Pro Tools help for free!!!

samsungwhite

samsungwhite

Audio Advisor
So throughout my career as an audio engineer I always ran into people that needed Pro Tools assistance almost everywhere. And when I didn't know what I was doing, I'd always come across some punk that wanted to charge me a absurd amount to teach me something really small.

Anyways, since my workload has slowed down a bit I wanted to let you all know that I'll answer any of your Pro Tools questions to the best of my abilities free of charge. I'm just sick of seeing people profit off of something that should be shared among the music community. I mean, how are we going to take down the major's if we keep fighting amongst ourselves, Right?

Only 2 exceptions..... 1. I cannot mix your tracks for you (cause that would mean i would take a fee and that is not what this is about) and 2. Please take my advise wisely. Although I am Pro Tools certified, that doesn't mean I'm an answer spittin robot.

So hello FutureProducers.com. Nice to meet you.

-samsungwhite

(EDIT):
So not to confuse anyone with the title of this thread, I wanted to let you all know that I can provide help on anything audio production related. Not just Pro Tools. I just happen to be Pro Tools certified but in all honesty, any DAW (Digital Audio Workstations) that you work with all share the same characteristics. I just want to make it a point that if you know how to utilize the tools you all have, then regardless of the brand your using, you can still end up with a quality product. Don't let anyone tell you that one is brand is better than another. Its about how you can use what you got to the fullest potential!
So I hope that helps with any of the confusion that might have arose from your initial feelings about this thread.

Keep up the good work everyone and for anyone that has already posted anything, great questions!

P.S. If any of you are willing to return the favor then please refer to this thread in your signatures so that everyone can take advantage of this knowledge. =)
 
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I'm taking a Pro-Audio Class at Lansing Community College in a 2-3 weeks... I have LE7 and an MBox 1, my question is, do you think it would be smarter to use my FL8 and Reason songs, convert all the tracks into wavs, and use PT as Post-Production or should i make a complete switch over to PT?
 
Michirican123...

I believe that if your taking a formal Pro Tools class than you don't really need to have any audio files to work with as they would most likely have samples that they would want you to work with specifically.

As far as Fruity Loops goes, You can convert all the tracks over into Pro Tools if you would like to practice mixing in Pro Tools (that is if they are already mixed to your liking).

And for Reason, there is plug in in Pro Tools that is called "ReWire" and you would actually slave Reason to Pro Tools. Basically Pro Tools would be controlling when and how fast Reason would playback. I'm more than happy to teach you how to do this but seeing as your going into a formal learning environment, I'm sure the instructor should have no problem teaching you. =)

p.s. Post-production is a term used in film pertaining to the audio process that takes place after the movie is shot. I think what your talking about is mixing. Its like this.... Tracking, Mixing, and finally Mastering.

Hope that helps....Great question!

-samsungwhite
 
<hr style="" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> So to start everything off I'm going to show you all a universal setting for ALL compressors as a beginning point. If you don't know what a compressor does already then it goes like this... a compressor brings up the level of all your audio and then averages out the difference between the severity of the quietest and loudest parts. Basically it makes your sound more even so that one word isn't jumping out at you and another word isn't so quiet that you can barely hear it. It evens out your sound so if you put it on something like hip hop vocals, it makes the level of your performance more consistent (and not to mention A LOT more easier to mix later on).

No matter what compressor plug in you use i'm going to tell a good STARTING point to set it at. First, set the ratio at 3:1 or 4:1. this means that for every 3-4 dB going into the compressor, only 1 is coming out. Next set your attack for fast (or a low numerical number if that helps) and your release to medium slow (or a high numerical value). After those two are set then go to your threshold setting. This is the tricky part and your audio that your compressing must be playing in order to set the threshold correctly. While looking at your Gain Reduction (GR) meter, adjust your threshold to a point where the gain reduction meter is showing a -3 to -6 db GR. The more it goes into the negatives, the more it compresses. The attack means, "how fast the compressor activates". Release means, "how long the compressor will stay activated for after the initial signal is processed by the attack setting".

Believe me... its a lot simpler than you think. And finally after you get the GR where you want it, go to your output or gain adjuster on the same compressor plug in and turn it up to where you would like the volume to be because by now it should be somewhat quieter than the volume originally was before you put it into the compressor.

Hope that helps. With practice you'll be able to do this like its nothing. Seriously!
 
Ebony n' Brian V...

Hey man. I'm just confirming that I got your email. I'm in the studio until about 6 today so as soon as I get home I'll check it out and write you back on here.
 
how can i get my fantom g editor-plugin to work in pro tools 8 le? in the manual it says its supported by Audio units. the manual also gives specific instructions on how to install in sonar, cubase, and logic, but no instructions for pro tools! i'm thinking that its not compatible with pro tools.

imac running leapard 10.5.7
 
dj supreme....

I'm sorry to say that the fantom g editor plug in is a vst (Virtual Studio Technology) plug in. Pro Tools requires plug ins to be RTAS (Real-Time Audio Suite) if your using Pro Tools M-Powered or LE and TDM (Time Division Mulitplex) if your using Pro Tools HD.

I believe there is way to re-route a VST plug in into a RTAS (through means of a RTAS plug in that works as an adapter). I don't know how good it'll work but it should let you at least be able to us it.

Sorry I couldn't be more help. =(. This is the world we live in. Damn digidesign and their proprietary DAW!! lol.
 
I'm interested in buying PT8, probably will do it next month. But I still couldn't quiet figure out which interface to choose.

First off all, I don't need much when it comes to external gear, only one mic and a rack (Motif XS, which I want to buy too).

I'd like to save money and choose only that what I really need, that'd be the Mbox 2 mini, only downside would be that it has no midi. So I'd like to know is it possible to connect the midi outs and ins of the Motif rack with the midi outs and ins of my 88 keys MIDI controller called Fatar VMK-188+ (the Fatar would be connected to my computer over USB) and then the audio outs of the rack would be connected to the audio ins of the Mbox 2 mini? Would I be able to set everything up like that and get it to work?

I looked in the manual of the Fatar but all it states is that you can connect it to a sound module over midi, but it doesn't state if it is possible to connect the rack and Fatar together to the computer over USB as well.


What I also like about the Mbox 2 mini is that it has a monitor mute button, I switch a lot between headphones and monitors for many different reasons, that's why I find it convenient to have a button to just mute out the monitors, the Mbox 2 (not mini) does not have such a button, I'd have to turn down and up the volume button, I don't like it that way. For those reasons I'm leaning towards the mini, many people couldn't understand why I would consider the mini.


Thanks for your help.
 
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Live A Dream...

As far as your digital interface goes, I would advice getting the Mbox 2 and not the mini. I don't have anything against the mini but I'm just thinking about the fact that your going to have a MIDI nightmare without the connections (plus its just a good feature to have and the fact that you have another mic input won't hurt anything and might work to your advantage later on when you get into advanced recording techniques). The monitor mute button is not as useful as you might think. Although it is a cool feature, you can buy a Mackie Big Knob and get way more monitoring options (even a talkback button with a pre built mic in the unit).

I believe you can use the Motif rack as a MIDI sampler within Pro tools with your MIDI controller but honestly, you don't need that rack unit. Just get some samplers and you can make huge tracks with just that. Such as Reason 3 or 4 and buy instrument fills that applies to Reason's interface. You'd be amazed at how many big name producers use Reason and just use a MIDI controller (such as your keyboard) to create all their beats. And the best part about Reason is that its a fraction of the cost of the rack unit your talking about and it also capable of so much more!

I'm just trying to stretch out your budget in the most effective way possible. I am also Reason certified so if you have any trouble with it, I'd be more than happy to help you getting comfortable with it.

So it comes down to this.... (in my opinion)
Get the Mbox 2
Reason 3 or 4 (believe me, you'll thank me for it in the long run)
and since you'll have quite a bit of money left over,
The Mackie Big Knob.

If you get those three things you'll STILL have money left over than buying that rack unit AND you'll have MORE BETTER sounds than you would get from the rack unit (AND you can expand your sounds with Reason and STILL be under your initial budget!).

Hope that helps and you don't have to take my advice. I know sometimes i'm dead set on a certain piece of gear no matter the expense. lol. But that's my honest opinion that would work best with your situation. And hey, with all the money left over you can spend it on more gear! =)
 
Michirican123...

Thank you very much for providing us with that knowledge. And for any of you guys that have this adapter or are using VST plug-ins visit KVRaudio.com. They have so many FREE VST plug-ins you won't know what to do with yourselves. Just promise me you won't go too overboard. Believe me, a lot easier said than done.
 
Obitheincredible....

Great point! Damn, you guys don't need my help in here! I'm amazed everyday at how good everyone is getting. =)
 
Thanks man, much appreciated,

I never knew about such thing as the Mackie Big Knob, that thing looks really interesting and it looks like something I'm looking for, and I'm pretty sure it will serve me good when I'm expanding and start recording more and more, since with the Mbox 2 mini there's no expanding possible at all.

I looked at the manual of that thing and I still don't understand how this is going to be hooked up together with the Mbox? So I'm guessing I'm going from the Mbox 2 outs into the DAW mix ins of the Mackie Big Knob, and then from the DAW mix output of the Mackie Big Knob to the inputs of the Mbox 2, right?

Only thing I don't understand is why does the headphones input have two inputs for left and right, when the headphones itself have only one jack? Would I need a Y-adapter or something like that?


Good stuff tho, only thing I don't agree with is the Reason thing tho. I've used Reason quiet a bit and the ONLY sounds I liked where the sounds of the Fantom Refill all other sounds I found as pretty cheap quality, and keep in mind I'm spoiled by the quality of East West plugins, I own a few of them. So I thought when the only sounds I liked where sampled sounds of a keyboard why not get the real thing then?

I know that DJ Kahlil makes hot stuff with Reason but he also orchestrates a live band and samples them as well, so it's a different league of producing, and also he spends way too much time tweaking and editing and layering in the combinator, I can't and don't want to spend so much time on that, I just wanna compose away.
 
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