Vocal Studio Getting Started (1 of 2): Pro Tools Sessions - Pro Tools® M-Powered™ Essential

M-Audio Support: http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.contact&cmpid=DD-SM-PTE13

Before you start recording with the Pro Tools Vocal Studio, you need to connect your headphones to the Producer USB, which is a combination microphone and audio interface. Plug your headphones into the jack on the front of the Producer USB labeled with a headphone icon.

We do not recommend using speakers with the Pro Tools Vocal Studio. The Producer USB microphone is very sensitive and the speakers can easily feedback into the mic. This means any tracks already recorded in Pro Tools could be picked up by the mic and re-recorded into Pro Tools; you could also generate a potentially loud and damaging feedback loop.

If you havent already, launch Pro Tools M-Powered Essential. You have several options here on the Quick Start screen. The Session Templates are great because they include preloaded tracks, instruments and effects for the selected musical style. Lets get started and select the Songwriter - Singer Template.

You can rename your session, as well as change the location to save the file . . . Click Save, and Pro Tools will load your new session.

Lets take a quick look at a Pro Tools session. There are 2 main Windows in Pro Tools, the Mix window . . ., and the Edit window. You can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + = (or Cmd + = on Mac) to toggle between the mix and edit windows.

Every track in the Edit Window has a corresponding channel in the Mix Window.

In the mix window you have a volume fader; solo, mute, and record enable buttons; and above that, pan control.

At the top of the window you have inserts and sends. Inserts are where you insert effects and signal processors. Here is an equalizer plug-in inserted on a vocal track.

When you want to add the same effect to multiple tracks, like Reverb for example, you use the Sends and return tracks. Here you can see that Send A is setup for Reverb. On the Reverb Return track is the D-Verb Reverb plug-in. The Sends allow you to send a tracks audio signal to be processed. The more you send the, more effect you will hear.

Lets switch to the Edit Window by pressing Ctrl + = (or Cmd + = on Mac). The transport controls appear at the top of the Edit Window. To the left is the counter which shows bars and beats, and can also display minutes and seconds. Next to that are your editing tools, and all of the tracks appear along the left side.

Click the small triangle on the far right to show the zoom controls. Im going to click to zoom out so I can see more of the timeline. You can also click and drag to zoom. Lets also go to the Options Menu and make sure loop playback and dynamic transport are disabled (or unchecked).

In the next video were going to start building our song by bringing in one of the Pro Tools Essential Loops.

Category:

Music

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