Pro Tools for Music Production

Mike Collins (Author) Mike Collins is a studio musician, recording engineer and producer with more than 30 years experience of making records. He has many credits on UK chart singles and albums, for radio and TV broadcasts, advertising jingles and movie scores. Mike was awarded a BSc Degree in Electroacoustics-with-Music from Salford University in 1979, became a Member of the Audio Engineering Society in 1980, and was awarded an MSc Degree in Music Information Technology, with Distinction, in 1989. After graduating, he spent 14 months working on transducer designs for Standard Telephones and Cables (STC), followed by a couple of 6-month stints as a Planning & Installation Engineer for Neve Electronics and as a Film Sound Consultant for Dolby Labs, before joining Yamaha's London R & D Studio in 1986 as Senior Recording Engineer and Music Technology Specialist. Working freelance since 1988, Mike has regularly reviewed music and audio software and hardware and written about a variety of audio and music production topics, with more than 2000 articles and reviews published in Pro Sound News Europe, Future Music, Computer Music, Macworld, MacUser, Personal Computer World, Sound On Sound, AudioMedia, Studio Sound, Electronic Musician, EQ, MIX and similar publications. In parallel with this, Mike established a career throughout the 1990's as a studio musician, MIDI programmer, recording engineer and producer working on Top 40 albums and singles in the leading London recording studios including Abbey Road, Mayfair, Townhouse, Eden, Strongroom and Sony Whitfield Street Studios, CTS and Lansdowne Studios. In 1997, Mike set up a project studio equipped with a high-end Pro Tools system and has since been involved in everything from dance remixes to TV ads, background and featured music for TV and video, album editing and compilation, and, since 1999, producing jazz, blues and soul recordings. Notable projects include working on music for a Deutsche Bank promotional video, co-production credits on Ayetoro, an experimental jazz/Afrobeat album, and, in 2010, working as a freelance audio transfer engineer at Iron Mountain's studio facility in Slough, helping to digitize Universal Music's vast library of master tape recordings. Most recently, Mike has set up a 'boutique' record label to release recordings he has produced - see http://rudenoterecords.com/author/rudenoterecords/

1 Pro Tools -The world "s leading digital audioworkstation
Introduction, Who this book will appeal to, What the book covers.
2 The evolution of Pro Tools -a historical perspective
Introduction, How Pro Tools came about -the move to digital The road to Pro Tools, The beginnings of Pro Tools, Pro Tools III, The plug-ins, Cubase VST, The Yamaha 02R compact digital mixer, The ADAT Bridge, PCI expansion chassis, Twenty-four-bit digital audio, Pro Tools 24, Pro Tools MIX, Hardware controllers, The latest developments, Chapter summary

3 So what is Pro Tools?
Introduction, The system, Native audio versus Pro Tools, Pro Tools hardware overview, Do you need to use mixer with Pro Tools?, Disk requirements and bandwidth, Pro Tools software Pro Tools LE, Hardware options for Pro Tools LE, Digi ToolBox XP, Digi 001, Monitoring latency and recording, Monitoring latency and MIDI, Can I ruin my recording?, Moving between PT LE and PT TDM, Unique file IDs, Chapter summary

4 Recording
Introduction, Digitizing audio, Digital audio caveats, Practical considerations, Things you should know about before recording in Pro Tools, Monitoring, Drum punch-ins, Recording to click, Destructive Record, Playlists, The concept of "voices "in Pro Tools, Loop Recording audio, QuickPunch, Half-speed recording and playback, Markers, Pro Tools MIDI features overview, Recording SysEx in Pro Tools, The rulers Edit window view options, Recording short cuts, Bringing in audio material from CD, Using the QuickTime Player to import audio from CD, Case Study 1. How to get started with simple recording project A simple mono or stereo session, AutoSave Session details, Case Study 2.A MIDI +Audio session, Pitch shifting, Importing audio, Identify Beat, Recording MIDI parts Working with patterns, Time stamping, Chapter summary

5 Editing
Introduction, New features and short cuts in Pro Tools 5.1 Zooming and navigation, Crossfades, Editing accuracy, Auto Fade-In and Fade-Out, Beat Detective, Editing Regions, Linked Selections, Case Study.Editing Take Me To The River, File conversion, Mix window set-up, Edit window set-up, Markers window set-up, Editing tips, Editing vocals, Editing before the downbeat, Arranging sections, Playlists, Using Spot mode, Chapter summary

6 Mixing
Introduction, Mixing features, Tracks, Sends, Output windows for tracks and sends, Automation, Automation playlists, Automation write modes, Trim mode, Snapshot automation 000
Mixdown, A note on terminology, Mixing to analogue tape, Mixing to DAT, Mixing to digital media, Making your own CDs
Audio compression, Bounce to Disk, Recording to tracks, When to use the Dither plug-in, Case Study.Take Me To The River Mix, Setting up groups, Fading-in using automation "snapshots ", Write Mutes, Alternative methods, Setting up Auxiliary routings, Dealing with the drums, Dealing with the bass and guitars, Dealing with the keyboard -getting ready for the vocal, Dealing with the vocal, Panning the instruments, Choosing effects, Dealing with plug-in processing delays, Adding comments, The final mix, Chapter summary

7 Signal processing plug-ins
Introduction, Plug-in delays, Real-time plug-ins, AudioSuite plug-ins, DigiRack plug-ins, EQ, Dynamics, Delays, The Procrastinator, Signal Generator RTAS-and TDM-only plug-ins
Trim, TimeAdjuster, Dither, Optional Digidesign plug-ins Chapter summary

8 Virtual instruments:current developments with
software-based synthesizers and samplers
Introduction, Propellerheads - chocks away! Steinberg enters the market, Native Instruments, Emagic enters the fray ... New from Emagic, From the USA, Back in Hamburg -TC|Works Cracked software, DirectConnect technology, Problems with DirectConnect, Digidesign DirectIO ASIO Drivers, Chapter summary

9 Midi +Audio sequencers
Introduction -how MIDI +Audio sequencers interface with
Pro Tools, Studio Vision, Digital Performer, DP3, Cubase VST Logic Audio, Logic Audio Version 5, Chapter summary

10 Hardware control surfaces
Introduction, Digidesign ProControl, ProControl modules, ProControl rear panel, ProControl summary, Digidesign/Focusrite Control|24, Control|24 control surface
Control|24 rear panel, Control|24 summary, Chapter summary

11 Focusrite hardware
Introduction, Focusrite Red 1 Quad Mic Pre, How does it sound? Focusrite ISA430 Producer Pack, Chapter summary

12 The computer system
Introduction, Choosing and setting up your Mac, What model of Mac should you choose? Power Mac G4 speci fications -as at May 2001, What computer peripherals are recommended'Floppy drives and key disk installs, Setting up your Mac
Partitioning the internal drive on the Mac, System installation options, Finder Preferences, Tweaking the operating system
Mac software kit, Updates, Useful Mac tips, Mac crashes
Hard disk organization:how to organize your files and
applications, Hard drives for Pro Tools, Con figuring OMS SCSI versus IDE versus Firewire, SCSI, SCSI interfaces, SCSI on the Mac, SCSI speci fications, SCSI cards, SCSI termination IDE/ATA, Firewire, Summary, Backups, Software, Hardware DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DAT, Exabyte, Sony AIT, DLT, Iomega Jaz, Iomega Zip, Disk maintenance and repair, Using Norton Utilities, Norton in action 000
Optimizing and de-fragging, Troubleshooting, Leaving your computer "on "permanently versus switching
"off" when you are not using it, Mac troubleshooting, Why you need to have your start-up disks right next to your computer at all times, A real problem, Pro Tools software problems,
Hardware problems, Another hard drive problem, Another real-world problem, Chapter summary

13 MIDI interfaces
Introduction, Steinberg interfaces, Midex 8 USB MIDI interface Midiman interfaces, USB MIDISPORT 8 [multi ]8/s, MotU interfaces, General features, MIDI timing resolution, MotU MIDI Timepiece AV USB, MotU MIDI Express XT USB, Emagic interfaces, General features, Timing resolution, Emagic Unitor8 MkII, Emagic AMT8, Chapter summary
14 Pro Tools goes mainstream
Introduction, Pro Tools for hire, Pro Tools Discussion Forum at Strongroom Studios, Chapter summary, Glossary, Bibliography