Finishing “bouncing” a Mix in ProTools Software
After your session is recorded, edited and mixed via Pro Tools software, you’re ready to convert into an audio file for stereo playback.
The first step is to create a master fader. In ‘Track’ on the top navigation bar, select ‘New…’ Create ‘1’ new ‘stereo’ ‘Master Fader’ in ‘samples.’ You will see the ‘Master 1’ track appear on both the Edit Window and the Mix Window, in Pro Tools. You can switch between these windows using the ‘Window’ section of the navigation bar, or shortcut by using ‘Command =’. Switch so you are viewing the ‘Mix Window,’ which has the tracks arranged vertically.
Play the recording from the beginning (green triangle on the transport). While the piece is playing you can add plug-ins. Plug-ins are a great feature especially when mixing with software. ProTools has a variety of plugins that give excellent results. You have many options, but for now it’s best to stick to equalization, compression, and reverb.
The first software plug-in we’ll use is equalization. At the very top of your Master 1 track (in the Mix Window) you will see five buttons each with up and down arrows. These are where the Pro Tools plug-ins are inserted. Select the first up-down button (though the order of buttons does not matter). Scroll down to ‘multi-mono plug-in,’ over to ‘EQ’ and down to ‘7-Band EQ 3 (mono)’ Your EQ plugin will appear, and you will see a graph which represents frequency (hertz, hz) on the x-axis, and volume (decibels, dB) on the y-axis. What you see is the range of sound, low to high, appearing automatically in the zero-position. There are five colored points along the frequency axis which can be moved, the red point for bass, orange, yellow and green for mid frequencies, and the blue point for the high end. You can drag points up, down, and to each side to achieve variations of sound.
The next software plug-in we will add is compression. In the second up-down button, scroll down to ‘multi-channel plug-in,’ over to ‘Dynamics’ and down to ‘Compressor/Limiter Dyn 3 (stereo).’ The most important knobs to identify, for now, are the red ‘Gain’ knob and the orange ‘Thresh’ knob. The Gain will boost volume levels while the Threshold knob will determine the volume point at which the compression occurs. Compression requires a lot of experience to become comfortable, so feel free to experiment with various settings, listening to their differences.
The final plug (for now) is reverb. Select your third up-down button, scroll down to ‘multi-channel plug-in’ over to ‘Reverb’ and over to ‘D-Verb (stereo).’ The ‘Mix’ in this plug-in will automatically be 100% but this allows you to hear the reverb most clearly. There are seven ‘Algorithm’ and three ‘Size’ buttons, and you can experiment to find a Reverb sound to your liking. The last step is finding an appropriate ‘Mix’ setting, since you will most likely not want your mix at 100%. The mix’s most common settings range anywhere between 10% and 35% but let your ear be the best judge.
After you have adjusted and re-adjusted the equalization, compression, and reverb to your liking, you are ready to convert this ProTools session into an audio file. If no track or part of the track is highlighted, Pro Tools will automatically convert from the time 0.00 to the last recorded activity. In ‘File’ on the navigation bar, scroll to ‘Bounce to…’ and over to ‘Disk…’ On the next screen, make sure the Bounce Source is ‘Out 1-2 (Stereo),’ the format is ‘Stereo Interleaved,’ the resolution is ‘16’ and the sample rate is ‘44100.’ Some versions of Pro Tools will allow a variety of music file types, WAV being the most common, mp3 being the most handy (lower resolution). Hit ‘Bounce…’ then find a name and location for your recording. After you hit ‘Save’ ProTools software will ‘bounce’ the piece down to a single music file: your recorded music.