shortcut to use when assigning a number of tracks to the same
bus.

Signal flow for a drum subgroup (with the Drum Sub Aux track on the far right)

Your subgroup master track is now in control of the overall volume of your subgrouped tracks. In
this example, as we adjust the Drum SUB track’s fader, the relative blend of the drums remains
consistent, and the subgroup master controls the overall output. The metering of the subgroup
master track (Drum SUB in this case) will show the total output of all the member tracks.

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In addition to making levels more manageable, subgroups can also help you work more efficiently
with plug-ins. For example, if you want to apply a compressor to your drums (a very common thing
to do), instead of inserting a separate compressor on each individual track, just insert one
compressor effect on the subgroup master. There’s only one plug-in to adjust, and it’s a thrifty use of
your CPU!

Compressing multiple tracks with a single plug-in

TIP: Sometimes you'll want a single plug-in process applied to multiple tracks, but other times you will want
to apply effects (like compressor or EQ) individually to each track in a subgroup. There are few absolutes in
the world of mixing, and plenty of options.

Solo Safe
Normally, when you solo a track, all other tracks will be muted. When working with subgroups, that
means that if you want to hear just a single drum (kick drum, for example), and if you pressed that
track’s Solo button, you would hear nothing if the Aux track to which the Kick is routed (the Drum Sub
track in this example) becomes muted. Of course, you can always solo that subgroup Aux track, but
that can be a time-consuming annoyance. Fortunately, Pro Tools has a solution, called Solo Safe.
In recent versions of Pro Tools (starting with version 2022.4), Auxiliary tracks are created in a Solo
Safe state, meaning that they won’t be muted when another track is soloed. If you’re working in an
older version of Pro Tools, you’ll need to do this manually: To solo-safe (or un-solo-safe) a track, just
hold down the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) key and click on the Solo button on the track
you want to solo-safe.

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When a track is in a solo-safe mode, the Solo button will be

greyed-out.

A Solo-Safed track

The simple act of creating subgroups will change the way you approach your mix. With this added
control, you’ll find that it’s easy to get the relative levels of each of your grouped tracks (like drums,
vocals, and so on) and then mix them all together.

Using Master Faders

There’s one more track type left for us to explore: The Master Fader track. Although it looks similar to
an Audio or Aux track, its function is substantially different from anything you’ve seen up to this
point.

What is a Master Fader?

A Master Fader track is a way to control output, and it is commonly used to control the output of an
interface channel (although it can also be used to control the output of busses in more complex mix
situations). With this simple but powerful track, you can control the entire level of your session.

One of the most striking differences between a

Master Fader track and other track types is that
it doesn't have an input. This underscores the
function of a Master Fader—it controls the
amplitude of signal going out of an output, like a
faucet's handle controls the amount of water coming
out of the spout.

The I/O section of Audio, MIDI, and Master Fader tracks

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Master Fader Signal Flow

As with everything related to mixing, if you understand the signal flow behind Master Fader tracks,
you’re going to be able to use it most effectively.
Here’s the signal flow of a Master Fader track:

Stage 1: Volume (Fader)

This is where you control the output volume of the output path
selected for the Master Fader. This is the first stage in signal
flow—a significant difference between Master Faders and other
kinds of tracks.

Stage 2: Inserts
Like other tracks, one hundred percent of your signal passes
through your insert, and plug-ins on inserts are processed in
series. Unlike other tracks, all the inserts on a Master Fader
are post-fader, meaning that the changes that you make to the
Volume fader will change the incoming level going to the
inserts, potentially altering the tone of the final output.

Stage 3: Output
After all these stages, the signal goes out of an interface output
or bus.

You can think of a Master Fader as having a simpler yet much

different (almost inverted) signal flow. Viewed in the Mix
window, the different stages of signal flow in relation to the
track's layout are shown in the image to the right.
You'll note that in addition to the differences in signal flow
between Master Faders and other kinds of tracks, there are
many stages found on other tracks that are completely absent
on Master Faders:
• Sends (pre-fader and post-fader)
• Input
• Pan
• Track Input Monitor
• Record Enable
• Solo
• Mute The order of signal flow on
a Master Fader track

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Setting Up a Master Fader Track

First things first: You need to create a Master Fader track before you can use it!

1. Using any of the track creation techniques you’ve learned in Lesson 3, create a stereo Master
Fader track. (You’ll find Master Fader listed in the Track Type menu). The new Master Fader
track will be created after the last selected track in your session.

Creating a Master Fader track

2. Click on the Output Path selector and select the interface output you’re using to listen to
your mix (if it’s not already displayed on the selector). With this output selected, the Master
Fader track is in its common role of controlling the output of your entire mix.

Like all tracks, a Master Fader's output can be set either in the Mix or Edit windows. In the Edit window you’ll
see that you can’t place clips on this track—in this regard, it’s similar to an Aux track.

Only one Master Fader can be assigned to a given output at a time. In other words, two Master Faders can't
have the same output.

Using a Master Fader Track

There are two defining characteristics of Master Faders: They only control the level of an output, and
their inserts are post-fader. This makes the Master Fader great for some things, but terrible for
others. Here are some mix tips for your Master Faders:
• Controlling total output levels of your Mix: The most common traditional use of a Master
Fader is to control the level of your entire session. Having a single Master Fader with the
output assigned to the output path routed to your main monitor speakers is an easy way to
take control of the total output of your mix.
• Post-Fader Inserts: When you want to manage the final output levels with plug-ins (for
example, with Limiter plug-ins, which you’ll learn about in the next lesson), you’ll want those
plug-ins to be the last thing you want in your signal flow. Putting that final Limiter plug-in is
best done on a Master Fader track, since the inserts on a Master Fader are post-fader.
• Controlling the output of Subgroups: With Pro Tools Studio you have up to 64 Master
Faders that you can create, and with Pro Tools Ultimate you've got a whopping 512, so
you're not limited to using Master Fader tracks only for your mix's total output. Any of those
Master Fader tracks can be assigned to any output, internal or external, meaning that you
have many more Master Faders that you could assign to things like busses.

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 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

Here’s a Scenario that shows how you can use Master Faders to control subgroup levels: Let’s
assume that your vocals are all assigned to a bus (let’s say Bus 1-2), which is also the input of an
Auxiliary Input Track functioning as a subgroup master. Let’s further say that the levels of the
individual vocal tracks are pretty high but not clipping, so each of those tracks don't individually
cause a problem. However, when they're combined, the signal of all the vocal tracks causes the
subgroup Aux track to clip.

You could bring the levels of all the vocal tracks down,
but that can be time-consuming. Instead, create a new
Master Fader track assigned to Bus 1-2. This Master
Fader can change the levels coming from the vocal
tracks before they get to the input of the Auxiliary
Input track. Remember, a Master Fader track only
controls the levels of an output.

Using a Master Fader to control the level

sent to a subgroup master

Watch Your Levels!

When you're mixing, you should always let your ears be the final judge about the blend of your
various tracks, but your meters will give you important visual feedback. There are a few things to
watch for in your meters:

Clipping
When it comes to audio, especially digital audio, more is not always better. One very important rule
of mixing “in the box” is to avoid clipping. But what exactly is clipping?
When it comes to digital audio, the maximum voltage that can be captured or reproduced is a series
of digital “1s” — if yours is a 16-bit session, that would be 16 “1s”, or 24 “1s” for a 24-bit session.
Since our digital dynamic scale measures amplitude from 0 dB downward, the maximum value is -0
dB. In the digital world, there is no amplitude level that can be recorded or reproduced greater than
-0 dB.

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 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

When you look at your meters, if your level ever gets too high, a
clip indicator will appear (either yellow or red, depending upon
the track and its role in the mix). This is an indication that the
quality of the signal cannot be preserved, and you should reduce
the level of your tracks (or plug-in).
A clip indicator is red when clipping is occurring at an input or output
converter (your audio interface). If the clip indicator is yellow, it’s a
warning that the signal exceeds -0 dB in the internal mixer and could
clip at the converters or when writing to disk. Both kinds of clipping
should be avoided.

An Audio track and Master Fader

track that are clipping
Pre-Fader vs. Post-Fader Metering
There are two different ways that you can view your meters: Pre-Fader or Post-Fader. Changing from
one mode to another is easily done:

1. Click on the Options menu.

2. By default, Pre-Fader Metering is enabled (indicated by a checkmark). Click on Pre-Fader

Metering to uncheck it and effectively change your view to Post-Fader Metering.

Here’s how your levels will appear in either of the modes:

• Pre-Fader Metering: When Pre-Fader Metering is enabled, the meters of your tracks will
show the levels after the insert stage, but before your main fader. Any level change created
by any inserts on your tracks will be shown in the meter, but any changes that you make
with your fader will have no effect on your metering. This mode of metering (Pro Tools’
default) is useful in showing if your signal is clipping as a result of effects on your inserts.
• Post-Fader Metering: When Pre-Fader Metering is disabled, your meters will show the level
of your tracks after your main fader (and also after the inserts). In this case, any changes that
you make to your fader will affect the metering that you see on that track. The advantage of
this metering choice is that it gives clear visual feedback on the perceived output levels of
your tracks.

So far, we haven’t discussed plug-in processing on your inserts, but we will tackle that in the next lesson.
On a track, all metering is shown after the changes on any of your inserts.

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 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

Lesson 8
Review & Knowledge Check
This lesson is an important first step into the big wide world of mixing, and the concepts you've
mastered here will serve you well throughout your mixing career!
In this lesson, you learned:
• Mixing "in the box" versus "out of the box"
• The signal flow of Audio, Auxiliary Input, and Instrument tracks
• How to set up and create a "static" mix
• How to control your mix with subgroups
• How to use Master Faders in your mix
• The importance of mixing levels, and different ways of viewing your track meters

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.
3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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 LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

Action Default Shortcut

Apply any change made on one track to all tracks Hold the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (Windows) while
changing one track

Apply any change made on one track to all selected tracks Hold the Shift+Option key (Mac) or the Shift+Alt key
(Windows) while changing one selected track

Reset your volume levels to unity on your main faders (or Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and click
send faders) the fader

Move the volume fader in fine resolution (.1 dB steps) Hold the Command key (Mac) or the Ctrl key (Windows),
while clicking and dragging

Open multiple Output windows Hold the Shift key as you click on additional Output
window buttons

Enable or Disable Solo Safe on a track Hold the Command key (Mac) or the Ctrl key (Windows),
and click on the track’s Solo button

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC8

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LESSON 8 Getting Started with Mixing

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 Exercise 8
Creating a Basic Mix
The exercises in this lesson will be a little different. In this exercise, the directions will be simpler and
less specific, allowing you to explore different approaches to mixing. See what works best for you!

Media: PT 101 2023 Exercise 8 (Low Roar).ptx

Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.
• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise8

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Getting Started

The session that you’ll be using in this exercise is the same Low Roar song that you heard in Exercise
1:

Opening a Session
1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dashboard window, click the Open From Disk button.

• From the File menu, choose Open Session.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercise 8 (Low Roar) subfolder.

4. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 8 (Low Roar) session file.

 Exercise 8 Creating a Basic Mix

5. Using File > Save As, save a new version of the Session file, naming the Session descriptively.
Here's a possible name - PT101 2023 Exercise 8 (Low Roar) - [Your Name] [today's date]. As
always, take care in choosing location where you save your session (for example, the Pro
Tools 101 (2023) Exercises > PT101 2023 Exercise 8 (Low Roar) folder).
The tracks are roughly grouped as follows:
• Three Vocal Tracks (Yellow)—Lead Vocal (Dry), Background Vocals (Dry), and Mangled Vox Print
• One Effects Track (Green)—SFX
• Two Guitar Tracks (Teal)—Acoustic Guitar Stem Print and Acoustic Rhythm Guitar
• Four Tracks of Percussive Sounds (Blue)—Bells Stem, Dulcimer, Glockenspiel, and Sitar
• Three Tracks of String Sounds (Purple)—Strings Stem Print, High Strings, and Xpand Low End
String
• Two Tracks of Bass (Pink)—Bass Gtr and Xpand Bass
• Six Tracks of Drums (Red)—Break.02, Crash, Live Drums, Hat-Tamb Stem, Rimshot, and Kick
Stem

Part 2: Setting Up Your Mixing Environment

You’ve been working in the Edit window up to this point. Now, let’s get comfortable with the Mix
window.

1. Switch your view to the Mix Window.

2. There are a lot of elements being shown, most of which you don’t need in this initial phase of
mixing. Change your Mix window view so that you’re only seeing the Meters and
Faders, I/O, Track Color, and Comments views.

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 Exercise 8 Creating a Basic Mix

3. In the Edit window, it’s easy to see your position and control playback, but that’s not as easy
when you’re working in the Mix window. Show the Transport window and move it into a
convenient area of your desktop. (You should have some empty space at the bottom of the
Mix window).

4. There are no plug-in effects in this session (other than virtual instruments), so you can safely
turn off Pre-Fader Metering if you prefer.

Part 3: Creating a Static Mix

You now have a session that has all tracks at unity, with all mono tracks panned to the center, and
with all stereo tracks panned hard left and hard right. This is a very common setup when starting a
mixing session.
There aren't too many steps in this section, but they're subjective—your goal here is to create a
sound that you like, so give yourself time to experiment!

1. Adjust the volume levels for the tracks to get a good blend, with the most important
elements clearly audible.

2. Use your pan controls to position the different tracks as desired. Traditionally, lead vocals,
kick drum, and bass are all panned in the center—start from there and work outward.

You must limit your adjustments only to volume and pan adjustments of the tracks already in the
session – you’ll learn how to work with other mixing tools later. Remember that static mixes are very
rarely the final mix. For now, just try to get the best-sounding mix overall, and you’ll learn how to
tweak individual sections later in this course.

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 Exercise 8 Creating a Basic Mix

You can use any techniques and features you like, but here are some things you might want to keep
in mind during the process:
• If you want to listen to a section of the song repeatedly, select an area on the timeline (in the
Edit window) and put yourself into Loop Playback. You’ll probably want to jump back into the
Mix window to do your mixing, though.
TIP: If you’re going to loop a selection, you might want to start and stop playback without losing that
selected area (and thereby having to go back into the Edit window to re-select it). To make sure that
you won’t lose your selected area when you stop playback, make sure that Insertion Follows Playback
is disabled.

• Use your Solo and Mute buttons to hear tracks by themselves or your entire mix without a
track.
• Don’t forget your Comments view. This is a great way to write notes within Pro Tools about
individual tracks.

This is a simple exercise in terms of steps, but take as much time as you can to make
different changes and see what happens. Do the changes you make produce the result you
expected? When the mix sounds as good as you can get it, save your work.

Part 4: Managing Your Mix

Now you’re going to take your static mix to the next level with subgroups and Master Faders!

Adding Subgroups
1. Using Auxiliary Input tracks, create subgroups of the following Tracks:

• Lead Vocal (Dry), Background Vocals (Dry), and Mangled Vox Print into a subgroup master
track called VOX SUB, using Bus 1-2
• Acoustic Guitar Stem Print and Acoustic Rhythm Guitar into a subgroup master track
called GTR SUB, using Bus 3-4
• Bells Stem, Dulcimer, Glockenspiel, and Sitar into a subgroup master track called SYNTH
SUB, using Bus 5-6
• Strings Stem Print, High Strings, and Xpand Low End String into a subgroup master track
called STRING SUB, using Bus 7-8
• Bass Gtr and Xpand Bass into a subgroup master track called BASS SUB, using Bus 9-10
• Break.02, Crash, Live Drums, Hat-Tamb Stem, Rimshot, and Kick Stem into a subgroup
master track called DRUM SUB, using Bus 11-12

2. Ensure that all of the subgroup master tracks are solo-safed.

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 Exercise 8 Creating a Basic Mix

Adding a Master Fader

3. Create a stereo Master Fader track named MAIN MON, with the output assigned to the
outputs connected to your monitor speakers.
Here's what your Mix window's routing might look like, after creating the subgroups and the
Master Fader.

Improving Your Static Mix

You’ve now just radically changed the control you have over your tracks, and you can now think of
mixing in different terms. Instead of mixing a large number of individual tracks, you can focus on
groups of tracks (drums for example), get their relatives levels just right, and then use subgroups to
control the blend between the groups.Now you have the ability to tweak the levels of the tracks
within your subgroups to make sure that their blend and position are what you want. Take this
opportunity to refine your different groups based on your new subgroup control.
4. Solo the individual tracks of each subgroup (minus the subgroup master, so that you’re only
hearing that group (drums, bass, strings, and so on). Balance the tracks so that they blend
well on their own, without worrying about the overall mix for now.

5. Once the indivial groups have been tweaked, un-solo all tracks and blend the different
groups, using only the subgroup master tracks. Note that you now have control over a large
number of tracks with just six subgroups!

6. If, as you refine your static mix, you find that your overall output is too loud or too soft, you
can adjust your total output with the MAIN MON track. Remember that it is very important to
make sure you are not seeing any clip lights in your mix.

7. When you are happy with your improved static mix, you’re done—make sure you save your
session before moving on!

This completes Exercise 8.

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Exercise 8 Creating a Basic Mix

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 LESSON 9
Using Effects

So far, you’ve mixed using volume and pan controls. You’ve adjusted the amplitude and positions of
your tracks, but you haven’t changed the tone or timbre of individual tracks or subgroups. To do
that, you’ll need to start using effects.
In this lesson, we'll look at many different kinds of effects you have at your disposal, and how to
make the most of them in your mix!

Duration: 60 Minutes

GOALS

• Understand Inserts and how they are used in Pro Tools

• Easily navigate a plug-in window
• Make the most of both multichannel and multi-mono plug-ins
• Set up effects sends and returns
• Work with AudioSuite plug-in effects
 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Inserts
In Lesson 8, you learned about signal flow on Audio, Aux, Instrument, and Master Fader tracks. Let’s
dig deeper into Inserts.

What is an Insert?
The term insert has its origin in the early days of analog mixing desks and was used so that the audio
engineer could introduce an external processing device (in those days, this would be a hardware
unit) into the signal chain.
The purpose of these inserts was to add a
process to the signal chain of a channel that
wasn’t already built in. For example, mixing
desks didn’t have compressor units, and so to
add one into a track, an insert was used. The
signal flow on that track might go something
like Input > EQ > Inserted
Compressor > Fader > Pan > Output. In these
cases, a cable would be plugged into the
insert’s output (usually called an insert send)
to the compressor unit’s input, and then the
compressor's output would be plugged into the
console’s insert input (called an insert return). Inserts
weren’t required, and if a particular effect wasn’t A channel signal flow structure
needed (in this example, a compressor), it simply
wouldn’t be plugged in.
Insert structures could be quite complex, with a console’s insert sends going to multiple devices in
series before the signal returned to the mixing desk. These were all physical connections, and the
order of these connections was significant—a track that went into a chorus followed by a
compressor would sound differently than one going into a compressor and then a chorus.
With the advent of DAWs, inserts have been virtualized to a large degree, but the fundamental logic
behind them is quite the same as in the early days of analog mixing desks. Let’s now see how inserts
are created and used within the Pro Tools environment.

Using Inserts
Let’s look at some basic techniques when using plug-in inserts:

Instantiating a Plugin on an Insert

As you learned in Lesson 8, Pro Tools has ten inserts, which are always present in an Audio, Aux,
Instrument, or Master Fader track, even if there are no plug-ins occupying them. When we populate
an insert position with a plug-in, we use the term instantiate. Here’s how to instantiate a plug-in on a
mono audio track.

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LESSON 9 Using Effects

1. Before you can instantiate a plug-in on an insert, you must be able to see the Inserts view. In
the Edit or Mix window, make sure you’re seeing Inserts A-E and/or Inserts F-J (you can show
or hide these from the View menu or from the Edit or Mix window View selector.

2. Click the Insert Selector upon which you want to instantiate your
plug-in. This doesn’t need to be the first insert. The Insert selector
menu will appear.

Choosing Insert A

3. Move your cursor over the Plug-in menu item. A

list of plug-in categories will appear.

Insert A’s Plug-in menu

4. Move your cursor over the

desired category of effect (in this
case, we’ll choose EQ). A
submenu will appear, showing
all the specific plug-ins of that
type.

5. Click on the desired plug-in. The

plug-in’s window will appear.
You'll also see the
plug-in represented in the Showing all plug-ins in the EQ category
previously empty Insert selector.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Moving and Copying Plug-ins

As you learned in Lesson 8, inserts are processed in series, from insert A through insert J (top to
bottom). The order of your plug-ins can have a profound effect on the result that you hear.
The good news is that re-ordering your plug-ins is easy:
• Click and drag the insert that you want to move from its original position to wherever you
want it to be. As you drag the plug-in, a yellow box will indicate where it would be
repositioned.
• You can not only reorder plug-ins on a single track, but you can also drag a plug-in to any
other track's inserts.
• You can make a copy while dragging as well. Just hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key
(Windows) while dragging a plug-in, and a copy will be instantiated in the new location,
leaving the original plug-in unchanged. The copied plug-in will retain the settings of the
original.
In addition to being moved or copied, plug-ins on inserts can also be bypassed or deactivated.

Bypassing Plug-ins
A bypassed plug-in will allow for signal to pass through it unchanged. For example, if you have an EQ
plug-in that radically changes a sound, but you want to temporarily hear the unprocessed original
sound, just bypass it.
There are a few ways that a plug-in effect on an insert can be bypassed:
• In the plug-in window, click the Bypass button
located in the upper right-hand area of the plug-in
window. When active, the bypass button will be
orange, as shown.
• Right-click the Insert Assignment for the plug-in
that you want to bypass. A menu will appear—
choose Bypass from that menu. When bypassed,
you’ll see a checkmark next to the menu item.
The insert assignment will change to a darker
color, indicating that the plug-in is bypassed
Clicking the Bypass button
• Hold the Command key (Mac) or the Ctrl key
(Windows) and click the Insert Assignment for the plug-in
that you want to bypass. The insert assignment will change to a darker color, indicating that
the plug-in is bypassed.

Deactivating Inserts
A bypassed insert will still be active, meaning that it will still draw upon your computer’s processing
power. To go one step further, you can make an insert inactive: the insert will stop processing audio
and will not draw on computer resources. However, if you decide you want that plug-in back in your
mix, you can reactivate it, and it’ll come back exactly as it was before.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Here again, there are a couple of ways that a plug-in effect on an insert can be deactivated:
• Right-click the Insert Assignment for the plug-in that you want to deactivate. A menu will
appear. Choose Make Inactive from the menu. When inactive, you’ll see a checkmark next to
the menu item.
• Hold the Command+Control key (Mac) or the Ctrl+Start key (Windows) and click
the Insert Assignment for the plug-in that you want to make inactive.
When inactive, an insert assignment button will appear greyed out with the name of the plug-in in
italic font.

Removing Inserts
Like deleting tracks, removing an insert is not undoable. For that reason, it’s a good general rule to
make a plug-in inactive rather than remove it. However, if you need to remove the insert, here’s how
to do it:

1. Click the Insert selector for the plug-in that you want to remove. This is the small dot to the
left of the plug-in name, and where you’d go to change or instantiate a plug-in. The Insert
selector menu will appear, as you’ve seen before in this lesson.

2. At the top of the menu, choose No Insert. Your insert will be removed.

Inserts on Master faders

In Lesson 8, we discussed how signal flow on Audio Tracks (and on Aux or Instrument tracks as well)
is different from Master Fader tracks. Perhaps, the biggest difference is that on
Audio/Aux/Instrument tracks, inserts are pre-fader, and on Master Faders, they are post-fader. Both
have a direct bearing on what we’ll be doing in this lesson.
In this lesson, we’ll discuss dynamic effects, especially compressors and expanders, which can add
punch and power to your mix or help you manage levels, depending on how you use them:
• On Audio/Aux/Instrument tracks, since their inserts are pre-fader, the signal that is coming
from the input will be processed by the inserts before they go to the volume faders. If you’re
using compressors or expanders to beef up a track or a subgroup, the incoming signal will
go through the effects first, changing the sound, and then the faders on the track will allow
you to change the output level without changing the sonic qualities of the track.
• Master Fader tracks, since their insets are post-fader, they are well-suited for plug-ins that
manage levels. With Master Faders, the fader is the first step in the signal flow, followed by
the inserts, which means the fader levels will affect the level of the signals being fed into any
insert processing. There is a variant of a compressor plug-in, called a limiter that is used to
prevent a signal level from exceeding a preset amount—this is commonly instantiated on a
Master Fader track’s inserts.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Addendum: Using Hardware Inserts

Up to now, we've focused on using our inserts for plug-in effects,

but—with a little bit of set-up—you can also use external hardware
effects in your inserts as well. In this optional addendum, you'll learn
how to bring your hardware effects into your mix.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add9-1

Plug-in Effects
A plug-in is a bit of computer code that adds functionality to a program. It isn’t a program, so it can’t
be run independently from its host software. However, when a plug-in is added (or "plugged in") to
the software in which it is designed to operate, it can add features and possibilities that the host
application on its own doesn’t provide. Many applications use plug-ins, from word processors and
web browsers to every DAW on the market. In the DAW world, plug-ins initially replaced hardware
effects and instruments, and have since become more complex and loaded with exotic features.

Plug-In Formats
There are different types of plug-ins supported by different DAWs. The three major types
are VST, AU, and AAX:
• VST (Virtual Studio Technology): Introduced by Steinberg, this format is widely supported
by host DAWs, like Cubase, Studio One, and Ableton Live. Currently, there are multiple flavors
of VST, including VST 2 and VST 3. This format is particularly popular with freeware
developers and virtual instrument (called VSTi) plug-ins.
• AU (Audio Units): AU plug-ins are designed for use with Apple’s Logic Pro DAW, but it is
supported by other DAWs as well. One notable limitation of AU plug-ins is that it’s only
available on a Mac operating system. There’s little difference between an AU plug-in and it’s
VST counterpart, and many AU plug-ins are simply modified VST plug-ins.
• AAX (Avid Audio eXtension): AAX plug-ins are the only real-time plug-in type supported by
Pro Tools and operates on both Mac and Windows systems. Avid works in close partnership
with third-party AAX plug-in developers to ensure that they adhere to high performance
standards. Of particular note, AAX plug-ins will report their latency (the time it takes for them
to process the incoming signal), so that Pro Tools can compensate for that latency, ensuring
that processed signals are sample-accurate throughout your mix.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Getting Around the Plug-in Window

With the wide range of plug-ins available, you won’t be surprised to learn that the plug-in windows
can vary based on their parameters and features. However, there are some particularly important
controls common to all plug-in windows:

• The Track Selector will show you the

track you’re currently working with. To
quickly jump to an insert on another
track, click the Track Selector to display a
list of available tracks in your session.
From this list, you can select another
track and instantly open a plug-in
The Track Selector
window for that track.

• The Insert Position Selector (a small,

lettered button to the right of the Track
Selector) indicates the position of the insert
on the track. If you click on this selector, a list
of all 10 insert positions will appear. From
this list, you can select any position and
jump to that insert immediately. The Insert Position Selector

• Immediately below the Track Selector and

Insert selector is the Plug-In Selector (which
shows you the plug-in you’re using). Clicking
this selector will reveal a plug-in menu, from
which you can select a different effect
without closing the plug-in window. If you
want to replace one plug-in with another,
The Plug-In Selector
here’s a great place to do that.

• Most plug-ins have several presets — pre-

programmed settings in the plug-in that are
suited for different situations (or are good
starting points). Click the Librarian Menu to
see a list of available presets.
The Librarian Menu

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

• Below the Librarian menu, you’ll see a

small minus (-) and plus (+) buttons. These
are the Previous Setting and Next
Setting buttons respectively. Clicking these
buttons will go to the previous or next
settings in the Librarian menu with a single
click. This is useful if you’re playing your
track and browsing presets to see what Previous and Next Settings buttons
works best.

• Clicking the Plug-in Settings

Select button will reveal the Plug-In
Settings dialog box.

The Plug-In Settings Select button

The Plug-in Settings dialog box is a very useful

way to see your presets. Let’s take a quick look:
• Click on the Folder Selector to reveal a
list of all preset folders for that plug-in.
From there, click on the desired folder to
display the presets in the dialog box’s
main area.
Once your desired preset is shown in the
main section of the Plug-in Settings dialog
box, click on the preset, and your settings
will be immediately applied. The Folder Selector

• Click on the Increment Setting Every [#] Seconds check

box to automatically cycle through the available presets
according to the value entered in the Seconds field. (In
this image, presets will change every second.) This is a
handy way to preview effect settings while your
session plays, especially when there is a large
number of presets to choose from.
When you settle on the desired preset, click on
the Done button (in the lower right-hand corner of the The Increment Setting check box
dialog box), and the plug-in setting dialog box will close,
with the new preset applied.

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LESSON 9 Using Effects

• Back in the plug-in window, you’ll find the

Compare button. As soon as you make
any change to a preset,
the Compare button will turn blue.
Clicking the Compare button will toggle
between the changes you’ve made and
the original preset.

A plug-in’s Compare button

• The last preset-related component of the plug-in window is the Plug-in Settings menu.
Clicking the round menu button will reveal of list of preset-related functions, allowing you to
create, change, copy and manage your plug-in settings.

The Plug-in Settings menu

• Finally, the Bypass button (which you already know),

and below it, the word “Native”. This signifies that the
plug-in is a native plug-in, meaning that it is being
processed by the host computer’s CPU. Native plug-
ins are the only type available in Pro Tools Studio
version systems (unless using the Carbon interface).
When using Pro Tools Ultimate with HDX cards, you
have the ability to use dedicated DSP chips to power a
plug-in, in which case the word shown would be DSP.
The Bypass button and Native indicator

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Plug-ins on Multi-channel Tracks

The steps to instantiate a plug-in shown earlier in this lesson were done on a mono track. As you
might expect, the plug-in on that track would process a single stream of audio coming from the
track’s input or from the preceding insert(s). On a multichannel track (for example, a stereo track),
you have some additional channel options:

1. On a stereo track (any type of stereo track will show the same behavior), click the Insert
selector for the insert slot into which you want to instantiate the plug-in.

2. The Insert selector menu will appear. On a multichannel track, you have the option of
opening a Multichannel Plug-in or a Multi-Mono Plug-in.

Here’s the difference between a Multichannel Plug-in or a Multi-Mono Plug-in:

• A multichannel plug-in is a single plug-in that processes multiple audio streams within a
single plug-in window. Changes you make in this plug-in window will be applied to both
streams (left and right) of the track.
• On the other hand, when you choose a multi-mono plug-in on a stereo track, the mono
plug-in you select will be opened twice, although only one plug-in window will be shown.
Multi-mono plug-ins do offer the unique ability to process each channel independently or
together.
It’s worth noting that some plug-ins are only available as mono plugi-ins, which means that in order
to instantiate them on a multichannel track, you’ll need to choose them from the Multi-mono plug-in
menu.

Using Multi-Mono Plug-ins

By default, multi-mono plug-ins behave like multichannel plug-ins, processing multiple audio
streams identically, but you don’t have to work that way. Multi-mono plug-ins include controls that
are not found in mono or multichannel plug-in windows.

• The Master Link button is unique to multi-

mono plug-ins. When linking is active (the
button will appear blue, as shown here), all
channels of the multi-mono plug-in will share
the same parameter settings—changes made
to the left side will be mirrored in the right side.
When linking is disabled, the Master Link
button will be grey, and both sides will be
independently configurable, enabling you to set The Master Link button

different settings for them.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

• The Channel Selector (immediately below the

Master Link button) indicates the channel of the
multi-mono plug-in you’re presently viewing
(something that’s only necessary to change when
linking is disabled). Just click on this selector to
reveal a list of available channels you can choose
from. (In this example, clicking on the Channel
selector will enable you to switch from the left
channel to the right channel.). The currently
The Channel selector
shown channel is indicated with a check mark.

• If you unlink a multi-mono plug-in and later

choose to relink, the Relink dialog box will
appear. When relinking a multi-mono plug-in,
you need to choose one channel’s parameters
to be applied to all channels.

Relinking a plug-in

Addendum: Using EQ

Now that you understand inserts and plug-in effects and how to
instantiate them in Pro Tools, let’s talk about some of the most
important mixing effects in the mixer’s bag of tricks, and how to
use them, starting with equalization (EQ).

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add9-2

Addendum: Using Dynamic Effects

There are four primary dynamic effects (effects that change
the dynamic range of a signal): Compressors, Limiters, Expanders,
and Gates. In this module, we'll focus on the basic controls and uses
of these powerful mixing tools.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add9-3

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Using Effects Sends

An effect that is instantiated on a track (like EQ and Dynamic effects) will change the total sound of
that track. There are other effects, like reverbs and delays, where you will want to blend the original
“dry” signal with the effected signal. To get this done, you’ll want to use sends.

Sends and Returns

The term “Send” can be traced back to early analog mixing desks. When people talk about using
sends, they also often refer to something called a “return.” Although sends and returns are used
differently in Pro Tools (and most DAWs), going through the signal flow of an analog board is a good
place to start.
Let’s say that you have an analog mixing board
with 8 mono channels (8 faders), and let’s further
say that you have lead vocal on channel 1, and
background vocals on channels 2, 3, and 4. On
each channel, we have two “sends” (usually
knobs) which will route a copy of the signal out of
two dedicated stereo pairs of outputs (of course,
different boards have different numbers of
sends—this is just a simple example).

A simple Analog console scenario

We want to add reverb to our vocals, so we’ll also need to have a hardware reverb unit (remember,
this is an analog console). We will route the output of one of our available sends to the input of the
reverb unit. Next, we’ll want to be able to hear the reverb in our mix, so we’ll route the outputs of the
reverb to available tracks on the mixing board—since in this example, each channel is mono, we’ll
need to use two tracks to get a proper stereo signal—one for the left channel and one for the right.
That’s the return.

Using a send and return to add reverb to a mix

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Here’s what you can do with a setup like this:

• The send controls on the individual tracks can be set individually for more or less of the
track’s signal to be sent to the effect. If you want more reverb on the lead vocal, just turn up
the send on that track.
• The faders on the “return” tracks function as a master control over the amount of effect
you’ll have in your mix. In this example, changing the fader on these tracks would increase or
decrease the amount of reverb.
This kind of routing is traditionally used for effects like reverbs and delays (which fall into a category
called time-based effects). This will allow you to preserve the original tracks (the “dry” tracks) and
blend them with a track (or tracks) which are the effect (the “wet” tracks). We do something quite
similar in Pro Tools and other DAWs.

But why do we do this?

A send/return setup might be the traditional way to set up reverbs and delays, but tradition for
tradition’s sake alone is meaningless. In a DAW like Pro Tools, why not just put individual reverb
plug-ins on each track, like we did for EQs and Dynamic effects?
This routing scheme has many advantages when you’re working with blended effects like reverbs
and delays:
• Mixer-Level Access: Having reverbs and other blended effects reside on their own tracks
simplifies the mixer’s job. The mixer can just adjust the volume fader on the reverb track to
increase or decrease the level of the effect—easy and intuitive.
• Mix Agility: If you’ve got only one reverb or delay applied to multiple tracks, and you want to
make a change to the reverb settings, you only need to change one plug-in. If you were to
put individual reverbs on each track, you’d have to change all of them individually!
• Processing Efficiency: When you use this kind of structure, your computer only runs a
single reverb plug-in. If you were to put individual reverbs on each track that you want to
process, that would increase the demands on your host computer. It might not be a huge
factor with a small Pro Tools session, but when you start running large sessions with
hundreds of tracks, it can make a significant difference.
• Realism: Routing multiple signals to ambient effects like reverbs mimics the way the real-
world works, allowing combined signals to interact within a single reverb effect, in the same
way multiple performers together in a single room would. This can give you a more realistic
result.

Creating Effect Sends

You’ve learned a little about sends at various points in this course. Now, let’s discuss how to use
them.

Viewing Sends
In Lesson 2, you learned about the different Edit and Mix window Views—the different ways to show
or hide elements of your session, like Inserts, Comments, I/O, and Sends. Before you can work with

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sends, you’ll need to be able to see them. To review, here are a few ways that you can show or hide
your sends.
• Perhaps the most straightforward way to change your Edit or Mix window Views is to go to
the View menu and choose Edit Window Views or Mix Window Views. From there, you can
show or hide either of the two banks of Sends (Sends A-E or Sends F-J). Each bank will show
five sends, giving us a total of ten sends per track.

• In the Edit window, click on the Edit Window View

selector (the small white icon at the top left corner
of the tracks). Clicking this icon will reveal a list like
the one you’ve seen in the View menu, with
columns that are shown indicated with a check
mark. Any changes that you make in this list will
immediately be reflected in the columns of your
tracks.

The Edit Window View selector

• At the bottom left corner of the Mix window, you'll

find the Mix Window View selector (a small white
icon). Clicking this icon will reveal a list of elements
that can be shown or hidden.
The Mix Window View
Selector

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Creating Sends and Returns in Pro Tools

The way that we traditionally deal with effects like reverb in Pro Tools follows the same logic as an
analog mixer setup, but if you’re using plug-in effects, the “return” is done a little differently. In this
example, we have one lead vocal track and three background vocals. As you’ve learned how to do in
Lesson 8, we've created a vocal subgroup. We want to add a reverb.

Vocal tracks ready for a reverb

1. On any one of the vocal tracks that we want to have the reverb effect applied, click on any
available Send. A menu will appear.

2. Because we’ll be routing audio from one track to another within the Pro Tools environment,
you’ll want to use a bus. Move your cursor to Bus in the menu of output options.

3. Select an unused stereo bus for the first send. (We’re using stereo buses because the signal
will be sent to a stereo track.) Busses already being used in the session will be shown in a
bold amber font.

4. Since we're applying the same effect to multiple tracks, we’ll need to create identical sends
on the other vocal tracks, assigned to the same bus that we used for the first send.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

5. Now, we need to create the Pro Tools equivalent of a “return.” Create a stereo Aux track
(which we’ll name “Verb” in this case) and instantiate the time-based plug-in we want to use
on any available insert on that track (in this example, D-Verb).

6. Like subgroup Aux tracks, we’ll want to solo safe the reverb Aux track, so that it doesn't mute
when other tracks are soloed. In recent versions of Pro Tools, this is the default state when
creating an Aux track, but to manually solo save a track, hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl
key (Windows) and click on the Solo button.

7. To complete the signal-routing process, we’ll need to set the input of the Aux track to match
the same stereo bus chosen for the other tracks’ send. The output of the reverb return (in
the image below, the Verb track) typically would be routed to the input of the subgroup, so
that as the subgroup get's changes levels, so does that corresponding reverb.

Once we've done this, our Mix window will look like this:

Sends routing completed!

This setup, done completely “in the box”, replicates the analog example outlined earlier. Now, we
can adjust the individual levels of each track as it is sent to the reverb plug-in (we’ll discuss that
next).
On the effect return Aux track, we can adjust the volume fader to achieve the desired blend of wet
and dry sounds. (The original Audio tracks are the “dry” part of the mix, and the Aux track is the
“wet” part.) Since effect return track is solo-safed, soloing individual tracks won’t mute the reverb.

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The output of the Auxiliary Input return track in the scenario we outlined, went to the subgroup master Aux
track, but there are times when you might want to have it routed to the main output along with the
subgroup Auxes in our session. In some mixing cases, having a track like this Verb track existing outside any
subgroups, and routed to the main output allows us to more easily use it with other tracks in the overall mix.

Adjusting Send Parameters

When you create a send in Pro Tools or click any Send assignment, a Send
window will appear. This window enables you to control the amount of signal
coming from the “dry” track to the effect—the greater the level of the sent, the
“wetter” your overall sound will be.
You’ll notice that a Send window is like the Track Output window that you’ve
seen in Lesson 8, with normal controls like pan and level controls.
You can set the output of the send by adjusting the Send window’s fader. Like
other faders in Pro Tools, if you hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows)
and click the fader, you can quickly set the send’s level to unity. You can open
multiple Send windows by holding the Shift key while clicking on Send
Assignment buttons.
Just like a Track Output window, the top of the Send window will display the
track that the send is on, and you can change the track you’re viewing by
clicking the Track selector and selecting it from the menu. But there are a few
things that you haven’t seen before—aspects that are unique to sends:
A Send window

Send Selector
Below the Track selector is the Send selector, which will allow you to
quickly switch between sends on that track. For example, if you had
multiple sends on a single track (going to different effects), clicking
the Send selector would reveal a list (with the currently shown send
being indicated with a check mark). Just click on the desired send and
the view in the window will be replaced.

The Send window’s Send

Selector

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

PRE
As you’ve learned in Lesson 8, sends are switchable between pre-fader
and post-fader. By default, when a send is created, it is post-fader, which
is typically the option that you’ll want for traditional effects routing.
You can change the state of your send by clicking the Pre/Post
Fader button. When the PRE button is highlighted (blue) in the Send
window, the send is acting as a pre-fader send, meaning the output of
the send will not be affected by the track’s main volume fader or Mute
button. When the PRE button is not highlighted (the initial state of sends
in Pro Tools), the send is a post-fader send, and the volume fader and
Mute button of the Audio track will affect the volume going out of the
send.
The Send window’s
Workflows involving pre-fader sends are discussed in later courses in the Avid
PRE button
Learning Series.

Working with Sends

In addition to looking similar in the Mix and Edit Windows, sends and inserts share some common
behavior:
• A send may be moved from one track to another (or to another position within a track),
simply by clicking and dragging. As you drag the send, a yellow box will indicate where it will
be placed when the mouse is released.
• Instead of creating sends on additional tracks individually, you can also copy sends. Just hold
the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and drag a send from one track to another. A copy
will be created when the mouse is released.
Send outputs can be changed after they’re created. As with many things in Pro Tools, there are
multiple ways to do this:
• Click the Send selector (the small section on the left of the send assignment button) of the
send that you want to change. A menu will appear (similar to the menu you saw when you
initially created the send) allowing you to choose another output path.
• In the Send window, click the Output Path Selector, and choose another output path.
• To remove a send, click the Send Selector and choose no send from the menu that appears.

Addendum: Adding Ambience to your Mix with Reverb and Delay

Now that you know how to create a send, you're ready to start to use
effects like reverb and delay to add ambience to your mix.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
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https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add9-4

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Addendum: Using Sends to Create a Cue Mix

When we use the term cue mix, we're talking about a customized
blend of tracks for musicians to hear. This typically represents a mix
that allows the artists to hear themselves clearly, along with the most
important tracks for their performance.

Different recording studios create these in different ways, but one

common way is to use sends to create the mix. In this module, we'll
show you how to do it, along with some features that make creating
a perfect cue mix quick and easy.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add9-5

Another Way to Work: AudioSuite

So far, we’ve dealt with plug-in effects that change the sound of a track in real time—the signal
coming into the track (either from an input or clips on that track) is unaffected (or “dry”) until the
signal reaches the insert with the plug-in effect on it. Because these effects process the signal in real
time, the sound will change with the changing of the effect’s parameters, which can be automated (a
topic that will be introduced in the next lesson).
Some effects, though, can’t be done in real time (like reversing a sound), so we need a different kind
of effect. AudioSuite plug-ins can meet these needs, and then some!
AudioSuite plug-ins are the most basic of Pro Tools effects. These are file-based plug-ins, working
directly on files, and processing is not done in real time as your session plays. That means
AudioSuite plug-ins cannot be automated in your Pro Tools project. It also means these plug-ins
won’t consume valuable real-time resources, making AudioSuite plug-ins well worth exploring.
Here’s how they work:

1. Select the clip or area that you want to process.

2. Click on the AudioSuite menu. A list of plug-in categories will appear.

3. Choose the desired category of effect. A submenu will appear, showing all the plug-ins of
that type. In this demonstration, we’ll choose the Other category.

4. Choose the desired plug-in (in this case, we’ll choose Normalize). The plug-in’s window will
appear.

5. Adjust the parameters in the plug-in window’s main section. These parameters vary from
plug-in to plug-in. Since AudioSuite plug-ins don’t operate in real time, you won’t be able to
hear them as your session plays.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Some—but not all—AudioSuite

plug-ins include a Preview button
(in the lower left-hand corner of
the window) so that you can hear
what your settings would do to the
sound of the file(s) before you
commit to processing them.
Preview controls in the EQ3 7-Band AudioSuite plug-in
Next to that button is a Bypass
button that will allow you to hear the
original (unprocessed) clip.
To the right of the Bypass button, you have volume control (just click and hold on
the Preview Volume field and a fader will appear, enabling you to adjust the volume of your
preview), as well as output meters.

6. Click on the Render button (in the lower right-hand corner of the AudioSuite window) to
apply your effect. After you’ve applied an AudioSuite plug-in to a clip, you’ll notice that the
clip’s name has changed to reflect the AudioSuite process that has been applied.

Getting Around the AudioSuite Plug-in Window

Although different AudioSuite plug-ins differ in appearance and parameters, they all share some
common elements:
• In the upper-left corner of the AudioSuite
window, you’ll find the Plug-In Selector (which
displays the name of the current plug-in, such
as Normalize). Clicking this selector will enable
you to change effects without closing the
window. Just click on the selector, and a list of
AudioSuite plug-ins will appear, identical to the
list you saw when you clicked the AudioSuite
The AudioSuite window's Plug-in Selector
menu.

• Clicking on the Selection Reference

Selector (which reads “Playlist” in this image)
enables the user to determine what will be
processed.
A menu with two options will appear:
• Playlist: When Playlist is selected, the plug-in will process The AudioSuite window’s
the selected area in your track(s). Selection Reference Selector

• Clip List: Choosing the Clip List option directs the plug-in
to process the currently selected
clips in the Clips List.

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LESSON 9 Using Effects

• The USE IN PLAYLIST button will indicate

whether the processed clip will be used
on your track or not. When the button is
blue, the processed clip will appear on
the track—if it is grey, it will only appear
in the Clips List.
The AudioSuite window's USE IN PLAYLIST button

• In the upper right-hand corner of the

AudioSuite window is a preset
management section identical to the real-
time plug-ins controls that we’ve
discussed earlier in this lesson.
The AudioSuite window’s preset management section

• Click on the Processing Output

Mode selector to choose how audio will
be processed. A menu will appear,
showing three different processing
options:
• Overwrite Files: With this option
chosen, the selected audio file(s) will The AudioSuite window’s Processing Output Mode Selector

be processed directly and destructively.

This means that your original file will be permanently changed.
• Create Individual Files: This mode is nondestructive and will create separate audio
files for each selected clip. If multiple clips are selected, multiple files will be created.
• Create Continuous File: This mode is also nondestructive, but in this case, it will create
a single new audio file, regardless of the number of clips selected.
The Overwrite Files option is available in most, but not all AudioSuite plug-ins.

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

• Lastly, the Processing Input

Mode selector (which reads “Entire
Selection” here) enables you to
determine how your clips will be
analyzed prior to processing. When you
click on the selector, a menu will appear,
showing two options:
• Clip by Clip: With this option
chosen, each selected clip will be
individually analyzed and processed. The AudioSuite window's Processing Input Mode selector

• Entire Selection: All selected clips

will be analyzed prior to being processed.

Reverse Effects
AudioSuite plug-ins are especially good for doing things that are impossible to do in real time, like
reversing a sound. The Reverse AudioSuite plug-in is one of the most popular of the AudioSuite plug-
ins, used in combination with several other effects to create interesting sounds. One of the iconic
effects done using the Reverse plug-in is a "reverse reverb."
Here's the traditional workflow to create a reverse reverb effect:
1. Select a clip that you want to process.
2. Reverse it (with an AudioSuite plug-in).
3. Apply an AudioSuite reverb.
4. Reverse it again.
Because Reverse is used frequently with reverbs
and delays, Pro Tools has made it even easier.
At the bottom of AudioSuite reverb and delay
plug-in windows, you’ll see the Reverse button.
Clicking this button enables you to complete an
entire workflow with a single click: First, the
selected area will be reversed, then the plug-in
(Reverb or Delay) will be applied to that selection, The Reverse button in an AudioSuite delay plug-in

and reversed again.

Addendum: Digging Deeper into AudioSuite

In this lesson, you learned about AudioSuite plug-ins—how they

differ from real-time plug-ins, and how to get around an AudioSuite
plug-in window. In this optional section, we'll dig deeper!

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add9-6

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Lesson 9
Review & Knowledge Check
Volume and Pan will only take your mix so far—at some point you'll want to add effects to sculpt the
sound of your tracks. In this lesson you learned a variety of ways to incorporate effects into your
session.
In this lesson, you learned:
• Inserts—their historical origins in the analog studio world, and how they are used in Pro
Tools
• How to work with plug-ins on inserts:
o Moving plug-ins
o Copying plug-ins
o Bypassing plug-ins
o Deactivating plug-ins
o Removing plug-ins
• How inserts are used on Master Fader tracks
• How to use the plug-in window, including the choosing of presets
• The difference between multichannel and multi-mono plug-ins, and how to make the most
of both types
• How to set up effects sends and returns
• How AudioSuite plug-in effects differ from real-time effects, and how to navigate the
AudioSuite plug-in window

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

Action Default Shortcut

Make a copy of a plug-in Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) while
dragging a it to a new location

Bypass a plug-in Hold the Command key (Mac) or the Ctrl key (Windows)
and click the Insert Assignment for the plug-in that you
want to bypass

Deactivate a plug-in Hold the Command+Control key (Mac) or the Ctrl+Start

key (Windows) and click the Insert Assignment for the
plug-in that you want to make inactive

“Solo safe” a track Hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) and
click on the Solo button

Quickly set the send’s level to unity Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and click
the fader

Copy a send while dragging Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and drag
the send to another track

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 LESSON 9 Using Effects

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type this URL into your browser:
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LESSON 9 Using Effects

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 Exercise 9
Adding Effects to a Mix
When mixing, setting volume levels and panning will only get you partway there. Let’s take a look at
a few scenarios where a bit of effects can make a big difference.
Media: PT 101 2023 Exercise 9 (Effects).ptx
Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise9

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Getting Started

1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dashboard window, click the Open From Disk button.

• From the File menu, choose Open Session.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercise 9 (Effects) subfolder.

4. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 9 (Effects) session file.

5. Using File > Save As, save a new version of the session file, naming the session descriptively.
Here's a possible name - PT101 2023 Exercise 9 (Effects) - [Your Name] [today's date].

6. Once you’ve opened the session, listen to it. You can see that it’s pretty simple: a drum loop,
a couple of guitars (note the panning and subgrouping), and a bass. At this point, instead of
being a passive listener, become an active critic.
 Exercise 9 Adding Effects to a Mix

Here are some questions you should be thinking about:

• Which of the elements is the most important?
• Listening to each track separately, what is the most important sonic aspect of the
sound? What about the tone do you like and what would you like to change?
• Listening to each track (separately and together), which ones are most important in the
low frequencies? The middle frequencies? The high end?
From time to time, you'll hear the term "fix it in the mix", which essentially refers to the idea that bad
tracks can somehow be mixed into sounding great. Experienced mixers will tell you that this is
largely a fallacy, and there are limits to which badly played (or badly recorded) tracks can be
salvaged. The good news in this case is that these tracks are well-played and well-recorded, and
really don't sound half bad as is! That means that we can focus on enhancing the mix to make it
sound even better.

Part 2: Sculpting the Guitars

If you listen to the two guitar tracks individually, you’ll find that they are different parts. GTR 1 is a
chunky rhythm guitar track, and GTR 2 plays a higher-pitched riff. They are both separated by
panning already, but let’s sculpt the sound of each guitar, so that both can be clearly heard. To do
this, we’ll need to do a bit of subtractive EQ, followed by some additive EQ.

1. On each guitar track, instantiate an EQ3 7-Band plug-in on an insert.

2. With each guitar track individually, enable the High Pass Filter (HPF) and reduce or remove all
of the unimportant low frequencies. Since the GTR 1 track is filling a rhythm guitar role, you
might want to keep more of the low end in that track than in the GTR 2 track.

Listening to the two parts, you’ll need to make a choice about which part is more important
to the mix. This is ultimately a matter of subjective preference, but let's start with the GTR
2 track.

3. On the GTR 2 track, boost and adjust the HMF band to find the frequency range where the
guitar riff is strongest.

As a point of reference, here are

settings that were used in
creating this exercise, including
the high-pass filter (this is only an
example—your choices may be
different):

4. On the GTR 1 track, boost the MF

band and find the frequency (and
Q) that best brings out the
rhythmic articulations of the
track. Raise the gain on that band
to bring out that quality of the
track.

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5. For the sake of this exercise, let's assume that the GTR 2 track is more important than
the GTR 1 track. To make sure that the riff of the GTR 2 track can be clearly heard, on the GTR
1 track, we’ll set the HF band to be a high frequency shelf and decrease the gain to give some
sonic space for the GTR 2 track.

Another reference for your consideration, here are settings that were used for the GTR 1
track when creating this exercise:

Part 3: Taming the Bass

One thing often overlooked by folks who are new to mixing is that low-pitched sounds (like a bass),
even if they’re playing a low note, can have a lot of high-frequency content in their sound, due to
their overtones (a topic beyond the scope of this course, but worth looking into for the aspiring
mixer). Sometimes these higher-frequency components of the track compete with other more
important parts of the mix. In this case, we want to get rid of some of those higher frequencies, and
to do that, we’ll start out with a 1-Band EQ.

1. Instantiate an EQ3 1-Band EQ plug-in on the first insert

of the Bass track.

2. Choose the Low Pass type.

3. Set the Frequency parameter to its highest value.

4. Solo the Bass track and start playback.

5. As your bass track plays, gradually lower the

Frequency parameter, taking note of how the feel of
the bass track changes as high frequencies are removed.

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You’ll hear that the bass part smooths out a bit as high frequencies are cut, but if you go too
far, it’ll cease to sound like a real bass. Here’s where it comes down to a matter of taste, so
experiment with different frequencies and different filter values (in preparing this exercise,
a filter Q of 6 dB/oct and a frequency of 417 Hz worked well, but you should use your own
ears as a guide).
You’ll notice that by cutting some of the unwanted higher frequencies, it’s easier to hear a bit
more punch in the bass, and it competes less with the drums and guitars. You’ll also notice
that your output level has decreased (because you’re removing energy as you’re cutting
frequencies). This will allow you to bring up the fader on the track, adding more punch to the
session as a whole.
This bass part was recorded with compression, but let's use just a little bit more to make
sure that the bass is a steady and solid sonic foundation:

6. Instantiate an Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter plug-in on the second insert of the BASS track.

7. Choose the Bass Guitar preset.

8. Adjust the Threshold of the Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter plug-in so that the attenuation (shown in
the gain reduction meter) is around -3dB.

9. You'll want to make up some of the attenuation at this point. Adjust the Gain parameter so
that the output level of the compressor is about -6dB.

Here's a reference for you—settings that were used in creating this exercise for the BASS track:

Part 4: Adding Ambience

Next, let's thicken up the guitar parts just a bit with some delay and reverb.

1. Create two new stereo Auxiliary Input tracks, named Delay and Reverb respectively.

2. Assign the input of each new Auxiliary Input track to an available pair of busses (for
example, Bus 1-2 and Bus 3-4). Make sure that the outputs of each Aux track are routed to
your the GTRsub bus.

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3. Make sure that both Aux tracks are solo-safed (this will be done automatically in recent
versions of Pro Tools).

4. On the Delay track, instantiate a Mod Delay III plug-in on the first insert. Choose the Slap
Spread preset.

5. On the Reverb track, instantiate a D-Verb plug-in on the first insert. Choose the Large
Room preset .

6. Create a send on the GTR Sub track, and assign the output of the send to match the input of
the Delay track. Set the level of the send to unity (0.0 dB).

7. Solo the two guitar tracks and begin playback, since the GTR Sub track and Delay track are
solo-safed, you can easily adjust the volume fader of the Delay track so that the delay
thickens the guitar track without overwhelming it.

8. Now, let's add some reverb to both the GTR Sub track and the Delay track. Create a send on
the GTR Sub track and the Delay track, and assign the output of the send to match the input
of the Reverb track. Set the level of each new send to unity (0.0 dB).

9. With the two guitar tracks still soloed, adjust the level of the Reverb track to add some depth
to the guitars. You can also adjust the levels of the two sends (on the GTR
Sub and Delay tracks) to adjust the balance of the two tracks as they are sent to
the Reverb track's input.

Though it is certainly not unheard of to add delay and/or reverb to bass and drums like the kick, in
many cases they can diffuse the core of the mix. By all means, experiment and choose for yourself!

10. At this point, with the changes in EQ, compression, and ambient effects that you've made,
you'll likely want to rebalance the levels of different tracks. Before we get into the last
section in this exercise, take a look at your levels and make the appropriate adjustments.

Part 5: Mix Bus Processing

A common term that you'll hear from time to time is "Mix Bus"—this refers to the Master Fader (or
sometimes Auxiliary Input track) that controls your entire mix's output. When we put any effects on
these tracks, this is called "Mix Bus Processing".
Mix bus processing differs from other effects usage in that these effects impact your mix as a whole,
rather than just individual tracks or groups. This can be thought of as a bit of "pre-mastering" of
your tracks, to add a final layer of polish to your work.
TIP: When it comes to mix bus processing, a little goes a long way. If you find yourself needing to apply a lot
of effects to your mix bus, that's a sign that you may need to give your fundamental mix a second look.

1. On the first insert of the MASTER track, instantiate a Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter plug-in.

2. Choose the Gentle Limiting preset.

3. Adjust the Threshold so that the gain reduction is intermittent and doesn't exceed about -6
dB. A threshold setting of -8 dB works well here.

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4. Adjust the Gain parameter of the compressor so that the levels are high, but not clipping.

For your reference, here is a finished version of this exercise's Mix window:

5. Before you finish this exercise, please save your work.

This completes Exercise 9.

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 LESSON 10
Basic Automation and Mixdown

Up to now, you’ve been creating static mixes—mixes in which none of the controls (volume, pan, and
so on) move over time. The limitation of static mixes is that the best settings for one part of your
session might not be the right mix choices for other sections. You’ve been forced to compromise
and choose the best settings for the session overall, but probably not the best for any given section.
This is all going to change as you learn about Mix Automation.
This final lesson will also deal with something called Mixdown, the process of rendering your Pro
Tools session to a format compatible with the outside world. We’ll also look at some basic archiving
workflows, so that you can retrieve your sessions when you need them.

Duration: 30 Minutes

GOALS

• View mix automation in the Pro Tools session

• Create mix automation using the Pencil, Trim, and Grabber tools
• Read—and suspend the reading of—mix automation
• Automate plug-in parameters
• Understand the different methods of mixing down
• Bounce your session using the Bounce Mix dialog box
• Back up and archive your mix
 LESSON 10 Automation and Mixdown

What is Mix Automation?

Mix automation refers to the ability to change aspects of your mix (such as volume, for example) over
time and to have those changes written to your session. Once those changes have been written,
they can be adjusted and played back automatically (hence the term automation), giving you the
ability to control multiple parameters in real time as your session plays. Automation is one of the
coolest things about mixing in a DAW, and in many professionals' opinion, nothing beats Pro Tools’
automation features.
To start with, let’s cover some basic terminology: Audio and MIDI data are recorded, but automation
is written. When your session plays back, the written automation can be read. This might seem like a
matter of semantics at this point, but it’ll help keep things clear as you work with automation (as
these are the standard industry terms).

Viewing Automation in Pro Tools

Though you’ll do much of your mixing work in the Mix window, there are still times when you will
want to go to the Edit window during the mixing process. Viewing automation is one of those
occasions, and the Edit window will not only show you a visual representation of the different
movements of your mix controls, but will also let you edit them easily.
In Lesson 6, when we discussed MIDI, you learned how to change your track view from clips to
notes, and then to velocity and continuous controllers. That’s exactly where you’ll go to view
different mix automation.
Let’s start with an example of how you could see the volume automation on a track:

1. First, you’ll need to be looking at the Edit window, so if you’re still in the Mix window, you
should change to the Edit window now.

2. On the track whose automation you want to see, click the Track View selector (under the
track name, which on an audio track reads “Waveform” by default, and on an Auxiliary Input
or Master Fader track reads “Volume” by default). Clicking this selector will reveal a menu.

3. Select the desired view from the menu (in this case, we'll choose Volume). Your track’s display
will change accordingly

You’ll see the result of changing your track’s view. Now you’ll see a line called an automation playlist.
In the image below, you can see an audio track's volume automation playlist, and in this example,
the fader will be static until around measure 47, when it will lower slightly and then rise again at
around measure 92.

The Lead Vocal (Dry) track's volume automation playlist

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Automation Lanes
One limitation of changing your track view is that if you’re viewing an automation playlist, you won’t
be able to edit your clips (though the clips are visible behind the automation playlist, they are
inaccessible). There is another way to view automation that will allow you to also edit clips on the
track:

1. Click on the Show/Hide Automation Lanes button to reveal (or hide) a track’s additional
lanes.

2. Choosing an automation lane’s view is very similar to what you’ve done using the Track View
selector. Just click on the Lane View selector and choose the desired automation type from
the list. As with the main Track View selector, the currently visible automation type is
indicated by a checkmark and will be shown in the Lane View selector itself.

3. You can add an automation lane by clicking on

the Add Lane button, which is indicated by a plus (+)
icon. To remove one, click on the Remove
Lane button, shown as a minus (-) icon.

The Add Lane and Remove Lane buttons

On MIDI tracks, you can use automation lanes to view all kinds of MIDI data, including Continuous Controller
(CC) data. On Instrument tracks, you can use lanes to view not only MIDI data, but also the same automation
data that you’d see on an Audio or Aux track.

Writing Automation
By default, all automation playlists begin as a straight line (meaning that the mix parameter being
shown will not move). One of the most straightforward ways to change an automation playlist line is
to draw mix automation with the Pencil tool.

1. If you’re not already there, switch to the Edit window.

2. Click on the Track View (or Automation Lane View) selector of the track you want to work
with and choose the data you want to edit.

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3. To view the different drawing options available to you,

click and hold the Pencil tool button. The Pencil tool
pop-up menu will appear. Just like the Trim and
Grabber tools, the Pencil tool has some useful
variations.

Choosing a Pencil tool drawing shape

4. Click and hold your cursor (which will appear as a pencil icon) at the point at which you want
to begin writing new automation.

5. Drag the mouse to the location where you want to stop writing new automation. The Pencil
tool will progressively write over any pre-existing automation (if you’re writing new
automation on a track that you haven’t worked on before, the pre-existing automation is a
straight line).

Drawing volume automation with the Pencil tool

6. Release the mouse button. Your new automation will be written.

The Pencil tool’s Free Hand shape is well-suited to many kinds of work, but perhaps not the best
choice for other kinds of automation changes. Want a smooth transition from one parameter value
to another (like a smooth increase in volume, for example)? The Line shape of the Pencil tool makes
it easy.

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There are other useful Pencil shapes as well. For example, here's how you could write pan
automation on the track that ping-pongs from left to rightin time with the session's tempo:

1. Click and hold the Pencil tool. Again, the Pencil tool options will appear.

2. This time click on the Triangle shape.

3. You can only draw automation on the view that you’re currently looking at. Since this will be
pan automation, choose Pan from the Track View selector.

4. When you’re dealing with the Triangle, Square, or Random Pencil tool options, the Grid value
will determine the frequency of the automation changes (even if you’re not in Grid mode).
Select the grid value that you want to determine your timing (for example, 1 bar).

5. Click and hold your cursor (which will appear as a pencil icon) at the point at which you want
to begin writing new automation. This time, as you drag horizontally, a triangle wave will be
drawn across the track. The speed of your panning will be determined by your Grid setting.
You can change the height of the wave by moving your mouse vertically as you drag. In the
case of pan automation, a higher and lower triangle wave will translate into a more extreme
pan from left to right.

6. When you’re finished, release the mouse button. The pan automation will be written to your
track. Here you can see the track panning first to the left, and then to the right, with the
duration of each directional change being one measure.

Drawing pan automation with the Pencil tool in triangle mode

TIP: Although triangle-shaped automation can be drawn in any of the Edit modes, if you want the apex of the
triangle to fall on a grid line, you must be in Grid mode.

Reading Automation
Pro Tools Studio has five automation modes, with each automation mode uniquely suited to tifferent
ways of mixing.
Workflows involving the more advanced automation modes are discussed in later courses in the
Avid Learning Series—for now, let's focus on the two modes that will allow us to read automation or
not: Read and Off.

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Changing Automation Modes

You can choose automation modes on a track-by-track basis:

1. In the Mix or Edit window, click on

the Automation Mode selector on the track
that you want to automate (which by default
will be read “Auto Read” in the Mix window or
“Read” in the Edit window). A menu of the five
automation modes of Pro Tools will appear:

• Off
• Read
• Touch
• Latch
• Write The Automation Mode selector

2. Choose the desired automation mode from the menu. Again, for the purposes of this course,
the only two modes you should choose should be Read or Off.

Reading Automation with Auto Read Mode

By default, Auto Read mode is the active mode on any new track. Read mode does what its name
implies: With this mode selected, any written automation will be read during playback. For example,
if a volume automation line goes downward over time, the fader will move accordingly.
One point about Read mode: When a track is created, the automation playlist line is flat, as you’ve
seen previously in this lesson. In these cases, where there is only one automation breakpoint at the
beginning of the track, the fader will not read any automation (since there is not enough automation
to be read). The fader will stay wherever you position it.

Suspending Automation with Auto Off Mode

Auto Off is another automation mode that is aptly named for its purpose. When a track’s automation
mode is set to Auto Off, no automation data will be read as your session plays, even if there is
automation on the track. With this mode selected, you will see a blue line (called the Composite
Playlist) indicating the current level of the parameter.
Changing a track's automation mode from Read to Off is an effective way to suspend automation on
a track-by-track basis, but what if you wanted to suspend automation on multiple tracks? There are
a few ways that you can do it:
• Holding the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows), change any track's automation mode
from Read to Off. All tracks will change accordingly.
• Holding Shift+Option (Mac) or Shift+Alt (Windows), change any selected track's automation
mode from Read to Off. All selected tracks will change accordingly.
You can re-enable the reading of automation by similarly changing tracks from Off to Read.

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Editing Automation
Automation lines can be edited using tools you’re already familiar with:

Automation and the Trim Tool

When the Trim tool is moved into a selected area of automation, it will be shown as downward-
facing, enabling you to drag your mouse up and down to increase or decrease the level of the
automation in that selected area (while maintaining the shape of the automation line). It’s a great
way to raise or lower a section of volume automation, while leaving the shape of the trimmed
automation intact:

1. Using the Selector tool, select the area that you want to change.

2. Change to the Trim tool.

3. Move the Trim tool into the selected area. The Trim tool will be shown downward-facing,
indicating that it’s ready to change your automation.

4. Click and drag your mouse up or down to adjust your automation proportionally.

5. Release the mouse button. The automation will be proportionally changed in the selected
area. An automation breakpoint will also be created at the beginning and end of the selected
area if non currently exists at either of those points.

When you use the Trim tool to change volume automation, there will be a small box at the top of the
selected area that will not only show you the level of your new automation, but also a delta value (indicated
by a triangle, the Greek letter for delta) when adjusting volume. This delta value lets you know the amount of
change you’re applying.

Automation and the Grabber Tool

You may have noticed that your automation line is composed of a number of small dots. These dots
are called automation breakpoints, which define the shape of your automation playlist line. The
Grabber tool is quite handy at working with these individual breakpoints. Here’s how you can use it
to create, modify, and delete automation breakpoints.
• To create an automation breakpoint where one doesn’t currently exist: Using the Grabber
tool, click on the point in time in the track where you want it to be.
• To change the time or value of an existing automation breakpoint, click and drag the
breakpoint to the desired location.
• To delete an existing automation breakpoint, hold down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key
(Windows) and click it. The cursor will be shown as a pointing hand with a minus (-) sign next
to it.

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Automating Plug-in Effects

You learned how to automate mix parameters like volume and pan. Now, you’ll take automation into
the world of plug-ins: Virtually every knob or button of a plug-in can be automated, enabling you to
change tonal color, ambience, and more!

Enabling Parameters for Automation

Because of the very large number of parameters that some plug-in effects contain, parameters can
be selectively enabled or disabled for automation—enabled parameters can be automated, but not
disabled ones. Three are a few ways in which plug-in parameters to be enabled or disabled—for the
purposes of this course, let's focus in on the most straightforward method:

1. In the plug-in window of the plug-in

that you want to automate, click on
the Automation Enable button. The
Plug-In Automation dialog box will
open.

Clicking the Automation Enable button

The Plug-In Automation dialog box

is organized with the list of
disabled parameters on the left
side of the window and the enabled
parameters on the right.

The Plug-In Automation dialog box

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2. Click on the effects

parameter(s) that you want
to enable for automation.
Holding down the Shift key
will allow you to select a
range of parameters and
holding the Command key
(Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows)
Choosing a parameter for automation
will allow you to select multiple
parameters one at a time.

3. Click on the Add button. The selected parameter(s) will move from the left-hand list to the
right-hand list.

4. Conversely, you can remove any enabled parameters from the right-hand list and disable
them by clicking the Remove button.

5. When you’re finished, click on the OK button.

In addition to the main parameters of a plugin, Bypass can also be automated, enabling you to engage and
disengage the effect as your session plays.

Writing Plug-In Automation

Plug-in automation is largely similar to any other kind of automation, but before we close this
discussion, let’s take a quick look at how you can view plug-in automation data.
Once a parameter is enabled for automation, the plug-in and parameter will appear as an option
when you click the Track View selector. Just choose the desired plug-in (which will reveal a submenu)
and then choose the specific parameter that you want to view. (This can be shown in automation
lanes as well.)
In the image below, you can see an enabled parameter menu for the 7-band EQ plug-in (Low Band
Gain). You can enable multiple parameters, and all enabled parameters will show up in this menu.

Viewing plug-in automation

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From this point on, plug-in automation is identical to other kinds of automation: As you’ve seen
earlier in this lesson with volume and pan, you can use the Pencil tool, the Trim tool, and the
Grabber tool to change the automation line.

Creating a Mixdown
When you’re working with a Pro Tools session, you’re in a multitrack environment. Even though you
may be listening through stereo monitor speakers, you’re actually hearing many component tracks,
artfully combined by Pro Tools’ software mix engine. From a production standpoint, it’s a very cool
way to work, but if you want to hear your song outside the Pro Tools environment, you’ll have to
render the mix down to a format compatible with the outside world.

Addendum: Different Mixdown Approaches

There are three common ways that a mixdown is created:
an external layback, bouncing to a track, and bouncing to disk.
Although this course (and arguably the majority of workflows)
will focus on bouncing to disk, it’s good to understand all the
different ways that a final product is created.

Scan the QR code or type the URL below into your browser
to view this course addendum.

https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Add10-1

Bouncing your mix to a file on your hard drive is a simple process, but an important one that
demands attention to detail, so we'll go over each step carefully. Here’s how to go about bouncing to
disk, so you can create a file that you can play on any device.

1. Using the Selector tool, select the area of your session you want to bounce to disk in the
timeline ruler.

2. Do one of the following:

• From the file menu, choose Bounce Mix

• Press Command+Option+B (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+B (Windows)
The Bounce Mix dialog box consists of many component parts, and each of them are critical
to the process. Let's take a look at each of them, from top to bottom:

In the top section of the Bounce Mix dialog box, you can choose general characteristics of
your bounce, including the file name, type, and the source of your bounce.

• File Name: Naming your files

properly is essential to any mixdown
workflow, and in the File Name field,
you can type the name for the mixed-
down audio file you will create.

File Name and File Type in the Bounce Mix dialog box

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• File Type: The File Type selector will display the type of file you will be creating. (In this
example, we'll be creating a WAV file.) If you want to
• Just below the File Type, you’ll see the Mix Source selector. (The currently selected source
will be displayed.) There are a number of options in this menu that relate to more
advanced workflows, but for the purposes of this course, if you want to bounce what
you're hearing through your monitor speakers, select the output path you’re using to
listen to your mix.

Mix Source in the Bounce Mix dialog box

TIP: Choosing the wrong Mix Source is one of the most common mistakes people make when
bouncing their session. If you export your mix and later find that your mixdown is a silent audio file,
you probably chose the wrong mixdown source.

In the Audio section, you can choose various

details about the audio file (or files) that will be
created.

• Compression Type: This menu will be

greyed-out in most cases, but when
bouncing to an .mov file, you have the ability
to choose the codec that you will use. The Audio section of the Bounce Mix dialog box

• Add MP3: Checking this box will create an

MP3 file in addition to the file format that you chose at the top of the Bounce Mix dialog
box.
• File Format: Clicking this menu will display the channel format of the file(s) you will be
creating with your mixdown. If you want to change the format, just choose the desired
format from the list:
• Mono (Summed): With this option selected, your session will be mixed down to a
single mono file. If you’re working on a stereo session, the left and right channels of
the mix are combined into a single channel.
• Multiple Mono: When this is chosen, your stereo mix will be output to a pair of
mono files: one for the left channel (with a .L after the filename) and one for the
right (with a .R after the filename). This can be useful for bounces that you intend to
import into another Digital Audio Workstation.
• Interleaved: Your mix will be rendered to a single stereo file. The single file will
have left and right channels.
• Bit Depth: This menu button will display the bit depth of the file you will be creating. To
change the bit depth, click on the Bit Depth selector and choose the desired setting from
a list of available resolutions. (16-bit, 24-bit, or 32-bit float).

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• Sample Rate: Here again, this menu button will display the sample rate of the file you will be
creating. If you want to change the setting, click on the Sample Rate selector and choose the
desired sample rate (the list of available sample rates will vary based upon your audio
interface).
• Pad to Frame Boundary: Enabling this option will "pad" the start and end of the bounced
file by rounding up to the nearest frame (based on the frame rate of your session). This is
generally only needed when the audio is to be used in a video editor, such as Avid Media
Composer.
A popular audio standard is known as "Red Book" audio—a format that was introduced with audio CDs, and
is still in use. To create a red book audio file, the bit depth should be set to 16, the sample rate should be
44.1 kHz, and the format should be interleaved.
There are a few guidelines with regard to sample rates and bit depths for your bounce:

• For most deliverable music formats, including streaming services, Red Book format (44.1 kHz, 16 bit,
interleaved stereo) is generally recommended.

• For post-production mixes, the standard format is 48 kHz sample rate, 16 bit.

• For mixes that will be professionally mastered, neither the sample rate nor the bit depth should be
reduced. Bounce at the Sample rate and bit depth of the session.

Toward the bottom of the dialog box,

the Location section gives you control over
where your file will be stored:

The Location section of the Bounce Mix dialog box

• Import after Bounce: Clicking the Import After Bounce check box will import your bounced
file back into your session on a new Audio track. This is optional, and only available if the
mixed-down file is the same sample rate as the session.
• File Destination: You have three different options in choosing where your bounced file(s)
will be created:
o Session Folder: Choosing this option will create your bounced file in the session
folder, including any subfolder in the field to the right (by default, the Bounced
Files subfolder).
o Prompt For Location: Choosing this option will allow you to choose any location you
wish for your bounced file. Before the bounce begins, you'll be presented with a
browser window.
o Directory: This is a good option if you want to have all of your bounced files stored
in a single location, regardless of the session file. Clicking the Choose button will
present you with a browser window from which you can choose your default storage
location.

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When you choose the Directory location option, you'll see a path at the bottom of
the Bounce Mix dialog box, showing the default bounced files location.
At this point, it should be emphasized how important it is to know exactly where and under
what name your mixdown file is saved. You can save your bounced file anywhere you choose
in your system, but with this great power comes the responsibility of using it wisely. Make
sure you can find your files when you need them!

Ironically, perhaps the biggest mixdown feature in Pro Tools is also one of the smallest check
boxes. In older versions of Pro Tools (prior to mid-2013), all mixdowns (external layback,
bounce to track, or Bounce to Disk) were done in real time. If you had a 20-minute television
show soundtrack, the bounce took 20 minutes to complete. Now, by simply checking one
box in the Bounce Mix dialog box, you’ll be able to create your final bounce just as quickly as
your computer can process the file. (The rapidity of the bounce will depend on the power of
your computer’s CPU.)
• Changing your bounce from real-
time to offline is very easy: Click
the Offline check box in the
lower left-hand corner of
the Bounce Mix dialog box. The The Offline check box
quality of an offline bounce and a
real-time bounce is identical, so
for many users, an offline bounce
is the way to go.
Two cases in which an offline bounce is not possible:

• If hardware inserts are used (as opposed to plug-ins)

• If external MIDI sound devices are being used

3. Click the Bounce button (in the lower right-hand corner of the Bounce Mix dialog box) to
begin your mixdown.

After you click the Bounce button, your mixdown will begin. Depending on whether you have
the Offline check box checked or not, you’ll see one of two different behaviors.
• If the Offline box is unchecked, your session will play in real time. You’ll see a countdown
window indicating your mixdown’s remaining time.
• If the Offline box is checked, you’ll see a progress indicator of your bounce. A number in
parentheses to the right of the window indicates how quickly your mix is rendering
compared to a real-time bounce.

When you’re done, a new file (or files, if you’re exporting multiple mono files) will be created
in the location that you designated in the Bounce Mix dialog box.

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Archiving Your Work with Save Copy In

You're done recording, editing, and mixing—you've poured your heart and soul into your work, and
now it's done. It's time to put this session on the virtual shelf and move on to the next project. This is
what archiving is all about: Saving your work in such a way that it can be retrieved months and years
down the line.
So far in this course, you've used File > Save and File > Save As to save your session as you're
working. There's one more way to save your work — Save Copy In — that is especially designed for
archiving your session. File > Save Copy In will create a duplicate of your session and enable to you
to collect all of the media used by that session (even if your session is using media elements spread
amongst different hard drives) into one location. This will result in a self-contained session that you
can successfully open in the future (or in a different facility, which also makes this method useful in
transporting sessions).

1. From the File menu, choose Save Copy In. The Save Copy In dialog box will appear.

2. From the Format pop-up menu, you

can choose to save your copy as
either the current version, or as an
older version of Pro Tools. This
provides compatibility with older
systems, but it's worth noting that
saving a session as an older version
may result in the stripping of some Choosing a Session Format
of Pro Tools' more recent features.

3. By default, the settings in

the Session Parameters section of
the dialog box will match the
settings of your currently open
session, but you do have the option
of changing them. For example,
with Save Copy, you save a session
copy that is of a different file type,
sample rate, or bit depth than your
source session.

4. In the Items To Copy section, you can

Choosing Session Parameters
choose which elements of your open session will
be a part of your copy. For example, if your session
included audio and video media, you'd want to make sure to check the Audio
Files and Movie/Video Files check boxes, as shown here.

5. Click the OK button at the bottom of the Save Copy In dialog box.

6. A file browser window will appear, enabling you to choose a location for your copy. Click
the Save button to start the copying process.

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The copying process may take some time to complete, depending on the amount of media
data that needs to be copied. A window will show you the progress, and allow you to abort
the copying process (by clicking the Cancel button)

A Session Copy in progress

One significant difference between other methods of saving and File > Save Copy In is that when you use
either File > Save or File > Save As, you'll be working on the newly saved session. When you use File > Save
Copy In, you'll still be in the original session, with a copy made elsewhere on your system.

Alternate Uses for Saved Copies

Using File > Save Copy In is an essential tool for archiving sessions, but its flexibilities—the ability to
change sample rate, bit depth, and Pro Tools version among them—makes it useful for other
purposes as well. Here are a few more common uses for this powerful feature:
• Creating full "snapshot" backups of a work-in-progress without having to leave your session
• Creating a different version of a session at a different sample rate or bit depth
• Creating a version of a session that could be opened by older versions of Pro Tools
• Creating a cloud-based project version of a local session
• Creating a local session version of a cloud-based project

More Archiving Tips

Backing up your work with File > Save Copy In is a fundamental part of backing up your important
work. Now let's look at a few other tips that will help you improve your archived sessions.
In this last section, we’ll be exploring some ways of reducing the storage requirements of yoru
archived session, and some of these techniques will be destructive and not undoable. It’s strongly
recommended that this be performed on the saved copy of your session, not the original. When
you’re done with these steps, close and re-open the copy and confirm that your session plays back
properly. Only after this should you consider deleting the original files.

Clearing Unused Clips

As your session progresses through the recording and editing process, your Clips List can become
populated with even more clips that aren't used in your session's timeline. A common step in
archiving workflows is to remove unused clips (and their referenced files) so that the backup is
makes efficient use of your storage space.
This process is typically done in two stages: selecting the unused clips, and then clearing the
selected clips:

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1. In the Clips List pop-up menu, move your cursor to the Select menu item. A submenu will
appear.
In the Select submenu, you have three options (which can come in handy anytime, but
especially when you're archiving):
• All: This will select all clips in the Clips List.
• Unused: This will select only clips that are not being used in your session (including
whole-file clips).
• Unused Audio Except Whole Files: This will select only unused audio subset clips.
• Offline: This will select only offline clips.

The Select submenu

2. Choose Unused.
Once your unused clips are selected, you can remove them from your session:
3. In the Clips List pop-up menu, click Clear. One of two dialog boxes will appear, depending on
the kinds of clips you're about to clear:
• If your selected clips are only subset
clips, the window you see will give
you the option of removing them
from your session only. Click the
Remove button.

Clearing subset clips

If your selected clips include whole file clips, you'll

see more options:
• Delete: Selected whole-file clips and their
associated audio files will be permanently
removed. Selected subset clips will be
removed from the session, but their files
won't be deleted (unless their parent Clearing whole-file clips
whole-file clip is also selected).

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• Move to Trash: Selected whole-file clips will be removed from your session, with their
associated audio files being moved to your computer's Trash bin. Selected subset clips will
be removed from the session, but their files won't be moved to the trash (unless their parent
whole-file clip is also selected).
• Remove: Selected clips will be removed from your session, but no audio files will be deleted
or moved to the Trash bin.
For archiving workflows, click either Delete or Move to Trash.

Compacting Files
Once you've removed all unused clips from your Clips List, you can go one step further and remove
all unused audio from the remaining audio files. For example, a snare drum hit that's used in your
session might be a small portion of a much larger file, with most of the audio in that file being
unused by your session.
This is where Compact comes in—this process removed unused audio from the selected clips' files.
The workflow is pretty straightforward:
1. In the Clips List pop-up menu, move your cursor to the Select menu item. A submenu will
appear.
2. In the submenu, choose All. All clips in the Clips List will be selected.
3. In the Clips List pop-up menu, click Compact. A dialog box will appear.

In the Compact Selected dialog box, you'll

see a description of the compacting
process, plus the ability to add "padding"
to your resultant audio files. "Padding" is
similar to "handles" in AudioSuite plug-
ins, allowing for future operations like
trimming and fading. The default value is
1000 milliseconds (one second) at the
beginning and end of each file (excluding
whole-file clips).

The Compact Selected dialog box

4. After choosing the value you want, click the Compact button. The session will automatically
save, with unused portions of audio files permanently removed.

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Well Done!
Congratulations, you’ve made it! You’ve covered quite a lot of ground, and the great news is that if
you want, your journey is just beginning! Over time, you‘ll learn more about audio production and
Pro Tools, and develop your own working style.
As you grow, you’ll want to learn more. Fortunately, Avid has an excellent training program based on
a comprehensive curriculum. With Avid’s Learning Series (and with Avid’s Learning Partners), you can
move confidently into the larger world of professional audio production. To learn more about Avid’s
offerings, go to https://www.avid.com/learn-and-support.
At Avid, “Powering Greater Creators” is more than a slogan—it’s a passion. On behalf of the whole
Avid Learning team, we hope that this course has inspired you, and we wish you all the success that
you wish for yourself.
Have a blast!

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Lesson 10
Review and Knowledge Check

Lesson 10 wraps up a basic production process, tweaking your mix with automation and mixing your
session down to a final output.
In this lesson, you learned:
• What mix automation is, and how it is used in mixing
• How to view mix automation in your Pro Tools session
• How to create mix automation using the Pencil, Trim, and Grabber tools
• How to read—and suspend the reading of—mix automation
• How to automate plug-in parameters
• How to bounce your session using the Bounce Mix dialog box
• How to back up and archive your mix, ensuring that your hard work is protected

Keyboard Shortcuts and Modifiers from this Lesson

Following is a summary of shortcuts and modifiers that you should know from this lesson.

Regarding Keyboard Shortcuts

Beginning with Pro Tools version 2022.4, keyboard shortcuts can be customized, allowing flexibility in
choosing individual workflows. For the purposes of this course, and to build a strong foundation that is
most compatible with the broader Pro Tools-using community, Pro Tools' default keyboard shortcuts will
be used.

To reset Pro Tools' shortcuts to their default state:

1. From the Setup menu, choose Keyboard Shortcuts. The Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box will appear.

2. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialog box, click the Reset All button. An Are You Sure? dialog
box will appear.

3. Click the Yes button.

For the purposes of the Pro Tools 101 and Pro

Tools 110 courses the Edit Keyboard focus should
always be enabled.

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Action Default Shortcut

Change the automation mode of all tracks Hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows), and
change any track's automation mode

Change the automation mode of all selected tracks Hold Shift+Option (Mac) or Shift+Alt (Windows) and
change any selected track's automation mode

Delete an existing automation breakpoint Hold down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) and
click it with the Grabber tool (the cursor will be shown as a
pointing hand with a minus (-) sign next to it)

Select a range of parameters in the Plug-in Automation Hold the Shift key while selecting
dialog box

Individually select multiple parameters in the Plug-in Hold the Command key (Mac) or Ctrl key (Windows) while
Automation dialog box selecting

Open the Bounce Mix dialog box Command+Option+B (Mac)

Ctrl+Alt+B (Windows)

Knowledge Check
Scan the QR code shown to experience a fully interactive online knowledge
check with scored results.
You can also type the URL below into your browser:
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-KC10

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 Exercise 10
Automation and Mixdown
In this course's last exercise, you’ll start with a static mix, add automation, and then export that mix
as an audio file.
Time management matters. This section will start getting into the minutiae of your mix and can
take a good deal of time to get just right. If you’re using this course as a part of a formal study at a
school, make sure that you understand how much time you have for each section of the exercise,
and that at some point, you’ll need to move on to the next section. If you’re using this course on
your own, you have the luxury of time and can devote as much of it as you like to each task.

Media: PT101 2023 Exercise 10 (Low Roar)

Duration: 30 minutes

Downloading the Media Files

To complete this exercise, you will need to use various files included in the PT101 (2023) Exercises folder.

• Download all the media files for the course by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-allExercises

• Download just the media files for this exercise by pointing your browser to
https://tinyurl.com/PT101-23-Exercise10

TIP: If clicking either of the links above does not initiate the media download, copy the link address and
then paste it into a new tab in your browser.

Part 1: Getting Started

1. Launch Pro Tools.

2. Do one of the following:

• In the Dashboard window, click the Open from Disk button.

• From the File menu, choose Open Session.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the exercises for this course and locate the PT101 2023
Exercise 10 (Low Roar) subfolder.

4. Double-click the PT101 2023 Exercise 10 (Low Roar) session file.

 Exercise 10 Automation and Mixdown

5. Using File > Save As, save a new version of the session file, naming the session descriptively.
Here's a possible name - PT101 2023 Exercise 10 (Low Roar) - [Your Name] [today's date].

Part 2: Automating by Section

The session has been laid out to do something that is commonly referred to as "stem mixing"—the
only tracks you're seeing are tracks that are routed to the main output. These include all of the
subgroups (representing the various "stems" in the song), plus the SFX track and the Main
MON Master Fader track.
To start out, you’ll create rough automation for different sections of the song:

1. So that you can see your automation lines, make sure you're looking at the Edit window.

2. Make sure that all your shown tracks are in Auto Read mode.

3. Make sure that all your shown tracks are showing volume automation playlists.

4. Make sure that you are in Loop Playback mode.

5. Make sure that you are in Absolute Grid Edit mode, with a grid value of 1 bar.

To make the workflow a bit easier, we'll start off by placing a single automation breakpoint at
each song section ending:

6. Using the Grabber tool, place a single automation breakpoint (without changing the levels,
so click only once and don’t drag the breakpoint) on each track except the Main MON track at
the following locations:

• 9|1|000
• 31|1|000
• 47|1|000
• 71|1|000
• 87|1|000
• 91|1|000
• 115|1|000
• 137|1|000

7. The introductory section of the song covers from the beginning of the session's timeline to
9|1|000. Select this area and make sure that the selected area is also on each of the tracks.

8. Begin playback

9. Using the Trim tool, adjust the volume levels of the individual tracks to suit your musical
tastes. At this point, don't make any changes on the Main MON Master Fader track.

10. Repeat step #9 for the different sections of the song, which are:

o 9|1|000-31|1|000 (First Verse)

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o 31|1|000-47|1|000 (First Chorus)

o 47|1|000-71|1|000 (Second Verse)
o 71|1|000-87|1|000 (Second Chorus)
o 87|1|000-91|1|000 (Break)
o 91|1|000-115|1|000 (Third Chorus)
o 115|1|000-137|1|000 (Ending)
TIP: Because there are automation breakpoints at the beginning and end of your selections, you will find that
dragging up or down with the Trim tool will result in the overall level of the selection section changing,
without affecting other parts of the track.

When you’re done, your session's mix will change as it plays. Now, each section will have its own
static mix.

Part 3: Tweaking with Tools

Next, use Edit tools to make smaller changes within sections. By this point, your mix is becoming
more uniquely yours, so the directions here will need to be less specific:

1. Listen critically to individual sections (this may require listening several times), making notes
as to small parts (words of the vocal track, for example) that should be changed.

2. Using the Pencil, Trim, and Grabber tools, make the appropriate adjustments to the
individual sections of the song.

Part 4: Creating a Fade-Out

Your Main MON track is a Master Fader that is controlling the total output of your mix. That means
that it's an easy place to create a fade-out for your mix.

1. Listen critically to individual sections (this may require listening several times), making notes
as to small parts (words of the vocal track, for example) that should be changed).

2. Still using the Grabber tool, create another breakpoint at 130|1|000.

3. Drag the automation breakpoint at 130|1|000 to the bottom of the track (a volume of -∞ dB)

Part 5: Exporting Your Mix

To end the exercise (and this course), you’ll export your mix in Red Book audio format.

1. First, make a selection from the beginning of the session's timeline until 130|1|000 (where
your fade-out ends)

2. Using File > Bounce Mix, create a mixdown of your session with the following settings:

• File Name: PT101 2023 Lesson 10 (Low Roar) - [Your Name] [today's date] Mix
• File Type: WAV (BWF)

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• Mix Source: The output path attached to your monitor speakers

• File Format: Interleaved
• Bit Depth: 16 Bit
• Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
• Pad to Frame Boundary: Unchecked
• Import After Bounce: Unchecked
• File Destination: Session Folder: Bounced Files/
• Offline: Checked
3. Once finished, locate the file and preview it (in any application) to ensure that it has been
correctly exported. If it has, you’re done—save your session before moving to the next
section.
If your bounced file doesn't sound the way that you expect, this means that one of the steps in the
procedure has been missed. That's understandable—this workflow has a number of steps and missing any
of these can cause significant problems. Go back to step #1 and start again.

Part 6: Archiving Your Mix

You're done with the creative part of your work, but this last task—archiving your session—should
not be overlooked. Before we complete this exercise, you will make an archived copy of your
session, including all of the audio media.

1. Using File > Save Copy In, make an archive copy of your session with the following settings:

• Format: Session (Latest)

• Audio File Type: BWF (.WAV)
• Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
• Bit Depth: 16 Bit
• Interleaved: Checked
• Limit Character Set: Unchecked
• Items to Copy: Audio Files

2. Name the copy PT101 2023 Exercise 10 (Low Roar) - [Your Name] [today's date] Archived Copy,
and choose a location for the archived copy.

3. After the copy is made, open the copied session and play it to ensure that your work is
archived correctly. If it has been, congratulations!

If your archived session doesn't play correctly, it probably means that one of the steps in the procedure has
been missed. Go back to step #1 and try again.

This completes Exercise 10.

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