M-Audio guide for the recording guitarist [1 ed.] 1598634232, 9781598634235, 159863674X

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 M-Audio Guide R

for the Recording Guitarist Chris Buono Course Technology PTR A part of Cengage Learning

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M-AudioR Guide for the Recording Guitarist Chris Buono Publisher and General Manager, Course Technology PTR: Stacy L. Hiquet Associate Director of Marketing: Sarah Panella Manager of Editorial Services: Heather Talbot

© 2008 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Avid, Digidesign, M-Audio, Pro Tools, Pro Tools M-Powered, Fast Track, Luna, Solaris, Sputnik, Nova, MicroTrack, Xpand!, Prosessions, Eleven, Axiom, and Revolution are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Proofreader: Gene Redding Library of Congress Control Number: 2007932094 ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-423-5 ISBN-10: 1-59863-423-2 eISBN-10: 1-59863-674-X Course Technology 25 Thomson Place Boston, MA 02210 USA Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at: international.cengage.com/region Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd. For your lifelong learning solutions, visit courseptr.com Visit our corporate web site at cengage.com

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To my one and only love—my beautiful wife Stacy, with whom I share a lovely forever.

Acknowledgments First and foremost, the biggest thank you possible goes to the people closest to me, starting with my wife Stacy and my two sons John and Wil for their love, patience, and sacrifice; without their support, I could not do what I do in this life. Thank you to the Buono and Lordi clans for making this life I refer to an extraordinary one by providing everything Italian families are known for. A forever thank you to my brother Louis for putting a guitar in my hand and to my brother Greg for always encouraging me to play it. Thank you to the B’Town clique for always being there for us; to Dominic O’Connell and the Bonetti family for being award-winning neighbors; to Gus Smalley for the years of friendship, knowledge, and pedal repairs; and to Adam Perlmutter and all my past and present guitar magazine editors for teaching me how to write. Thank you to those people who were beyond vital to this book: Jimmy Archey for starting it all (on many levels), Kevin Walt for taking me into the M-Audio family and always listening to my crazy ideas, Steve Nalepa for loads of expert advice and thinking I could actually do this, Mark Garvey for more things than I could possibly write in this criminally small space that has been allotted to me, David Muniz for his expertise and always displaying patience and compassion during my sporadic (many) episodes of naı¨vete´, and Adam Castillo and Vanessa Merring for believing in me. To Kate Shoup, my new best friend—this book would not be in your hands if it weren’t for the staggering amount of work this amazing person put in. Also big thanks to Mark Hughes for stepping in and fixing things and Jay Alders for the fantastic microphone photo session (and lunch to boot). To Vernon Reid, Bumblefoot, Peter Stroud, and Steve Lukather—my brothers who delivered—thank you for taking some time away from being the guitar gods you are. Finally, thanks to Doug Osborn for more things than I can ever say. As for the incredible people at M-Audio who contributed their time at different stages of this book, thanks go to Jeff Silverman for Black Box knowledge, Joshua Merrill for unparalleled kindness in all things pixels, Randy George and Josh Greer for making sure I had the gear, Laura Escude´ for the many iLok support calls, Eric Krug for following up on things, Alex Solano for those hours of tech support on the phone, and Matt Piper for even more hours on the phone! Thanks go, too, to the Digidesign people who also donated their time and resources: Bryant Sierra for the keyboard, Andy Hagerman for advice and support, Brian Carter and Phil Jackson for the tricks, and Brian Doser for the hookups. Finally, an eternal thank you to my parents, Louis and Mary Buono.

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About the Author With a guitar in hand, Chris Buono is multimedia machine. As a performing and recording artist, Chris has appeared as a sideman and guest soloist in myriad genres for various major and indie labels including Lava, Lion Music, LNR, RKM, and E-Magine; and he has performed all over the United States and various other parts of the globe with a dizzying array of legendary musicians. As a professor at Berklee College of Music in the Guitar department, Chris teaches performance labs, ensembles, and private lessons, and heads the world’s only guitar effects lab. Chris is also a senior faculty member for the National Guitar Workshop, where he played a key role in establishing the Music Technology curriculum. As a music journalist, Chris is a regular contributor to Guitar Player magazine, is a columnist for Just Jazz Guitar magazine, contributed to Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions and Guitar Teacher, and authored Jazz Lead Guitar Solos for Alfred Publishing. Most notably, Chris was an industrious contributor to Guitar One magazine. His work included his effects column “Pedal Points,” featured lesson articles, gear reviews, and interviews with some of today’s most highly regarded guitarists. Plus, he performed all the lesson material on camera for the magazine’s CD-ROM. Chris is also an in-demand clinician in both live and video forums and can be seen regularly showcasing gear for M-Audio and First Act guitars.

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Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Chapter 1 The Essential Gear

1

Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Pro Tools M-Powered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Black Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 …Some More Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Studio Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Loop Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 2 The Audio Interface Explained

19

Signal Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 The Big Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Sampling Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Bit Depth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 I/O Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 USB and FireWire Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 1/4-Inch Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 XLR Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 MIDI In/Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Line Level Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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Contents

RCA Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 S/PDIF Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Audio Quality Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Signal-to-Noise Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Dynamic Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Total Harmonic Distortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Two for the Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 The Mix Knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Some Interfaces for the Guitarist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 FireWire 410 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 FireWire Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Fast Track Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Fast Track Ultra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Fast Track USB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 JamLab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Chapter 3 Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire

47

Optimizing Your Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Setting Up a Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Setting Up a PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Setting Up a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Authorizing Your iLok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Installing Your Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Making Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Hubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Getting Up and Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Playing a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Creating Your First Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Setting Up and Saving Your I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Creating Session Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Microphones: General Guidelines and Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Types of Microphones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Some Common Tech Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

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M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Miking Electric Guitars: Speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Miking Acoustic Guitars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Pro Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

Chapter 4 The Joys of Recording

91

Continuing to Create Your First Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Creating Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Naming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 The Click Track and the Countoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Assigning Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Getting Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Hitting the Red Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 How to Deal with Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 M-Powered Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Hardware Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Gotta Bounce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Save! Save! Save! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Chapter 5 The Black Box Revealed

129

Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Background Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Guitar Tone and the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Working with Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Copying Presets to and from the Black Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Saving Presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Sharing Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Editing Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Amp Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Beat-Synced Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Reverb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Contents

The Utility Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Processing Fixed Drum Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 External Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Momentary Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Expression Pedal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Assigning Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 The Black Box and Pro Tools M-Powered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Black Box Control Panel Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Opening a Black Box Session Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Setting Up an External MIDI Beat Clock from Pro Tools . . . . . . . 181 How the Black Box Conquers Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Multiple Input Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Recording Digitally Through S/PDIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Chapter 6 Face to (Inter)Face with Pro Tools M-Powered

191

Menu(s), Please . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Properly Introducing the Edit Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 The Anatomy of a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 The Track Control Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Additional Edit Window Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Track Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Time Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Time Scales and the Main and Sub Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 The Timeline Display Area and Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 The Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 The Edit Window Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 The Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 The Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 The Event Edit Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 The Transport Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Cursors and Related Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 The Playback Cursor and Timeline Selection Markers . . . . . . . . . 223 The Edit Cursor and Edit Selection Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 The Edit Window Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 The Side Columns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

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M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Meet the Mix Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 The Anatomy of a Channel Strip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 The Side Column and the Mix Groups List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 The Transport Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 The Transport Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 MIDI Transport Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Chapter 7 Editing 101 and Some M-Powered Empowerment

249

The Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Navigating the Edit Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Spot Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Slip Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Grid Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Shuffle Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 The Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Navigating the Edit Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Zoom Controls and Zoom Preset Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Zoomer Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Trim Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Selector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Grabber Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Scrubber Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Some Ruler View Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Memory Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Dynamic Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Some Recording Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Loop Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Punch Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Chapter 8 An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering

291

Leveling the Playing Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Initial Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Creating a Rough Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Clipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Creating Mix Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Introducing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Contents

Automation Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 Automation Enable Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 The Output Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Writing Automation in Real Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Automation Creation with the Pencil and Grabber Tools . . . . . . . 312 Examining Channel-Strip Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Plug-ins Exposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 The Anatomy of a Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 AudioSuite in Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 RTAS in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 Some Tech Terms to Know for the Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Signal Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Sends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Routing in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Gotta Bounce … Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Pump It Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 Power Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Chapter 9 Working with Loops

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Loops Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Slice and Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Importing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 Using the Workspace Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Searching for Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Auditioning Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 Dragging and Tempo Matching Loops to a Session . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Editing Loops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Duplicating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Crossfading Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Repeating Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 Extracting and Splicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Chapter 10 Working with MIDI

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MIDI Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 The Numbers Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

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128 Revealed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 Number Crunching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 0–127 Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 Some Common Tech Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381 Setting Up Your System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 The What, Why, and Where of Auxiliary, MIDI, and Instrument Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 The Who and How of Virtual Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 Xpand! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Calling Up Patches in Xpand! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 MIDI Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 Quantizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Editing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405 MIDI/Instrument Track Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406 Editing Tools Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Closing Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Appendix A: The Black Box Fixed Drumbeats

423

Appendix B: Black Box Tempo-Synced Speed Settings 425 The Black Box Tempo-Synced FX Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 The Black Box Tempo-Synced Delay Times. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Appendix C: The Black Box Controller Assignments

427

The Black Box Expression Pedal Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 The Black Box Momentary Foot Switch Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Appendix D: Transport Function Keyboard Shortcuts 429 Index

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Introduction Welcome to M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist, the official how-to on all things pertaining to digitally recording your six-string artistry. The book you are holding in your hands was passionately conceived and written by a true guitar zealot—me—with all the care in the world with regard to how we guitarists do what we do. I and M-Audio want nothing more than for you to learn how best to record your guitar-fueled antics, while staying true to whatever fretted ethos you may follow. Simply put, it’s not a coincidence that a guitar player wrote this book! Throughout this book we’re a team, and I’m the captain; so trust me, you’re in good hands. And not just my hands, but also in the good hands of Course Technology PTR and M-Audio. Course Technology PTR books were a huge part of my learning how to do all this, and I have stayed true to the methods contained in those books that I found so helpful in my own development. From step-by-step tutorials that are clearly laid out with helpful screen shots to downloadable content (sessions, sound files, presets, etc.) on the Web, the Course Technology PTR style is super-effective, and this book follows suit quite nicely if I do say so myself. And let’s not forget M-Audio.… M-Audio is a forward-thinking company that consistently aims high and scores big in the world of computer-centric audio production gear manufacturing without blowing a hole in your wallet. Starting in 1988 out of founding father Tim Ryan’s garage, M-Audio (originally called Midiman) quickly became a pioneering industry leader by providing musicians with innovative tools to make music in this digital world. From the Macman to the FireWire 410, from the Oxygen 8 to the latest Profire 2626, M-Audio has consistently striven (and succeeded) to create tools that make working in the digital realm feel right—and to a guitarist, that says volumes (more on this in a moment). Even better news for you and me is that M-Audio is making conscious efforts to reach out to our infamously fickle community with guitar-related designs that are at the forefront of technology, while at the same time are intuitive to use and just plain rock! We will explore these incredible pieces, as well as other fantastic M-Audio gear, throughout this book. From the mighty Pro Tools M-Powered to mobile audio interfaces and

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much, much more, we explore the ins and outs of modern-day audio and MIDI production. Now let’s talk a little about feel. We guitarists passionately love and hate many things. Let’s start with what we hate: We guitarists strongly dislike (hate is such a nasty word) anything that threatens our way of life and anything that inhibits the way something feels. Because when things feel right—like a great setup or a fast neck—we’re at the top of our game. To us, feel translates in the abstract form of sound. It’s no secret that guitarists are loyal to their analog (non-digital) gear, and rightfully so—it sounds great and has helped make possible some of the most incredible-sounding moments in recorded music for the last 80 years or so. Take the guitar itself: It’s an extremely tactile instrument that exudes sheer power and reeks of coolness. You can feel every note as the string vibrates under your fingertips. Couple that with a raging combo amp or a full stack on 10 and you have a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who has ever fretted an open E chord on a Les Paul and let loose a Pete Townsend style windmill powered by a cranked Marshall Plexi or chugged away on the low B string of an Ibanez Universe plugged into a smoldering Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier knows the feeling I’m talking about. Many guitarists shy away from recording nowadays because everything involved in the process has gone to hard disk and silicon chips. That’s a scary thought to a community that can be solely thanked for prolonging what is considered pre-historic technology: tubes. Be it the subject of modeling guitars, digitally controlled analog pedals, or MIDI-fied multi-channel amps, there’s much debate as to what’s good and bad about all of this digitized machinery. Well, as I stated previously, M-Audio consistently strives and succeeds to create tools that make working in the digital realm…feel…right. This is some good stuff, folks, and I’m here to tell you how to make the most of it! We guitarists love to get our hands dirty, usually tossing the manual out the window so we can get to what we love the most—to play. With that in mind, I conceived this book with the explicit intent to provide you, the reader and fellow guitarist, with the most direct path to learning how to be a functional recording guitarist. I made sure before you read even half the book to explain the key components to your emerging recording rig, guide you through setting up that rig, and walk you through recording your guitar genius and preparing it for worldwide release—all the while covering a truckload of M-Audio gear.

Who Are You? You are a guitarist of any level whose goal is to learn how to record your artistry in this modern digital world. You have more than basic knowledge as to what exactly is sitting on your lap (i.e. the guitar) and its various components (i.e., amps, pedal, and the like). You realize the days of tape-based recording media

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are long behind us and that you need to learn how to record your music with your computer and other related peripherals. Speaking of your computer: You have ample knowledge as to how to control it. That is, you have enough computer savvy to be considered an intermediate user. Plugging components in and out, installing software, and making minor system adjustments are not tasks new to you. Most importantly, you have creativity, ideas, and vision—all the goods to make this completely awesome thing we call music!

Who Am I? I am you. Like you, I eat, sleep, live, and breathe the guitar. I teach, I do too many gigs to ever have a normal sleep schedule, I collect pedals, I read guitar magazines, I love Van Halen; I could keep going—trust me, I am you. Knowing that, trust in this: I wrote the book I wish someone else had written when I was learning this stuff. I wrote a book for the type of guitarist who desires—wait, make that demands—to know it what it takes to get things rolling so as to best utilize what it is they have with which to express their genius. Like you, I love to play the guitar and that’s exactly what I did while writing this book: I played and/or programmed every note you hear in the sessions you will soon be downloading and opening. I’m also what some call a hustler, a go-getter, a pro-active type who is constantly creating his own world (i.e., gigs, bands, compositions, lesson material). I realized early on you have to make your own way in this business, and one of the most important tools you’ll need to accomplish that is knowledge. Lo and behold, this book is packed with just that—knowledge!

How This Book Is Organized M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist was precisely organized in a way that gets you right to the heart of the matter—recording—as quickly as possible. Instead of starting out with loads of information about what is going to happen, we go right into how to make it happen while examining why it happens as you go along. When the time is right, then you will be directed to geek out what more can happen. Here’s a rundown of the chapters and what’s inside them: n

Chapter 1, “The Essential Gear.” This chapter starts things off with a Guitar Center–style blast to your senses that introduces you to loads of delicious MAudio gear, as well as other essential components, that will make up your new guitar-centric digital production rig. Even in this introductory chapter, you’ll find loads of important information, as well as shout-outs indicating where a lot of this preliminary knowledge will be expanded upon.

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Chapter 2, “The Audio Interface Explained.” Here’s where I reach out to the inner geek who spends hours talking about scale systems comprised of components named after Greek islands by carefully explaining central

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component to recording your guitar in the digital realm: the audio interface. Understanding the essential properties of an audio interface not only introduces you to the basic ins and outs of digital recording, but also how to effectively produce outstanding music with your guitar and your computer. From I/O to signal-to-noise ratio to THD, I take you on a deep journey that ends with an in-depth look at some M-Audio interfaces to watch out for. n

Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire.” Putting aside any further ado, this chapter directs you to rip open the boxes of whatever M-Audio product you may have purchased and start building your empire of creation in both the hardware and software realms. You are directed to get your hands dirty by plugging in wires, getting acquainted with Pro Tools M-Powered, and setting up clever microphone configurations, not to mention checking out a full-blown session (Power 3) that is loaded with a plethora of guitar antics. You’ll also learn how to best prepare your computer (Mac and/or PC) for the rigors of audio production. There’s even a section dedicated to optimizing your most important piece of gear: your axe!

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Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording.” Now it’s time to create some tracks, get a signal, and start recording your magnum opus. This chapter puts you right into the thick of recording real-world guitar tones via the M-Audio FireWire 410 receiving miked amp signals from the M-Audio Sputnik and then having your session readied for worldwide release! Not only do you learn about recording and transferring your session to a medium everyone else can work with, you learn about what latency is and how to conquer it, you get introduced to various components of the Pro Tools interface, and you discover how to properly save your work. Also, there are tips from iconic guitarists like Steve Lukather and Peter Stroud and the beginnings of a session (Chopper Genesis) that you will watch develop in later chapters.

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Chapter 5, “The Black Box Revealed.” Shifting gears, this chapter introduces you to the exciting new worlds of digital modeling, beat-synced processing, and direct recording with DSP through the only guitar effects processor that’s also a qualified interface for Pro Tools M-Powered: the award-winning M-Audio Black Box. Nowhere will you find a more thorough user-derived glimpse into this amazingly versatile unit. I take you through every nook and cranny of the Black Box, covering every button, knob, and port while at the same time discussing secondary hardware components that can be added to externally control the unit. After that, I show you how to integrate the Black Box with Pro Tools M-Powered with some useful tricks of the trade along the way. And if that weren’t enough, there are presets from myself and fellow M-audio artists Vernon Reid and Rusty Cooley on the Course Technology PTR

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Web site (http://courseptr.cengage.com/downloads), waiting for you to download and rock out with! n

Chapter 6, “Face to (Inter)Face with Pro Tools M-Powered.” This chapter pops the hood of your M-Powered machine so you can take a good look at what’s going on in there. Here you explore the two main windows in Pro Tools M-Powered (Edit and Mix), as well as an essential floating window (Transport), by examining every last component of this intuitive graphic user interface. In addition, some basic but monumentally important concepts are laid out for you, such as how M-Powered handles time and its use of multiple cursors. Along the way you’ll pick up some tips on how to customize the look and functions of various M-Powered attributes.

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Chapter 7, “Editing 101 and Some M-Powered Empowerment.” Chapter 6 provides you with a firm grasp of the power that you have available to you in Pro Tools M-Powered; in Chapter 7, you learn how to actually use it. The first half of the chapter guides you through step-by-step tutorials on how to use edit modes and edit tools in M-Powered. From there it’s time to empower yourself with some advanced navigational tools and recording techniques. Keep an eye out for another tip from guitar czar Steve Lukather, and a very clever tip from guitar architect Vernon Reid.

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Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering.” This chapter introduces the supreme arts of mixing and mastering your recordings, making them sound like you created them in a million-dollar studio even though you may actually be in your basement or bedroom. Here you learn how to make Pro Tools work for you (automation) and the wonderful and extremely powerful world of computer-based effect processing (plug-ins), including Digidesign’s incredible hyper-modeling amp simulator Eleven. Before this chapter closes shop there’s a tip from modern guitar marvel Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.

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Chapter 9, “Working with Loops.” Just as important as it is to learn how to record your guitar digitally, it’s equally important to learn how to work with audio loops. These compact audio files can work wonders in your workflow. This is the chapter where you not only find out how to implement loops into your production flow, but also the basic principles as to what loops are. Also in this chapter is an introduction to what is regarded as the third essential window in Pro Tools: the Workspace browser.

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Chapter 10, “Working with MIDI.” If you don’t know what MIDI is beyond being a tool to for switching channels on your amplifier, then this chapter will be an epiphany! From discussing fundamental principles to uncovering common misconceptions, this chapter lays it all out. After you are introduced to MIDI in a general way, you are directed on how to set up your MIDI gear

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through the eyes of the M-Audio Oxygen 8 v2 MIDI controller and how to implement MIDI into your sessions. You will be introduced to Digidesign’s free MIDI workstation, Xpand!, and how to record and edit with it to make your guitar recordings fully realized works of art. In chapters 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10, you will be directed to the Course Technology PTR Web site to download content to coincide with each chapter. It’s important to get these downloads, as this allows you to really get inside the material presented to you. Besides, there are myriad guitar moments that will surely bring a smile to your face!

From Pro Tools 7.3 to 7.4… One thing to realize about technology is that it moves fast. (To some this may be the understatement of the century, but to others this could be a revelation.) So fast, in fact, that while I was writing this book there was a significant version update to the main software application—Pro Tools M-Powered—used throughout the text. So if you’re noticing some slight differences in the graphics on your screen compared to the screen shots in the book, this is why. To be clear, this update does not affect any of the information laid out in the book, so fret not!

Mac versus PC While many households have a Windows (Microsoft’s operating system) personal computer (PC) made by one of the various manufacturers out there, many people own Apple brand (Mac) computers instead. While I primarily use a Mac for all audio applications and used several models throughout the creation of this book, PC users will be able to use this book just as effectively. Throughout this book there are many references to keyboard shortcuts, and in every instance they are presented for both computer platforms. Also abundant in this book is the use of screen shots. While the lion’s share is from a Macintosh computer, the images are almost identical to what you will see on a PC. Whenever there are matters that have a distinct difference between the two platforms, I made it clear in the text as to what those differences are and how to proceed. In the end, M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist was written for both Mac and PC users; rest assured, both groups will gain equal benefit from this book.

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The Essential Gear

here’s no better way to introduce a guitarist to the world of digital audio production than to start off talking about every guitarist’s favorite subject—gear!

This chapter takes a quick look at the essential gear that will be used throughout this book. Many of the components are included in the Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro software/hardware bundle. This all-in-one package features Pro Tools M-Powered software, the Black Box audio interface and digital sound processor, and much more; but most importantly, it’s a package that was specifically designed for the guitar player who wants in on the digital audio action. While this bundle is by no means the only piece of gear M-Audio produces that would be useful to the recording guitarist, it is a great start to building a guitar-focused audio-production rig. Be sure to visit M-Audio’s Web site (http://www.m-audio.com) for a look at its full line of gear and for product support, including up-to-date software upgrades and much more.

Take note: Even when another audio interface (i.e., a hardware device central to your emerging recording rig that is used for, among other things, converting your guitar’s voltage-based output signal into a digital code the computer can understand and converting that information back to a voltage-based state your speakers or headphones will then transmit to you for monitoring) is featured, such as the FireWire 410 used throughout Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording,” you will be able to perform many of the same tasks on the Black Box and always be able to perform all the Pro Tools–related tasks. The idea is this: If you were reading this book and you had nothing to record with, there would be a central piece(s) of gear discussed in which you could make a safe 1

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investment, therefore enabling a scenario in which you can get the most out of this text. To add to that idea, the Guitar Box bundles were purposely designed to suit a guitar player’s needs, and I for one believe it does so very well! As you read subsequent chapters in this book, you will uncover more detailed information about the gear described here, while being introduced to other pieces of gear as well. Although much attention to detail will be given to the gear throughout the book, what you will not find is a list of specs unless it directly benefits your learning experience. Instead, you will find information on how to understand those specs and be able to use that knowledge to your advantage.

Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro Sometimes what keeps guitarists—and most anyone else, for that matter—from getting into digital audio and recording is the initial investment. Because it balances functionality and value, the Guitar Box software/hardware bundle merits some serious consideration if you are looking into building a home digital-recording setup. Being mindful of offering the most for your hard-earned money, this package is the first Pro Tools all-in-one recording system designed specifically for guitarists, featuring the following: n

Pro Tools M-Powered digital audio/MIDI music-production software

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The Black Box audio interface and digital sound processing unit featuring amp models, beat synced effects, and pre-programmed drum loops (see Chapter 5, “The Black Box Revealed,” for more information about these features)

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A massive collection of pro-level plug-ins (plug-ins are internal software processors and will be talked about throughout Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering,” and Chapter 10, “Working with MIDI”) from DigiRack and Bomb Factory, as well as a collection of premium plug-ins that make up the G-Rack bundle

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The Xpand! virtual instrument sample-playback/synthesis workstation featuring more than 1,000 presets (see Chapter 10 for more information)

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Pro Tools Method One DVD

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This entire package comes at a price that’s far below what it would cost to purchase each of these components separately. The Guitar Box Pro in particular, shown in Figure 1.1, significantly ups the value, adding even more premium plug-ins to the G-Rack bundle. Let’s take a quick look at what makes up the Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro.

Figure 1.1 The Guitar Box Pro gives you a powerful recording system right out of the box for a fraction of the cost it would be to purchase its components separately.

Pro Tools M-Powered Pro Tools is the software application for recording, editing, and mixing audio/MIDI projects on either a Macintosh (referred to as Mac throughout the book) or Windows (referred to as PC throughout the book) computer. Originally conceived by Digidesign, Pro Tools was one of the first digital audio workstations (DAWs) to emerge; with its powerful processing engine and relatively low learning curve, it quickly established itself as the industry standard. Pro Tools M-Powered is one of three configurations currently available and features virtually the same graphical user interface (GUI) as its Digidesign counterpart versions, Pro Tools LE and the mighty Pro Tools HD. (The main difference between the three versions is what outboard gear each application version is compatible with.) That means when you learn one version of Pro Tools, you basically know them all. Another valuable compatibility feature is that you can

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transfer sessions between all three versions without a glitch. So regardless of what version you’re using, it’s possible to take, say, a homestudio session and transfer the files to a fully capable professional recording facility. For example, the first Pro Tools session I ever opened on my M-Powered setup at home was originally recorded at Studio A at Berklee College of Music on a Pro Tools j HD rig. Pro Tools is used all over the world; by joining this global community, you can collaborate with other musicians anywhere on the planet and realize music creation like you’ve never dreamed. A standout attribute to Pro Tools M-Powered is that it offers 23 hardware audio interfaces (covered in detail in Chapter 2, “The Audio Interface Explained”) from which to choose, providing a wide variety of options to suit virtually any user’s specific needs and budget. All you have to see is the M-Powered logo (see Figure 1.2) on the interface’s packaging, and you know it’s M-Powered compatible.

Figure 1.2 To be sure the audio interface you’re looking at is compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered, look for the “bug” on the box. If it’s there, you’re good to go.

iLok

Not the most glamorous part of your rig, but essential nonetheless, is the iLok (see Figure 1.3). This USB security device comes with Pro Tools M-Powered and enables the application to ensure you have valid software licenses to run M-Powered and all the third-party plug-ins. You will always need to know the whereabouts of this easily lost key-shaped piece of plastic; without it, you can’t even open up Pro Tools M-Powered, let alone use it!

Mac or PC? You don’t have to worry about the platform on which you plan to run your Pro Tools M-Powered rig. It’s both Mac and PC compatible and performs equally well on both.

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Figure 1.3 The USB iLok security device holds your license key for Pro Tools M-Powered as well as all your third-party plug-ins.

Black Box The Black Box (shown in Figure 1.4) is an award-winning audio interface and, in general, a standout piece of hardware for guitarists of all styles. Boasting a wide variety of amp models (40 in all), 121 beatsynced effects courtesy of Roger Linn (designer of the Adrenalinn and Adrenalinn II), and 100 pre-programmed drum patterns, this is the only hardware unit that combines digital sound processing (DSP) with an audio interface for computer-based recording in one box that is compatible with Pro Tools of any kind. Because the Black Box can also be used as a performance tool, it’s possible to have the same exact tones you used for your session be able to go with you to the gig. For me, the most important feature that the Black Box offers is its ability to deliver nearly zero latency (more on that, see Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire”) as you monitor the actual tone you’re recording. If you’re brand new to desktop recording, you will soon come to understand and appreciate this feature. For those of you who just can’t wait to dive into the Black Box, jump over to Chapter 5

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M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Figure 1.4 The Black Box is the only audio interface that is equally a performance tool with its amp models, beat synced effects, and pre-programmed drum patterns.

to explore the power, versatility, and ease of use this multi-purpose interface has to offer. Plug-ins Think of plug-ins as your virtual pedals and/or rack gear (take a look at the Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter plug-in in Figure 1.5 for an example). Plug-ins are secondary software programs that can be accessed only within a host program—in this case, Pro Tools. They provide a means for additional effects processing and can be used in every step of your project: tracking, editing, mixing, and mastering. Standalone Plug-ins Some plug-ins may offer a standalone version that allows it to be opened and utilized without a host program such as Pro Tools. This is common with virtual instrument plug-ins (known as soft synths) such as the M-Audio–distributed GForce Virtual String Machine, for example.

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Figure 1.5 The Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter is one of four Moogerfooger pedals modeled and developed into a plug-in format.

In Pro Tools, there are two main types of plug-ins: n

AudioSuite. These are process-based programs that create an entirely new audio file and are only accessed through the AudioSuite drop-down menu from the main toolbar in Pro Tools.

n

Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS). These are real-time applications— like rocking a wah pedal back and forth—and are only accessed through channel inserts in tracks in both the Pro Tools Edit and Mix windows (the two main views in Pro Tools).

If you’re brand new to this end of audio processing, don’t worry. Plugins are covered in Chapter 8 and Chapter 10. In the meantime, check

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out the following lists to see what’s inside Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro, and get ready to salivate! Following are Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro DigiRack plug-ins: n

1-Band EQ

n

4-Band EQ

n

Chorus

n

Click

n

Compressor

n

D-Verb

n

DC Offset Removal

n

Delay

n

DeEsser

n

DigiReWire

n

Dither

n

Duplicate

n

Dynamics II

n

Dynamics III

n

EQ II

n

EQ III

n

Expander-Gate

n

Extra-Long Delay

n

Flanger

n

Gain

n

Gate

n

Invert-Duplicate

n

Limiter

n

Long Delay

Ch apter 1

n

Medium Delay

n

Mod Delay

n

Mod Delay II

n

Multi-Tap Delay

n

Normalize-Gain Change

n

Ping-Pong Delay

n

Pitch-Shift

n

Reverse-DC Removal

n

Short Delay

n

Signal Generator

n

Slap Delay

n

Time Compression-Expansion-Pitch Shift

n

Trim

The Essential Gear

Following are Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro Bomb Factory plug-ins: n

BF76 Compressor

n

BF Essential Clip Remover

n

BF Essential Correlation Meter

n

BF Essential Noise Meter

n

BF Essential Tuner

n

Funk Logic Mastererizer

Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro G-Rack plug-ins (plug-ins with an asterisk [*] are included in the Guitar Box Pro only) include the following: n

DINR LE Intelligent Noise Reduction *

n

Fairchild 660 (modeled vintage tube compressor) *

n

Fairchild 670 (modeled vintage tube compressor) *

n

Maxim (mastering limiter and sound level maximizer) *

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M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

n

Moogerfooger Analog Delay

n

Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter

n

Moogerfooger Phaser

n

Moogerfooger Ring Modulator

n

Pultec EQP-1A (modeled vintage tube EQ) *

n

Pultec EQH-2 (modeled vintage tube EQ) *

n

Pultec MEQ-5 (modeled vintage tube EQ) *

n

SansAmp PSA-1 (modeled amps and cabinets)

n

Tel-Ray Variable Delay

n

TL Space Native Edition Convolution Reverb

n

Voce Chorus/Vibrato

n

Voce Spin (modeled Leslie cab)

…Some More Gear With Pro Tools M-Powered, the Black Box, and the copious amount of plug-ins the Guitar Box bundles offer, you have nearly everything you need to start recording right out of the, well, the box. Technically, all you would need is a pair of headphones and a 1/4-inch cable and you’re ready to rock (all M-Audio products, if necessary, come with their corresponding cables to connect to the computer and/or other hardware). As you begin to learn your way around Pro Tools and gain more knowledge about audio/MIDI production, however, you will quickly see that there are a few more pieces of gear on the “essentials” list. Following are some pieces that are not included in Guitar Box or Guitar Box Pro, but should be strongly considered when thinking about your next acquisition as you build your guitar-recording rig. But Wait…There’s More! I could list many pieces of gear outside the Guitar Box bundles that are important to have if you want the ultimate guitar production studio, but I don’t want to overload you or make you think you can’t make music if you don’t have the latest and greatest such-and-such.

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Studio Monitors During the recording process, you’ll need to play back your session many times over and intently listen to every detail, especially during the mixing and mastering stages. To effectively do that, you’ll need a pair of studiograde active (powered) monitors such as the affordable Studiophile BX5a shown in Figure 1.6. The BX5a monitors offer some distinct advantages over passive or consumer-grade monitors, like the ones that come with your computer, such as built-in power amps that are designed to work in a tuned system. This means both the high- and low-frequency drivers have their own dedicated power amp and, moreover, are only sent the frequencies they are meant to deliver. Also, because most of you starting out will have limited space to put your studio together, every inch of your workspace will count; fortunately, the BX5a pair is a compact monitoring system that produces 70 watts of bi-amped power with magnetically shielded domes to prevent any unwanted electromagnetic waves that could adversely affect your computer’s monitor.

Figure 1.6 Delivering 70-watts of bi-amped power in an affordable, compact package, the Studiophile BX5a reference monitors are a great asset to any studio setup.

Headphones I mentioned earlier that you’ll definitely need some headphones for your rig. Headphones, such as the M-Audio Q40 closed-back dynamic

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Figure 1.7 The M-Audio Studiophile Q40 headphones deliver a full frequency response due to superior design and construction that includes sealed backings, extra-large drivers, and vented diaphragms.

set seen in Figure 1.7, offer you the ability to tune out any outside noise when you need to finely tune in to your session at any stage (not to mention isolate your session from any people with whom you may be sharing a living space). Whatever pair of headphones you obtain, your “cans” should be lightweight and comfortable (a very big deal during marathon sessions) but strong enough to withstand the rigors of travel and constant use. Most importantly, they need to clearly deliver the fullfrequency spectrum (especially in the low-frequency range), which is determined by the size and construction of the headphones. Going back to the Q40’s, for example, they feature sealed backings that totally surround your ears, providing substantial isolation for acute monitoring, and extra-large 40mm drivers designed to deliver extended bass response. Another option is M-Audio’s IE series in-ear monitors (see Figure 1.8). These pint-sized personal monitors are perfect for on-thego types, as they offer superior sonic delivery without compromise. Microphones When on a session with producer Neil Dorfsman of Sting and Dire Straits fame, I asked him who or what was responsible for that unforgettable guitar tone on Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.” I was waiting to hear about some sort of amp mod Pete Cornish may have done or a version of a fuzz pedal only Neil and Hendrix owned. To my surprise, his answer focused mainly on mic placement! To some engineers, all you need to record great-sounding guitar tracks is a good room and the right

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Figure 1.8 The IE-30 in-ear monitors deliver a wide frequency response curve and plenty of headroom in a light and compact enclosure.

microphone placed in just the right spot. In the world of digital audio, this still holds true; when combined with a great-sounding interface, all you have to focus on is the most important aspect of any guitar recording scenario: your playing. Chapter 4 goes into mic placement so you can get the best possible–sounding tracks right from the start. Figures 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, and 1.12 show four M-Audio condenser mics you should keep in mind when starting to amass your arsenal of microphones.

Figure 1.9 Nova is a great-sounding large-capsule cardioid condenser mic with a low price. It’s great for the entry-level recording guitarist.

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Figure 1.10 Luna is also a large-capsule cardioid condenser mic. It features vintage styling coupled with modern electronics.

Figure 1.11 Solaris is a large-capsule multi-pattern condenser mic that delivers exceptional sensitivity.

Figure 1.12 Sputnik is M-Audio’s affordable answer to a vacuum tube microphone’s normally high price. This large-capsule condenser mic features multiple polar patterns and an evaporated gold Mylar diaphragm and comes with its own power supply.

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MIDI Controllers MIDI is not just a name for a method to navigate a switching system for complex amplifier and/or effects setups. It’s a computer protocol language and powerful tool for music creation and automation that enables guitarists to produce completed works on their own. No modern studio is complete without at least one MIDI controller close by to control software synthesizer programs, enter MIDI commands for MIDI sequencing, and much more. In Chapter 10 you will dive into MIDI sequencing with the Oxygen 8 v2, pictured in Figure 1.13.

Figure 1.13 The Oxygen 8 v2 is a simple yet feature-packed MIDI controller, perfect for the MIDI newbie.

Loop Libraries As you learn more about recording and editing digital audio, you will quickly find the need for loops. Loops are pre-recorded audio or selections of audio, usually in short durations such as two-, four-, or eightbar lengths, that are designed to be played repeatedly. They can be used for such purposes as quickly arranging a sequence of drum loops for recording song ideas on the fly all the way to full-blown compositions consisting of multiple loops of any kind.

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One of the keys to effectively using loops is to have a lot of them! Well, you’re in luck. M-Audio produces a wide range of Loop Library collections (see Figure 1.14) for you to choose from. Loop files come in a variety of formats (covered in Chapter 9, “Working with Loops”), and you should familiarize yourself with all of them.

Figure 1.14 The Pro Sessions Loop Libraries offer loops in myriad settings in a variety of file formats.

Hard Drives About as glamorous as the USB iLok security device that comes standard with Pro Tools M-Powered, a secondary hard drive is a highly recommended addition to your emerging rig. Digidesign recommends running any of the three versions of Pro Tools on one hard drive, like the one where your operating system (OS) resides, and recording your tracks to a second hard drive dedicated for recording and storing audio

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only. Besides taxing your computer’s resources to the max when recording and mixing complex sessions, another reason you should seriously consider a second hard drive is raw audio (uncompressed) eats a lot of hard drive space and fast. When looking into a hard drive, or if you have any other questions about system requirements, be sure to check the Digidesign Web site (http://www.digidesign.com/compato).

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The Audio Interface Explained

I

t’s hard to say one piece of gear is more important than another or that one singular component is the most important in your guitarproduction rig, but when it comes to your audio interface, it is at the very least of the utmost importance you have one! First and foremost, without a qualified M-Audio Pro Tools M-Powered–compatible audio interface, you cannot open Pro Tools M-Powered. Now don’t think for one second an audio interface is some arbitrary piece of gear used for unlocking a software application like the iLok. The interface is where all your audio and MIDI passes through at various times, and it’s important you understand how an interface works and what all its features can do for you. With this knowledge you can best decide what interface will suit your needs and afford you the best possible recording experience so you can get down to making your music. In this chapter you will explore the workings of an audio interface from signal path to its main components and I/O. If you feel like some of the sections are getting a little dense, it’s okay—they are. Read them anyway. Then, as you progress with your production studies, go back and read them again and again until you fully understand the concepts. Also, don’t be afraid to experiment with these concepts on your own—that’s the best way for them to really sink in. Even if you have some basic knowledge of what an interface does, you will find some deeper information here that will surely be useful.

Forever the Student I find that reading different points of view on a subject broadens my understanding of the subject at hand. For a deeper understanding of, say, sampling rate, bit depth, or any

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other topics pertaining to digital audio and recording, be proactive and read everything you can get your hands on. Knowledge is definitely power when dealing with audio.

Signal Path Your interface acts as the central pathway for all the audio sent to and from your computer. If you’re a little confused, that’s understandable. We guitarists have always dealt with audio, specifically the guitar’s signal path, in one direction (unidirectional)—like a one-way street, as shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Most guitarists deal with signal path in unidirectional configurations much like the common guitar-pedal-amp scenario pictured here.

Signal path that involves a computer and an interface, however, is a two-way street (bi-directional), with audio traveling from your guitar to the interface (either by way of a miked amplifier or directly—more on both approaches in Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording” and Chapter 5, “The Black Box Revealed,” respectively) into the computer on one lane, and then the recorded audio being sent out of the computer on another lane back to the interface, out to your studio monitors for playback (see Figure 2.2). Another new concept is that the lanes to which I refer actually exist within one cable. Audio interfaces connect to your computer either by a USB or by a FireWire cable, both of which are designed to transfer data to and from your computer bi-directionally.

Chapter 2

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Figure 2.2 As it relates to audio recording with a computer and an interface, signal path will now be in bi-directional configurations such as the setup shown here.

Internal Affairs Throughout the book, we will deal with external interfaces connecting by either USB or FireWire. But did you know audio interfaces actually started out as internal components? Prolevel audio interfaces of all types evolved from the simplistic designs of soundcards that come standard with any new computer. M-Audio produces several high-quality internal audio interfaces like the Delta, Audiophile, and Revolution series peripheral component interconnect (PCI) cards. PCI cards are physically affixed to your computer tower and connect directly into its motherboard.

The Big Three That brings us to the heart of the matter: data—digital data, that is. It is in your interface that your precious analog tone is converted to digital audio in the form of a computer language called binary (0s and 1s— more on that in the “Bit Depth” section later in this chapter) and converted back to analog for playback through whatever method of monitoring you employ. Many factors play a part in this conversion process, but none are more important than what I like to call the “big three”: converters, sampling rate, and bit depth. Let’s take a moment to you get you up to speed with these essentials. The better you understand them, the better your decision-making will

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be in choosing an interface—not to mention the fact that you’ll also be more productive and receptive when communicating with other artists about sessions in general. Keep in mind that these explanations are meant to educate you on these subjects in a brief yet informative manner. There are many more in-depth books and online resources available on these topics; I encourage you to seek them out to best understand these core principles. Converters At the heart of any interface are the converters. These are the circuits that actually perform the conversion of the audio from analog to digital (ADC, A/D, A to D) for recording and back from digital to analog (DAC, D/A, D to A) for playback. The essence of the conversion process is this: Incoming streams of voltages (i.e., analog audio) are read, measured, and captured as a series of data (a.k.a. a sample) at fixed time intervals (that is, the sampling rate). Because the time from one episode of sampling to another is fixed, the main factor that separates one converter from another is its ability to keep time during that process. An internal clock designed for this purpose does this task. The quality of that clock can be an important factor in the interface’s price point. If there are any frequency (sample timing) drifts in the clocking process, then data errors occur—in effect ruining the data (i.e., your music!). Sampling Rate Expressed in hertz (Hz), the sampling rate is the number of times an analog signal (i.e., your guitar signal) is captured and measured per second by the aforementioned converter. This partly contributes to the quality of the most important of the two conversion processes: analog to digital. Basically, the more times your guitar signal is looked at and sampled by the converter, the better picture the converter sends to be recorded digitally. The better your recorded audio is, the more accurate the playback of what it is you recorded will be. The standard sampling rate is 44.1kHz, which means the incoming audio is sampled 44,100 times a second! Although sampling rates can vary and be as high as 192kHz (used in recording audio for DVDs), the 44.1kHz standard is what consumer-level CD players can play back at. It’s also the rate at which all session files in this book will be presented.

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Bit Depth I said the sampling rate was partly responsible for the quality of the conversion from analog to digital. The other side of the story is the bit depth. After the data has been measured and captured by the converter at whatever the interface’s sampling-rate capability is (or is set to by the DAW, if you have options), that data is then converted into a numerical language your computer understands called binary. Binary is a series of number streams comprised only of 0s and 1s, and each of those digits is called a bit. Those number streams, often called digital or data words, are made up of groups of eight bits (called bytes). Going back to the subject of conversion, the more bits available, the more accurately the information can be conveyed, and in this case, the more depth the digital representation of the analog audio possesses. Interfaces currently feature bit depths of 16- or 24-bits.

Don’t Byte Off More than You Can Chew! Although high sampling rates and bit depths help to improve the quality of your recordings, they also produce larger files sizes, consuming more hard-drive space and putting a higher load on your CPU—taking up much needed processing power. As your projects grow, so will the need for larger hard-drive space and a more powerful computer.

I/O Defined I/O stands for input and output. It’s the series of connections on the interface that receives (inputs) and distributes (outputs) all incoming and outgoing audio and MIDI to and from the computer. (It’s the two-way street thing, remember?) The two main factors in any I/O scheme are as follows: n

The total number of inputs and outputs

n

The types of connections

When choosing an interface, you’ll want to make sure the interface has connections (sockets and/or ports) that are compatible with the hardware (mics, MIDI controllers, your guitar, etc.) you wish to connect to it.

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The amount of I/O is often expressed in an abbreviated fashion reminiscent of how a Home Depot guy would describe a stud. For instance, the FireWire 410’s I/O would be described as 4  10. The number on the left refers to the input, and the number on the right refers to the output. In terms of the left (input) number, it’s important to know that it refers to the total simultaneous inputs and not the total physical ports available on the interface (this is discussed in more detail in the “FireWire 410” section later in this chapter). In order to determine the best I/O situation for you, you have to know what all the connections mean! USB and FireWire Connections Universal serial bus (USB) and FireWire (officially known as IEEE 1394 and also seen as Sony’s version, i.Link) are two types of ports that are used to transfer data between a computer and a peripheral hardware device that is communicating with it. This is usually the most apparent specification of any external audio interface; in fact, it sometimes appears in the name, like in M-Audio’s Fast Track USB or FireWire 410. The icons shown in Figures 2.3 and 2.4 represent each type of connection and are always displayed somewhere on the packaging.

Figure 2.3 Look for this icon when searching for hardware with USB connectivity.

Figure 2.4 Look for this icon when searching for hardware with FireWire connectivity.

Is one better than the other? Considering USB 2.0 (second generation to the original and slower USB 1.1) and FireWire run at an almost even pace (480Mbps for USB 2.0 and 400Mbps for FireWire), it’s more about what kind of connections your computer has. If you have both USB and FireWire, then it’s a matter of what connections the

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other pieces of hardware in your rig have. For instance, a typical setup on an Apple MacBook Pro laptop is one USB port on both the left and right sides and a lone FireWire port on the right side. If you’re using an external FireWire hard drive, and considering that the iLok is a USB connection, your only choice without using a hub is a USB interface.

FireWire Types There are three types of FireWire ports: 4-pin, 6-pin (both referred to as FireWire 400), and 9-pin (referred to as FireWire 800). The 6-pin configuration is the most common type because it allows the interface to be bus powered (see the next section), while the less-common 4-pin version does not provide power through the cable. To remedy the 4-pin power scenario, all M-Audio FireWire interfaces come with a power supply (wall wart) and a 6-pin (from the interface) to 4-pin (to the computer) FireWire cable. As for the 9-pin standard, it hasn’t been integrated into any audio interface designs as of yet because the FireWire 400 transfer rate (400 Mbps) is currently sufficient for these types of multi-channel applications.

Bus Power

In signal routing, the term bus refers to a path on which a signal travels. In Pro Tools, this term is used to describe the virtual patch bay that exists to connect channel strips. (You’ll learn about channel strips in Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering.”) In this case, the signal being transferred, or bussed, is power, and the recipient is the interface. Some interfaces can run on power that the computer to which it’s connected provides through the connecting USB or FireWire cable. This is an important feature to look for if you plan to build a mobile recording rig or just want the option of taking your rig on the road if the occasion should arise. 1/4-Inch Input and Output The plug on the end of your guitar cable is 1/4-inch (6.35 mm) in diameter—hence the 1/4-inch cable moniker. When a socket is denoted as such, it’s referring to a female 1/4-inch socket or jack that is used to connect cables with male 1/4-inch plugs for input and/or output

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purposes. If you want to plug your guitar directly into an audio interface to record, the interface has to be equipped with a 1/4-inch input as seen in Figure 2.5. Don’t worry—most M-Powered–compatible interfaces feature 1/4-inch in and outs. In fact, they are used for myriad applications like main outs to your monitors, inserts for connecting external hardware effects, or an output for headphones (see Figure 2.6). When dealing with 1/4-inch anything, there are three letters that you will see over and over again: TRS.

1/4-Inch Output for Headphones

1/4-Inch Input for Your Guitar

Figure 2.5 The M-Audio Black Box features a 1/4-inch instrument input for your guitar and a 1/4-inch output for headphones.

Figure 2.6 This is a tip ring sleeve (TRS)–style plug used for balanced connections, routing stereo signals, and bi-directional inserts.

Instrument to Line Level Inputs The 1/4-inch inputs on any audio interface into which your guitar is meant to be plugged are known as instrument or instrument level inputs, which are specifically designed for this purpose. With that said, it’s important to note those same inputs may double as line or line level inputs for line level gear like keyboards or drum machines. In this case, there will be a button or switch labeled accordingly that enables you to toggle between the two modes. If a 1/4-inch input is not set up to accept

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instrument level signals, the audio from your guitar will be low and sound very thin. If this seems a little cloudy, don’t worry; this concept is covered more clearly in the “Line Level Input and Output” section later in this chapter.

TRS: Balanced Connection, Inserts, and Stereo Outputs

Let’s start with TRS, which stands for tip ring sleeve. Often misunderstood, this is a type of 1/4-inch socket that can be used for both input and output purposes. A TRS socket and plug (see Figure 2.6) work on a three-conductor configuration. This is in contrast to the TS (tip sleeve) configuration, which is a two-conductor setup (see Figure 2.7). Although you can’t tell a TRS socket from a TS without it being labeled, you can easily tell the difference in the plugs. Looking at the TRS plug in Figure 2.6, you can see there’s a second insulating ring partitioning the cylindrical portion of the plug to make the ring.

Figure 2.7 This is a tip sleeve (TS)–style plug used for routing mono signals and unbalanced connections.

TRS connections have several useful applications. With regards to an audio interface, TRS connections are primarily used to provide a balanced connection. The two active conductors—tip and ring—are both used to transfer a mono signal, but the ring’s polarity is reversed and not heard. By inverting the polarity on the ring (also known as negative or cold), you cancel out unwanted noise on the signal passing through the tip (also known as positive or hot) that may be caused by using long cables and/or when cables are exposed to noisy electrical fields. A TS connection, in contrast, provides an unbalanced connection, which simply means that with the absence of the ring (not to be confused with the black insulating ring that separates the tip from the sleeve), only one signal is transferred with no precautions for potential noise. Table 2.1 provides another view.

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Table 2.1 1/4-inch Jack Plug Signal Distribution Configuration Section

Balanced

Unbalanced

Tip

Normal polarity (hot or positive)

Signal

Ring

Inverted polarity (cold or negative)

N/A

Sleeve

Ground

Ground

Back to the two-way street analogy, TRS connectors can be wired to distribute two separate signals in two different directions to facilitate an effects loop that uses a single 1/4-inch socket, usually called an insert (as shown on the Fast Track Pro in Figure 2.8). This is done with a specific cable called a Y cable (see Figure 2.9). Just like an effects loop

Figure 2.8 These two 1/4-sockets, labeled as inserts, on the rear panel of a Fast Track Pro are wired so that two separate signals (send and return) can be sent to and from the interface, creating an effects loop with just one port. This would require a Y cable, which is made up of a single TRS plug on one end (plugged into the single insert port of the interface) and two TS plugs on the other end (plugged into the input and output of the device being connected to the interface).

Figure 2.9 1/4-inch TRS sockets can also be used to output stereo signals for headphone monitoring.

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on a guitar amp, there’s a send (tip) and return (ring), but this time it’s handled by one TRS plug that is inserted into the hardware that has the loop. The other end of the cable is split into two separate cables, completing the Y shape with TS-style plugs for inserting into another device’s input (send/tip) and output (return/ring). TRS connections can also be used to deliver two different signals in the same direction—stereo left and right—to one socket on one cable when inserted into a stereo connection. The tip carries the left channel, the ring carries the right channel, and the sleeve is the ground. That said, if you were to insert a stereo signal into a balanced input, you would cancel out both signals and hear nothing. TRS connections used in this manner are mainly employed for monitoring your overall stereo mix through a headphone output like the 1/4inch stereo output socket seen on the rear panel of the FireWire 410 in Figure 2.9. A smaller 1/8-inch (3.5 mm) plug is a common substitute for the larger 1/4-inch plugs in instances where the interface is a more compact design. It carries the same signals and sounds exactly the same. If you see at least one 1/8-inch socket anywhere on an interface, you can almost guarantee it will be a headphone output. That said, it’s not uncommon to run into instances where the interface has 1/8-inch sockets and you have 1/4-inch plugs or vice versa. So it’s a good idea to always have the appropriate adapters in relatively close proximity (see Figure 2.10)!

Figure 2.10 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch and 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch adapters—don’t leave home without ’em!

XLR Input Recording an electric guitar through a miked 412 cabinet or miking a dreadnought acoustic guitar are fundamental approaches to recording

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Ground

Ring: Inverted Polarity or “Cold” in Balanced

Tip: Normal Polarity or “Hot” in Balanced Signals

Figure 2.11 This balanced female XLR socket accepts the male end of an XLR cable for recording analog audio through a mic.

guitar tracks. XLR inputs and cables are used for connecting a microphone to your interface. The female socket (as shown in Figure 2.11 on the rear panel of the Black Box) on any audio interface accepts input signals from the male end of an XLR cable. At the other end of that cable is a female end that connects to the male socket on the bottom of the microphone. Unlike 1/4-inch sockets, which are sometimes balanced, XLR-to-XLR connections are always balanced. With regard to the position of the hot, cold, and ground signals in balanced lines and their locations on the 1/4-inch plug, the clearly numbered holes in the female socket that correspond with the male plug’s pins are outlined in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2 XLR Signal Distribution Configuration Pin

Function

1/4-Inch Equivalent

1

Ground

Sleeve

2

Normal polarity (hot or positive)

Tip

3

Inverted polarity (cold or negative)

Ring

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Many mobile interfaces feature a balanced XLR and 1/4-inch combo socket, like the one seen in Figure 2.12.

Figure 2.12 This XLR and 1/4-inch combo socket provides a balanced connection for both input types.

Phantom Power

If at any time you are using a condenser mic, you will likely need to provide it with power. That power is usually delivered through the XLR cable connecting the mic to whatever insert it’s sending audio to (similar to a bus powering an interface through a USB or FireWire cable). The hardware housing the insert will provide 48 volts (V) of what is labeled as “PH Power,” short for phantom power. You’ll need to look for the phantom power switch (seen in Figure 2.13 from the rear panel of the Fast Track Pro) on your interface and make sure it’s turned on or else any condenser mic requiring this power source will not function.

Figure 2.13 This phantom power switch as seen on the Fast Track Pro provides 48V of power to condenser mics that require a power source.

MIDI In/Out Guitarists may recognize or associate these four letters with a method of controlling complex amplifier and effects switching systems, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. MIDI, short for Musical Instrument

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Digital Interface, is a computer language that delivers simple command data in the form of binary—similar to the language the interface uses to convert analog audio to digital. Although MIDI is used to deliver utility commands similar to switching a device on or off in your audio production rig, it also delivers musical performance events data, like volume and pitch bend, which is sent to and from and in between hardware devices and/or software applications. Each MIDI port (as shown from the rear panel of a FireWire 410 in Figure 2.14) is a one-way street, and although there are three types of MIDI ports, most M-Audio interfaces feature only two—MIDI In and Out, but not MIDI Thru. Whatever scenario—hardware or software—newly generated MIDI commands are sent out (MIDI Out) while MIDI information to be implemented or recorded is taken in (MIDI In).

Figure 2.14 These two 5-DIN MIDI ports transfer MIDI in, out, and thru the interface to various destinations like your computer or a sound module.

Where’s the MIDI Thru? The MIDI Thru function takes incoming MIDI information that is simultaneously sent through to the device or application being sent the MIDI information and through to another device or application for simultaneous command of multiple hardware and/or software. Because the MIDI Out port can also work as a software MIDI Thru, to save space and keep costs down, M-Audio interfaces do not have a MIDI Thru.

Line Level Input and Output If you have no experience recording, setting up a PA system, or even patching an effects processor in an effects loop, then you probably never had to think about signal strength. There are two levels of signal strength to be aware of:

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Line level, measured at þ4dBu

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Instrument level, measured at

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10dBV

Both levels describe the strength of an audio signal being passed between two components by a form of decibel (dB) measurements. That strength is rated at þ4dBu (line level) and is considered the standard signal amount for optimal reproductions and superior to the signal rated at 10dBV (consumer level). Although 10dB is sufficient for many applications, it’s important not to “cross signals,” so to speak. If you were to insert a 10dB signal into a þ4dB line level input, the overall signal level would be weak. So why have both, or have 10dB I/O at all? Cost. In order to offer a wide range of interfaces at various prices, concessions must be made to make some designs more cost effective, and this is one way to cut corners on lower-priced models. Although it seems obvious to assume that þ4 compared to 10 is a difference of 14dB, that’s not exactly the case. Notice the different letters at the end of the dB marking: u and V. These signify two different decibel measuring formats—u stands for units and V stands for volts. This doesn’t change the fact that line level is a stronger signal strength and is preferred in pro audio applications, however. With regard to an audio interface, line level sockets come in several forms: n

1/4-inch input sockets for recording line level instrument devices like keyboards and hardware drum machines or inserting outboard effects units to be routed into Pro Tools (as seen from the rear panel of a FireWire 410, shown in Figure 2.15)

Figure 2.15 Rear-mounted 1/4-inch line level I/O setup as seen on the FireWire 410.

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1/4-inch output sockets for sending stereo signals out to studio monitors for playback (also shown in Figure 2.15)

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1/4-inch or 1/8-inch output sockets for headphones

RCA Input and Output If an interface offers only one line level output, it’s usually your main output, which is more than likely in the form of stereo RCA sockets as seen in Figure 2.16 on the bottom of the MicroTrack II. For most guitarists, that white or red donut-shaped socket can bring a bit of frustration because the RCA plug style is not used anywhere in connecting guitar-related gear. So why should a guitarist be constantly burdened with this connection? Because RCA connections are involved in many other instances in audio production for which you will likely develop a need, including the following: n

Mixers

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Figure 2.16 RCA line-level outs as seen on the bottom of the MicroTrack II.

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RCA plugs come in two conductor configurations only, and therefore cannot be used for balanced connections. They are, however, used for S/PDIF digital transfers. S/PDIF Input and Output S/PDIF, an acronym often pronounced like it’s spelled, stands for Sony/ Philips Digital Interface Format. Using coaxial cable equipped with the same RCA plugs found on line level I/O configurations, these sockets are used to transfer digital audio (only) through your interface to digital storage mediums like MiniDisc, DAT, or hardware that utilizes CompactFlash or Microdrive cards like the M-Audio MicroTrack II. You can also use S/PDIF to link interfaces for more simultaneous inputs. You can tell the difference between S/PDIF sockets and other RCAstyle sockets by the uniquely associated orange and/or black rings (see Figure 2.17). S/PDIF sockets can also come in the form of optical fiber or Toslink sockets (also shown in Figure 2.17) that require Toslink cables. There is no difference in quality between S/PDIF and Toslink connections. It’s just a matter of what connections the hardware you are transferring to or from has. S/PDIF I/O

Toslink I/O Figure 2.17 S/PDIF connections are used for transferring digital audio and can be made through RCA (top) or Toslink sockets (bottom).

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AES/EBU

What þ4dBu is to 10dBV, so is AES/EBU to S/PDIF and Toslink connections. AES/EBU (short for American Engineers Society/European Broadcast Union) is another protocol used for the transfer of digital audio, except this time it uses XLR-style connections and is considered to be of higher quality.

Audio Quality Control Many factors play a role in an interface’s ability to translate the best possible reproduction of the input audio as well as the output. Following are three common specifications that can give you an idea of what the quality of your recordings as well as the your monitoring experience will be. Signal-to-Noise Ratio Whether you like it or not, all audio hardware produces a certain amount of low-level noise when functioning, such as the hiss heard when a guitar amp is turned on. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR or S/N) states the lowest level (nominal) of audio the interface can produce before the unit’s operating noise (noise floor) becomes audible. Expressed in dBs, you should expect a pro audio level interface to perform in the 103dB or more range as compared to a consumer-level soundcard coming in around the 90dB range. Dynamic Range Dynamic range states the ratio from the lowest level of audio the interface can produce before the noise floor becomes audible (signal-tonoise) to the highest level audio before distortion or clipping occurs (headroom). Put simply, it’s the range of softest to loudest signals the interface can produce clearly. As for the numbers, look for the ranges stated in the “Signal-to-Noise Ratio” section, but this time in whole numbers. Total Harmonic Distortion To understand the logic behind total harmonic distortion (THD), you’ll need to understand a little basic theory of sound. All analog audio is composed of sound waves, and those sound waves are

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composed of a foundational wave called a fundamental. If you were to hear a single fundamental wave on its own, it would sound basic and uninteresting. What makes a sound have what we refer to as tone is the result of many compounding secondary frequencies called overtones or harmonics. When an input signal is passing through an audio interface, content is added at the harmonics of the original frequencies. That distortion changes the input signal’s original tone. THD states how much distortion is being introduced and is expressed in percentages. If you go to the M-Audio Web site and scan through the full details of any interface, you will see the THD notated as THDþN. The “N” stands for noise. This the most common way to measure THD between two devices, which is exactly what you’re concerned with. As numbers go, the lower the better, and anything less than 1.0 percent is considered inaudible. All things considered, though, it’s important to realize that with so many potential causes for noise and/or distortion, the THD rating should not be considered a deal breaker.

Two for the Road Before you look at some guitar-friendly interfaces, there are two more subjects pertaining to an audio interface that might be new to some or not fully understood by others. Understanding these two subjects can save a lot of head scratching when trying to figure out either why you can hear audio or why your interface is not functioning properly. The Mix Knob Many of you might be familiar with the type of mix knob found on effects processors, which adjusts the level of your dry (unprocessed) to wet (processed) signals. Many interfaces have an easily accessible knob labeled “Mix” that’s used in a similar fashion. Here, however, the Mix knob adjusts the output balance of what it is you are monitoring. The two choices are Input and Playback, like you see on the face of the Black Box in Figure 2.18. Think of Input as what it is you are recording or inputting to the interface and Playback as what has already been recorded or is being played back. This knob will play a key role adjusting for latency, which is covered in Chapter 4. Basically, if you want to

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Figure 2.18 The Mix knob plays a key role in adjusting for latency by allowing you to dial in how much of the signal going into the interface or the signal coming back from Pro Tools you want to monitor.

hear the full signal strength of the input signal—say, while recording an unaccompanied guitar track—you’ll need to turn the Mix knob fully counterclockwise to Input. If you want to hear only the audio coming back from Pro Tools—the setup used during mixing—you’ll turn the Mix knob fully clockwise to Playback. If you’re overdubbing a take over some pre-recorded material, you should start with the Mix knob at 12:00 and adjust the Input to Playback ratio to suit. Drivers Considering the vast numbers of choices out there for peripheral devices (interfaces included) that can be connected to your computer, it’s impossible for any computer to know how to control them all. A device driver is a software application that allows your computer to communicate with the audio interface by translating commands from your computer’s OS, called function calls, into specific commands the interface can understand. It’s like an interface to interface your interface! Both the Mac and Windows computer platforms come with generic drivers built into their respective operating systems allowing for what is known as plug-and-play compatibility. (If you’ve ever run into the more technical term, class compliant, this is the same thing.) Although many of M-Audio’s interfaces are class compliant with a Macintosh computer (meaning the operating system requires no other drivers to functionally communicate with the interface), you will most likely need custom drivers provided by the device’s manufacturer to have an interface function with a Windows-based computer.

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A good overall rule of thumb is this: Always install the drivers. What starts out as initial plug-and-play euphoria can end in a non-functionality reality. In some instances, if you don’t first install the drivers and let your operating system (OS) install generic drivers like the native Windows WDM drivers, you might run into some problems even after you’ve installed the drivers that came with the interface. While on the subject of good things to do: It’s important to keep your drivers updated. As your DAW develops, so do the demands and tasks the drivers have to carry out. Therefore, you must make it a habit to check to see whether new drivers have been released. M-Audio makes it easy to navigate to its drivers’ (and other software) update section of its Web site by providing a Drivers link right on the main page, as shown in Figure 2.19. Drivers Link

Figure 2.19 Just click on the Drivers link on the M-Audio home page to shoot right over to the software update section.

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Some Interfaces for the Guitarist Now that you have some of the lingo under your belt, let’s take a look at a few interfaces besides the Black Box (which will get major air time in Chapter 5) that a guitarist would find useful. All the interfaces presented here are external, bus powered, and connect to your computer via either USB or FireWire. The following descriptions mention many common features, like types of 1/4-inch inputs or digital I/O connections. Bear in mind: This is a good thing. The more you see these features mentioned, the more you will start to understand them. This is especially useful for those of you getting ready to make your next (or initial) investment. FireWire 410 As the name implies, the FireWire 410 (see Figure 2.20) is a FireWirecompatible audio/MIDI interface that derives the other half of its name from its I/O scheme. With conversion specs of 24-bit/96kHz, the 4  10 or 4-in/10-out input configuration consists of front panel–loaded dual mic/instrument inputs by way of XLR/1/4-inch combo sockets that offer unbalanced TS connection and rear-loaded S/PDIF I/O with both RCA (coaxial cable) and Toslink (optical cable) sockets. Although there are also two 1/4-inch line level sockets on the rear panel marked “Line Inputs,” it’s the ability of the front panel combo sockets to be used simultaneously with one of the rear panel S/PDIF stereo input connection types that makes up the four-input count described in the name (as mentioned earlier in the “I/O Defined” section of this chapter).

Figure 2.20 The FireWire 410.

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These two rear panel inputs actually share the same signal path as the front panel, which is controlled by the two Mic/Line pushbuttons on the front panel, therefore making only two analog inputs. There’s also global phantom power for condenser mics, 1  1 MIDI In/Out I/O, eight unbalanced 1/4-inch outs for complex signal routing and hardware monitoring, and two balanced 1/4-inch TRS headphone outs with individual level control. The included software allows for alternative methods in mixing, routing, level control, and low-latency monitoring. The second FireWire port offers you more connectivity options by allowing you to chain an external FireWire hard drive, for example. Compatible driver formats are ASIO 2, MME, DirectX, GSIF 2, and Mac’s own OS 09 Sound Manager, OMS, OS X CoreAudio, and Core MIDI. FireWire Solo The second of the two FireWire interfaces, the FireWire Solo (see Figure 2.21) offers a scaled-down 4  4 I/O configuration (though there’re six physical inputs). Also featuring 24-bit/96kHz conversion numbers, the Solo’s most notable difference is the separate XLR and 1/4-inch inputs with the mic input supplying phantom power and the guitar input an unbalanced TS input. Finishing off the front panel is a 1/4-inch balanced TRS stereo headphone output. Turning the unit around reveals more I/O, with two 1/4-inch unbalanced TS line-level

Figure 2.21 The FireWire Solo separates the XLR and 1/4-inch combo socket found on the FireWire 410 for a scaled down bus-powered FireWire interface.

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ins for inserting effects and other audio hardware that is assigned by a front panel selector that toggles between front and rear inputs, as well as two line level outs for monitoring that are controlled by the output level knob assigned to the headphone output and S/PDIF I/O. Like the 410, the Solo offers dual FireWire ports for enhanced connectivity and software-based signal mixing, routing, and low-latency monitoring; in addition, it’s compatible with ASIO 2, MME, GSIF 2, and OS X CoreAudio. Fast Track Pro Switching over to a USB connection, let’s take a look at a less guitar oriented interface in the Fast Track Pro (see Figure 2.22), which clocks a maximum 24-bit/96kHz conversion rate. Of interest here is the notable I/O scheme, which enables you to exercise your newfound interface analyzing skills. Starting with the front panel, you’ll see two combo sockets for both XLR and 1/4-inch inputs, allowing for both mic and guitar (or any other 1/4-inch connecting audio instrument) connections. Notice there are two output level knobs—one dedicated to the 1/4-inch balanced TRS headphone output that’s accompanied by a DJ-style A/B source switch for cueing, and the other a master output level control for the dual pair of rear panel unbalanced RCA outputs. Onto the back panel, starting with the power button and optional wall-wart (power adaptor)

Figure 2.22 The Fast Track Pro features a vast array of I/O, enabling a wide variety of connectivity.

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on the left, you’ll see a USB port, a 1  1 MIDI In/Out, and a 48V phantom power switch on top of a S/PDIF I/O. Next up is the aforementioned quartet of RCA outputs followed by two 1/4-inch balanced TRS sockets that sit atop two 1/4-inch stereo TRS insert sockets for inputting external hardware effects processors via a Y cable. The Fast Track Pro also comes with software enabling alternative methods in mixing and low-latency monitoring. Fast Track Ultra Where the Fast Track Pro leaves off, the Fast Track Ultra blazes on with enhanced features (see Figure 2.23). First up, the Ultra sports high-speed USB 2.0 technology, putting it in the same data-transfer rate range as FireWire interfaces. Six channels of hardware analog inputs are available, including four XLR inputs (two of which are in a combo jack configuration with a shared 1/4-inch socket) sporting M-Audio’s award-winning low-noise, high-gain Octane preamps, and two rear-panel analog inserts dedicated to the first two channels for inputting hardware processors that can be used to process incoming audio before A/D conversion! Add the S/PDIF and MIDI I/O and you have a total of eight ins that can be used to record simultaneously at 24-bit/96kHz plus six more rear-panel 1/4-inch balanced line inputs. As for outputs, there are six rear-panel 1/4-inch balanced analog outputs and two independent headphone outputs for independent monitoring. Perhaps the stand-out feature is the on-board effects supplied by the MX Core DSP mixer, which lets you monitor with reverb or

Figure 2.23 With USB 2.0 and versatile internal effects processing and routing, the Fast Track Ultra is a powerful portable bus-powered unit.

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delay with separate effects sends for every channel. The DSP also provides near-zero latency and complex channel-routing options such as a separate mixer for each pair of outputs. Of course, the usual attributes are all accounted for as well, such as bus powered þ48V phantom power for condenser mics, signal/peak LEDs, and a unique pull-out gain knob that activates a 20dB pad. It’s also fully compatible with ASIO 2.0, WDM, MME, and CoreAudio drivers. Fast Track USB Another interface whose method of connecting to the computer is revealed in its name, the Fast Track USB (see Figure 2.24) records at 24-bit/48kHz and is one of M-Audio’s most compact interfaces that features separate 1/4-inch and XLR inputs. The front panel hosts the mic input, mix, and output level knobs to adjust their respective properties along with an 1/8-inch stereo headphone output. Turning the interface around reveals the balanced XLR and unbalanced 1/4-inch input sockets. With the absence of phantom power, only a dynamic or ribbon mic can be used. Also in the back are the USB port and stereo RCA-style line outs, marked and color coded appropriately as 1/L in

Figure 2.24 The Fast Track USB packs XLR and 1/4-inch inputs into one compact, buspowered interface.

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Figure 2.25 The JamLab’s portability and ease of use make it perfect for on-the-go production.

Figure 2.26 The 1/8-inch line level output is on the left, and the 1/4-inch “guitar” input is on the right.

white for the left channel and 2/R in red for the right channel. Because the Fast Track sports a fairly simple I/O, it doesn’t require custom drivers like the other interfaces; it can rely on the generic drivers for true plug-and-play bliss. JamLab This bare-bones 24-bit/44.1 or 48kHz interface is one of M-Audio’s smallest (along with the Transit), featuring a single 1/4-inch unbalanced TS input for your guitar and an 1/8-inch mini-plug headphone output that’s also a line-level output for monitoring. The JamLab (shown in Figures 2.25 and 2.26) functions properly through ASIO 2,

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CoreAudio, and WDM drivers. Considering the size of the JamLab, that it’s bus powered, and that it has a USB cable hardwired, it’s a very convenient tool when all you have to do is some quick editing or a mix on the go. If you want to track on the fly, the JamLab comes with the GT Player Express software and a set of Pro Sessions drum loops, enabling you to dial in guitar tones with the built-in amp simulator and virtual effects (EQ, chorus, reverb, etc.) while sequencing drum loops right in the GT application.

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ow that you’re up to speed on the who, what, where, and why of the audio interface, it’s time to undergo the arduous— not to mention tedious—task of installing your software (drivers, Pro Tool M-Powered, plug-ins, etc.) and setting up your hardware (interface, studio monitors, MIDI controller, etc.). At this point you might be asking, “So what does this have to do with recording my brand new Tele Deluxe through this sweet Matchless Chieftain I got on eBay?” In short, the answer is everything. If your computer is not set up to take the punishment recording audio dishes out, or if your drivers are not correctly installed, or if you have a loose 1/4-inch cable somewhere in the inevitable spaghetti-like collection of wiring that’s about to be born, you’ll be recording nothing, nada, niente—okay? Don’t worry! You’ll live. Plus, I’ll be dropping valuable forget-me-nots and things-to-watch-out-for throughout this chapter—i.e., problems and pitfalls that I suffered through so you don’t have to. So put on your happy face and let’s get your M-Powered setup, well, set up and running smoothly. Before this chapter closes, you will also be introduced to yet another important setup procedure: mic placement. Here I lay the ground-level knowledge of what mics actually do, what types you’ll commonly work with, and other related preliminary information. Then, I’ll go over some of the standard placement procedures to get you on track to recording your treasured tone you worked so hard to create. To wrap things up, I will leave you with some player-to-player wisdom/ advice pertaining to the actual guitar with regard to how to make it sound the best it can when recording. Once you’ve gone through all the information in this chapter, you’ll be fully ready to start recording!

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Optimizing Your Hardware It’s important to take the necessary steps to ensure a proper and successful setup. This not only goes for your computer but your secondary hard drive as well. The order in which you do things is paramount, so be sure to follow this chapter’s sequence of events closely. Before you plug anything in or even install the software, let’s check out some important items to adjust in your Mac or PC for the best performance when running Pro Tools and look into prepping a secondary hard drive (one in addition to the hard drive where your OS and Pro Tools are installed) for handling audio exclusively. Setting Up a Mac Following are some of the more crucial system adjustments to make on a Macintosh computer. All the recommended adjustments will be made in System Preferences, as will many other adjustments throughout your daily workflow—so much so that it’s a good idea to drag the System Preferences application icon from the Applications folder into your Dock for easy access. Trust me, you’ll be constantly going for it. n

Apple often upgrades its operating system and makes it available to Mac owners by way of the company’s support page (www.apple. com/support) or, more commonly, through the Software Update application in OS X. Most Mac users have their Software Update set to receive and install these updates automatically. As convenient as that sounds, it could be a temporary death sentence to your Pro Tools system. When an operating system is upgraded, it’s changed from the state it was in when the software version you’re running was designed and installed. Although not all changes have adverse affects on your Pro Tools system, it’s best to turn this feature off by going into System Preferences > Software Update (located in the fourth pane down marked “System”) and deselecting the Check for Updates options. And every Pro Tools user who’s worth his or her salt knows to never, ever install an OS upgrade until you’ve confirmed it was okay on Digidesign’s Web site.

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If your Mac is allowed to go to sleep—or even initiates a screen saver—while Pro Tools is open, it may crash. To avoid this, you

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simply go into System Preferences > Energy Saver (located in the second pane down marked “Hardware”) and click Sleep. From there, set the computer and display sleep settings to Never and deselect the Put the Hard Disk to Sleep When Possible option. Even if Pro Tools doesn’t crash, it’s no fun losing sight of what you’re watching during long playback or recording scenarios. Setting Up a PC If you perform any adjustments on your PC, be sure to restart your machine. (Indeed, this is a good habit to get into regardless of what computer platform you are using.) As for where you’re making these adjustments: The Control Panel is to Windows what System Preferences is to a Mac. You’ll be visiting it often, so it’s a good idea to create a shortcut to it on the desktop. Similar to the Energy Saver adjustment on the Mac, you’ll need to set the Windows System Standby power scheme to Always On. As with the Energy Saver adjustment in the Mac OS, this helps prevent crashing and/or the interruption of long record and playback instances due to Windows powering down various resources. To set this accordingly, go to the Windows Control Panel, double-click Power Options, and then click the Power Schemes tab. Select Always On from the drop-down list and then click OK. This automatically changes the System Standby, System Hibernate, and Turn Off Hard Disks settings to Never. Setting Up a Hard Drive If you don’t already have a secondary hard drive, make a conscious effort to obtain one. It’s recommended (more like strongly recommended) by Digidesign to always record, edit, mix, and master your audio on a hard drive that’s separate from your primary drive (i.e., the one on which your OS resides). This becomes a big issue with host-based systems like Pro Tools M-Powered and LE, where Pro Tools is installed on the same drive as your OS. If you use that same drive to record and edit on, you will almost definitely experience varying amounts of deficient track counts as well as limited plug-in count and functionality—and that’s the best-case scenario. Simply said, you’re asking too much of one hard drive if you pile on the rigors of hosting the OS, running Pro Tools, and handling the audio. At first, try to get an

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external FireWire hard drive (USB is not recommended) with as much disk space as your budget will permit, spinning at 7,200 RPM, and boasting the fastest data transfer rate seek time you can find. A SCSI drive would be the bomb, but it’s also a nuclear blast to your wallet, so shoot for FireWire for now. Some to-do’s to prep and maintain your newly acquired audio drive for optimum performance are as follows: n

Expect to format the drive to either NTFS (PC), FAT32 (PC), or OS Extended Journaled (Mac).

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Get in the habit of good disk maintenance by regularly defragmenting (PC) or repairing permissions (Mac).

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When you’re not using the drive, turn it off. Don’t let it needlessly spin for hours, days, or even weeks when it doesn’t have to.

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This can never be said or stressed enough: Back up your work to another drive separate from your audio drive and system or host drive. Fellow Berklee Professor Stephen Webber, a prominent faculty member in the MP&E department, once told me, “A session doesn’t exist unless it’s saved on at least three hard drives.” Words to live by. The Full Monty For a full list and precise step-by-step instructions on optimizing your hardware on both platforms, refer to Pro Tools’ Getting Started Guide, found in the box where your Pro Tools M-Powered install discs are located.

Authorizing Your iLok However you acquire Pro Tools M-Powered—be it a standalone software purchase, with a software bundle, or part of a software/hardware bundle like Guitar Box—there will be a red USB PACE iLok Smart Key inside (for a look-see, refer to Figure 1.3 in Chapter 1, “The Essential Gear”). The sole purpose of the iLok is to hold the software licenses that allow you full user privileges for whatever application requires one. While the Pro Tools M-Powered license is pre-installed on the iLok that comes with it, you will eventually need to transfer additional licenses to your iLok. If you’re a Guitar Box or Guitar Box Pro owner,

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you need to do it now in order to be allowed to use the plug-ins in the G-Rack and G-Rack Producer bundles. Simply go to the iLok Web site (http://www.iLok.com) and create a free account; then download the iLok client software to get set up. After installing the iLok Client and rebooting (the installation process does it automatically), you’ll need to synchronize your iLok with your account by simply plugging the iLok into an available USB port and clicking the Synchronize button found on the Manage page. At this point, you have no licenses in your account to transfer, so you’ll need to register the Guitar Box or Guitar Box Pro and its contents with Digidesign to obtain them. To do this, you’ll need to create a free Digidesign account as well. This may seem like some extra hurdles to jump, but I assure you, you will use the iLok and Digi accounts often for upgrades, tech support, and when you purchase new hardware and/or software. After registering your plug-ins, Digidesign deposits the required licenses for all the plug-ins into your iLok account for you to download onto your iLok. After you’ve completed this process, you are fully authorized to use all the software in whatever package you’ve purchased, and you’ll be able to access those apps on other systems that have them installed, too!

Installing Your Software It would be impossible to outline every installation process in an entire book, let alone in a single chapter. Installation procedures vary from system to system and from interface to interface due to several factors, such as: n

The overwhelming variables that exist in system configurations. Consider the chances of two people having the same exact computers with the same exact specifications running the same exact software in the background.

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The fact that Digidesign and M-Audio are constantly tweaking and upgrading their software for optimal performance and, more importantly, to keep up with ever-changing operating systems. It’s not uncommon to purchase a product that contains outdated software (especially driver software) inside—and it’s absolutely not the retailer’s or the manufacturer’s fault. Really. Before you raise your fist in protest, realize that the latest software is always available on M-Audio and Digidesign’s Web site.

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Don’t let this discourage you or get you nervous! Installing Pro Tools M-Powered, third-party plug-ins, and drivers on either a Mac or a PC is as easy as following the prompts. Here are a few things to keep in mind that are critical to setting up your Pro Tools M-Powered software: n

If you’re going to use a FireWire interface such as the FireWire 410 or the NRV10, it is imperative you install the drivers before you connect your interface to your computer. This is especially true for Windows-based systems, because they typically initiate native drivers that may not have the capability to allow you full access to the interface’s features, such as complete I/O functions. Also, when those drivers are in place, it’s very difficult to remove them or to properly install the manufacturer’s correct driver software. Even if the interface boasts class compliancy (also known as plug-andplay), it’s a good idea to install the drivers anyway.

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If you’re planning to use multiple USB interfaces, keep in mind that it’s a good idea to have only one set of USB drivers installed on your computer (especially true for Windows-based computers). So if you have, say, a Black Box and a Fast Track Pro in your studio and you know you’re going to be using one or the other exclusively for a long period of time, it’s a good idea to uninstall whatever driver is currently installed and then install the drivers for the interface you plan on using. The only way to uninstall drivers is to run the Uninstall application found in the same folder in which the driver’s installation file is located. It sounds cumbersome, but what’s worse? A few minutes performing a little setup maintenance or hours trying to troubleshoot an I/O problem or wondering why Pro Tools won’t recognize your interface?

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As for prepping your system drive (remember, M-Powered is a host-based system, which means Pro Tools and all its relevant software will be installed on the same drive as your operating system, as well as all the other software you probably use every day), don’t hesitate to run a disk cleanup–type utility to give your system drive a fresh start. And of course, shut down any open applications before starting the process.

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If you experience a problem in which your interface is not recognized by Pro Tools or you’re unable to call up a plug-in—re-install it. Sometimes an installation process doesn’t take, and you need to do it twice. Also, before you start a second installation, check to see if you have the latest version of whatever it is you’re installing. If you completed what seems to be a successful install but the program is acting strangely, check for a version update before doing anything else, as the solution to the problem might be there waiting for you in the upgrade.

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Perhaps the most important tip of all: Always read the corresponding documentation before you start any installation process. That means if you see a READ ME file, read it! M-Powered and all M-Audio interfaces come with abridged versions of the full user manual in the box in hard-copy form. (Paper! Remember that?) For M-Powered, you’ll find a small booklet titled Getting Started, and for any M-Audio hardware you’ll find a Quick Start Guide waiting for you in the box. These documents, at the very least, contain important installation instructions that need to be followed.

Honestly, I feel I got to know my computer a little better and got a different view of my system through the installation process that I wouldn’t have been introduced to otherwise. Think of this as your first date with the partner you’re going to spend many, many beautiful (and tough) sessions with. Wouldn’t it be great to get off on the right foot first? The Order of Things The order in which you’re instructed to perform the steps required for driver installation should be followed to the letter. For example, the multichannel FireWire-based NRV10 mixer/audio interface Quick Start Guide repeatedly warns you not to connect the interface to your computer before installing the latest drivers. Then, you are to shut down your computer, connect the NRV10 to a power source, and then connect it to your computer via FireWire. Only after those explicit steps can you finally power up the NRV10 and then start up your computer. If you fail to follow

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these steps, you may experience several problems working with the interface/mixer and Pro Tools, including limited I/O—like going from 10 ins to four!

Making Connections After you have optimized your computer for the Olympic-style processing required to handle audio and you have successfully installed the necessary drivers (first!) and Pro Tools M-Powered software, it’s time to make the connections. (This is not to say you haven’t plugged in your audio interface yet as that could’ve been a step in the install process.) As much as the variables seem vast with regard to what computer is connecting with such-and-such interface, that’s miniscule compared to the myriad options when you throw the rest of the basic components into the mix—i.e., monitors, MIDI controllers, audio drives, external effects processors, etc. So although it’s, again, impossible to cover them all, here a few things to think about ahead of time that will come in handy in any hardware configuration. Adapters You will most likely need to have several adapters handy when assembling your studio. Some examples are 1/8- to 1/4-inch and 1/4- to 1/8inch adapters for different headphone connection schemes or, in the case of interfaces like the JamLab or Transit (see Figure 3.1), a 1/8-inch stereo male phono plug to two mono female 1/4-inch sockets (see Figure 3.2) for connecting studio monitors to their respective 1/8-inch outputs. If M-Audio doesn’t offer the adapter you need, you can usually find what you’re looking for by visiting the Hosa Web site (http:// www.hosatech.com). I’ve yet to come up short, even when looking for the most esoteric adapter thanks to Hosa! Hubs Whether you have a tower or a laptop, you may find yourself running out of connection ports (FireWire and/or USB) to connect various necessary components to your computer. The solution to this problem comes in two forms: Either obtain add-on card slots (known as PCI

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Figure 3.1 Just because the output socket on the Transit (marked “Line”) is 1/8-inch doesn’t mean you can’t connect it to a pair of studio monitors that have 1/4-inch input sockets. Just use the appropriate adapter, like the one shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2 This 1/8-inch male to two 1/4-inch female adapter will come in handy when connecting the outputs of an interface that has only 1/8-inch outputs.

cards) that have the type of extra input you require or obtain an external hub. While the PCI cards will perform just fine on the tower, a hub will be the more attractive option for most people. This can be attributed to the fact that hubs do not require any hardware installation; you can usually just plug them in and go. Another reason is that although there are add-on cards designed for laptops (PCMCIA for PC and PCI Express Port for Mac), they do not distribute adequate power for the peripherals that require bus powering (a way of powering a USB or FireWire device through the connected cable instead of using a battery or wall outlet). If you’re going to use a hub, make sure it’s an externally powered hub, which means it gets its power from a wall outlet and not through the computer. Also, never connect your audio interface or audio drive in the hub, as Digidesign doesn’t support this. You may experience poor data transfer, dropouts, and power issues. What can you plug into a hub? Your iLok, MIDI controllers, or a Pro Tools “hot-keys” keyboard (as shown in Figure 3.3) for starters. That said,

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Figure 3.3 This Pro Tools “hot-keys” keyboard made by Logickeyboard features prepainted keys that display various keyboard commands in Pro Tools, making the program easier to learn and navigate. (Photo courtesy of Logickeyboard.)

get used to the fact that within all this wonderful technology, nothing is absolute. The connectivity of various peripherals to a hub (namely a MIDI controller) may vary due to factors that can be attributed to the hub itself or even the USB port it’s plugged into. Power Protection Nothing is more terrifying than losing your audio data—for example, by erasing a session folder by mistake or having a hard drive fail. In addition to backing up your work to another, separate hard drive other than your audio and system drives, you can take an easy—yet very smart (and much cheaper)—precautionary measure by obtaining a high-quality surge protector to plug all of your gear into. A good surge protector will safeguard your precious hardware from severe power fluctuations caused by AC surges in the grid or catastrophic lightning strikes. As an added bonus, these units can also feature safeguards against power-line noise contamination generated by neighboring devices in the same line. A company like Belkin (http://www.belkin .com) makes a plethora of surge protectors that cover a wide range of applications, not to mention hubs!

Getting Up and Running At this point, your M-Powered studio should be complete and ready for action—computer optimized, software installed, physical connections made. Assuming that’s all been done, let’s open up Pro Tools and learn how to create a new session. The next sections of this chapter, including this one, will be presented as if you’re using the Black Box as your audio interface. All of the procedures can be applied to whatever interface you are using, but some of the drop-down menu items might vary from interface to interface.

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Startup Pro Tools M-Powered by default installs a program icon in your Dock (Mac users) so you won’t have to go far to load up the program. Just double-click the M-Powered icon or alias (as seen in Figure 3.4) and watch the ball bounce (Mac only)—that is, if you have the Animate Opening Applications option selected in the Dock section of System Preferences. If you’re on a PC, launch the program by clicking Start > Digidesign > Pro Tools 7.x.

Figure 3.4 You will see the Pro Tools M-Powered program icon in your Dock by default after successful installation. Double-click this to launch the program.

When Pro Tools starts up for the first time, it may take longer than what you’re used to with other programs—say, Microsoft Word—so be patient. After Pro Tools has opened up, don’t be alarmed when you still see your desktop (see Figure 3.5); that’s normal. Unless you open a

Figure 3.5 When Pro Tools launches, you will still see your desktop. Not a problem— you just have to create a new session or open a pre-existing one.

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Pro Tools session from a session file icon or the Open Session File menu command, this is how Pro Tools will look after startup. There’s a Problem in the Engine Room, Captain! If you experience any trouble launching Pro Tools, check to see if there are any loose connections. At this point, all that needs to be hooked up is your interface and the iLok. If either one of those two components is not properly plugged in to your computer, Pro Tools will not start. If those connections are intact, then you can try a couple of things like hot-swapping (taking out and plugging back in) the interface connection (only recommended for USB interfaces, not FireWire), reinstalling the drivers, checking to see if your OS is compatible with your version of Pro Tools, or just simply restarting the computer. If all else fails, call M-Audio, and one of the company’s outstanding and courteous staff members will be happy to assist you.

Hey, Follow Me! I Know a Shortcut! I’ll be not only giving you the drop-down menu procedures to carry out Pro Tools commands, but also the keyboard shortcuts. Be sure to learn them, as they will make your workflow much faster. Many of these shortcut key combinations are displayed to the right of the commands with which they are associated in the applicable drop-down menu. If at any time you want to view the full list of keyboard shortcuts on either platform, open the Help menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose Keyboard Shortcuts. In fact, it would be a good idea to print this particular PDF file out as you will want to know as many shortcuts as possible. Trust me!

Playing a Session Before you go on to creating a session, miking amps and guitars, and recording audio (that’s covered in Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording”), let’s just see what a full-blown session looks and sounds like. To begin, go to the Course Technology PTR Web site, navigate to the download page for this book, and download the Chapter 3 ZIP file to your desktop. After unzipping the contents to your desktop, open the

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Power 3 folder and double-click the Pro Tools session file named Power 3.ptf (it will have the same Pro Tools icon as your program icon) or use the keyboard shortcut (CmdþO for Mac or CtrlþO for PC) to navigate to the session file and open it that way. Here you’ll see (and soon hear) a session with several events you’ll learn how to create as the book progresses. Don’t worry if you have no idea what you’re looking at! You will soon enough. Let’s just have some fun and listen to some music! There are several ways to go about playing a session: n

To simply start playback, just press the Return (Mac) or Enter (PC) key (this ensures that playback will start at the beginning of the song by putting the timeline insertion at the beginning of the timeline), then press the spacebar. This is the most common way to start and stop playback of a Pro Tools session.

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You can also play the tracks by using the transport controls located at the top of the Edit window (see Figure 3.6). You’ll notice the controls resemble those found on most computer-centric media players, so you should feel right at home with them.

Figure 3.6 The transport controls can be accessed from the top of the Edit window or from the floating Transport window, accessible via the Window menu in the menu bar.

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You can control playback functions with an identical set of transport controls found on a floating window called, well, Transport. Just open the Window menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose Transport, and the window you see in Figure 3.7 will appear. You can drag this window wherever you like, or you can quickly toggle between views by using the keyboard shortcut Cmdþnumeric keypad 1 (Mac) or Ctrlþnumeric keypad 1 (PC).

Figure 3.7 The Transport window can be dragged anywhere on the screen and offers many other functions in addition to playback controls, like setting pre- and post-roll times. You can expand it to view even more control options by choosing View > Transport > Counters and MIDI Controls.

Creating Your First Session Now it’s your turn. It’s time to start taking the steps to create your own music. The first step is to learn how to create a session. To do so, follow these steps: 1.

Click File in the Pro Tools menu bar. The File menu appears.

2.

Click New Session or press CmdþN (Mac) or CtrlþN (PC), as shown in Figure 3.8.

3.

The New Session dialog box opens. Here you choose the basic session attributes such as its name, where it will be saved, file type, recording quality, and I/O setting. Type a name for the session in the Save As text box.

4.

Click the Where buttons and choose where you want to place and save your session. If you have a dedicated audio drive, place the session there.

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2.

Figure 3.8 Choose New Session from the Pro Tools File menu or use the platformappropriate keyboard shortcut to open up the New Session window.

5.

Click the Audio File Type spin buttons and choose the file type you want your session to be. BWF (Broadcast Wave File) files are the default file format for both Mac and PC-based Pro Tools systems, so this is a safe choice for exchanging sessions between both platforms. AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) files are used primarily on Mac systems, but Windows versions of Pro Tools support it without any need for file conversion when importing. SD II (Sound Designer II) files are strictly for Mac systems that were designed by Digidesign before a Windows version of Pro Tools was conceived.

6.

Click the Sample Rate button and select a sample rate. You will see a drop-down list of sample rates supported by your audio interface. If you’re using the Black Box, however, you will only see 44.1 kHz, as this is the only sample rate at which it can record.

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7.

Click either the 16 Bit or the 24 Bit option button under Bit Depth. It’s always recommended you record at the highest bit depth your interface will allow.

8.

Click the I/O Settings button. You will see a drop-down list of I/O settings; choose Stereo Mix for now.

9.

Once you’ve set up your session (see Figure 3.9), you’re ready to go! Click Save.

6.

3.

4.

5.

8.

7.

Figure 3.9 Set up your main session attributes such as name, location, and recording parameters.

Brain Refresh If some details in session creation are a little hazy, go back to Chapter 2, “The Audio Interface Explained,” to refresh your memory on subjects like sample rate, bit depth, and I/O.

Congratulations, you’ve created your first session! You should be looking at the Edit window, displayed in Figure 3.10. This is one of the two main windows (the other is called the Mix window) in all versions of Pro Tools, and it’s the window you will be viewing the

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Figure 3.10 The Edit window.

most throughout tracking, editing, and mixing. Right now, no tracks have been created, but that’s about to change. Before you do that, however, you’re going to do something that will make your workflow a lot easier and a lot faster in the long run. Edit and Mix Window Viewing The two main windows in all versions of Pro Tools are the Edit and Mix windows. Upon creating your first session, Pro Tools, by default, opens to the Edit window. To take a look at the Mix window (shown in Figure 3.11), open the Window menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose Mix Window. Again, don’t be alarmed when you see, well, nothing but a gray screen; it’s just that you still haven’t created any tracks. As for quicker navigation to the Mix window, try the keyboard shortcut: Cmdþ= (Mac) or Ctrlþ= (PC). If there’s one shortcut you should know, this is it, as you will constantly toggle between the two.

Setting Up and Saving Your I/O I/O is the (I)n and (O)ut matrix of your audio’s signal flow (for a quick review, go back to Chapter 2). To get a better handle on setting up and

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Figure 3.11 The Mix window.

monitoring how your signal is coming and/or going, open the I/O Setup window and name your inputs and outputs so when you start creating tracks in your session, you will have them labeled in a way that will be quick to recognize. As an added bonus, you’re going to save this I/O setup for future use so you don’t have to do this over and over again. Though the following tasks are outlined assuming you’re working with a Black Box as your audio interface, the entire process can be applied to any interface. To open up the I/O Setup window, do the following (see Figure 3.12): 1.

Click Setup in the Pro Tools menu bar. The Setup menu appears.

2.

Click I/O.

Now let’s name the input and output paths by completing the following steps. The names you assign here will show up in each individual track’s Input and Output Path selectors. Don’t worry if you don’t know what those are yet—you will soon. Also, if the names I suggest

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1.

2.

Figure 3.12 Here’s how you open the I/O Setup window.

you use in this next section seem strange, they will make sense when you read through Chapter 5, “The Black Box Revealed.” 1.

Click the Input tab. This reveals the Input section of the I/O Setup window (see Figure 3.13).

2.

Click the down arrows next to In 1–2 and In 3–4. The two sets of mono paths appear below their respective stereo input headings.

3.

Double-click the In 1–2 heading and rename it EFX. This will automatically name the mono paths EFX.L and EFX.R.

4.

Double-click the In 3–4 heading and rename it Dry, but this time rename the mono input paths as follows: Dry Guitar.L for In 3 and Dry Mic.R for In 4.

5.

Click the Output tab. This displays the Output section of the I/O Setup window (see in Figure 3.14).

6.

Click the down arrow next to Output 1–2. The two mono paths appear below the stereo output headings.

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3.

1.

2.

4.

Figure 3.13 After you click the Input tab, you can view, create, rename, or delete your input paths.

6.

7. 5.

Figure 3.14 Click the Output tab to view, create, rename, or delete your output paths.

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Double-click the Out 1–2 heading and rename it Monitor. Like in the input path section, this automatically names the mono paths Monitor.L and Monitor.R, respectively. Naming Fun When you get a better handle on I/O and start to experiment with different routing configurations, don’t be afraid to name your I/O schemes however you like. Face it: It is you who has to look at this stuff (a lot), and you might as well enjoy it. You want to name your main outputs Nuclear or Sonic Boom? Go ahead—have fun!

If necessary, you can take the same steps to rename the Inserts and Bus paths. Regardless, to save your settings, perform the following steps: 1.

Click the Export Settings button to open the Export Settings dialog box (see Figure 3.15).

2.

4.

5.

1.

3.

Figure 3.15 Saving your I/O settings allows you to save your own collection of custom I/O configurations, making session creation that much easier and faster.

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2.

Type a name for the I/O setting you just created—Black Box (or the name of the interface you’re using) will be good for now.

3.

Leave the file location set to IO Settings. This is where Pro Tools will look by default when you click the Import Settings button to find the I/O settings you’re looking to load up.

4.

Click Save to save your settings.

5.

Click OK to close the I/O Setup window.

Now whenever you create a new session and you want to use the I/O settings you just saved, repeat step 8 in the section “Creating Your First Session” earlier in this chapter and choose your custom I/O settings from there. If you ever need to delete an I/O settings file, simply navigate to where your Pro Tools program folder—marked Digidesign—was installed and open it up. There you will find a folder called IO Settings; that’s where these files are stored.

I/O versus IO You might have noticed throughout this section that sometimes I/O is written with a slash, and other times not. When the I/O is referred to as IO in this book, it’s referring to how the I/O folder is named and seen in Pro Tools. It’s named that way because both the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems do not allow the slash (/) character to be used in file or folder naming.

Creating Session Templates To make your workflow more efficient, you learned how to save your custom I/O settings for faster session creation. Now you’re going to learn how to create a session template for even faster session startups. Save (press CmdþS on a Mac or CtrlþS on a PC) and close the session you already created and for which you defined a custom I/O, and then follow these steps: 1.

Navigate to where you saved your first session so you can access the session file (see Figure 3.16).

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2.

3.

1.

Figure 3.16 A simple Ctrl-click (Mac) or right-click (PC) opens the file’s contextual menu. There you can choose from among many options such as making the file a template for future use.

2.

Ctrl-click (Mac) or right-click (PC) the file to open its contextual menu.

3.

Click Get Info (Mac) or Properties (PC), as shown in Figure 3.16.

4.

Click the Stationery Pad (Mac, as seen in Figure 3.17) or Read Only (PC) checkbox to select it.

5.

Click the Locked checkbox to select it (Mac only).

6.

Close the Get Info (Mac) or Properties window (PC).

That’s it—simple. Now anytime you want to create a session and not have to waste precious time setting up the same preferences and details, you can just open a session template file like this one and be working in no time! In Chapter 5, you will work with a session template especially designed for use with the Black Box and for specific sections of that chapter. There you will learn how to open and save a session template.

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6.

4. 5.

Figure 3.17 Saving your session file as a template is as easy as choosing Stationery Pad and Locked (Mac) or Read Only (PC).

Microphones: General Guidelines and Setup The final step in the setup process, mic placement, is the beginning of the actual recording process. Indeed, it may just be one of the most important physical procedures in recording, next to playing an instrument. After all, it’s not just where you place the mic, but also what mic you use and what room you’re in. There’s no such thing as one source of information that could prepare you for every situation, as every player, guitar, amp, and/or room will sound different and present its own unique factors to consider. Those differences will play an important role in where you place the mic, not to mention what mic to use, how many mics you use, what polar pattern you choose, etc. That said, this section explores the so-called “standard” protocol for introductory mic placement and covers some basic microphone principles so you can get started on the right foot. From there, it will be up to you to spend time (a lot of time)

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experimenting and finding that sweet spot to get the best possible reproduction of your glorious tone. First, let’s define what a microphone is: It’s a physical device that transduces acoustic sound into an electric signal. In other words, a mic hears, or captures, your acoustic or electric guitar’s output and transforms that signal (sound waves) into voltages that are then sent to a series of hardware devices for amplifying and/or recording. These voltages are analogous to the actual sound waves that produced them, hence the term analog signal. (With respect to the audio interface, it is these analog signals that are then transformed once again, but this time to a digital state in the form of binary code. Go back to Chapter 2 for a more in-depth explanation of this process.) The voltages are eventually transduced back into acoustic energy, or sound waves, to be heard through a speaker configuration (studio monitors, headphones, etc.). Types of Microphones For now, there are three types of microphones of which you need to be aware that are commonly used to record guitar tones: dynamic, ribbon, and condenser. The main difference between them is the way in which the mic transduces a sound wave (your guitar signal) into an electrical signal. One thing they all have in common is what they use to transform the waves: a diaphragm, which is a thin, slightly rigid membrane. These methods all have their effect on how that sound source is reproduced and heard. So before you place a mic anywhere, you have to know which one to choose. Here’s a brief, yet concise description of each one. Dynamic

Arguably the Swiss Army knife of mics, especially when it comes to recording guitars, the dynamic mic (check out the M-Audio SoundCheck in Figure 3.18) can be seen anywhere and everywhere in audio production of all levels. The transduction works by way of magnetism, much like another important transducer in your rig—your pickups! A small movable induction coil that is attached to a diaphragm is placed in a permanent magnet’s magnetic field. Sound waves cause the diaphragm to move, thus causing the coil to move

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Figure 3.18 The M-Audio SoundCheck is a rugged dynamic mic with a unidirectional polar pattern for cutting out unwanted background noise.

within the magnetic field, producing varying currents or voltages. This particular setup can withstand massive decibel levels, making dynamic mics the go-to mic for those blistering, tear-your-head-off-withvolume sessions. Ribbon

A ribbon microphone has a thin metal ribbon (hence the name) suspended in a magnetic field. When sound waves cause the ribbon to move, an electrical signal is produced, similar to the dynamic mic. Although ribbon mics are revered for their high-quality reproduction of the sound they’re capturing, they are very susceptible to damage because of the fragility and positioning of the ribbon itself. High sound-pressure levels (SPLs), which are basically loud sound waves carrying a lot of weight, can easily damage the ribbon, so if you think you’re going to be recording your Engl Powerball on 10, don’t use a ribbon mic! Ribbon mics tend to handle high frequencies better than the other two types listed, making them a good choice for tones that are more on the trebly side. Condenser

Another popular mic for recording guitars, especially acoustics, is a condenser mic (check out the M-Audio Pulsar II in Figure 3.19).

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Figure 3.19 The M-Audio Pulsar II is an affordable cardioid condenser mic that boasts a six-micron Mylar evaporated gold diaphragm with Class-A FET electronics.

Also known as a capacitor mic, a condenser mic’s diaphram is made up of two plates that hold a fixed charge between them. This charge is provided by phantom power delivered through the XLR cable, by a power supply specifically for the mic (i.e. the M-Audio Sputnik tube condenser mic), or by an internal battery. The sound waves traveling through the air cause the plates to move, changing the voltage between them. It is these changes that make up what it is the mic is hearing and what you are recording. Condenser mics that have a constant charge between the plates and require no phantom power are called electret microphones. An example of this type of condenser mic comes with the M-Audio MicroTrack II mobile digital recorder (see Figure 3.20). Some of the most sought-after condenser mics are designed with an internal vacuum tube for added warmth and clarity, such as the MAudio Sputnik (see Figure 3.21). Although condenser mics are not as susceptible to damage due to high SPLs, they can’t take the same punishment as dynamic mics. For this reason, most condenser mics come equipped with a pad (see the next section) rated at either 10 or 20db to soften the blow so as not overload the mic.

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Figure 3.20 This stereo electret mic that comes with the MicroTrack II is a condenser microphone that holds a constant charge between the two plates in the capsules. This enables the mic to function without the need for phantom power or an internal battery.

Figure 3.21 Sputnik is the answer for all those who dream of owning a tube-based condenser microphone but could never afford one.

Some Common Tech Terms to Know In addition to understanding the three types of mics, there’re a few terms that you will surely need to be aware of, like the following: n

Capsule. The top portion of the mic that houses the diaphragm. This is commonly covered by a mostly metal grill–like surface to allow the sound waves to enter without exposing the delicate inner elements of the microphone.

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Pad. A device built into some mics that allows you to attenuate incoming signals that are too hot (loud) for the mic to handle. They usually come in the form of 10 or 20db.

n

Phase cancellation. A common occurrence in audio recording, phase cancellation comes into play when you are using more than one mic to record a single acoustical source. If you have two mics set up to record, say, a 1  12 cabinet, and the distance between those mics and the cab (the source) are different, you will hear the effects of phase cancellation when you raise your faders to listen to what the mics are producing. The resulting sound could be in the form of amplitude (volume) loss, frequency attenuation (subtraction), or even complete signal cancellation, where you hear nothing at all! To counteract this, you can either adjust the placement of the mic, making sure all the capsules are the same distance from the source (in this case the grill) and have them facing in a straight line or (if your hardware has this feature) shift the phase of the incoming mic signal.

n

Polar pattern. This is the mic’s directionality. It indicates where, in relation to the capsule, the mic has the ability to pick up signal. Some common polar patterns are omni-directional (see Figure 3.22),

Figure 3.22 Omni-directional polar patterns can be used to capture sounds produced throughout the room or to capture a specific source with additional room ambience.

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Figure 3.23 Cardioid polar patterns can be used to capture a specific sound source with minimal room noise, or bleed. This is great for when other sources (instruments, speaker cabinets) are in the same room during live recordings!

Figure 3.24 Figure-eight polar patterns are great for recording two sources side by side, like a duo performance by two acoustic guitarists.

cardioid (see Figure 3.23), and bi-directional or figure eight (see Figure 3.24). These three patterns will prove to be most valuable in recording guitar. As you can see from the figures, an omni pattern picks up everything around the capsule, cardioid focuses on what’s

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in front of the mic, and figure eight focuses exclusively on what’s on the mic’s sides. n

Proximity effect. If you move a mic closer to a sound source (your guitar) and notice a change in frequency response (especially in the low range), you are experiencing the proximity effect.

Miking Electric Guitars: Speakers If you’re working with an electric guitar setup, you’re primarily considering where to place your microphone with respect to the amplifier’s speaker, not the actual guitar. This is not to say that miking an actual solid body electric is out of the question—remember, experimentation and an open mind are key when it comes to mic placement and audio production in general! For the most part, the placement of the mic is measured by where your mic is in relation to either the cone (see Figure 3.25) or the cabinet that houses the speakers.

Figure 3.25 It’s important to know where the speaker cone is as this is an important location from which to base your mic placement.

Placement

When it comes to miking speakers, one of the most important factors in terms of placement is what mic you choose to use. If you use a ribbon mic, you can start out by miking dead center at the cone. While this part of the speaker is where you will find the most high frequencies, a ribbon is a great choice because it cuts highs considerably,

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Figure 3.26 Check out Luna in action, placed off center to the speaker cone for a closemic configuration on my 1964 Fender Deluxe (non-reverb) 112 combo. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

delivering a more mellow tone. If you use a dynamic or a condenser mic, you should start out placing the mic off-center in relation to the cone (see Figure 3.26, which shows the M-Audio Luna large capsule condenser mic) because these mics will deliver a harsh, more brittle response if placed dead center. Both of these practices are known as close-miking techniques. Whichever mic you choose, use a cardioid polar pattern (Figure 3.27 shows an M-Audio Solaris large capsule condenser mic) because this will focus the mic’s sensitivity on the speaker and help cut out unwanted room or background noise. In any instance, you may need to (and should) incrementally move the mic around to find the spot that best captures your tone. Don’t be surprised if you spend hours doing this; you’re not crazy, you’re merely joining an elite, yet tortured, group of people known as recording guitarists!

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Figure 3.27 Higher-end mics like the Solaris have options for different polar patterns. For this particular close-mic scenario, you can see cardioid, the common choice, is engaged. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

If you’re looking for more low end, try placing a second mic behind the amp or cabinet (as shown in Figure 3.28, with the added M-Audio Nova cardioid condenser mic). You can achieve more depth in your recorded tone this way. One important thing to remember: If you use this configuration, the phase of one of the mics has to be shifted because you’re placing them 180˚ out of phase (refer to the section “Some Common Tech Terms to Know” earlier in this chapter for more information).

Where’s the Cone? If you have trouble locating the cone because the amp’s grill is too dark or too thick to see through it in normal light, try using a flashlight and point it into the grill to better expose the speaker.

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Figure 3.28 Placing a mic, like the Nova pictured here, at the rear of an open-backed speaker enclosure can help deliver more low end. You may need to reverse the polarity on one of the mics to avoid phase cancellation. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

I Need More Room! If you want to add more depth or air into what you’re recording, try placing a mic a few feet (start out with five or six feet) away from the amp and set the polar pattern to omnidirectional. This allows the mic to pick up the sound waves as they bounce off the walls from every direction, adding some character to the recorded guitar that would otherwise be cut out in a close-miking scenario—especially if the mic is set to a cardioid pattern.

Multi-Speaker Enclosures

Let’s say you have a two-speaker configuration of some kind that sports two 12-inch speakers (this could be a standalone cabinet or a combo amp). One of the first things you should do is closely listen to each speaker and decide which one sounds the best. This could be done

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by miking each one separately and recording a short passage to compare on playback in Pro Tools or, if you have someone to play for you or you are recording another guitar player, get next to the speakers (at reasonable volume levels of course) and listen for yourself. Once you decide, it’s a good idea to place the mic on the side of the cone (for dynamic or condenser mics) that is farthest from the non-miked speaker as shown in Figure 3.29. By doing so, you get less bleed from the opposite speaker and less noise all around. All rules apply to any speaker enclosure with more than two speakers, such as the everpopular 4  12 cabinet. The one thing to keep in mind, though, is to try to mic the top row of speakers to avoid picking up sound waves bouncing off the floor and to counter any possible phasing problems.

Figure 3.29 After choosing which speaker sounds best in a multi-speaker configuration, be sure to place the mic on the side of the cone farthest from the other speaker for the least amount of bleed and unwanted noise in your recordings. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

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Combat Phase When setting up a multi-mic scheme for whatever application, be sure to keep the mics at the same distance from the speaker and facing straight ahead. If you set two mics up facing each other, remember to flip the phase of one the mics at the console.

Isolation

As you start to coordinate your microphone setups with all the miking variables discussed thus far, add this to the mix: You’ll need to isolate your amp/mic configuration. By isolate I mean place the miked amp out of audible range or employ some kind of sound-dampening (baffling) method. Either approach serves many essential purposes for recording effectively. Here are some to think about. n

Most importantly, isolating a miked amplifier negates the possibility of your mic picking up any signal coming from your studio monitors when you’re recording. This allows you to record without being forced to wear headphones, which for many players, including myself, is cumbersome.

n

Conversely, keeping a cranked amplifier out of your ear’s audible range or baffled enough that you don’t hear it that much allows you to listen to your session through your studio monitors without any competition from the amp’s output.

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If you are in fact using headphones to monitor input while recording and/or listening to session playback, you’ll be able to do so at moderate decibel levels. This, of course, is a very good thing for your hearing.

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No matter how great your guitar tracks are, your neighbors probably don’t think as highly of them. The more you can control your volume while still being able to fully open up your amp’s output controls into overdriven nirvana, the better.

Isolating could be as simple as placing your amp/mic setup in the basement while the rest of your rig is set up on the second floor. If you’re in an apartment, you could place it in the closet and wrap heavy blankets around the amp and mic. A more professional approach is to construct

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acoustic isolation panels known as gobos that can be placed all around (and above) your amp/mic setup. All these methods will achieve the same basic results in different degrees, but will help nonetheless. With all this in mind, make sure you invest in some extra long cables, ranging from 30–50 feet.

Rooms When considering where to place your amp/mic setup for isolation purposes, be prepared for the room to play a part in how your guitar tone sounds, too. Most of you reading this book will probably be recording in your homes. Although houses are not always the best recording spaces because of their boxy rooms with parallel walls, you can sometimes find interesting sonic spaces in your house that will also act as potential isolation rooms. Tiled bathrooms, home offices contained within sub walls in a basement, packed storage closets—they all will have their own sound. Try placing your amp in all the rooms that are potential isolation environments and see how they sound; then go with the room that best serves both purposes.

Miking Acoustic Guitars Miking acoustic guitars is a very different procedure because you’re miking an actual instrument as opposed to a speaker. As such, it involves different considerations. Although there are many types of acoustic guitars (steel string, nylon string, 12-string, etc.), these general guidelines will serve as worthy starting points for all of them. As stated before, expect to manipulate, tweak, and experiment (and whatever other behavior most other people would deem obsessive) with the placement, the type of mic(s) used, the polar patterns, and anything else up for grabs to achieve recorded tonal nirvana.

A Little Help from My Friends As you go through the book, keep an eye out for additional tips (and more) from some of my friends— who, by the way, just happen to be some today’s hottest guitarists! Starting with this chapter’s section on mic placement for acoustic

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guitars, you will see the amazing Bumblefoot (solo artist, Guns N Roses) posing for the camera to help demonstrate common mic placement techniques. For a sheer guitar heart attack, go to Bumblefoot’s Web site (http://www.bumblefoot.com) and prepare to be dazzled.

Placement

The standard practice for any acoustic guitar is to start out with a condenser mic about six inches from the neck, pointing somewhere between the 12th and 14th frets (as seen in Figure 3.30). Instead of facing the mic dead-on straight toward the neck, try pointing it toward the neck at a 45˚ angle, aiming at the soundhole (as seen in Figure 3.31). If you want to get more bass and hear more boom in the tone, add a mic in front of

Figure 3.30 A good place to start out miking acoustics is to place the mic about six inches from the neck between the 12th and 14th frets. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

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Figure 3.31 Another useful adjustment starting out is placing the mic on a 45˚ angle pointing toward the soundhole. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

the soundhole and adjust to taste (as seen in Figure 3.32). How far or how close you place the mic will determine how much of that boominess you hear. The actual size of the capsule comes into play here as well. When considering what mic to use (or purchase, for that matter), remember that a small capsule will deliver more attack and a more focused representation of the tone, while a mic with a larger capsule will pick up more of the room and make for a more broad, airy sound.

Cool Trick! With all the great miking techniques out there, one that often gets overlooked is placing a mic from an angle that resembles how the player is hearing himself or herself play. So try this: In

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addition to a mic placed pointing at the 12th fret (or so), try setting up a second mic, in a cardioid pattern, in back of the guitarist, somewhere around the area of the player’s ears (see Figure 3.33). The mic should be over the player’s shoulder, making the top of the capsule parallel to the front of the guitar (as shown in Figure 3.34). This will enable you to record the guitar’s output from the player’s perspective! This makes for a clever stereo miking configuration and will deliver truly stellar results that are full bodied and articulate. To take the technique to the next level, try panning each mic hard right and left in the mix!

Figure 3.32 To get more low-end boom, try placing a second mic in front of the soundhole. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

Pro Tips As stated, starting in the next chapter you will see various notes from iconic guitarists (some of whom are fellow M-Audio-supported artists) called Pro Tips. These notes may be the most valuable snippets of

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Figure 3.33 Placing a second mic in a cardioid pattern near a guitarist’s ear will capture the guitar’s projection as the player hears it—an often overlooked perspective. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

information in this entire book because they contain knowledge obtained from real-world experience. In my years in the recording trenches, I’ve acquired some of my own knowledge that I think you’ll find very useful. So before I let my comrades steal the show, here are some of my own pro tips! n

A good setup. Great guitar tracks start (or end) with a great guitar. Period. What makes a great guitar? A great setup, for one. Indeed, the right setup can transform a yard-sale prize into a Stradivarius, making a Squier Strat feel like a Gibson Historic. Besides the obligatory set of new strings, a setup should consist of adjustments made to the truss rod for neck alignment and the bridge assembly for intonation at the very least. Upon finding a guitar repairman who possesses a deep love for the craft, the setup will also include attention to the frets and the nut, a good cleaning of the tactile

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Figure 3.34 Notice how the mic is placed over the shoulder of the guitarist, making the capsule parallel to the guitar’s top. Photo by Jay Alders (jayalders.com).

parts as well as the internal components, tightening up of all fasteners, and even adjustments to things like pickup height and vacuuming your guitar case. And don’t forget about your guitar amp— it requires routine maintenance as well. Be it worn tubes, failing caps and/or resistors, or moisture-damaged speaker cones, your amp will only serve you better when it’s in tip-top form. With all that said, when you find the right guitar and amp repairman, treat him/her well. n

The importance of new strings. As stated, new strings are the absolute basics of a setup, but that’s not to say you have to always bring your guitar in to have it done. Most guitars are fairly easy to change the strings on, and this should be done prior to recording for various reasons, including consistent tone (because your strings will have that “new string snap,” which also helps you cut through the mix more easily because of the brightness); better intonation

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(because old strings develop dents at the point where the string meets the fret, thus making your string press farther down, resulting in sharped notes); and the prevention of any residual dirt from an old set of strings getting onto your fretboard and under your frets. All this equals a better-sounding and healthier guitar—and that means better guitar tracks. n

Cables. If there’s one piece of gear in your signal chain that gets no respect, it’s the cable. And not just guitar cables; all cables. Think about it: Your signal passes through cables constantly. From guitarto-amp configurations to spider web–like entanglements when pedals and multi-amp setups are present—it’s all connected with cables. My ultimate suggestion is this: Use George L. cables (http:// www.georgelsstore.com). These cables sound superior to most any other cable on the market without tapping too far into your finances—and they can be purchased in custom lengths to boot! Although the actual spindles of cable might seem a bit thin—and they are—you’re in the studio, so you’re probably not jumping around like a jackrabbit while recording. If you are, or you plan to, integrating George L.’s into your live rig, you’ll need a more robust cable from guitar to amp or pedals. I use Mogami Platinum guitar cables, but I have used Monster cables in the past with great results. Also, keep in mind that cheap cables in the 20-foot or more range will suffer from high-end loss. This comes into play when considering mic cables. Often your mic cables will need to be 30, 40, even 50 feet long to help with isolating your sound source from your monitors when recording. Try to get the best cables for your buck because what you think is a deal is actually money out the window if you’re not happy with the results.

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MacGyver-style fix-its. In the heat of recording, no matter how much time you’ve put into making sure your axe is in tip-top shape, some alien sound will be sure to present itself during some critical playback. It could be a sitar-like response every time the open high E string is played or a mysterious ring coming from who knows where. If you don’t have any setup chops, in these instances you have to be resourceful so as not to lose the vibe and flow of recording. Suppose you have a sudden case of string buzz. Taking a

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small shard of paper, folding it into a rectangle, and carefully placing it under the offending string will usually do the trick long enough to make it through the session. Getting some sympathetic ringing from the tremolo springs? Take some of that soft, gray foam commonly used in aftermarket pickup packaging and place it between the springs and the body wood of the guitar to impede their vibrating. The best spot is right in the middle, making it less likely to have the foam get caught when depressing the whammy bar and as a result, preventing the bridge from zeroing out.

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S

o all systems are go—computer optimized, iLok authorized, Pro Tools M-Powered installed, hardware hooked up, session file ready (with a template to boot), and mics set up. Good job! Now it’s time to experience the joys of recording audio into Pro Tools M-Powered and then bouncing it to disk for immediate distribution so you can get your music heard. That’s what this chapter is about. In addition, you will learn how to properly save your sessions so you never, ever have to experience the wrenching nightmare called “Dude, what the … my session … it’s … it’s gone! … I know I … but I thought … no … no … nooooooooo!!” Although this chapter will get you on the fast track to making your music come to life, be aware: There’s much more to the overall process than what is laid out here. Most importantly, unlike most other textbooks about audio production, it intentionally skips over what may be the two most significant attributes to any DAW, especially Pro Tools: the art of editing and the art of mixing. Both of these processes are covered in depth in Chapter 7, “Editing 101 and Some M-Powered Empowerment,” and Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering.” Another key process saved for later is importing audio— the second of the two primary ways to get audio into Pro Tools; that will be covered in great detail in Chapter 9, “Working with Loops.” This chapter is simply meant to enlighten you on recording digitally with your respective Pro Tools M-Powered rig and make you realize you can do this! So tune up that guitar, get your groove on, and let’s do it to it. Along the way, you will find a little help from my friends—some of whom are fellow M-Audio artists—in the form of special notes called 91

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“Pro Tips.” In this chapter Sheryl Crow’s guitarist and 65amps cofounder Peter Stroud gives you a clever mic placement tip while Toto guitarist and legendary session ace Steve Lukather drops a guitar track layering trick on you.

Continuing to Create Your First Session In the last chapter, you learned how to create your first session, set up the I/O, and save it as a template file. Hopefully you have that empty session opened with the Edit view still in focus and ready for action. If not, just create another one. If you need help doing so, flip back a few pages and follow the steps laid out for you in the section titled “Creating Your First Session” in Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire.” Also keep in mind the miking guidelines from the previous chapter, particularly on the subject of isolation and room choice. The upcoming sections on recording audio assume you are considering those suggestions on your own, and therefore they will not be mentioned again as it’s impossible to address the endless number of variables. But be sure to check out the mic placement Pro Tip from long-time Sheryl Crow guitarist Peter Stroud! For this entire chapter I’ll be using an M-Audio FireWire 410 audio interface and the M-Audio Sputnik tube condenser microphone, but don’t worry if you don’t have this precise setup. The procedures outlined in the ensuing sections are exactly the same for any interface. Of course, one thing that will surely be different is the naming conventions used in all of the track’s Audio Input and Output Path selectors. These are of my own devising and were set up in the I/O window (available from the Window menu) as discussed in the section “Setting Up and Saving Your I/O” in Chapter 3.

Hmm, What About the Session Template? If you’re thinking about using the session template you learned how to create in the last chapter, put that aside for now. There’s more to it than you might think. Don’t fret, though; that process will be laid out for you in Chapter 5, “The Black Box Revealed.”

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Creating Tracks The first order of business is to create some tracks. Follow these steps to see how to create a pair of mono audio tracks and a stereo master fader track. Note that it’s okay if you don’t know how many tracks your session will need; you can always add (or subtract) more tracks at any time by following the same exact procedures outlined here. 1.

Click the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar (see Figure 4.1).

2.

Click New. Tip: To make your workflow more efficient, you can alternatively use the keyboard shortcut (ShiftþCmdþN for Mac, ShiftþCtrlþN for PC) to skip steps 1 and 2.

3.

The New Tracks dialog box appears (see Figure 4.2). Type 2 in the top Create text box; this indicates how many tracks you want to create.

4.

Click the arrow button to the right of the Create text box. The drop-down list that appears enables you to choose whether the track(s) will be mono or stereo. Choose Mono.

1.

2.

Figure 4.1 Creating new tracks starts with clicking the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and selecting New.

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3.

4.

8.

5.

6.

7.

9.

Figure 4.2 The New Tracks dialog box is your one-stop source for creating all five track types Pro Tools offers in addition to their basic properties such as imaging (mono versus stereo) and Track Time Base (samples versus ticks).

5.

Click the next arrow button. The drop-down list that appears enables you to choose what type of track you want to create: Audio, Aux (Auxiliary Input), Master Fader, MIDI, or Instrument. For now (and to record audio in any scenario), choose Audio Track.

6.

Click the next arrow button. The drop-down list that appears enables you to choose the track’s timebase: Samples or Ticks. Don’t worry if you don’t know what this is or what to choose; you can change this at any time after the track is created with the Timebase selector in the Edit window’s Track view. For now, choose Samples.

7.

Click the plus button. This expands the New Track dialog box, adding a second set of controls to enable you to create another track in whatever configuration you want. Notice that there’s now a minus sign in each of the two rows preceding the plus sign; this simply allows you to back up and delete rows.

8.

Repeat steps 3–6 to create a stereo Master Fader track in Samples timebase.

9.

Click Create. Shortcut Alert Eventually you will create sessions that require higher tracks counts, which will most likely include many different types.

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Here are some very simple shortcuts that can make this process a breeze. Indeed, they keep you from ever having to grab the mouse. n

Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC)þright/left arrow buttons toggle the mono/stereo drop-down list.

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Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC)þup/down arrow buttons toggle the track type drop-down list.

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CmdþOpt (Mac) or CtrlþAlt (PC)þup/down arrow buttons toggle the Samples/Ticks drop-down list.

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CmdþShift (Mac) or CtrlþShift (PC)þup/down arrow buttons toggle the plus/minus sign buttons.

These shortcuts—as with any others—will surely speed up your workflow. As your projects become more involved, you’ll come to know how much that counts!

Exactly What Did I Just Create?

There are five track types in Pro Tools: Audio, Auxiliary Input (sometimes referred to as Aux or Aux In), Master Fader, MIDI, and Instruments tracks. You just created a pair of audio tracks and a sole Master Fader track. Now let’s see what they are: n

Audio tracks. Audio tracks are used for recording and/or importing audio waveforms that can later be edited on that track. They may be in either mono or stereo configurations. The waveforms are organized into regions, which are graphic blocks that refer to a whole-audio file on your hard drive or a portion thereof (regions will be discussed in more detail throughout the book). These audio files are specifically located in your Audio Files folder found in the main session folder. Your M-Powered system—as well as LE systems—can create up to 32 voiceable (a channel of audio that can go to and from your hard drive) tracks in a single session!

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Master Fader tracks. This type of track first and foremost holds no audio or MIDI. Rather, it is meant to control the overall level of all tracks routed to it. You can make a Master Fader track control the

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session’s main output path, thus controlling the entire session’s volume levels, or create several Master Fader tracks to control various groups of tracks you assign to it. In the end, think of it as your session’s ultimate volume knob. Master Faders come in handy not only in controlling global volume levels, but also for applying effects such as compression and dithering to the entire mix in the mastering process. The remaining tracks—Auxiliary Input, MIDI, and Instruments tracks— are discussed in later chapters, but here’s a sneak peek at what their basic functions are. Don’t worry if these brief explanations are a little over your head at this point; they’re just to get you acquainted with what these tracks are intended for. n

Auxiliary Input tracks. These tracks contain no audio. Instead, as the name implies, they are an alternative input destination for a wide variety of applications such as hosting software-based instruments (soft-synths, MIDI sound modules, drum sequencers), sending multiple audio tracks to be processed by one central effect (plug-in or hardware insert), or as a bounce destination to submix a group of tracks, to name a few. Aux tracks are covered throughout Chapter 8.

n

MIDI tracks. Like Aux tracks, MIDI tracks contain no audio because MIDI itself is a communications protocol language designed to facilitate communication between devices so they can talk to each other. MIDI tracks contain performance data, not sound, that is sequenced in any order you choose, therefore making a MIDI track in Pro Tools a software sequencer. The concept of MIDI (including MIDI tracks of course) is covered in detail in Chapter 10, “Working with MIDI.”

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Instrument tracks. This track type combines the attributes of both the Auxiliary and MIDI tracks into one track. Instrument tracks can host virtual instruments and/or patch in external MIDI devices (previously something only an Auxiliary track could do), while at the same time allow you to record and edit MIDI performances (previously something only a MIDI track can do). These are also featured in detail in Chapter 10.

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What’s Behind Door #1?

Now that you have created some tracks and are about to record audio onto them, there are some hidden areas—two in the Edit window and one in the Mix window—that need to be revealed. Although all three views will be covered in more detail in Chapter 6, “Face to (Inter)Face With Pro Tools M-Powered,” the first two are introduced in this chapter. The left column in the Edit window is split into two sections—the Track List and the Edit Groups List. The Edit window’s right column is called the Region List; you’ll explore it after you record some audio. You open both these Edit window views by clicking the double-arrow buttons in the lower corners of the window (see Figure 4.3); likewise, you access the Mix window view by clicking the double-arrow button in the lower-left corner.

Figure 4.3 Clicking the double-arrow buttons, or chevrons, on either side of the Edit window exposes two hidden columns. The one on the left contains the Track List and Edit Groups List, and the one the right opens the Region List.

In the Track List, you’ll see the names of the three tracks just created in the order they appear in the main body of the Edit window (called the Track display area). The names (preceded by the signature track icons and, if enabled, the track color column) are highlighted in orange. This indicates that the tracks are in focus (seen) in the Track display area. Clicking one or more of the tracks deselects and hides the track from view in the Track display area. You can also drag tracks around to

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rearrange their order. These options come in handy when track counts are high and you want to work on a specific group of tracks. Before you start laying down some guitar tracks, there is one very important detail that needs to be addressed—something that takes no time at all and can save you all the time in the world: naming your tracks. Naming Tracks It’s of the utmost importance that you get in the habit of naming your tracks immediately after you create them. Let me explain: Pro Tools gives every track a default name using a simplistic naming convention, as is the case in the three tracks you just created. You’ll notice in Figure 4.4 that your audio tracks are sequentially named Audio 1 and Audio 2, with only the ending numbers individualizing them, while your Master Fader track is named simply Master 1. When you record audio into a track (or a group of tracks simultaneously), an audio file is created and automatically given a name based on the track name and which take (individual episodes of recording) it was. For example, if you were to record some audio into track 1, now named Audio 1, a file (in whatever format you choose in the original creation of the session) will be created and

Figure 4.4 Pro Tools automatically names newly created tracks with nondescriptive default names relative to the track type, like Audio 1 and Audio 2 for audio tracks. It is very important to name your tracks immediately after creating them to best identify corresponding audio files later.

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deposited in the Audio files folder called Audio 1_01, located in your session folder. If you record another take, it will be called Audio 1_02, and so on. If you record audio on Audio 2, the first take will be named Audio 2_01. While this system might work for a very small, simple session, it won’t do at all for a larger, more complicated one. Imagine a session filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of audio files of varying sizes, all named Audio x_xx. See what I’m getting at here? It would be nearly impossible to locate a specific audio file in the inevitable sea of files that will come into existence as your session progresses. Again, it’s of the utmost importance you get in the habit of naming your tracks immediately after you create them. Here’s how: 1.

Double-click the Track Name bar in the first track where it says Audio 1. A dialog box appears (see Figure 4.5). 1.

2.

3.

4.

Figure 4.5 Track naming can be easily done in this window. Using the keyboard shortcuts instead of using the Previous, Next, and OK buttons makes this vital process even faster.

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2.

In the Name the Track text box, type a name for the track. Because we’re going to record two guitar tracks, go with Rhythm Guitar.

3.

If you have more than one track (as is the case here), you can click the Next button to name the track below the one you have in focus. Conversely, you can click the Previous button to name the track above the one you have in focus. Using this method, name the next two tracks Lead Guitar and Stereo BX5a, respectively.

4.

Click OK.

Not only are your track’s new names displayed in the Track view, but they are also in the aforementioned Track List window.

Shortcut Alert II Just as with the procedure for creating tracks, there’s a simple shortcut that can make this process a little faster. To toggle from one track to another without having to grab the mouse and click the Previous and Next buttons, just press Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC)þright/left arrow; additionally, you can press Return (Mac) or Enter (PC) instead of clicking OK to close the window.

The I/O Column The area of the audio track in which you just learned to name a track is called the Track Control area. It does not include the area to the right of the vertical level meters (refer to Figure 4.4). That area is called the I/O column, and it’s part of a collection of additional displays called the Edit window columns that you can select or deselect whenever you find you need one of them. In this chapter, and in most any recording scenario, you will need to have this column displayed. The I/O column is where you find the track’s Input and Output Path selectors, an Audio Volume indicator, Left Pan and Right Pan fields, and an Output Window button. Access to these controls is required for setting up to record as well as for monitoring what’s going in and out of Pro Tools. If, after

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creating the tracks as outlined in the “Creating Tracks” section of this chapter, you do not see the I/O column, do the following: 1.

Click the View menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Select Edit Window.

3.

Choose I/O from the submenu that appears.

This selects the I/O and places it between the Track Control area and the track’s playlist. Don’t be alarmed if all this seems a little advanced; it will all be addressed in Chapter 6. It’s just that without this view, you cannot proceed with the task at hand: recording!

The Click Track and the Countoff Okay, you’re almost ready to make some noise, but before you do, you need to do just one more task (the last one, I promise!). Rest assured, it’s an important one, as it will keep your timing in check—and that should be taken very seriously. It’s time to create a click track. Think of a click track as your virtual metronome—it produces a tone with a short duration that rings in time to a consistent user-defined pulse or beat. The track itself is actually an Auxiliary track that will host the DigiRack Click plug-in (host-dependent software application) in the Inserts column (see the following note). A click track not only enables a timing source to be present to help lock in all the instruments on the session, it also helps ensure that all the audio recorded will lock up to a grid (a graphical map of time divisions that allows for more precise editing in many facets of digital audio). To create a click track, follow these steps: 1.

Click the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Click Create Click Track (see Figure 4.6).

3.

An Auxiliary Input track named Click containing the DigiRack Click plug-in appears in the track area; press the spacebar to start the Click plug-in.

Next thing to do is set up the Click plug-in so it gives you a countoff when you initiate recording, much like a drummer or conductor might

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1.

2.

3. Figure 4.6 Creating a click track is as easy as opening the Track menu in the main toolbar and choosing the Create Click Track command. From there, an Auxiliary Input track (set to a mini Track Height view) containing the Click plug-in is created.

count off a song. This enables you to have enough time (determined by you) to get your hands back on your guitar after you make the necessary keystrokes on your computer and/or recording gear to start recording, not to mention get you locked into the tempo of whatever it is you’re about to record. You set up a countoff from the Click/ Countoff Options dialog box as follows: 1.

Click the Setup menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Click Click (see Figure 4.7).

3.

The Click/Countoff Options dialog box opens. Click the During Play and Record option button to select it; this instructs the Click plug-in to play the click in both instances (see Figure 4.8).

4.

Make sure the Output drop-down list displays None. (Unless you have a MIDI sound module in your rig, this is the default setting.)

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2.

Figure 4.7 One way to open the Click/Countoff Options dialog box is from the Setup window in the main toolbar.

4.

3.

6.

5.

7.

Figure 4.8 The Click/Countoff Options dialog box lets you adjust various click parameters, including enabling a countoff and setting its length in bars.

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5.

Under Countoff, type the number of bars you want to have the Click plug-in play before recording starts. I suggest 1 for slow tempos, 2 for medium to fast tempos (recommended here), and possibly 4 for blistering high tempos.

6.

Make sure the Only During Record checkbox is selected.

7.

Click OK.

With these click parameters in check, you now have a two-bar countoff to get you in the correct tempo of what you’re recording and to allow you ample time to get your hands in place to actually play the guitar!

Where Did That Come From? When looking at Figures 4.6 and 4.7, you may be wondering what that other Edit window column is between the Track Control area and the I/O column. Titled Inserts, this column displays whatever plug-in applications are inserted in that particular track. They can be effects, virtual instruments, or utility-type apps. In this case, it’s the DigiRack Click plug-in, which is a bare-bones digital metronome. Clicking the small square with the letter C in it opens the Click plug-in window, enabling you to adjust the parameters of the Click plug-in. You can display or hide the Inserts view by clicking View > Edit Window > Inserts.

Recording Audio Okay, it’s time. Time to make some noise and record it. But first, let’s explore the two ways to get audio into Pro Tools. n

Recording audio. Recording audio entails capturing an event in the analog world as it happens. This requires either a microphone plugged into your audio interface whose job is to pick up and transduce sound waves from your amp or acoustic guitar, which are then transmitted into your computer via the interface it’s plugged into, or simply an available input on your interface to directly plug in the source (your guitar). Either method will in turn generate an audio file, which, in the digital world, is a data stream of 0s and 1s (binary code); indeed, the primary purpose for an

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audio interface is to convert incoming signals into a language the computer can work with. n

Importing audio. This is the process of placing pre-existing digital audio files into Pro Tools either via the Import Audio command found in the File menu or by simply dragging the file from the Workspace Browser window and dropping it in the Region List and/or the Edit window Track display area.

Both methods result in an audio file being deposited in the Audio Files folder and a region or set of regions being deposited in the Region List. The Audio Files folder is located in a Pro Tools session folder (the same type of folder where you were instructed to open the Power 3 session file in this last chapter); as mentioned earlier, the Region List is the hidden pane on the right side of the Edit window, accessed by clicking the double-arrow button in the lower-right corner of the Edit window. Let’s employ the first method—recording audio—using a microphone placed in front of an amplifier whose signal is then fed into an audio interface. The process outlined here will be exactly the same for any mic/interface combination, so whatever setup you have will work just fine. (The second method of getting audio into M-Powered—that is, importing—will be covered in depth in Chapter 9.) Assigning Inputs In order to record anything into Pro Tools M-Powered, you have to tell the program where the material you’re recording is coming from. Each track has an Audio Input Path selector that, when clicked, lets you choose an input source, be it your interface, a bus (internal signal routing matrix, to be covered later in Chapter 8), or a plug-in. For our purposes, we’re concerned with the interface option. Here’s how the input is assigned: 1.

Click the Audio Input Path selector for the track named Rhythm Guitar (see Figure 4.9).

2.

Click Interface. A list of the available inputs on your interface appears. (See Figure 4.10.)

3.

Click the input your microphone’s XLR cable is plugged into.

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1.

Figure 4.9 The Audio Input Path selector lets you choose where the signal coming into your track for recording will be coming from.

2.

3.

Figure 4.10 After clicking the Audio Input Path selector and clicking Interface, you should see all the available inputs on your respective interface. From there, you will choose which input your mic is plugged into via the XLR cable.

Getting Signal Now it’s just a matter of setting up the Rhythm Guitar track to be record enabled to get signal flowing into M-Powered. To do so, follow these steps: 1.

Click the R button in the Track Control area of the Rhythm Guitar track (see Figure 4.11). It will flash red, indicating that the track is armed and ready to record.

2.

Well, what are you waiting for? Play something!

3.

Watch the Rhythm Guitar track’s Volume level meter as well as the Master Fader’s (mine is named BX5a, after the speaker monitors I’m using). You should see a green bar spiking upward every time you play.

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1.

3.

Figure 4.11 After you record-enable a track, inputting signal in any way into your interface (thereby into Pro Tools M-Powered) will cause the track’s level meters to display a rising green bar; this indicates that signal is coming in.

Condenser Mic Reminder Condenser mics require up to 48 volts of power to function; without it, they won’t work at all. If you’re using a condenser mic such as M-Audio’s Luna, Solaris, or Pulsar II, remember to turn on the Phantom Power switch on your interface. Located on the front or rear panel, this is usually a push button marked accordingly and accompanied by a status LED to indicate whether the function is turned on or off. If you need a refresher on the basic properties of condenser mics, refer to Chapter 3.

Going Into the Red: Clipping

At this point, you’re biggest concern is not letting the green bar go into the red (see Figure 4.12)! If it does, then Pro Tools is telling you that your guitar’s input signal is coming in too hot (strong or loud) for your interface to process properly, causing distortion (the bad kind) or, in audio-production terms, clipping. This is a sure-fire (as well as irreversible) way to destroy a great take. It’s very important to understand that the only way to remedy this is to make adjustments before the signal hits the converters. Lowering the track’s fader will not solve

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Figure 4.12 If you see your track’s Volume level meter go into the top portion—the red, as seen here—that’s bad! This is Pro Tools telling you the signal is too hot. The result is distortion, or clipping.

the problem! A track’s fader is strictly for monitoring purposes and has absolutely no bearing on incoming signals. Here are some suggestions: n

Adjust the levels of the input signal source. Simply lower the volume on your source (i.e., the amplifier) to reduce the offending decibel levels your mic is transmitting to the interface.

n

Adjust the levels of the interface signal/input gain knob. Maybe you’re recording a miked acoustic guitar where there’s no volume knob available to turn down. That’s when you use the gain knob on the interface to attenuate (lower) the signal going into the interface.

n

Use the Pad function on your interface. It’s no secret that great tone sometimes comes to us only at loud volumes. If you’re really into a tone you’re getting at a volume level your system is not accepting, your interface may provide a pad to soften the blow, so to speak. Many interfaces feature a 10 to 20 dB pad that’s activated by a push button or switch, usually located in the same section as the mic input socket and status LED.

n

Use the Pad function on your microphone. In some cases, the input signal will be overdriving the mic before it even gets to the interface. Try to counteract this via the switch on the mic’s onboard pad, if it has one. It’s usually a small selector switch that flips to the right, activating a 10 dB pad.

Pro Tip from Peter Stroud: Mic Placement Crank your guitar amp until it makes loads of hiss without the guitar plugged in, and turn up your studio monitors until you hear the hiss loud and clear. Now place your ears in front of the guitar amp’s speaker and move your head

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around until you hear the “sweet” spot—balanced lows and highs— and place the mic at that location. Then go back and listen to the hiss through your monitors. Move the mic around until you have matched the sound you heard directly from the speaker. Once you have a match, nine times out of ten, you can achieve tone to “tape” recordings. Warning: Don’t forget to bring your levels back down! —Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow, 65amps)

Hitting the Red Button With your guitar in hand and the track record enable button (R) in the Track Control area of the Rhythm Guitar track blinking red, it’s time to make the final keystroke to engage recording: 1.

Click the Record Enable button in the Edit window’s transport section. Similar to the R button in the Track Control area, it will start flashing red, indicating that Pro Tools is armed and ready to record (see Figure 4.13). 3.

1.

2.

Figure 4.13 In order to initiate recording, tracks that are to be recorded on must be armed. Then the Edit window’s transport section’s Record Enable button must be clicked. Finally, the transport section’s Play button must be clicked.

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2.

Click the Play button in the Edit window’s transport section. The two-bar countoff starts. On the downbeat of the third bar, recording begins. As the recording progresses, Pro Tools displays the incoming signal as a waveform in a graphic box called a region.

3.

Click the Stop button in the Edit window’s transport section when you’re finished recording. Big Time Shortcut Alert Second only to the keyboard shortcut for toggling between the Edit and Mix windows with regard to frequency of use are the following shortcuts for recording audio or MIDI performances: Cmdþspacebar, F12, or Numeric 3 (Mac), and Ctrlþspacebar, F12, or Numeric 3 (PC). Use any one of these keyboard shortcuts after you have record enabled the track to which you wish to record.

To listen back to what you just recorded, click the R button on the Rhythm Guitar track to unarm the track for recording, and then press Return (Mac) or Enter (PC) to start and stop playback. If you forget to unarm any tracks, they will not be heard in the main output mix because arming a track for recording sets it up to monitor only the input (i.e., your incoming guitar signal from the interface).

Addressing Red Button Anxiety Playing music in the confines of a studio can be a daunting task, especially if you’re used to jamming with friends, doing gigs all the time, or just not playing with headphones on. For some people, all the things that go along with recording can pile up to be one big nervous breakdown waiting to happen. Just remember one thing: This is fun. This is something you want to be doing. This is your passion. So relax, take a deep breath, and just play.

Exactly What Just Happened?

As stated before, audio files are created as a result of whatever you just recorded and are placed in the Audio Files folder documenting that

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particular performance event. These whole-audio files are displayed as regions (graphic blocks) that point to the whole-audio file on your hard drive (like the one just created named Rhythm Guitar_01) or a portion thereof. The regions are dispersed and displayed throughout the track’s edit playlist (the light-shaded horizontal area to the right of the gray Track Control and Edit view sections), indicating which whole-audio file or portion of a whole-audio file is to be read by Pro Tools for playback or bouncing to disk and when in time that will happen. Those regions can be edited in many different ways such as moving, trimming, splitting, cutting, copying, and pasting (this is covered in depth in Chapter 7). Each time you record, a new region is created in the playlist of whatever track(s) are armed and enabled for recording. This process can be done as many times as you’d like, with the only limitation being that Pro Tools M-Powered can play back only 32 voiceable tracks (called dynamic voices) of simultaneous audio. That’s not to say you cannot record audio onto more tracks, and it absolutely does not imply there’s a limit as to how many audio files can be generated in a single track. What’s Behind Door #2?

Every time you input audio into Pro Tools, whether by recording or by importing, a region is created (the same goes for MIDI performance data, which is covered in Chapter 10). Not only is it displayed in the track’s edit playlist, but also in the Region List—the second of the two hidden columns in the Edit window. Located on the right side of the Edit window, it’s accessed via the double arrow, or chevron, button in the lower-right corner of the screen (see Figure 4.14). In it, you’ll now see the lone region in your session, named the same way it is in the playlist: Rhythm Guitar_01. The Region List stores all the regions created throughout the session (even if it’s not being displayed in the playlist), no matter how they came into existence. Regions can be dragged from the Region List into a track at any time.

The Reality of My Surroundings What you see around you—your surroundings—can, and will, affect how you play. While inspiration can take on many forms, it’s safe to say your environment can

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influence a great deal of it. It could be as simple as the color of your walls or the type of lighting (or lack thereof). It could be as personal as G.I. Joe figures set up in battle formation on your computer desk. Whatever makes you “you” should be present and accounted for in your studio. If you’re a big Stevie Ray Vaughn fan, then invest in a life-size poster of the blues master and hang it in plain view from where you will be recording. Maybe you need a portable DVD player so you can watch Braveheart with the volume down to put you in the right headspace for playing that death metal riff at 400 BPMs. Whether it’s skull heads or petunias, if it sets the tone for you to play your best, then by all means surround yourself with it.

Figure 4.14 The Region List is a column located on the right side of the Edit window that stores all your session’s audio and MIDI regions.

How to Deal with Latency After recording your first track, you will surely want to add more to your project. But before you can, you have to address one of the notso-joyous facets of hard disk recording: latency. Latency, also known

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as monitoring latency, can be thought of as the time lag experienced from the moment you play a note to the moment you actually hear it through your monitoring device (studio monitors or headphones). You computer-savvy types might be thinking, “Not my computer, man! It screams!” Although that may be true, processing audio is an extremely taxing procedure for even the fastest computers with tons of RAM. This is directly related to all the number crunching going on within the devices in the signal chain—i.e., your audio interface A/D converter, the computer hosting Pro Tools, as well as the interface D/A converter. It’s a normal by-product of any host-based DAW—not just Pro Tools. Indeed, depending on your setup, you may have already perceived a bit of latency as you performed the steps in the “Getting Signal” section of this chapter. Latency also is a product of poorly conceived drivers (although you can count that out of any M-Audio equation, as its drivers are consistent, reliable, and above all, constantly upgraded to ensure optimal performance). I’m mentioning all this now because as you pile on the tracks, the more likely it is you will start to detect latency. Luckily there are ways around this frustrating element of digital audio, as you’ll soon see. M-Powered Adjustments M-Powered—actually, all versions of Pro Tools—features a H/W Buffer Size (where H/W stands for hardware) setting, available in the Playback Engine dialog box (see Figure 4.15). This setting holds back a user-determined amount of data (counted in samples), allowing the processor to get some breathing room when processing audio. Buffering helps Pro Tools handle the more taxing sessions, such as ones with high track counts and/or large plug-ins instances. With that said, the higher the buffer size, the better your system will perform—with one caveat: higher latency. Reducing the H/W Buffer Size value will improve latency, but may limit the number of simultaneous audio tracks you can record and/or play back before Pro Tools throws up an error message. In the end, it’s a back and forth game between you and your rig trying to find a happy medium between low latency and sufficient processor performance. Even the smallest buffer settings have some amount of latency, but sometimes it’s so small you either can’t perceive it or it’s not enough to hamper your playing. To adjust

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Figure 4.15 The Playback Engine dialog box contains many vital settings—most notably the H/W Buffer Size, which aids in dealing with latency issues.

this setting, launch the Playback Engine dialog box (click the Setup menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose Playback Engine), display the H/W Buffer Size drop-down list, and choose the lowest buffer size your system will allow during recording. I find that 256 samples works best on my 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro equipped with 1 GB of RAM, but I’ll take 128 samples any time my computer can deal with it! Hardware Monitoring The only way to achieve true zero latency is to use an interface that has direct hardware-monitoring capabilities, which route the signal from the input of the interface directly back to the outputs going to your studio monitors or headphones combined with whatever playback mix you’ve created in Pro Tools. There are several options to do battle with latency in this way, and every method has its own idiosyncratic demands to make it work. As long as your interface was designed in

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such a way that hardware monitoring is a viable alternative, you can achieve a zero-latency recording experience. Note that hardware monitoring usually negates any options for recording with effects in the mix—at least ones generated by or patched into Pro Tools—although that’s not to say you can’t record your effected or wet signal created by your own hardware pedals or rack units. While there’s much debate about recording wet guitar tracks as opposed to dry ones, it’s a valid option, and one that I use almost exclusively (just wait until you hear my Rhythm Guitar track, as well as others, in the upcoming “Gotta Bounce” section, on bouncing your session to disk). Your sound is your sound; if you always play with it, you should always record with it. That said, direct hardware monitoring is an effective latency-free option for recording! The Mix Knob

Some interfaces, like the compact M-Audio Fast Track USB and Fast Track Pro, feature a Mix knob that allows you to hear your guitar’s direct input signal (marked Input) mixed with the playback signal coming out from the Pro Tools Main Mix bus (marked Playback). This affords you the option to mute the track by clicking the M button in the Track Control area, resulting in only monitoring your guitar’s input signal before it gets the latency-prone-number-crunching-grind applied to it. The trick is to keep a steady balance between the two sides so you can hear enough of both the input and playback signals to effectively record when layering tracks. The Secret of Internal DSP

An added bonus is that some of those Mix knob–enhanced interfaces have internal DSP effects. Take the venerable M-Audio Black Box, which boasts internal processing of effects in the form of amp modeling and other guitar-related effects that you can enjoy without ever putting that processing burden on your computer. (The guitar-centric Black Box interface—with this feature included—is covered in depth in the next chapter.) This means you can record with all the comforts of hearing quality guitar-related effects and tones like distortion and chorusing while recording with no perceivable latency.

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Figure 4.16 The mighty FireWire-based NRV-10 acts both as a formidable live analog mixer and digital audio interface, offering a plethora of unique signal-routing capabilities, including internal effects processing. These effects can be applied to discrete monitor mixes, taking the processing burden away from the computer if you have to record some dry guitar tracks but still want to add some reverb.

Interfaces like the USB 2.0–driven Fast Track Ultra and ingenious FireWire family NRV-10 (pictured in Figure 4.16) also have internal timebased effects that may be routed to a discrete monitor mix going to your headphone outputs for separate, individual mixes with effects and little to no perceivable latency. This comes in handy when you have to record your guitar tracks dry for whatever reason, but you still desire some spatial processing (delay and/or reverb) to get you in the right groove. Interface Digital Mixer Adjustments

Some interfaces, while they don’t have an onboard Mix knob or actual physical controls to route input signals directly out to whatever outputs you’re monitoring, do still offer direct hardware monitoring for achieving zero monitoring latency. The way to access this feature is through each interface’s Control Panel, which is automatically installed in the driver-installation process. Take the interface I’m using throughout this chapter—the M-Audio FireWire 410. You can

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access its Control Panel by clicking the Setup menu, choosing Hardware, and clicking the Launch Setup App button in the dialog box that appears (see Figure 4.17).

Figure 4.17 From the Hardware Setup dialog box (Setup > Hardware), you can access an interface’s Control Panel where, if applicable, direct hardware monitoring configurations can be created.

Clicking the Mixer tab in the FireWire Control Panel (see Figure 4.18) exposes several channel strips, including the gray Analog In strip. This is where I can route my incoming analog signal (guitar) from my connected mic of choice—in this case the tube-driven Sputnik condenser microphone (or direct connection via a 1/4-inch cable from your guitar straight into one of the 410’s analog mic/line inputs)—right out to outputs 1/2, which is where my studio monitors are plugged in. This inhibits my incoming guitar signal from passing through any number-crunched zones (converters or the computer) for absolute zero latency! Ironically, the 410 happens to offer an option to patch in external effects processors that are equipped with S/PDIF ports so the direct signal can be in fact monitored with effects. (This is not the norm; in fact, it’s a standout feature for the 410. Also, those effects will not be recorded.) With all these options at your disposal, you are sure to find a way around almost any latency issues you might encounter. Adjust your setup with whatever one of the aforementioned methods applies to

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Figure 4.18 In the applicable interface Control Panel app, you can route your incoming guitar signal to be sent straight to the main outputs for direct hardware monitoring with zero latency.

you and then proceed to record something onto the Lead Guitar track. To do so, just follow the same steps previously outlined and you’ll be good to go. If you haven’t already, unarm the Rhythm Guitar track for recording unless you want to record to both tracks simultaneously. Otherwise, whatever you record onto the Lead Guitar track will also be recorded to the Rhythm Guitar track. Don’t worry; if you make this mistake you can always undo the operation (CmdþZ for Mac, CtrlþZ for PC) or just drag and drop the audio recorded previously out of the Region List to whatever track was erroneously recorded over—one of the many beauties of digital audio production.

Pro Tip from Steve Lukather: Multi-Mic Placement Plus A cool trick is to close mic a cranked Marshall and have a room mic set up far away. Pan the close mic to one side and the room mic to the other. Compress the close-mic track with a more old school–sounding plug-in like a Fairchild 660 or 670. At the same time, heavily compress

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the room mic with your favorite compressor plug-in or insert your favorite hardware comp and assign the input to an auxiliary input track. Along with the compressor, patch in an EQ plug-in or hardware piece (I love the onboard EQs in my 64-channel Neve board) and cut at 1k while boosting at 10k and (maybe a little at) 100Hz. This gives you that Jimmy Page “close-far” vibe or the Voodoo Child Jimi sound. You can also turn your stack and face it toward the glass of the control room and not mic the cab, but put a mic behind the closed cabinet and further experiment with compression and EQ. Always keep in mind that the size of the room matters, so be ready to try different setups and see what works for you. Remember, there is no wrong way to do anything. If it sounds good, it is good. —Steve Lukather (Toto, Legendary Grammy award–winning session guitarist, solo artist)

When you’re finished, move on to the next section to learn how to bounce your session to a format everyone else can work with so you don’t have to drag around a rig minimally consisting of a computer tower, keyboard, and monitor; external hard drive; your interface; studio monitors; and cables (don’t forget the iLok) just to let everyone hear what you’re working on. Just in case, for whatever reason, you need a session to use for the forthcoming bouncing to disk section, go to the Chapter 4 ZIP file. Inside you will find a session folder titled Chopper Genesis. This is a quick fourtrack session I developed as I wrote this chapter, and it’s what you’ll see in the screenshots for the remainder of the chapter. Place the folder wherever you are keeping your audio projects (preferably a dedicated audio drive) and open it up so you can access the session by double-clicking the Chopper Genesis.ptf file. When the session is loaded, press the spacebar and take a listen; then go on to the next section to learn how to ready a Pro Tools session for listening “outside the box.”

Hey, Something’s Screwy Around Here! Okay, you caught me—I did a little bit of editing and mixing, as well as added some tracks

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to Chopper Genesis. I couldn’t help myself! First, I was hearing a harmony line to go with my Lead Guitar track that utilized a counterpoint approach, so I went for it. To do so, I created another audio track, dialed up the same tone settings as my Lead Guitar track, and got a good take. Next, I came to the conclusion that my original fourbar session felt a bit short for the “Gotta Bounce” section, but I really liked it and I didn’t want to tamper with the mojo it already had by needlessly adding new audio to the tracks. So I simply duplicated the regions to extend the time. I also automated a fade in and fade out in the Master Fader track and added an Aux track to host the DigiRack 1-band EQ III compressor to knock out some piercing highs in my Lead and Harmony tracks. All in all, the entire process took about 45 minutes, which included mic setup, dialing in the tones, recording, editing, and mixing. Trust me, you will learn how to perform these simple tasks and much, much more as the book progresses. By the time you’re through, my six-string brethren, you’ll be doing some simple edits and a quick mix to even the smallest scratch sessions and making them sound great in no time at all.

Gotta Bounce In order to get your music heard now—even if it’s still a work in progress—you need to explore how you get your session outside the Pro Tools environment. (I refer to the tracks you recorded thus far as a “work in progress” because this chapter skips over the editing, mixing, and mastering processes; those are covered in Chapters 7 and 8.) In order to have anyone listen to the session outside the Pro Tools environment, you have to bounce the session out of Pro Tools to a format that can be played by nonusers (or by you) on, say, a CD player or iPod. Of course, you can send the entire session folder to other Pro Tools users, but that’s not going to work for most situations. The process you’re about to engage in is called bouncing to disk. As the name implies, you are mixing down (bouncing) your multitrack session, in real time, to a single audio file (format of your choice) within which your entire session will exist to a location on your hard drive outside of the Pro Tools software environment. This will allow you to share your music with the outside world in any form you need to. What you have in store for the file will influence what parameters

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you set in the bounce-to-disk process. Let’s explore what to do if you want to mix down a session to one stereo file for burning to a CD. In this procedure, you will do things like convert your session from 24-bit to the CD player standard 16-bit specification. Chapter 8 explores the bounce-to-disk procedure in more detail. For now, follow these steps to get a feel for it: 1.

Click File in the Pro Tools menu bar. The File menu appears.

2.

Click Bounce To. A submenu appears.

3.

Click Disk (see Figure 4.19).

4.

The Bounce dialog box appears (see Figure 4.20). Click the Bounce Source arrow button and choose whatever you are using to listen to the overall mix of your session from the list that appears. In my case, it’s the BX5a studio monitors, as listed in my Master Fader track.

5.

Click the File Type arrow button and choose WAV.

6.

Click the Format arrow button and choose Stereo Interleaved.

7.

Click the Resolution arrow button and choose 16.

8.

Click the Sample Rate arrow button and choose 44100.

1.

2.

3.

Figure 4.19 The Bounce to Disk command is found in the File menu.

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4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9.

10. Figure 4.20 In the Bounce dialog box, you have many vital options to choose from, such as file type, bit resolution, and sampling rate. All these determine how and what you can do with the bounced file once it’s ready.

9. 10.

Click the Convert After Bounce option button. Click Bounce.

One More Shortcut You can skips steps 1–3 and get right to the Bounce dialog box with this keyboard shortcut: OptþCmdþB (Mac) or AltþCtrlþB (PC).

11.

The Save: Pro Tools M-Powered dialog box opens. You use this to tell M-Powered where to bounce and save the session to. To begin, type a name for your session in the Save As text box (see Figure 4.21).

12.

Click the arrow button and choose where you want to save the file. For consistency’s sake, choose your desktop as I did.

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12. 11.

13. Figure 4.21 Although it’s important to name your file, it’s even more important to be aware of where you tell M-Powered to save the bounced file.

13.

Click Save. A status window appears (see Figure 4.22) as Pro Tools bounces the file in real time to the destination you indicated in step 11. It displays a countdown indicating how much time is left in the process. In addition, because you chose the Convert After Bounce option in the Bounce dialog box, one more, smaller window appears with a progress bar documenting the conversion (see Figure 4.23).

Figure 4.22 This window appears after you click the Save button, displaying a countdown indicating how much time is left in the real-time bounce process.

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Figure 4.23 After bouncing the file to disk, this last window appears as the file is converted to whatever specs were chosen in the Bounce dialog box.

Some Words About Bouncing Although you will surely see a song idea through to a more developed or even completed stage before letting others hear it, there will be plenty of times when you will have to bounce the session in its early stages. Some examples are as follows: n

Large, complex sessions with gobs of plug-in processing and intricate automation could max out even the most tricked-out production rigs. Bouncing one or more tracks and importing them back into Pro Tools is a good way to free up much-needed CPU resources, especially if you have a not-so-powerful computer to start with.

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You might be trying to pique someone’s interest to record on your session or maybe to show the rest of your band a song idea that’s in progress for feedback. Instead of dragging everyone to wherever your rig is located (which, in a lot of cases, may not be an option anyway), you can simply transport the bounced stereo file onto a CD or your iPod or even e-mail it as an MP3.

On the other side of the coin, maybe this is all you need to do. Not every session will be a grand collage of multiple tracks and production. Maybe you’re a guitar teacher who often needs to throw down a short soloing example for an improvising lesson to send a student home that only requires two tracks—rhythm and lead guitar. Whatever the scenario may be, know this: Bouncing by no means indicates the session is finished. You can (and probably will) go back to it to further it along and/or see it through to completion.

Save! Save! Save! This book is filled with essential information as to how to become familiar—and hopefully really good at—producing great tracks, but there’s one fundamental item that is monumentally crucial to

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recording in the digital realm: saving and backing up your work. Hard drives fail, computers crash, files get corrupt, items get deleted by mistake—things happen. Nothing is more heart wrenching or potentially dangerous to your budding production career than losing your own or someone else’s work. The only way to safeguard yourself against such catastrophic events is to implement good saving and archiving habits now. Although this may not be as joyous as tailoring your mic placement to perfection or sitting back listening to your session as it develops, believe me, this will pay off ten-fold when the first system disaster happens—and it will. Here are your options, which are all accessed through the File menu in the menu bar: n

Save. As seen on most any software application, the bare bones Save command instructs M-Powered to overwrite the current state of the session file under the same filename to the state it’s in at the moment you engage the command. The items that are saved are those contained in the session file itself, including edits, settings, and MIDI performances. This is your first line of defense against a system crash (be prepared, they happen) as your latest save will be the state your session is in when the file is recovered. Be sure to learn the keyboard shortcut (CmdþS for Mac, CtrlþS for PC); that will make it that much easier to use it often. Remember this: You can never save too much.

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Save As. This command saves a copy of the session file under a new name; from there, that’s the session file your work continues in (and is saved in). As a result, the Save As file and original file will share the contents of the main session folder (remember, a session file contains no audio, as it only points to what its contained in the many subfolders of the main session folder that are generated by your actions as your session develops). This is useful for when you want to try some deep experimentation with something that may have multiple steps, but you want to keep your options open by keeping the original session file intact in case you want to go back to it. While this makes Save As a great way to gather and set aside a collection of different versions of the session as it develops, it’s not a good choice for backup purposes.

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Figure 4.24 The Save Copy In command is a comprehensive saving procedure that not only saves and backs up the session file itself, but all the ever-so-important subfolders (and their contents) of the main session folder. n

Save Copy In. This process takes account of everything involved in your session by making a copy of the session file and the entire session folder without leaving the current session or changing its name (as opposed to Save As). Save Copy In has its own dialog box (see Figure 4.24), allowing you to change the current bit depth and/or sample rate, the file type, as well as save your session to be compatible with older versions of Pro Tools; this makes it the most comprehensive way to save and archive your sessions. In the Items to Copy section, it even lets you decide what contents of the session folder you want to back up. With all things considered, Save Copy In is the way to go for not only taking a snapshot of your session in progress, but more importantly, it’s the sure-fire way to archive your sessions in locations other than where your original session folder resides. Every copy you make will help to ensure your session’s existence, and that’s a very, very good thing indeed.

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Auto Backup. A visit to the Preferences window (found in the Setup menu in the Pro Tools menu bar) will enable you to create yet another way to ensure your work’s existence in case of disaster. In the Operation tab of the Preferences window (see Figure 4.25),

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Figure 4.25 Going to the Operation section of the Pro Tools M-Powered Preferences window allows you to set and adjust many of Pro Tools’ functions such as automatically saving a copy of the session you’re working on. Selecting the Enable Session File Auto Backup checkbox instructs M-Powered to place the copy in the Session File Backups folder located in your main session folder.

you’ll find the Auto Backup section in the lower-left corner; there you can set how many times you want Pro Tools to automatically save a session. This process creates a backup file that’s stored in a subfolder called Session File Backups in the main session folder. You choose how frequently you want the session saved and how many files should be saved before Pro Tools discards the oldest one. The files created are numbered sequentially and are appended with .bak for good measure. When you open a session from one of these backup files, Pro Tools will append the word RECOVERED to the session name to remind you this is not the original file. Of all the backup options, this one is truly a no-brainer as it requires a onetime visit to the Preferences window to set it up—so do it!

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With some analog recording under your belt, it’s time to introduce the exciting new world of digital modeling and direct recording through the M-Audio Black Box—the only Pro Tools–compatible interface to feature onboard effects that can be recorded into your M-Powered session, and all with zero latency!

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The Black Box Revealed

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hapter 2, “The Audio Interface Explained,” revealed the theory and inner-workings of the external audio interface. Covering many important (not to mention misunderstood and/or often overlooked) topics like conversion, I/O, and soundquality features, you should have gained a firm(er) grip on the who, what, where, and why of this essential pro audio device. Between Chapters 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire,” and 4, “The Joys of Recording,” among many useful tasks, you set up your Pro Tools rig, created and saved some guitar-friendly session templates, dabbled with various condenser mics and mic-placement techniques, and laid down some guitar tracks. All in all, you’re gaining some valuable experience working in the world of digital recording—great! This chapter sets you totally in the digital world by showcasing the M-Audio Black Box (see Figure 5.1). The Black Box is both a USB audio interface and a stand-alone hardware DSP device split into three parts that seamlessly interact with one another. n

It’s a hardware modeling device featuring 40 amp models ranging from classic amp tones such as a Fender Twin or a Vox AC30 all the way to modern boutique amp tones like a Soldano SLO 100 to a Diezel VH4.

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It’s an effects processor specializing in beat-synced effects that match up perfectly to its own tempo or to the tempo set by the MIDI beat clock in your DAW (in this case Pro Tools M-Powered). This makes various modulation effects (or motion-propelled effects, as I like to call them; more on that later in this chapter) like panning, tremolo, envelope filtering, and others perform in time—all the

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Figure 5.1 The Black Box is a 24-bit/44.1kHz audio interface and a high-quality amp modeling unit featuring beat-synced effects, pre-programmed drum patterns, and much more.

time! The tempo of the effects can be controlled either by manual entry or in real-time by tap tempo. n

It’s a drum machine with fixed drum patterns whose tempo can also be controlled by manual entry or in real time by tap tempo. These loops can be rerouted internally and processed by the amp models and effects in the Black Box.

This is the first and only pro audio interface designed specifically for the guitarist using Pro Tools that is equally a stand-alone performance tool. While much of the information presented in the previous chapters will carry over to this chapter, you will learn in great detail about features the Black Box possesses that no other audio interface compatible with any version of Pro Tools has. Setting aside the analog world and all its idiosyncrasies for a while, let’s explore the advantages of digital modeling technology, programming and saving presets files to be stored and recalled, and much more.

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A Black Box READ ME Before you connect the Black Box to your computer with a USB cable, be sure to install the drivers either from the CD that came with the unit or, better yet, from the M-Audio Web site (direct your browser to http://www.m-audio.com and look for the Drivers link on the main page) to ensure that you install the latest versions. This allows the Black Box to properly function within your operating system, guaranteeing that the unit will be recognized in Pro Tools and installing the much-needed Black Box Control Panel. If you need any assistance installing the drivers, refer to the Black Box manual located on the CD that came with the unit; alternatively, download it from the M-Audio Web site.

Quick Start Because this is the most guitar-oriented piece of gear showcased so far, let’s do like we always do for a moment—plug in and rip! While getting you right into making some noise with the Black Box, I’m going to hip you to making the correct connections and making some necessary adjustments that could pertain to many other interfaces. Don’t take for granted that you already know how to properly plug in all the gear outlined here. Some of you may never have worked with powered monitors or may never have dealt with an audio interface in your signal chain—remember, the Black Box is half an interface, and those controls are always active even when you’re using the Black Box as a performance tool. If you overlook a required adjustment or make one wrong connection, you may find yourself wondering why you’re either hearing nothing or hearing nothing but feedback (the bad kind). So before you pass this section over, read the step-by-step process below carefully and in order. You might just uncover some small details that give you big returns! 1.

Connect the included 9V AC power adaptor’s barrelhead-style (think Boss pedals) plug into the power adaptor input found on the rear panel marked 9V AC 1000 mA (see Figure 5.2), and then plug the transformer into an electrical outlet. You should see the blue LCD display light up for about 10 seconds while the unit’s firmware boots up. Look for the words “M-Audio

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The Left/Mono Socket

The Power-Adapter Input

Figure 5.2 The Black Box from the back.

Black Box V2–3—1” to scroll across the display. This will assure you the unit is powered on and has booted up successfully. Where’s the Switch? The Black Box does not have an on/off switch, so don’t look for one. As long as the power adaptor is connected to the rear panel port, the Black Box is considered on.

2.

Connect a 1/4-inch cable (unbalanced TS will work, but if you’re planning on running long cable lengths or will be near some other gear that can cause interference, then go for the balanced TRS cable) from the Left/Mono socket in the rear panel’s Main Outputs section (also shown in Figure 5.2) to the input of your guitar amplifier. If you’re connecting to a pair of powered studio monitors like the Studiophile BX5a, you’ll need two cables to run in stereo from the left and right outs to each monitor.

3.

Connect one end of a 1/4-inch cable (regular TS cable will suffice because this is an unbalanced connection) to your guitar and the other to the Black Box by inserting the 1/4-inch plug into the Guitar Input socket on the front panel (see Figure 5.3).

4.

Before you power up your amp or studio monitors, play some chords with a normal, consistent attack and watch the green signal indicator (marked “sig”) found on the top panel (see Figure 5.4) to make sure it lights up. This indicates that the Black Box is receiving input signal.

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The Guitar Input Socket Figure 5.3 The Black Box from the front.

The Presets Buttons

The Clip Indicator

The Output Level Knob

The Sig Indicator

The Mix Knob

The Guitar Input Knob

Figure 5.4 The Black Box from above.

5.

Adjust the guitar input rotary control knob so the red clip indicator is barely lighting up when you hit the strings with a little extra force (also shown in Figure 5.4).

6.

Turn the output level and mix rotary control knobs (also shown in Figure 5.4) all the way down (counterclockwise).

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Setting the Mix Control Although setting the output control all the way down is a safety precaution, turning the mix control fully counterclockwise to input will let the full strength of the input signal (your guitar) pass through. Put simply, when the mix knob is set to input, you are hearing the input signal only. If the knob is turned fully clockwise to playback, you will hear nothing because this setting is used for the Black Box to receive output from the Pro Tools MPowered for monitoring purposes. For a review of the function of the mix control on an audio interface, refer to Chapter 2.

7.

Power up your amplifying source (amp or powered monitors) or plug in your headphones.

8.

Carefully adjust the output level control of the Black Box and the output volume of your amplifying source (if it has one) to your liking. For the best overall dynamics and safety, it’s a good idea to play around with both controls and find a balance between the two outputs so one device is not set too loud or too hot compared to the other.

9.

Now have fun and play! Scroll through the presets by pressing the presets up and down soft buttons (also shown in Figure 5.4) to get an idea of what the Black Box can do.

It’s always a good idea to plug the power adaptor into the unit you are trying to power before you plug the transformer into the wall socket to avoid any possibility of sparks, giving yourself a shock, or damaging the unit with a surge. Plus, always use the adaptor that came with the unit! There’s more involved in a 9-volt adapter than just 9-volts, you know. While we’re on the subject of responsible connections, it’s also always a good idea to plug in all your cabled gear before you power up anything in the chain like power amps, guitar amps, or studio monitors. This helps avoid any loud spikes that may occur if you have components turned on that have signal-boosting capabilities (amp stages) and you go to plug in a cable opposite of the engaged gear. For example, because the tip of a 1/4-inch TS or TRS cable is positive, it will always

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make that loud and annoying sound when any contact is made, especially against metal surfaces like the ones found on most 1/4-inch sockets. If you’re constantly switching gear in and out of the chain, then be sure to unplug the cable at both ends from a source where a buzz can originate, starting with the amplifying devices first. Then plug the passive/cold gear in first followed by connecting the active/hot piece second. Better yet, turn down or power down the amplifying devices before you do anything and don’t turn them back up or on until you have made all the new connections. These unwanted sounds could be very damaging to speakers, especially ones found in sensitive and expensive studio monitors—not to mention your most valuable piece of gear: your ears!

Background Check Now that you have made some noise and gotten a feel for the Black Box, it’s time to start learning what it can do. To fully understand what the Black Box has to offer and why it exists in the first place, you’ll need a little background information.

Before You Start… After you read this section, go back to the download section of the Course Technology PTR Web site and transfer the Chapter 5 ZIP file to your desktop. It contains various items like Black Box presets files and a Pro Tools M-Powered session template that will be referenced throughout the chapter. In addition, there’s a set of Black Box presets from legendary guitarists and fellow M-Audio artists Vernon Reid and Rusty Cooley! Finally, be sure to install the drivers before connecting the Black Box to a computer with a USB cable.

Guitar Tone and the Computer So far you’ve recorded digitally by first capturing an analog signal (a loud one at that) by way of a transducer (mic) and then converting it into a digital format that can be sent off to the computer. As innovative as this process is, it has its drawbacks. In order to record various forms of audio, there are many steps that need to be taken.

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Take the miked amp scenario covered in Chapters 3 and 4. This process requires a lot of setup time and a fair amount of experimentation (i.e. more time), which could sometimes lead nowhere and at some point may produce noise-disturbance issues with neighbors (i.e. even more time talking them down or moving to a new location). Then there’s the impossibility of re-creating tones the next day due to climate changes, string wear, and/or a host of other realworld issues. Perhaps the most dangerous (dangerously fun, that is) drawback is the inevitable desire for new sounds—new sounds more often than not meaning more gear! Tracking down, trying out, and acquiring a collection of amps, pedals, and guitars takes a lot of time, patience, and big money. So am I saying that buying that sweet silverburst Les Paul, investing in a vintage tweed ’59 Bassman, or spending three hours on a creative mic setup is a waste of your time and resources? Not a chance—it’s all part of the process, not to mention the lifestyle we guitar players live for, and I for one love it. But I also love options, especially when I need them. For instance, how about an option allowing us guitarists to plug directly into an audio interface, skipping all the hangups of recording an analog signal and recording our guitar right into the computer (into Pro Tools of course)? Well, ask and ye shall receive. A guitarist can record directly into a computer in one of two ways: with or without tone. When I say tone I mean pristine amp tones, rich and creamy tube-distorted tones (the good kind), gorgeous ambient tones by way of delays or reverbs, phat-sounding modulated tones produced by chorus and flangers, and, well, you get the picture. As convenient as it is to be able to plug directly into an interface and digitize your analog guitar signal with, say, a simpler interface like the M-Audio Fast Track USB or the JamLab, the signal coming into the computer is as dry (unprocessed) as can be. This would be the “without tone” way. Even if an interface boasts a dedicated 1/4-inch input and features M-Audio’s proven converters and has preamps boosting the inherently weak instrument level signal ( 10dB to 20dB) an electric guitar outputs, it’s still coming in bone dry. Now you might ask: Isn’t that what your clean signal is supposed to be when you plug straight into a guitar amp? Yes, but remember, a guitar amp has a

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completely different architecture in terms of handling your guitar input signal with features like an EQ section (bass, middle, treble, and usually presence), a power amp section, tubes, speakers, and cabinet resonation to name a few. All these components play a part in shaping a guitar tone, and they all contribute to the tone you hear, making your amplifier as important as we all regard it to be. What you hear through your studio monitors after plugging directly into an interface, then into Pro Tools (for example), is a snapshot (sample) of your guitar’s output voltages coming from your pickups translated into binary code—not to mention with possible latency in some instances. Enter modeling technology: the capturing of the physical signalprocessing characteristics of real-life audio gear (tube amps, pedals, speakers, microphones, etc.) and transforming them into software that emulates every nuance so it can be faithfully re-created digitally. Simply put, it’s a way for you to have everything from a Bogner Ecstasy head to a vintage Ibanez 808 Tube Screamer to a Thomas Organ Crybaby wah all the way to an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man at your disposal, either in software form or enclosed in a hardware multi-processor. While this has been achieved within the software realm in such applications as IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube series applications, the monitoring latency that these setups inherently produce becomes a huge factor to consider—and you still need a separate interface to work with those types of programs. In terms of hardware, you’re probably most familiar with this technology through the Line 6 POD series, but it isn’t recognized by any version of Pro Tools as a compatible interface. So with all this in mind, you can see the value in a unit that can not only convert and transfer your guitar signal digitally to the computer into Pro Tools, but also provide you with great-sounding DSP internally so you can do it with real guitar tones making it feel right and have no latency issues. In a nutshell, that’s what the Black Box does and more.

Black Box Trivia The Black Box was developed through a collaboration between M-Audio and Roger Linn, legendary designer of electronic music products and driving force behind Roger Linn Design.

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Linn’s past innovations have helped change the way music is made in modern times with such groundbreaking machines as the LM-1 Drum Machine, the Linn Drum, the Akai MPC series, and AdrenaLinn I and II. The AdrenaLinn units are the templates from which the Black Box was created. For more information on Roger Linn and his amazing designs, go to http://www.rogerlinndesign.com.

Hardware In the “Quick Start” section, you got a glimpse of some of the I/O and controls of the Black Box. Now it’s time to take a closer look and fill in the gaps. While this section and all that will follow will thoroughly cover the Black Box in all its glory, it’s not meant as a substitute for the user manual that comes with the unit in the form of a PDF file found on the included CD. M-Audio does a great job writing its manuals, and you should still read the one for the Black Box for a complete overview of the device or for anything that’s not addressed in this chapter. For example, the manual lists background information about all 40-amp models in the unit. What does make this chapter valuable and unique is the user (me) information gathered on how to get the most from the Black Box—not to mention the awesome pro level presets! Take note: The big blue LCD screen is not specifically pointed out because, well, there’s not much more to say about it on its own. It will be referenced in many of the descriptions and tasks that lie ahead, though. I/O You already know where to plug in your guitar and what kind of 1/4inch cable to use, and you saw the 1/4-inch stereo headphone out in Figure 5.3, so that covers the front panel. As for the rear panel, you’ve already located the power adaptor in (which, by the way, is the only way to power the Black Box as it doesn’t have the option for batteries, nor does it function via bus power through the USB cable) and the balanced main outputs (at least in mono using the left/mono out if you only connected the Black Box to a guitar amp). Of course, if you have a pair of powered monitors, you’ll want to utilize the stereo

Chapter 5

XLR Input

S/PDIF Out

Pedal Inputs

The Black Box Revealed

USB Port

Figure 5.5 The Black Box rear panel features connections to a computer, digital recording or storage media, and external controllers.

option and connect both left and right outputs to their respective monitor inputs. That leaves us with the items displayed in Figure 5.5. n

USB port. The USB port connects the Black Box to your computer both to interface with Pro Tools M-Powered (as well as other DAWs) and to upload and download presets. This will come in handy for archiving and even trading preset files with other Black Box users. You will be able to make important adjustments in the Black Box Control Panel. As an added bonus, it enables the Black Box to be controlled by a third-party software editor/librarian called Black Box SE, which can provide dynamic control options, advanced archiving, and MIDI control! (You’ll learn more about Black Box SE in a moment.) While we’re on the subject of connecting to the computer: Don’t forget to install the drivers before connecting the Black Box to a computer with a USB cable.

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Pedal inputs. The three 1/4-inch sockets marked Pedal Inputs are for connecting several peripheral devices to control the Black Box externally. This enables you to use the Black Box like a guitareffects pedal or floor-style multi-effects processor. Compatible hardware includes the M-Audio Black Box pedal board for overall control, the EX-P expression pedal for real-time tweaking of effects parameters, and the M-Audio SP-1 sustain pedal for switching between presets through momentary switching. (All of these components and their functions will be discussed in detail later in this chapter.)

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S/PDIF out. The S/PDIF out gives you the option of recording straight to another digital device that has a S/PDIF input at 24-bit/ 44.1kHz. You can record with the amp models, effects, and drums patterns directly out through the RCA socket with no signal loss by using a 75-ohm coaxial S/PDIF cable. (More on that later.)

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XLR input. The XLR input lets you connect a dynamic microphone for recording vocals or miking anything you might want to record and process with all the effects in the Black Box. The possibilities here can get very interesting, folks. (Note that because there is no option to provide phantom power, condenser mics cannot be used with the Black Box unless you add a separate phantom power supply.

The Black Box Sound Editor (see Figure 5.6) is a software-editing and archiving programming tool designed by SoundTower that controls the Black Box through a USB connection to a computer. Like the Black Box Control Panel, it allows you to exchange multiple presets

Figure 5.6 SoundTower’s Black Box SE gives you complete control of the Black Box from your computer and enables advanced MIDI control.

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between the Black Box and the computer, but then takes the process a step further by enabling you to create extensive libraries for archiving and advanced copy tasks of your presets. You can also easily tweak preset and global parameters and create user-definable templates. Perhaps the most important additive function the editor offers is it provides MIDI mapping and full implementation via an external MIDI controller. The Black Box SE is compatible with both Mac OS X and Windows XP and can be purchased at http://www.soundtower.com. Controls The Black Box control knobs and soft key buttons are located on the top panel (see Figure 5.7) of the unit. In the “Quick Start” section of this chapter, you read explanations for most of the control knobs on the right side of the top panel (refer to Figure 5.3), starting with the guitar input level rotary control knob and its green signal (marked “sig”) and the red clip indicator lights. The mix rotary control knob (also described in a general context in Chapter 2) and output level Menu Buttons

Mic Input Control Knob and Indicator Lights

Drumbeat Buttons

Presets Buttons

Tap Tempo Button

Start/Stop Button

Rotary Control Knobs

Figure 5.7 The top panel of the Black Box gives you complete control of the unit with a collection of knobs, soft key buttons, and rotary knobs.

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rotary control knob were also covered. That leaves the mic (microphone) input control and its green and red indicator lights, all the soft key-buttons on the left side of the LCD screen, and the four rotary control knobs on the bottom of the LCD to introduce. n

Mic Input control knob and indicator lights. The Mic Input control knob adjusts the level of incoming signal from a dynamic mic (with no phantom power, a condenser mic is not an option unless you provide a separate phantom power source). Use the green signal indicator light (marked “sig”) to verify there is signal coming in and then adjust the level until the red signal indicator (marked “clip”) is barely lighting up at louder than normal input to ensure a strong, consistent signal level with no clipping or distortion (the bad kind).

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Presets buttons. The Presets buttons let you travel from one preset to another. You can do this incrementally, going up or down one by one with the corresponding button (marked accordingly with up and down arrow symbols), or by quickly scrolling through presets by holding down one of the keys, depending on what direction you want to go. (Don’t worry if you don’t know what a preset is yet; presets are covered in depth in the next section of this chapter.)

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Drumbeat buttons. These buttons act exactly the same way as the Presets buttons except, of course, the choices are different. On any given preset you can incrementally or quickly scroll through the 100 fixed drum patterns/loops.

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Start/Stop button. Pressing this button starts and stops whatever drum pattern is set to play at that time.

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Tap Tempo button. This button provides a way for you to set the tempo of not only a drum pattern but also the beat-synced effects. The red tempo indicator light flashes in quarter notes against whatever tempo the internal (not external) clock source is set to. Even if you set the tempo without the drums playing or a beatsynced effect engaged, both instances would follow the tempo you have set when turned on and will always be linked to each other.

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Menu buttons. There are four soft key buttons under the Menu heading: Amp, FX (effects), Delay, and Utility. When pressed, each

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button puts the Black Box into the corresponding menu for editing of the parameters found within that category. If you hold down the Amp, FX, or Delay button for .5 seconds, those effects will be toggled on or off. n

Rotary control knobs. These knobs adjust whatever parameters are displayed above them at the time, which depends on what Menu button you’ve pressed. Each menu has a set of four parameters that are unique to that menu. These control knobs also control the parameters found in the shift parameters, which are covered later in this chapter.

If you look again at the soft keys in Figure 5.7, you’ll notice four groups of two vertical buttons, with each group of buttons featuring a function label between them. You access these functions by simultaneously pressing both buttons that flank the function name. The functions are as follows: 1.

View. This is for viewing the drum pattern name and its program number. Whatever preset you’re on, there is always going to be a drum pattern linked to it whether you have it playing or not. By default, the drum pattern name and pattern number will not be displayed on the LCD screen unless you press the up and down drumbeat buttons simultaneously to view it. Pressing either drum pattern button, as seen in Figure 5.7, can also perform this action.

2.

Compare. This is for comparing different states of a stored preset. When you fiddle with a preset, you’ll see the word Edit pop up next to PRESET in the LCD screen. This means the Black Box is onto you and knows you have altered something in that preset. If at any time during your exploration of tone tweaking you want to hear or see anything in the preset’s original state, just press the Amp and FX buttons simultaneously and you’ll be bounced back to the original state of that preset. Press the combo key action again and you’re back to your tweaked state. If you like what you’ve created, be sure to save the new version before you switch to a new preset or

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unplug (turn off) the Black Box; otherwise, you will lose that hard-earned stroke of genius. (You’ll learn how to save in a moment.) 3.

Store. Say you want to save that newfound sound after tweaking a factory preset. Just hit the Preset up and down buttons simultaneously to start the save process. Saving and archiving a preset is covered in more detail in the next section of this chapter.

4.

Tuner. You’d think with all the technological advances today there would be a way to keep guitar strings in tune forever. Well, until then, press the Delay and Utility buttons simultaneously for a chromatic tuner. As a matter of fact, do it right now. You’re probably out of tune!

That’s it for the I/O and control options. Now let’s get to work. Make sure your Black Box is connected via USB to your computer and you have downloaded the Chapter 5 folder from the Web site onto your desktop. Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to install the Black Box drivers from either the CD that comes included with your interface or the M-Audio Web site before doing anything else!

Working with Presets The Black Box organizes and stores each individual sound as a file called a preset. Presets are named by a two-digit number along with a six-character title, both of which are seen in the blue LCD screen. These presets consist of a combination of parameter settings and are as follows: n

Amp models and their controls (drive, bass, mid, treble)

n

Drum patterns

n

Beat-synced effects and their controls (type, speed, frequency, depth, wet/dry levels)

n

Delay and its controls (time, repeats, volume, drums to delay)

n

Reverb and its controls (time, highs, volume)

Chapter 5

n

Compression level

n

Noise gate types

n

Tempo

n

Volume levels

n

Expression pedal assignment

n

Internal signal routing

The Black Box Revealed

In addition to these parameter settings, any one of the 100 fixed drum loops can be linked to each individual preset. There are 200 preset memory locations available in the Black Box. The first set of 100 (numbered 0–99) are factory presets that came installed with the Black Box and cannot be saved over as a user preset or overwritten when copying presets from your computer. The next set of 100 (numbered 0–99) are a set of user preset locations for you to save your own presets, which at first mirror the settings of the factory presets at the same preset location. You can distinguish user presets from factory presets by the word “user” displayed in the upper left hand corner of the blue LCD screen. To get started working with the Black Box, this section will guide you through copying and saving presets. To make it easy (and more fun), I’ve programmed some presets for you to work with that you should have downloaded from the Web site and placed on your desktop. After unzipping the Chapter 5 ZIP file, navigate to the Black Box Presets folder; inside it you will see a group of files with a .bbp extension. These are Black Box preset files. In order to use them, you must transfer or copy them into the Black Box, as they cannot be opened or used in any way outside the unit. Assuming you have installed the latest drivers (you can’t say I didn’t remind you), it’s time to connect the Black Box to an available USB port on your computer with the included USB cable. Copying Presets to and from the Black Box Copying presets to and from your computer enables you to back up the sounds you labored over to create and, at the same time, gives you the

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option to create as many presets as your hard drive can fit (that would be in the thousands upon thousands) and not rely on just the unit’s limited preset user locations to store them. To get at any presets you download into the Black Box, you’ll first need to set up where you want the Black Box to store them. In our case, we’ll use the Preset soft key buttons, navigate to the User preset location 01 and copy the AMPTPL.bbp preset file there (remember, you cannot copy over a factory preset). To copy a preset to the Black Box, you must first open the Black Box Control Panel on your computer. To open it on a Mac, do the following (see Figure 5.8): 1.

Click the Apple menu.

2.

Click System Preferences.

3.

In the bottom pane, marked Other, click M-Audio Black Box.

1.

2.

3. Figure 5.8 Opening the Black Box Control Panel on a Mac.

Chapter 5

2.

The Black Box Revealed

1.

Figure 5.9 Opening the Black Box Control Panel on a PC.

To open the Black Box Control Panel on a PC, do the following (see Figure 5.9): 1.

Right-click the red and white M-Audio icon in your system tray.

2.

Click M-Audio Black Box Control Panel.

To copy a preset, do the following (see Figures 5.10 and 5.11). 1.

Click the Presets & Firmware button in the Black Box Control Panel.

1.

2.

Figure 5.10 The Black Box Control Panel lets you adjust several important behaviors in the Black Box, such as the effects input source, where files are copied to and from the Black Box, and when firmware is updated.

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4.

3.

5.

Figure 5.11 Choose a preset file to be copied to the Black Box here.

2.

Click Copy to Device.

3.

A dialog box opens. Navigate to the area on your computer where the BBP files are located (for example, your desktop, as suggested).

4.

Click the AMPTPL.bbp file to select it.

5.

Click Open.

If you see AMPTPL displayed next to 01 on the blue LCD screen, then you did it! This process automatically saves the preset to that location. Because you can only copy one preset at a time, you’ll need to repeat the process for each individual preset. To reverse the process and copy a preset from the Black Box to your computer, you must first dial in the preset you want to copy from the unit to be displayed on the blue LCD screen. To illustrate, let’s copy the factory preset 72-ATOWA1 to your desktop. This preset was designed to give you a phat-sounding automatic envelope filter (commonly referred to as an auto wah) through a Fender Bassman amp

Chapter 5

The Black Box Revealed

3.

2.

4.

Figure 5.12 In this dialog box, you can rename a preset file and choose where to save it.

model with a touch of delay and reverb. Using the preset menu soft key buttons, navigate to the factory preset location 72, then do the following (see Figure 5.12): 1.

Click the Presets & Firmware button in the Black Box Control Panel (refer to Figure 5.10).

2.

Click Copy from Device.

3.

In the dialog box that appears, you can choose to save the ATOWA1.bbp file with the same name or to rename it, as well as choose where on your computer’s hard drive you want to save the file. Navigate to your system’s desktop.

4.

Click Save.

The file is copied to your desktop. You will notice that the BBP file icon is either blank (Mac) or contains a graphic that indicates your operating system can’t identify an application to open it (Windows). That’s OK. It simply means your operating system either knows it

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can’t open it or doesn’t know what program to use to open. Remember: BBP preset files are proprietary to the Black Box and cannot be opened or used in any way outside of the unit—only copied to and from. So both operating systems will always display those icons for the Black Box BBP preset files.

What’s in a Name? The option to rename a BBP file will come in handy for PC users because the Black Box may sometimes use symbols when naming files that Windows does not allow to be used. With that in mind, the name that appears in the Black Box LCD will remain the same when you copy the preset back to the unit even if you save it to your computer’s hard drive with a different name.

Saving Presets As with anything in the digital world, saving (and naming) your work is of the utmost importance, especially in the case of the Black Box. While computers offer rollback options and most software programs (including Pro Tools) feature an autosave function to bail you out of reckless non-saving habits, the Black Box offers no such amenity. There’s nothing that will help you in any scenario if you don’t get in the habit of saving and naming your files. So before you explore the sonic possibilities of the Black Box and create some custom presets, it’s a good idea to go over the file-naming and saving process. The Black Box is designed so that the naming and saving processes are performed in one operation. To practice, go to user preset location 01, where you copied the AMPTPL preset; then do the following to give it your own name and then save it: 1.

Simultaneously press the two up and down Presets buttons (marked in the middle as “Store”). The preset number and the first three characters will start to blink.

2.

If you want to save the preset to another numbered location in the user preset section, use the appropriate Presets button to scroll to the desired location. In this example, let’s store this

Chapter 5

The Black Box Revealed

one as user preset 06. To do so, press the Presets button with the up arrow to move from 01 to 06. 3.

Think of a name that consists of four to six characters.

Why Four to Six? The name can consist anywhere from one to six characters, but I want to make sure you know how to enter at least four because the Black Box only lets you enter a set of three characters at a time; there’s a specific knob action you have to perform to get to the next set of three.

4.

Twist the first three rotary control knobs to enter the first three characters of the filename. The available characters starting from the beginning and turning clockwise are a blank space (no character), single digit numbers (0–9), a hyphen or dash, alphabetical letters (A–Z), and other various symbols such as an asterisk, an underscore, and a quasi-question mark.

What’s with the Bracket? Try not to be confused by the last two characters; they are left and right brackets, and the left bracket is the same as the letter C when displayed on the Black Box LCD screen. Knowing this will save you some head scratching if you run into the left bracket symbol, thinking it’s the letter C, and wonder why the respective surrounding characters are not the letters B and D!

5.

Twist the fourth knob one increment clockwise (to the right). The first three rotary knobs adjust the second set of three; enter the rest of your preset name. If you need to go back to the first set of three, twist the fourth knob one increment counterclockwise (to the left).

6.

Simultaneously press the up and down Presets buttons. The word “Saved” appears momentarily, confirming your save was successful.

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A Preset Save Caution If at any time in the save process you accidentally hit a soft key button other than the Preset increment buttons (which will change the preset number location), the save process will abort and you will be returned to the main preset view. So if you just finished twisting a semi-labor intensive six-character name, be sure to hit the correct button combination to complete the save or its gone forever—or at least until you begrudgingly do it again. Also, pay attention when you perform that final double-button action to finalize the save process. You might think you successfully hit it, take your eyes off the LCD, and navigate to another a preset only to later find out you in fact you did not, therefore losing the preset you thought you had saved. Not a good feeling, trust me.

Sharing Presets Because a saved preset file is only 4KB, it should be no problem attaching a BBP file in an e-mail message and sending it to another Black Box user even if there’s a dial-up connection in the mix. Besides being a great way to trade and build a library of great tones, this is especially useful when collaborating on a shared M-Powered session that requires a specific preset.

Presets from the Pros In the Chapter 5 folder you downloaded from the Web site you will find another folder marked “Presets from the Pros.” Inside it is a collection of presets made especially for this book for you to have fun with courtesy of my good friends and fellow M-Audio artists Vernon Reid and Rusty Cooley. While Rusty programmed a pair of furiously heavy tones you’d expect to hear from this shred master, Vernon’s collection of presets remained consistent with his ever-perplexing creativity, some utilizing an expression pedal (explained in detail later in this chapter). Using the Black Box preset procedures discussed so far, you can quickly get these great-sounding tones into your unit and share them with other Black Box users.

Chapter 5

The Black Box Revealed

Editing Presets It’s time to learn how to create your own presets. The only way to actually create or program a preset in the Black Box is to edit a preexisting preset—factory or user. There are no blank memory locations to start from, nor is there an option to erase an existing preset, leaving an empty preset location for you to create one from scratch. A preset created and saved by you is known as a “user preset” and can only be saved in the Black Box among the 100 user-preset locations, even if you create it by editing a factory preset. Preset editing is done within the four menus accessed by the soft key buttons directly to the left of the blue LCD screen (refer to Figure 5.7). When you push any of these four preset menu buttons you’ll notice that the four segmented sections or windows on the bottom of the blue LCD screen display different control parameters that pertain to the menu you chose. Each parameter is adjusted by the corresponding rotary control knob (1, 2, 3, or 4) located directly below it. After you push a menu soft key button, the control parameter on the far left will blink, signifying that it can be tweaked with its rotary knob. To tweak any of the other parameters, just start turning its corresponding knob. If you only want to view a parameter without adjusting its settings, simply turn the corresponding rotary knob one click in either direction. To exit any of the four parameter menus, returning to the main view of the preset you’re on, just hit either one of the Presets buttons once. (Don’t worry; this action will only display the current preset name and number location. It won’t move you to the next preset. You would have to hit the respective button again or hold it down to scroll to start navigating to other presets.) To enable you to fit even more tweakable features without requiring you to add more hardware controls, the Black Box is designed with shift parameters. These are nested functions housed inside the Amp, Delay, and Utility menus. You access them by initiating a specific control parameter and then double-tapping the corresponding menu button to enter into the shift parameter. To initiate the control parameter without adjusting it, simply turn the corresponding rotary control knob once in either direction. Each shift parameter is discussed within

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Table 5.1 Shift Parameters and Their Locations Menu

Parameter 1

Parameter 2

Parameter 3

Parameter 4

Amp

None

Compression

Amp mid

None

Delay

Reverb time

Reverb high frequencies

Reverb volume

None

Utility

Noise gate

Link drumbeat

None

Tempo source

its respective menu explanation; see Table 5.1 for a complete list of the shift parameters.

Note: Unlike most guitar amps, pedals, or just about any other piece of guitar-related gear, the Black Box parameters are adjusted in increments ranging from 0–99 instead of 1–10 (or 1–11 if you’re Nigel Tufnel of Spin€al Tap). There are even some parameters that go into negative values, such as some FX depth ranges found in the FX menu. Play around with adjusting parameters to get a feel for where the tweaking will be according to the number displayed on the LCD.

Amp Models Some zealot tonemeisters will tell you all you need is your hands, the right guitar, and a great-sounding amp to build a great tone. This thinking could stem from the fact that before the first guitar effect pedals started to emerge in the early to mid 1960s, guitar players only had their amplifiers for tone shaping. Luckily for us, modeling technology has given us a great gift: digital replications of classic and modern amplifiers called amp models. The Black Box features 40 amp models for you to sink your fingers into. Good thing, too, because it would be impossible for most of us to obtain and maintain all the amps modeled in the Black Box without going bankrupt, let alone have somewhere to store them!

Chapter 5

The Black Box Revealed

It’s a good idea to develop a library of raw amp tones first. Go to preset 01, where you copied the AMPTPL (short for amp template) preset. This preset enables you to start your tweaking from a clean slate since it was created for you to scroll through and hear just the amp models without any effects—beat-synced, delay, reverb, or compression. The EQ controls are all set to 50 (including the shift parameter mid control); the delay and effects (FX) have been set to off; and the reverb and compression levels are at 0. To allow for the most honest dynamic performance of the model, the noise gate has been set to the lowest setting (1). This gate setting will expose any noise issues in the higher gain amps and will expose any noise resulting from the addition of any compression. Starting with the BASMAN (Fender Bassman) amp model already loaded, go through the 40 models by hitting the Amp Menu button and twisting the first rotary knob, under the amp control parameter, to scroll through the choices. Spend some time with each model and tweak all the control parameters and shift control parameters (compression and mid frequency) until you’ve created a tone you like. When you dial up a tone you really like, make sure you save it (refer to the section “Saving Presets” if you need help). In the saving process, besides entering your own unique name for the preset, assign it to a different user preset location. This will return preset location 01 to its original state (i.e., the state it was in after you copied the AMPTPL preset to the Black Box—similar to performing Save As on your computer) so you can start from scratch again. If you start to fill up the available user preset slots, you can always copy those presets to your computer and free up space in the Black Box (not to mention create a backup!). The amp model choices are broken down in the following list. For a full list of amp models, refer to page 10 of the Black Box manual. n

Amp models 1–23 are models of actual amplifiers, both vintage and modern, ranging from a Fender Twin Reverb (see Figure 5.13) to a Bogner Ecstasy (see Figure 5.14). To get the best results, it helps to know a little something about the amp that was modeled. Be sure to read the descriptions for each model starting on page 11 of

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Figure 5.13 The Fender Twin Reverb is a timeless classic 2  12 combo without which no collection would be complete.

Figure 5.14 The Bogner Ecstasy is one the most highly coveted modern multichannel high-gain heads out today.

the Black Box manual. If that isn’t enough, get online and search the amp by manufacturer and model; you should quickly come up with plenty of useful information clueing you into what the specific model is shooting for. This is information that will carry over into many facets of tone creation and recording. n

Amp models 24–32 are custom tones created by the M-Audio team with specific tonal scenarios in mind like high-gain aggression, 60sstyle twang, and models to complement certain pickups.

Chapter 5

n

The Black Box Revealed

Amp models 33–37 are models of classic bass amps like the Ampeg SVT (Figure 5.15) or the SWR SM500. Not only is this useful for recording bass tracks, but some of the fullest guitar tones ever to be created were through bass guitar amps. Check them out!

Figure 5.15 The Ampeg SVT (Super Vacuum Tube) series is a powerhouse bass amp designed to deliver 300 watts in 1969! What? Did you say something? What’s that ringing in my ear?

n

Amp models 38–39 are designed to provide full-sounding fuzz tones, with model 38-FUZZ giving tones modeled after a thick Dallas/ Arbiter Fuzz Face (see Figure 5.16) and model 39-OCTAVE delivering a Roger Mayer Octavia octave fuzz tone (see Figure 5.17).

n

Amp model 40-MICPRE is meant to give you that clean yet warm direct-to-the-console sound. Be mindful of the drive settings, though—you should roll back the drive level (first control parameter in the amp menu). Start at 0 and don’t go far above it! A Word to the Wise When you’re checking out the amps, keep in mind that your guitar body type and pickups play a huge role in how the amp will respond to your playing dynamics and have a big part in what the overall tone will be. What may not work for a humbucker-equipped Ibanez Universe seven-string might sound amazing with a standard Tele set to the neck pickup. While the

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possibilities seem endless (and they are), that doesn’t mean every single one is right for you. Try not to get discouraged if a model just doesn’t work even after hours of tweaking. At the same time, don’t pass up a model if the tone is not there right from the start. Give it some time and you might be surprised at what you hear. I’ve seen engineers dial in tones that most players would mortgage their house for with a mere twist of the basic EQ section knobs.

Figure 5.16 The Dallas/Arbiter Fuzz Face, now distributed by Dunlop, was one of Jimi’s earliest sonic toys and can still be found in the pedal boards of guitar legends like Eric Johnson.

Figure 5.17 An original Octavia pedal made by Roger Mayer. Just listen to the outro solo in “Purple Haze” and you’ll get the picture.

Chapter 5

The Black Box Revealed

Beat-Synced Effects In order to fully understand and appreciate what beat-synced effects are, you first have to understand what modulation effects are. Any effect that has a changing parameter over time within its properties is categorized as some sort of modulation (change over time) effect. These effects inject the sound they are enhancing with a feeling of motion or movement, which is why I sometimes refer to them as motion-propelled effects. Need an easy reference? Listen to the end of the Eagles “Life in the Fast Lane,” when the entire mix gets treated with a true flanging effect, making it sound like it’s swaying back and forth like a kite swooping through the air (slow-motion factor). Or how about the chorus sound Kurt Cobain used on the verse sections of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” where the rate and depth controls of a Electro-Harmonix Small Clone are cranked, making Cobain’s guitar sound like it’s underwater (fast-motion factor). And of course, anyone who has ever listened to the Smiths classic “How Soon Is Now” through a pair of headphones will never forget the first time they experienced the vertigo-like chugging of Johnny Mar’s depth-maxed tremolo and extreme panning-induced main chordal riff (the all-powerful motion factor). These, as well as countless other revered moments in the recorded guitar canon, might not have had the same impact without those added modulation effects. The motion part of a modulation effect is more often than not controlled by a low frequency oscillator (LFO), which is a circuit engineered to produce a waveform slow enough to be perceived in time as a pulsating element in the sound that is mixed within the circuitry of the effect it is enhancing. The shortcoming of such an ingenious invention is that LFOs are real analog waveforms and have virtually no easy way to precisely control their frequencies, preventing the user from dialing in exact settings. The only way to do it is to tweak the rate knobs and match the beat pulse by ear! Worse yet, even if you nail it, there is no guarantee the waveform will stay consistent because it isn’t digital. Couple that with a drummer who is, in fact, only human, and you can start to see the problem. As cool as a swirling, thick-as-amilkshake phaser can be, it’s almost useless when it’s not syncing up to the overall pulse of the music it’s being played within.

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The term beat-synced indicates that motion-propelled effects, like the ones described earlier, are synchronized to an internal or external clock source (a beat) through digital processing. Beat-synced effects don’t just aid traditional modulation effects like chorus and panning; they make other time- and sequenced-based effects like delay and sequenced filter effects lock up to a beat too! Ever better, not only can the tempo be set by a knob, it can also be set by a tap tempo button where you manually tap the rate of the beat for quicker and more accurate syncing. You’ll be glad to know the Black Box performs all these tasks like a champ, including syncing the delay effect—more on that soon. Effects whose speed is synced with the internal MIDI beat clock can be tweaked with the rotary control knob under the FX Speed Control parameter, located in the FX menu, either by twisting in a value between 0 and 99 or by choosing one of the 16 tempo-synced speeds listed in Appendix B, “Black Box Tempo-Synced Durations.” The tempo-synced values are accessible after scrolling past 99 and range from eight measures (8M) to a 1/32-note triplet (32T)! Following is a list of the effect types found in the FX menu that are considered to be beat-synced effects. The abbreviations in parentheses that follow indicate how each category of effects will be displayed on the Black Box LCD. For a full list of the 121 effects found in the FX menu, see page 16 of the Black Box manual. n

Tremolo (TREM)

n

Panning (PAN)

n

Sequenced-filter tremolo (FTREM)

n

Flanger (FLANG)

n

Chorus (CHORS)

n

Rotary speaker (ROTOR)

n

Vibrato (VIBRA)

n

Random filter sequences (RNFI)

n

Random flanger sequences (RNFL)

Chapter 5

n

Auto wah (ATOWA)

n

Talk box (TKBOX)

n

Volume swell (SWELL)

n

Preset tremolo sequences (TRSQ)

n

Preset filter sequences (FLSQ)

n

Preset arpeggio sequences (ARSQ)

The Black Box Revealed

The best way to experience beat-synced effects is to play along with one of the preprogrammed drum loops in the Black Box. For this section, you’ll need to copy another one of the presets downloaded from the Web site to the Black Box. Following the procedure outlined in the section titled “Copying Presets to and from the Black Box,” copy the BSETPL.bbp (beat-synced effect template) preset to user location 02. Unlike preset 01-AMPTPL, this preset has a Fender Deluxe Reverb (DLXREV) amp model with tailored tone settings that give you a clean sound with a little bite for good measure. If you’re curious as to what the settings are, remember that all you have to is hit the Amp Menu button on the left of the LCD screen and carefully twist each control parameter rotary control knob one click in either direction. In this case the delay was set to be inaudible, so you can clearly hear the beat-synced effects against the drum pattern’s pulse, but I did add a touch of reverb for some ambience to both the guitar and drums (adding reverb to the drums is explained later in the chapter). I started you off with the basic tremolo (TREM1), which is the first effect in the FX menu, set with a high depth level for that chopping helicopter level tremolo. If you have an expression pedal available, I assigned it to control the speed of the tremolo (FXSPED). Press the Start/Stop button to rev up the drumbeat (TRIANG), hit a chord, and have fun! Be sure to go through the effects categories mentioned previously by pressing the FX Menu button, scrolling through the choices by twisting the first rotary knob under the effect control parameter. Spend some time with each effect and tweak all the control parameters associated with it until you create a tone you like. While you’re at it, don’t be afraid to change the amp model and/or tweak its EQ settings for

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each FX you engage. As a matter of fact, expect to do it! Every time you feel like you have a real live one, make sure you save it (refer to the section “Saving Presets” if you need help). In the saving process, in addition to entering your own unique name for the preset, assign it to a different user preset location. As mentioned earlier, this will return preset location 02 back to the state it was in after you copied the BSETPL.bbp preset to the Black Box, so you can start from scratch again. Delay Simply put, a delay unit repeats whatever you play into it. The Black Box features an extensive delay processor that is syncable to a beat clock, much like the beat-synced effects found in the FX menu. There are three main parameters from which any delay unit—not just the Black Box—works that configures how these repeats will be heard. The following list explains these and one extra unique parameter, which are displayed on the Black Box LCD after the Delay Menu button is pressed. n

Delay Time (DELAY TIME). This determines how far apart the repeats will be played back. The Black Box can control the time intervals in milliseconds (ms) ranging from 30–2511 ms or, as you’ll soon see, with tempo-synced speeds just like the beat-synced effects. Turning rotary control knob 1 adjusts the delay time. The tempo-synced speeds can be accessed after the 2511ms mark is passed (turning clockwise); they range from two measures (2M) to a 1/32-note triplet (32T). A complete list of the tempo-synced delay times is found in Appendix B, right under the section for the beatsynced effects.

n

Delay Repeats (DLY REPEATS). Often called feedback, this parameter determines how many repeats are heard. The Black Box measures this in a 0–99 range. This parameter is adjusted by rotary control knob 2.

n

Delay Volume (DELAY VOL). Often called the mix or effect level, this parameter controls how much of the wet or affected signal (the repeats in this case) will be heard as compared to the dry or

Chapter 5

The Black Box Revealed

unaffected signal (your unprocessed incoming guitar signal). Like the delay repeats, the Black Box measures this parameter in a 0–99 range; it is adjusted by rotary control knob 3. n

Drums to Delay (DRUMS>DELAY). This parameter, unique to the Black Box, lets you send signal of the fixed drum patterns into the delay effect or, even cooler, into the same input path as the one your guitar goes through! This enables you to create custom drum loops by processing the drumbeats with not only the delay but also the amp models and all the effects in the FX menu. This is covered more in depth later in this chapter in the section called “Processing Fixed Drum Patterns.”

As mentioned earlier, in addition to having the option of syncing the beat-synced effects up to a beat clock, you can sync up the delay effect, too! This is another valuable attribute to the Black Box as there are many instances where it will be very desirable to have this option at your disposal. Here are some examples. n

You record a searing guitar solo with a short, quick climatic unison bend at the end. Wouldn’t it be great if it trailed off in time with no hassles? Now it can be, and you can even choose what rhythm will be in the delay time parameter control section of the Delay menu. Jump over to Appendix B for a full list of rhythms to choose from.

n

Ever wanted to record or even try playing a riff live using the dotted 1/8-note trick reminiscent of David Gilmour’s legendary playing in “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1” or the Edge in countless U2 tunes such as “Where the Streets Have No Name” or “Wire”? Now you can, flawlessly, and without any semi-complicated math equations you might have had to compute in the past.

n

How about those compounding two- and three-part harmony runs Brian May pulled off on such Queen classics as “Brighton Rock”? No problem for the Black Box. Just set the delay time to 2M or 1M, depending on what you’re going for, and rock out.

Just like the beat-synced effects, the best way to experience the various delay effects is to play along with one of the preprogrammed drum

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loops. For this section, you’ll again need to copy one of the presets downloaded from the Web site to the Black Box. Following the procedure outlined in the section “Copying Presets to and from the Black Box,” copy the DLYTPL.bbp (delay template) preset to user location 03. This preset was edited and saved with the dotted 1/8-note trick in mind at the same tempo as “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1.” I used the Hiwatt DR 103 amp model (HIWHAT) and tweaked all the EQ and compression settings. I also linked the 4COUNT drumbeat for a basic 1/4-note rhythm so you’ll have an easier time getting the right rhythmic flow in your picking hand. FX is set to Off, and the reverb is set to a low setting with the drumbeat getting rerouted into the reverb as well. If you try to play with the original recording, you might need to employ the Tap Tempo function to sync up to the tune. At first, just play an open D string using steady 1/8 notes to get the feel of the dotted 1/8-note repeats. Be sure to explore all the settings in each menu to probe into how I edited the preset, and be sure to check out the Delay menu parameters. You should do this with any presets that catch your ear so you can learn how to program/edit your own sounds. Reverb Nested beneath the delay control parameters are the Black Box reverb shift parameters. These controllable parameters are as follows: n

Reverb Time (RVTM). The Black Box features five reverb times. Numbered from 1 to 5, they are described as tiny, small, medium, large, and huge. The words indicate the size of the rooms these reverb times are emulating. To navigate to this shift parameter, engage the delay time control parameter in the Delay menu and double-tap the Delay Menu button. For a spring reverb–type sound, I tend to go for the medium room (3); for that cavernous, airy sound, a` la Bill Frisell, I use the large room (5).

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Reverb High Frequencies (RHF). This is where you control the highs heard in the reverberated part of your overall tone. The Black Box measures this parameter in a 0–99 range, adjusted by rotary control knob 2 under the delay repeats control parameter

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(assuming you’ve made the necessary double-tap on the Delay Menu button to enter this shift parameter). n

Reverb Volume (RVL). Here you set the reverb level in the overall mix of your preset. Also measured in a 0–99 range, adjusted by rotary control knob 3, this shift parameter is accessed by engaging the delay volume control parameter and double-tapping the Delay Menu button. Important Note about Reverb and Delay Compromises Adding reverb is a very intense task and can wreak havoc on even the most powerful processors. In some cases, delay is not too far behind in its needs for processing muscle. In the case of the Black Box, there is a certain compromise of which you should be aware. In general, when the reverb is on, the delay is limited to a maximum setting of 625ms. But there’s more to the deal struck between these two timebased applications: If you have the reverb on and the delay time is increased above the 625ms limit, then the reverb will shut off completely, allowing the processor to handle the higher delay setting. If the reverb is on and you choose a tempo-based value that requires the delay to be set higher than 625ms due to the current tempo, the delay time is changed to one half or one fourth of that value in order to fall within the 625ms limit. Conversely, if the delay time is already on and set to a time higher than 625ms and you turn on the reverb, the delay shuts off completely. If you already have a tempo-based delay setting in play that requires more than 625ms at the current tempo and you turn the reverb on, the delay time is changed to one half or one fourth of that value to fall within the 625ms limit.

The Utility Menu If there’s ever an instance where a preset seems louder than all the others, the guitar to drum balance is not to your liking, or something just doesn’t feel right, then you’ll need to go into the Utility menu to make some important adjustments. Following are the seven adjustable parameters (two being shift parameters) and their functions. Be sure to open the Utility menu and play around to see what settings work best

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for you. You might find you need to change these settings periodically to suit recording and playing scenarios. n

Preset Volume (PRESET VOL). If you find yourself constantly adjusting the output level of the Black Box from preset to preset, then you probably need to use this control parameter to adjust the volume of each individual preset so they match up better. This is also where you adjust your recording level into Pro Tools. (Remember: You set the level of the audio going into a Pro Tools track, not with the track fader.) This setting has no effect if you are not using an amp model and are just using the Black Box as an effects processor.

n

Noise Gate (GATE). A noise gate is part of the dynamic controller/ expander family of audio processors. Its primary function is to cut off a signal that falls below a user-determined decibel level called a threshold. This is to combat low-level noise present in a particular unit, or in this case a preset, making the overall sound cleaner. The noise gate on the Black Box offers nine preprogrammed thresholds numbered 1 through 9, with 1 being the lowest and best for more quiet and subdued playing and 9 being the highest and used for extreme noise levels from high gain amps combined with high compression settings. If you find that sustaining notes are getting cut off sooner than you’d like, the gate level is probably set too high; try lowering it. Because this a shift parameter, you’ll need to make sure the first preset volume parameter is engaged by turning the rotary knob 1 one click either left or right and then double-tapping the Utility Menu button.

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Guitar and Drum Balance (GTR/DRBAL). This sets the balance between the guitar and drum signal levels and affects the Black Box globally. Setting the LCD to read EQU (equal) will allow you to hear the guitar and drum signal at the same level; an extreme G50 setting allows only the guitar signal to pass, and an extreme D50 setting allows only the drums signal to pass. You can also set the Black Box to output the signals separately by turning the rotary control knob clockwise and going one click past D50 to SEP (separate). With that setting, the guitar signal goes out on the left

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output, and the drums go out of the right. This is useful if you want to send two discrete signals to separate mono tracks in Pro Tools M-Powered. If at any time a preset’s output just doesn’t seem right, check this parameter to see if it’s set up properly. n

Link Drumbeat (LKDB). This global shift parameter is nested under the guitar and drum balance control parameter and lets you specify whether you want the fixed drumbeats to change along with a preset change. Not linking the drumbeats comes in handy when you want a Black Box drumbeat to continue playing even when you make preset changes for different tones. To do this, choose LKDB N on the LCD. Alternatively, if you want the drumbeats to follow the change, choose LKDB Y.

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Expression Pedal (EXP PEDAL). If you have an M-Audio EX-P expression pedal or, better yet, a Black Box pedal board (discussed later in this chapter), you can use it to manage several control parameters in real time. See Appendix C, “The Black Box Controller Assignments” for a full list of parameters to control. To test each one, all you have to do is choose the specific parameter you want the expression to control by turning rotary control knob 3. Regardless of which of the two hardware controllers you use, be sure the range control knob on the side of the pedal is turned all the way up and the switch on the bottom set to M-Audio.

n

Tempo (TEMPO). Here you can view and manually set the tempo of the preset that is currently loaded ranging from 30–250 beats per minute (bpm). Another way to get into the Utility menu to view the tempo and all other control parameters is to press the Tap Tempo button once.

n

Tempo Source (TPO). You access this nested global shift parameter through a double tap on the Utility Menu button while the tempo control parameter is engaged. With it, you tell the Black Box where to derive its tempo setting from. The three choices are as follows: n

Preset Tempo (TPO PR). When you choose this option, the assigned tempo of each chosen preset becomes the tempo.

n

Drumbeat Tempo (TPO DR). When you choose this option, the drumbeat’s assigned tempo (preset at the factory) is

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n

chosen. Its tempo adjusts only to each individual drumbeat change, not to a preset. It’s important to know that although you can adjust the tempo while set to any of the three tempo sources, you cannot save a fixed drumbeat’s changed tempo. I don’t suggest using this setting unless you find a specific function for it. Global Tempo (TPO GL). When this setting is selected, the tempo can only be adjusted manually in both fashions described earlier, but will stay fixed regardless of whether you change from one preset to another or change a drumbeat.

Global Takeover When talking about global parameters, the term global means that the adjustment affects the overall function of the Black Box, thereby affecting every preset regardless of which one you’re using or how many times you change it. These settings will not be included data in a preset BBP file when saved. All global parameters are found in the Utility menu; to access them, press the Utility Menu button to the left of the big blue LCD. They include Guitar/Drums Balance, Link Drumbeat, and Tempo Source.

Processing Fixed Drum Patterns The Black Box features a drum machine loaded with 100 fixed drum patterns—numbered 0–99—that can be played along with and/or recorded through the USB port (to, say, Pro Tools M-Powered), the balanced analog stereo outputs, as well as digitally through the rear panel S/PDIF out. Although you can’t sequence your own beats or edit the drumbeats’ content outside of adjusting the tempo (which can only be saved if a drumbeat is linked to the preset), the Black Box makes up for it by allowing you to reprocess the beats by internally rerouting the drum machine’s signal path into the amp models and all the effects! This is actually done in the Delay menu, so you’ll need to press the Delay Menu button. The tweaking takes place at rotary control knob 4 under the Drum to Delay (DRUMS>DELAY)

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control parameter. You can send the drum-machine signal to one of three destinations: n

Delay. The rotation of rotary control knob 4 is split into three subparameters, this being the first. This sends the drum signal through the delay processor portion of the Black Box and, as with your guitar signal, will sync the repeats perfectly in time to an internal or external beat clock. The parameter value to adjust the effect level mix starts at DLY 00 and goes up to DLY 99.

n

Internal processors. Turning control knob 4 past the drums to the delay setting of DLY 99 moves you to the second processing option, which sends the drum patterns into the amp models and all the effects, including the delay and the reverb you engaged in the first option. The effect level range is displayed as INP 00 to INP 99. This has vast potential to take even a simple drum pattern and quickly transform it into an inspiring rhythmic force!

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Reverb. If you only want to add a touch of reverb, you’ll need to twist past the INP values to get to the third processing option. Here, the drums are processed only through the reverb algorithms, and the effect level range will be displayed as REV 00 to REV 99. You can adjust the reverb by engaging the corresponding shift parameters, but be aware that whatever changes you make will affect the overall reverb settings of the Black Box.

These three options allow you to create an infinite number of incredible-sounding drum loops, helping you build a custom drum loop library. Check out the preset I included in the Chapter 5 folder called DRMINP.bbp. Following the procedure outlined in the section “Copying Presets to and from the Black Box,” copy the DRMINP.bbp (delay template) preset to user location 04. This preset was designed to process a drumbeat, not a guitar. I took the drumbeat pattern 46DIDIDA and rerouted it through the Black Box via the INP option to be processed by a Marshall JCM800 (MAR800) amp model, one of 20 preset filter sequences, called FLSQ 9, and set the delay to dotted 1/8 notes (8D). As an added bonus, I set the expression pedal assignment to WET/DRY so you can toggle between the drum beat going

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through the Marshall JCM 800 only (dry in this case) and the filter sequence (wet) for even more fun. As with the other presets you have copied into your Black Box, go into each control and shift parameter to view all the settings.

Cool Tricks Wouldn’t it be great if you could just get a four-count before playing those cool drum loops you’re tweaking? Sure would…and you sure can! Just press the Tap Tempo button once, and then press the Start/Stop button next to it to activate the drumbeat. Before the drumbeat starts to play you will hear a four-beat countoff at the current preset tempo. If you want to end the drumbeat on the downbeat (the first beat of a measure) of the next measure, again press the Tap Tempo button once before quickly hitting the Start/Stop button; the drumbeat will only play a beat on the one.

Now that you have seen the Black Box transformed into a formidable beat-making machine, you have one more reason to get into the habit of copying your presets to your computer or any other storage medium to archive the countless sounds you will create.

External Control The Black Box has three 1/4-inch sockets marked pedal inputs (refer to Figure 5.5) for connecting peripheral hardware to it so it may be controlled externally. The P1 and P2 inputs are meant for latch-free momentary switches that are assignable to various functions within the main unit. The input marked Expression is for connecting an expression pedal to control various parameters in real time. M-Audio makes three hardware controllers that work with the inputs. n

The SP-1 sustain pedal (see Figure 5.18) can be used to connect to the P1 and P2 sockets for controlling any of the momentary footswitch settings. A list of the 12 settings appears in Appendix C.

n

The EX-P expression pedal (see Figure 5.19) can be used to connect to the expression pedal input to control any one of the 11

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Figure 5.18 The M-Audio SP-1 momentary foot switch can be inserted into either the P1 or P2 pedal input so you can externally control various front panel button functions.

Figure 5.19 The M-Audio EX-P expression pedal can be inserted into the expression pedal input to manage various control parameters in real time.

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expression pedal assignments. A list of the 11 settings appears in Appendix C. n

The Black Box pedal board (see Figure 5.20) augments the Black Box’s live playability by providing two momentary switches and an expression pedal in one enclosure. It’s really just one M-Audio EX-P expression pedal and two M-Audio SP-1 sustain pedals in one convenient package.

Figure 5.20 The Black Box pedal board provides two momentary switches and one expression to easily navigate and tweak the Black Box in real time. It’s like having two SP-1s and one EX-P in one convenient package.

To best understand how these pedals work with the Black Box, let’s define the two types of control they deliver. Momentary Switching A momentary switch is a latch-free switching device that never clicks over when you press it down. If you’ve ever seen Buckethead hit the small red button on his custom white Les Paul and cut out the outgoing signal momentarily, then you’ve seen a momentary switch in action. This is perfect for when you need to engage a function in user-determined timeframes ranging from a quick action push-down activation to holding

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down a button to scroll through data. Because you’re never clicking a circuit over, the action summoned by the momentary switch is canceled when you release it. With the Black Box in mind, examples of momentary switching include the following: n

Scrolling through presets and drumbeats

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Tap Tempo

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Start/stop drumbeats

In the Black Box, all the functions in the soft key buttons to the left of the blue LCD screen are assignable to momentary switching via the P1 and P2 rear panel 1/4-inch inputs. This includes the simultaneous key commands! Expression Pedal An expression pedal sends a user-determined continuous control message to the unit to which it’s connected in the form of either a voltage (like the Black Box is designed to receive) or by MIDI (binary code) to control one or more parameters designated by the user. The Black Box allows for one parameter to be controlled at a time; a list of the 11 parameters can be viewed in Appendix C. If you’re not hearing the results you were hoping for, or if something sounds like it’s not working, there are some things to take into consideration: n

First and foremost, make sure the range control knob on both the Black Box pedal board (see Figure 5.21) and EX-P expression pedal (see Figure 5.22) are turned all the up (away from you) to hear the

Figure 5.21 The range control knob on the Black Box pedal board sits snugly in the cavity where the EX-P expression pedal portion of the control pedal is located.

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Figure 5.22 On the standalone EX-P expression pedal, the range control knob is easily accessible for adjusting how the controller interacts with the Black Box or any other unit it’s connected to.

maximum range the parameter is set to. Turning the knob down (toward you) raises the lowest value of the parameter you are controlling. If you have the range knob set all the down, you only hear the highest value of the parameter regardless of where the pedal is positioned. n

Another hardware setting to be mindful of is the switch located on the bottom of the both the Black Box pedal board and the standalone EX-P expression pedal (see Figure 5.23). Make sure this switch is set to M-Audio when connecting to the Black Box. Although it’s a minute difference, the overall response and resulting output sound smoother in this setting.

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Make sure the parameter you’re controlling is turned on. For instance, if you have the expression pedal set to control the FX depth level, you must have the Black Box FX turned on. Toggling the expression pedal will have no effect if it’s turned off; it does not automatically turn the parameter on.

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Check to see if the parameter you’re controlling is set to a high enough level so that you can actually hear something significant when the expression pedal is in the toe-down (full value) position.

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Figure 5.23 The mode switch on the bottom of the M-Audio EX-P expression pedal and the Black Box pedal board adjusts for different control standards on gear made by other manufacturers. When using either the Black Box pedal board or the EX-P expression pedal, be sure to set the switch to M-Audio.

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Be aware that the volume pedal control is in front of the amp models in the signal chain. If you have the pedal turned more toward the toe-up position (but not completely up), the signal being sent to the Black Box will be weaker, making your high gain settings seem less powerful—because they are. This is similar to rolling back on your guitar’s volume knob to clean up an overdriven tube amp that has no master volume.

To check out the Black Box pedal board, copy the following presets from the Vernon Reid Black Box Presets folder found in the Presets from the Pros folder of the Chapter 5 ZIP file you downloaded from the Web site: VRNMFT.bbp (Vernon Mad Filter), VRNRFT.bbp (Vernon Random Filter), VRNB90.bbp (Vernon Big 90’s), and VRNBPS.bbp (Vernon Bass Pulse Sequencer). These presets were programmed by the man himself and have expression pedal assignments for various effects associated with them. Be sure to browse around the Amp, FX, Delay, and Utility menus to see what Vernon was thinking when he edited these presets.

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Assigning Control Assigning either type of control pedal to a specific function or parameter is easy. Let’s start with the momentary latch-free switches that go in the P1 and P2 inputs. After choosing the function to be assigned, follow these simple steps. 1.

Plug an SP-1 sustain pedal or the Black Box pedal board into either or both of the P1 and P2 1/4-inch sockets found on the rear panel of the Black Box (refer to Figure 5.5).

2.

Press and hold down a momentary switch.

3.

Press the button whose function you want to assign to the momentary switch (that goes for simultaneous key commands like store or tuner).

4.

Promptly release the switch.

Now for the expression pedal: 1.

Plug an EX-P expression pedal or the Black Box pedal board into the 1/4-inch socket marked Expression found on the rear panel of the Black Box (refer to Figure 5.5).

2.

Press the Utility Menu button or the Tap Tempo button.

3.

Scroll through the expression pedal control parameter menu (EXP PEDAL) by twisting rotary control knob 3 and choose which parameter to control.

That about wraps up the ins and outs and guts of the Black Box. Now let’s record all this greatness.

The Black Box and Pro Tools M-Powered This is where the Black Box reveals its most valuable attribute: It’s the only standalone audio interface that has internal hardware DSP in the form of amp models and beat-synced effects that is compatible with any version of Pro Tools. Now you can record directly into M-Powered with little setup time, with no latency hassles, while giving your computer’s processor a break—all with great-sounding amp models, effects, and

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real-time control. And don’t forget the Black Box has a S/PDIF output, allowing for stereo digital recording to a mobile hard-disk recorder like the M-Audio MicroTrack II. In this section you’ll get the lowdown on getting sessions up and running using the Black Box to record straight into Pro Tools M-Powered, as well as some vital tips that will surely come to your rescue many times over. Setup Before you do anything, be sure your powered monitors are turned off and that the latest software drivers are installed on your computer (especially important for Windows users). To download the latest drivers for the Black Box go to http://www.m-audio.com and click the Drivers link. For more information on interface drivers, as well as studio monitors, refer to Chapter 2. If you have a dedicated external hard drive (remember, FireWire is best), it’s always a good idea to connect it before you even turn on your computer. Hooking up the Black Box is not much different from hooking up most other audio interfaces. With the aforementioned tasks behind you, use the included USB cable to connect the Black Box to your computer, power up the Black Box, and connect your studio monitors with a pair of 1/4-inch cables (for best results and the least amount of noise, use TRS cables if you have them). Before you launch Pro Tools M-Powered, don’t forget to insert your iLok key into an available USB port on your computer. If you start incorporating other USB devices like a MIDI controller and you need to use a USB hub, make sure there’s still a dedicated USB port on your computer for the Black Box. Although it may still work, M-Audio, as well as Digidesign, do not recommend, nor do they support, the use of a hub when connecting any type of external audio interface with any version of Pro Tools. Black Box Control Panel Adjustments Before you create or import a session into Pro Tools M-Powered, you need to make sure you’ve properly set up the Effects & MIDI window of the Black Box Control Panel. To do so, first follow the steps in the

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1.

2.

3.

Figure 5.24 In the Effects & MIDI section of the Black Box Control Panel, you can choose which input source will be processed by the effects and where the Black Box will get the MIDI beat clock source.

section “Copying Presets to and from the Black Box” earlier in this chapter to open the Control Panel. Then follow these steps (see Figure 5.24): 1.

Click the Effects & MIDI button in the Black Box Control Panel.

2.

The Effects Input Source must be set to whatever input—guitar or mic—you’re using to record into Pro Tools. If this is set up incorrectly, you won’t hear any DSP on either of the two choices you want to process at any of the outputs. In the Effects Input Source pane, click the Guitar option button to record guitar tracks using the 1/4-inch guitar input or click the Microphone option button to record with a dynamic mic using the rear-panel XLR input.

3.

Instead of always manually adjusting the preset tempo or setting the global tempo in the Black Box to match each

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M-Powered session, you may find it easier to just assign Pro Tools as the master beat clock source. This will ensure that your drumbeats match the session tempo, as well as all your beat-synced effects. In the Timing Source pane, click the External MIDI Beat Clock option button. Opening a Black Box Session Template By now you should have installed the latest drivers, connected the Black Box to your computer and studio monitors, and made a quick visit to the Black Box Control Panel. Now let’s see how you open a saved session template like the ones you learned about in Chapter 3.

Final Piece to the Puzzle For the next three sections of this chapter you’ll need to use the Black Box session template found in the Chapter 5 ZIP file you downloaded from the Web site. Copy the folder with the same name onto your audio drive. If you don’t have a hard drive dedicated specifically for recording, copy the session folder to your desktop. From there, open the folder and follow the steps that lie ahead.

Although there are several ways to go about opening a pre-existing Pro Tools session file, I’m going to show you how to do it with Pro Tools already launched. Follow these steps: 1.

Open the File menu.

2.

Click Open Session (see Figure 5.25).

3.

Click the drive that contains the Black Box Session Template folder.

4.

Click the Black Box Session Template folder.

5.

Click the Black Box Session Template file.

6.

Click Open (see Figure 5.26). The Black Box Template Session file begins to load in Pro Tools M-Powered.

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2.

Figure 5.25 Opening a session.

4.

5.

3.

6.

Figure 5.26 Locate the template you want to use as the basis for your new session.

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7.

Figure 5.27 This dialog box enables you to choose between editing the session template further or creating a new session with your saved settings intact.

7.

Click New Session in the dialog box that appears (see Figure 5.27). Pro Tools creates an entirely new session file and folder with all the preset parameters in the template.

8.

Type a new name for your session in the Save As field.

9.

Choose where you want to save the new session.

10.

Click Save (see Figure 5.28).

You now have created a new session file from a template file that contains all your Black Box Session Template custom settings. This will save you a lot of time when the ideas are flowing, enabling you to get down to recording them much more quickly. Setting Up an External MIDI Beat Clock from Pro Tools As mentioned in the section “Black Box Control Panel Adjustments,” the Black Box tempo can be set to match each M-Powered session tempo by assigning Pro Tools as the master MIDI beat clock source. The adjustment made in the Effects & MIDI pane of the Black Box

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8.

9.

10.

Figure 5.28 Name your new session and tell M-Powered where to save it.

Control Panel is only half the procedure, though. You also have to tell Pro Tools M-Powered you want it to send a MIDI beat clock source to the Black Box. Here’s how: 1.

Open the Setup menu.

2.

Click MIDI.

3.

Click MIDI Beat Clock (see Figure 5.29). The MIDI Beat Clock dialog box opens.

4.

If the Enable MIDI Beat Clock For checkbox is unchecked, click it to check it.

5.

Click the Black Box checkbox to select it (see Figure 5.30).

6.

Click OK.

Now, whenever you record anything from the Black Box into Pro Tools M-Powered, you’re sure to have everything in sync. This becomes especially important when you’re editing a drumbeat track or a guitar track with beat-synced effects.

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2.

3.

Figure 5.29 Open the MIDI Beat Clock dialog box. 4.

5. 6.

Figure 5.30 In the MIDI Beat Clock dialog box, you can assign Pro Tools as the master controller of external hardware like the Black Box.

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Mystery Beats If you set the Black Box up to receive external MIDI beat clock control from Pro Tools M-Powered, you may hear a mysterious drumbeat in the background when recording or monitoring tracks. That’s because the drumbeats are being activated by Pro Tools every time you engage it to play or record. Although there is no way to turn off or mute a drumbeat in a preset, there is a simple remedy: Just set the current preset loaded in the Black Box to 99BLANK. This drumbeat location outputs no audio, thus solving the problem. That said, it might be a good idea to set all the presets you’ll be using for tracking guitar tones with this empty drumbeat.

Conflicting Numbers Another note about assigning an external beat clock to the Black Box from M-Powered: The tempo the Pro Tools session is set to and sending off to the Black Box will not match the tempo displayed in the Utility menu. Don’t bother frantically flipping through the manual looking for a solution; there’s no problem! Pro Tools and the Black Box are talking to each other just fine—it’s just a private conversation. On the other hand, if you hit the Start/Stop button on the Black Box, it will play the drumbeat at the tempo set in the Black Box, disregarding the tempo in Pro Tools. If you want the beats from the Black Box to record into Pro Tools, you’ll need to make sure they match.

How the Black Box Conquers Latency In addition to features like high-quality amp models, inspiring beatsynced effects, and a host of useful real-time control options, the Black Box has one more important attribute worth mentioning: It allows you to record with near zero latency! Continuing with the session template file you opened and saved as a new session, let’s take a look how to set up a track for zero monitoring latency while recording: 1.

On the Black Box, adjust the Mix rotary control knob to the middle position.

2.

Choose a track to record on.

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3.

Click the Record Enable button.

4.

Click the Mute button.

5.

On the Black Box, adjust the preset volume (PRESET VOL) level in the Utility menu with rotary control knob 1 (see Figure 5.31). As you play your guitar, set the preset volume so that you get a good, strong signal while making sure the input level meter doesn’t go into the red, indicating your input signal is clipping. 3.

4.

5.

Figure 5.31 Near zero latency recording with the Black Box is achieved by simply muting the track(s) you’re recording to and setting the Black Box Mix knob to the middle position.

Because the track you’re recording on is muted and the Mix knob on the Black Box is set in the middle position, you never have to deal with monitoring latency because all you’re monitoring (hearing) is your input signal going straight to your studio monitors. Also, by setting the Mix knob on the Black Box to the middle position, you can hear equal amounts of your input signal and tracks with recorded audio at the main outputs, so there’s no latency even when you’re tracking with

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pre-existing tracks! This setup can also be done with multiple tracks, such as when you’re recording wet and dry guitar tracks as explained in the next section. Multiple Input Signals Looking at Figure 5.32, you’ll notice the Black Box lists four inputs in the I/O section: n

Stereo analog inputs 1 and 2 (renamed EFX) are used for recording tracks processed with the amp models and/or effects through inputting signal from either the front-panel 1/4-inch input or the rear-panel XLR input. Stereo Analog

Mono Inputs 3 and 4

Figure 5.32 Taking a look into the I/O window, you can see the Black Box offers four outputs to input into Pro Tools, allowing for stereo processed signals as well two separate mono unprocessed signals. These inputs can all be recorded simultaneously to different tracks but can only be accessed if the drivers are installed.

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Mono inputs 3 and 4 (renamed Dry) are for recording a direct, totally dry track—no amp models or effects, no matter how the current preset is configured—to the left channel if you’re inputting signal via the front-panel 1/4-inch socket (input 3) or to the right channel if you’re inputting signal through the rear-panel XLR socket (input 4).

But wait—why the dry recording option anyway? Isn’t one of the main attractions to the Black Box the fact that you can record directly into Pro Tools with amp tones and cool effects? Or, can’t you just use a preset loaded with, say, the mic preamp model (40-MICPRE) for what would be a more desirable direct, clean tone? The answer to the last two questions is yes, but consider this: When recording a completely dry track, you have the option of applying any sound-sculpting device (plug-in) you want after the fact. For example, you can process the newly recorded dry track with the Sans Amp plug-in (included in both versions of Guitar Box) or the amazing Digidesign hyper ampmodeling plug-in Eleven to try out different amp tones, or you can get experimental with other plug-ins like one of the four Bomb Factory MoogerFooger virtual pedal plug-ins (also included in both versions of Guitar Box). You can try as many ideas as you want—whenever you want. Recording dry tracks is nothing new to many engineers, producers, and recording guitarists. As a matter of fact, some feel this is the only way to record because you’re not committing to any one sound. If you see the value in recording dry tracks, you’re probably wondering whether you can record both wet and dry tracks at the same time. The answer again is yes! And not just one stereo-processed track and only one of the mono dry tracks, but both 1/4-inch input mono dry tracks and the dry mono XLR input. Although the XLR will still be a dry unprocessed track, you will be recording different tones as a result of the mic you choose to use, the mic placement, the room, what amp you’re using, and so on. The Black Box Session Template is already set up with a stereo track for Black Box outputs 1 and 2 (track 1, named Wet Guitar) and a mono track for Black Box output 3 (track 2, named Dry Guitar),

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but they’ve been renamed in the I/O window. If you create a new session without using the Black Box Session Template provided and you want to record a dry guitar track using either or both of the 1/4-inch input or XLR input, then make sure you create a mono track(s) and choose the appropriate input in the Audio Input Path selector (see Figure 5.33).

Figure 5.33 For recording dry guitar tracks, choose either input 3 to record from the 1/4-inch input or input 4 (as pictured) to record from the XLR input from the Audio Input Path selector in a mono Audio track.

With regard to monitoring, the Black Box is designed to output the processed stereo signals only. This is good news because while you’re recording a dry track, you have no choice but to monitor those dry tracks through the amp models and effects. You won’t hear the dry track until you play back the track after it has been recorded. You can take advantage of this option without ever having to compromise playing and recording with actual guitar tones. If you record a stereo track with effects processing and a mono track without processing simultaneously, you might notice a level difference, depending on your preset settings. If you need to adjust the levels so the wet and dry inputs are equal and not clipping, use the preset volume control in the Utility menu by way of rotary control knob 1 for the stereo

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The Black Box Revealed

track and the guitar input or mic input rotary control knobs on the top panel to the right of the LCD screen for the respective mono track(s).

Viewing the I/O To view the Black Box (or any other interface) I/O in Pro Tools M-Powered, just click the Setup menu in the main toolbar and choose I/O. From there, you can view the complete I/O scheme: input, output, insert, and bus.

Recording Digitally Through S/PDIF So far, we have looked at recording with the Black Box into Pro Tools M-Powered through a USB connection into your computer. Although you can use the Black Box to record into many other DAWs with this connection, you can also record straight into standalone hardware devices with digital recording and storage capabilities. Some examples are n

MiniDisc recorders

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DAT recorders

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M-Audio MicroTrack II

This is done by connecting the rear panel RCA-style S/PDIF stereo out (refer to Figure 5.5) to another unit’s S/PDIF stereo input with a 75ohm coaxial cable (see Figure 5.34) equipped with RCA jack plugs. The S/PDIF outputs mirrors whatever is coming out of the main analog outputs. This includes the amp models, beat-synced effects, and drumbeats (dry or wet). That said, you cannot record dry mono signals

Figure 5.34 This 75-ohm S/PDIF cable sports RCA-style jacks that are used for digital recording and transfers between digital hardware that has the matching RCA-style sockets.

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through the S/PDIF outputs. Setting up to record is the same with respect to watching the input level meters on the device you’re recording to, making sure the signal is strong but not clipping by adjusting the preset volume in the Utility menu of the Black Box with rotary control knob 1. Here’s something to chew on: You could expand your I/O scheme by linking two or more interfaces using S/PDIF connections. For example, you could take the S/PDIF out on the Black Box and connect to the S/PDIF input of the Fast Track Pro interface and send the processed stereo signal to Pro Tools in addition to the ins provided by the Fast Track Pro! And because it’s a digital transfer, the signal is kept intact and sounds exactly the way you’re monitoring it. Nice.

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Face to (Inter)Face with Pro Tools M-Powered

I

f you want to get the most out of your digital production rig, then it’s time to take a look at what’s under the hood. Throughout previous chapters you’ve been in and around Pro Tools M-Powered, but only for detailed tasks that focused on certain specific aspects of the program. By now you might be wondering what does what with regard to aspects you haven’t examined. Think of this chapter as the ultimate go-to guide to answer the inevitable, “What does that do?” This chapter explores the inner workings of M-Powered by taking a thorough look at the components of the two main windows: the Edit and Mix windows. Within these two windows you’ll travel around the main menus, the Pro Tools toolbar (including the edit modes and edit tools), the Track display area, channel strips, and more. After that journey, you’ll tour the equally important floating Transport window. Upon completing this tour of the essential parts of the Pro Tools graphical user interface (GUI), the chapters that follow on editing, mixing, and mastering will put this information into motion. Be it known that you will gaze upon both components that are familiar— as you’ve already gone through some of them in previous chapters— and others that are brand new. With that said, not every aspect of what is laid out here will be covered in the remaining chapters—but at least you will have a source for identifying every nook and cranny of these three windows. If in your reading you stumble upon an item that hasn’t been mentioned thus far, relax. It’s there; you just didn’t get to that section of the chapter yet. One more thing: Remember, this is the first of several chapters that will feature screenshots and explanations related to Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4!

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Menu(s), Please Let’s start with something both windows have in common: the menus in the menu bar. No matter which one of the main windows you’re in— Edit or Mix—you’ll always see the menu bar displayed horizontally across the top (see Figure 6.1). It holds the main Pro Tools menus, regardless of the version. In fact, if you were to open Pro Tools from anywhere other than a session file icon, the only thing you would see besides your desktop is this menu bar (as discussed in the “Startup” section in Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire”). Whether you’re in the Edit or Mix window does not change the contents of each menu, unlike other complex applications, such as Finale, which displays a new menu in its toolbar every time a new tool is selected. As you read through the brief descriptions that follow, be sure to click the corresponding menu to view its contents. That goes for anything and everything throughout this chapter (or the whole book, for that matter), as it is very important to actually grease your fingers to get a feel for things. Edit Menu File Menu

Track Menu

View Menu

Event Menu Region Menu

Options Menu

AudioSuite Menu

Window Menu

Setup Menu

Help Menu

Figure 6.1 The Pro Tools menus serve as the portal to many of Pro Tools’ core functions, as well as additional windows and the AudioSuite plug-ins.

Keyboard Shortcuts While you have a menu open, notice that next to many of the commands lies a corresponding keyboard shortcut. Although you can view these and many other shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF found in the Help menu, viewing them in the menus is a quick and easy way to learn the shortcuts to commands you will be using often. So instead of repeatedly reaching for the menus to perform something as common as loop playback, the

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next time you open the menu, look at the shortcut instead of initiating the command from the menu and perform the keystroke instead. Eventually it’ll stick. With that said, be aware that certain commands can only be initiated from the menus.

Starting from left to right, the menus are as follows: n

File menu. In this menu, you will find commands to create, save, and bounce your session, as well as importing and exporting options.

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Edit menu. As the name implies (as many of them do), this menu houses commands to edit as well as manipulate whatever items you have selected. They range from the common Cut, Copy, and Paste commands to more Pro Tools–specific commands like Trim, Separate, and Heal Region.

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View menu. This is where you can control the display of many Pro Tools windows as well as tracks and how track data is displayed. Some commands actually toggle the display of components and/or data; you select the command once to view the component or data, and again to hide it.

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Track menu. Perhaps the heart of Pro Tools, the virtual track (outlined in the next section) has its own menu. This is your menu for creating, maintaining, and deleting tracks, as well as performing some track modifications.

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Region menu. If tracks are the heart, regions are the cells that make up the digital audio in Pro Tools—so much so they have their own menu, too. From subsets of mute and group commands to the Elastic Properties commands, Pro Tools provides an ample collection of functions for you to work with.

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Event menu. This is where you go to tweak the time and tempo settings of your session with tools like Beat Detective, MIDI RealTime Properties, and the three operations windows—Time, Tempo, and Event.

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AudioSuite menu. The only menu besides the Help menu not to display any keyboard shortcuts, the AudioSuite menu is where you access all the currently installed AudioSuite plug-ins. These plug-ins are of the non–real time type, meaning they are file-based processors, and when applied to a selection, they create a whole new audio file.

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Options menu. Here you will find various essential recording, playback, editing, and monitoring options.

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Setup menu. This is where you open windows that configure your hardware (interfaces, peripherals, MIDI devices) as well as software parameters (disk allocation, I/O, click/countoff). If you’re on a Mac, this is also one of two ways to access the Pro Tools Preferences dialog box.

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Window menu. The windows accessed here are probably the most important to your workflow. They include the floating Transport window, Workspace and Project browsers, the Automation window, the Memory Locations window, and the Undo History window, not to mention the Edit and Mix windows!

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Help menu. As with Help menus in most other programs, you use the commands in this menu to access proprietary documents to help with using Pro Tools. Documentation in PDF form includes the mammoth Pro Tools Reference Guide as well as the DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide, Menus Guide, and others. For Mac Users If you’re on a Mac, you will see two extra menus in the menu bar, located to the left of the File menu. They are the Apple menu and the Pro Tools M-Powered x.x menu. The first is identified by the iconic image of a slightly bitten apple, forever associated with Apple products; the latter is a menu titled after the program and its version. The Apple menu is a generic menu that’s always displayed no matter what application is in focus. Its purpose is to point you to general operating-system commands such as opening System Preferences, tweaking Dock Preferences, and selecting various shut-off mechanisms. The Pro Tools M-Powered x.x menu most importantly displays the command to open the program’s Preferences dialog box as well as launch the About Pro Tools M-Powered window and the Quit command.

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Properly Introducing the Edit Window You’ve had several encounters with the Edit window already. Now it’s time for a more thorough introduction to this important central view, as you’ll spend the majority of your time working with Pro Tools in this window. The Edit window (see Figure 6.2) provides the fundamental features related to recording, editing, and automating in Pro Tools, such as the following: n

The Pro Tools toolbar area, which includes the edit mode and edit tool buttons, the Main and Sub Counter display, the Event Edit area, and the Transport controls.

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A thin horizontal area with a black background called the Edit window bar, which contains a combination of display and function related shortcuts and views. Menu Bar

Track Show/ Hide Area

Edit Window Bar

Timeline Display Area

Track Display Area

Track Display Area

Region List

Figure 6.2 The Edit window is the central workplace in all versions of Pro Tools; it’s where you’ll spend most of your time working.

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A horizontal display area of time-related scales and events called the Timeline display area.

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Another horizontal area called the Track display area—the heart of the Edit window—where you view and control the five types of virtual tracks in Pro Tools.

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Two side columns. The left column is split into the Track List and Edit Groups List, both of which are used for additional view and display options, as well as group editing procedures. The right side is the Region List, which houses and governs all the regions in your session and more.

Starting with the track, let’s take a good look at each one of these sections to best prepare for the upcoming chapters. Along the way you’ll also learn about some basic interface tweaking. So sit back and put your thinking cap on because we’re going in deep.

The Anatomy of a Track Each of the two main windows has one central part that everything else in that window revolves around. In the Edit window, it’s the inimitable virtual track (see Figure 6.3) located in the Track display area. Audio tracks (as you’ve already seen in Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording,” and which will serve as the model in this chapter) are what you record your performances onto. After recording audio (or importing audio, covered in Chapter 9, “Working with Loops”) to a track, you can then view it as waveforms enclosed in graphic boxes called regions (the series of rectangles marked “Filter Chords” in Figure 6.3). These regions are horizontally strung together and displayed in a sequenced order aligned to a time scale from left to right in the track’s playlist. Tracks can come in mono or stereo configurations, and in either case they can be named, dragged, deleted, copied, selected, grouped, imported, hidden, soloed, or muted. All tracks can be assigned to any of the applicable inputs or outputs within the system or routed to another destination internally by using the Pro Tools mixing bus. Every facet of the track I just mentioned is user definable and editable.

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Additional Edit Window View

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Edit Playlist

Track Control Area Track Height Selector Column Figure 6.3 The virtual track is the central component of the Edit window.

An Important Word about the Other Track Types The two other tracks you can record onto are MIDI and Instrument tracks, which have many of the same attributes and are covered in Chapter 10, “Working with MIDI.” As for the non-data able tracks—Auxiliary Input and Master Fader tracks—they are re-visited throughout the following chapters. All four of these track types were mentioned in Chapter 4, so you can always flip the pages and find a brief summary there as well.

Let’s go through the virtual track with a fine-toothed comb. As you examine each section of a track, be sure to take each and every component of that section for a test drive. I suggest you load up the sessions I already presented to you in Chapters 3 (the Power 3 session) and 4 (the Chopper Genesis session) and use them as testing grounds. The Track Control Area The leftmost portion of all track types is the Track Control area. As you might imagine, it’s the central command center for each track and will always be present. (As you’ll soon see, there are additional views called Edit window columns that are placed between the Track Control area and the track’s playlist.) For a quick overview, check out Figure 6.4 as you read the descriptions that follow; be sure to click

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Track Name Bar

Solo Button

Track Record Enable Button

Playlist Selector Button

Mute Button Track Height Selector

Voice Selector Automation Mode Selector Timebase Selector Elastic Audio Plug-in Selector

Track View Selector

Figure 6.4 The Track Control area is your command center for a track’s function, view, and status.

around to get a feel for what everything does and how it looks when it’s happening. Remember, you can use the two sessions I presented in Chapters 3 and 4. n

Track name bar. As you saw in Chapter 4, this is where you name your tracks (by double-clicking the bar and entering a name in the Track Name dialog box). The name bar is also where you select a track, after which many commands in the Track menu can be used.

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Playlist Selector button. You can use this to create and duplicate a track’s edit playlist as well as quickly change from one playlist to another for experimenting with different arrangements and edits.

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Track Record Enable button. This button not only arms a track for recording, but it switches the track to input monitoring so you can hear what is being played and/or recorded in Pro Tools. Be sure to read the “How to Deal with Latency” section carefully in Chapter 4, as this button will bring to light whatever processinglatency problems you may have in your system.

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Solo button. This enables playback for this track and whatever other tracks are soloed, muting the unsoloed tracks. You can solo as many tracks as you want and Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) to solo/unsolo all tracks at once. If you Cmd-click (Mac) or Ctrlclick (PC) the Solo button, the button will be dimmed, putting the

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track in Solo Safe mode; this makes it so the track is never muted when other tracks’ Solo buttons are selected. n

Mute button. This disables the track’s output from being bussed to the outputs chosen in the Output Path selector as well as muting any post-fader sends (not the default pre-fader send, though). As with the Solo button, you can mute as many tracks as needed; in addition, you can Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) to mute/ unmute all the tracks at once.

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Track View selector. Clicking this displays a list of the applicable views for that particular track type. So far, you’ve seen Waveform view, which displays a graphic waveform contained in the borders of the region in a given track, but there several other views such as the ones associated with Elastic Audio (Warp and Analysis) and automation (Volume, Mute, Pan Left/Right, etc.).

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Track Height selector. Clicking this also displays a list, this time of eight choices for adjusting the height of the track in the Track display area. Opt-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (PC) assigns the desired track height to all the tracks in the session at once.

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Timebase selector. Pro Tools references time in two ways: absolute and relative. This selector lets you choose one by giving you the option to select Samples (absolute) or Ticks (relative). Simply put, Samples stations any of the events (regions or MIDI data) in a track in such a way that they are unable to move when there’s a tempo change, whereas Ticks (subdivisions of a musical beat in thousandths) allows the events to move in order to maintain the same bar and beat location relative to the new tempo. Understanding Pro Tools’ handling of time is the key to commanding many of its functions, so be sure to read the section titled “Time Control” later in this chapter carefully.

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Voice selector. Pro Tools M-Powered offers 32 possible channels, called dynamic voices, on which a track’s audio regions can be played back. This button selects whether or not the track will be allocated to a voice. The Dyn (dynamic) option automatically assigns the track a voice, while the Off option takes the track out of this floating pool of audio converters, resulting in the track not

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being heard in the main outputs. Because there are only 32 available voices, track hierarchy becomes an issue because the first 32 tracks in a session will be included in the voice pool (assuming the Dyn selection is made in the selector), while any other tracks below the 32nd track will not. n

Automation Mode selector. Pro Tools enables you to record dynamic changes made to fundamental parameters such as volume, pan, mute, or even assignable real-time plug-in controls so that these actions can be automated when played back. Automation data is captured in a track’s automation playlist and can edited, duplicated, and deleted. Clicking this button displays a menu that contains options for how mix automation is recorded and played back in Pro Tools. Automation is covered in Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering.”

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Elastic Audio Plug-in selector. The latest advancement in all versions of Pro Tools is Elastic Audio. It allows you to stretch audio regions’ time properties with stable, consistent results like never before. With it come some new components to the Track Control area such as the Plug-in Selector button. Clicking it reveals a menu that lists the five Elastic Audio plug-ins: Polyphonic, Rhythmic, Monophonic, Varispeed, and the render-only X-Form. It also lets you choose between processing your track with Elastic Audio in real time or having it rendered to conserve CPU resources.

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Elastic Audio Plug-in button. Clicking this button brings the applicable Elastic Audio Plug-in window into focus so you can tweak the associated controls to suit. (Note: the Monophonic and Rhythmic plug-ins are not equipped with any controls.)

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Real-Time or Rendered Processing indicator. To remind you of what processing mode you have currently selected without dropping the Elastic Audio Plug-in selector, just look to see if this indicator is highlighted in green (real time) or left unlit (rendered).

Additional Edit Window Columns Between the Track Control area and the playlist area there can be additional Edit window columns (see Figure 6.5). These can be chosen

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Track Color

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Comments

Inserts Instrument

Sends F–J Sends A–E

MIDI Real-Time Properties I/O

Figure 6.5 There are several Edit window columns, each one serving an important role for different tracks at different stages of your session. To conserve track area space, use either Edit Window selector to select the column(s) you need and deselect the one(s) you don’t.

either from the Edit Window submenu located in the View menu or from the optional Edit Window View selector located in the Edit Window bar. The available columns are as follows: n

Comments. This column provides a space to type in comments about the track. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of typing some basic information to document any special treatments you might have performed on the corresponding track. This could pertain to anything—tracking, editing, automating, etc. This comes in handy when you’re sending the session out to others who are collaborating on the session with you.

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Instrument. As first introduced in Chapter 4, Instrument tracks are essentially MIDI and Auxiliary tracks wrapped up in one track. This column displays the basic MIDI track control components of the Instrument track, while an Instrument track’s I/O column shows the Auxiliary track components. The features are as follows: MIDI Input and Output selectors, MIDI Volume and Pan indicators, MIDI Mute, and a MIDI activity meter. This column is applicable only to Instrument tracks; you’ll see an empty column in any other track type’s horizontal view.

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Inserts. Except on MIDI tracks, this is where you insert any Digidesign or third-party Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) plug-ins into your track. Clicking one of the five insert points displays a menu that gives you a choice of multichannel or multi-mono plug-in

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types for stereo tracks and plug-in I/O options for both mono and stereo tracks. The top insert is considered the first in the track’s signal chain, with the chain following downward. Once a plug-in has been instantiated (Digidesign’s $10 word for this action), you can move it by clicking the name bar and dragging it to new locations. You can copy a plug-in, including its settings, to matching mono or stereo tracks by Opt-clicking (Mac) or Altclicking (PC) the name bar and dragging it to other track’s insert. To remove a plug-in, you would need to choose the No Insert command from the Insert menu. Be aware that some plug-ins, like the Digidesign-engineered virtual guitar amp plug-in Eleven, are mono only in their RTAS state, so don’t be alarmed when you can’t find them in the two multichannel or multi-mono menus. n

Sends A–E. From this column you can send the track’s signal (processed if any plug-ins are inserted and active) to another destination using any of the physical outputs on your interface or through to the Pro Tools mix bus system. Sends can be used for routing a group of tracks to a common source (an Auxiliary track, for instance), either for processing all the track’s outputs with a single plug-in or hardware effect or to globally control their volume with one fader, creating a submix. Click a Send name bar to open a Send Output window, which enables control over the volume level of the send before the signal hits the track’s Volume fader as well as other send attributes. (Note: This applies only if the Pre-Fader option is selected in this window; post-fader send levels are affected by the track’s Volume fader in addition to the send’s output Volume fader.) This output window features several controls, including an Output assignment selector, the Pre/Post (fader) selector, pan controls, and more. Sends are covered more in Chapter 8.

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Sends F–J. This just contains five more sends for each track; they behave exactly like the ones in the Sends A–E column.

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I/O. As discussed in Chapter 4, the I/O view is where you control what’s coming in and out of Pro Tools through the Audio Input and Output Path selectors (the top rectangular bars in the view). Clicking either one exposes a series of menus that display all the

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paths available to set up the desired routing scheme for your inputs and outputs. Clicking the Audio Volume indicator and whatever pan fields are present (depending on whether it’s a mono or stereo track) pops up a small fader that corresponds to each control, allowing you easy access without having to go to the Mix window. The same goes for the Output Window button at the bottom of the view. Clicking that brings up a channel strip for that track that includes the previously mentioned controls as well as others such as various automation mode controls and Mute and Solo buttons. Of course, anything you do in the Output window is mirrored wherever one of these controls resides simultaneously. For example, moving the Volume fader will adjust the readout on the Audio Volume indicator as well as move the fader in the Mix window accordingly. n

MIDI Real-Time Properties. This column is a track version of the window bearing the same name that can be opened from the Event menu. In both, you can apply non-destructive changes to MIDI data residing inside a MIDI region such as quantizing, note duration, and velocity adjustments, to name a few. The difference between the Edit window MIDI Real-Time Properties column and the floating Real-Time Properties window is that this column is only capable of processing on the entire track and not a specific region or group of regions. Real-Time Properties are discussed further in Chapter 10.

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Track Color. Unlike the rest of the Edit window columns, the Track Color column is simply a solid colored (color to be determined by you) vertical strip located to the far left of the track when enabled in the Edit View selector. This color strip aids in identifying and locating tracks in sessions with high track counts. Colors can be assigned from the Color Palette window (accessible from the Window menu); first select the track (see the section “Selecting Tracks” later in this chapter) and then click the desired color in the palette.

You probably will never have all the Edit window columns displayed as shown in Figure 6.5. You will only want to have whatever ones you

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need open at any given time to conserve window space (especially relevant for laptop users with 13-inch or 15-inch monitor screens). Playlists The light gray area (with or without the vertical lines displayed) to the right of the Track Control area (unless any of the additional Edit window columns are selected) is the Playlist section of the track. This is where your audio and MIDI regions are strung (sequenced) together on audio, MIDI, and Instrument tracks (see Figure 6.6), creating edit playlists. It’s important to remember that recorded audio is stored in your Audio Files folder, not the session file like MIDI data is. The regions residing on the playlist point to the whole-audio files or portions thereof and indicate at what time and in what order they should be read for playback as defined by you. (If this particular piece of information sounds familiar, excellent! That means it’s starting to stick—and it needs to, like peanut butter on the brain.) Simply put,

Edit Playlists Figure 6.6 Playlists are where audio and MIDI regions are sequenced together, but may be edited, allowing for playback order not to be restricted to the original order of your initial recording.

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playlists allow the playback order of your regions to deviate from the original order in which they were created (can someone say, “F-F-F-Freedom!”?). In audio, MIDI, and Instrument tracks, you can save and interchange playlists as you see fit using the commands in the Playlist Selector menu, which you access by clicking the Playlist Selector button. This takes experimentation to a level that would be otherwise impossible. There’s no limit to how many different edit playlists you can conjure up on a track, giving you ultimate creative (lemme hear you say . . . ) freedom.

Automation Playlists The other type of playlist—automation playlists—is covered in Chapter 8. In the meantime, one thing to know about automation playlists is that they are global for the track and not interchangeable. No matter what edit playlist you have selected, a single automation playlist applies for each of the automatable control parameters in the track.

Track Adjustments There are several ways to adjust and maintain tracks of all types throughout your session. Here’s a look into the most common practices you’re sure to employ often. Adjusting Track Views

Track playlists can be viewed in other forms besides waveforms. Each track has its own intrinsic list of playlist types, depending on what type of track it is. Whatever track you’re working with, you have the ability to change those playlists by simply clicking the Track View selector and choosing a view from the menu that appears (see Figure 6.7). Adjusting Track Height

A track’s display can be resized at any time to fit your needs. It’s as simple as choosing the desired height from the Track Height selector (see Figure 6.8), which you access by clicking either the Track Height selector next to the Track View selector or the Track Height Selector column

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Figure 6.7 When you click the Track View selector, a menu appears with each track’s list of possible views, as seen here in this audio track.

Figure 6.8 When you click the Track Height selector, a menu appears with each track’s list of possible heights, as seen here in this audio track.

directly to the left of the playlist (it looks like a vertical ruler). Typically you’ll have track heights in varying sizes (as shown in Figure 6.9) according to what you’re doing at the time. A cool shortcut is to Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) on either Track Height selector to adjust all the tracks to the same height at one time.

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Figure 6.9 It’s not uncommon to set up your tracks in varying heights to make a specific track or group of tracks easier to view.

Track Height Selector Enhanced When you adjust any track to the Small setting, the Track Height selector also assumes the roles of the Track View and Elastic Audio Plug-in selectors, which are now out of focus in the newly condensed Track Control area. In the Mini and Micro views, this button additionally assumes the roles of the Playlist and Timebase selectors.

Selecting Tracks

To select a track means to highlight a track’s name by clicking the track’s name bar. Once selected, several actions can be done to a

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track, such as duplicating, splitting a stereo track into two mono tracks, making it inactive, or deleting it. Apart from the Duplicate command, all of these actions are exclusive to the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and can only be done when a track or group of tracks has been selected. With that in mind, you’ll notice if you click the Track menu without any tracks selected that many of the options are grayed out. Clicking from one track’s name bar to another transfers which track is selected. If you want to select more than one track, Shift-click each track or the top and bottom tracks of a desired group of tracks. Cmd-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (PC) a track to select or deselect it independently of a group of selected tracks and Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) to deselect all tracks at once. Dragging Tracks to New Locations

Something you can do to any track or group of tracks that’s not listed in the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar is drag a track to a new location within the Track display area to rearrange them. Just click the track’s name bar and drag the track(s) to whatever position in the Track display area’s hierarchy you want. As soon as you see the dotted line (as shown in Figure 6.10) appear at the border of the track

Figure 6.10 Tracks can be dragged to new locations within the Track display area’s hierarchy as you see fit. Just watch for the dotted line at the border of the track next to which you want to move your selected track. This indicates where the track will be moved; just release the mouse button to complete the task.

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next to which you want to drop your selected track, release the mouse button to complete the move.

Time Control Warning: The introduction to this section may get a little collegiate—I am a Berklee professor you know—but stay with me. You’ll (hopefully) come out one or more steps closer to understanding Pro Tools on a very deep level. In order to fully understand the edit modes and edit tools when you start wrestling with them in the next chapter, as well as the architecture of the Edit window GUI (not to mention the motion of the very subject you’re recording: music), it’s important to start with how Pro Tools handles time relevant to music-related sessions. So here we go. . . . Half (if not most) of music is based on rhythm, which can be defined as a pattern of recurring strong and weak accents made audible by the striking of an object or objects. In audio terms, this is known as a transient and can be viewed in a waveform graphic as the largest portion followed by a declining slope that eventually grows smaller until a new transient appears or the audio event is complete. Although rhythm can be felt without a pattern, it’s more likely perceived with a pattern established, which is defined by where those accents fall in time. We define those moments against a beat—a constant pulsation through (you guessed it) time. The time interval between those beats, or the rate at which they occur in time, is called the tempo. Although the time intervals are consistent, their overall rate is variable, making beats a relative property. Beats are assembled into organized groups according to stress—stress being the strong beat or, as George Clinton suitably coined it, the downbeat. These continuous groups are what comprise a meter, which is subdivided into boundaries depicted on paper (and in this interface) as bars of music. Coming from another angle, sample rates are also based on time. A sample rate is accessed in hertz—a unit of measurement used to convey how frequently an event occurs. Heinrich Hertz devised this unit to represent one cycle per second. A second is based on a universally recognized, fixed time continuum. Therefore, every digital snapshot

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(sample) taken in the A/D conversion is based on an absolute property, because the time interval (rate) between seconds is not variable. Every facet of time I just laid out for you is projected in a Pro Tools session in one or more parts of the Edit window and will be explained throughout this chapter. Because these concepts are like the bedrock in our audio-production Earth, they will surely present themselves in all stages of your work. A large part of editing your session’s data will be related to time control, and it’s important to know how Pro Tools displays time because you will constantly be engulfed in it throughout your session’s development. Pro Tools has several ways in the Edit window to convey time information in the form of a time scale, and they are spread throughout two areas of the interface: the Main and Sub Counters and Timeline display area. Both of these work in conjunction with the grid. Time Scales and the Main and Sub Counters A time scale governs every Pro Tools session. There are three types of time scales in Pro Tools M-Powered: n

Bars and beats (Bars:Beats)

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Minutes and seconds (Min:Secs)

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Samples (Samples)

Those terms look familiar? Good. The first areas in the Edit window you’re going to look into that display time scales are the Main and Sub Counters, located in the center of the Edit window’s toolbar, just right of the edit tools (see Figure 6.11). Although you can view two time scales, it’s the one displayed in the Main Counter that determines the governing time format

Figure 6.11 The top portion is the Main Counter is where you set one of the three available time scales as the Main time scale. The bottom portion is the Sub Counter, which displays one of the other two remaining time scales for additional timing reference.

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of the session, and is thus called the Main time scale. This Main time scale is the timebase unit for the following: n

The Main location indicator in the floating Transport window

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Selection Start, End, and Length values in the Event Edit area

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Pre- and Post-Roll amounts

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Grid and nudge values at the start of a session

I realize these items have not been even hinted at yet in this book, but trust me, they will. Just stay with me here. In addition to the Main Counter is a Sub Counter for additional timing reference. This enables you to view and work within the Main time scale and have a secondary timing reference in the mix. For example, a practical setup for music-related sessions like the ones you’ve seen so far would be Bars:Beats as the Main time scale displayed in the Main Counter and either Min:Secs or Samples displayed in the Sub Counter. You can select both counters’ time scales by clicking the down arrows next to the numeric display and choosing from the menu that appears. The Timeline Display Area and Rulers The Timeline display area, located below the thin, black Edit window bar and seen in Figure 6.12, is the other area where you can view the Main time scale and more. The Pro Tools M-Powered display area is made up of seven (possible) thin horizontal displays known as rulers. They come in two varieties—Timebase and Conductor rulers. Unlike the counters, you can view the complete list of both types of rulers simultaneously. The rulers provide a way to define and navigate a timeline in a track’s playlist as well as providing a graphic editor for editing session tempo. The Timebase rulers

Figure 6.12 The Timeline display area has several horizontal rulers to define and navigate a timeline in a track’s edit playlist.

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are made up of the same time scales as the Main and Sub Counter displays: n

Bars:Beats

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Min:Secs

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Samples

Both the Main Counter and the Main Timebase ruler (defined by being highlighted in blue in the ruler name area in the leftmost portion of the Timeline display area) determine the session’s Main time scale and therefore are always linked. Clicking any one of the Timebase ruler name areas switches the Main time scale, therefore changing what’s displayed in the Main Counter as well. As for the Conductor rulers, they are as follows: n

Tempo

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Meter

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Markers

These rulers allow you to make and mark changes along a session’s timeline so they occur at those precise moments. The Tempo ruler has a Show/Hide triangle button on the left side of the ruler name area that, when clicked, opens a resizable horizontal pane beneath it (see Figure 6.13) for editing the session tempo graphically with the Pencil, Grabber, and/or Trim Edit tools. The Meter ruler enables time-signature changes to happen, which are directly related to how the Click plug-in behaves. Finally, the Marker ruler displays what’s called Memory Location markers, which are graphic forget-me-nots for editing and more efficient session navigation. There’s a corresponding window for these markers accessible from the Window menu in the

Figure 6.13 The Tempo ruler has a hidden horizontal pane that allows you to graphically edit the session tempo.

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Pro Tools menu bar called Memory Locations (CmdþNumeric 5 for Mac, CtrlþNumeric 5 for PC) where you can create, view, edit, navigate, and delete these markers. The Memory Locations window is explored in Chapter 7, “Editing 101 and Some M-Powered Empowerment.”

What About Key Signature View? In addition to the various Conductor rulers that have to do with time and rhythm, there’s one more ruler to be aware of: the Key Signature ruler. Here you can add, edit, and delete session key signatures that will affect MIDI data. These key signature events can transpose or constrain pitches to a specified key. To make working in this view easier, this ruler has a Show/Hide triangle button to open up a wider display, much like the Tempo ruler. With regard to sessions without MIDI or Instrument tracks, you can use this ruler to mark key changes in your session as compared to a Memory Location marker in the Markers ruler.

You select which rulers are displayed or hidden in either the Rulers submenu in the View menu in the Pro Tools menu bar or from the Ruler View selector in the Edit window. You can also Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) a ruler name to deselect it. Just clicking the ruler name allows you to drag the ruler to any position in the ruler hierarchy, much like dragging a track (as discussed earlier in this chapter). The Grid Pictorially speaking, the grid is nothing more than varying shades of blue vertical lines consistently strewn across every track’s playlist and visible in the Track display area. Functionally speaking, the grid is a visual reference whose increments are based on the Main time scale as displayed in the Main Counter and Main Timebase ruler (remember, those are one and the same) and supremely important in many facets of editing. These increments govern how selection, the movement of regions, trimming, and automation edits will work in Grid mode. In Grid mode, whatever type of editing you do will snap to the nearest

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Figure 6.14 The grid is a series of vertical lines based on varying types of time control and is used for visual reference to aid in aligning regions and MIDI data to precise locations in the timeline.

increment of the grid. Even just making a selection with the Selector tool will be affected by what grid value is chosen, as the beginning and ending values will snap to the grid. The grid value can be set to four categories—three of which are the basic time scales along with their own related subdivisions—in the Grid Value selector located in the Edit window (see Figure 6.14). Clicking once on the Main Timebase ruler toggles the display of the grid in the playlist on and off.

The Edit Window Toolbar Now for an overview of the Pro Tools Edit window toolbar (see Figure 6.15), starting with the edit mode buttons. Think of this section of the Edit window as the central command center; all the tools and various global control and monitoring components are located here. The next few sections are a pre-cursor to the deeper explanations and tutorials in Chapter 7.

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Zoom Controls and Presets Buttons Edit Mode Buttons

Edit Tools

Main and Sub Counters

Event Edit Area

Transport Area

Figure 6.15 The Edit window toolbar.

The Edit Modes Whether it is audio or MIDI data, the edit modes (see Figure 6.16) are the backbone to all editing functions in Pro Tools. Every edit tool you will use within every task will be directly affected by what edit mode you’re in. Let’s take a quick look at each edit mode to get a feel for its role to prepare you for the tasks that lie ahead in Chapter 7.

Figure 6.16 The edit mode buttons dictate how the edit tools perform, making them the backbone to how editing is handled in Pro Tools.

n

Shuffle. This mode snaps regions to neighboring region borders. Any time you move a region in Shuffle mode and release the mouse button, no matter how far away, the region will snap to its nearest start or end point (depending on which way you’re moving). If you were to separate and remove a region from a larger region, the two outer regions created as a result of the schism would automatically snap together.

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Slip. The most flexible of all the edit modes, Slip mode simply lets you move a region anywhere you want in the playlist regardless of the grid.

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Spot. Upon clicking a region, a dialog box appears that enables you to instruct Pro Tools exactly where to put selected regions by typing in a location. This can be done according to bars and beats, minutes and seconds, even as acute as a sample.

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n

Grid. This mode snaps regions to the aforementioned grid. This enables precise region movements in conjunction with whatever timebase parameter you choose to use as your reference. In order to use Grid mode in conjunction with any particular timebase other than the default Main time scale, you must have it set up in the Grid Value menu located in the Edit window. The Grid Mode button also has a down arrow to click to select between Absolute Grid mode (seen as Grid on the face of the button highlighted in blue) and Relative Grid mode (seen as Rel Grid on the face of the button and highlighted in purple).

The Edit Tools The edit tools (pictured in Figure 6.17) are just that—your tools for editing both audio and MIDI event data. They provide myriad ways to manipulate regions, automation data, and MIDI data within their respective tracks—even in the graphic Tempo editor. Here’s some preliminary information on each tool: n

Zoom controls and Zoom Preset buttons. Not considered part of the actual list of edit tools as defined by Digidesign, the Zoom controls and their Zoom Preset buttons are no less as important a tool in my opinion. These, along with the Zoomer tools, provide you with more than enough ways to zoom in and out on regions and MIDI Zoom In/Out

Audio Zoom In/Out

Trimmer Tools

Grabber Tools

Zoomer Tools

Selector Tool

Zoom Toggle

Smart Tool

Pencil Tools

Horizontal Zoom Out

Zoom Preset Buttons

Scrubber Tool

Horizontal Zoom In Figure 6.17 The edit tool buttons are your tools of the editing trade.

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automation playlists during the editing process. These particular zoom tools affect the entire Track display area. The Zoom controls consist of the Horizontal Zoom Out, Audio Zoom In/Out, MIDI Zoom In/Out, and Horizontal Zoom In buttons. Also seen are the Zoom Preset buttons (circle buttons numbered 1–5) underneath the Zoom Control buttons. They provide a way to save and toggle through certain views you find yourself needing to return to often. n

Zoomer tools. Shifting into the first of the official edit tools, we encounter another zoom-ified function in the Zoomer tool. This zoom tool can be applied to individual or a specific group of tracks, as opposed to the global effect of the Zoom controls. When you click the Zoomer Tool button, the computer cursor changes to a magnifying-glass icon. The Zoomer is the first of four edit tools that feature a drop-down menu, accessible from the small down arrow located at the bottom of the button. There are two modes for the Zoomer: Normal and Single. The only difference is when a zoom selection is made in Single Zoom mode, the Zoomer tool is deselected, and you return to whatever editing tool was previously selected.

n

Trim tools. Another tool that features various modes, the Trim tool is used to shorten or lengthen regions. The three modes are as follows: Standard, TCE (Time Compression Expansion), and Loop. When this tool is selected, your computer’s cursor changes to a staple-like icon with added graphics, depending on what version of the Trim tool is selected. This tool’s behavior is subject to what edit mode you’re currently in. For instance, in Grid mode, the Trim tool causes a selection to snap to a set time increment each time you drag the cursor over a section of the grid, therefore trimming the region’s borders to these subdivisions. In Slip mode, you have the freedom to trim a region to whatever location on the timeline you want. This tool especially requires you to understand the theory behind Pro Tools pointerbased system and how it pertains to regions pointing to audio files. All you’re doing when you trim a region border with the standard Trim tool is telling Pro Tools to read a smaller portion of the audio file in the Audio Files folder. This does not affect the audio file in any way.

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n

Selector tool. You can think of the Selector tool as the central tool. It performs the most basic of editing tasks: making a selection. By clicking and dragging in an appropriate location in the Edit window, you create a highlighted horizontal area ready for your intended action. When you select this tool, your cursor changes to an I-beam icon, which then can be used to make two types of selections: timeline and edit. Timeline selections are made from any one of the Timebase rulers and are used to set record and playback ranges, while edit selections are made within a track (or group of tracks) playlist for setting up a range of the track or tracks to be edited. The Selector tool, like the Trim tool, is susceptible to whatever edit mode you’re in at the time of selection. Slip mode allows you to select any portion of the Timeline display area and/or playlist area from any two points in the timeline, while Grid mode snaps your selection’s borders to whatever grid value you’ve chosen. Whatever selection you make is displayed in the Event Edit area to the right of the Main and Sub Counters in the Start, End, and Length categories, which are in the same Timebase ruler as the session’s Main Timebase ruler (displayed in the Main Counter and main Ruler view).

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Grabber tools. The Grabber tool is used to click and grab regions so you can place them in new locations within a track or drag them to another track entirely. When you select the Grabber tool, the computer cursor turns into a hand-shaped icon. Again, whatever action is done with the tool is influenced by what edit mode you’re in. Another tool with multiple personalities, the Grabber tool has three modes: Time, Separation, and Object. The default Time Grabber, considered the standard mode of the Grabber tools, will likely be the one you use the most. As for the other two modes, the Separation Grabber automatically splits the selection into a new region, while the Object Grabber selects noncontiguous regions so that the empty Timeline display area between them is not selected.

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Smart Tool. This tool combines the Selector, Grabber, and Trim tools, as well as providing a shortcut to create fades. Clicking the connected rectangle below the three previous tools mentioned will

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activate the Smart Tool, highlighting the rectangle and the tools alike. The position of the cursor in relation to whatever you are working on (region, MIDI note, automation playlist) determines which part of the Smart Tool is in focus. Moving the cursor over the middle to the upper half of an audio region activates the Selector tool, moving it over to the lower half summons the Grabber, and moving it near either the start or end point enables the Trim tool. While at the end points, as you get closer to the top, you’ll see the unique Fade cursor; if you do this with two adjacent regions, placing the cursor near the bottom at their borders will bring into focus the Crossfade cursor. n

Scrubber tool. Think of the Scrubber tool as a virtual record needle. When you click and drag in a region with the speaker icon cursor, that part of the waveform is heard in whatever direction you go. How quickly you scrub is how fast you hear the audio. This is a great way to locate those finite points in a waveform when trying to find where to make tight selections for further editing.

n

Pencil tools. This tool, as you can imagine, is for performing actions that resemble drawing, but those actions extend beyond editing. For example, with the Pencil tool, you can draw in MIDI notes in a MIDI or Instrument track to create new event data. You can even hyper-zoom into an area of an audio track to draw changes to the waveform! By now, seeing that down arrow should indicate to you that there are different versions of the Pencil tool. They are as follows: Free Hand, Line, Triangle, Square, Random, Parabolic, S-Curve, and even an option to assign the tool a specific note duration when inputting MIDI events, as mentioned earlier.

Standardized Tools Any edit tool whose icon is left unaltered by an additional graphic in both the cursor and the icon in the edit tool button is considered to be in its standard mode. This mode is always the top of the list in each tool’s drop-down menu.

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The Event Edit Area Next to the Main and Sub Counters area (discussed earlier in the “Time Control” section of this chapter) in the black box that adorns the Edit window toolbar is the Event Edit area (see Figure 6.18). This right half of the darkened display provides information for the currently selected audio or MIDI event in the form of time, pitch (MIDI only), and other details. The Start, End, and Length sections provide corresponding details about the current selection in whatever the Main time scale is set to. Whatever you do to a selection is reflected in the Event Edit area in real time. You can enter values directly in the numerical display, thus modifying it, or even create a selection by clicking the Start and End portions and typing in the data. To make typing in values faster, use these shortcuts: n

To toggle between Start, End, and Length indicators, press the forward slash (/) key.

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To toggle from one column to the next within a field, press the period (.) key.

n

To add or subtract to a current selection, select a column, press the plus (þ) or minus ( ) key, type a value, and then press Return (Mac) or Enter (PC) to increase or decrease the selection according to the value you typed.

Figure 6.18 The Event Edit area provides information pertaining to the current selection such as length and location in the timeline.

The Transport Area The rightmost section of controls in the Pro Tools toolbar should look very familiar to anyone who’s ever navigated a CD or DVD player. This area—called the Transport (see Figure 6.19)—is where you’ll find basic audio record and playback command buttons like Play, Record Enable, Rewind, and Fast Forward. But there’s more than meets the eye (at this point, did you really think there wouldn’t be?). First, there’s one button that might be new to most: the Online button in the upper left corner of

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Record Enable

Play

Return to Zero

Go to End Rewind Fast Forward

Figure 6.19 At first glance, the Transport section is not much different from most other sets of controls found on CD or DVD players, but taking a deeper look reveals that they provide access to alternative play and record functions and a way to link Pro Tools to external devices through SMPTE.

the Transport. Clicking this button puts Pro Tools in Online mode, in which playback and recording are dictated by a time code called SMPTE, which is used for synchronizing external devices such as other hardware multitrack recorders or video decks. More relevant here is that you can enhance the performance of the Play and Record Enable buttons by Ctrl-clicking (Mac) or right-clicking (PC) them to activate alternative playback and record modes. The enhanced Play button function, known as Loop Playback, enables you to play a selected area over and over again. This comes in handy, for example, when you need to rehearse a part you want to record or when you want to get a good listen to determine where an edit might need to be performed. Here’s a quick rundown of the record modes: n

Destructive Record. The first of the options to appear when you perform the aforementioned, this mode places Pro Tools in what any recording guitarist should consider the danger zone. Basically, if you’re recording over a previous performance for whatever reason, that performance will be recorded over permanently—i.e. destroyed . . . gone . . . no more. I can’t count enough reasons to occupy the full fingers on Tony Iommi’s hands to justify doing this. Enough said.

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Loop Record. Similar to Loop Playback, this enables you to make a selection with the Selector tool and then record several takes in

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succession, creating multiple regions to choose the best one from. If this seems difficult to wrap your head around, just stay cool until the next chapter, where this process is covered in step-by-step detail. n

QuickPunch Record. Another recording scenario that entails accomplishing something in one take is this record mode. After setting up the track for and initiating recording, you can pick and choose the part of a region with previously recorded material in it in which you want to record just by toggling the Record button on the Transport as playback continues. Don’t worry if this one went over your head, too—it’s covered in the same section as Loop Record in the next chapter.

All three record modes, as well as Loop Playback, can also be selected via the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and are covered in the next chapter with accompanying tutorials so you can get the full picture. As for other Transport options, they are laid out for you in an upcoming section of this chapter that details a separate floating window called (you’ll never guess this one) the Transport window.

Red Light, Green Light To the right of the Transport are two gray status LEDs. The top LED is the Record Enable Status LED; it lights up red whenever you arm a track to be recorded on by clicking the R button in the Track Control area. The bottom LED is the Input Status LED; it lights up green whenever the Input Only Monitoring option is selected in the Track menu.

Cursors and Related Markers In addition to your computer’s regular cursor, two other versions of the cursor may be displayed in the Edit window—a playback cursor and an edit cursor. By default, the cursors are linked, but that can of course be adjusted to suit your needs as you become more adept with Pro Tools (more on that later). Not having the full picture on these deceptively simple items may leave you stuck, wondering why Pro

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Tools will not perform in a way you think it should. With that said, understanding the properties behind these two cursors and their related Timeline markers will get you off on the right foot with the Edit window. The Playback Cursor and Timeline Selection Markers The playback cursor appears only when Pro Tools is playing a session. It’s a solid vertical line that stretches throughout the entire Timeline display area and Track display area (see Figure 6.20) regardless of how many tracks are in your session. It’s meant to indicate where the current playback point is in real time. That location can be monitored in the Main and Sub Counters in the Edit window

The Playback Cursor Figure 6.20 The playback cursor gives you a visual reference of where the current playback point is.

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Timeline Selection Marker Figure 6.21 A Timeline Selection marker is placed in the Main Timebase ruler when a timeline selection has been made, indicating where playback will begin.

and the Main and Sub location indicators in the floating Transport window. To set the playback start point, you can click anywhere in the Timeline display area with any edit tool selected in the timeline where you want to start. This inserts a Timeline Selection marker in the Main Timebase ruler, as well as a light gray blinking vertical line directly beneath it in the other Timebase rulers that are selected to be viewed (both graphics are seen in Figure 6.21). This action also places the other cursor type, the edit cursor, down through all the track’s playlist areas precisely aligned with the Timeline Selection marker (as long as the Link Timeline and Edit Selections command is on; more on that later). If you simply want to start playback from the beginning, just press the Return (Mac) or Enter (PC) key. It’s important to note that, although you can click anywhere in the track playlist area to set the playback position with the edit cursor (again as long as the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option selected), you’ll need to have the Selector tool chosen to do so as it’s the only one that can. Scrolling Options

The Options menu, found on the main Pro Tools menu bar, features a submenu that appears when you move the cursor over the Scrolling option. It lists three choices: No Scrolling, After Playback, and Page. No Scrolling keeps the playlist view in the same timeline

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position as it was before playback, even after you stop playback. After Playback shoots you over to the location in the timeline where you stopped playback. Page visually scrolls through every page view of the timeline as playback proceeds. Each one has its purpose; you might find yourself switching from one to another in various parts of your session for whatever reason. Be aware that the Page option requires some extra CPU power and may need to be deselected if you’re running a high track and/or high plug-in count in your session. Playback Cursor Locator

There will be plenty of times when locating the cursor might prove to be difficult, depending on which Scrolling option you have chosen. If, for example, you have the No Scrolling option chosen, once playback begins, it leaves the playback cursor behind and never snaps to it like the After Playback option would. To quickly jump to the playback cursor’s location without having to click the navigation bar at the bottom of the Edit window or repeatedly stroke a trackpad on a laptop, you can simply click the Playback Cursor locator (see Figure 6.22) in whatever Timebase ruler is chosen to display the Main time scale.

Playback Cursor Locator Figure 6.22 When the playback cursor has escaped you, use the Playback Cursor locator, which is always in the Main Timebase ruler, to quickly jump back to its location.

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Link Timeline and Edit Selections Explained If you haven’t already figured out the premise behind the Link Timeline and Edit Selections options, I’ll explain it now, because you will need to understand it to stay with the program from here on in. When activated, this option enables Pro Tools to always link a timeline selection with an edit selection regardless of where in the Edit window you perform the action—meaning the Timeline display area or anywhere in any track’s playlist area. Even if you simply click in either area to indicate the playback start point, the location point is aligned according to the session timeline. To select or deselect this option, go to the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar, press the Shiftþ/ keyboard shortcut, or click the Link Timeline and Edit Selections button in the Edit window. Unlinking these two selections allows you to make a timeline selection (therefore setting the playback location) that’s independent of an edit selection. That allows you to listen to a portion of your session that’s different from your edit selection.

The Edit Cursor and Edit Selection Markers When you click anywhere in the playlist area of any track, a blinking vertical line called the edit cursor appears (see Figure 6.23). Its purpose is to indicate the starting point of whatever editing task you might perform. If the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option is selected, whenever you click in a track’s playlist, the Timeline Selection marker is vertically aligned with the edit cursor. If the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option is deselected, therefore unlinking these selections, then a second marker called the Edit Selection marker (see Figure 6.24) is placed in the Main Timebase ruler, indicating where the edit cursor is in the timeline. From there, if an edit selection is made with the Selector tool, this Edit Selection marker splits into two separate markers known as the Edit Selection Start marker and the Edit Selection End marker (see Figure 6.25), indicating where the selection is in the timeline. You can adjust the selection by clicking and dragging these markers in the Main Timebase ruler. Conversely, if the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option is selected and you make an edit selection, the Timeline Selection marker is then split into separate markers

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The Edit Cursor Figure 6.23 The edit cursor is a blinking vertical line that indicates the starting point of whatever editing task you might perform. Notice here that the Link Timeline and Edit Selection option is activated; therefore, the Timeline Selection marker is vertically aligned with the edit cursor located in the region residing in the track’s edit playlist.

(see Figure 6.26) in much the same way as the Edit Selection marker (with the same naming convention applied as well) and can also be dragged to adjust the selection.

The Mysterious Dotted Red Line Throughout your journey in the Edit window thus far, you might have noticed a thin, dotted red vertical line (see Figure 6.27) appear only in the Ruler section of the Timeline display area. It’s a graphic indicator telling you where the computer cursor is in the timeline, regardless of what’s happening in the session. The location of the cursor can be viewed in the Cursor Location display in the Edit window bar and is expressed in whatever unit the Main time scale and Timebase ruler is set to. It only disappears during playback, at which time the playback cursor appears.

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Edit Selection Marker

Timeline Selection Marker

Figure 6.24 The Edit Selection marker only appears in the Main Timebase ruler when you make an edit selection with the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option deselected. This indicates the start for whatever editing task you’re about to perform.

Edit Selection Start Marker

Edit Selection End Marker

Figure 6.25 Once a selection is made, the Edit Selection marker splits in two, indicating the start and end points of the selection. These Start and End markers can be dragged to adjust the selection’s size.

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Timeline Selection Start Marker

Timeline Selection End Marker

Figure 6.26 If the Link Timeline and Edit Selection option is selected, the Timeline Selection marker is split in two when a selection has been made in either the Timeline display area or a track’s playlist. These too may be dragged to adjust the size of the selection.

Figure 6.27 This segmented red line in the Timeline display area indicates where your cursor is at all times, regardless of where the edit cursor is or if there’s an edit selection.

The Edit Window Bar Right below the Pro Tools toolbar is a thin black bar called the Edit window bar (see Figure 6.28), which contains various drop-down menus, function buttons, and status indicators. Although it doesn’t Figure 6.28 Don’t be fooled by the Edit window bar’s petite display; it holds hugely important shortcuts to essential functions as well as important tools like the Grid Value and Nudge Value selectors.

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take up much room in the GUI, its contents play an important role nonetheless. The following explains what this skinny, yet vital, black bar holds. n

Edit Window View selector. This lets you select what additional Edit window columns will be displayed between the Track Control area and the playlist area, as well as select/deselect the Track Color section to the left of the control area. For a list and explanation of each column, refer to the section “Additional Edit Window Columns” earlier in this chapter. Aside from the Transport, the available views found here are mirrored in the Edit Window dropdown menu located in the View menu found on the Pro Tools menu bar.

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Ruler View selector. Another pop-up selector whose options are mirrored in the View menu, this selector enables or disables the seven available rulers in M-Powered. For a list and explanation of each ruler, refer to the section “The Timeline Display Area and Rulers” earlier in this chapter.

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Linearity Mode selector. Like the other properties that work on samples versus ticks, both of the modes available in this drop-down selector influence how track events are displayed. Because the absolute time-based Sample Linear Display mode corresponds to samples at the current sample rate, a tempo change would cause each bar to take up less space. On the other hand, a tempo change in the relative time-based Linear Ticks Display mode would cause each bar to occupy the same amount of space because each bar corresponds to a different amount of time, measured in samples. Use of this function in Pro Tools requires a little bit more knowhow than we’re going to get into, so don’t be frustrated if this particular item takes some time to decipher.

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Tab to Transients button. This is the first of five buttons that, when clicked on, display a blue rectangular border around the graphic icon, indicating its intended function is active. When this button is activated, it enables the Tab to Transients function. This makes it so when you press the Tab key, the edit cursor moves immediately before the nearest transient peak in a

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track or to the nearest audio region boundary. Pressing OptþTab (Mac) or AltþTab (PC) moves the cursor in reverse with the same behavior. Pressing ShiftþTab makes an edit selection from one transient to another in forward motion; throwing the Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) key into that keystroke will make a selection in a backward motion. Tab to Transients also works on multiple tracks by moving to the nearest transient within all the tracks selected. n

Commands Keyboard Focus button. This button enables you to use the keyboard to activate various single-key shortcuts right from the alphanumeric keyboard! With so many hints throughout the book on learning keyboard shortcuts, you can imagine how essential these shortcuts are as they require no modifier keys (Shift, Command/Control, Opt/Alt, etc.). With this feature in mind, it makes a strong case for purchasing a Pro Tools–ready “hot-keys” keyboard such as the one made by Logic Keyboard. These keyboards come with colored keys that have their corresponding commands printed on them in addition to the normal labeling you see on every keyboard. In the meantime, the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF accessible from the Help menu provides a full list of the available key commands. By the way, there are two more Keyboard Focus buttons in the upper-right corner of the Groups List and the Region List. Enabling one Keyboard Focus button automatically disables the other, as you can only have one selected at a time.

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Link Timeline and Edit Selections button. This button enables you to choose whether you want to link selections made in the track to the rulers in the Timeline display area and vice versa. As mentioned in the “Cursors and Related Markers” section, this also affects where playback begins compared to an edit selection. This option can also be turned on/off from the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar or by pressing the Shiftþ/ keyboard shortcut.

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Link Track and Edit Selections button. With this option turned on, every time you make a selection in a track’s or group of tracks’ playlist, that track is selected, which is indicated by the highlighting of the track’s name bar (refer to the section “The Anatomy of a

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Track” earlier in this chapter for a review of this topic). This allows you to more easily perform those track-related operations when tracks are selected (discussed earlier) in the midst of editing audio and MIDI event data, and at the same time improves your workflow. This option, too, be turned on/off from the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. n

Mirrored MIDI Editing button. Simply put, with this button activated, any changes you make to one MIDI region are reflected in all other MIDI regions, with one caveat: They have to have the same exact name.

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Grid Value display. You can set the grid value (as discussed earlier in this chapter in the section titled “The Grid”) by clicking the down arrow to the far right of this section of the Edit window bar. From there, you will see the Grid Units selector, where you can choose the grid value and its subdivision range. Note that you have to click this selector twice in order to change the grid value and the subdivision, as this type of selector does not allow for more than one choice to be made simultaneously.

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Nudge Value display. The time increment here directly affects a method used for moving regions or MIDI note selections with the plus and minus keys of the numeric keys called nudging. When you press the corresponding key, a region or MIDI note moves by the increment set in the Nudge Value selector. This value can be independent of the grid value and/or subdivision. You can nudge the beginning and end points of a selection by pressing Opt (Mac) or Alt (PC) for the beginnings and Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) for the endings while hitting the plus or minus sign. When combined with the Commands Keyboard Focus button, you can nudge using your alphanumeric keyboard, which also enables more nudging options. The Keyboard Shortcuts PDF, available from the Help menu, displays these options—not to mention many other useful shortcuts throughout Pro Tools!

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Cursor Location and Value display. In correlation with the mysterious dotted red line discussed in the section “Cursors and Related Markers” earlier in this chapter, this portion of the Edit

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window bar displays the location of the computer cursor within the Edit window as it relates to the timeline. This is not an editable field, but it does provide valuable cursor-location information as you resize regions, for example.

The Side Columns Clicking the double-arrow buttons (affectionately called chevrons by some) on either side of the Edit window opens the side columns (see Figure 6.29) first mentioned in Chapter 4. The left area is split into two portions, with the top being the Track List and the bottom being the Edit Groups List. On the opposite side of the Edit window is a column called the Region List. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in each view. Tracks List

Edit Groups List

The Region List

Figure 6.29 The two side columns in the Edit window provide access to tracks and regions and enable you to more easily organize and maintain both components. Both views provide a corresponding drop-down menu with commands for showing, hiding, deleting, grouping, and more.

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Track List. The Track List allows you to view your tracks by name and track icon, making it easier to organize and maintain the Track display area, especially when there are high track counts. This is because any changes you make in the Track List directly affect how you see the tracks in the Track display area. Tracks that are in view in the Track display area are highlighted in orange with the corresponding track-type icon preceding the track name. Clicking a track name deselects it and therefore hides it from view in the Track display area. You can click and drag track names to reorder them, too. You can even drag audio into the Track List, automatically creating new tracks. To more easily complete simple, yet essential, track tasks such as reordering or hiding, click the Track List button. This exposes a drop-down menu filled with options. Especially useful are options like Show Only Selected Tracks when you want to focus only on those selected tracks or the commands to show only tracks categorized by type.

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Edit Groups List. The lower portion of the left side column is the Groups List, which displays user-defined groups of tracks that can be edited in exactly the same way or have their volume levels adjusted simultaneously while maintaining their relative volume levels prior to grouping. These are known as Edit or Mix groups, respectively. Because we’re in the Edit window section of the chapter, let’s examine Edit groups and save Mix groups for the upcoming discussion of the Mix window, in the “Meet the Mix Window” section. The following attributes of tracks in the Edit Groups List can be changed simultaneously: track view, height, timebase, and audio, MIDI and/or automation editing functions. You can create Edit groups by opening the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choosing Group or by pressing the CmdþG (Mac) or CtrlþG (PC) keyboard shortcut. This opens the Create Group dialog box, where you can choose from a list of all the tracks in the session to include in the group. Here you’ll notice among other options that you can choose to make a group specifically an Edit group or a Mix group or both. Various grouprelated functions can be launched from the Edit Group selector (accessed by clicked the Groups List name bar in the left side

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column) including Display, Suspend All Groups, and Delete Groups. As with the Track List, the active groups are highlighted in orange, but can be assigned different colors from the Color Palette (Window > Color Palette); this makes groups easier to manage. In the upper-right corner of the Edit Groups List is the Groups List Keyboard Focus button; when this button is selected, you can enable or disable Edit groups by typing their group ID letter. n

Region List. The side column to the right of the Edit window is more like a bin than a column, as it contains all of your session’s audio and MIDI regions, lists them by name, and indicates whether they are in use in tracks. As you experienced in Chapter 4, as soon as you record something into M-Powered, a region name is deposited into the Region List. Like the Track List, you can drag audio or MIDI files into the Region List, but instead of creating a track, the file simply resides in the bin for later use in the session. Another way regions end up in the list is as a result of certain edit procedures such as executing the Separate Region command, which, as you can imagine, creates new regions as a result. Regardless of how the region gets into the list, regions are displayed with their corresponding track-type icon and, if applicable, an identifying color column (assuming these display options are selected from the Region List drop-down menu in the Select section). Double-clicking the region’s name in the list launches a Name dialog box, which allows you to rename the region as well as the disk file to which it is pointing. (You can also rename a region by double-clicking one already in a track with the Grabber tool.) Region names that appear in bold represent whole audio files, while the others in normal print represent portions of a whole file. In either case, if you see a right arrow, that means the region is pointing to a stereo audio file; clicking it displays two filenames with the left and right filenames ending in .L and .R. From the Region List you can drag regions onto pre-existing tracks or even create new tracks by dragging regions into an empty area in the Track display area. Before doing so, you can preview regions in the Region List by Opt-clicking and holding (Mac) or Alt-clicking and

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holding (PC). Clicking the down arrow in the Region List reveals the Region List menu, where you’ll find a much more involved set of options and commands as compared to the Track List or the Edit Groups List menu. You can choose to view the filenames with full directory paths, set up parameters for selecting unused regions to delete to free up disk space, or even export regions out of Pro Tools as new, individual audio files. Finally, in the upper-right area of the Region List is another Keyboard Focus button called the Region List Focus button. This button allows you to locate and select audio and MIDI regions, as well as Region groups, by typing the first few letters of the corresponding region’s name.

Meet the Mix Window Although you have had many encounters with the Edit window previous to this chapter, there has yet to be one with what is considered the “other half” of the Pro Tools GUI—the Mix window. The Mix window (see Figure 6.30) is a virtual representation of a traditional hardware mixing board—but due to the advantages afforded to you by the power of Pro Tools, there’s gobs more potential contained here. These include, for example, the ability to reroute sends and/or reposition plug-ins and hardware insert paths in the signal chain with just minimal mouse action (not to mention not having to deal with the spaghetti-like collections of patch cables, as with hardware-based rigs). The Edit and Mix windows in most respects present views of basically the same thing. When you create a track in the Edit window, a corresponding channel strip is automatically created in the Mix window. Whatever is contained in a horizontal track in the Edit window is exactly what’s controlled in a vertical channel strip in the Mix window. Indeed, you’ll likely constantly toggle between the two windows no matter what stage of the session you’re in; you’ll also likely perform mix-related tasks from the time you have more than one track containing event data in the session. But when it comes to the art of mixing, it’s here in the Mix window you’ll find that task most intuitive. You’ll notice that the Mix window, shown in Figure 6.30, is a scaleddown view as compared to the feature-filled Edit window. Comprised primarily of the main ingredient—the virtual channel strip—the only

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Track Show/ Hide Area

Mix Window View Selector

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Track List

Mix/Fader Groups List

Channel Strip Display Area

Edit/Mix Groups Channel Commands Keyboard Strip Focus Button

Track Show/Hide Area Button Figure 6.30 The Mix window with its channel strips is much like a hardware mixing board, making it the ideal window for mixing your sessions.

other elements to the Mix window are the left side column, consisting of a mirrored version of the Edit window Track List and the variably identified Groups List area, and the Mix Window View selector. (As stated previously, the Pro Tools menu bar is ever-present up top and maintains the same exact options as when the Edit window is in focus.) Taking a quick tour of the Mix window to prep for Chapter 8, we start with the foundational component: the channel strip.

Double Vision As stated many times throughout this book, toggling between the Edit and Mix windows will be something more than the phrase “common practice” could ever convey. A great way to

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massively boost productivity is to invest in a second monitor so you can have the Edit window open in one and the Mix window in another for a constant view of both!

The Anatomy of a Channel Strip What the virtual track is to the Edit window, the virtual channel (or mixer) strip is to the Mix window and then some. While all the components in the Edit window exist to serve the tracks in the Track display area, the channel strips are the only components in the entire Mix window (aside from the right side column), making them the primary tool. Many of the Edit window tracks’ attributes are found in the channel strip (see Figure 6.31), but are placed in a different order as compared to the way they’re laid out in the track. The controls available to you vary according to which track type you’re dealing with; for our purposes, let’s take a look at an audio track. Though most of the channel strip is a comprised of the same controls and column views as the Edit window track, there are some facts and functions that are signature to the Mix window that need to be pointed out. The Fader

While the Track Control area and the I/O view are the central focus of an Edit window track, the channel strip’s Volume fader (refer to Figure 6.31) is the main focus here, with the fader itself assuming the starring role. The Mix window provides the only way to display all the track output Volume faders simultaneously (you can only view one track Output window at a time—in either window, for that matter). This is the control you will use the most in your mixing activities, as it is the focal point for adjusting Volume levels between tracks in a session to get just the right mix. Faders can boost a track’s output volume as much as þ12 dB (remember the volume control in Pro Tools is not to be used for controlling the level of incoming signals while recording, as stated in Chapter 4). If you need to move the fader just a little tiny bit, hold down the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) key as you drag the fader for smaller increments. Opt-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (PC) a Volume fader will reset the fader back to its default 0 dB setting.

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Track Color Strip

Inserts View

Sends A–E View (F–J is Deselected) Automation Mode Selector

I/O Path Selectors Pan Sliders

Pan Indicators Record, Solo, and Mute Buttons Output Window Button

Level Meters (Stereo) Volume Fader Group ID Indicator Volume/Peak/Channel Delay Indicator

Track Type Icon Track Name Bar Comments View

Figure 6.31 The channel strip is the central component of the Mix window and is what you will use to create your session mixes.

The Panners

Panning is the positioning of the left and right outputs of a stereo mix at each track’s audio output. Before you engage in any sort of effects implementation or complex routing schemes, you can create a formidable mix with just the Volume faders and the left and right Pan controls (refer to Figure 6.31) in the channel strip. Stereo channel strips have two separate Pan sliders, while a mono strip has just one. You can convert a mono strip to stereo by inserting a stereo plug-in—a stereo delay, for example—in the Inserts section, making its output left-right compatible.

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In either case, it’s easier to manipulate the Pan controls in the Mix window because they are more accessible than the Edit window controls in the I/O view. Similar to the Volume fader, you can Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) to return the Pan controls to dead center. Additional Columns

Apart from the I/O and Real-Time Properties columns, all the additional Edit window columns are available in the Mix window and perform the same functions—albeit in a different order. For instance, the Comments column is located at the bottom of the channel strip instead of its higher order in the Edit window column chain, where it is directly after the Track Control area. Most significantly placed are the Instrument, Insert, and both Sends views, as these indicate the track’s signal path. The signal chain always comes into play when you use and/or adjust certain types of effect plug-ins and sends, as they have different results according to placement and whether the sends are pre- or post-fader (this is addressed in Chapter 8). As in the Edit window, you have two ways to select and deselect the views. You can either open the View menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose Mix Window to expose the Mix Window View submenu or click the Mix Window View selector in the bottom-left corner, next to the double-arrow button (see Figure 6.32) that opens the left side column.

Figure 6.32 The Mix Window View selector provides an alternative and easy way to select or deselect the additional columns for the channel strip, much like the Edit Window selector in the Edit window bar.

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Cool Color Palette Trick Not only can you use color-coding via the Track Color code bar at the bottom of the channel strip to help identify strips in track-heavy sessions, you can also color the entire strip! Just open up the Color Palette window by going to the Window menu in the main toolbar and selecting the Color Palette and then simply click it anywhere in the color field while holding down all three modifier keys (CtrlþOptþCmd for Mac, CtrlþStartþAlt for PC). The channel strips, as well as the Track Control area and additional Edit window views, will be colored the same shade as what is displayed in the Track Color code bar. Very cool!

The Side Column and the Mix Groups List Clicking the double-arrow button in the Mix window’s lower-left corner opens the side column, exposing the same Track List found in the Edit window as well as a variably chosen Groups List at the bottom. Remember, the Groups List, as stated previously, can be interchanged between Edit, Mix, or both. For the sake of consistency, this explanation is reserved for the Mix Groups List. Mix groups (sometimes called Fader groups) are similar to Edit groups: They are a collection of user-defined, selected tracks put into a group for the purpose of making adjustments that affect all the tracks within that group. Mix groups allow simultaneous Volume fader adjustments relative to their current setting before they are grouped and any automation data is written. They can also be set to affect Mute and Solo controls, as well as the send levels of all the tracks in the group. Limitations for Mix groups include assignments for voice selection and output path, as well as inserting plug-ins and dealing with the Elastic Audio plug-ins. Clicking the group ID letter under the channel strip’s Level meter launches the Group ID dialog box. Most importantly, this dialog box provides a way for you to confirm which group the track you’re clicking belongs to and what other tracks share that group assignment. Some additional facts that pertain to both Edit and Mix groups include the following: n

Clicking the group name highlights the name in orange and makes it active. Clicking it again makes it inactive, allowing you to make adjustments without affecting the other tracks in the group.

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By default, a group named “All” always is created by Pro Tools and cannot be deleted.

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By default, when you create a group, it’s both an Edit and a Mix group. This can be adjusted when the group is created in the Create Group dialog box or at any time afterward in the Modify Group dialog box.

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Double-clicking the circle to the left of the group name opens the Modify Groups dialog box.

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Those same circles indicate the group’s selection status. Filled-in circles indicate that all the tracks in the group are selected, but no other tracks outside the group are selected; hollow circles indicate that only a portion of the group’s tracks are selected; filled in circles surrounded by an outer circle indicate that all the tracks in the group are selected, as are additional tracks outside the group.

The Transport Window In addition to the Edit and Mix windows, there’s one more window to gaze upon before you go to the next chapter and get into some editing and studio tricks. It’s an enhanced version of the Transport toolbar found in the Edit window, aptly called the Transport window (see Figure 6.33). You can open this window either from the Window Transport Buttons and Status LEDs

Transport Master Selector

Main and Sub Location Indicators

MIDI Controls

Timeline Selection Indicator Area Pre- and Post-Roll Area

Figure 6.33 Although this floating Transport window performs some of the same basic functions as the Edit window’s Transport toolbar, it also possesses important features unique to this view such as pre- and post-roll creation and adjustment and various MIDI time controls.

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menu in the Pro Tools menu bar or by pressing the CmdþNumeric 1 (Mac) or CtrlþNumeric 1 (PC) keyboard shortcut. Many experienced Pro Tools users prefer to have this window open throughout all stages of the session, as it can float over both the Edit and Mix windows no matter which one is in focus. This comes in handy when you consider the fact that the Mix window doesn’t feature any playback/record controls, nor does it display any counters or time control references. Although you can perform many of its functions through menu selections and/or keyboard shortcuts, you’ll still find it helpful to have this window in clear view. The window is split into three sections: the actual Transport section, the Main and Sub location indicators (these are the same as the Main and Sub Counters, but with a different name), and the MIDI Controls section. It also has additional sections when expanded. Let’s take a look at the key differences, as well as expand on the similarities, between the Transport window and the Edit window’s transport area. You’ll also take a look at the MIDI Transport controls, which have a direct effect on the click track and countoff you learned to set up in Chapter 4. If you’re not seeing all three sections as shown in Figure 6.33, open the View menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and select all three options (Counters, MIDI Controls, and Expanded) in the Transport submenu. The Transport Section The Transport section is split into two subsections: the Transport buttons and the lower expanded view that features the pre- and post-roll functions and the timeline selection area. The buttons in the top section are linked to their Edit window toolbar counterparts, as are the red and green status LEDs to the right of the Transport buttons. The Play and Stop buttons will probably be a rare click for anybody, as the groundlevel keyboard shortcut in Pro Tools is hitting the spacebar to start and end playback. With that in mind, you can also use the Numeric 0 key to toggle playback start and stop. As for the Rewind and Fast Forward buttons, these are subject to the unit of time displayed in the Main Counter. Each time you click a button, the Timeline Selection marker and/or edit cursor will move according to that increment. Holding down the Rewind/Fast Forward buttons shuttles you through the timeline for

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quicker relocation. The more extreme Return to Zero and Go to End buttons move the playback position (hence the Timeline Selection marker) to the very beginning of the timeline and the right edge of the last region in the session, respectively. You’ve already seen some of what the Record Enable button can do, but there’s more, such as what can be done in conjunction with the pre- and post-roll function. (Basically, the rolls are portions of the session that are played before and after the actual chunk of time that’s being recorded to make it feel more comfortable when recording overdubs and/or fix-its over pre-existing audio. This will be addressed in detail in the next chapter, as this is an essential procedure in recording.) The Timeline Selection indicator looks exactly like the Event Edit area and rightfully so—if the Link Timeline and Edit Selections option is enabled, they display the exact same values. If not, the Timeline Selection indicator displays the timeline selection, while the Event Edit area displays the edit selection. In either case, if a timeline selection is made, playback will be contained within the Start and End values, hence playing only for the duration displayed in the Length portion. As for the Transport Master, this allows you to choose another piece of hardware to control Transport functions in M-Powered. For our purposes, this option will be left to the default setting that you see now.

Cool Transport Trick You can set Pro Tools up to play and record in half-speed! To play back an element in your session (or the entire session, for that matter), just hold down the Shift key when you press the spacebar to engage playback. After arming a track and clicking the Record Enable button in the Transport, hold down ShiftþCmd (Mac) or ShiftþCtrl (PC) to record in half time. This can come in handy when you have to record that blazing sixteenth note lick and it’s just not coming together, but you need that part in the session to move on with the right feel. Don’t worry—you can always go back and do it for real later! Although this trick is not directly initiated by clicking in either Transport view, it’s a bonafide Transport function, as well as a cool little trick that can add some craziness to your session.

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MIDI Transport Controls Although we won’t officially tackle the concept of MIDI until Chapter 10, you actually dealt with it a little bit indirectly already when you set up your click track and countoff back in Chapter 4. In addition to recording modes and various other features in MIDI production, the MIDI Transport controls (see Figure 6.34) are directly related to time control with respect to tempo, meter, and metronome settings, including countoff options. Let’s take a look at the buttons that are directly related to click and countoff settings, as well as session tempo control. Wait for Note

Countoff Click

MIDI Merge Meter

Tempo Ruler Enable Tempo Slider

Tempo Resolution Selector

Tempo

Figure 6.34 The MIDI Transport control section of the floating Transport window, among other things, controls the session’s metronome settings. It can serve as a palette of shortcut buttons when you’re setting up or adjusting session tempo and metronome parameters.

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Metronome Click button. After creating a click track, you can use this button to turn your Click plug-in on and off. Doubleclicking this button brings up the same Click/Countoff dialog box as the one you used in Chapter 4 to set up your click and countoff parameters, accessible via the Setup menu.

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Countoff button. Click this button to toggle the Countoff option on and off, or double-click it to launch the Click/Countoff dialog box rather than accessing it from the Setup menu. The bar count chosen for your countoff in that dialog box is displayed on the face of the button whether it’s selected or not, so you always know how

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many bars to listen for. For those instances where you need a countoff so you can start playing/recording at a precise moment but don’t want/need the metronome to beep after that, simply leave this button selected and deselect the Metronome Click button. n

Tempo Ruler Enable button. Clicking this “conductor” button enables you to link to the MIDI tempo map, which is displayed in the Tempo Timebase ruler in the Timeline display area. Working within the MIDI tempo map enables you to have tempo changes in your session (there’s one in Power 3 at bar 9 where the tempo goes from 88 BPMs to 120), as they can only happen when this button is selected (highlighted in blue). If this button is deselected, the session’s tempo is controlled by a manual tempo that’s set by the Tempo slider or by you manually typing a tempo in the Current Tempo field—all of which work in conjunction with the Tempo Resolution selector (see the next bullet point).

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Tempo Resolution selector. Although this button is disabled when the Tempo Ruler Enable button is highlighted, it is active when you’re in manual tempo mode. Clicking anywhere on the button displays the Tempo Resolution menu, which contains various note values ranging from a whole note to a 1/16 note, along with the option to append a dot value. These note values are your choice of beat units (bottom number of the time signature) or reference notes for tempo events. It’s the equivalent of changing the bottom number of the session time signature in the Meter Change dialog box (see the next bullet point).

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Current Meter field. Independent of whether you’re locked into the MIDI tempo map or a manual tempo, the Current Meter field displays the session’s time signature. Double-clicking this field opens the Meter Change dialog box, where you can not only adjust the top (meter) and bottom (beat unit) number of the session time signature, but also choose where in the timeline this change will occur and the beat value for the click. If the Meter ruler is in view, you can also open the Meter Change dialog box by double-clicking the plus sign to the right of the ruler name field or by doubleclicking any Meter marker in the Meter ruler.

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Current Tempo field. This simply displays the session’s current tempo—but how it’s displayed depends on what tempo mode you’re in. If the Tempo Ruler Enable button is selected, then the display has a gray background with the numbers appearing in black. If you have tempo changes set throughout the timeline, then the tempo displayed here will change values as the session progresses. If you’re in manual tempo mode, then the display has a black background, and the numbers appear in green. In this mode, the tempo values can be clicked, so they can be adjusted by either typing, moving the Tempo slider, or manually tapping in a tempo (see the following sidebar).

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Tempo slider. In manual tempo mode, you can use this slider to set the session tempo by clicking and dragging it to raise or lower the current tempo displayed in the Current Tempo field and Tempo ruler. Manual Tap Tempo One advantage to using the manual tempo option is you can manually tap on your keyboard to establish a tempo. All you need to do is deselect the Tempo Ruler Enable button (if it’s highlighted in blue), click anywhere in the Current Tempo display, and tap on the T key of your QWERTY keyboard at the tempo you’re trying to uncover. Within two or three taps, the new tempo will be displayed in the Current Tempo field.

Essential Shortcuts Both Transport views in Pro Tools have their basic playback/record controls mapped to keyboard shortcuts, found on the Numeric keypad section. Although the complete list of these can be found in the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF (a document that needs to be printed and planted by your side), there’s an abridged list of essential shortcuts in Appendix D, “Transport Function Keyboard Shortcuts,” that directly relate to tasks outlined throughout this book.

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Now that you’ve taken a good look at what’s under the hood, it’s time to slam it shut and start your engines—we’re going in. The next chapter dives deeper into the edit modes and edit tools through detailed tutorials to prepare you for some cool guitar studio tips and tricks that follow.

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Editing 101 and Some M-Powered Empowerment

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ow that you’ve seen what’s under the hood of M-Powered Pro Tools, it’s time to focus in on an important aspect to digital audio production—editing. Editing in Pro Tools is vast to say the least, but it all starts with a solid foundation in the basic functions of the edit modes and edit tools located in the Edit window toolbar. While both components were introduced in the last chapter, this is the chapter where you’ll do much finger greasing and get some handson experience. In addition to entering the world of editing, there are also several sections dedicated to some next level components to empower your workflow within Pro Tools M-Powered. You might be wondering why these two seemingly disparate topics are mixed in one chapter. The reality is this: In the world of digital recording, there are no lines separating one stage of production from another. In fact, it’s usually all happening at the same time! I’m often adjusting levels, setting panoramic configurations, and adding effects (items often associated with mixing) after I have several tracks recorded—and I haven’t even started editing yet! The empowerments presented here could be implemented anywhere in a session’s development. Also in this chapter are two more Pro Tips! As first seen in Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording,” these are tips from some of my friends who just happen to be among the most significant recording guitarists in recent history. The first is another Pro Tip from session ace Steve Lukather on layering guitar tracks, and the second is from modernist and fellow gear geek Vernon Reid on a fresh way to mic your amp.

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Go Get the Goods To follow along with what’s going on in this chapter, go to the download page for this book on the Course Technology PTR Web site and grab the Chapter 7 ZIP file. Inside you’ll find four session folders that will be used throughout this chapter.

The Edit Modes It’s time to take a more thorough look at the Pro Tools toolbar, starting with the edit mode buttons. To uncover all the tools in Pro Tools, you have to understand how the edit modes govern the central edit tools’ (Trim, Grabber, and Selector) behaviors. The best way to go about this is to move around some regions. This section, and all the following edit tool sections, will not be a another set of here’s-whatthis-can-do type explanations. Instead, as you read, you’ll perform simple tasks exploiting the edit mode you’re reading about (remember, it’s important to always grease your fingers with Pro Tools operations to get a handle on how to actually work this incredible program). After going through this and the following section on the edit tools, you’ll be able to move onto the more involved sections that follow and handle those tasks more effectively. In the Chapter 7 ZIP file, locate and open the Edit Modes session folder and double-click the session file inside to open it. Navigating the Edit Modes In order to use the edit modes, you have to know how to select or navigate from one to the next. Of course you can click any one of them at any time, but as mentioned throughout this book, it’s a good idea to learn the key commands to quicken your workflow—not to mention, get your hands off that carpal-tunnel-in-a-box apparatus called the mouse! To select an edit mode on both Mac and PC, you can do any of the following: n

Click the desired mode. Notice the small down arrow next to the Grid Mode button. Clicking it exposes a drop-down menu from which you can choose between Absolute Grid mode (Grid) and Relative Grid mode (Rel Grid).

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n

Press the tilde (˜) key located above the Tab key to cycle through the edit modes. Take note: This shortcut doesn’t provide a way to toggle the two grid modes.

n

Press the F1 through F4 function keys. Pressing F4 repeatedly will toggle between the two grid modes.

n

Press and hold down the Opt key (Mac) or Alt key (PC) and use the alphanumeric 1 through 4 keys (the ones on top of the QWERTY keys). Pressing the number 4 key more than once will again toggle between both grid mode types.

Try them all and see what feels best to you. Use one or experiment with all of them as you read through the next sections. To encourage you to do so, I’ve purposely not included how to choose the edit mode at hand in the upcoming tutorials, as I don’t want to make the decision for you. With that said, be sure to select whatever edit mode you’re reading about before starting the tutorials with one of these methods. Spot Mode As stated, the best way to get to know the edit modes is to move around some regions. The idea is to position or reposition a region anywhere you’d like in a track’s edit playlist area. Spot mode is a good place to start as it’s pretty cut and dry. Put simply, it utilizes its own dialog box to instruct Pro Tools exactly where to put the selected region by typing in a location. This can be done according to bars and beats, minutes and seconds, even something as acute as a sample! With the Edit Modes session opened up, follow these steps: 1.

Click the Grabber tool or use the keyboard shortcut F8.

2.

Click the four-bar Filter Chords region. The region is selected, and the Spot Dialog window appears (see Figure 7.1).

3.

Type the number 3 in the first section of the Start text bar.

4.

Click OK. This will move the region’s start point to the beginning of bar 3 (see Figure 7.2).

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1.

2.

3.

4. Figure 7.1 Clicking a region in Spot mode opens the Spot Dialog window.

Figure 7.2 After entering a destination in the Spot Dialog window, Pro Tools moves the region to the new location. This comes in especially handy when you want to move regions far away from the current location, saving you the trouble of manually dragging them.

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Slip Mode Slip mode is the most flexible of all the edit modes as it lets you slip and slide a region anywhere you want in the playlist regardless of any time-based parameters. Using the Grabber tool again and continuing from the previous region move, complete these steps to see how this mode works. 1.

Click and hold the region. The region will be selected (see Figure 7.3).

2.

Drag the region wherever you like. Notice that a dotted-line box the size and shape of the region appears, indicating where it will be placed when you release the mouse.

3.

Release and drop the region at will. 1.

2.

Figure 7.3 Slip modes allows you to move a region anywhere in the playlist regardless of any time-based parameters such bars and beats or minutes and seconds.

Grid Mode Polar opposite of Slip mode is Grid mode. Instead of being able to move a region freely regardless of any time scales, it snaps regions to the predetermined increments of the grid (refer to the section

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“Time Control” in the last chapter if you need a review). This enables precise region movements in conjunction with whatever timebase parameter you choose to use as your reference. In order to use Grid mode in conjunction with any particular timebase, you have to set it up in the Grid Value menu located in the Edit window bar. Follow along these steps to learn how to set the Grid value to bars and beats, and then use the Grabber tool to move the region around in accordance with the grid: 1.

Click the Grid Value arrow in the Edit window bar. The Grid menu appears (see Figure 7.4).

2.

Select the Bars:Beats option.

3.

Click the Grid Value arrow once more to choose the Grid resolution.

4.

Select 1 bar (see Figure 7.5).

5.

Click and hold the region. The region will be selected.

6.

Drag the region wherever you like. Although a dotted-line box appears once more, notice how it snaps to the vertical blue lines (see Figure 7.6). Those vertical lines are the actual grid, and in this case are set to one-bar increments.

7.

Release and drop the region at will.

1.

2.

Figure 7.4 Grid mode requires you to visit the Grid Value menu to set the desired grid resolution. For musical applications, Bars:Beats is the preferred choice.

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3.

4.

Figure 7.5 In order to make multiple selections in the Grid Value menu, you have to click it each time you want to make a change as you can only make one selection at a time.

5.

Figure 7.6 Similar to Slip mode, a dotted-line box appears as you drag the region to its new location, but this time the outline is only moving from one vertical grid column to the next. This is indicating that the region will drop only at these predetermined Bars: Beats grid locations.

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Relative Grid Mode What if you want to move a region relative to a point not on the grid? In Relative Grid mode (displayed as Rel Mode in the menu and indicated by a purple shaded button), regions snap according to where the region is located at the time you grab it. So if you had previously positioned the region somewhere in Slip mode that made it so it was off any predetermined grid increments and you wanted to maintain that position but move it a few beats in the timeline, that’s where Relative Grid mode comes into play.

Shuffle Mode Shuffle mode is similar to Grid mode in that it snaps to a specific location, but this time the locations are region borders. Any time you move a region in Shuffle mode and release the mouse, no matter how far away, it will snap to the nearest region’s start or end point (depending on which way you’re moving). In fact, if you were to pull a region out from the middle of two surrounding regions, then those two regions would snap together as well. In the Chapter 7 ZIP file folder, locate and open the Shuffle Mode session folder and double-click the session file inside. Then follow these instructions (using the Grabber tool once more) to find out how Shuffle mode works: 1.

Click the region named Second Part to highlight it.

2.

Drag it over toward the region at the beginning of the timeline named First Part. Notice the vertical red line that appears right up against the end point of the First Part region (see Figure 7.7). This indicates where the highlighted region (in this case, the Second Part region) will be moved.

3.

Release the mouse and let the Second Part region snap to the First Part region’s end border (see Figure 7.8)

4.

Repeat steps 1–2 to snap the Third Part region up against the end border of the Second Part region.

After you have aligned all the regions next to each other, press the spacebar and take a listen. Sound familiar? It’s now a series of regions that make up the Lead Guitar track in the Chapter 4 tune

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2.

1. Figure 7.7 When you move regions in Shuttle mode, a red vertical line appears right up against the respective region border of the region you’re moving next to.

Figure 7.8 When a region edit is done in Shuffle mode, the regions are butted up against each other no matter how far apart they are in the timeline.

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“Chopper Genesis.” If you haven’t noticed already, all of the audio files are from that session.

The Edit Tools As stated in the previous chapter, the edit tools (pictured in Figure 7.9) are just that—your tools for editing both audio and MIDI event data. They provide numerous ways to manipulate regions, automation data, and MIDI data within their respective tracks—even in the graphic Tempo Editor. Trim Tools Zoom Controls

Zoom Presets

Zoomer Tools

Grabber Tools

Selector Tool

Smart Tool

Scrubber Tool

Pencil Tools

Figure 7.9 The zoom controls and the six primary edit tools are the cornerstone of the editing power and capabilities in all versions of Pro Tools.

To explore these tools, go back into the Chapter 7 ZIP file folder, locate the Edit Tools session folder, and double-click the Edit Tools session file. This session will serve as your model for the all the edit tool descriptions that follow, so please keep it open. Read carefully as the explanations for each tool will suggest that you perform commands and tasks explained in previous tool sections to get you acclimated to using the tools in conjunction with each other. To keep the realism consistent, there will also be references to the edit modes. If you get confused, don’t be afraid to go back and read a section over again. By learning to use the tools in this manner from the start, you will begin to establish a strong workflow that will only become more powerful over time. This section on the edit tools assumes you have a basic understanding of the tools at hand, but don’t hesitate to go back

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to the last chapter if you need a review. With that in mind, be aware that the edit tool explanations in the previous chapter contain information that will not be repeated here, so it might be a good idea to keep a bookmark in those pages for easy access as you go through these sections. Navigating the Edit Tools Just like the edit modes, you have to know how to select and navigate from one edit tool to the next—preferably without using the mouse, for maximum efficiency. To select an edit tool on either a Mac or a PC, you can do any of the following: n

Simply click the desired tool. Clicking and holding the down arrow next to certain tools exposes a drop-down menu that enables you to choose from among the various available modes for that tool. For instance, the Pencil tool has seven modes plus an option for creating a custom note duration when using the tool to input MIDI data.

n

Press the F5 through F10 function keys for the six primary edit tools. Pressing F5, F6, F8, and F10 repeatedly selects the different versions of the corresponding edit tool.

n

Press and hold down the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) key and use the alphanumeric 1 through 6 keys (again, the ones on top of the QWERTY keys) for the six primary edit tools. Pressing the number 1, 2, 4, and 6 keys repeatedly selects the different versions of the corresponding edit tool.

Continuing with the approach in the edit mode section, be sure to engage whatever edit tool you’re reading about before starting the tutorials with one of these methods. Zoom Controls and Zoom Preset Buttons As mentioned in the previous chapter, these tools are not considered by Digidesign to be edit tools. One contributing factor is that you never actually choose these controls and/or preset buttons like you would the other edit tools. Instead, when you click one of these tools or press the corresponding keyboard shortcut, its function is immediately

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carried out. Think of these zoom controls and preset buttons as more of a graphic representation of a zoom command and save/recall commands. To review, the zoom controls consist of the Horizontal Zoom Out, Audio Zoom In/Out, MIDI Zoom In/Out, and Horizontal Zoom In buttons, as shown Figure 7.10. Also seen are the Zoom Preset buttons (circle buttons numbered 1–5) underneath the Zoom Control buttons. Take a look at what they do by following these instructions. Take note: The zoom controls affect the entire session, not just one track even if it’s a selected track. Audio Zoom In/Out

MIDI Zoom In/Out

Horizontal Zoom Out

Horizontal Zoom In

Zoom Preset Buttons Figure 7.10 The zoom controls and Zoom Preset buttons provide powerful zooming options, making it possible to key in on audio and MIDI regions from many different aspects, not to mention saving the ones you’ll need to return to often.

1.

Click the Horizontal Zoom Out button. This both shrinks the region and view of the waveform inside and as a result expands the timeline to show a larger slice of time.

2.

Click the Horizontal Zoom In button. This both expands the region and view of the waveform inside and as a result shrinks the timeline, zooming in on a smaller slice of time with each click.

3.

Click the top portion of the Audio Zoom In/Out button. This increases the size of the waveform but has no effect on the region or the timeline. If there were MIDI tracks in this session, they would not be affected by any changes made by either function of the Audio Zoom In/Out button.

4.

Click the bottom portion of the Audio Zoom In/Out button. This decreases the size of the waveform but has no effect on the region or the timeline.

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These zoom functions will serve many purposes throughout your entire session, be it focusing on low-level signals or zooming in on precise locations within a waveform for sample-accurate editing. To top it off, you can save and recall up to five of those views with the Zoom Preset buttons. To find out how, follow these steps: 1.

Click and hold a Zoom Preset button. This exposes a menu (see Figure 7.11).

2.

Select Save Zoom Preset. The zoom preset will be saved.

3.

To recall a saved zoom preset, click the same preset button you saved the Zoom view to and select Recall Zoom Preset.

3.

1.

2.

Figure 7.11 The Zoom Preset buttons allow to save and recall five zoom views for more efficient editing.

Shortcut Alert As always, the keyboard shortcuts will quicken your editing sessions. Knowing any zoom shortcuts will prove most valuable in the heat of editing battles. Here are some shortcuts for the four zoom functions previously outlined. n

Horizontal Zoom In and Out: Cmdþbracket keys (] and [) for Mac, Ctrlþbracket keys (] and [) for PC

n

Audio Zoom In/Out: CmdþOptþbracket keys (] and [) for Mac, CtrlþAltþbracket keys (] and [) for PC

n

MIDI Zoom In/Out: CmdþShiftþbracket keys (] and [) for Mac, CtrlþShiftþbracket keys (] and [) for PC

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Also, instead of clicking one of the five Zoom Preset buttons to recall saved views, you can use either keyboard shortcut: CtrlþZoom Preset number on the QWERTY keyboard for Mac, Start (Windows key)þ Zoom Preset number on the QWERTY keyboard for PC or, if the Commands Keyboard Focus button in the Edit window bar is turned on, just pressing zoom preset numbers on the QWERTY keyboard without the modifier key is sufficient.

Undo History Window to the Rescue! Between edit tool explanations and tasks, it might be confusing to follow the steps in the subsequent tutorials because of what was done to the session in the previous tutorials. Instead of performing multiple undo keystrokes (CmdþZ for Mac, CtrlþZ for PC), there’s an extremely simple—yet useful—window called Undo History (see Figure 7.12) from which you can perform multiple undos with just one click! It’s accessed through the Window menu in the main Pro Tools menu bar and is a cinch to use. Just click the point in the list to which you want to undo, and every action performed after the one you selected will be undone. Wanna undo your undo? No problem! Just click the same item again, and all the session activity you just undid will revert back to the preundo state. Take note: Some functions, such as zooming, do not register in the undo queue, and therefore cannot be undone by any means. One way around that, at least with regard to the zoom dilemma, is to use the Save Zoom Preset command so you can easily go back to a view you know works for you.

Zoomer Tools As you select the Zoomer tool, the cursor turns into a magnifying glass with a plus sign in the middle when you pass it over a region, indicating the Zoomer tool is set to zoom in. Pressing the Opt (for Mac) or Alt (for PC) key places a minus sign in the middle, indicating that the tool is set for zooming out. To see how to make a zoom selection with the Zoomer tool, follow these steps: 1.

Click at a desired location inside of a region, and then drag the magnifying glass cursor, making a selection (see Figure 7.13).

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Figure 7.12 The Undo History window enables you to undo multiple session activities just by clicking the topmost item in whatever part of the undo queue you need to reverse.

1. Figure 7.13 Unlike the Zoom Control buttons, using the Zoomer tool requires you to make a selection or click a region with the Zoomer magnifying glass cursor.

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2.

Release the mouse button. The area you selected will be magnified to the current width of the Track display area (see Figure 7.14).

3.

Repeat steps 1–2 while holding down the Opt (for Mac) or Alt (for PC) to demagnify the selection.

Figure 7.14 After making a selection with the Zoomer tool in either Normal or Single mode, the selected area is magnified to the current width of the Track display area.

The Zoomer is the first of four edit tools that feature a drop-down menu listing multiple versions of the tool, which you access by clicking the small down arrow at the bottom of the button. In this menu you’ll find the two modes of the Zoomer: Normal and Single. The only difference between the two is that when you make a zoom selection in Single Zoom mode, the Zoomer tool is deselected, and you return to whatever editing tool was previously selected. Trim Tools To get a feel for trimming a region, complete the following steps. The idea here is to trim the excess silence at the end of the region in order to prepare the region to be looped. Make sure that the Trim tool is selected, that you’re in Grid mode with the Grid value set to 1 bar, and that you have the tail end of the Harmony Lead_01 region in your view in the Track display area. You could even make a zoom selection

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with the Single Zoomer to get a better look at what you’re doing and then revert to the Trim tool without making a second tool selection. 1.

Click anywhere in the region near the downbeat of bar 5, as indicated by the Bars:Beats section of the timeline (see Figure 7.15).

2.

Release the mouse. The region will be trimmed accordingly, cutting off the excess. 1.

Figure 7.15 The Trim tool trims (and expands) region borders in conjunction with the grid in Grid mode or anywhere in the timeline in Slip mode.

After completing the task in Grid mode, switch to Slip mode to experience the difference. Selector Tool To get a feel for the Selector tool, let’s perform a very common task: making a selection to be played over and over in Loop Playback mode.

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You can do this in one of two ways; follow the instructions for both procedures, starting with initiating Loop Playback. 1.

Click the Options menu in the main toolbar (see Figure 7.16).

2.

Click Loop Playback (see Figure 7.16). Alternatively, Ctrl-click (Mac) or Start-click (PC) the Play button in the Edit window Transport, or use the keyboard shortcut ShiftþCmdþL (Mac) or ShiftþCtrlþL (PC), or simply press the 4 on the numeric keypad on either platform.

3.

Notice that the Play button displays a loop with an arrow at the end. This indicates Loop Playback is enabled.

1.

2.

3.

5.

Figure 7.16 There are several ways to enable the Loop Playback function, such as choosing the command in the Options menu, Ctrl-clicking (Mac) or Start-clicking (PC) the Play button in either Transport, or performing the appropriate keyboard shortcut.

Now whatever selection you make after pressing the spacebar will play over and again in a loop until you press the spacebar again to stop

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playback. In order to do that, though, you need to make a selection. Make sure you’re in Grid mode with the Grid value set to 1 bar and the Selector tool is selected. 1.

In the Bars:Beats ruler, click and drag the I-beam cursor from the very beginning of bar 2 to the very beginning of bar 3 (see Figure 7.17). Since the Grid value is set to 1 bar, the selection will snap into place once you drag over a tad to the right between bars 2 and 3’s start points.

2.

Notice the Timeline Selection Start/End Markers. These visual aids appear in the timeline after a selection is made. Both markers can be clicked and dragged to alter the selection’s duration according to whatever edit mode you’re in.

3.

Also notice how the Event Edit area displays the current selection’s start point, end point, and length.

4.

Now press the spacebar; your one-bar selection will play back repeatedly until you hit the spacebar again to stop playback. 2.

1.

3.

Figure 7.17 Making a playback or timeline selection in the timeline will also make an edit selection in the track’s playlist as long as Link Timeline and Edit Selection mode is enabled in either the Options menu or the Edit window bar.

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Grabber Tools The Grabber tool already got some action in the edit mode section, where you used it to click and “grab” regions so you could place them in new locations within a track or drag them to another track entirely. In upcoming chapters you will also see the Grabber tool perform tasks like creating/deleting automation line breakpoints (Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering”) and creating/selecting/ deleting MIDI data (Chapter 10, “Working with MIDI”). But in the meantime, here are some little Grabber tool tidbits. Be sure to try them all out! n

Holding down the Shift key as you select additional regions adds those regions to the current selection.

n

When you’re dragging or copying a region and you want to keep its original location in the timeline, hold down the Ctrl key (Mac) or right-click and drag (PC) to maintain its vertical position.

n

In Separation Grabber mode, to copy the separated region without removing it from the original source region, Opt-click (Mac) or Altclick (PC) the selection and drag it to its new location. Brain Check If you try to use the Object Grabber (see the “Edit Tools” section of Chapter 6, “Face to (Inter)Face with Pro Tools M-Powered” if you need a review on the mode) in Shuffle mode, Pro Tools will throw up a message saying that’s a no-no. Think about why—think about what Shuffle mode is all about, and what the Object Grabber is meant for. I brought this up to make you think and to bring to light the importance of understanding how each component in the Edit window toolbar works with one another. By the way, the answer is to maintain the time between the regions.

Scrubber Tool While the Scrubber is not apt for making a series of visual tutorials, as seen throughout this book, be sure to select the tool and experiment nonetheless. For instance, try scrubbing anywhere in the Harmony Lead_01-01 region in the Edit Tools session by simply clicking and

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dragging within the region borders. Here are some facts about the Scrubber to remember. Keeping with our “grease your fingers” mantra, be sure to do just that and scrub away while reading through the list: n

To further the Scrubber’s abilities, hold down the Shift key as you scrub to make a selection from the beginning to the end of the area over which you dragged the cursor.

n

If you need to slow down the playback from the Scrubber but don’t have the hand coordination to pull it off with the mouse, hold down CmdþCtrl (Mac) or right-clickþCtrl (PC) while you drag across the region. Conversely, you can hold down the Opt (Mac) or Alt (PC) key while you scrub for faster playback.

n

You can also temporarily engage the Scrubber tool when the Selector tool is selected by holding the Ctrl (Mac) key or rightclicking (PC) when the cursor is placed over a region. All the aforementioned keystrokes for slower and faster playback as well as making a selection while scrubbing apply. What About the Pencil Tools? The Pencil tools have almost no bearing in working with audio waveforms, but alas, in later chapters you will be using the Pencil tools often—specifically, while learning about automation in Chapter 8 and about all the glories of MIDI in Chapter 10.

Some Ruler View Power Now that you have some deeper insight as to how the edit modes and edit tools work and function together, it’s time to up your digitalproduction skills with some added M-Powered muscle. While most of the methods presented in the remaining pages of this chapter can be applied to most anyone’s workflow—not just guitarists’—they are of extreme relevance to the burgeoning guitar-studio technician that is you. The first set of this chapter’s empowerments involves two cool tools that will eventually become commonplace in your workflow, as you will surely use them often if not all the time. The first, memory locations, are found in the Timeline display area. They resemble digital

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post-its in your Markers ruler and help you keep track of all that is happening in this complex collection of events. The second, Dynamic Transport, is a main Timebase ruler augmentation that offers additional playback options. Understanding and utilizing both of these digital helpers will boost your digital-production skills, not to mention make you the most powerful Pro Tools guitarist on the block! Memory Locations As your session begins to grow both in size and complexity, you’ll need all the help you can get to keep track of it all—that’s where memory locations come in. Like the Zoom Preset buttons mentioned earlier, memory locations store and recall display settings (both horizontal and vertical) and can also store many other session events. Coming in two basic varieties—markers and selections—you have a combined 999 possible memory locations. Markers are used for making just that: a mark seen in the Markers ruler, which points at a specific location in the timeline. The selection type stores session settings as they were during a specific procedure according to where the edit cursor was at the time of creation, but without a corresponding symbol in the Markers ruler. In addition to the properties already mentioned, both memory locations can store the following: n

A name for the actual location and/or selection

n

Pre-/post-roll times (more on that very soon)

n

Track show/hide status

n

Track heights

n

Group enables

n

Window configurations

Any and all these settings are reset to the state they were in at the time the memory location was created when it’s later recalled. Memory locations can even support text comments much like the Comments column, which is found in both the additional Edit window columns area and the Mix window channel strips. Both marker and selection

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memory locations can refer to either an absolute (sample) or relative (tempo-based) time reference.

What’s Up with the “None” Option? You might have noticed there’s a third memory location type in the Time Properties section called None. Choosing this type will not snap you back to the location in the timeline where this memory location was created. Instead, it’s just a way to save and recall some of the general properties, which offer more options than, say, a Zoom Control preset, such as group enables or pre-/post-roll times.

Let’s check out how to create a Marker memory location. If you want to follow along, the screenshots seen here were taken from the Power 3 session first presented to you in Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire,” but you can still perform these steps regardless of what state your currently opened session is in. Just make sure your Markers ruler is selected by either choosing it from the View menu in the Pro Tools menu bar from the Rulers submenu or by selecting it from the Ruler View selector in the Edit window bar. You’ll need your Selector tool, too! 1.

Using the Selector tool, click anywhere in the timeline to make a timeline insertion point. In this case, I’ve placed the insertion point at the second beat or bar 13, where the distorted lead guitar lick starts. Since the Link Timeline and Edit Selection option is enabled, my edit cursor will align with the insertion point as well. That allows me to clearly mark the point where the shredding starts! You’ll notice I have the Guitars group enabled, a specific track height for the Rippin Guitar track, and a Zoom level set up.

2.

Click the Add Marker/memory location button (the plus sign) in the Marker ruler or simply press the Enter key on the numeric keypad. The New memory locations window appears (see Figure 7.18).

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2.

3.

4.

7.

6.

5.

8.

Figure 7.18 When you create a Marker memory location, you save a specific timeline location as well as other session settings for instant recall. The New memory locations window lists the three types of memory locations, all the possible session settings to be saved, and a comments area for additional note taking.

3.

In the Time Properties section, click the Markers option button. This places a Marker memory location at this precise point in the timeline.

4.

In the same section, click the Reference selector button and select Bars:Beats. This makes the marker reference time in a relative manner, meaning if there’s a tempo change, the marker will still be located at bar 13, beat 2.

5.

In the General Properties section, type a name in the Name text box.

6.

Also in the General Properties section, click the boxes next to any settings you want to recall. In this case I selected the session settings I mentioned earlier: Zoom Settings, Track Show/Hide, Track Heights, and Group Enables. Whatever is left unchecked

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will be saved and therefore will stay as is when this memory location is recalled. 7.

In the Comments section, type a brief description of what’s happening or needs to happen at this point in the session.

8.

Click OK. Your marker (displayed as a yellow chevron) appears in the Markers ruler (see Figure 7.19) with the name you typed in the Name text box to the right of it.

Figure 7.19 After choosing what is to be saved with your Marker memory location, a yellow chevron is placed at the precise location in the Markers ruler where you created the memory location, indicating its position in the timeline.

At any point in the session, you can click this newly created marker to recall this memory location. Regardless of what changes you’ve made to the session up to that point, all the settings you chose to save in the memory location will be reestablished. Go ahead, test it out: Change some track heights, adjust the zoom level, turn off the Guitars group, and/or enable more groups. Then click the newly created marker in the Markers ruler and watch how everything reverts back to the settings you saved.

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The only difference in the procedure for creating a Selection memory location is that you click the Selection option button in the Time Properties section of the New memory locations window. Remember, though, that this will not display a marker in the Markers ruler as it refers to an edit cursor location, not a timeline location. So how do you recall a Selection memory location? From the memory locations window, that’s how! All three types of memory locations can be viewed and recalled in the memory locations window, which is where you can also perform common maintenance tasks like changing memory location properties, changing memory location names, deleting them—and more. To check it out, open the Window menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and select memory locations from there or, better yet, learn the keyboard shortcut: Cmdþnumeric 5 (Mac) or Ctrlþ numeric 5 (PC). Check out Figure 7.20 as you read through the memory locations window highlights outlined here: n

A. Clicking anywhere in a numbered vertical section recalls that memory location, no matter what type it is. Regardless of whether it’s a Marker or Selection memory location, it will snap the Insertion point to where that memory location was created. Double-clicking anywhere in this area brings the Edit memory locations window into focus if you need to make any adjustments.

n

B. This column displays the numerical order in which the memory locations appear. This can be changed in either the Edit

F.

C.

D.

E.

B. A.

Figure 7.20 Here in the Memory Locations window, you can view, recall, and edit all three types of memory locations, as well as view any comments you have typed and set up how you want the memory locations—and this window—to behave.

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Memory Locations window in the General Properties pane or by clicking a marker in the Marker ruler while in Shuffle, Slip, and Grid modes. n

C. This column displays where the memory location was created (and where a timeline marker resides) according to whatever the main timebase of the session is set to in the Main Counter and Main Location indicators. Clicking the down arrow displays a menu from which you can choose the three main time scales. Note that these options are linked to the Main Counter and Main Location indicators, so changing the time scale here will change the entire session’s time scale.

n

D. The icons displayed at the top portion of the window represent the possible settings that can be stored within a given memory location as well as filters that can be set to establish which memory locations will be viewed. From left to right, they are as follows: Marker View, Selection memory location View, Zoom Settings View, Pre-/Post-Roll View, Show/Hide View, Track Heights View, Active Groups View, and Window Configuration filters. Click these icons to activate/deactivate the filters.

n

E. Any comments that were typed at the time of memory location creation can be viewed here. You can also park the cursor over any location in the vertical section to view a ToolTip-type display containing the comments in their entirety. This comes in handy for those lengthy comment novelettes you might compose when inspiration strikes.

n

F. Clicking this button exposes the Memory Locations window menu (see Figure 7.21). Here you can choose to display items such Main and Sub Counters, comments, and the View Filter icons. You can use the Sort by Time option to organize your memory locations by how early or how late they are in your session as opposed to when they were created or edited. As you can see, you can initiate the commands to add or delete memory locations, as well as set the New Memory Locations window to have markers as the default choice when creating memory locations.

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Figure 7.21 In the Memory Locations window menu, you can choose what display options the Memory Locations window will utilize, as well as add, delete, and/or sort.

Some other important facts about memory locations to remember are as follows: n

You can create markers on the fly during playback or recording by pressing the Enter key on the numeric keypad or by clicking the Add Marker/Memory Location button (the plus sign) at the head of the Markers ruler next to the name bar.

n

Depending on your preference setting, a New Marker dialog box will appear every time you create a memory location so you name the marker right then and there. You could alternatively have M-Powered do this for you by choosing the Auto-Name Memory Location option in the Memory Location window menu or by choosing the Auto-Name Memory Locations when Playing option in the Editing tab in the Preferences window, accessible from the Setup menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. If you choose this option, remember that you can always rename them later.

n

One more way to create a marker is to hold down the Ctrl (Mac) or Start (PC) key while placing the cursor over the Markers ruler. The cursor changes to the Grabber tool icon with a pointing index finger accompanied by a plus sign. From there, click the desired location, after which the New Memory Locations window will appear.

n

Markers displayed as yellow chevrons (refer to Figure 7.18) indicate that the marker is referencing relative time (bars and beats). In

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contrast, markers displayed as yellow diamonds (also seen in Figure 7.18) indicate that the marker is referencing absolute time (samples). n

You can quickly delete a marker by Opt-clicking (Mac) or Altclicking (PC) it. This removes it from both the Markers ruler and the Memory Locations window.

n

You can click one marker and then Shift-click another to select the entire range of all tracks between them.

n

You can drag markers to new locations within the timeline in the Markers ruler. Take note: Movement of the markers is affected by what edit mode you’re in, namely Grid mode.

n

You can numerically reposition markers in the Spot Mode dialog box by clicking the marker while in that mode.

Dynamic Transport The second of these essential ruler components is a playback option called Dynamic Transport—a Timeline display area enhancement that has the main Timebase ruler double in height to display a new Play Start marker. This Play Start marker is now where playback begins and can be positioned anywhere in the timeline—even during playback (in which case, playback will continue from that new location). Movement of the Play Start marker adheres to the Grid values if you’re in Grid mode, so you can set playback points at precise timeline locations if desired. The Dynamic Transport separates the playback location from any timeline selection you create. This alone is worth its weight in gold, as it allows you to start playback from anywhere within the timeline without losing your timeline or edit selections. Initiating Dynamic Transport automatically engages the Loop Playback option and disables the Link Timeline and Edit Selection option, allowing you to start playback from three different areas of the timeline—two of which can be looped! This can come in mighty handy when multitasking within your editing tasks, for example. Follow the steps below to learn how to initiate your own triple timeline playback. I’ll be again using the Power 3 session from Chapter 3, if you want to follow along

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with exactly what I’m doing. Make sure you have the Selector tool chosen and that the Timeline Insertion/Play Start Marker Follows Playback option is deselected in the Operation tab in the Pro Tools Preferences window, which is accessible from the Setup menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. 1.

Click the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Click Dynamic Transport (see Figure 7.22). Dynamic Transport is armed and ready. You can also use the keyboard shortcut CmdþCtrlþP (Mac) or CtrlþStartþP (PC).

3.

Notice the Loop Playback icon has been placed on the Play button in both Transports and that the main Timebase ruler (in this case Bars:Beats) has been expanded in order to display the new Play Start marker (see Figure 7.23).

1.

2.

Figure 7.22 You can select the Dynamic Transport option from the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

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4.

Figure 7.23 Once Dynamic Transport has been selected, the Play buttons in both Transports display the Loop Playback icon, indicating that function is ready for action. Also, the main Timebase ruler is expanded to display the new Play Start marker. From there, you can make separate timeline and edit selections and initiate playback without losing any of the selections.

4.

With the Selector tool, make a timeline selection and an edit selection in two different places in the timeline. I have a two-bar timeline selection starting at bar 3 and a four-bar edit selection starting at bar 9. Be sure to specifically make those selections in the Timeline display and Track display areas, respectively.

5.

Click anywhere in the bottom half of the expanded main Timebase ruler to place the Play Start marker at a location to start playback. I have mine at the downbeat of bar 7.

6.

Click the Commands Keyboard Focus button.

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7.

To play the three timeline insertions, do the following: n Press the left-bracket ([) key to start the edit selection playback. n Press the right-bracket (]) key to start the timeline selection playback. n Press the spacebar or numeric 0 to start playback from the Play Start marker in the expanded section of the main Timebase ruler if it’s outside the current timeline selection. n Press the spacebar or numeric 0 to stop all three playback locations.

Other benefits to using Dynamic Transport are as follows: n

After initiating the edit selection to play back, you can go and make a completely different edit selection and/or perform some edits without ever interrupting the original edit selection’s playback. You can even go back and make the original edit selection before stopping playback to maintain the selection after you go on to play back the session from another point in the timeline.

n

You can click and drag the timeline selection to other locations in the timeline without losing any current selections.

n

If Dynamic Transport is selected during loop recording, playback will seamlessly continue after recording has ended and loop until you stop playback.

n

You can always manually move either the Timeline or Edit Start and End markers, as well as adjusting either selection in the Timeline Selection indicator and Event Edit area, respectively, while maintaining the other selection.

Now that you have some insight into memory locations and Dynamic Transport, let’s use this newfound knowledge while exploring some alternative recording options that will help you amp up your production skills even more. To continually keep you on your toes, be sure to read every word carefully in the coming sections, as there are

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instructions laid out for you before the step-by-step explanations, much the same as in the edit mode and edit tool sections of this chapter. If an item in the preliminary descriptions escapes you, you can always go back to where a certain subject was introduced to give yourself a review. Don’t remember where it is in the book? Use the index in the back of this book to navigate back to the subject in question (that also works wonders in the gargantuan Pro Tools Reference Guide PDF file accessible from the Help menu in the Pro Tools menu bar when you’re trying to find anything!).

Some Recording Power Continuing in the attempt to power up your digital-production skills, which will surely help further your music, we take a look at two recording techniques that will soon become commonplace in your workflow. The first is a method in which you can set up a selected area to record multiple takes (loop recording), after which you can audition the takes and keep the pick of the litter, crowning it “the one.” The second is a recording solution for when “the one” has a few, shall we say, boo-boos. Be it a bend that never made it to pitch or a pickscrape gone wrong, you will soon find out how to (very) effectively correct your mistakes (punch recording) so you don’t have to go and do it all again. Loop Recording In the “Selector Tool” section of this chapter (as well as in the “Dynamic Transport” section and in the previous chapter), Loop Playback mode was unofficially introduced. This vital function allows you to play a timeline selection (displayed in the Timeline Selection indicator in the floating Transport window) over and over again until you manually stop it by pressing the spacebar or the numeric keypad 0. Whether repeating a section to jam over to ready yourself to record a solo or auditioning some plug-in effect tweaks during mixing, you are sure to utilize this basic yet important command often. With respect to the former, instead of letting your prized improvisational ideas just fly out into the universe for the aliens to hear, what if

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there were a way to record your licks/solos onto a track so you could not only listen to them, but also choose the best one for keeps? And, if desired, even splice together the best parts from each take for an even better keeper? No need to wonder, because in Pro Tools, if there’s a will, there’s always a way—and the way in this instance is known as loop recording. To see how to set this up and then actually record some takes, follow the upcoming steps. Before doing so, however, set up a two-bar countoff in the Click/Countoff Options window, accessed from the Setup menu in the main Pro Tools menu bar. Also, have the Memory Locations window open, Dynamic Transport selected, and your Selector tool ready for action.

Collaboration Go back once more to the Chapter 7 ZIP file folder to locate and open the Roller Rink Rumble session folder and double-click the session file to open it. Contained in this session is the start of a collaboration between you and me! I’ve set up a short little ditty for you to record some guitar tracks on that will hopefully inspire you to conjure up some super-cool riffs and licks. What you have here is a drum loop from the M-Audio Pro Sessions collection (more on that in Chapter 9, “Working with Loops”) that I adjusted with the Elastic Audio feature (a collection of advanced time-stretching algorithms introduced in all versions of Pro Tools 7.4) and a slick, yet quirky MIDI synth bass line I sequenced afterward. (In Chapter 10, you’ll learn how I sequenced the bass line to Power 3!) Have fun and please feel free to e-mail me MP3s of your work at [email protected].

1.

Click the Options menu in the main toolbar.

2.

Click Loop Record (see Figure 7.24). This puts M-Powered into Loop Record mode as indicated by the arrow-headed loop icon added to the Record Enable buttons in both Transports. You could also use the keyboard shortcuts OptþL (Mac), AltþL (PC), or press the numeric 5 on either platform.

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1.

2.

Figure 7.24 The Loop Record function can be selected in the Options menu in the main toolbar or by simply hitting the numeric 5 key.

3.

Click memory location #9: The Solo!! to jump over to that spot in the timeline (see Figure 7.25). Notice that I have specific Track Height and Zoom settings saved in that marker.

4.

Make a timeline selection to select the section you want to loop and record onto.

5.

Click the R button on the Lead Guitar track to arm it for recording.

6.

Click the Record Enable button and then the Play button to start recording. Alternatively, use the following keystrokes: Cmdþspacebar (Mac) or Ctrlþspacebar (PC), numeric 3, or F12.

7.

After the two-bar countoff, recording will begin at the Timeline Selection Start marker (see Figure 7.26). When the continuously moving horizontal area reaches the Timeline Selection End marker, it will loop around to record another take.

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5.

4.

3.

6. Figure 7.25 Using the Memory Locations window, you can quickly jump to the solo section I placed in the session that also has specific Track Height and Zoom settings. After making your timeline selection and arming the Lead Guitar track for recording, you’re ready to go.

8.

When you feel as if you have enough takes, press the spacebar or numeric 0 to stop recording.

9.

Cmd-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (PC) the region you just created. This will reveal a menu displaying all the takes you just recorded (see Figure 7.27). You can also view the takes in the Region List.

10.

Click each take to listen for the best one. With each click, the region is replaced with the take you’ve chosen. Dynamic Transport Pre-Roll Instead of using a countoff, you can use the Dynamic Transport Play Start marker as a substitute preroll (see the next section on punch recording for an explanation of pre-roll). This might feel more natural as you would hear the part of

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the track that precedes the section you’re about to record. Just click the Play Start marker in the expanded main Timebase ruler and however far in front of the Timeline Selection Start marker you feel would be best to get you in the right groove to lay down the licks.

7.

Figure 7.26 When recording starts, the area in the timeline selection you made previously will become highlighted as you record your takes. Every time you get to the end of the selection, it will snap back to the Start marker to record another take.

Pro Tip from Steve Lukather v2.0: Layering Guitar Tracks I’ve found that layering guitar tracks with different sounds and different types of guitars can result in a massive sound. For example, if you have a fat, heavy, distorted sound and you’re doing some arpeggio riffs, you’ll probably hear all the notes melt together. Here’s a trick that

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will allow you to keep that heavy sound but still come through in the mix. First, record four tracks of that heavy tone with, say, a Les Paul, and pan two of each hard left and right. Record two tracks of the same part with a fairly clean sound using a Strat style axe (going for single coils here) and pan them left and right respectively—but with some slight pitch modulation applied on one of the tracks. It’s up to you how much. Then play with the balances and find the “sweet spot” and—boom! You have a huge, heavy, and articulate sound. Remember, all this is up to your personal tastes and what the tune or riff is all about. —Steve Lukather (legendary Grammy award–winning session guitarist, Toto, solo artist)

9.

10. Figure 7.27 After stopping the recording process, Cmd-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (PC) the last region created to open a menu listing all the takes you just recorded. Selecting any one of these takes automatically inserts that region into the playlist. The newly created regions can also be viewed, selected, and dragged from the Region List as well.

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Punch Recording So you’ve laid down some crushing riff-age, along with some incendiary licks to boot with the Loop Record function, and you feel like you might have some real keepers if it weren’t for a few spots here and there that have some minor mistakes. Well, good news: There’s a way to zero in on those spots and get them sounding right with a process called punch recoding. Similar to loop recording, punching in and punching out is a recording process whereby you record within the boundaries of a predetermined selection—but this time over a previous take (region). Whatever your reasons for wanting/needing to do this, it’s a simple process that could save you a lot of time—especially with the advancements afforded to you by the power vested in Pro Tools. And because working in Pro Tools is for the most part non-destructive, you never have to worry about losing the original take! Perhaps the most important components to punch recording are the pre- and post-roll functions. Set and adjusted only in the floating Transport, the Pre-/Post-Roll settings tell Pro Tools to play for a specified amount of time (referencing the session’s main time scale) before and after the newly inserted recording so you can get the right feel going in and out of the punch for the best, most natural performance. Read through the following steps to set up punch recording. Be sure to turn off the countoff (the pre-roll will take its place in terms of prompting you when to record) and have your Selector tool on deck. Don’t worry about the Dynamic Transport—the Play Start marker is automatically grayed out when you turn on the pre-roll function in the floating Transport window. Listen to the take in question, and when you know where it is you want to punch record, follow these steps: 1.

With the Selector tool, make a selection within the area of the audio region you want to record over (see Figure 7.28).

2.

Click the Pre-Roll button in the floating Transport window to enable it.

3.

Click inside the text box area and type the number of bars and/ or beats you want Pro Tools to pre-play before getting to the selected area you are set to record on.

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8.

1.

2. 5. 3. 6. Figure 7.28 Once you have made your selection in the region in question, you can set up pre-/post-roll times in the floating Transport window and then arm your track for recording by clicking the R button in the Track Control area.

4.

Press Enter to confirm your entry. A green flag appears in the main Timebase ruler right before your Timeline Selection Start marker by the amount specified by you in the Pre-Roll text area.

5.

Click the Post-Roll button in the floating Transport window to enable it.

6.

Click inside the corresponding text box area and type the number of bars and/or beats you want Pro Tools to play after the selected area you are set to record on.

7.

Press Enter to confirm your entry once again. A green flag appears in the main Timebase ruler right after your Timeline Selection End marker by the amount specified by you in the Post-Roll text area.

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8.

Click the R button on the track you need to record on to arm it for recording.

9.

Click the Record-Enable button and then the Play button to start recording (see Figure 7.29) or use the following keystrokes: Cmdþspacebar (Mac) or Ctrlþspacebar (PC), numeric 3, or F12. Pro Tools begins playback at the pre-roll start point indicated by the Pre-Roll setting, starts recording at the Timeline Selection Start marker, and stops recording at the Timeline Selection End marker, continuing until the post-roll flag.

9. Figure 7.29 After you initiate recording, playback starts at the point where the preroll flag is located in the main Timebase ruler, after which recording will start at the point where the Timeline Selection Start marker flag is located.

What you’ll end up with is your original region split into two new regions, which will appear in the Region List underneath the original region that points toward the whole-audio file that is listed in bold text. The punch itself will be a new region all on its own and will

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also appear in the Region List. Take note: Because Pro Tools is based on a nondestructive approach, the punch is a new whole-audio file separate from the audio file you recorded over and, as a result, will appear in bold text in the Region List.

Keyboard Shortcut Alert They are a couple of keyboard shortcuts to consider when setting up to punch record, and they all involve the arrow keys on your computer keyboard: n

While listening to the take in question, use the down arrow key to start the selection and the up arrow key to end the selection. You can make precise selections that are independent of the grid even if you’re in the Grid mode.

n

Once you clicked inside the Pre- or Post-Roll text areas, use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through values and use the left and right arrow keys to navigate to other sections of the text area—in this case the beat values.

Pro Tip from Vernon Reid: Alternative Miking A great way to record your guitar in a way so no one will ever guess how you got that tone is to use baby monitors! That’s right—that one-way monitoring system used to make sure the little ones are sleeping okay. Position the transducer unit (the one that picks up and transmits the sound wirelessly to the receiver unit in another room) in front of your amp and then mic the receiver unit (the unit that receives and amplifies the signal from the transducer) so you can record the output. The tones produced from this setup are dope to say the least! —Vernon Reid (Grammy award–winning guitarist and producer, Living Colour, solo artist)

8

An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering

M

ixing at its very core is the combining of session elements (audio and MIDI event data, auxiliary signal routing, etc.) into a cohesive mix that is then sent to a common destination for playback and/or bouncing to disk. Mixing can involve (but is never limited to) adjusting track volume levels and pan positions, automating various controls, and adding effects—which, in turn, can spark the creation of simple to complex signal-routing schemes. For those of you with some prior recording experience in the analog realm, the processes mentioned here were no easy tasks in an exclusively hardware mixing console–based studio environment. Before the arrival of digital audio workstations, mixing had to be done separately (as did basically every process you’ve learned about in this book). Once a session graduated to the mixing stage, the physical mixing console had to be prepped by zeroing out all the faders and controls—among other things—as if tracking (recording) never happened. Because of this, recording additional parts during mixing was considered a disaster at best (as for editing of any kind—the very word caused everyone in the room to cringe in fear, as the process involved the cutting and splicing of the magnetic tape you just recorded your life’s work onto). Once your studio was set up to be in the mixing stage, you would proceed to listen, and listen, and listen, and then listen some more as you adjusted volume levels and pan positions and/or added and tweaked effects—all while taking notes for what adjustments would have to be made in real time as the session was mixed down (recorded) to another magnetic tape reel. There would sometimes actually be the need for additional engineers to get their hands involved in the final mix if multiple adjustments needed to be made that were impossible for one person to perform, which would 291

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sometimes actually require rehearsals! With all this history in mind, the possibilities available to you in the virtual Pro Tools mixing environment should be considered a gift from the heavens to say the least. Once a final mix has been created and blessed by all parties involved, it goes to its final stage where your ultimate mix is mastered to perfection. Usually using highly specialized and totally killer gear specifically meant for this process (hence the reason most of the chapter is dedicated to mixing), the final mix at the very least is processed so that all levels are consistent and the overall frequency spectrum is represented in full sonic color. Mixing and mastering are considered art forms in audio production that involve vast knowledge in many facets of audio production. Indeed, they require a lifetime of listening to build an internal sonic library in your head from which to work—so much so that there are engineers out there who have made big names (and bank accounts) for themselves solely doing one of these tasks. With that said, this chapter is meant to merely introduce these two practices by presenting some of the standard practices and tools that are available to you within Pro Tools M-Powered. Starting with and focusing on mixing, you’ll first learn how to quickly throw up a basic session mix (usually referred to as a rough mix). Next up you will learn how to automate those multiple adjustments you’ll want to make throughout the session. Then it’s a quick yet important look at the signal flow of audio through a channel strip in playback mode. Understanding this concept is vital to understanding the subsequent sections on plug-ins, sends, and busses (the fun stuff!). To finish things off, you’ll revisit the bounce-to-disk procedure introduced in Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording,” and dabble a bit into some mastering techniques. Since you will be in the Mix window almost exclusively for this chapter, it’s imperative you read through the “Meet the Mix Window” section, of Chapter 6, “Face to (Inter)Face with Pro Tools M-Powered.” Also, keep in mind that the Mix window is a virtual representation of a hardware mixing console, so if you have any experience with a hardware mixer, approaching the Mix window and mixing in Pro Tools should be a little less daunting than looking and working within the Edit window for the first time. If at any time a referenced component

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of the Mix window seems unclear, refer to Chapter 6 for a review and/ or go to the Pro Tools Reference Manual PDF file, available from the Help menu on the Pro Tools menu bar.

Go Get the Goods Go to the Course Technology PTR download page for this book and go get yourself the Chapter 8 ZIP file. This contains a lone session folder entitled Chopper Genesis v2.0, which contains an enhanced version of the same tune first heard in Chapter 4. Here you will see I’ve added a bass track (courtesy of fusion-groove bassist Steve Jenkins [http://www.stevejenkinsbass.com]) and a processed drum loop, as well as performed some editing and more mixing since your first encounter with the session. This entire chapter will be geared toward working within this session, so all the screenshots will be from it.

Leveling the Playing Field At the very core of mixing is the act of setting the volume levels and adjusting the panning positions (left and right channels of a stereo mix) of all the voiceable tracks routed to the final output destination (usually the audio interface’s stereo outputs, which are hooked up to your studio monitors and also act as your bounce to disk source). This is more easily done in the Mix window (see Figure 8.1) because you have a clear, full view of all the track’s Volume faders and pan controls right smack in the middle of the channel strips. Adjusting each track’s volume output is done by clicking and dragging these Volume faders while constantly keeping an eye on the neighboring level meter so as not to clip. Clicking and dragging the Pan slider (or sliders, depending on whether the track is mono or stereo) adjusts the left and right panoramic orientation. Initial Setup If you haven’t already, open up the Chopper Genesis v2.0 session folder located in your Chapter 8 ZIP file and double-click the session file. Before switching to the Mix window, take a look at the Edit window to see what’s been done since you last saw this session file. Use the

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Figure 8.1 The Mix window in full-fledged mixing mode.

Zoomer tools to zoom in on various parts for a better look. Once you make the switch to the Mix window, you’ll notice all the Volume faders are at 0 db and the panners are set to their default positions (see Figure 8.2). Additionally, the automation originally written to the Master Fader track that was set to fade in and fade out the overall mix in the first version of Chopper Genesis has been deleted. Your job is to throw up an initial rough mix so you can get started. Let’s start with learning how to raise all the faders up to 0 dB simultaneously, while at the same time shine some light on Mix groups: 1.

Click the double-arrow button to open the Mix window’s left side column (see Figure 8.3). This exposes the Track List and the Groups List.

2.

Click the default Mix group. Notice that an exclamation point appears in every track’s Group ID indicator and that each one is highlighted with a background color. This signifies that all the tracks have been selected and are part of this group, and therefore, any volume adjustments made will apply to all tracks.

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Figure 8.2 The Mix window with all the Volume faders down, ready to call up a rough mix from scratch.

3.

Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) on any Volume fader. After doing so, all the faders will be set to 0 dB (see Figure 8.4).

Once you have all the Volume faders in the session at 0 dB, I suggest lowering the Master Fader for good measure—especially if you’re monitoring with headphones! After pressing the spacebar to start the playback, raise the Master Fader to a comfortable listening level. Okay, now you’re ready to start tweaking the volume and panning settings. Creating a Rough Mix Mixing lies within the ear of the beholder, so to speak, so no one can possibly tell you how to hear. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to suggest to someone how to set volume levels and panning. With that said,

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Figure 8.3 The Mix window with the left-side column displayed, exposing the Track List and Groups List views. Notice the exclamation points in all the channels strips’ Group ID indicators, signifying that the default group is enabled.

Figure 8.4 With the default group enabled, you can make group adjustments such as Opt-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (PC) a Volume fader to raise all the Volume faders to 0 dB.

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following are some suggestions that I find work for me to help your first rough mix come together. In the end, how you set the session’s volume levels and pan positions is all up to your personal tastes and preferences. n

Try to listen to the entire session the first time through without making any adjustments. Just listen.

n

On the second listen (or the first, if you just can’t contain yourself!) jot down some notes for yourself—or better yet, click the Comments section of a corresponding channel strip and type some initial thoughts about your mix. This could be anything: volume adjustments, panning, effects, etc.

n

As you start to adjust Volume faders, don’t be surprised if you need to readjust them again—and again, and again, and again. Stay cool: The upcoming section on automation is all about automating those types of changes, so you don’t have to do that manually. Again, write or type any thoughts with regard to these fluctuating volume adjustments.

n

As for panning, start out with panning similar parts like the Lead Guitar and Harmony Lead or the Muted Dirge or 2nd Muted Dirge tracks hard (all the way) left and right. From there, tweak to suit.

Clipping When listening and adjusting Volume faders on your tracks during playback, there might be times the topmost portion of a channel strip’s (or set of strips’) level meter lights up red (see Figure 8.5) as a result of your Volume fader adjustments. After getting deeper into mixing techniques, you might find this could also happen from adjustments made in the track’s inserts or from “hot” send levels. In every case, it’s called clipping, and it occurs when a signal’s volume level is greater than what the channel or device it’s passing through can handle. While clipping is distorting, this is not the kind of distortion we six-string slingers live for (like power amp tube distortion, for example). This is digital clipping, and it sounds awful. If this occurs at any time in the session, it needs to be addressed before you bounce the mix to disk or your mix

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Figure 8.5 Here we see a track’s level meters going in to the red, indicating the incoming signal is too much for the track to handle properly and therefore will cause it to clip.

will be flawed to say the least. Adjustments can be made at the track’s main Volume fader and, if applicable, within whatever plug-in is instantiated in the Inserts section. You may even need to adjust the send level in the Send Output window if you’re seeing red in an Auxiliary track’s level meters (more on that later). To clear the redness from the level meters you can simply click the topmost portion of the level meter. If you clip more than one track, you can Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) to clear all the clipped tracks. In either case, you can alternatively go to the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose the Clear All Clip Indicators command to get the job done (the keyboard shortcut for that command is OptþC for Mac, and AltþC for PC).

Creating Mix Groups In the midst of making some adjustments, you’re probably experiencing some instances where it would be beneficial to have global or group control over multiple tracks as you did when you raised all the tracks to 0 dB in one keystroke. No problem—it’s just a matter of creating additional Mix groups like the default group you used in the last section. As stated in Chapter 6, Mix groups allow for adjustments relative to their current setting before they are grouped. So, for example, adjust the Lead Guitar and Harmony Guitar

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tracks at a desired setting relative to each other, group them, and then adjust their relative volumes from there. Here’s how: 1.

Click the Groups List button (see Figure 8.6). This displays the Groups List menu.

2.

Click New Group. This displays the Create Group window (see Figure 8.7). Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut CmdþG (Mac) or CtrlþG (PC) to open this window.

3.

Type a name for your group (see Figure 8.8).

4.

Click the corresponding Type option button. Choosing either Mix or Edit and Mix enables you to adjust the grouped tracks’ levels.

5.

Click the Group ID indicator letter drop-down menu selector. From here you can choose a group ID letter for your group.

6.

In the Linked with Groups section (see Figure 8.9), choose the functions over which you want to have group control.

7.

In the Available pane, click the tracks you want to include in the group. Shift-clicking two tracks selects all the tracks in between, while Cmd-clicking (Mac) or Ctrl-clicking (PC) tracks selects multiple nonadjacent tracks. 1.

2.

Figure 8.6 Clicking the Groups List button in the left side column of the Mix window opens the Groups List menu. From here you can create new groups and choose display options for currently existing groups, among other things.

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Figure 8.7 When you choose the New Group option from the Group List menu, the Create Group window appears so you can set the parameters of the impending group.

8.

Click the Add button to add the selected tracks to the Currently in Group pane (see Figure 8.10).

9.

Click OK. You new group is created, automatically enabled, and displayed in the Mix window’s Groups List (see Figure 8.11).

Now whenever you grab any fader in the group, all the faders in that group will move relative to their position to each other. Now what about those tracks that need multiple and/or real-time adjustments throughout the session? Enter automation.

Temporary Group Emancipation If at any time you want to tweak the relative setting of a Volume fader without affecting the other tracks in the group (or any other group-related function), simply Ctrl-click (Mac) or Start-click (PC) the desired control and tweak.

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2.

3.

Figure 8.8 In the top portion of the Create Group window, you can name the group, assign the group type (Edit, Mix, or both), and select the group ID letter from the menu.

Introducing Automation If you had to pick just one feature in Pro Tools that makes the world a better place, it might just be automation. Automation allows those wouldn’t-it-be-great-if-I-could-do-that–type thoughts come to life by enabling you to record or, more accurately stated, write control changes for user-defined parameters. You can either set a track in both of the main Pro Tools windows to write automation data as you apply control changes in real time or manually draw breakpoints in an automation line (in the Edit window only) using the Pencil or Grabber tool. (You can also use the Trim tools to edit automation data.) Both methods can be used interchangeably throughout the session until the moment you commit the mix to mastering/bouncing to disk. Both methods create data in the form of alterations to the automation

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7.

6.

8. Figure 8.9 Selecting tracks in the Available pane highlights them, indicating they’re ready to be transitioned into the Currently in Group pane.

lines found in the automation playlists (see Figure 8.12) that may be saved, edited, copied and pasted, and/or deleted after creation. The automatable controls are as follows: n

Volume

n

Pan

n

Mute

n

Plug-in controls in real time

Automation Modes With regard to writing automation, the most important fact to be aware of is automation is written only during playback, not recording. In order to write automation, you must select an applicable automation mode

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8.

9. Figure 8.10 After you’ve chosen what tracks you want to include in your new group, click Add; the selected tracks appear in the Currently in Group section.

Figure 8.11 After choosing the new group’s attributes in the Create Group menu, the group is displayed in the Groups List in the left side column of the Mix window. Depending on the group type and some display settings, it could also show up in the Edit window view of the Groups List.

from the Automation Mode selector be found in both the Edit window Track Control areas and Mix window channel strips (see Figure 8.13) of all track types. Clicking the selector displays the five automation modes, which are listed and described here. In short, the first two, Auto Off and Auto Read, are somewhat of a conventional off and on setup, while the

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Figure 8.12 Here you can see multiple instances of automation data in various Edit window automation playlists.

Automation Mode Selector

Automation Mode Selector Figure 8.13 Automation Mode selectors can be found in both the Edit window Track Control area and the Mix window channel strips.

other three modes determine how automation data is captured and written into an automation playlist. n

Auto Off. This mode turns off the automation function and therefore disregards automation data in the track.

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n

Auto Read. This mode allows a track to play all the enabled automation types and its data in the automation playlists for that track.

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Auto Touch. In this mode, automation changes are written every time you touch a fader by either clicking and dragging it with your mouse or by touching a corresponding hardware console touch-sensitive fader (see the upcoming note on Project Mix I/O). When you release the control you’re tweaking, the automation line returns to the position value it was in before you altered it (assuming it’s actually in a different position).

n

Auto Latch. Similar to the Auto Touch mode, Auto Latch mode also writes changes from the time you touch a fader in either aforementioned instance, but this time it stays in position when you release the fader, therefore continuing to record new data.

n

Auto Write. When in this mode, automation is written from the time you engage playback to the time you stop, whether you move a fader or not on all enabled parameters (see the next section, “Automation Enable Window,” for more information). It’s of the utmost importance you understand this concept because every time you engage Auto Write, it overwrites whatever automation data is written on all enabled parameters. To help prevent accidental overwrites, Pro Tools automatically switches the automation mode to Auto Touch when you stop playback in Auto Write mode.

Like many other commands, Opt-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (PC) the Automation Mode selector selects an automation mode for all tracks. Automation Enable Window Before you check out the two ways to create automation data, you need to take a quick look at the Automation Enable window (see Figure 8.14), which is accessed from the Window menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. Think of this window as the governing body of all automation data in Pro Tools; it globally determines whether automation is written and played back throughout the entire session. If a certain button in the window is not selected, that category of automation is suspended in every track in the session. You can suspend all automation by selecting the top Suspend button. With this information in mind, if you ever experience

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Figure 8.14 The Automation Enable window governs all automation within the entire session. Here you can choose whether a certain parameter can have automation data written to it or whether it will read automation data.

any trouble with automation data in which it’s not recorded or played back, check the Automation Enable window to be sure the parameter you’re trying to automate is globally enabled. Ladies and Gentlemen! It’s Project Mix I/O and the Flying Faders Instead of dealing with missed mouse-clicks and failed control drag actions, a great way to write automation data in real time is to use an external control surface like the M-Audio Project Mix I/O (see Figure 8.15). Most relevant to the topic at hand is that this stellar 18  14 FireWire interface has a collection of touch-sensitive motorized faders (a.k.a. flying faders)—eight channel strips plus one master strip—that offer seamless control over your mix automation. The touch-sensitivity factor refers to the fact that when you touch a fader while writing automation, it immediately switches control over to you to edit the existing automation until you release the fader, letting it return to following the remaining automation data.

The Output Window Although you can use only the Pencil and/or Grabber tools to manually write automation data in the Edit window automation playlists, I suggest staying in the Edit window for writing automation with realtime applications instead of the Mix window. I believe this approach offers more control over the process, because I can see the data being written in the automation playlist. The only drawback is that you may have to use the cumbersome pop-up Volume fader in the Audio

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Figure 8.15 The M-Audio Project Mix I/O is a versatile 18  14 FireWire console that features touch-sensitive flying faders, perfect for writing and editing automation data.

Volume indicator found in the Edit window’s I/O column to make the fader adjustments to write the automation data. Enter the Output window. First introduced in Chapter 4 and later mentioned in Chapter 6, the Output window (see Figure 8.16) has eluded a proper introduction, but that changes now. This pint-sized floating faux channel strip provides convenient access to various track controls available in both the Edit window I/O column and Mix window channel strip, as shown in Figure 8.16. Most pertinent to the current topic, the Output window is especially handy for writing automation data because it doesn’t require you to switch to the Mix window for access to a more accessible fader size for writing automation. But while I’m on the subject, here are a few more facts about the Output window you should know: n

Output windows are sole bearers of the panoramic related Link and Inverse Pan buttons. Each mode button appears highlighted when the

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f. g. e. d. c. b.

h. i. j. k. l. m.

a. o. q.

n. p.

Figure 8.16 The floating Output window is a smaller, condensed version of a Mix window channel strip featuring, most notably, a central fader, giving you a another source to control the track’s output volume. This window comes in handy especially when writing automation in real time.

corresponding mode is selected. When in Link mode, both pan knobs will move in sync when one knob is clicked and adjusted, therefore displaying identical values in the indicators below. Couple Link mode with Inverse, and the two pan knobs will move in sync—but now in opposite directions. Of course, any adjustments you make in these modes in an Output window will be reflected in the corresponding Edit window I/O column and Mix window channel strip. n

Output windows, like the floating Transport window, will stay put no matter what you do in the Edit or Mix window. You could hide a track in the Track List, and its corresponding Output window will remain in view. This saves you the trouble of constantly scrolling through the Track display areas or channel strips just to make, say, a quick Master Fader adjustment when you have large, complex sessions.

n

With the last Output window attribute in mind, you might want to have multiple Output windows open. This is where the Target

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button in the upper-right corner comes into play. Lit by default whenever you bring an Output window into focus, the highlighted Target button indicates that clicking another track’s or channel strip’s Output Window button will replace the contents of the currently selected Output window with the newly selected one. If you wish to have more than one Output window open at one time, simply click the Target button to dim its appearance, indicating that multiple Output windows can be displayed. n

Output windows provide an easy way to prevent unwanted automation from being mistakenly written to a track with the Automation Safe button (located under the Audio Output Path selector).

n

Clicking the Path Meter View button in the top-most area of an Output window opens a secondary view to the right of the main window that contains the main output’s level meters. This allows you to view the track’s output and the main out going to your interface simultaneously.

Writing Automation in Real Time Now that you have the skinny on the joys of automation and the ins and outs of the previously elusive Output window have been revealed, it’s time to learn how to actually write some automation data in real time! Let’s make some adjustments to the volume parameter of the Unison Scream track, which starts to play back audio at the downbeat of bar 38 in Chopper Genesis v2.0. Open the Memory Locations window and click the Auto1 marker. This will shoot you over to where you need to be in the timeline, as well as display the contents of the Pro Tools window in the manner I prefer when working on these types of tasks. In order to get the best view of the track I want to automate, I always hide all the tracks in the session except the track I’m writing automation data on (in this case, the Unison Scream track) and one track that houses regions through most of the session’s timeline (drum tracks are usually the go-to tracks for this purpose, and in this session that would be the Drums track). Complete the following steps, making sure the I/O column is selected from either the View menu in the Pro Tools menu bar or the Edit Window View selector in the Edit window bar. Also, try using

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Dynamic Transport to set a playback pre-roll starting at the downbeat of bar 36 at the latest. Extra Text When you have the Memory Locations window open, you’ll find comments for every marker listed in the Comments section of each marker.

1.

Click the Track View selector of the track you want to automate (see Figure 8.17). The Track View menu appears.

2.

Select Volume from the Track View menu as the track parameter to automate (see Figure 8.18). The colorful edit playlist that originally displayed the audio waveforms contained in the regions pointing to the whole-audio files changes to a duller looking automation playlist. Although the region borders are still seen, the region itself is faded, and a thick, straight black line now appears horizontally across the playlist.

1.

Figure 8.17 You can view the track view options by clicking the Track View selector to choose the view needed for the task at hand.

2.

Figure 8.18 After you click the Track View selector, a menu appears from which you can choose which automatable parameter to view in the corresponding automation playlist.

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3.

From the Automation Mode menu, select Latch (see Figure 8.19). I want to move the fader in the track’s Output window so that it writes a ramp up–type automation line; then, after I release the mouse, I want the fader to stay at that position for the remainder of the session.

4.

Click the Output Window button. The Unison Scream track’s Output window appears with Auto Latch mode selected, indicated in white with red text as also seen in the I/O column (see Figure 8.20)

5.

Press the spacebar to begin playback.

6.

Click the Output window’s Volume fader and move the fader up to raise the volume of the track as it begins to play at bar 38, climaxing at a desired volume setting at beat 4 of bar 39.

7.

Once you’ve completed writing the volume automation, press the spacebar to stop playback. You have set up the volume to ramp up and maintain a certain volume level for the remainder of the session (see Figure 8.21) 3.

4.

Figure 8.19 Selecting Latch, for Auto Latch mode, enables you to write automation data in real time and then release whatever control you’re using to leave the automation line at that setting, therefore continuing to write data. Clicking the Output Window button brings the floating Output window into focus.

I See Spots After creating your ramp-up automation line, you’ll notice a plethora of white circles outlined in black all over the automation line. These are automation breakpoints, which are handles that create the shape of a nonlinear line. Clicking these handles with the Pencil or Grabber tool enables you to drag them, thus editing the automation lines by reshaping them to alter the control changes.

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Clicking a location within the automation line that’s without a breakpoint with either tool creates a new breakpoint, while Opt-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (PC) existing breakpoints deletes them.

Figure 8.20 Notice the Output window has the Auto Latch enabled to match the Track Control area selection made earlier. Moving this window’s Volume fader during playback will write automation to the volume automation playlist.

Automation Creation with the Pencil and Grabber Tools Another way automation data can be written is by manually entering the data and, if needed, adjusting it—both with the Pencil or Grabber tool. This section focuses on the accuracy of the Pencil tool to write in precise panning automation on the last note of the second region of the Lead Guitar track to create an automated tremolo effect for that extreme helicopter-type amplitude fluctuation. This type of effect has fantastic results when done correctly, which is pretty easy to achieve considering that you can use Grid mode to automatically align your automation lines to the grid when you use the Pencil tool to write automation! Then we’ll switch to the Grabber tool to make a small adjustment by dragging a breakpoint (refer to the note at the end of the preceding section). As always, to keep you on your toes, I’ll briefly outline some of the preliminary setup procedures right here. Don’t worry, these are Pro

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Figure 8.21 Once you stop playback, you can view the automation you just wrote to the track. The data visually conveys what the data is instructing the control to do, as is the case here with a volume automation line ramping up, representing a sharp rise in volume.

Tools procedures you’ve performed before—I have faith! Before you make any moves, in the Memory Locations window, click the Auto2 marker to blast over to the point in the session timeline where you need to be to follow along with the instructions provided. n

Make sure you’re in Grid mode and the Grid value is set to whatever value you want to chop the panning into.

n

Set the Track View selector to Pan.

n

Set the Automation Mode selector to Auto Touch mode.

n

Set the Dynamic Transport Play Start marker at the downbeat of bar 6 for a pre-roll.

n

Press the spacebar to start playback.

n

Press the down arrow key when you hear the final high note of the lick to place an edit cursor insertion point. You may have to do

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this a couple of times to get it right, so be patient. To test it out, press the left bracket ([) key to start playback from the edit cursor insertion point. Once you have all these settings in place and the edit cursor inserted at the start of that final high note of the First Lead Guitar region, follow these steps: 1.

Click and hold the Pencil Tool button in the Edit window toolbar (see Figure 8.22). The Pencil Tool menu appears.

2.

Select the Square option (see Figure 8.23). 1.

Figure 8.22 Clicking and holding any of the edit tool buttons that feature a down arrow exposes a drop-down menu with alternative modes for that tool.

2.

Figure 8.23 Selecting the Square option in the Pencil Tool menu enables you to write perfectly proportioned data containing right angles that can be sized to whatever height you want within the limits of the playlist borders.

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3.

At the edit cursor insertion point, click the pan automation line. Notice that a pan value indicator appears to the right of the edit cursor toward the top of the playlist (see Figure 8.24).

4.

Drag the Pencil tool diagonally toward the top or bottom of the region, ending at the downbeat of bar 9. As you drag, you’ll notice that a shaded dotted gray line takes shape and expands, indicating what the automation line will look like when you release the mouse (see Figure 8.25). The higher or lower

3. Figure 8.24 To begin dragging the pan automation line, click the point of the line where you want to start. Notice that the pan value is displayed to the right of the edit cursor insertion point, giving you a direct visual reference for the adjusting pan values.

4.

Figure 8.25 When an automation line is dragged with a shaped Pencil tool, a shaded dotted gray line takes shape and expands, indicating what the line will look like when you have completed the task. In this case, the height of the squared line shape determines the intensity of the panned effect.

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you drag the Pencil tool, the higher or lower the intensity of the panning effect as displayed by the changing values in the pan value indicator. Going to the extreme top and bottom points will sound like a tremolo whose Depth control is maxed out. 5.

Release the mouse. A series of symmetrically accurate, sectioned automation lines is created (see Figure 8.26).

5. Figure 8.26 Here’s what you’ll end up with upon releasing the mouse to complete the squared pan automation line creation.

You’ll notice in Figure 8.26 that the automation line leading to the recently created automation data slopes downward. Select the Grabber in its standard mode and follow these instructions to see how to adjust that using breakpoints (see the note in the preceding section). 1.

Click the first breakpoint (see Figure 8.27).

1. Figure 8.27 Clicking a breakpoint with the Grabber tool enables you to drag the line into a new shape, making that breakpoint act as an axis point. From there you drag the breakpoint to reshape the line.

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2.

Drag the breakpoint upward while keeping an eye on the pan value indicator in the upper-left corner of the automation playlist.

3.

When the pan value reads 0, release the mouse. This adjusts the breakpoint—and the entire portion of the automation line starting to the left of the breakpoint to the start of the timeline— to exactly dead center in the mix (see Figure 8.28).

3. Figure 8.28 After dragging the breakpoint to dead center (as indicated by the pan value reading 0) and releasing the mouse, you end up with a perfectly straight automation line leading up to the squared section. This eliminates the downward slope in the line that would have sounded like an unwanted volume attenuation.

Well, what are you waiting for? Hit the spacebar and check it out! Keep in mind, this is the tip of the automation iceberg. I strongly urge you to continue exploring and experimenting with mix automation. The possibilities are deep, to say the least.

Examining Channel-Strip Signal Flow Before you get into the next two sections on plug-ins and signal routing, it’s imperative you have a clear understanding of how audio travels in a channel strip during playback. This will get you off on the right foot with the topics that lie ahead, not to mention plant a solid foundation for you to be able to create complex mixes in the future that will surely involve advanced applications directly related to these core concepts. Be sure to refer to Figure 8.29 as you read the following paragraph.

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Figure 8.29 Starting from your hard drive, this is the path your audio signal travels that will eventually be heard at your desired monitoring source.

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So it goes like this: 1.

Signal comes in from the hard drive via the connection cable (hopefully FireWire!) and enters the Pro Tools environment at the Inserts section of the virtual channel strip you assigned it to. From there, it can be optionally processed by up to five plug-in instantiations (more on that very soon). You have the option to assign the channel strip’s level meters to detect and analyze the signal leaving the Inserts section.

2.

Leaving the Inserts section, the signal can optionally be routed out of the channel strip through 10 possible pre-fader (main Volume fader, that is) sends on the Pro Tools mix bus system for group-related processing options (actually seen in Pro Tools as two sections of five sends marked Sends A–E and Sends F–J), which I might add would be able to be monitored by the corresponding Send window’s level meters.

3.

The signal continues down the pipe to the main Volume fader, which, as you already know, can eliminate the audibility of the signal from the mix or boost it to upwards of 12 dB.

4.

From there, the channel strip’s Mute button could mute the signal as it is the next component in the signal flow, but that does not mean the following post-fader level meter won’t detect it.

5.

You again have the option to route the signal out of the channel strip through 10 possible post-fader sends (all previous sendrelated details apply). Whether or not you do so, the signal still passes through the Output Path selector to the panners and right on out to the currently selected output assignment. This output assignment could either be the hardware outputs of your interface that feed your studio monitors and/or headphones or the Pro Tools mix bus system.

Although some of this might have been beyond your current level of Pro Tools knowledge, it’s important nonetheless to be introduced to this existing audio pipeline as it is about to be surfed by you, starting with your plug-ins surfboard.

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Plug-ins Exposed First introduced in Chapter 1, “The Essential Gear,” and first utilized in Chapter 4, plug-ins are auxiliary software add-in modules that can only be accessed within a host program—in this case Pro Tools—and are used to enhance that host program’s functionality. In the case of audio production, plug-ins can act as your virtual rack-based signal processors, pedals, and/or even virtual amplifiers and microphones, providing a means for additional processing of your session material in every step of your project. (Plug-ins can also be virtual software instruments— like synthesizers, samplers, drum machines—as you will learn in Chapter 10, “Working with MIDI.”) Be it tracking, editing, mixing, and/or mastering, there’s a plug-in for every occasion. Plug-ins are brought into the Pro Tools environment through virtual insert points in your tracks/channel strips and can come in two architectures, which are proprietary to all versions of Pro Tools. They are as follows: n

AudioSuite. This basic plug-in format is strictly file based. When implemented, it creates a completely new version of the file the plug-in is processing. AudioSuite plug-ins not only are a smart way to conserve your much-needed DSP firepower, they also sometimes provide the only method for performing certain tasks like normalizing or signal clipping removal. After tweaking the plug-in’s parameters to suit, you have the option to hear the impending results by clicking the Preview button in the plug-in control window. In situations where an AudioSuite plug-in lacks a Preview button, you can always just click the Process button; if you don’t like the results, undo the action and tweak the controls accordingly.

n

Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS). These host-based plug-ins operate in real time as insert effects. With regard to real time, your session material may be tweaked through wonderful world of automation, but at a price. Because RTAS plug-ins rely on your computer’s resources alongside your operating system and Pro Tools itself, they can quickly drain your CPU’s available processing power—so much so that some RTAS plug-ins come in AudioSuite formats, which allows you to conserve resources by printing effects, thus creating new files. In the end, RTAS plug-ins allow you to construct

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complex mixes that would otherwise be impossible. Not only can RTAS plug-ins be effects processors, but also virtual instruments that can be used as sound sources or workstations (more on that in Chapter 10 as you look into Digidesign’s own sample/synthesis workstation Xpand!). M-Powered comes with a host of native Digidesign (called DigiRack) and Bomb Factory plug-ins in both formats, covering the gamut of effect types—from dynamic controllers to time-based effects, equalizers, and utility-type processors. They can always be enhanced with more advanced plug-ins from Digidesign and other third-party developers (as listed in the Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro G-Rack bundles) as well. Because they are software based, they provide many attributes their hardware counterparts cannot, such as enhanced flexibility, hefty processing power courtesy of your all-powerful computer, and studiospace conservation. Although this may all sound utopian, there is that one major drawback to this euphoric plug-in microcosm as stated earlier: The more you use, the more demands you put on your system resources. To start things off, let’s take a look at how an AudioSuite plug-in works. How Much Did You Say That Was? At first, the prices of some plug-ins may seem startling—but keep in mind that most of the actual gear many plug-ins emulate or are designed after is far more expensive and takes up precious room in a small project studio. With regard to the infamous “vintage” gear, you must always be prepared for when it breaks down—and it will. Fixing those dinosaurs requires specialized repairmen, costly repairs, and downtime. I’ll be the first to admit that as great as many high-quality plug-ins are, you just can’t beat the sound of the real thing or turning an actual knob. Nevertheless, today’s plug-ins are formidable tools and are widely used in making records at all levels. If nothing else, a single plug-in can be used in multiple parts of the session simultaneously with completely different tasks to perform! With that said, plug-ins, for most guitarists, are a completely flexible and cost effective tool.

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The Anatomy of a Plug-in The two types of plug-ins in Pro Tools come in reasonably consistent formats with regard to their basic graphical layouts. No matter how large or small or what graphical differences one plug-in possesses compared to another, the top portion of most AudioSuite and RTAS plugins contains the same components within their respective class. Let’s examine each type of plug-in architecture’s GUI, starting with the simple AudioSuite format (see Figure 8.30): n

Plug-in selector. Clicking this button brings up the AudioSuite menu, allowing you to choose another file-based plug-in without going to the Pro Tools menu bar.

n

File Mode button. This is where you can choose how the selected audio will be processed. Clicking this button opens a submenu with three options: Overwrite Files for destructively processing the selection, therefore permanently overwriting the original file; Create Individual Files for nondestructive processing, which creates new, separate audio files for each selected region; and Create Continuous File for nondestructively creating one single, consolidated new audio file when more than one region is selected.

n

Selection Reference button. Clicking this button opens a small submenu that enables you to choose between processing a single selection in your track (Playlist) or processing currently selected

File Mode Button Selection Reference Button

Plug-In Selector

Process Mode Button

Process Button

Figure 8.30 A DC Offset Removal AudioSuite plug-in.

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regions in the Region List and the corresponding regions in the session (Region List). n

Process Mode button. This enables you to specify how the selected regions will be analyzed prior to processing by displaying a twooption submenu. You could analyze either on a region-by-region basis or the entire selection, which analyzes multiples regions as a whole.

n

Process button. Clicking this button engages the AudioSuite plug-in to process the selections.

The next type of plug-in, Real-Time AudioSuite (more commonly known as RTAS and also known as DigiRack), has an almost completely different control layout (see Figure 8.31). Take a look at all Insert Position Selector Librarian Menu

Plug-In Selector Next Setting Button

Effect Bypass Button

Compare Button

Link Enable Buttons

Target Button

Track Selector Settings Menu Previous Setting Button

Plug-In Settings Button

Auto Button

Automation Safe Button

Channel Selector

Figure 8.31 A Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) plug-in window.

Master Link Button

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the components as displayed on the Digidesign u¨ber-amp modeler Eleven mono RTAS plug-in: n

Track selector. This selector enables you to access other tracks in the session (except MIDI).

n

Insert Position selector. This selector allows you to access insert points in the track itself.

n

Plug-in selector. Clicking this selector brings up the same RTAS plug-in menu you see when you click an insert point to instantiate a plug-in in the first place, allowing easy switching to another instantiation.

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Effect Bypass button. Clicking this button bypasses the plug-ins processing and just lets the signal pass through unscathed.

n

Link Enable buttons. With each square representing an output channel, these buttons allow you to link or unlink controls of specific channels if the Master Link button is deselected.

n

Target button. When this button is dimmed, you can open another plug-in window without losing the view of the currently selected window.

n

Master Link button. This button links all the controls on a multimono plug-in, enabling you to adjust them at the same time.

n

Channel selector. This selector enables you to specify whether a mono RTAS plug-in is assigned to the left or right main output channel in a multichannel track.

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Automation Safe button. This button lets you prevent any previously written automation from being overwritten when selected.

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Auto button. Clicking this button opens the Plug-In Automation window, where you can select what plug-in parameters will be displayed in the corresponding Track View selector, allowing you to write automation data for that control.

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Compare button. Click this button to toggle between the original plug-in settings and any changes you’ve made. It becomes highlighted the second you move a muscle to tweak a control.

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Plug-In Settings button. Clicking this button opens a window that gives you access to any factory or user-created saved settings. I find that this is the easiest way to audition plug-in settings in real time.

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Next button. Click this to select a subsequent setting in the Librarian menu.

n

Previous button. Click this to select a previous setting in the Librarian menu.

n

Librarian menu. This menu lists the same settings as the Settings Select window, just in different format.

n

Settings menu. This menu displays Copy, Paste, Save, and Import commands for plug-in settings. Layering Made Simple As indicated in the Pro Tip from the legendary Steve Lukather in the previous chapter, layering guitar tracks can produce amazing results. The trick is not to overdo it—layering doesn’t always mean stacking tracks for the purpose of audio girth. Layering guitar tracks more often than not is done to achieve a bounty of tonal bliss that’s made up of tracks recorded with different guitar and amp configurations that would otherwise not exist. One easy (not to mention much more cost-effective) way to do this is to take advantage of the amps provided to you in Digidesign’s Eleven and the M-Audio Black Box. A collection ranging from vintage classics to modern marvels is a click or soft-button press away. You even have microphone and cabinet model options in Eleven and the beat-synced effects in the Black Box to throw into your sonic stew. When you’re in the throes of layering tracks, keep in mind this one basic mantra: What sounds like a not-so-great track on its own now may just be exactly what the overall guitar mix needs to sound heavenly. Tracks in a layer could also be derived from room mics that were set up to record room reflections, giving your guitar layer some unique depth that a reverb or delay effect could never provide.

Once you start going through and using many of the plug-ins in both AudioSuite and RTAS formats, you will notice that many of your plug-ins come in both architectures. For instance, check out Figures 8.32

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Figure 8.32 The Bomb Factory MoogerFooger Ring Modulator plug-in is an example of the many instances in which a plug-in comes in both architectures. In this figure you see the AudioSuite version.

and 8.33 to see the Bomb Factory plug-in model of the super-cool MoogerFooger Ring Modulator pedal in both AudioSuite and RTAS plug-in formats. Notice that the top control section of the AudioSuite version shares the following RTAS plug-in attributes: Settings menu, Librarian menu, Previous Setting and Next Setting buttons, Plug-In Settings button, and Compare button. AudioSuite in Action In this section you’re going to apply the Reverse AudioSuite plug-in to another section of the Unison Scream track, this time to the hugesounding unison bend starting just after beat 4 of bar 39 (right next to the region to which you applied the real-time automation a few pages back). After clicking the Reverse marker in your Memory

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Figure 8.33 This is the RTAS version of the Bomb Factory MoogerFooger Ring Modulator plug-in. Notice the shared controls in the top portion of each GUI.

Locations window, grab hold of the Grabber tool and follow these steps: 1.

With the Grabber tool, click the Unison Scream region starting at around beat 4, bar 39 to select it.

2.

Click the AudioSuite menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. A menu of the available AudioSuite plug-ins appears, with the plug-ins categorized by type.

3.

Click the Other category. Another submenu appears, displaying all the AudioSuite plug-ins in that category.

4.

Select Reverse. The Reverse plug-in window appears.

5.

Click Preview to listen to what the newly created audio file will sound like.

6.

Click Preview again to stop the preview playback.

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7.

Click Process to apply the reverse effect (see Figure 8.34). A progress window appears as the effect is rendered to a new audio file. 1.

2.

5. 6.

3.

4.

7.

Figure 8.34 After selecting a region with the Grabber tool, simply choose the desired AudioSuite plug-in from the AudioSuite menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. When the plug-in window opens, you can set the various parameters and even preview the results. Click the Process button to render a file to your specifications.

RTAS in Action To demonstrate an RTAS plug-in, let’s instantiate (see the upcoming note) the DigiRack Compressor/Limiter Dyn 3 plug-in into the Bass Mono track top insert point; you’ll do so from the Mix window. Before you proceed, go to the Mix Window View selector and make sure the Inserts option is selected. Also, click the Bass Loop selection marker in the Memory Locations window, where I have set up a timeline selection to be looped so you can have the Bass track play over and

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again while you tweak the plug-in controls. (By now you should know the best way to handle playback commands while retaining selections is to use the Dynamic Transport option.) Switch over to the Edit window for a second so you can place the Play Start marker at the beginning of the saved timeline selection in the main Timebase ruler to start the loop, then switch back to the Mix window and proceed.

A $10 Word Known as Instantiation As you wade through literature connected to Pro Tools, most notably any of the provided PDF documents available from the Help menu in the Pro Tools menu bar, you will run into the word instantiate. This is Digidesign’s term for describing an instance where an RTAS plug-in is selected to be inserted into the Pro Tools virtual signal routing scheme via the Inserts section in either the Edit or Mix window.

1.

In the Bass Mono track, click the top-most double-arrowed Insert button (see Figure 8.35). A menu appears with three options: No Insert, Plug-in, and I/O.

2.

Click the Plug-in option. A menu containing the available RTAS plug-ins categorized by type appears.

3.

Click the Dynamics category. A submenu appears, displaying all the RTAS plug-ins in that category.

4.

Select Compressor/Limiter Dyn 3. The DigiRack Compressor/ Limiter Dyn 3 plug-in window appears, as shown in Figure 8.36.

5.

Press the spacebar to begin looped playback.

6.

Adjust the plug-in controls to raise the Bass Mono track’s presence in the mix. If you’re unfamiliar with what a compressor is and/or how it works, navigate into the Digidesign program folder in your system and locate the Dynamics III Plug-In Guide and Dynamics III Read Me PDF files. If you don’t have these documents anywhere in your computer, go to the Digidesign Web site to download them free of charge.

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1.

Figure 8.35 To instantiate an RTAS plug-in, you must have the Insert view displayed and click the desired insert point in the track.

7.

Once you’re satisfied with your tweaks, press the spacebar once more to stop playback.

Now that you know how to instantiate an RTAS plug-in, go ahead and instantiate away (I’m sure you never thought you’d have someone say that to you) in this track or any other track you want to enhance. After a plug-in has been instantiated, you drag the plug-in’s name displayed in the insert slot to the other four slots. You can also Opt-click (Mac) or Alt-click (PC) to copy and drag a plug-in to another insert slot (assuming the destination is compatible with the original instantiation). When considering moving a plug-in, you must keep in mind that there’s a signal-chain order in the Inserts section starting at the top-most insert point. As stated in the section “Examining Channel-Strip Signal Flow” earlier in this chapter, digital audio comes from your hard drive into the

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4.

Figure 8.36 After you select and click the desired insert point, navigate to the RTAS plug-in that you wish to instantiate. Once the RTAS plug-in is instantiated, its window appears; press the spacebar so you can tweak the controls to suit.

Pro Tools environment through the Inserts section, starting at the top insert point and continues to flow downward. It’s important to understand that if you have several plug-in instantiations, their order will have a direct effect on how the audio sounds. Changing the order changes the sound and possibly how the plug-ins behave. Plug-Ins Can Be Automated Too! Clicking any RTAS plug-in’s Auto button exposes the Plug-In Automation window. This basic-looking window is where you choose what controls you want to automate by clicking a control and then clicking the Add button. After you choose the parameters you want to automate, click the corresponding track’s Track View selector and viola—there’s the parameter you just chose to be automated. It’s that easy.

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Some Tech Terms to Know for the Future Here’s a list of some plug-in jargon you’re sure to run into as your production prowess develops: n

ReWire. Developed by Propellerhead (makers of the popular all-in-one MIDI/synth workstation Reason, among other apps), ReWire technology allows you to route digital audio, MIDI, and other commands in and out of multiple software applications on the same computer through the ReWire plug-in (see Figure 8.37). In a ReWire situation, the app hosting the ReWire client is the master, while the client is the slave. Any program slaved to Pro Tools will be under the control of the Pro Tools transport and tempo map. With every ReWire client there will be idiosyncratic anomalies such as mixing capacities and control issues, but overall this is a very powerful option to explore as you can slave programs like Ableton Live and the aforementioned Reason.

n

Convolution. This is a complex mathematical property that is used in digital-modeling programming by digital designers to map impulse responses in order to deeply capture the characteristics of the subject being modeled. These subjects can be room reverberations as heard in the Trillium Lane Labs TL Space Native Edition convolution reverb plug-in (included in the Guitar Box Pro

Figure 8.37 The ReWire plug-in, designed by Propellerhead, allows you to route digital audio, MIDI, and other commands in and out of multiple software applications on the same computer. This greatly expands your production options, not to mention it streamlines your workflow since you can continue your work in Pro Tools even though you’re working with a completely different application.

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software/hardware bundle) or speaker-cabinet behaviors as heard in Digidesign’s Eleven, a guitar amplifier hyper-modeler plug-in. Put simply, when you see this term included in a plug-in’s name, you can safely expect great things! n

VST (Virtual Studio Technology). Created by Steinberg, VST is another plug-in architecture separate from the proprietary AudioSuite and RTAS Pro Tools formats. Therefore, it cannot be used in a Pro Tools session without a wrapper (defined momentarily). VST (effects processors) and its close cousin VSTi (virtual instruments) are universal, open architectures licensed by their creator and used by virtually every other DAW manufacturer, opening up the doors to an almost endless list of plug-ins from which to choose.

n

AU (Apple Units). This is Apple Computer’s real-time plug-in architecture that’s meant to work in conjunction with Apple’s own Core Audio drivers. AU plug-ins come in the expected effect types such as EQ, filters, compressors, and time-based effects, as well as a MIDI sound bank. These obviously are not meant for PC use, but are used in all Apple-designed audio production apps, including GarageBand and both versions of Logic. Apple Units cannot be used in a Pro Tools session without a wrapper (see the next bullet).

n

Wrappers. Simply put, wrappers are programs that enable you to use a non-AudioSuite/RTAS plug-in architecture within a Pro Tools environment and vice versa! Look to FXpansion (http://www .fxpansion.com) as the go-to manufacturer of wrappers if you want to attempt to integrate VST plug-ins into your Pro Tools rig.

Signal Routing Now that you have plug-ins in the mix (pun intended), you can explore your first step into the vast world of signal routing. Signal routing of any kind in Pro Tools basically consists of sending a track’s audio signal out through a secondary, internal audio pipeline, known as the Pro Tools mix bus system, which is independent of the main output assignments. The access point of the track from which you route the signal determines how you can control that signal. Let’s take a look at each of the two main components used in signal routing.

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Busses The mix bus system is the actual multipath audio highway on which routed signals travel to their user-defined destinations. If you’re coming from an analog-recording background, this is your virtual patchbay. Some uses for bussing audio signals are as follows: n

Routing signals to a single Auxiliary track so they can be controlled by one central fader for global volume control

n

Routing signals to a single Auxiliary track so they can be processed by a single plug-in instantiated in that Aux track’s Insert section

n

Routing the output from a series of Auxiliary Input tracks, whose inputs are receiving signal from multiple hardware devices, to a single audio for recording purposes

Pro Tools M-Powered offers 32 mono busses, which make up the 16 available stereo bus pairs (configured as 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, etc.). Before you move on to utilizing the bus system through a track’s send access points, it’s important to realize one simple truth: A bus is merely is a pathway for you to send and return audio signals. You can assign a signal’s journey from any audio, Auxiliary Input, or Instrument track’s Output Path selector or, as you’ll soon see, their send points. But if no Auxiliary Input or Master Faders are receiving whatever bus or bus pair has been assigned to teleport the routed signal out to the mix bus system, you will not hear it. Sends Simply put, a send is an access point in a track’s signal flow where the signal can be routed out to a secondary destination via the mix bus system for group-related processing and/or control. Each audio, Auxiliary Input, and Instrument track features 10 send points split up evenly into two Edit or Mix window column views (which, by the way, can be separately enabled). The first group is named lower case a through e, while the second is, predictably, named f through j. Once the signal is routed from any track send point, it is independent of whatever output path assignments you’ve established. This means that if no destination is configured to receive the send, you won’t

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Pre-/Post-Fader Send Button

Send Selector Link Panner to Main Button

Figure 8.38 Although Send windows have many of the same controls as Output windows, they are specifically meant for controlling signal sent from a corresponding send access point. Looking closely at the Send window reveals some unique controls.

hear it, as stated earlier. When you select a send in either set of five send access points, a floating channel strip–like window appears, similar to the aforementioned Output window, called a Send window (see Figure 8.38). In the Send window you will find many of the same controls seen in the Output window, but the buttons that are identically labeled in each window correspond to that window’s intended purpose. For example, each window contains a Mute button, but clicking the Mute button in an Output window mutes the track to which the window is currently linked, while clicking the Mute button in a Send window mutes the send assignment to which it’s currently linked. Following is a list of brief descriptions for the controls that are unique to the Send window: n

Send selector. Although the name is different, if you were to have a track’s Output window and one of its Send windows in view simultaneously, this Send selector would display the same output assignment pop-out window that the Output window’s Output View selector would. This enables you to easily switch one floating

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window from functioning as an Output window to functioning as a Send window. n

Pre-/Post-Fader Send button. This is the button that determines whether your send will be before a track’s main Volume fader (Pre-) or after it (Post-). Note that the default post-fader option allows both the main Volume fader and the Send window’s fader to affect send levels.

n

Link Panner to Main button. Depressing this button links the Send window’s pan controls to the track’s main pan controls for global panning nirvana. Sometimes Where There’s a Send, There’s a Return Although the introduction and focus on mixing concepts in this chapter is being regulated to mixing within Pro Tools M-Powered (referred to by audio geeks as “mixing in the box”), it’s important to know that there are many options and configurations in a mix that involve leaving the Pro Tools environment. One basic configuration is a send and return scenario. Send and return is a term you’ve probably heard or even dealt with in your combo amp or amp head. In both Pro Tools and a guitar amp, a send actually sends the signal to destination outside the device via an available output. The signal is then received by a secondary device via an available input on that device (usually some sort of effects processor, more likely time-based), processed, and then sent back out via an available output to return to the sending device. This configuration enables you to utilize hardware effects, expanding the potential of your mix.

Routing in Action With your newfound signal-routing wisdom, let’s set up a routing scheme to process the two main guitar tracks (Lead Guitar and Harmony Lead) with a single EQ plug-in on an Auxiliary Input track. You’ll need to create a stereo Auxiliary Input track in the Chopper Genesis v2.0 session, name it something appropriate like Guitar EQ Bus, and then instantiate the DigiRack EQ III RTAS plug-in. Once you have all those tasks complete, go back to your Memory Locations window and click the Guitar

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Loop selection marker. Just like the Bass Loop selection marker from the “RTAS in Action” section, this marker has a timeline selection already set up for loop playback, so you can tweak the controls in the EQ III plug-in in real time. And don’t forget to engage the Dynamic Transport option! Finally, follow these instructions to see how to set the main outputs of the two main guitar tracks to be bussed to the newly created Aux In track that holds the EQ III plug-in. 1.

Click the Lead Guitar track’s Output Path selector (see Figure 8.39). A menu appears with three options: No Output, Interface, and Bus.

2.

Click the Bus option. A submenu appears, displaying all the available busses broken down in stereo pairs with their corresponding mono busses below (see Figure 8.40).

3.

Click Bus 1–2. This assigns the Lead Guitar track’s output to be routed into the Pro Tools mix bus system (see Figure 8.41). A heads up: At this point, this track will not be heard until a receiving bus destination has been configured.

1.

Figure 8.39 The first step to setting up a routing scheme where the output of the track is to be bussed out is to click the Output Path selector.

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2.

Figure 8.40 When you select the Bus option in the Output Path menu, a submenu appears displaying all the stereo bus paths and mono sub-paths.

4.

Click the Auxiliary Input track’s Input Path selector (see Figure 8.42). A menu appears with four options: No Output, Interface, Bus, and Plug-ins (which is grayed out).

5.

Click the Bus option. A menu displaying all the available stereo busses appears (see Figure 8.43).

6.

Click the Bus 1–2 (Stereo). This assigns the Aux Input track to receive the Lead Guitar track’s bussed signal at its input (see Figure 8.44). During playback and/or bouncing to disk, this will be the fader to adjust the levels going to the main outs of the guitar tracks routed to it.

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2.

Figure 8.41 After you choose the bus on which the Lead Guitar track will be sent, that bus assignment is displayed in that track’s Output Path selector.

7.

Repeat steps 1–3 for the Harmony Lead track to bus its output to the Auxiliary Input track hosting the EQ III plug-in.

8.

Press the spacebar to begin looped playback.

9.

Adjust the EQ III plug-in controls to attenuate (cut) some of the high frequencies heard in both tracks. If you’re unfamiliar with what an equalizer is and/or how it works, navigate to the Digidesign program folder in your system and locate the EQ III Plug-In Guide and EQ III Read Me PDF files. If for some reason you don’t have these documents anywhere in your computer, you can go to the Digidesign Web site to download them free of charge.

To set up the same routing scheme involving both guitar tracks’ send access points, the guitar tracks’ bus assignments would be made from one of the 10 sends in the Mix window send column instead, while the procedure would be identical for the Auxiliary Input track. With that in mind, you might be wondering what the difference is. Normally, a

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4.

Figure 8.42 In order to complete the signal-routing scheme, an input destination must be assigned—in this case, an Auxiliary Input track. Clicking the Aux Input’s Input Path selector is the first step.

send is used to bus a track or series of tracks out to an Aux Input track hosting a time-based plug-in effect that is set to output a fully wet signal. That means the output of the Aux Input track would only be the affected (wet) output signal, and no unaffected (dry) guitar signal would be heard. The purpose is to be able to tweak a desired mix between the audio track’s dry signal and the Aux Input track’s wet signal. In this case, I had no desire to hear a version of the guitar tracks without the EQ III plug-in, so I chose to bus them out from their Output selectors. This ensures that I won’t hear the unprocessed version of the guitar tracks I bussed out for attenuation processing!

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5.

Figure 8.43 Just like selecting the bus option from the Output Path selector, clicking the Input Path selector and choosing the bus option exposes a large pop-out menu. The difference here is this is a stereo Aux Input, and therefore it only displays stereo bus paths.

Gotta Bounce … Again As promised in Chapter 4, we return to the Bounce to Disk command, but this time we explore it with some suggestions for plug-in instantiations in a Master Fader to conjure up a home studio–brewed version of the mastering process. While mastering is an art unto itself (see the following note), it is possible to soup up your mix to Atlantic Records specs within your project studio. With regard to bouncing, I will not repeat the steps laid out for you in Chapter 4. Instead, I’m going to turn you onto two easy mastering practices with two simple plug-ins and let you do the rest to your final mix of Chopper Genesis v2.0. If at any time you feel like

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6.

Figure 8.44 After you have chosen which bus the Aux Input track will receive the bussed signal, that bus assignment will be displayed in that track’s Input Path selector.

you’re missing some of the pieces, go back to Chapter 4 and review the “Gotta Bounce” section to keep up with the program. Is Mastering All That? In a word? Yes. With regard to making music on a professional level, the supreme art of mastering is the final stage of a session or project (recording, editing, mixing) during which a dedicated professional with sophisticated high-end gear (i.e. compressors and EQs, among other types) finalizes your music into the sonic real deal. The gear and ears possessed by these few good men and women are far beyond most mortals’ (you and me) grasp. For projects with multiple tracks, i.e. a full-length CD, the mastering process would address the overall sonic consistency of the tracks. Issues like track-level uniformity (normalizing) or final edits of any dead air

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at beginning and ending points are ironed out in mastering before the project goes to reproduction. At the end of the day, mastering is considered paramount—it’s what makes your CD come blasting out of speakers with that certain special something that separates a demo-grade recording from something that can shake the foundation of your house. With all things considered, you can understand why mastering can only be covered on the surface in this book. To that end, let’s dabble in a little mastering using a Master Fader track and some choice plug-ins. Also, don’t miss the Pro Tip on a sort of “blue collar” mastering from none other than Guns ‘N’ Roses guitarist Bumblefoot at the end of this chapter!

Pump It Up! Compression is primarily meant to squash the dynamic range of the audio it’s processing, after which the pressure-cooked audio is boosted by an output gain control maximizing the overall punch. That’s exactly what you’re going to do to the Chopper Genesis v2.0 session. Once your final mix has come to life, instantiate your favorite compression plug-in at the top insert point of the Master Fader. Play back your session and tweak the controls to tailor your overall session output to the ideal settings. This may be a bit tougher than when you were just tweaking the Bass Mono track earlier, so it might be a good idea to go into the Plugins Preset menu and try out some of the included mastering presets to get a feel for how to program your settings. Remember, this is the entire mix coming at you now, not just one track, so it will take some time to nail a setting you like. To that end, this should give a small indication as to why mastering is such an exclusive audio art form. Power Down After you’ve applied and tweaked some overall session compression, there’s a little something called dithering you need to know about. In order to bounce, burn, and play a session outside the Pro Tools software environment, that session has to be a 16-bit file. Because the Chopper Genesis v2.0 session has been recorded at 24 bits, it will need to be reduced when bouncing to disk if you want burn the file to CD. Enter the Dither plug-in (see Figure 8.45). Dither is a common

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Figure 8.45 The DigiRack Dither RTAS plug-in is used for combating the distortion that arises in a bounced file that has had its sample rates reduced.

real-time mastering tool used to combat any distortion that might arise when the bit depth is reduced in the bounce-to-disk process. Because bouncing is a real-time process, the Dither plug-in can only be found in the RTAS plug-in menus in either mono or stereo configurations. Make sure when you instantiate the Dither plug-in in any session’s main Master Fader that it’s the last (bottom) plug-in in the signal chain. Once instantiated in the Master Fader’s post-fader Inserts section, it’s a matter of choosing the target bit depth (in our case, 16-bit) and deciding whether to use the Noise Shaping option. With respect to the latter, there’s only one way to find—bounce twice! Now get to it!

Pro Tip from Bumblefoot: Mastering Here’s a quick tip that can help when mastering your mixes. A spectrum or spectral analyzer shows the volume of your mix’s frequencies. Play the mix without any additional EQ and watch the overall shape of the meter as it shows the peaks of the frequencies from low end to high end. Picture the dotted-white line, from left-to-right, starting at half-volume in the low end (20 Hz), climbing toward full volume around 80 Hz or 90 Hz, then dropping toward silence as the frequencies go toward the high end (20 kHz). Compare the levels of your mix to the dotted line. Add an EQ to your mix and adjust levels of different frequencies of your EQ until your mix is averaging levels similar to the dotted line. Don’t have a spectrum analyzer? Go to homepage.mac.com/ bismark and download the free spectrum analyzer from Bismark called the BS-Spectrum to get started using one right now! —Bumblefoot (Guns ‘N’ Roses, solo artist)

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lthough this book is primarily designed to be your guide to becoming a proficient recording guitarist with M-Audio products in the mix, that doesn’t always mean you’ll have a guitar in your hands. These final two chapters will have your axe taking some R&R on the guitar stand while you learn how to use a pair of powerful production tools: loops and MIDI. After being introduced to the instant satisfaction of audio loops and the vast potential of MIDI, you’ll probably be wondering how you ever got along without them! Even if you have dabbled in one or both of these essential technologies, you will surely find valuable information contained in these final pages on how to enhance your workflow while getting to know some more M-Audio gear. Some guitarists may feel somewhat torn about the thought of putting their beloved six-string down, so they may need some proof as to why they should invest time away from their guitar to be a better recording guitarist. Consider this: We as guitarists have so many opportunities for making a living, but with one major caveat—we often find ourselves as the catalyst in which to do so. With that said, there are many instances where your production skills in the studio can greatly enhance your productivity. For example, having the ability to quickly produce quality musical background content (a.k.a. backing tracks) can significantly bolster your creative output, not to mention increase your chances at creating content you can use to make an income. By making use of audio loops and gaining some simple MIDI programming knowledge, you can assemble accompaniment of all types to suit your needs—anytime, anywhere, and best of all, fast! Need more? With the knowledge you have acquired in the previous chapters, you might be saying to yourself, “Now I want to record a song … with 345

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drums and bass!” While you can (and will) do that, questions will inevitably arise, like what should you do if you don’t have access to other musicians when inspiration strikes? Or, even if you do, what are the alternatives if you don’t have the tools (enough mics, appropriate interface with enough ins, physical space, etc.) or time to do it? Again, two simple words: loops and MIDI. Whatever the scenario—solo performances, teaching, writing and licensing songs, acting as a musical director, etc.—having a complete arsenal of production skills will not only make you more productive, it will make you more likely to succeed in whatever goals you set for yourself as an artist. OK, let’s start with loops …

Loops Defined Before you look into how to work with loops, let’s take a moment to define exactly what a loop is. As the word implies, it’s a snippet of digital audio, usually (but not always) short in length, that is meant to smoothly play over and over again in a seemingly endless (for lack of better term) loop. Loops can be created from prerecorded audio like in a common hip-hop production scenario where drum breaks, called break beats, from classic funk and R&B tunes are sampled (recorded and saved digitally), edited, and then looped to create beds of rhythm for MCs to rap over. Musicians, engineers, producers, and/or sound designers can also create audio loops by going into the studio to write, record, and produce loops for public consumption—as is the case with the M-Audio ProSessions libraries, which you’ll explore in this chapter. With respect to the latter, loops are not always concrete rhythmic portions of audio. They can be sound effects, ambient collages, or an amalgamation of sampled audio from the most disparate origins. That said, the most common loop material is of a rhythmic nature—like a four-bar drum performance—which is used as building blocks for larger arrangements. This will most likely be how you will use audio loops in your music production, and it is in this context that loops are discussed in this chapter. A loop’s most important attribute is how accurately it was edited, so that when the loop plays through its cycle, it sounds smooth when transitioning back to the beginning. Otherwise, you may hear a

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pause, a hiccup in the flow, or some other undesirable anomaly. Like anything else, loop technology had its growing pains with devices not able to offer features to ensure successful playback like editing loops to be the same length so you can layer loops to play in time with each other—but that’s all behind us now! Loops can now be easily arranged or sequenced into structured song arrangements for recording or live performance using myriad hardware or software devices specifically designed to handle (play, edit, arrange) these tasks, and Pro Tools is no exception. Pro Tools allows you to tempo match unrelated loops, trim or expand loop lengths, quickly duplicate loops creating backing sequences to play over, and many other useful tasks essential to audio production involving audio loops. Slice and Dice Although we’re trying to get to the heart of the matter by getting right to working with loops, there’s an important aspect of audio loops that’s worth mentioning. It has to do with how loops can be manipulated without affecting their pitch and overall stability—something called slicing or beat slicing. More times than not, audio that is referred to as a loop has a component of data within a WAV or AIFF file (called metadata) that defines a series of markers known as slices. These slices point to a file’s transients (attacks), which are used to mark positions in time. These markers or slices become a map of time positions that enable you to not only successfully manipulate the tempo of a loop, but also quantize it, derive marker templates through extraction called groove templates, as well as perform other editing tasks. The more transients in the file, the more slices the file may possess, and therefore, the easier it is to work with. Slices can be created by audio loop–production programs like Sony ACID Pro (ACID file), or the flagship loop program, Propellerhead ReCycle (REX and REX2 files). Of course, Pro Tools is capable of beat slicing, too, which is done through its own Beat Detective application accessible from the Event menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. Although we will not dive that far into loops in this book, I predict most of you will further explore audio production, and those journeys will surely include deeper implementations of loops. I strongly advise you to further your knowledge of loops and learn how to use Beat

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Detective, starting with the Pro Tools Reference Guide accessible from the Help menu. File Types Before we get into the nitty-gritty of working with loops within Pro Tools, let’s take a look at the common file formats loops come in. Following is a list of the common file types for audio loops: n

ACID. Created in Sony’s ACID Pro, these are WAV files with a header in the metadata that indicates a tempo map of markers into which the file has been cut up for more accurate time stretching. They will be seen with a .wav file extension and are supported by M-Powered. ACID files are perhaps the most common loop file format and are the most widely compatible with regard to being imported and enhanced in programs other than ACID Pro.

n

REX. Created in Propellerhead ReCycle, REX, and the more recent stereo format REX2, is also an audio file that has been sliced up into individual parts that will be seen as audio regions in M-Powered. These files, which carry a .rex extension, are also a file type you’re sure to work with.

n

Apple Loops. These are the Mac version of ACID files but are not supported by M-Powered.

All ProSessions Sound and Loop Libraries and ProSessions 24 collections come in both ACID and REX and/or REX2 file types, as well as standard, unsliced WAV and AIFF formats. ProSessions Loop Libraries M-Audio produces a dizzying array of loop CD packages that fall under the ProSessions moniker. With the ProSessions Sound and Loop Libraries and ProSessions 24 packages, you can instantly act upon those divine moments of spontaneity with incredible sounding audio media that is easily integrated into your Pro Tools session. Whatever style you need—rock, funk, salsa, trance, hiphop, or even remixed textures—you are sure to find a collection of loops that will inspire you to reach new heights in your artistry.

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Importing Options Whether your loops are located on a hard drive or a CD-ROM loaded into your computer’s disk drive, you’ll need to get those loops into your session. Here are two common methods for doing just that: n

Importing Audio command from the File menu. This method allows you to assemble a collection of loops to be placed into your session. After you choose the File > Audio command, the Import Audio window opens, where you can manually navigate through your system to look for the applicable types of audio (including loops) you want to import. After you click Done, the Audio Import Options window appears, where you can specify whether you want to import the audio to the Edit window’s Region List or create a new track.

n

Using the Workspace browser. Here you can more easily search, view, and audition loops (as well as any other pertinent files to a Pro Tools session) whether they’re on a hard drive or on a disc in your disc drive within a single browser window that can remain open throughout your entire session. After choosing what loops you want to use, you can simply drag them either to the Region List or into the Edit window’s track area, which automatically creates the necessary audio track (and at the same time deposits that loop into the Region List).

In the end, it’s up to you to decide which method best suits each individual project’s needs, but this chapter uses the Workspace browser window method. It incorporates many of the features in the aforementioned Importing Audio method, but builds upon it, making it a powerful attribute of all versions of Pro Tools.

Go Get the Goods For this chapter you’ll need to visit the Course Technology PTR download page for this book and download the Chapter 9 ZIP file. Inside you will find a collection of loops, as well as some session folders, for following along with various sections of this chapter.

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Using the Workspace Browser In a recent version update, Digidesign introduced a unique tool for searching, auditioning, and importing files for use in a Pro Tools session. It’s called the Workspace browser (see Figure 9.1). This browser is an extremely handy tool when it comes to handling audio loop files (among many other tasks), as you will soon see. In the Workspace window you can get a complete view of all your connected (or mounted) hard drives for audio playback, recording, and storage, including their size and how much space is available. You can browse the file and folder hierarchy, view audio file attributes, and audition files—all without ever leaving Pro Tools! Most relevant to our task at hand, you can easily drag audio files (such as audio loops) into the Region List or onto an audio track for use in your session much more quickly than using the File menu command mentioned above. You can even drag the file into an empty space in the Edit window track list or in the Track display area, creating a whole new track. Many of these functions also apply to MIDI files as well, which will come in handy in the next chapter, “Working with MIDI.”

Figure 9.1 The Workspace browser window is a powerful and convenient file database engine that allows you to search for project-related files like audio, MIDI, and session files without ever leaving Pro Tools.

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Let’s take a look at how to work with importing and editing audio with some drum loops from the ProSessions CD-ROM Discrete Drums: Funky Beats. These are the same loops I used to create the intro to the song “Power 3,” heard in Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire.” Be sure to move the Power 3 Loops folder to a location where you will be storing your audio files. Next, open the Power 3 Research Session session folder and double-click the session file inside to open a pre-baked session (with respect to the Black Box as the audio interface), ready for you to perform some loop importing. Then follow the steps in the sections that follow. Searching for Loops The first step to working with audio loops is to go where they are saved. Here’s how: 1.

Assuming you have the Power 3 session file open, click the Window menu and choose Workspace (see Figure 9.2) or use the Opt+; (Mac) or Alt+; (PC) keyboard shortcut.

2.

To start the search process, click the magnifying glass in the toolbar of the Workspace browser (see Figure 9.3). An

Figure 9.2 From the Window menu in the Pro Tools menu bar, you can access both the Workspace and Project browsers.

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5.

2. 3.

6.

4.

Figure 9.3 Searching the Workspace browser.

additional pane within the fixed pane, called Results, will appear within the browser; it will display your results. 3.

Choose the hard drive(s) you want to search by selecting the checkbox next to the drive (or leaving only the drives you want to search selected if they’re all checked by default).

4.

Type Power 3 Loops in the text bar.

5.

Click Search.

6.

In the Results section of the fixed pane, double-click the Power 3 Loops folder to view its contents in a separate browser called a Volume browser.

7.

Click the Show/Hide button to (if you do not already) see the second scrolling pane to the right of the fixed pane (see Figure 9.4). This scrolling pane displays many other important file attributes like tempo, size, sample rate, and bit depth, referred to as metadata.

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7. Figure 9.4 Double-clicking a hard drive or folder opens a separate Volume browser such as this one.

The Bigger Picture The Workspace browser is actually one component of a larger database system within all versions of Pro Tools called DigiBase (or DigiBase Pro for HD users). This all-encompassing system is composed of the Workspace, Volume, and Project browsers. These browsers are specifically optimized for your workflow in Pro Tools and can be displayed simultaneously and arranged with custom display settings.

Customizing Your Workspace There’s a lot of useful information within the two panes of the Workspace browser. Depending on what you deem most important, you may want to reorganize the windows for quick visual access to the categories you need to see most. At any time, columns in either pane can be resized by dragging the column borders or relocated and rearranged by dragging the column headers. You can even drag a column from one pane to the next.

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Auditioning Loops Now that you’ve accessed the Power 3 Loops folder in the Workspace browser and opened that folder in a separate Volume browser, you can pick and choose what audio loops you want to use in your session by auditioning (listening to) them. There are a few different ways to do this (see Figure 9.5): n

A. Click an audio file’s icon or filename to highlight it and then click the speaker button in the toolbar to toggle the loop on and off.

n

B. Click the speaker icon in the Waveform column of the audio file you wish to preview. Keep in mind that if you want to stop the loop from playing you have to click the speaker icon in the browser’s toolbar as mentioned previously unless you have the Spacebar Toggles File Preview command engaged (see the note that follows).

A.

B.

C. Figure 9.5 In any one of the DigiBase browsers, you can easily audition an audio file by clicking the speaker icons in the toolbar or under the Waveform column in the fixed pane.

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C. You can also start and stop auditioning a file by simply pressing the spacebar as long as the file’s name is highlighted and the Spacebar Toggles File Preview command is chosen from the browser’s File menu (see the following note).

Loop Preview Notes When you drop down either the Workspace or Volume browser window’s File menu, at the bottom you will see not only the Spacebar Toggles File Preview command, but also the AutoPreview and Loop Preview commands. Auto-Preview allows you to automatically listen to a loop by simply clicking the file’s icon, filename, or respective speaker icon. As for the Loop Preview command, it tells Pro Tools to play back the loop you are previewing. It’s good to have the Spacebar Toggles File Preview command initiated while using either one of these commands because if you try to stop the loop using the spacebar without that command initiated, your session will start, in addition to stopping the loop!

Dragging and Tempo Matching Loops to a Session After you’ve decided which loops you want to use in your session, you can simply drag the file right from the browser you’re viewing it in (Workspace or Volume). If you haven’t noticed already, there are no tracks in this session. No problem—as you drag audio file loops into the Edit window, Pro Tools automatically creates the appropriate stereo or mono track(s) in the track display for you and makes a deposit into the Region List. Not only that, it addresses any sample rate, bitdepth conversions, and/or tempo discrepancies for you as well. To practice, follow these steps:

Cutting Down Screen Clutter To cut down on screen clutter, it might be a good idea to close out whichever browser you’re not working with if you have more than one open. For instance, in this example I’m going to stick with the Audio: Power 3 Loops Volume browser, so I closed out the main Workspace browser to give myself more space. I also closed out the scrolling pane of the Volume browser by clicking the Show/Hide button (see Figure 9.5 and refer to step 7 in the section

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“Searching for Loops” earlier in this chapter) because I already studied the metadata displayed there while I was auditioning. If I want to bring any of these items back, they are only a click or a keyboard shortcut (Workspace browser only) away.

1.

Click the loop you want to drag in. For this example I’m choosing the Wood Drum loop (see Figure 9.6).

2.

Drag the Wood Drum loop onto the track display portion of the Edit window. Notice the mini dotted rectangle that appears, indicating a track will be created.

3.

If the loop has a different tempo than the session, a window will appear (see Figure 9.7) before the loop is imported and/or a track is created in the session. If you click the Show/Hide button on the Volume browser and go back to the scrolling pane, you’ll notice the Wood Drum loop’s original tempo is 100 BPM and the session is 88 BPM.

2.

1. Figure 9.6 From either the Workspace browser or Volume browser (pictured), you can simply drag audio directly to the Edit window to import it into your session.

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4.

Figure 9.7 If an audio loop being imported has a different tempo than the session, Pro Tools will ask if you want to retain that tempo or match it to the session tempo.

4.

Click Don’t Import. This allows Pro Tools to adjust the tempo of this loop and all loops thereafter to the session tempo. My Loop Is Not Lining Up! When importing loops from a DigiBase browser, you may experience a problem with aligning the newly created region perfectly to the beginning of the track’s timeline when creating a new track. Here’s what to do: If you drag an audio loop into the track display with the intention of having Pro Tools create the appropriate stereo or mono track at the same time, you should click the audio file’s icon to drag it. If you don’t do this, the region will not line up to the first beat of the first bar—or, in some instances, when the mini dotted rectangle is dragged past the track’s left-most border, it may not import at all. Clicking the file’s icon ensures a successful drag procedure and will prevent you from having to take the extra step of initiating the Grabber tool to manually move the region(s) over if you want it to line up to the very beginning of the timeline.

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Region Multiplication If you happen to peek into the Region List after importing your loop(s), you might be wondering who or what dumped the enormous number of audio regions into the list. You did, of course! When you import an audio file that has been ACIDized or REX-ified with slices in the metadata, Pro Tools sees them as individual regions—and many of them at that. Considering ACID and REX files do not reveal themselves in their file extensions, this is an easy way to identify whether the loop has been beat sliced.

Editing Loops You may need to perform some form of editing when sequencing (arranging) your loops into a song. Maybe you want to create a drum tacet (a location in the song sequence where the drums and/or percussion stop playing for a predetermined set of bars), or you may hear a fill in an area of the loop that would sound great somewhere else in the song. Regardless of what it is you want to do, Pro Tools M-Powered offers nearly limitless editing possibilities, and they all apply to working with loops. Let’s explore two common edit procedures with regard to drum loops: duplicating regions and crossfading regions. Before you proceed, delete the track you just created by clicking the track name and choosing Delete from the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. Duplicating Regions Duplicating and/or repeating will be hands down your most common editing task when dealing with loops of any kind. To get started, import the tambourine loop titled tamb.wav into the Edit window’s track display from the Volume browser. This creates a mono audio track that is automatically named tamb. Feel free to rename the track (go back to the Other Track Actions section of Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording,” if you need a review on how to do this) and adjust the track height to whatever you feel comfortable working with (see Figure 9.8). I used the large setting from the Track Height selector (go back to the “Adjusting the Session View” section in Chapter 6, “Face to (Inter) Face with Pro Tools M-Powered,” if you need a review on how to do this).

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Figure 9.8 This tambourine audio loop was dragged from the Volume browser onto the track display of the Edit window, creating a new track automatically.

Okay, let’s first duplicate the track, following these steps: 1.

You should have the Grabber tool selected from dragging the tamb.wav file into the session, but if you don’t, select it now by clicking the Grabber Tool button or pressing F8.

2.

Click the region to highlight it (see Figure 9.9).

3.

Click the Edit menu in the Pro Tools menu bar (see Figure 9.10).

4.

Click Duplicate (Cmd+D for Mac, Ctrl+D for PC). The region is copied and appears highlighted after the preceding region you duplicated (see Figure 9.11).

Crossfading Regions Although you may want to create (duplicate) more than one region in just one step, it’s a good idea to first listen back to how these regions will sound when played back now that they are sequenced back to back. To do so, press the Return or Enter key to start playback from the beginning of the timeline or just make a timeline insertion

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1.

2.

Figure 9.9 Before you can duplicate or repeat a region, you must first select it with the Grabber tool.

3.

4.

Figure 9.10 From the Edit menu in the Pro Tools menu bar, you can duplicate or repeat a selected region.

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Figure 9.11 After you duplicate a region, the newly created region appears highlighted after it.

at the spot where you want to start playback and press the spacebar. When listening back to sequenced loops, you may hear the two regions sound a little strange when they’re linked together—it happens. Nothing a crossfade can’t fix! Here’s how they work: 1.

Click the Selector tool (see Figure 9.12) or press F7.

2.

Make a selection that includes the point where the two regions meet, making sure to include enough of each region on either side of the border.

3.

Click the Edit menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

4.

Place your cursor over Fades. A submenu appears.

5.

Click Create (Cmd+F for Mac, Ctrl+F for PC). The Fades window opens (see Figure 9.13). Because you made a selection over two regions, the fade displayed in the window is a crossfade by default.

6.

To preview the crossfade, click the speaker icon.

7.

Click OK.

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2.

4.

5.

Figure 9.12 To make a crossfade, you must first make a selection that includes portions from both regions. Then go to the Edit menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and choose Fades. 6.

7.

Figure 9.13 When two regions are selected, the Fades window is automatically set up to create a crossfade. Here you can choose what types of curves are used for both fades, select how you want to view them, and preview the fade before clicking OK.

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Figure 9.14 A crossfade with standard curves.

A crossfade is created where the selection was made (see Figure 9.14) to make for a smoother transition. (The default option in this case sounds the best, so there’s no need to make any changes in this window—but you should experiment anyway!) This action also deposits a series of fade files in your Fade Files folder located in your main session folder. Repeating Regions If you’re satisfied with your crossfades, it’s time to learn how to create as many of these loop regions as you want by using the Repeat command. Here’s how: 1.

Click the Grabber tool.

2.

Click the first region to highlight it.

3.

Shift-click the second, adjacent region to highlight it while keeping the first region highlighted (see Figure 9.15).

4.

Click the Edit menu in the Pro Tools menu bar (see Figure 9.16).

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1.

2.

3.

Figure 9.15 To repeat both regions, they must both be selected with the Grabber tool. The second region must be Shift-clicked in order to maintain the first selection.

4.

5.

Figure 9.16 Select the Repeat command from the Edit menu in the Pro Tools menu bar to repeat highlighted regions.

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7. 6.

Figure 9.17 In the Repeat window, type the number of repeats and then click OK.

5.

Click Repeat (Opt+F for Mac, Alt+F for PC). The Repeat window appears (see Figure 9.17).

6.

Type the number of times you want to repeat the two regions. Let’s go with 3 for now.

7.

Click OK.

This will repeat the highlighted regions three more times, making an eight-bar tambourine loop (see Figure 9.18). Nice work! If you’re not sure you did this correctly, go to the Chapter 9 folder you downloaded from the Course Technology PTR Web site and open the Tambourine Loop Session session folder. Double-click the session file there and you’ll see the tambourine loop task you just went through, complete as an eight-bar loop with crossfades; use it to compare yours.

Duplicate versus Repeat Although the Duplicate and Repeat commands may seem the same, they do have their individual uses. Think of the Duplicate command as the go-to function when you

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need to simply copy a region once. Learning the keyboard shortcut (Cmd+D for Mac, Ctrl+D for PC) will make for faster execution. As for the Repeat command, yes, it could be used to do the very same thing—but it takes two keystrokes: Opt+F for Mac, Alt+F for PC and then Enter. That may seem trivial now, but wait until you’ve braved a couple grueling editing sessions that seemed to last forever. You’ll appreciate tips like this to keep your workflow fast and efficient. Think of the Repeat command as the go-to function for when you need to create more than one copy of a region.

Figure 9.18 The Repeat command can speed up your workflow significantly by allowing you to quickly and easily create sequences of audio loops like this.

Extracting and Splicing Another common editing task is extracting a slice of audio within a loop to be used at a different location of the song. One scenario I run into often is when I need to extract a portion of a loop to be spliced somewhere else in the track—for example, taking a section of a loop and splicing it to the end of it so there’s a hit on the first beat of a measure. To do this, I listen to the loop and look for a sound that would best suit my need for a definitive hit “on the one.” Often, a

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good loop library such as the ProSessions series will include these types of slices as individual files, but it’s good to know how to do this just in case there isn’t one that fits the bill. Besides, you might hear a better one than the ones provided! After choosing the portion to extract, I then highlight the slice, capture or create a new region, and drag it over to where it’s needed—and that’s exactly what you’re going to do. To get started, you need to import another tambourine loop, but before you proceed, delete the tamb track from the previous section by clicking the track name and choosing Delete from the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar. From the Workspace or Volume browser (whichever one you’ve chosen to work with), drag the tam head.wav loop into the Edit window’s track display from the Volume browser. Like the tamb.wav loop, this creates a mono audio track that is automatically named tamb head (see Figure 9.19). Remember, you can rename the track and adjust the track height to whatever you feel comfortable working with. In this section I’ll throw in some more

Figure 9.19 Notice the track height has been adjusted to the Fit to Window setting and the region has been zoomed in on using the Zoomer tool for more accurate Tab to Transients selections to be made.

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advanced ways to make selections and adjust them. I’ll use the Tab to Transients function to make and extend a selection—so read carefully as these procedures will prove to be invaluable for editing tasks such as these. Tab to What? Tab to Transients. Tab refers to the Tab key on your computer’s keyboard, and Transients refers to a term in audio commonly used to describe the initial attack of a sound. Transients are easily seen in the waveform display on any given audio track, especially if the instrument or sound produced is of a percussive nature, as they are usually the largest portions of the waveform. The Tab to Transients function allows you to use the computer keyboard’s Tab key to navigate the timeline insertion point from one transient to the next, ensuring precise edit points for tight selections.

1.

Click the Tab to Transients button to activate that feature in Pro Tools M-Powered (see Figure 9.20). 1. 5.

Figure 9.20 Using the Tab to Transients and Zoom tools, you can make much more precise edit selections.

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2.

Press the spacebar to play back the tamb head loop. Listen for a strong, one-beat example to slice, and move to the beginning of bar 5 in the track’s timeline.

3.

After deciding which part of the loop you’re going to use, press the spacebar again to stop playback.

4.

Click the Selector tool (F7) and click near the initial transient of the one-beat slice you’re going for. It’s okay if it’s not precisely on the transient’s border—that’s what the next step is for.

5.

If you need to zoom in, click the horizontal zoom in button (Cmd+] for Mac, Ctrl+] for PC) to zero in on the one-beat event you’re trying to capture.

6.

Press the Tab key. This moves the timeline insertion right up against the transient’s border, making for a perfect insertion point for the most accurate selection.

7.

Shift+Tab to make an edit selection until the selection meets with the next initial transient of the next 1/4 note. This selects the entire one-beat event, ensuring the most natural example.

Now you have a perfect one-beat slice of the loop that would’ve taken much more time to perform without the Tab to Transients function. Next, the selection needs to be made into a region to splice at the end of the original loop. This is where the Region Capture command comes in. Follow these steps: 1.

Click the Region menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Click Capture (Cmd+R for Mac, Ctrl+R for PC), as shown in Figure 9.21. The Name Region window appears (see Figure 9.22).

3.

Type a name for the region. For example, I used tam head downbeat hit.

4.

Click OK. This deposits the region in the Region List.

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1.

2.

Figure 9.21 Use the Capture command found in the Region menu to transform an edit selection into a region.

3.

2.

4. Figure 9.22 Performing the ever-important task of naming a region. That newly created region can be deposited into the Region List.

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3.

4.

1. 2. Figure 9.23 After capturing and naming a region, it can be easily dragged into any track’s timeline. Shuffle mode enables you to easily make perfect splices without having to drag the region to the actual location.

With the extracted region captured and deposited in the Region List, it’s time to drag and splice it to the end of the four-bar loop. Follow these final steps: 1.

Click the Region List Show/Hide button to open the Region List (see Figure 9.23).

2.

Find the tam head downbeat hit region and click it to select it.

3.

Click Shuffle Mode (F1). This ensures that whatever region you’re about to splice is placed right next to the region’s border you’re planning on connecting it to—in this case, the end of the four-bar loop.

4.

Drag the region to the tam head track’s playlist area and release the mouse at any point within the track. Because you’re in Shuffle mode, the region snaps to the end border of the fourbar audio loop, making a seamless splice.

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To listen from the beginning, press the Return key (Enter on PC) and then press the spacebar. You should hear a perfectly spliced track of four bars and one beat of tambourine perfection. Like in the previous section, “Duplicating and Repeating Regions,” you will find a session folder within your Chapter 9 folder called Tam Head Splice Session to use as a comparison so you can see if you did this correctly. If you feel like you need to smooth your splice, try inserting a crossfade. Now for some MIDI … .

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M

y first encounter with MIDI was much the same as it was for most guitarists—a means of switching between presets within storage banks found on standalone multi-effects processors or multichannel amps. And if you were one of those lucky few players who could afford the “refrigerator rack” of highend processing toys, you likely used MIDI to do the same task—just on a more grand scale. The fact is, MIDI, although still serving as a way for hardware components to communicate in ways we guitarists have come to know, love, and depend on, has become immensely important in modern music production. In this chapter you will take a quick peek at the vast possibilities MIDI has to offer through the eyes of someone (me) who had the same inherent apprehensions and concerns. Questions like, “What does this have to with recording guitar?” or “What’s with everything going from 0–127 anyway?” will be answered. I will take you through the ins and outs of the vital aspects of this incredible tool in a way that I hope makes you not only see the intrinsic value of MIDI, but also makes you feel like you can actually do something with it. Throughout this chapter you use the following tools: n

A MIDI controller (M-Audio Oxygen 8 v2)

n

An Instrument track

n

A virtual instrument (Xpand!)

MIDI Defined But before we get started, let’s take a look at what exactly this musically essential acronym stands for. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, which is a protocol for connecting electronic instruments, 373

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performance controllers, and computers so they can communicate with each other. Although this at first may not be as important to a guitarist as, say, what power amp tube configurations can be utilized in a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King, it is nonetheless a very powerful composition and performance tool that is becoming more and more prevalent in every instrument’s creative potential—and you need to pay attention to it! The most important initial fact about MIDI data is that it does not contain any sound. What it does contain is information about sound— moreover, how it was produced and/or performed. Some examples of these parameters include the following, to name but a few: n

Volume

n

Pitch

n

Velocity

n

Duration

n

Instrument choice

n

Note activation and deactivation

Although there’s no sound in the actual raw MIDI data, it is relative to digital audio in that it relies on binary code (refer to Chapter 2, “The Audio Interface Explained”) to translate its messages. Put simply, when a key on a control surface (i.e., a MIDI-ready electronic keyboard or your computer keyboard) is pressed, it sends a predetermined binary message or series of messages to a component that has sounds (samples, synthesized patches, or loops for example) loaded into it. That message conveys to the sound module the necessary information—what note, how loud the note should be, the note’s duration, etc.—to produce the sound in the way the person intended it. This enables anyone with a MIDI controller (most often a piano-style keyboard instrument) to “play” just about anything! As long as you have the sound at your disposal, you can play it. Ever hear a guitarist take a solo and sound like, say, a tenor sax? Or hear a guitarist play drum sounds from his or her guitar? What they are doing

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is turning their guitars into MIDI controllers with the help of some specialized gear (most importantly a hex pickup configuration like the Roland GK-3 into a MIDI interface) and using MIDI to trigger sounds in a MIDI sound module (for more information on using your guitar with MIDI, check out Digital Guitar Power! by John Schonbrun). The raw data from these performances can even be recorded and played back by a MIDI sequencer—which can come in the form of a hardware device or in a software configuration—and then stored as files called Standard MIDI files. After these sequences of MIDI data are captured and saved, you can do with them what you want. Want to change the sound you originally recorded the sequence with? No problem, just assign a new one. You can even drag a MIDI file into Pro Tools for use in a completely different session than the one you originally created it in! Lucky for us, all versions of Pro Tools feature an extensive and powerful MIDI sequencer that allows you to record and edit MIDI data. If this explanation is hard to wrap your head around, don’t worry. We’re going to go directly to the source to get some hands-on time working with MIDI in the coming sections. As a side note: When you’re ready, I strongly encourage you to continue learning about MIDI by whatever means suit your needs (books, magazine articles, CD-ROM, DVD, and of course, Course Technology PTR texts!). With a little time and patience, you could soon find yourself creating music far beyond what you can do with just a guitar in your hands. Just try to remember to never forget that’s where you came from! In the meantime, read on to get a glimpse of some basic MIDI properties while taking a look at one of the many things MIDI can do for you.

The Numbers Game At one time or another, we’ve all had some sort of multi-effects processor that has presets (also known as patches) that are stored (factory or user-created) in its internal memory. You access these presets by pressing designated footswitches to call up the sound you want. You may have noticed those presets are more often than not numbered from 0–127 or 1–128 or some other numeric configuration that totals

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128, such as 32 banks (groups of presets) of four presets. That’s because this is all done by MIDI! But did you ever wonder why 128 was the magic number? Why not a range from 0–100? And how come it’s usually displayed from 0–127?! Knowing this information will help you understand how MIDI translates its values, giving you the background information necessary to control your gear, thus enabling you to get the most out of it. Besides, if you’re like me, it’s probably been bugging you for years! Let’s tackle this one at a time, starting with the reason behind 128. 128 Revealed Binary, the system on which MIDI messages (as well as all other computer data) are based, is itself based on number sequences that are derived from powers of two. The multipliers of an eight-digit binary number, called a byte, are 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1. To establish this, you create a sequence of digits reading from right to left, making the first digit 1 and multiplying it by 2, equaling 2—there’s your second digit. Then, take that result and multiply it by 2 (2  2 = 4), and so on, until you have done this eight times (remember, bytes are comprised of eight bits), equaling the magic number: 128. But there’s more … .

Need a Binary Refresher? At this point, you may be scratching your head a bit (get it?). If so, go back to Chapter 2 for a quick refresher on binary code.

Number Crunching As you will soon find out, we see MIDI messages on an LCD display as whole numbers from that mysterious range of 0–127. Before exploring the reason behind this range, it’s important to understand how these whole numbers are created. Let’s take the eight-bit message (called a byte) 00010110 as an example. Using the sequence of multipliers explained previously—128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1—multiply each instance of 1 by the corresponding whole number in the sequence and then add the sums together. Here’s how: the first three bits (reading left to right this time) in the byte are 0, resulting in no multiplication for the

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first three numbers in the sequence. That cuts out utilizing 128, 64, and 32. The next bit is a 1, so that gets multiplied by 16, equaling, well, 16! Skipping the next bit, which is 0, you multiply the sixth and seventh bits by their corresponding integers respectively: 4  1 = 4 and 2  1 = 2. Because the last bit is 0, that leaves us with only three numbers, 16, 4, and 2. Add those numbers together, 16 þ 4 þ 2, and you get the MIDI message we see in the display, which in this case is 22. Now for 0–127 … . 0–127 Defined Binary code is comprised of 0s and/or 1s. We know that. In the case of MIDI, a MIDI message consists of three bytes (24 bits total), which is made up of one status byte and two data bytes. This makes up one MIDI event, which is triggered by a MIDI controller device (described later in this chapter). The first bit is always used to indicate whether the byte is status (1) or data (0), which only leaves seven bits dedicated to deliver the actual command information. With regard to what you just learned in the “Number Crunching” section, that’s only seven, not eight, possible digits by which to multiply 1. That means MIDI messages are only utilizing 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 as integers to compute. If you were to fill all the remaining seven bits up with 1s and multiply them by their corresponding values (64  1, 32  1, 16  1, 8  1, 4  1, 2  1, 1  1), the total value would be, you guessed it, 127! Back to the 128 issue: Some manufacturers shift the 0  127 range by 1 to utilize the more rounded range of 1  128, especially in the case of organizing presets into banks. Now you know!

Some Common Tech Terms to Know Now that you have the skinny behind 0–127, let’s take a look at some essential MIDI tech terms that you should know: n

MIDI port. This is the name of the actual physical connection port(s) on your MIDI hardware used to connect all your MIDI gear (see Figure 10.1). It could come in the form of the standard MIDI 5-pin DIN transport, USB, or FireWire. Dedicated 5-pin DIN

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Figure 10.1 The middle connection port (marked MIDI Out) is a standard MIDI 5-pin DIN transport, as seen on the back of the M-Audio Oxygen v2. Notice that there’s a USB port as well, which is an alternative means to connect and transmit MIDI data.

transports come in three varieties: In, Out, and Thru (see the next bullet), while USB and FireWire, when dealing with digital audio, serve as a means of bidirectional transfer, supporting data to and from your MIDI hardware. n

MIDI In, Out, and Thru. These are the three types of 5-pin DIN ports on all MIDI-compatible gear. The most important thing to understand about these ports is that the unit used to create the MIDI data (the controller) is sending the MIDI to the sound source; therefore you would use the MIDI Out port on the controller to connect to the MIDI In of the unit that houses the sounds. If a sound module needs to send MIDI back to the controller, you would then go from its MIDI Out to the controller’s MIDI In. Keep in mind: USB and FireWire are two way–path connections and can send information in both directions, thus making the exchange of MIDI information through one cable possible. MIDI Thru, often coupled into the MIDI Out port nowadays, simply passes MIDI information along to other units in the chain of connections. This is used not only to communicate with multiple MIDI hardware units simultaneously, but also sometimes to pass information to specific units while skipping others so you don’t have to disconnect them when they not being used.

n

MIDI channel. MIDI information can be sent on 16 separate channels per connection. This allows you to send unique, individual messages from a single controller to multiple sound modules or other components that accept MIDI messages, at different times or simultaneously, without any crosstalk. This comes in handy when, for example, triggering multiple sounds with unique parameter settings in one sound source for more complex tones. Take note: It’s very important to make sure that the components you want to

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use at any given time are communicating on the same MIDI channel or they will not work. If you’re having a problem in your MIDI system, this is the first item to check. n

General MIDI. Commonly abbreviated as GM, this list of specifications was created to further the basic premise of MIDI—ultimate communication with no interference or incompatibility between MIDI devices. Set forth by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) and Japan MIDI Standards Committee (JMSC) in 1991 (initially called GM1 and later revamped into GM2), General MIDI provides a consistent platform of compatibility between device manufacturers and MIDI content designers. It’s a list of requirements to which all MIDI gear deemed “General MIDI” must adhere; it includes items such as a certain number of simultaneous notes that can be played, consistency in control change message (see the upcoming bullet on this topic) assignments, and most importantly, universal instrument sound sets.

n

MIDI message. This is the blanket term for the actual data exchanged between MIDI devices when they communicate. It’s based in binary form and comes in several different forms. Some common examples follow. n Control change. This is a multipart message sent by a MIDI controller to an awaiting MIDI hardware device or software application, telling it that a specific control (encoder, slider, knob, etc.) is being used to tweak a parameter of that device or application in real time. Although these parameters may be premapped, the user can almost always easily assign whatever control he or she likes to a specific parameter. The message contains the number assignment (control number) with which that control is associated as stated in the General MIDI specifications as well as the value of the control change (usually ranging from 0–127). n Note-on, note-off. These messages tell a MIDI sound module when to activate or deactivate a specific note. n Velocity. This message tells a MIDI sound module how loudly or softly to play the note relative to other notes by measuring

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the speed at which the key(s) on a MIDI controller was depressed. n

Channel volume. This message tells a MIDI sound module how to handle the overall loudness of all the notes in that specific channel (refer to the “MIDI channel” bullet earlier in this list).

n

Quantize. One the most valuable aspects of MIDI, especially for the non-keyboard player (or the non-musician, for that matter), quantization is a process in which recorded (sequenced) musical events (digital audio or MIDI data) are adjusted to the nearest rhythmic increment according to a timing grid as set by the user.

n

MIDI mapping. This refers to the process of assigning a hardware MIDI controller (knob, slider, trigger pad, etc.) to control a virtual software controller. An example of mapping would be assigning a hardware knob on a MIDI keyboard controller to control the fader in a Master Fader track so you can more easily make volume adjustments without always having to grab your mouse. It’s common for MIDI controllers to have preloaded mappings tailor-made by the manufacturer to work with popular applications like Pro Tools M-Powered.

n

MIDI encoders. There are several controls for tweaking MIDIcontrolled parameters (sliders, faders, etc.), but MIDI encoders are a special type. These rotary dials may look like a conventional knob or pot like those found on your amp, but they’re different in that they endlessly twist a full 360˚ around and usually have segmented detents that you can feel as you turn the knob. An encoder’s most important attribute is the way it handles information it’s affecting. If you turn an encoder, move on to other matters in your session using the same control, and then go back to the initial parameter, the second you touch the encoder it will pick up from where you left off and not jump from the value to which it was moved by the second adjustment. Knobs or pots will not do that. Instead, they are in a WYSIWYG format, which stands for “what you see is what you get.” The first time you go to make an adjustment and have your head chopped off by an unsuspecting spike in volume resulting from this configuration is when you’ll fully appreciate (and/or demand) rotary encoders.

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Getting Started Although there are myriad configurations when it comes to MIDI hardware and computer-based recording rigs, this section is based on a simple setup consisting of a computer with M-Powered Pro Tools installed, the free Xpand! sample-playback/synthesis workstation (included in Guitar Box and Guitar Box Pro and/or available at no charge through the Digidesign Web site—well, you have to pay shipping costs), a qualified M-Powered–compatible interface, and a MIDI controller with a USB port. Other setups may include a dedicated MIDI interface, an audio interface with a built-in MIDI interface, external hardware sound modules, or keyboards featuring internal sounds. To keep things simple and get you up and running as quickly as possible, we’ll have the MIDI controller plug into the system via USB, thus skipping the need for a MIDI interface. And because we’re using a virtual instrument, there’s no need for an external sound module either. The entire MIDI configuration will be very much like what you may already have in place, with the addition of the controller and the virtual instrument. The first step is to plug in your MIDI hardware and make sure said hardware is properly set up to communicate with your M-Powered rig. Then it’s just a matter of creating the appropriate tracks and inserting a virtual instrument. But before you do, let’s get to know what it is you’re plugging in: the controller.

MIDI Controllers In its simplest form, a MIDI controller is a hardware device that can produce MIDI event data. That data could be in the form of recorded data captured and saved by a MIDI sequencer (in this case, Pro Tools M-Powered). It could also be data that allows you to tweak your performance or recording in real time or in the editing phase of your project. Although a MIDI controller most commonly comes in the form of an instrument related to a synthesizer with a keyboard, there are controllers without any piano-like keys that feature other controls like pressure pads, sliders, and rotary knobs, such as the M-Audio Trigger Finger (see Figure 10.2).

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Figure 10.2 The M-Audio Trigger Finger is a MIDI control surface intended for MIDI drum and percussion programming in both real-time performance and sequencing (recording).

Like MIDI itself, a MIDI controller has no sounds to offer, only data. An easy way to tell a dedicated MIDI controller from a traditional electronic keyboard is to look at the rear panel and see if there’s an Audio Out. If a keyboard does not have an Audio Out, but instead has at least one MIDI and/or USB port, it’s a MIDI controller. Of course, there are many keyboards on the market that feature both internal sounds and MIDI controller features, too. M-Audio has been one of the industry leaders in many aspects of MIDI gear design and manufacturing, especially in the category of controllers. Some examples are the Axiom, Keystation, and MidAir series controllers, but it is the Oxygen 8 v2 that has become the standard portable MIDI controller (see Figure 10.3). In fact, the original M-Audio Oxygen 8 mobile MIDI controller played a key role in the mobile studio revolution. The Oxygen’s popularity is not just because it’s portable, bus-powered, and has 25 velocity-sensitive keys for MIDI

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Figure 10.3 The lightweight bus-powered Oxygen v2 has become the standard portable MIDI controller, featuring 25 velocity-sensitive keys, eight MIDI-assignable knobs, and six MIDI-assignable transport buttons.

data input; it also has eight fully assignable MIDI controller knobs, six soft-button transport buttons, assignable pitch bend and modulation wheels, and more—all in a four-pound package that can fit in a backpack! Although the examples in the coming sections were performed on the venerable Oxygen 8 v2, you can employ any MIDI controller to perform the exact same procedures. Setting Up Your System After unpacking your newly acquired MIDI controller, there are a few simple steps to take in order to set up your rig to effectively record MIDI data. First things first, however: As stated throughout this book, be sure to read the instructions for installing the drivers that come with your controller before plugging it in! As for the drivers themselves, it’s always best to visit the M-Audio Web site and get the most up-to-date Keyboard Series drivers for your controller. This ensures that your MIDI controller will function properly and also that

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you will not cause your operating system to initiate any native drivers that will need to be uninstalled soon after. For a review on drivers, refer to Chapter 2. If you’re using a USB controller like the Oxygen, another advantage to installing the drivers properly is that setting up the unit to function within Pro Tools is as easy as connecting it to an available USB port on your computer. From there, your controller should automatically be recognized, but to be sure, follow the upcoming steps. Feel free to use the Power 3 Research Session session from the Chapter 10 ZIP file on the Course Technology PTR Web site. A quick way to ensure your controller (now an input device) is set up properly is to verify that it’s enabled in the MIDI Input Devices dialog box. Here’s how: 1.

Click the Setup menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Click MIDI. A submenu appears (see Figure 10.4).

1.

2.

3.

Figure 10.4 Clicking on the Setup menu of the Pro Tools menu bar reveals a dropdown menu that includes a choice simply called MIDI, which exposes a submenu containing four options that all play an important role in configuring your MIDI gear to work with M-Powered.

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3.

Click Input Devices. The MIDI Input Enable dialog box appears (see Figure 10.5).

4.

Make sure the checkbox next to whatever MIDI controller you’re using is selected.

5.

Click OK.

4.

5. Figure 10.5 Although it is essential to select the checkboxes next to any device you want to use to create and input MIDI data into Pro Tools, it is not necessary to choose a device to send MIDI data from Pro Tools. An example of a device that need not be selected is a standalone sound module.

In addition to verifying that your controller is set up to input MIDI data into M-Powered, you must make a quick adjustment so you can monitor what you’re playing as you record your performance. Enabling the MIDI Thru option found in the Options menu does this. Follow these steps: 1.

Click the Options menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

2.

Click MIDI Thru (see Figure 10.6).

Although this is all that is required of you to set up your controller (in this case, the Oxygen 8 v2), it’s a good idea to be aware of the MIDI Studio Setup window (also accessed from the Setup > MIDI menu

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1.

2.

Figure 10.6 In order to monitor what you’re playing when recording MIDI data, MIDI Thru must be activated from the Options menu.

path, as described in the previous section) when you’re ready for more complex MIDI setups that may have multiple controllers, MIDI interfaces, and/or external sound modules. Although Windows-based Pro Tools systems go to a native MIDI Studio Setup window, Mac-based systems direct that command to open the OS X application called Audio MIDI Setup (see Figure 10.7). In either case, it is in those windows you can manage In and Out ports and MIDI channel assignments for your external MIDI interfaces, controllers, and other MIDI gear as well as other vital MIDI properties.

The What, Why, and Where of Auxiliary, MIDI, and Instrument Tracks When it comes to track types in Pro Tools, the quickest way to get up and running with MIDI is to use an Instrument track. But before we go diving into their description and application, to best appreciate their value let’s quickly go through the two track types an Instrument track was designed to combine: an Auxiliary Input track (commonly referred

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Figure 10.7 Mac-based Pro Tools systems direct you toward the OS X Audio MIDI Setup application when you choose the MIDI Studio Setup option in the Setup menu’s MIDI submenu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

to with its abbreviated monikers, Auxiliary track or Aux In track) and a MIDI track. An Auxiliary track (introduced in previous chapters), like MIDI, contains no audio, but serves an important roles nonetheless. As the name implies, Auxiliary tracks are an alternative input destination for myriad applications, such as the following: n

Monitoring or processing live audio from a MIDI source

n

A group of tracks called a submix

n

A track where a plug-in effect such as reverb or delay can reside for effect send purposes

n

A bounce

The MIDI track is a key component in the Pro Tools virtual MIDI sequencer. It is here you will record and store your MIDI data to a nonlinear timeline very much the same way digital audio is recorded to an audio track. You’re able to import MIDI files as well as deeply edit the MIDI data contained within them. The catch is, you can’t hear

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the data unless you route the track’s output to either an internal virtual software instrument hosted on an Auxiliary track or an external hardware sound module. In both cases, the audio now created needs to come through that same Aux In track, which has its output routed to your main output monitor assignments. Enter Instrument tracks…. Instrument tracks, on the other hand, combine the attributes of both the Auxiliary and MIDI tracks into one convenient package. They can host virtual instruments and/or patch in audio from external MIDI devices (previously something only an Auxiliary track could do) and at the same time allow you to record (sequence) and edit MIDI performances (previously something only a MIDI track could do). Instrument tracks are also the only type of track to utilize a MIDI instrument pane in both the Edit and Mix window views (see the Edit window view in Figure 10.8), which displays the following:

MIDI Input Selector MIDI Volume MIDI Output Indicator Selector

MIDI Meter MIDI Path Indicator

MIDI Mute Button

Figure 10.8 Only Instrument tracks feature an instrument pane in both Edit and Mix views, which is used for monitoring various MIDI status indicators.

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n

MIDI Input selector

n

MIDI Output selector

n

MIDI Volume indicator

n

MIDI Path indicator

n

MIDI Mute button

n

MIDI meter

Working with MIDI

Using the same basic procedures you learned in the “Creating Tracks” section of Chapter 4, “The Joys of Recording,” go ahead and create a stereo Instrument track in your open session. After completing that task, go to the next section to learn about virtual instruments, namely Digidesign’s own Xpand! sample-playback/synthesis workstation. Quick Review Don’t want to turn back pages for something as simple as track creation? No problem. Just follow these quick and easy steps. The quickest way is by using the Cmd+Shift+N (Mac) or Ctrl+ Shift+N (PC) keyboard shortcut to open the Track Creation dialog box. Once you’re there, create one stereo Instrument track in ticks format. Also, be sure you are viewing the instrument pane in both the Edit and Mix windows (View > Mix Window > Instrument or View > Edit Window > Instrument).

Track Symbols All five track types in all versions of Pro Tools have corresponding symbols in the lower-right corner, above the volume level display, to help quickly identify what type of track it is. Looking at Figure 10.9, you can see the three track-type symbols displayed as follows from left to right: The down arrow signifies an Auxiliary track, the 5-pin MIDI cable symbol signifies a MIDI track, and a small keyboard graphic signifies an Instrument track.

The Who and How of Virtual Instruments Virtual instruments are like plug-ins (covered in Chapter 8, “An Introduction to Mixing and Mastering,” and Chapter 9, “Working with Loops”)—they exist on your computer in the form of software

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Figure 10.9 The symbols in the lower-right corner of all five track types help identify what type of tracks you are working with. This, along with viewing track colors and utilizing the Narrow Mix command, comes in handy with sessions that have high track counts.

applications. They boast extremely powerful and exciting features by utilizing your machine’s superior processing abilities, so the more tricked out your computer is (most importantly, the amount of available RAM and processor speed it offers), the more you’ll get out of your virtual instruments. They can come in many forms, including the following: n

Synthesizers

n

Sound modules

n

Samplers

n

Drum machines

n

Various combinations of these

In order for a virtual instrument to be able to function in a Pro Tools environment, it has to be in the RTAS (Real-Time AudioSuite) format

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(discussed in previous chapters) or routed into Pro Tools through ReWire—a virtual MIDI and audio conduit that allows communication between two programs. Take note of two things: Pro Tools does not support VST, VSTi, or AU formats, and you have to check with each individual program you may want to ReWire to see if it supports ReWire slave mode. With respect to the former, there is a workaround for employing nonsupported plug-in formats by using FXpansion’s VST Wrapper, which allows you to host VSTs in Pro Tools. But don’t worry, any virtual instrument designer worth its salt will offer its product in RTAS format, since Pro Tools is the industry leading DAW! Unlike plug-ins, virtual instruments do not always depend on a host application like Pro Tools to be accessible by the user (that’s you). They’re often available as standalone programs, too, like the M-Audio–distributed GForce series instruments. This series includes the fantastic Minimonsta:Melohman virtual analog synth, modeled after the legendary Minimoog analog synth. This brings up another important advantage to virtual instruments: They are often excellent substitutes for more expensive vintage gear that would otherwise be out of your budget, not to mention that they take up a lot less room! Xpand! For our purposes, we will insert a host-dependent virtual instrument made by Digidesign’s own AIR (Advanced Instrument Research) division called Xpand! (see Figure 10.10). This free sample-playback/synthesis workstation is included in both versions of the Guitar Box; in addition, it is available to all Pro Tools 7.x and later users, who can simply request that Digidesign ship the CD installer package in exchange for a small shipping and handling fee (there’re so many great sounds, it’s too big for download!). Within the Instrument track you created in the last section, insert the Xpand! virtual instrument as a multichannel plug-in at insert a. (For a quick reminder, see the upcoming note, “Quick Review v2.0.”) Xpand! starts up with a patch already loaded called Shimmer by default. If you followed the instructions in the previous section, “Setting Up Your System,” you should be set to go. So what are you waiting for? Press any

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Figure 10.10 The free Digidesign Xpand! sample-playback/synthesis workstation is a simple yet powerful virtual instrument great for MIDI newbies!

key or set of keys on your MIDI controller and just try to hold back that smile that says, “Yes! I did it!”

Quick Review v2.0 Don’t want to turn back pages for something as simple as instantiating an insert? No problem (again). Just follow these quick and easy steps. First, make sure you are viewing the insert pane in either the Edit or Mix window (View > Mix Window > Inserts or View > Edit Window > Inserts). If so, simply click the top insert button, choose Multi-Channel Plug-in, then Instrument, then Xpand! (stereo).

While you’re pressing the keys and listening to the Shimmer patch, check out the input level displays in Xpand! (to the right of the Part A voice section, where the patch category and name are displayed) and in your Instrument track (in either Edit or Mix view). Like audio, be careful not to let the meters go into the red. Although you’re only inputting data into the Pro Tools MIDI sequencer, you will hear

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clipping while monitoring, and you will end up recording clipped audio when you are ready to bounce the performance to an audio track (more on that in the final section of this chapter). Calling Up Patches in Xpand! In order to record MIDI data, you need to know how to call up a patch to record with—in this case the bass patch (Hard Double Bass) I used to create the bass line for the song “Power 3,” heard in Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your M-Powered Empire.” As you can see in Figure 10.11, there are a few ways to go about calling up a patch in Xpand!. n

Click the Librarian menu in the Xpand! toolbar. This exposes a menu listing all the patch categories available to you; place the mouse over any category to expose a submenu listing all the actual patches in that category. Finally, click a patch to load it into Xpand!.

n

Click the down arrow in Xpand!’s A voice section. This exposes a menu listing all the patch categories available to you; place the

A.

B.

Figure 10.11 Two ways to call up patches on Xpand! are from the Librarian menu (a) and from the menus available in each individual patch voice section (b).

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mouse over any category to expose a submenu listing all the actual patches in that category. Finally, click a patch to load it. I prefer to use a third method, however: the Plug-In Settings window. This allows me a better view of the patches in each category, but most importantly, I can preview multiple patches at once without the menu disappearing after I choose one, as is the case with the previous two methods. Here’s how this method works: 1.

Click the Plug-In Settings button. This opens the Xpand! Plugin Settings window.

2.

Click the Folder text box. The words Root Settings appear in the box, and a menu appears.

3.

Click the category of patches you want to view (in this case, 25 Basses, as shown in Figure 10.12). All the patches in that 1.

2.

4.

3.

5.

Figure 10.12 Using the Plug-In Settings window is a great way to audition patches in Xpand! without having to reopen menus over and over again after choosing a patch.

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category will now be displayed in the main area of the Xpand! settings select window. 4.

Click the 21 Hard Double Bass patch. This loads the patch into Xpand! without the window closing, so if you want to preview another patch, you can without having to call up a series of menus again.

5.

Click Done when you’re ready to proceed. Be sure you load up the Hard Double Bass patch!

Recording MIDI With your system correctly set up and optimized for MIDI input and monitoring while recording, an Instrument track created, Xpand! open and awaiting your commands, and the Hard Double Bass patch loaded, you should be ready for action. Recording MIDI is much the same as recording audio, but to be sure we’re all on the same page, follow these steps to initiate a MIDI recording:

Wanted: Transport Window When recording MIDI, it’s a good idea to have the floating transport window present, covered in Chapter 6, “Face to (Inter)Face with Pro Tools M-Powered,” and accessed via the Window > Transport menu command or the Cmd+Numeric 1 (Mac) or Ctrl+Numeric 1 (PC) keyboard shortcut. That’s because many MIDI features—some of which are covered in this chapter— can only be accessed from that window, such as Click/Countoff Options and MIDI Merge.

Click Track: Don’t Start a Session Without It It’s always a good idea to create and use a click track (as described in Chapter 4) whenever inputting MIDI data. The quickest way is to click the Track menu in the Pro Tools menu bar and click Create Click Track. If you want to change the tone used in the Click plug-in, just hit the spacebar and use the Plug-Ins Settings window, accessed as described in the preceding section, “Calling Up Patches In Xpand!.” Also, be sure to have at least a two-bar countoff set up (also described in Chapter 4) and

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make sure you have both the Metronome Click, Countoff, and Tempo Ruler Enable buttons engaged (turned blue) in the MIDI Controls section of the Transport window.

1.

1.

Click the R (for record) button in the track on which you will be recording your MIDI performance.

2.

Click the Record button in either the transport section of the Edit window or the Transport window.

3.

Click the Play button in either the transport section of the Edit window or the Transport window (see Figure 10.13). 3.

2.

Figure 10.13 As you can see, initiating recording of a MIDI performance is similar to working with audio.

From there, depending on your countoff settings (assuming you have a click track in your session), the red light is on—so play that keyboard! After you have finished recording, hit the spacebar to stop.

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Keyboard Shortcut Alert! Remember, you can also use the keyboard shortcuts after you have record enabled the track to which you wish to record: Cmd+spacebar, F12, or Numeric 3 for Mac, and Ctrl+ spacebar, F12, or Numeric 3 for PC.

Octave Placement If you’re using the Oxygen 8 v2 MIDI controller, as I did in the making of “Power 3,” you’ll want to adjust the octave setting on the controller to read 1 so you can play the low E (open sixth string) on an acoustic bass. Pressing the horizontal Transpose soft button on the top, just left of the main three-digit LED screen, accomplishes this. Because it’s only a 25-note keyboard, most other settings will not allow you to play that actual pitch range (now located at the third white key from the right). This specific setting allows you to play that note and its octave (now located at the 10th white key from the right or the eighth from the aforementioned low E) within the range of the keyboard, making it perfect for creating a bass line that incorporates that essential interval—as many lines do.

MIDI Merge Unlike recording audio, you have the option to overdub MIDI data on top of the sequence you just recorded without erasing it! This is done through the MIDI Merge feature, which is activated in the floating Transport window. When used in conjunction with Loop Playback mode (discussed in Chapter 7, “Editing 101 and Some M-Powered Empowerment”), the MIDI Merge function comes in handy for building great-sounding MIDI performances—like a drum sequence or a complex bass line—one piece at a time in a continuous flow. This is a very powerful option and saves you a lot of time by not requiring you to learn how to play the keyboard, not to mention play it as if you were playing an entirely different instrument! In case you’re wondering, this is the method I employed to sequence the bass line in “Power 3.” I first played the lower register parts, then overdubbed the higher parts, making one complete bass line. Without MIDI Merge, I wouldn’t have been able to play the line all at once in real time and therefore would not have been able to get my idea across.

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Follow these instructions to see how to set up MIDI Merge in Loop Playback mode so you can use this option to further whatever MIDI performance you just laid down in the previous section: 1.

Click the MIDI Merge button in the Transport window. Notice that the Metronome Click, Countoff, and Tempo Ruler Enable buttons are activated as well, indicated by their darker (blue) color.

2.

Ctrl-click the Play button in the top portion of the Edit window or in the floating Transport window, or use the Shift+Cmd+P (Mac) or Shift+Ctrl+P (PC) shortcut to activate Loop Playback.

3.

Make a four-bar edit selection in the timeline like the one seen in Figure 10.14. If you don’t want your edit selection to darken the track’s playlist, click the Link Timeline and Edit 3.

2.

1. Figure 10.14 The MIDI Merge function allows you to create more robust MIDI sequences by enabling a nondestructive overdub process by which you can record MIDI data on top of previously recorded data. This is especially useful in Loop Playback mode, as seen here.

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Selection button before making the selection. This deselects that option and enables you to see the MIDI data more clearly while you sequence your performance. After you have those parameters set up, you can follow the same procedures for initiating recording as previously outlined and let the selection loop around until you finish recording your additional MIDI data. With each pass, you can enter more data.

A Dynamic Shortcut Another way to unlink the timeline and edit selections is to engage the Dynamic Transport (as discussed in Chapter 7), which automatically disables the Link Timeline to Edit Selection function. Dynamic Transport can be activated either by clicking the Options menu > Dynamic Transport or by using the Ctrl+Cmd+P (Mac) or Start+Ctrl+P (PC) keyboard shortcut.

Quantizing Although some of you may have little to no keyboard-playing experience— including myself—don’t think for one second you’ll have a problem creating good-quality MIDI performances. How? A little something called quantizing. In the case of audio/MIDI music production, the word quantize means to adjust recorded musical events (notes or MIDI data) to the nearest rhythmic increment as set by the user according to a timing grid. Need it in simpler terms? Take your performance from the previous two sections as an example. Some of the notes you played on your controller may be early, and some may be late in relation to the beat set forth by your click track. No problem! The quantize functions in Pro Tools can adjust those notes, placing them at the exact locations on the grid to make your 1/4 notes sound perfectly in time. This can be done after the fact (Quantize) or even in real time as you record (Input Quantize)! Both of these functions are set in the Event Operations window, with the only difference between the two being the Enable Input Quantize checkbox in the Input Quantize screen and options in the Elastic Audio Events drop-down menu (see Figure 10.15). Take note: If you ever want to record a MIDI

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Figure 10.15 The main difference between Quantize and Input Quantize is that in Input Quantize, the input procedure happens in real time. If you’re looking to record your MIDI performance with some rhythmic liberties, Input Quantize may be too constricting.

performance with a loose feel (for example, behind the beat) or totally rubato (out of time), then Input Quantize is not the way to go, as it rightfully strips any and all rhythmic inflections that Pro Tools deems off the grid. Let’s take a quick look at how the quantizing process works. First, go to the Course Technology PTR Web site and download the Chapter 10 ZIP file, open the Quantize Session folder, and then double-click the session file. When the session opens you’ll see an Instrument track with Xpand! instantiated and the Hard Double Bass patch loaded up, along with a click track. In the Instrument track’s playlist, you’ll see a region with some MIDI data already recorded. It’s the first eight bars of the bass line from Chapter 3’s “Power 3” song. The big difference is I moved some notes (MIDI data) around in Slip mode to make it sound noticeably out of time so you can hear the difference that

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quantizing makes. Listen to the session as is, with the click track, to hear the performance in its current out-of-time state; then follow these steps to learn how to use the Quantize function in the Quantize submenu to fix it. 1.

Click the Selector tool (F7) and make an eight bar selection starting at the beginning of the timeline at the downbeat (first beat) of bar 1.

2.

Click the Event menu in the Pro Tools menu bar.

3.

Click MIDI. A submenu appears, listing various MIDI-related options.

4.

Click Quantize. The Event Operations window opens with the Quantize screen in focus (see Figure 10.16).

5.

Click the up and down arrow buttons next to the text box in the Quantize Grid area (see Figure 10.17).

6.

Click 1/16th note.

7.

Click Apply. 1.

2.

3.

4.

Figure 10.16 After making an edit selection, you can adjust the timing of the MIDI data by quantizing it to a user-determined rhythmic increment.

Now press the Return key (Enter in Windows) to make sure playback will start from the beginning; then press the spacebar to listen to the

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6.

5.

7. Figure 10.17 By choosing the 1/16th note option in the Quantize screen of the Event Operations window, you force the MIDI data to snap to the nearest 1/16 note grid marker, thereby enhancing the performance’s overall rhythmic feel.

results. Sounds better, right? Trust me, quantizing will quickly become your best friend. You can take this a step further by adjusting the parameters available in the Quantize screen—namely the ones found in the Options pane— to make the performance sound more organic and not so perfect. I encourage you to not only experiment with the different options, but to read the Pro Tools Reference Manual (accessed from the Help

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menu) to learn more what these powerful functions can do to best understand how they will affect the overall outcome. It will save you a lot of time and spare you the frustration I went through when first working with quantizing. While you’re at it, try experimenting with the Groove templates found in the same menu from which you chose the 1/16 note quantization. These are quantization maps that have been derived from real-life musical performances and saved as template files; the groove (feel) of those performances can be applied to your own MIDI sequences! There are several collections that come with M-Powered such as Cubase Style, Logic Style, and MPC Style grooves. It’s also possible to extract templates from your own performances and save them so you can make your own collection of groove templates called DigiGrooves by using the Beat Detective plug-in. You can access Beat Detective via the Event menu in the Pro Tools menu bar or by using the CmdþNumeric 8 (Mac) or CtrlþNumeric 8 (PC) keyboard shortcut.

Shortcut Alert As with the previously mentioned floating Transport window, when working with MIDI it’s a good idea to know how to get to the Event Operations window (Opt+Numeric 3 for Mac, Alt +Numeric 3 for PC) and some of its more important submenus like Quantize (Opt+0 for Mac, Alt+0 for PC) and Transpose (Opt+T for Mac, Alt+T for PC) for quick and easy access.

Event Operations Window

Be sure to explore the other screens in the Event Operations window, listed and briefly described here: n

Change Velocity. This screen has several options for adjusting the velocity (how fast or how hard a key or pad was hit).

n

Change Duration. This screen has several options for adjusting note duration (how long a note will ring out).

n

Transpose. Here you can change the note number assigned to the MIDI data. This changes the pitch of the note to be played by your virtual instrument or MIDI sound module.

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n

Select/Split Notes. When using the Grabber and/or Selector tool, you set specific criteria found in this screen for when you make edit selections. You can also choose several ways to split the notes.

n

Step Input. If you really can’t play keyboards at all, then this feature was made for you. Here you can set up a note value and a starting point and play at whatever tempo you want (or no tempo at all), and the notes will be sequentially created using whatever parameters you set up.

n

Restore Performance. Similar to an Undo function, this feature lets you undo actions, but even better—you can undo actions performed before the last time you saved a session! This allows you to never be locked into an all-or-nothing scenario if you ever want to roll back to a specific state of a specific parameter (timing, note duration, velocity, or pitch) even after the undo queue has been cleared after a save.

n

Flatten Performance. Once you have a MIDI performance exactly where you want it, you can choose this option to print (commit) the data to the session, removing any possibility of an undo affecting it beyond this state. With regard to the Restore Performance function, this would be the new “ground-zero” as opposed to the original state after you first created it. This comes in handy if you ever need to undo past the state of this performance to save another part of the session.

MIDI Real-Time Properties Window

Another window dedicated to adjusting MIDI data is the MIDI RealTime Properties window (see Figure 10.18), which you access from the Event menu in the Pro Tools menu bar or by using the OptþNumeric 4 (Mac) or AltþNumeric 4 (PC) keyboard shortcut. Aside from the Delay property, it may seem that this window has many of the same features as the aforementioned Event Operations window—just fewer. The main difference between the two is that any tweaks you make within the Real-Time Properties can be monitored and applied in real time! This allows you to actually hear what one (or all) of the five parameters (Quantize, Duration, Delay, Velocity, and Transpose) will sound like when applied before committing to it. This makes, say,

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Figure 10.18 The MIDI Real-Time Properties window allows you to work with various MIDI properties in real time, making it easier and faster to audition and apply changes to your MIDI data.

auditioning the groove templates discussed in the previous section a much easier and, better yet, more productive process. You can use real-time properties on individual MIDI regions or entire MIDI tracks by choosing one or the other from the Apply To menu at the top of the window. Although there is a Real-Time Properties view in the Edit window, it’s limited to processing the entire track only, giving you no option for applying the properties on a regional basis. I prefer to work with real-time properties in the Real-Time Properties window— it takes up less space as a floating window that can be opened and closed at will, it’s easier to view all the features each property has to offer, and it offers more options.

Editing MIDI In many respects, editing MIDI is much like editing digital audio. The Edit modes, tools, and procedures presented in Chapters 6 and 7 are more often than not the same—but there are some key differences. For instance, when editing MIDI, you can work with individual notes. In contrast, when editing audio, you are limited to working with regions; all the information is inherently stuffed in one waveform, making it impossible to zero in on an individual note when more than one note has been played simultaneously. Another difference is in the execution of the common Cut, Copy, and Paste commands. Although the

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basic elements have not changed, you must be in the appropriate view to be able to perform those tasks. To avoid redundancy and with the conservation of trees in mind, only MIDI-specific editing is outlined in this section. If you feel like some explanations are not making sense, then go back to Chapters 6 and 7 for a review of basic editing procedures—especially if you skipped over those chapters to get to this one! To start things off, you’ll need to retrieve the Chapter 10 ZIP file from the Course Technology PTR Web site and locate the MIDI Editing session folder. Open it and double-click the session file, and you’ll find the second half of the “Power 3” MIDI bass line for you to slice and dice. MIDI/Instrument Track Views In order to be able to perform certain editing tasks, you must have the appropriate view enabled. If you click the Track View selector (see Figure 10.19), you’ll notice there are many more views offered to you (as displayed in Figure 10.20) than with audio tracks. Some of the views available in MIDI tracks are also available in audio tracks: Blocks, Volume, Mute, and Pan. Other MIDI views—Regions, Notes, and Velocity—look different from anything you’ve seen thus far. Simply click the Track View selector to view each one as you read through the following descriptions. n

Regions view. One of the two most common views (the other being Notes) you will use when editing MIDI, Regions view (see Figure 10.21) is used to perform the region-type edits you explored in Chapter 7, such as capturing, splitting, trimming, arranging, and consolidating. This, and Blocks view, is also where you launch the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands.

Figure 10.19 Clicking the Track View selector reveals a menu that lists the various views a MIDI/Instrument track has to offer.

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Figure 10.20 While MIDI/Instrument tracks have many Track views in common with audio tracks, MIDI/Instrument tracks have additional views allowing for MIDI-centric properties to be manipulated manually or by automation, as seen here in the Tracks view in this selector menu.

Figure 10.21 Regions view. n

Blocks view. You’ll notice there are no graphics indicating data when you call up this view, just empty blocks bearing the region’s name (see Figure 10.22). Use this mode when you’re finished editing and are just moving the regions around to arrange to taste. This requires a little less processing power, thus enabling faster screen redraws.

n

Notes view. This is the view where you do the actual editing of notes. Like Regions view, Notes view displays notes in “piano roll” style (see Figure 10.23). The piano roll is set to the left of the MIDI

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Figure 10.22 Blocks view.

Figure 10.23 Notes view.

track’s playlist and indicates the notes with which the data is associated. As you will soon see, you can freely move the data around to different note locations, as well as perform other tasks like cut, copy, paste, split, and something you absolutely cannot do with audio—insert new notes! n

Velocity view. This view resembles somewhat a disjointed cornfield, with each note’s attack velocity (the speed or strength at which the note was recorded) represented by a velocity stalk (see Figure 10.24). Here you can drag the stalk(s) to adjust the value (0–127); the taller the stalk, the higher the value, and vice versa.

The remaining views (Volume, Mute, Pan, Pitch Bend, Mono Aftertouch, Program Change, SysEx, and Controller) appear the same way as they do in audio tracks—in the form of a line graph that can

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Figure 10.24 Velocity view.

have breakpoints created throughout its length. Those breakpoints can be dragged with the Grabber tool and/or redrawn by the Pencil tool in the same manner discussed in Chapters 8 and 9.

MIDI and Instrument Track Height Selector Quandary You may have noticed that you cannot adjust the track height of a MIDI or Instrument track in the same way you can an audio track—by simply clicking the Track Height selector (which now is the “piano roll”) to expose a menu that enables you to choose the size. To access the menu from the Track Height Column selector, you have to Ctrl-click it. Alternatively, you can use the Track Height selector next to the larger Track View selector found in the left-most portion of the MIDI/Instrument track under the Record (R), Solo (S), and Mute (M) buttons. This reveals the same menu, so you can choose whatever height suits your needs. Opt-clicking (Alt-clicking for PC) here still adjusts all track heights in one keystroke.

Editing Tools Revisited With the exception of the Scrubber tool (see the upcoming note), the five remaining edit tools (Zoomer, Trimmer, Selector, Grabber, and Pencil) can be used to edit MIDI data in MIDI/Instrument tracks. Although the Selector and Zoomer tools act basically the same way with MIDI/Instrument tracks as they do with audio tracks, following

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is some useful information to help you best utilize these particular tools when editing MIDI: n

Zoomer tool. There’s a useful shortcut to be aware of for adjusting MIDI data size in the edit playlist. Simply use the bracket keys ([ ]) along with Cmd+Shift for Mac or Ctrl+Shift for PC to toggle between vertical height levels to adjust the pitch range and note size of your MIDI/Instrument tracks. This will spare you from having to use the mouse to scroll over and click the MIDI Zoom In and Out tools to perform the same exact operation.

n

Selector tool. Considering that a MIDI note residing on a MIDI/ Instrument track’s playlist is a graphic representing data, it’s important to make sure that when you select a collection of MIDI data, every note in the selection has its beginning included. This is where the information is stored that instructs the sound source to produce a tone. It’s so essential, in fact, that Pro Tools won’t allow you to make a selection without it!

It’s important to be aware that the behavior of certain other tools changes when you are working with MIDI. Let’s examine the edit tools whose roles—and sometimes looks—change when editing MIDI one by one using the MIDI Editing session as a testing ground.

What About the Scrubber Tool? The Scrubber tool is not meant for MIDI. Remember, the Scrubber is meant to listen to specific portions of a digital audio waveform for quick reference or for locating precise edit points. Because MIDI contains no audio, it eliminates any possible uses for the tool.

Grabber Tool

With MIDI you have the ability to view individual notes, and that requires the Grabber tool to take on a new look as a fist and pointed index finger graphic. This is meant to make it easy to grab them one by one or in a selected group. To try it out, refer to Figures 10.25 to 10.28

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and follow along with the tips below and make sure your Instrument track in the MIDI Editing session is in Notes view. 1.

Click the Grabber tool or press F8.

2.

Click any note to highlight it. From there you can Shift-click to select or deselect additional notes (see Figure 10.25).

3.

Click an area without any notes to start a selection rectangle and drag it over a group of notes (see Figure 10.26). The selected notes—those inside the selection rectangle and those you selected in step 2—appear a lighter shade of blue, indicating they have been selected. Once notes are selected, you can perform cut, copy, paste, or delete operations, as well as drag the notes to new locations (see Figure 10.27).

4.

Opt-drag (Mac) or Alt-drag (PC) to copy the selected notes to the desired location (see Figure 10.28). 1.

2. Figure 10.25 By clicking a note in Notes view in a MIDI/Instrument track, you can select it to be edited in various ways. Shift-clicking other notes selects them while maintaining the previous selections.

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3. Figure 10.26 Clicking an empty area enables you to create a selection rectangle, which can be used to select multiple notes.

3.

Figure 10.27 Once selected, MIDI notes can be dragged to new locations. Notice how the E2 note has been moved up to the Bb2 location on the piano roll.

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4. Figure 10.28 You can duplicate notes by Opt-dragging (Mac) or Alt-dragging (PC) selected notes to a new location. Notice the original E2 note has been copied to F#2, G#2, Bb2, and C2.

Try selecting random notes and performing the various functions described here to create a whole new bass line. In the midst of doing that, you may find you want to extend or shorten a note’s length (duration); you’ll need to use the Trimmer, discussed next, to do that. Trimmer Tool

With audio and MIDI/Instrument tracks, the Trimmer tool allows you to adjust region boundaries. Exclusive to MIDI/Instrument tracks, the Trimmer tool adjusts the beginning and ending of MIDI notes, thus editing their duration. It’s important to note that this is the only way to correctly perform this action as the beginning and ending points of a note contain the note on and off messages described earlier in this chapter in the section “Some Common Tech Terms to Know.” If these messages are incorrectly edited, it may result in stuck notes (constant sound) or lost notes (no sound). To get the hang of using this tool with MIDI, follow these steps (make sure your Instrument track in the MIDI Editing session is in Notes view).

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1.

Click the Trimmer tool or press F7.

2.

Click the beginning or end of any note and drag its boundary to change its duration (see Figure 10.29). 1.

2. Figure 10.29 With the Trimmer tool, you can adjust a note’s duration by moving its boundary on either side. Here the original six-and-a-half beat E2 that starts on the downbeat of bar 4 and extends past the downbeat of bar 6 is chopped down to two beats, starting on beat 3 of bar 4.

You can also hold down the Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) key to change the direction of the Trimmer tool so you can trim the note in any direction you’d like regardless of what side of the note you’re on! Because MIDI is performance data, its tempo is more easily manipulated than audio. For example, you can quickly double-time MIDI notes with another one of the Trimmer tools—the TCE (Time Compression Expansion) tool—while in Regions view. To see how, go to your Chapter 10 ZIP folder and open the Double-Time session folder. There you will find another section of the MIDI bass line from “Power 3”: an eight-bar

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region of tightly sequenced 1/8 notes. When you have it up and running, follow these steps: 1.

Click and hold the Trimmer tool. The Trimmer Tool menu appears; click the second tool in the list, marked TCE (see Figure 10.30).

2.

Click the Tracks View selector and choose Regions (see Figure 10.31).

3.

Click the end boundary of the region to select it.

4.

Drag the boundary to the middle of the region’s length, in this case the downbeat of bar 5 (see Figure 10.32). 1.

Figure 10.30 To access the TCE tool, as well as any other alternative version of the main edit tools, simply click and hold the edit tool to reveal a menu that lists the available versions of the tool.

Now press the Return key (Enter on a PC) to make sure playback will start from the beginning, and then press the spacebar to hear the notes played back in double time. If you want to make the selection play back in half time, just extend the region to be twice as long.

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2.

3.

Figure 10.31 In Regions view, MIDI regions can be edited much the same as audio regions—including selecting them by clicking any portion of the region.

4. Figure 10.32 With the TCE tool, you can adjust the tempo of a MIDI region by simply dragging it. This 10-bar example was double-timed by dragging the region over five bars, making it half the length.

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Grid Lock When making edits such as the double-time edit with the TCE tool as described here, it’s best to use Grid mode to make sure your edits are tightly locked to the grid.

Pencil Tool

Of all the tools available, the Pencil tool is perhaps the most valuable in your collection when it comes to editing MIDI. With this tool you can insert new notes, as well as create other types of MIDI data such as automated controller data. The Pencil tool boasts several shapes, with the first five shapes—Freehand, Line, Triangle, Square, and Random— available for inserting new notes of varying duration and velocity and for drawing complex lines in the automated views. The Parabolic and S-Curve shapes are used to adjust velocities and edit controller data, as well as draw tempo events in the Tempo Editor located in the timeline, but not to insert notes. Let’s explore inserting MIDI notes into an empty sequencer—this time on a MIDI track. Up to this point you’ve dealt with Instrument tracks, and although they are convenient, you should know how to set up a MIDI-to-Auxiliary track configuration if the occasion were to arise. Go once more to the Chapter 10 ZIP file, open the Pencil Tool session folder, and double-click the session file. There you will find a MIDI track and an Auxiliary track with an instantiation of Xpand! and a cool patch from the Hard Leads folder called Velosync loaded and ready to go. Finally, follow these instructions to explore using this tool: 1.

Click the Pencil tool or press F10 (see Figure 10.33).

2.

To create notes that snap to the grid, select Grid mode.

3.

To automatically create consistent note durations, set the Grid value to 1/8 notes in the Grid Value menu.

4.

Click the open area of the sequencer next to the piano roll where you see the number 3—this is C3.

5.

Continue with the same procedure in step 4 to complete the two-bar sequence pictured in Figure 10.34.

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2.

4.

1.

3.

Figure 10.33 With the Pencil tool, it’s easy to insert MIDI notes with consistent note durations, which are set in the Grid Value menu.

5. Figure 10.34 Using the Pencil tool, you can quickly assemble MIDI sequences like this one.

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Before you press the spacebar, you have to assign the MIDI track’s output to the correct destination to hear any audio. By default, when you create a MIDI track, its output destination is set to the MIDI controller— in this case the Oxygen 8 v2. Click the MIDI track’s MIDI Output selector and you’ll see a menu with three panes (see Figure 10.35). Choose the middle pane where it says Xpand! 1—channel 1. Now you can hear your Pencil tool’s MIDI sequence.

Figure 10.35 MIDI tracks have to have the correct output destination set in the MIDI Output selector in order for you to be able to hear any audio from the Auxiliary Input track.

Before closing shop, let’s take a look at what can be done to begin to spice this sequence up using Velocity view with the Pencil tool. Follow these steps: 1.

Click the Track View selector and choose Velocity. You’ll notice a series of velocity stalks in a static (nonchanging) configuration (see Figure 10.36).

2.

Click in the area of the first velocity stalk and drag the Pencil icon across the two-bar area in a random motion (see Figure 10.37). This varies the stalks’ heights, thus changing the strength at which the patch in Xpand! is triggered.

3.

Press the spacebar.

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1.

Figure 10.36 Choosing Velocity view enables you to see the velocity stalks, which can be manipulated to create infinite velocity patterns.

2. Figure 10.37 The Pencil tool offers a much faster way to adjust the height of the velocity stalks than the Grabber tool.

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You should hear your 16-note sequence of consecutive 1/8 notes play back with varied velocities, making for a more interesting sounding riff. Now, to take things a step further, try this: 1.

Ctrl-click the Play button in the transport.

2.

Create a two-bar edit selection starting from the beginning of the timeline.

3.

Double-click the red Tempo Change button in the Tempo ruler. The Tempo Change window appears (see Figure 10.38).

4.

Type in a new tempo in the BPM box. I suggest a higher one in the range of 200 or more BPMs.

5.

Click and hold the Pencil tool. The Pencil Tool menu appears. Click the fifth tool in the list, marked Random.

6.

3.

5.

2.

1.

4. Figure 10.38 After setting up a few quick and easy editing parameters to work with, you can audition and apply various velocity settings in a much more productive workflow.

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6.

Click in the area of the first velocity stalk and drag the Pencil icon across the two-bar area in a random motion.

7.

Press the spacebar.

This last set of steps sets you up so you can change Pencil tools and draw new patterns for varying velocity stalk pattern results—all while the two-bar sequence is looping, allowing you to monitor the results. The tempo change just made it sound cooler! You may have already noticed, depending on where you place the Pencil icon, that the Pencil tool temporarily functions like other edit tools, making it like a MIDI-exclusive Smart Tool! For example, if you click a pre-existing MIDI note in Notes view, the Pencil tool takes on the role (and look) of the Grabber tool; if you move the Pencil tool near either boundary of a MIDI note, it becomes a Trimmer tool. If you need to delete any notes, just press the Opt key (Mac) or Alt key (PC) to change the pencil to an eraser.

Closing Words This brings us to the end of our guitar-istic journey into digitally recording with all things M-Audio. It’s an honor to have been your guide through this tumultuous quest of knowledge and a voice for such a fantastic company like M-Audio. I sincerely hope you go even further, as there is so much more to be explored in the world of guitar and digital audio and MIDI production. Rock on!

Appendix A: The Black Box Fixed Drumbeats

Here is a list of the 100 fixed drumbeats in the Black Box the manual does not provide. There are five pairs of drumbeats (METAL1, BUSYBS, PSHBS2, HIPHP3, BSYBS3) whose names are the same; their names in the list are followed by an asterisk (*). The drumbeat called SNRON4 is repeated three times and is followed by a double asterisk (**). Each pair, though similar, has a different element that’s either an actual drum sound or a rhythmic placement of a drum sound. 00. METAL1 *

15. 16SHKR

30. 4BASS3

01. METAL2

16. ROSANA

31. BUSYBS *

02. METAL3

17. SHAKR8

32. HAFTIM

03. POP1

18. TOMS8

33. HAFTM2

04. POP2

19. TOMTMB

34. OPNHAT

05. POP3

20. 4BASS2

35. PUSHBS

06. ROCK1

21. SNRON4 **

36. TRIPLT

07. ROCK2

22. TOM1&3

37. TRIPLT2

08. ROCK3

23. 8BASLO

38. TRPLT3

09. LO-FI1

24. AMRGRL

39. SOFT16

10. LO-FI2

25. 8SNARE

40. SNRON4 **

11. 4BASS

26. 16TMB2

41. COWBEL

12. 16HAT1

27. 16TMB3

42. TMB4BS

13. 12HAT2

28. HNDJIV

43. NOSNAR

14. 16TAMB

29. 4SNARE

44. OFFSNR

423

424

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

45. 16TMB4

64. SHAKR8

83. BS&TKS

46. DIDIDA

65. SFSHKR

84. PSHBS2 *

47. PSHBS2 *

66. SHKR16

85. 4BAS16

48. RIDE1

67. SFSHK2

86. 808HAT

49. TOM2&4

68. 8TAMB

87. BSYBS2

50. SHUFL1

69. SFTTMB

88. DANCE1

51. 808TRP

70. JAZZ1

89. DANCE2

52. SNRON4 **

71. JAZZ2

90. BSYBS3 *

53. RIDE2

72. SHUFFL

91. ANABT1

54. SFTRID

73. METAL1 *

92. DANCE3

55. RIDTRP

74. QTRHAT

93. ROCK4

56. BSTRIP

75. 808BLP

94. HIPHP3 *

57. PSHBS3

76. 88SNCO

95. ROCK5

58. HATTIK

77. HIPHP1

96. 4BASS

59. TRIANG

78. HIPHP2

97. BSYBS3 *

60. HAT8TH

79. TRIAN2

98. 4COUNT

61. SFT8TH

80. BOOM16

99. BLANK

62. 16TICK

81. HIPHP3 *

63. SOFT16

82. BUSYBS *

Appendix B: Black Box TempoSynced Speed Settings

The Black Box Tempo-Synced FX Speeds Here are the tempo-synced speeds for the beat-synced effects found in the FX menu of the Black Box. These are adjusted by the rotary control knob for the FX speed control parameter and start after the 99 value setting. Table B.1 The 16 Tempo-Synced Speeds for the Beat-Synced Effects As Displayed on the LCD

Value Definition

8M

Eight measures

4M

Four measures

2M

Two measures

2MT

One cycle every two whole note triplets

1M

One measure

1MT

One cycle every whole note triplet

2N

1/2 note

2T

1/2 note triplet

4N

1/4 note

4T

1/4 note triplet

8N

1/8 note

8T

1/8 note triplet

16N

1/16 note

16T

1/16 note triplet

32N

1/32 note

32T

1/32 note triplet

425

426

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

The Black Box Tempo-Synced Delay Times Here are the tempo-synced speeds for the delay effects found in the Delay menu of the Black Box. These are adjusted by the rotary control knob for the delay time control parameter and start after the 2511 ms setting. Notice that the larger time intervals ranging from 2M to 2N are adjusted according to the tempo to which you set the Black Box. Table B.2 The 19 Tempo-Synced Speeds for the Delay Effects As Displayed on the LCD

Value Definition

2M

Two measures (uses 1M below 172 BPM, 2N below 86 BPM, and 4N below 43 BPM)

2MT

Two measured triplets (three delays in four measures; uses 1 MT below 115 BPM and 2T below 58 BPM)

IMd

Dotted whole note (1.5 measures; uses 2D below 129 BPM and 4D below 65)

IM

One measure (uses 2N below 86 BPM and 4N below 43 BPM)

IMT

One measured triplet (three delays in two measures; uses 2T below 58 BPM)

2D

Dotted 1/2 note (1/2 note + 1/4 note; uses 4D below 65 BPM)

2N

1/2 note (Uses 4N below 43 BPM)

2T

1/2 note triplet (three delays in one measure)

4D

Dotted 1/4 note (1/4 note + 1/8 note)

4N

1/4 note

4T

1/4 note triplet (three delays in a 1/2 note)

8D

Dotted 1/8 note (1/8 note + 1/16 note)

8N

1/8 note

8T

1/8 note triplet (three delays in a 1/4 note)

16D

Dotted 1/16 note (1/16 note + 1/32 note)

16N

1/16 note

16T

1/16 note triplet (three delays in an 1/8 note)

32N

1/32 note

32T

1/32 note triplet (three delays in a 1/16 note)

Appendix C: The Black Box Controller Assignments

The Black Box Expression Pedal Assignments Here is a list of the 11 expression pedal assignments found in the Expression Pedal Assign control parameter in the Utilities menu. They can be controlled by either the Black Box pedal board (refer to Figure 5.18) or the EX-P expression pedal (refer to Figure 5.17), which are both explained in Chapter 5, “The Black Box Revealed.” Because this is not a global setting, each preset can have its own unique assignment. Table C.1 The 11 Black Box Expression Pedal Assignments As Displayed on the LCD

Function Definition

VOLUME

Acts as a volume pedal before the amp models and effects

FXSPED

FX speed

RVBVOL

Reverb volume level

FXDPTH

FX depth level

FXKEY

FX key

WETDRY

FX wet/dry ratio control

DLYVOL

Delay volume level

DLYRPT

Number of delay repeats

DM2DLY

Drumbeat signal send level to delay

DM2INP

Drumbeat signal send level to input of entire signal chain to be processed through amp models and effects

DM2RVB

Drumbeat signal send level to reverb

427

428

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

The Black Box Momentary Foot Switch Assignments Here is a list of the 12 momentary foot switch pedal settings. They can be controlled by either the Black Box pedal board (refer to Figure 5.18) or the SP-1 Sustain Pedal (refer to Figure 5.16), which are both explained in Chapter 5. These settings are global and therefore affect every preset. 1. Drumbeat Increment 2. Drumbeat Decrement 3. Preset Increment 4. Preset Decrement 5. Tap Tempo 6. Start/Stop 7. View Drumbeat 8. Tuner 9. Amp On/Off 10. FX On/Off 11. Delay On/Off 12. Reverb On/Off

Appendix D: Transport Function Keyboard Shortcuts

Below are common Transport-related keyboard shortcuts. All the numbers listed are referencing the numeric keypad, not the alphanumeric keys on top of the QWERTY keyboard. This is by no means all of them, but they’re the essential ones to get you up and running and on your way to building a proficient workflow nonetheless. As stated in the note found in Chapter 6 that brought you here—the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF available from the Help menu is a document that needs to be printed and planted by your side! Table D.1 Essential Transport Function Keyboard Shortcuts Task

Mac

PC

Show/Hide Transport

Cmdþ1

Ctrlþ1

Playback start/stop

Spacebar

Spacebar

Half-speed playback

Shiftþspacebar

Shiftþspacebar

Loop Playback on/off

CmdþShiftþL

CtrlþShiftþL

or 4

or 4

or Ctrl-click Play button

or right-click Play button

Playback Edit selection

Optþ[

Altþ[

Rewind/Fast Forward

1 and 2

1 and 2

Return to Zero

Return

Enter on QWERTY keyboard

Go to End

OptþReturn

AltþEnter on QWERTY keyboard (Continued )

429

430

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Table D.1 Essential Transport Function Keyboard Shortcuts (Continued) Task

Mac

PC

Record start

CmdþSpacebar

CtrlþSpacebar

F12

F12

3

3

Half-speed record

CmdþShiftþspacebar

CtrlþShiftþspacebar

Record stop

Spacebar

Spacebar

Record stop and discard take

Cmdþ(period)

Ctrlþ(period)

Loop Record on/off

5

5

QuickPunch Record on/off

6

6

Enter/Exit during playback in QuickPunch

Cmdþspacebar

Ctrlþspacebar

F12

F12

3

3

Toggle through Record modes

Ctrlþclick Record button Right-click Record button

Click on/off

7

7

Countoff on/off

8

8

Pre-/Post-Roll on/off

CmdþK

CtrlþK

Set Pre-/Post-Roll time

Optþclick before and after selection

Altþclick before and after selection

Index

monitoring, 107–108 Play button, 110 playing back, 110 punch, 287–290 Quick Punch, 222 record enabling, 106–107, 109 stopping, 110 unarming the track, 110 volume levels, 108 audio tracks, 95 AudioSuite menu, 194 AudioSuite plug-in demonstration, 326–328 File Mode button, 322 overview, 7, 320 Plug-in selector, 322 Process button, 323 Process Mode button, 323 Reverse, 326–328 Selection Reference button, 322–323 auditioning loops, 354–355 Auto Backup option, 126–127 Auto button (RTAS plug-in), 324 automation Auto Latch mode, 305 Auto Off mode, 304 Auto Read mode, 305 Auto Touch mode, 305 Auto Write mode, 305 Automation Enable window, 305 Automation Mode selector, 302–303 basic description, 301 breakpoints, 316–317 controls, 302 creating with Pencil and Grabber tools, 312–317 writing in real time, 309–311 Automation Mode selector (Track Control area), 200 automation playlists, 205 Automation Safe button (RTAS plug-in), 324

Numerals and Symbols / (slash) character, 68 1/4-inch input and output, 25–29

A absolute time, 199 ACID file format, 348 acoustic guitars, microphone placement, 83–85 A/D (analog to digital) converters, 22 adapters, 54 add-on card slots, 54–55 AES/EBU (American Engineers Society/ European Broadcast Union), 36 AIR (Advanced Instrument Research) division, 391 amp models (Black Box), 154–157 Ampeg SVT amps, 157 analog audio, 22 analog to digital (A/D) converters, 22 Apple Loops, 348 AU (Apple Units) plug-in, 333 audio analog, 22 digital, 35 importing, 105 quality control, 36–37 recording Bounce to Disk command, 120–124 DAT recorders, 189 destructive, 221 dynamic voices, 111 input assignment, 105–106 input signal source adjustment, 108 interference, 108 latency issues, 112–113 loop, 221–222, 281–284 M-Audio Micro Track II, 189 methods of, 104–105 microphone placement, 108 MiniDisc recorders, 189

431

432

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

auxiliary input tracks, 96 Auxiliary tracks, 386–387

B backups, 50, 126–127 balanced connections, 27, 31 BBP preset files, 149–150 beat break beats, 346 downbeat, 209 beat clock, MIDI, 160, 181–184 beat slicing, 347 beat-synced effects, 159–162, 425 Belkin Web site, 56 bi-directional polar pattern, 76 bi-directional signal path, 20–21 binary code, 376–377 bit, 23 bit depth, 23 Black Box 1/4-inch instrument input, 26 amp models, 154–157 compare functions, 143–144 Control Panel, 146–147, 177–179 development of, 137–138 Drivers link, 177 drum patterns, 168–170 Drumbeat buttons, 142 drumbeats, fixed, 423–424 ease of use, 6 EX-P expression pedal, 139 expression pedal assignments, 427 features, 129–130 front view, 133 FX menu, 160–161 green signal indicator, 132, 141–142 Guitar Input knob, 133 Guitar Input socket, 132 hooking up, 177 I/O (input/output), 138 Left/Mono socket, 132 Main Outputs section, 132 M-Audio SP-1 sustain pedal, 139 menu buttons, 142–143 Mic Input control knob, 142 mix rotary control knobs, 133 momentary foot switch pedal settings, 428 mono inputs, 187 output level control, 134 output volume control, 134 overview, 5–6 pedal board expression pedal, 173–175 momentary switch, 172–173, 176

pedal inputs, 139, 170–172 power-adapter input, 131 Preset buttons, 142 presets BBP preset files, 149–150 copying, 145–148 editing, 153–154 parameter settings, 144–145 saving, 151–153 sharing, 152 rear panel, 131–132 red clip indicator lights, 141–142 rotary control knobs, 143 session templates, opening, 179–181 setup, 177 Sound Editor, 140–141 S/PDIF out, 140 Start/Stop button, 142 stereo analog inputs, 186 store functions, 144 Tap Tempo button, 142 tempo-synced durations, 160 tempo-synced speeds, 425–426 top view, 133, 141 tuner functions, 144 USB port, 139 Utility menu, 165–168 view functions, 143 XLR input, 140 Blocks view, 407 Bogner Ecstasy amps, 155–156 Bomb Factory plug-ins, 9 Bounce to Disk command, 120–124, 341–342 break beats, 346 breakpoints, 316–317 buffering, 113–114 Bumblefoot, 84, 344 busses defined, 25 signal routing, 334 BX5 monitors, 11 bytes, 23, 376–377

C cable best cable choices, 89 George L., 89 Mogami Platinum, 89 Monster, 89 Toslink, 35 Y, 28 capacitor microphones, 73 capsules, microphones, 74

Index

cardioid microphones, 14 cardioid polar patterns, 76 Channel selector (RTAS plug-in), 324 channel strip (Mix window), 238–240 channel volume message (MIDI), 380 channels, MIDI, 378–379 channel-strip signal flow, 317–319 Chopper Genesis session folder, 119–120 class compliant, 38 click tracks, 101–104, 395 Click/Countoff Options dialog box, 102–104 clipping, 107–108, 297–298 close-miking techniques, 78 Cobain, Kurt, 159 color, track, 241 Commands Keyboard Focus button (Edit window), 231 Comments column Edit window, 201 Mix window, 240 comments section, Memory Location markers, 273, 275 CompactFlash, 35 Compare button (RTAS plug-in), 324 compare functions (Black Box), 143–144 compression, 343 condenser microphones, 13–14, 72–73 connections. See also I/O adapters, 54 balanced, 27, 31 FireWire, 24–25 hubs, 54–56 loose, 58 TRS, 27–29 USB, 24–25 XLR input, 29–31 consumer-grade monitors, 11 Control Change message, 379 Control Panel (Black Box), 146–147, 177–179 controllers, MIDI, 15, 381–383 converters, 22 convolution plug-ins, 332–333 Cooley, Rusty, 135, 152 copying presets, 145–148 Cornish, Pete, 12 count off, 102–104 Countoff button (Transport window), 245–246 crashes, avoiding Macs, 48–49 PCs, 49 crossfading regions, 359–363 Crow, Sheryl, 92, 109

Current Meter field (Transport window), 246 Current Tempo field (Transport window), 247 Cursor Location and Value display (Edit window), 232–233 customizing workspace, 353

D D/A (digital to analog) converters, 22 Dallas/Arbiter Fuzz Face, 157–158 DAT, 35 DAT recorders, 189 DAW (digital audio workstation), 3 dB (decibel), 33 delay effects, 162–164, 426 Delay Repeats (DLY REPEATS) parameter, 162 Delay Time (DELAY TIME) parameter, 162 Delay Volume (DELAY VOL) parameter, 162–163 deleting location markers, 277 tracks, 358 destructive recording, 221 device drivers, 38–39 diaphragm, microphones, 71 DigiBase, 353 Digidesign Web site, 17 DigiRack plug-ins, 8–9 DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide, 194 digital audio, 35 digital audio workstation (DAW), 3 Digital Guitar Power! (Schonbrun), 375 digital mixer adjustments, latency issues, 116–119 digital to analog (D/A) converters, 22 Dire Straits (“Money for Nothing”), 12 disk maintenance, 50 display options, Memory Location markers, 275 distortion, 36–37 dithering, 343–344 DLYRPT pedal assignment, 427 DLYVOL pedal assignment, 427 DM2DLY pedal assignment, 427 DM2INP pedal assignment, 427 DM2RVB pedal assignment, 427 downbeat, 209 drivers, 38–39 Drivers link, 177 drum patterns, 168–170 Drumbeat buttons (Black Box), 142 drumbeat tempo, 167–168 drumbeats, fixed, 423–424

433

434

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Drums to Delay (DRUMS/DELAY) parameter, 163 dry signals, 162–163 DSP effects, 115–116 duplicating regions, 358–359 repeating versus, 365–366 duration parameters, MIDI, 374 dynamic microphones, 71–72 dynamic range, audio quality control, 36 Dynamic Transport playback option accessing, 278 advantages of, 280 automatic initiation, 277 Play button, 279 timeline insertions, 280 dynamic voices, 111, 199

E Eagles (“Life in the Fast Lane”), 159 edit cursor (Edit window) discussed, 222 selection markers and, 226–227 Edit Groups List (Edit window), 97, 234–235 Edit menu, 193 edit playlist, 111 Edit Selections button (Edit window), 231–232 Edit window as central workspace, 195 Commands Keyboard Focus button, 231 Comments column, 201 Cursor Location and Value display, 232–233 edit cursor, 222, 226–227 Edit Groups List, 97, 234–235 Edit Selections button, 231–232 Edit window bar, 195, 229–233 Edit Window View selector, 230 Event Edit area, 220 Grabber tools, 218 Grid edit mode, 216 horizontal display area, 196 Inserts column, 201–202 Instrument column, 201 I/O view, 202–203 Linearity Mode selector, 230 Link Timeline button, 231 Link Track button, 231–232 menus, 192–194 MIDI Real-Time Properties column, 203 Mirrored MIDI Editing button, 232 Nudge Value display, 232

Pencil tools, 219 playback cursor discussed, 222 Playback Cursor locator, 225 scrolling options, 224–225 Timeline Selection markers and, 223–224 Playlists section, 204–205 Region List, 97, 235–236 Ruler View selector, 230 Scrubber tool, 219 Selector tool, 218 Sends A–E column, 202 Sends F–J column, 202 Shuffle edit mode, 215 Slip edit mode, 215 Smart Tool, 218–219 Spot edit mode, 215 Tab to Transients button, 230–231, 368 time control, 209–214 Track Color column, 203 Track Control area, 197–200 Track display area, 196 Track List, 97, 234 Transport area, 220–222 Trim tools, 217 zoom controls and zoom preset buttons, 216–217 Zoomer tools, 217 editing edit modes, navigating between, 250–251 Grid mode, 253–255 MIDI beginning notes, 410 data size, 410 note duration, 413–415 notes, moving, 410–411 sequences, 417–418, 421 presets, 153–154 Shuffle mode, 215, 256–258 Slip mode, 215, 253 Spot mode, 215, 251–252 tools, 258–259 Grabber, 268 Scrubber, 268–269 Selector, 265–267 Trim, 264–265 Zoomer, 262–264 Undo History window, 263 zoom controls and zoom preset buttons, 259–261 Effect Bypass button (RTAS plug-in), 324 effect level, 162

Index

effects beat-synced, 159–162, 425 delay, 162–164, 426 motion-propelled, 129, 159–160 printing, 320 reverb, 164–165 tremelo, 312 Elastic Audio Plug-in button (Track Control area), 200 electret microphones, 73 electric guitars, microphone placement, 77–83 encoders, MIDI, 380 Event Edit area (Edit window), 220 Event menu, 193 Event Operations window, 403–404 EX-P expression pedal (Black Box), 139, 170–171 EXP PEDAL (Expression Pedal) parameter, 167 Export Settings dialog box, 67 expression pedal assignments, 427 Expression Pedal (EXP PEDAL) parameter, 167 expression pedals, 173–176 external powered hubs, 55 extracting regions, 366–371

F faders, Mix window channel strip, 238 fast forward shortcuts, 429 Fast Track Pro interface, 42–43 Fast Track Ultra interface, 43–44 Fast Track USB interface, 44–45 feedback, 162 Fender Twin Reverb amps, 155–156 File menu Bounce to Disk command, 121 features, 193 New Session command, 60 Open Session command, 179 File Mode button (AudioSuite plug-in), 322 file type options, new session creation, 61 FireWire 400, 24 FireWire 410 interface compatible driver formats, 41 conversion specs, 40 FireWire 800, 24 FireWire connections, 24–25 FireWire Solo interface, 41–42 fixed drumbeats, 423–424

Flatten Performance option (Event Operations window), 404 floating windows, 222 Free Hand tool, 219 function calls, 38 fundamental waves, 37 FX menu, 160–161 FXDPTH pedal assignment, 427 FXKEY pedal assignment, 427 FXSPED pedal assignment, 427

G GATE (Noise Gate) parameter, 166 gear, essentials needed Black Box, 5–6 essential gear needed, 1–2 hard drives, 16–17 headphones, 11–12 iLok USB security device, 4 loop libraries, 15–16 microphones, 12–14 MIDI controllers, 15 monitors, 11 plug-ins, 6–10 General MIDI (GM), 379 Getting Started booklet, 53 Gilmour, David, 163 Global Tempo (TPO GL) parameter, 168 GM (General MIDI), 379 Go to End task, 429 gobos, 83 Grabber tool, 218, 268 automation creation, 316–317 editing MIDI with, 410–411 grabbing regions, 268 graphical user interface (GUI), 3, 191 green signal indicator, Black Box, 132, 141–142 Grid edit mode, 216, 253–255 Grid mode, 213–214 grids, 101 groove templates, 347 Groups List column (Mix window), 241 groups, mix, 298–300 GTR/DRBAL (Guitar and Drum Balance) parameter, 166–167 GUI (graphical user interface), 3, 191 Guitar and Drum Balance (GTR/DRBAL) parameter, 166–167 Guitar Box Pro, 2–3, 9–10 Guitar Box software/hardware bundle, 2–3 Guitar Input knob (Black Box), 133 Guitar Input socket (Black Box), 132

435

436

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

H half-speed shortcuts, 430 hard drives secondary, 16–17, 49 setting up, 49–50 system requirements, 17 Hardware Setup dialog box, 117 harmonics, 37 headphones IE series in-ear, 12 Q40, 11–12 selection considerations, 12 height adjustment, track, 205–207 Help menu features, 194 hertz (Hz), 22 horizontal zoom, 260 Hosa Web site, 54 hot send levels, 297 hot-keys, 55–56 hubs, 55 H/W Buffer Size setting, 113–114 Hz (hertz), 22

I IE series in-ear headphones, 12 IEEE 1394, 24 iLok USB security device, 4–5, 50–51 importing audio, 105 loops, 349 input assignment, recording audio, 105–106 input devices, MIDI, 384–385 input/output (I/O). See also connections 1/4-inch, 25–29 Black Box, 138 factors in, 23 instrument to line level inputs, 26 line level, 32–34 MIDI, 31–32 new session creation, 62 overview, 23–24 RCA, 34–35 setting up and saving, 63–68 simultaneous inputs, 24 S/PDIF, 35–36 XLR input, 29–31 inputs mono, 187 stereo analog, 186 Insert Position selector (RTAS plug-in), 324 insertion point, Memory Location markers, 271 inserts, 28

Inserts column (Edit window), 201–202 installation, software, 51–53 Instrument column (Edit window), 201 instrument parameters, MIDI, 374 instrument tracks, 96, 388 Blocks view, 407 Notes view, 407–408 Regions view, 406 Velocity view, 408 interface 1/4-inch input and output, 25–29 audio quality control, 36–37 converters, 22 overview, 19 signal path, 20–21 interference, 108 I/O (input/output). See also connections 1/4-inch, 25–29 Black Box, 138 factors in, 23 instrument to line level inputs, 26 line level, 32–34 MIDI, 31–32 naming schemes, 67 new session creation, 62 overview, 23–24 RCA, 34–35 setting up and saving, 63–68 S/PDIF, 35–36 XLR input, 29–31 I/O Setup window, 64 I/O view (Edit window), 202–203 isolation, microphone placement, 82–83

J JamLab interface, 45–46 Jenkins, Steve, 293 Johnson, Eric, 158

K keyboards, hot-keys, 55–56

L latency, 184–186 detection, 113 hardware monitoring, 114–119 interface digital mixer adjustments, 116–119 internal DSP effects, 115–116 muting the track, 115 zero, 5, 184 Launch Setup App button (Hardware Setup dialog box), 117

Index

layering tracks, 325 LE version (Pro Tools), 3–4 Lead Guitar tracks, 118 Left/Mono socket, 132 LFO (low frequency oscillator), 159 Librarian menu (RTAS plug-in), 325 library collections, loop, 16, 348 licenses, registration process, 50–51 “Life in the Fast Line” (Eagles), 159 line level input and output, 32–34 line level inputs, 26 Line tool, 219 Linearity Mode selector (Edit window), 230 Link Drumbeat (LKDB) parameter, 167 Link Enable buttons (RTAS plug-in), 324 Link Panner to Main button (Send window), 336 Link Timeline button (Edit window), 231 Link Track button (Edit window), 231–232 Linn, Roger, 137–138 LKDB (Link Drumbeat) parameter, 167 loop recording audio, 221–222, 281–284 shortcuts, 430 loops auditioning, 354–355 bar lengths, 15 basic description, 345 beat slicing, 347 crossfading regions, 359–363 defined, 346 dragging into sessions, 355–356 duplicating regions, 358–359 extracting and slicing regions, 366–371 file formats, 348 importing, 349 library collections, 16, 348 Loop Preview commands, 355 repeating regions, 363–366 searching for, 351–352 slicing, 347 tempo matching, 356–357 uses for, 15–16 loose connections, 58 low frequency oscillator (LFO), 159 Low Pass Filter, 6–7 Lukather, Steve, 92, 118–119, 249, 285–286 Luna microphones, 14

M Macs crashes, avoiding, 48–49 disk maintenance, 50 Pro Tools M-Powered compatibility, 4

setting up, 48–49 sleep settings, 49 software updates, 48 Main Outputs section (Black Box), 132 Main time scale, 210–211 markers. See Memory Location markers Master Fader tracks, 94–96 Master Link button (RTAS plug-in), 324 mastering basic description, 292 Bounce to Disk command, 341–342 Pro Tip, 344 M-Audio Micro Track II, 189 Pulsar II microphones, 72–73 Quick Start Guide booklet, 53 Sputnik microphones, 73–74 Web site, 1 M-Audio SP-1 sustain pedal (Black Box), 139 May, Brian, 163 Mayer, Roger, 158 Memory Location markers, 212–213 comments section, 273, 275 creating during playback, 276 deleting, 277 display options, 275 filters, 275 insertion point, 271 moving, 277 naming, 276 numerical orders, 274–275 recalling, 274 repositioning, 277 selecting range of tracks between, 277 selection type, 270, 274 session settings, 272 time properties, 272, 275 yellow chevron indication, 276–277 menu buttons (Black Box), 142–143 menus list of, 192–194 shortcuts, 192 Menus Guide, 194 messages, MIDI, 379–380 metadata, 347 Metronome Click button (Transport window), 245 Mic Input control knob (Black Box), 142 Microdrive cards, 35 microphones bi-directional polar pattern, 76 capacitor, 73 capsule portion, 74 cardioid, 14

437

438

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

microphones (continued) cardioid polar patterns, 76 close-miking techniques, 78 condenser, 13–14, 72–73 diaphragm, 71 dynamic, 71–72 electret, 73 large-capsule, 14 Luna, 14 multi-pattern, 14 omni-directional polar pattern, 75 pads, 75 phase cancellation, 75 placement, 12–13, 70 acoustic guitars, 83–85 electric guitar setup, 77–83 isolation, 82–83 multi-speaker enclosures, 80–81 Pro Tips, 108–109, 118–119 polar patterns, 75–77 Pro Tips, 290 proximity effect, 77 Pulsar II, 72–73 ribbon, 72, 77 selection considerations, 12–13 Solaris, 14 Sputnik, 14, 73–74 MIDI Auxiliary tracks, 386–387 beat clock, 160, 181–184 bytes, 376–377 channels, 378–379 controllers, 15, 381–383 duration parameters, 374 editing beginning notes, 410 data size, 410 note duration, 413–415 notes, moving, 410–411 sequences, 417–418, 421 encoders, 380 Event Operations window, 403–404 GM (General MIDI), 379 input and output, 31–32 input devices, 384–385 instrument parameters, 374 instrument tracks, 388 Blocks view, 407 Notes view, 407–408 Regions view, 406 Velocity view, 408 mapping, 380 messages, 379–380 MIDI In port, 378

MIDI Merge feature, 397–399 MIDI Out port, 378 MIDI Thru function, 32, 385 MMA (MIDI Manufacturers Association), 379 note parameters, 374 overview, 373–374 pitch parameters, 374 ports, 32, 377–378 quantization, 380, 399–403 Real-Time Properties window, 404–405 recording, 395–396 sequences, 403 Studio Setup window, 386 system setup, 383–386 tracks, 96, 387–388 Transport window controls, 245–247 velocity parameters, 374 virtual instruments formats, 391 types, 390 Xpand!, 391–395 volume parameters, 374 MIDI Real-Time Properties column (Edit window), 203 MiniDisc, 35 MiniDisc recorders, 189 Mirrored MIDI Editing button (Edit window), 232 Mix knob, 37–38 mix level, 162 mix rotary control knobs (Black Box), 133 Mix window channel strip, 238–240 Comments column, 240 discussed, 63 faders, 238 features, 236–237 Groups List column, 241 menus, 192–194 Pan controls, 239–240 Track Color code bar, 241 Track List column, 241 View selector, 240 Volume fader, 238 mixing basic description, 291–292 clipping, 297–298 group control, 298–300 initial setup, 293–295 pan positions, 297 rough mix example, 295, 297 volume levels, 297 MMA (MIDI Manufacturers Association), 379

Index

mode buttons, Output windows, 307–308 Mogami Platinum cable, 89 momentary foot switch pedal settings, 428 momentary switch, 172–173, 176 “Money for Nothing” (Dire Straits), 12 monitoring latency. See latency monitors BX5, 11 consumer-grade, 11 passive, 11 selection considerations, 11 mono inputs, 187 mono signals, 27 Monster cable, 89 Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter, 6–7 motion-propelled effects, 129, 159–160 moving Memory Location markers, 277 notes, 410–411 M-Powered version (Pro Tools), 3–4 Getting Started booklet, 53 Mac and PC compatibility, 4 Musical Instrument Digital Interface. See MIDI Mute button (Track Control area), 199 muting tracks, 115

N naming I/O schemes, 67 Memory Location markers, 276 regions, 369 tracks, 98–100 New command (Track menu), 93 New Session dialog box, 60 New Tracks dialog box, 93–94 Next button (RTAS plug-in), 325 Noise Gate (GATE) parameter, 166 Normal Zoom mode, 263 Note-on/Note-off message, 379 notes duration, 413–415 moving, 410–411 splitting, 404 Notes view, 407–408 Nudge Value display (Edit window), 232 nudging, 232

O Object Grabber tool, 268 octave placement, 397 omni-directional polar pattern, 75 Open Session command (File menu), 179

Options menu features, 194 output level control (Black Box), 134 Output windows basic description, 306 mode buttons, 307–308 multiple windows, 308–309 Path Meter View button, 309 unwanted automation, 309 overtones, 37 Oxygen 8 v2 microphones, 15

P pads, microphone, 75 Pan controls (Mix window), 239–240 pan positions, mixing, 297 Parabolic tool, 219 passive monitors, 11 patches, 375, 393–395 Path Meter View button (Output window), 309 PCI cards, 54–55 PCs crashes, avoiding, 49 disk maintenance, 50 Pro Tools M-Powered compatibility, 4 setting up, 49 pedal board, Black Box expression pedal, 173–176 momentary switch, 172–173, 176 pedal inputs, Black Box, 139, 170–172 Pencil tools, 219 automation creation, 314–316 editing MIDI with, 417–418 phantom power feature, 31 phase cancellation, 75 pitch parameters, MIDI, 374 Play button, 110, 279 Play Start marker, 277 playback creating Memory Location markers during, 276 Dynamic Transport option accessing, 278 advantages of, 280 automatic initiation, 277 Play button, 279 timeline insertions, 280 shortcuts, 429 playback cursor (Edit window) discussed, 222 Playback Cursor locator, 225 scrolling options, 224–225 Timeline Selection markers and, 223–224

439

440

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Playback Engine dialog box, 113–114 playing sessions, 58–60 Playlist selector button (Track Control area), 198 playlists, automation, 205 Playlists section (Edit window), 204–205 plug-and-play compatibility, 38 Plug-In Settings button (RTAS plug-in), 325 plug-ins AU, 333 AudioSuite demonstration, 326–328 File Mode button, 322 overview, 7, 320 plug-in selector, 322 Process button, 323 Process Mode button, 323 Reverse, 326–328 Selection Reference button, 322–323 basic description, 321 Bomb Factory, 9 convolution, 332–333 DigiRack, 8–9 G-Rack, 9–10 Guitar Box Pro G-Rack, 9–10 Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter, 6–7 overview, 6 ReWire, 332 RTAS buttons and menus, 324–325 demonstration, 328, 330, 332, 3298 overview, 7, 320 standalone, 6 VST, 333 wrappers, 333 plugs TRS, 27–29 T/S, 27 polar patterns, microphones, 75–77 ports, MIDI, 32, 377–378 power protection, 56 power-adapter input (Black Box), 131 Pre-/Post-Fader Send button (Send window), 336 Preset buttons (Black Box), 142 preset tempo, 167 PRESET VOL (Preset Volume) parameter, 166 Preset Volume (PRESET VOL) parameter, 166 presets BBP preset files, 149–150 copying, 145–148 editing, 153–154

parameter settings, 144–145 saving, 151–153 sharing, 152 Previous button (RTAS plug-in), 325 printing effects, 320 Pro Tips, 86–90 alternative miking, 290 layering tracks, 285–286 mastering, 344 microphone placement, 108–109, 118–119 Pro Tools Reference Guide, 194 Pro Tools software application LE version, 3–4 M-Powered version, 3–4 Getting Started booklet, 53 Mac and PC compatibility, 4 sessions creating, 60–63 playing, 58–60 Setup menu, 64 startup, 57–58 Process button (AudioSuite plug-in), 322–323 Process Mode button (AudioSuite plug-in), 323 proximity effect, 77 Pulsar II microphones, 72–73 punch recording, 287–290 “Purple Haze,” 158

Q Q40 headphones, 11–12 quality control, audio, 36–37 quantization, MIDI, 380, 399–403 quick punch recording audio, 222 shortcuts, 430 Quick Start Guide booklet (M-Audio hardware), 53

R Random tool, 219 RCA input and output, 34–35 Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) plug-in buttons and menus, 324–325 demonstration, 328–332 overview, 7, 320 Real-Time or Rendered Processing indicator (Track Control area), 200 Real-Time Properties window (MIDI), 404–405 rear panel (Black Box), 131–132 Record Enable button (red button), 109–110 Record Start task, 430

Index

recording audio Bounce to Disk command, 120–124 DAT recorders, 189 destructive, 221 dynamic voices, 111 input assignment, 105–106 input signal source adjustment, 108 interference, 108 latency issues, 112–113 loop, 221–222, 281–284 M-Audio Micro Track II, 189 methods of, 104–105 microphone placement, 108 MiniDisc recorders, 189 monitoring, 107–108 Play button, 110 playing back, 110 punch, 287–290 quick punch, 222 record enabling, 106–107, 109 stopping, 110 unarming the track, 110 volume levels, 108 MIDI, 395–396 red button (Record Enable button), 109–110 red clip indicator lights (Black Box), 141–142 Region Capture command, 369–370 Region List dragging regions from, 111 opening, 97 Region List column (Edit window), 235–236 Region menu features, 193 regions, 95, 111 crossfading, 359–363 duplicating, 358–359 extracting, 366–371 grabbing, 268 naming, 369 repeating, 363–366 slicing, 366–371 trimming, 264–265 Regions view, 406 registration process, 50–51 Reid, Vernon, 135, 152, 249, 290 relative time, 199 repair, 87–88 repeating duplicating versus, 365–366 regions, 363–366 Restore Performance option (Event Operations window), 404 Return to Zero task, 429 reverb effects, 164–165

Reverb High Frequencies (RHF) parameter, 164–165 Reverb Time (RVTM) parameter, 164 Reverb Volume (RVL) parameter, 165 Reverse AudioSuite plug-in, 326–328 rewind shortcuts, 429 ReWire plug-in, 332 REX file format, 348 RHF (Reverb High Frequencies) parameter, 164–165 ribbon microphones, 72, 77 Rotary control knobs (Black Box), 143 routing busses, 334 demonstration, 337–340 sends, 334–335 RTAS (Real-Time AudioSuite) plug-in buttons and menus, 324–325 demonstration, 328–332 overview, 7, 320 Ruler View selector (Edit window), 230 rulers, time scale, 211–213 RVBVOL pedal assignment, 427 RVL (Reverb Volume) parameter, 165 RVTM (Reverb Time) parameter, 164

S samples, 22, 346 sampling rate defined, 22 new session creation, 61 standard rate, 22 saving Auto Backup option, 126–127 presets, 151–153 Save As command, 125 Save command, 125 Save Copy In command, 126 Schonbrun, John (Digital Guitar Power!), 375 scrolling options, playback cursor, 224–225 Scrubber tool, 219, 268–269 S-Curve tool, 219 searching loops, 351–352 security power protection, 56 surge protectors, 56 USB iLok security device, 4–5 selecting tracks, 207–208 Selection Reference button (AudioSuite plug-in), 322 Selector tool, 218, 265–267 Send window buttons and controls, 335–336

441

442

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

Sends A–E column (Edit window), 202 Sends F–J column (Edit window), 202 sends, signal routing, 334–335 sequences, MIDI, 403, 417–418, 421 sessions creating, 60–63 file type options, 61 playing, 58–60 template creation, 68–69 templates, opening, 179–181 Settings menu (RTAS plug-in), 325 setup, good guitar setup technique, 87–88 Setup menu, 64, 194 sharing presets, 152 shortcuts menu, 192–194 naming tracks, 100 track creation, 95 Transport related, 429–430 zoom controls, 261 Show/Hide Transport shortcut, 429 Shuffle edit mode, 215, 256–258 signal flow, channel-strip, 317–319 signal path bi-directional configuration, 20–21 bus power, 25 signal routing. See routing signals dry, 162–163 mono, 27 wet, 162 XLR signal distribution configuration, 30–31 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), 36 simultaneous inputs, 24 Single Zoom mode, 263 sites. See Web sites slash (/) character, 68 sleep settings, Macs, 49 slices, 347 slicing, 347, 366–371 Slip edit mode, 215, 253 Smart Tool, 218–219 SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), 36 soft synths, 6 software installation, 51–53 Solaris microphones, 14 Solo button (Track Control area), 198–199 Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format (S/PDIF), 35–36 Sound Editor (Black Box), 140–141 sound-pressure levels (SPLs), 72 SP-1 sustain pedal, 170–171 S/PDIF out (Black Box), 140

S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format), 35–36 speakers, microphone placement, 80–81 spectrum (spectral analyzer), 344 splitting notes, 404 SPLs (sound-pressure levels), 72 Spot edit mode, 215, 251–252 Sputnik microphones, 14, 73–74 Square tool, 219 standalone plug-ins, 6 Start/Stop button (Black Box), 142 startup, Pro Tools software application, 57–58 Step Input option (Event Operations window), 404 stereo analog inputs, 186 Stop button, 110 stopping recording, 110 store functions (Black Box), 144 string replacement, 88–89 Stroud, Peter, 92, 108–109 Studio Setup window (MIDI), 386 Studiophile BX5 monitors, 11 Q40 headphones, 11–12 Sub Counters time scale, 210–211 surge protectors, 56 SWR SM500 amps, 157 symbols, track, 389 system requirements, hard drives, 17 system setup, MIDI, 383–386

T Tab to Transients button (Edit window), 230–231, 368 Tap Tempo button (Black Box), 142 Target button (RTAS plug-in), 324 templates groove, 347 session, 68–69 tempo defined, 209 drumbeat, 167–168 preset, 167 tempo matching loops, 356–357 Tempo Resolution selector (Transport window), 246 Tempo Ruler Enable button (Transport window), 246 Tempo slider (Transport window), 247 Tempo Source (TPO) parameter, 167–168 Tempo (TEMPO) parameter, 167 tempo-synced durations, 160

Index

tempo-synced speeds for beat-synced effects, 425 for delay effects, 426 THD (total harmonic distortion), 36–37 time properties, Memory Location markers, 272, 275 time scale, 196 Grid mode, 213–214 Main, 210–211 rulers, 211–213 Sub Counters, 210–211 Timeline display area, 211–213 Timebase selector (Track Control area), 199 timebase, tracks, 94 Timeline Selection markers, 223–224 tip/ring/sleeve (TRS) socket and plug, 27–29 tip/sleeve (TS) plug, 27 tone, 37 Toslink cable, 35 total harmonic distortion (THD), 36–37 TPO GL (Global Tempo) parameter, 168 TPO (Tempo Source) parameter, 167–168 Track Color code bar (Mix window), 241 Track Color column (Edit window), 203 Track Control area (Edit window), 197–200 Track display area, 97, 196 Track Height selector (Track Control area), 199 Track List column Edit window, 234 Mix window, 241 Track List (Edit window), 97 Track menu features, 193 New command, 93 Track name bar (Track Control area), 198 Track Record Enable button (Track Control area), 198 Track selector (RTAS plug-in), 324 Track View selector (Track Control area), 199 tracks audio, 95 Auxiliary, 386–387 Auxiliary Input, 96 click, 101–104, 395 creating, 93–98 deleting, 358 dragging to new location, 208–209 height adjustment, 205–207 hiding from Track display area view, 97 instrument, 96, 388 Blocks view, 407

Notes view, 407–408 Regions view, 406 Velocity view, 408 layering, 325 Lead Guitar, 118 Master Fader, 94–96 MIDI, 96, 387–388 muting, 115 naming, 98–100 rearranging, 97–98 selecting, 207–208 symbols, 389 timebase selection, 94 unarming, 110 views, adjusting, 205 virtual, 196–197 transients, 209, 368 Transport area (Edit window), 220–222 Transport related shortcuts, 429–430 Transport window Countoff button, 245–246 Current Meter field, 246 Current Tempo field, 247 Metronome Click button, 245 MIDI transport controls, 245–247 opening, 242–243 Tempo Resolution selector, 246 Tempo Ruler Enable button, 246 Tempo slider, 247 Transport section, 243–244 Transpose option (Event Operations window), 403 tremelo effect, 312 Triangle tool, 219 Trim tools, 217, 264–265 Trimmer tools, editing MIDI with, 413–415 trimming regions, 264–265 troubleshooting Pro Tool startup, 58 TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) socket and plug, 27–29 TS (tip/sleeve) plug, 27 tuner functions (Black Box), 144

U u (units), 33 unarming the tracks, 110 Undo History window, 263 units (u), 33 USB iLok security device, 4–5 USB port (Black Box), 139 USB (Universal Serial Bus) connections, 24 Utility menu, 165–168

443

444

M-Audio Guide for the Recording Guitarist

V V (volts), 33 Velocity message (MIDI), 379–380 velocity parameters, MIDI, 374 Velocity view, 408 view functions (Black Box), 143 View menu features, 193 View selector (Mix window), 240 virtual instruments formats, 391 types, 390 Xpand!, 391–395 Virtual Studio Technology (VST) plug-in, 333 virtual tracks, 196–197 Voice selector (Track Control area), 199–200 volts (V), 33 Volume fader (Mix window), 238 volume levels mixing and, 297 recording audio, 108 volume parameters, MIDI, 374 VOLUME pedal assignment, 427 VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plug-in, 333

W WAV files, 348 Web sites Belkin, 56 Bumblefoot, 84 Course Technology PTR, 58 Digidesign, 17

Hosa, 54 M-Audio, 1 wet signals, 162 WETDRY pedal assignment, 427 Window menu, 63, 194 windows, floating, 222 Workspace browser customizing, 353 features, 350–351 importing loops, 349 wrappers, 333 writing automation in real time, 309–311

X XLR input, 29–31, 140 Xpand! virtual instrument, 391–395

Y Y cable, 28 yellow chevron indication, Memory Location markers, 276–277

Z zero latency, 5, 184 zoom controls Edit window, 216–217 horizontal, 260 Normal Zoom mode, 263 preset buttons, 259–261 shortcuts, 261 Single Zoom mode, 263 zoom in/out, 260 Zoomer tools, 217, 262–264, 410