Powering Up Your Music Production System in the Proper Order

Did you know that it is important to power up your system and equipment in a certain order? In the early days, for me, I didn’t know that!

Because systems are typically composed of both hardware and software, preparing your system for use might involve more than simply turning your computer on and launching your DAW of choice. The larger the system, the more important it becomes to follow a specific startup sequence. Starting components out of sequence could cause a component to not be recognized, prevent the software from launching, or cause unexpected behavior.

The recommended sequence is as follows:

1. Make sure all your equipment, including the computer, is off.
2. Turn on any external hard drives that use external power (wait about 10 seconds for them to spin up to speed).
3. Turn on any MIDI interfaces and MIDI devices (including any MIDI control surfaces) and synchronization peripherals.
4. Turn on your audio interface. Wait at least 15 seconds for the audio interface to initialize.
5. Start your computer.
6. Turn on your audio monitoring system, if applicable.
   
   If your audio interface gets it’s power from the computer, it doesn’t need to be powered up in advance.
   
   That’s it! When you get in the habit of always starting your recording or mixing sessions this way, it will ensure that everything works properly as it should!
   
   Till next time – Peace!
   And, HEY, make it a great day!
   
   T

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Recording from sound modules without effects

If you’re involved with a lot of production work and do a lot of MIDI work like I do, you record a lot of projects using your sound modules. All sound (tone) modules automatically put effects on the sounds by default (so they sound better). Even free plug-in modules that come with recording software like Pro Tools do this. So if you use Xpand, Sampletank, etc. or you use outboard gear like Roland or Motif – you’ll want to know this!

When I use my Motif-Rack, I always go to the Effects Insertion Bypass screen and turn off the reverb and chorus. I am a piano player by trade and thusly do a lot of production work which involves piano tracks. I end up recording MIDI piano tracks dry, no reverb, no chorus. And if I use anything else – percussion, strings, etc. I also record those dry – no effects.

Why? Because for one, I don’t want chorus on a lot of my tracks (which Motif-Rack puts on all sounds by default!). I only use chorus as an effect once in a while (for the keys work I do). And two, the reverbs I have available as plug-ins in my DAW are better (i.e. Waves reverbs) than what Roland or Motif is going to give me.

On Pro Tools’ free instrument software plug-ins such as Xpand and Mini Grand, they always come with reverb (hall) or chorus or some kind of effect. Xpand down at the bottom has 2 effects – fx1, fx2. (If the green light is on – they are engaged) deselect those, and use the ones that come with your software. Sampletank has a place toward the bottom to engage effects but by default does not have them on when you create an instantiation and open the software.

Try to record dry and then use other software plug-ins or hardware outboard gear for your reverb, chorus, plate, etc. Your music will sound better for it!

And, HEY, make it a great day!!
Tim

Unmount hard drives from within Pro Tools

Have you ever tried to eject a hard drive from your system that you used in a Pro Tools session while Pro Tools was still up and running? It didn’t work, did it?



Here’s the scenario and solution:

You’re working in a Pro Tools session and the client gives you a hard drive (or flash drive) to grab wav files from. So you take care of that, go to the desktop, and try to eject the hard drive (command E) since you’re done with it. You get some dialog box that says the hard drive is in use and can’t be ejected.

Now, in the old days, I always closed the Pro Tools session I was working on, closed the application, and then went and ejected the drive. I didn’t know any better. Well there’s a much better way!!

From within Pro Tools, go to the ‘Window‘ menu command on the menu bar at the top of the screen. Under Window, go to ‘Workspace‘.  On the left side it will show all hard drives on the computer. Select the one you want to eject (the client’s hard drive). Then, at the top right of that same window there is a drop down arrow (in a circle), select that. Three quarters of the way down the menu list it says ‘Unmount‘. Select it and it will unmount (eject) the hard drive!

[This is an earlier blog of mine and pertains mostly to earlier versions of Pro Tools. I had Pro Tools 8 when I wrote this.]

Awesome, right!? Knowing this little tidbit helps save time and makes you look more professional in front of the client! All in a day’s work!

And, HEY, make it a great day!
Tim

Demystifying Pro Tools Preference Settings part 3/3

OK today let’s first go over the Editing tab. There’s really only one item I want to make sure you know about. At the bottom of the page is ‘Levels of Undo’. This preference sets the maximum number of actions that can be undone. The maximum is 32 levels of undo! That’s a lot! You can “back up” 32 times. Sometimes I use this to my advantage – I may try something knowing that I can go back and undo whatever it is I’m trying. For instance, in editing I might try to edit two different sections together a certain way not knowing if it’s going to work or not. And then if it doesn’t work I can just back up until I see my two sections as they were in the beginning before I did any editing at all.NOTE: The one thing to keep in mind is that setting this to a lower number can speed up the performance of slower computers.
The next tab in the preferences setup is Mixing. Under the Setup section I like to use the Default EQ and Default Dynamics windows. Here I set the EQ and Dynamics processors that I use most often. After setting them, they will show up when you’re in the mix window and you click on an insert. The plugin appears at the top of the insert selector pop-up menu.
Next under Automation be sure ‘Smooth and Thin Data After Pass’ is selected. Pro Tools will automatically smooth and thin the automation data created in an automation pass if this is set. Be sure to set the ‘Degree of Thinning’ also. I have mine set to “more”. I would leave this higher – either ‘more’ or ‘most’.
And finally, notice ‘After Write Pass, Switch To’. This determines what happens after you write the first pass of automation. Touch mode writes automation only while a fader or switch is touched or clicked with a mouse. When the fader is released, the writing of automation stops and the fader returns to any previously automated position. Latch mode works in the same way but continues to write automation until you stop playback.
So that’s it for the Preference settings in the Setup menu! I hoped this helps. I hope this lessens any intimidation you might have felt while looking through this particular menu item!
Until next time –
And HEY! make it a great day!
Tim

Demystifying Pro Tools Preference Settings part 2/3

In the last blog post I covered the first tab under pro tools preferences – Display. Today I will cover Operation Preferences. First section is Transport: The very first selection ‘Timeline Insertion/Play Start Marker Follows Playback’ is important and I use it all the time. When selected, the Timeline Insertion and the Play Start Marker both move to the point in the timeline where playback stops. When deselected, the Timeline Insertion and Play Start Marker do not follow playback, but return to the point in time where playback began. Many times I leave this deselected because I want to play a section of my song and I want playback to start from the same place every time. This way I can listen to the same section over and over for whatever reason. If you select it, then when you are in playback mode, wherever you stop and then restart, playback continues from wherever you stopped.**This can also be selected/deselected from the Edit window – underneath the Edit Tools – the farthest right icon (looks like a rt. arrow with vertical line and play button).

The Numeric Keypad mode determines how the numeric keypad functions. The main thing I set this for is memory locations. Whether you have it set for Classic or Transport will determine how you recall different memory locations using the numeric keypad. This will be a personal preference for you. I use Transport setting, just because that is how I prefer to move to my memory locations when using the numeric keypad.
The really BIG ONE is Auto Backup. You DEFINITELY want to have this selected! This determines if pro tools automatically backs up your sessions! If hard drive space is limited you may only want to keep the last 3 backups and backup every hour. I think I normally keep the last 5 or 10 sessions and backup every 20 minutes. Ask yourself how much work and time you are ready to lose and have to re-do? Sometimes when I am working on an intense session or one with heavy work changes or with a client where a lot is happening, I will keep more back ups and back up at more frequent intervals. Other times it’s not that critical so I decrease the number of backups and frequency. But every backup takes up hard drive space, so keep that in mind! As terabyte hard drives continue to come down in price, this becomes less of an issue!
On the right side is the Record preferences. The default settings here should be adequate for most people most of the time. I believe the default settings are Latch Record Enable Buttons (selected) and Link Record and Play Faders (selected). Also make sure Open-Ended Record Allocation is set to ‘Use All Available Space’.
That’s it for the Operation preference! We’ll cover some others preference settings next time, so until then . . . .
HEY! Make it a Great Day!!
Tim

Demystifying Pro Tools Preferences part 1/3

I remember how terrified I felt going to the Preferences (under Setup) tab! I looked at all that and said “Maaann! I am NOT touching anything here! I didn’t understand it and I CERTAINLY wasn’t going to change anything!! Wow! I think the first 3 or 4 years were like that – maybe even longer! It seemed too confusing to me and I just didn’t bother to change anything, much less even get in there! But now, I am in there all the time, changing settings the way I need to, when I need to, to help accommodate my workflow.Let me see if I can make it less intimidating for those just starting out. There are definitely a few things in there that are worth looking at. So – Go to Setup > Preferences . . . Today we’ll deal with just the first tab – Display. First off, if you aren’t very familiar with the different functions in either the edit or mix window, you can set pro tools to tell you what the different functions are. Under Basics – select Tool Tips: Function & Details. That way when you hold the cursor over an icon, tool or abbreviated name, pro tools will tell you what it is or what it does. This is a great way to learn your way around!
Another neat function under Basics is ‘Organize Plug-In Menus By:’ menu drop down. When you are choosing an insert plug-in, the way the list shows up can be selected here. You can choose a Flat List, Category, Manufacture, or Category and Manufacture. Typically I just use Category, but you may choose to do it by manufacture for instance. Kind of helpful!
Below the Basics area is the Meters area. I sometimes need to change how long the setting for the Peak Hold or Clip Indicator is seen – either 3 seconds, Infinite or none. And I have used all 3 settings at one point or another.
The only other area under the Display tab is the Color Coding which I talked about on 5/18/15. Next time we’ll talk about the Operation tab.
And HEY! Make it a great day!
Tim