Setting up Pro Tools I/O & connecting a microphone for Recording

Setting up Pro Tools I/O & connecting a microphone for Recording The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate the ability to correctly connect a microphone to the Fast Track Pro interface in such a way that it can be used for multi-track recording and playback. A second goal is to record a few tracks of audio through the microphone and console into the Pro Tools software and monitor each track separately. After experimenting with track volume and pan, you will reassign all of the tracks to the same output and use the mixing console to change the volume and pan of each track. The final goal is to make a bounced file of the Pro Tools session and bounce those tracks to disk. Take the opportunity to ask questions for clarification. Take notes and ask questions, often. Make sure the same Pro Tools setup options covered in lab one (page 2) are true here before you get started. Starting up Pro Tools: 1) Run Pro Tools Depending on which lab station you are working on and depending on who was last on that station you will be presented with either no options or a window will come up asking you what kind of session you want to create. You want create a new blank session. Never create a session from the template unless YOU created the template. If no window came up asking you what kind of session you want to create then just press CMD + N to create a new session. Set your sample rate to be 48k and your bit depth to be 24bit, Stereo,.wav 2) Name the session AE1_YourLastName_Lab02.ptx and save it somewhere that you can recall it later. Just remember Everything on the desktop gets erased when the computer reboots. Save your work to a folder on the Student Folder under YOUR name. NEVER let the school s computers be the only copy you have. Copy your work to your flash drive often. 3) CMD + SHIFT + N to create tracks. In one step (before you hit return or Enter) create: a. 4 Mono Audio tracks (CMD SHIFT N, or CMD SHIFT KP + (Plus to add track types, minus to take away track types). Where it says in you have a choice of Samples (audio tracks) or Ticks (MIDI tracks) to change the track clock base (samples/ticks) press CTRL OPT CMD á or â to go between the two. Audio tracks SHOULD be sample based. b. 1 Mono Aux track - CMD Arrow keys (down/up, right/left) to change type of track and number of channels. Experiment to see which command does what. c. 4 Stereo Audio tracks d. 1 Stereo Aux e. 1 Stereo Master Fader. Your screen should look like this: If your screen doesn t look like this try to make it look like this. You should NOT have to have used the mouse to get this done, but get it right. Use the mouse if you absolutely have to. f. Press Enter and Pro Tools will churn a bit then all of these tracks appear in the edit window on your screen. 4) SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN (CMD + S) On the skills test you need to be able to create any number of tracks of any kind all in one step. This is how you do it. It is a very important skill to have. Bradford Cox Audio Engineering 1 & Audio for Video Page # 1 of 6

Set up i/o: If you are using your Pro Tools rig, you may not have 8 channels, especially of you are using a computer with just an ilok, no audio interface. You have two channels only. The rules are the same, but you will be using only the two channels, L & R, instead of all 8 channels. As a general rule Odd numbered tracks are left, even numbered tracks are right. 1) Under the Setup pull down menu, go to I/O. A window pops up. 2) Under the Input Tab. Press and hold OPT then Click on an unhighlighted input. All inputs should be selected. Click on the Delete Path button in the lower left area of that window. 3) Under the Output Tab, do the same thing delete all outputs. Continue to Insert & Bus tabs. You are now starting from scratch, which is a good thing. You never know who has been doing what on this computer or how good/bad they are at running Pro Tools before you got there. It is always best to start from a known clean setup. 4) Proper order for creating new paths for inputs, outputs, busses & inserts. But first What is a path? A path is the physical or virtual (software) audio plumbing through which audio will flow. Think of it like connecting hoses to spigots. If you follow this order you will create these paths very quickly. Different Pro Tools rigs will have a different number if inputs and outputs. The lab stations have TWO IN and TWO OUT. So you won t be doing 8 channels. I just want you to be aware that the number if INs and OUTs depends on your interface e.g. the hardware connected to your computer. a. With the Input tab selected, click on the New Path button in the lower left of this window. b. A New Path window pops up like the image to the right here. Put a check in both boxes to Add default channel assignments and Auto-create sub paths. c. Assign the number of channels: For now, always create a stereo input & outputs. d. Click on Create and a window similar to this pops up: e. Click on the triangle next to the Input name and you will see it expand to the Mono Left and Mono Right inputs. f. Double click on the name of the Input and change the Input name to be your name. The sub-paths are automatically renamed. g. Route the channels to the hardware: Click on box 1. If you did the stereo creation correctly there will be an L R in columns 1 & 2. h. Creating a Sub Path: Delete the input you just created by highlighting it and click on Delete Path. Create a New Path in the lower left corner of this window click twice on New Sub-Path and two new paths will appear under the parent path you just created. They should already come up as mono assignments The M in the column. i. Route the odd numbered track to the L channel and the even number to the R channel. e.g. Input 1-2.L to Input #1 and Input 1-2.R to Input #2 and so on. j. If you don t like the.l &.R names just double click in the name field and type in whatever you like. Maybe instead of Input 1-2.L and Input 1-2.R you want to label them Input 1 and Input 2. Go for it. You can name them whatever you want. For the lab that you hand in label the input YOUR NAME. 5) If you had an interface that had multiple Inputs and Outputs you would repeat this process until you have all Inputs assigned. Continue to Output, Inserts and Busses. An example of Outputs Bradford Cox Audio Engineering 1 & Audio for Video Page # 2 of 6

would look like this with the.l and.r removed and replaced with the mono routing number: 6) It would be a good idea to save this setup configuration, provided you did it correctly, so that when you come back to the lab station, all you have to do is load this preset configuration. Loading a known working configuration will avoid a lot of problems in the future. You need to get used to creating, exporting and importing I/O settings. a. In the I/O Setup window, click on Export Settings. b. A window comes up asking you what you want to call it and where you want to save it. Doing this is up to you and requires forethought in that should you save it to your USB Flash drive so no matter where you go, you have your configuration with you? Be sure to create a folder on your flash drive that contains all things associated with this class. 7) Click OK in the lower right corner. If you did everything correctly Pro Tools will go back to the Edit window. If anything is wrong you will get an error window that you must address. You must resolve the conflict in order to get out of this window. If you are totally frazzled and the lab guy can t help, then just load a preset I/O and wait for a lab person or student who knows what they re doing. The most common mistake is clicking the LR on an input or output that already has an LR associated with it. There can only be ONE L and ONE R for each vertical column. 8) If you clicked OK and no error message came up, go back to pull down menu - Setup > I/O and click on Export Settings. Browse to your USB/PIN drive and save that setup. This way, no matter who was on the lab station before you, all you have to do is import the known working and properly setup I/O and you will never have problems. Remember to save this to a folder on your flash drive that has all things associated with this class. Be very sure you give it a unique descriptive name so that you can find it again. 9) Your tracks will now have no input and no output assigned to them and will appear grey. That is okay for now. This exercise is to get you familiar with the plumbing in Pro Tools. We will address I/O issues in the next section Setting up for this Lab. 10) Save and close this session but leave Pro Tools running. CMD + S to save. CMD + SHIFT + W to close the session but leaves Pro Tools still running. Setting up for this Lab: - If you try to run a session from your flash drive Pro Tools will crash. 1. Create a new Pro Tools Session. CMD + N Sample rate 48k, Bit depth 24bit. File type.wav. Save it, calling it AE1_YourLastName_ Lab02a (If the computer locks up the start this section again but use the sample rate of 44.1k and bit depth of 16bit) DO NOT try to run a session from a USB Flash drive. DO NOT Plug your USB Device into the keyboard and expect it to work. There is not enough consistent clean power to make it work. 2. Create eight new mono audio tracks: CMD + SHIFT + N. Type in the number 8. If the last field is set to ticks, change the timing to be samples (CTRL + OPT + CMD + á or â ) and hit ENTER. You don t have to use the mouse, as a matter of fact, stop using the mouse sooo much. If a click point is highlighted, like the CREATE button here, hitting the ENTER key is just like clicking on that button, but WAY faster. 3. All inputs need to be cascaded e.g. Track 1 is input 1, Track 2 is input 2, basically Odd numbered tracks go to the left, Even numbered tracks go to the right. We need to cascade the outputs. Press and hold OPT + CMD, click on Track 1 output and select Interface Output 1 (NOT Output 1-2 (Stereo)) and all outputs will have been cascaded. You are now ready for the mic lab, input, recording portion of the lab. This is the track meter in that when there is signal the lights in this column will dance, representing the audio on that track. When recording, the lights in this meter need to average around -12dB, which is the upper green, lower yellow. Some versions of Pro Tools don t have yellow, they have dark green to light green. Regardless, if theses lights are not dancing there is no audio getting to or coming form this track. Bradford Cox Audio Engineering 1 & Audio for Video Page # 3 of 6

Set up a mic: You will have to check out a Mic from the lab dude for this next section. 1) Have the Lab guy help you select one dynamic mic and mic cable 2) Make very sure Phantom Power is OFF on the Fast Track Pro. Move this switch to OFF Input Sensitivity knobs 3) Looking at the front of the Fast Track Pro, identify the two inputs on the Fast Track Pro. These inputs are special in that they are XLR or ¼ jacks. The difference is that an XLR is balanced where a ¼ is not. (Lab 03 covers balanced cables) 4) Hold one end of your cables and toss out the male (pins) end of the cable and remove any kinks. Never use a twisted cable or a cable that has knots. Get the cable untwisted before you start any work. How can you tell which end of the cable goes to the mic and which end goes to the Fast Track Pro? The pins ALWAYS point to the direction of the audio. If there are pins, then audio is coming from that device. If there are holes, audio is going into that device. 5) Connect the female end of the cable to the microphone. 6) Connect the male end of the cable to the FastTrack Pro Input 1, the one on the left. 7) Check all possible switches on your mic for features like pads, bass roll-off, or pick up pattern adjustments. The lab station microphones will be a Shure SM57, there are no switches. But you need to be aware that some microphones do have many options. 8) Verify that track 1 input is set to Input 1 9) To arm track 1 for record: F7 tool (Selector) click anywhere in the track you want to record on and the track name should highlight. If the track name doesn t highlight then the buttons you were told to activate in Lab 1 are not highlighted. Refer to this diagram to be sure you have the proper features selected: With the track name highlighted, press SHIFT + R, this arms Track 1 for Record. 10) Start talking into the microphone and adjust the input gain of the Fast Track Pro until you are seeing a signal that just barely touches the yellow in the meters. These input sensitivity knobs amplify the signal coming into the system. If you are speaking softly then there isn t much to amplify and the meters will barely move. You NEED to speak loud enough to be heard. Suppose there is no audio, what do you do? a. Is the track armed for RECORD? b. Are you adjusting the correct knob? c. Does the mic have an on off button? d. Are all cables snug and in place and connected to the channel you are using? e. Is the Auto Input Monitoring on or off in Pro Tools? (CMD + K) f. Are you tweaking the correct input gain on the Fast Track Pro? g. Is the input on track one set to input No 1? h. If you are seeing the meter dancing as you speak, check your headphones and headphone volume knob. i. Are your headphones plugged into the headphone jack? See Lab 1 for connections. 11) Start recording (CMD + Space Bar or F12 or KP 3 or click in the transport) and say the phrase Recording Track One. (Test question What are 4 ways to start recording?) 12) Press Stop (Space Bar or click on the Stop button in the transport and disable the Record Arm for that track (SHIFT + R toggles record arm on/off on the currently selected track(s). 13) Repeat steps 9 15 but move the mic to console channel 2. After you hear yourself say Recording Track One, say Recording Track Two. So, you will hear you say Input One then you will record you saying Input Two. Then continue doing this for inputs 3 through 8. 14) Save your work now. Bradford Cox Audio Engineering 1 & Audio for Video Page # 4 of 6

Suppose you don t want to keep moving cables: Moving cables from input to input is a pain. Especially when you have many of them to do over and over. There is a way to record on different tracks by leaving the microphone where it is, yet route the audio to a different track in Pro Tools. 1. Put the microphone cable back into CH 1 on the Fast Track Pro. 2. Arm Track 1 for record and record your voice as before. 3. Unarm Track 1 for record. 4. Go to Track 2 s input. Click once and drag your mouse to Interface > Input 1 (mono) as pictured here. The name of the input may be different, depending on how someone named the I/0 in the steps above. Whatever it is named, it will be the first on in the list no matter how long that list may be. 5. Arm Track 2 for record. Go to the beginning of the session (Return Key, NOT Enter on the keypad), and hit record. Wait until you hear your voice from track 1 then record yourself on track 2. 6. Repeat these steps until you get to Track 5. 7. You have now overdubbed yourself on all five tracks. When you go to the start of the session you will hear yourself going through each channel. 8. Save your work now get ready to submit this session for a grade. Setting up the Mix: With this session still open, press and hold the OPT key and change the output of the tracks to be Interface > Output (stereo). Set the panning of the odd numbered tracks to hard left and the panning of the even numbered tracks to the hard right. When you hit play you should hear your voice for the odd numbered tracks in your left ear and the even numbered tracks in your right ear. A Word on Inputs & Outputs: It is only crucial that you understand the two types in Inputs and Outputs. Interface = physical piece of hardware that you can touch. Depending on the version of Pro Tools you may have. The word Interface may not be there. It will just be labeled Input or Output with the understanding that if you actually clicked on the input of a track you must want to adjust the input. Same with the output. Bus = Virtual connection, software, inside the computer, audio routing. You can t physically touch this as it is only routing through the software, internal to the computer. Bounce to Track: Change outputs of all the odd track numbers to be Bus 1. Change all the outputs of the even track numbers to be Bus 2 Create a new stereo audio track. Label this track FINAL BOUNCE by double clicking it s name. Change the input of this Stereo Track to be BUS 1-2 Arm this track for record (SHIFT R if it is selected. Otherwise click on the red dot) Zoom out so you can see all of your recordings. (CMD Brackets CMD [ or CMD ] to zoom in and out) With your F7 tool (Selector) double click on your first recording to select it. Press and hold SHIFT and double click on your last recording. A gray bar will appear across track 1 and the last track. You have just selected a record length. Press RECORD Pro Tools is not taking all the audio on all the tracks and making a new stereo recording. Two tracks will now represent all of your other tracks. Save your work now. Bradford Cox Audio Engineering 1 & Audio for Video Page # 5 of 6

What to hand in for a grade: Save this session now. (CMD S) Press CMD SHIFT U Selects unused audio Press CMD SHIFT B Clears selected audio Press ENTER (The default response is to Remove, which is why you can just press ENTER In General any time there is a button that is highlighted in this case BLUE pressing the enter key is just like clicking on it. Become faster by just hitting ENTER) Keep repeating these steps until no window comes up. You need to fit all the audio and tracks to the screen: o Press CMD A to select all o OPT F to fit the audio to the screen horizontally. o CTRL OPT CMD â to fit all tracks to the screen vertically. o Save it again, now. Go to File > Save Copy In. A window comes up. In the section entitled Items to Copy be sure you put a check in the box next to Audio Files. This will make a copy of all of your audio and associate it with this new session. Press ENTER and another window comes up asking you where to save this work and what to call it. Call this session AE1_YourLastName_Lab02b I recommend you save it to the desktop for now. Quit Pro Tools. CMD Q. You may be asked to save it again. Press S for Save. Verify that your session was saved correctly by going to the folder you just created on the desktop and opening that session. Once you verify there are no problems, Quit Pro Tools and drag the folder from the desktop to your flash drive. Be very sure to create a folder on your flash drive for all lab submissions. Lack of organization is going to count against you. Have ONE folder that contains all your lab submissions. Inside that folder will be all the lab folders you crate throughout the semester. Go to Canvas, locate Lab02. Click on SUBMIT and upload your Pro Tools.PTX file. What you learned: Adding a variety of tracks to Pro Tools in one step. Setting up and connecting a microphone and getting adequate audio levels. Recording onto multiple tracks into Pro Tools; rudimentary overdubbing skills. Routing one console input to multiple track inputs in Pro Tools. Saving your session for delivery specifications Terms on the test not covered in class, yet: How do you crate a new Pro Tools Session: CMD + N How do you create a new track in Pro Tools: CMD + SHIFT + N How do you change the number of channels: CMD + ß or à (Left & Right Arrow keys) How do you change the track type: CMD + á or â (Up & Down Arrow Keys) How do you Save? CMD + S How do you close the session but leave Pro Tools running? CMD + SHIFT + W. The reason for this is that if you have a ton of plug-ins they stay loaded. Restarting Pro Tools makes the program reload the plug-ins and that can take a long time. How do you cascade I/Os? CMD + OPT Click on the first, the rest follow suite when you let go. Left channel is ALWAYS an odd numbered track, Right channel is ALWAYS an even numbered track. How do you arm and disarm a track for record: On the highlighted track, press SHIFT + R How do you select all the unused audio in the clip list: CMD SHIFT U How do you delete the selected audio - NOT just the unused, but selected audio: CMD SHIFT B Bradford Cox Audio Engineering 1 & Audio for Video Page # 6 of 6