INTRODUCTION

The ProTools Quick Reference showed you how to create a basic single track composition. In this reference guide we will concentrate on expanding your knowledge of ProTools to incorporate multi-track compositions, track editing, and applying effects. Though this Guide is not meant to serve as a replacement for a DigiDesign ProTools manual, it should assist you understanding the finer points of the software.

MULTI-TRACK RECORDING

1. Create a New Session (See ProTools Quick Start)

2. Create new tracks (Follow ProTools Quick Start, but make adjustments as explained below)

		Change the number of tracks to any number of tracks you would like.
Note: At any time during the editing of the composition you can add new tracks by following the steps above.

3. We have arbitrarily selected three tracks. Your screen should look like this:



Each track will be labeled “Audio x” (where “x” is the number of the track) by default. These labels can be changed at any time by double clicking on the existing title. Each track has its own controls (5 buttons in addition to the track label).

The detail below is of a single track's control strip.

		Audio 1 - The name of the track. Adjusting this is covered on the previous page.
		rec - This button activites the given trackand readies it to record.
		read - This will be covered later.
		solo - Mutes all other channels except given channel.
		mute - Mutes the given channel.
		waveform - Changes the size (visual only) of the audio wave (or track).

The edit mode selector is located in the top left of the session window and allows you to alter how ProTools handles track editing.

		Shuffle - If this is selected, regions will “snap” together end to end. For example, when deleting a section in the middle of a track, undeleted portions will snap together.
		Spot - In this mode, all editing is done using specifi c timecodes.
		Slip - In this mode, regions will move around freely without “snapping.” This edit is similar to a Shuffl e edit except that the remaining regions will stay put on the timeline.
		Grid - In this mode, all editing is done based on the grid that appears on the track timeline. Grid length can be changed by clicking on the following:

EDITING AN EXISTING TRACK

Below are some of the most commonly used tools for track editing:

Zoom Tools

		Zoom Out.
		Zoom In.
		Zoom levels. The greater the number, the greater the magnification of the tracks.
		Zoom In.

Edit Tools

	Trimmer. Used to trim/crop unwanted portions of a region.		Selector. Used to select regions of a track for subsequent actions.
	Grabber. Used to “grab” entire regions and move them around within a session.		Scrubber. Used to play a specific portion of a region at varying speeds, forward or reverse.
			Pencil. Complicated tool used to draw lines representing changes in volume and pan.
			Smart Tool. Combines functions of the Trimmer, Selector and Grabber into one tool that changes depending on the placement.

MOTORMIX

MotorMix is the hardware interface for ProTools. It is very useful because it is much easier to adjust some things with sliders and trimmers than using ProTools. Also MotorMix makes all tracks easily accessible and editable.

You will notice that every time you create a new track, MotorMix makes a sound and one of the sliders goes up. Each slider represents a single track. Besides a slider there a number of buttons related to each track, that will be described bellow.

			Selector. Selects the track and makes it active.
			Rotary pot. It’s used to adjust pan, aux-send levels, equlizer settings, etc.
			Effect on/off. Used to turn effects controled by rotary pot to on/off.
			Burn Switches. Used to turn record, write, or burn functions on/off. Selection of these functions is to the left of the burn switches or in the picture on the right.
			Solo switch. Mutes all other tracks.
			Mute switch. Mutes the selected track.
			Track fader. Controls the volume of the selected track
			Track shifter.If you have tracks 1-8 currently displayed on the MotorMix pushing the right arrow will show tracks 2-9, 3-10 and so on, while pushing the left arrow will do the same but in reverse.
			Bank selector. With this on you can jump straight to tracks 9-17 when you push the right arrow.
			Group selector. With this on you can jump straight to the next group of tracks when you push the right arrow.
			Burn Buttons.Used in conjuction with Burn Switches to select what kind of function you would like each track to perform.