Introduction to Recording in ProTools
With basic knowledge of ProTools recording software, you can teach yourself how to record and produce your own music. If you are new to the recording studio of ProTools, do not be intimidated. By learning a few details at a time, you will be able to be your own producer in the studio and master Digidesign’s Pro Tools software.
There are two basic types of recording: electronic and live. Electronic includes using MIDI, programming, beat-making, or using any computer software to generate sound. Live recording involves anything physically played by a human and/or captured with a microphone. This article will focus on live recording with ProTools Software.
The minimum necessities you will need for live recording are a microphone, mic stand, and mic cable, in addition to the Pro Tools interface and a computer for running the software. Pro Tools is most commonly used with Mac computers, but can be used on compatible PCs. There are a number of options for interfaces, such as the MBox, Mbox 2 Micro, Mbox Mini, Mbox 2, Mbox 2 Pro, along with the 003 and fully professional HD series. When selecting your interface, consider how many microphones you will want to use simultaneously as well as how particular you are about sound quality. Generally, the more expensive the interface is, the higher sound quality you get.
Set the microphone up in a room or section of a room where you are comfortable with the sound. You will be able to adjust the sound using Pro Tools later, but for now you want your music to sound as good as possible. Once you have your mic cable plugged into both the mic and interface, you are ready to go. Turn on your interface (if you have to) and open the ProTools software application. Once open, select File: New Session. What you see now is the Edit Window, which runs horizontally, and the Mix Window, which runs vertically. You can switch between these two in the Windows bar on top. Select to view the Edit Window.
Most digital recording software, including ProTools, is organized using ‘tracks’. You can record multiple ‘tracks’ simultaneously (if you have the correct interface and number of mics), or record one ‘track’ at a time. In the Tracks section, select New…
The ‘new track box’ will come up, prompting you to select what type and how many tracks. Select the default, which is “one (1) new ‘mono’ ‘audio track’ in ‘samples’” and hit ‘create.’ This track will come up automatically titled ‘Audio 1.’
Now you will have to tell the new track which input you want it to take. To the right of ‘Audio 1,’ there is a vertical section labeled ‘i/o’ which stands for ‘input/output.’ This first track should come up automatically as ‘Mic/Line 1’ on the top bar and ‘Out 1-2’ on the next, followed by ‘volume’ and ‘pan’ below. The input follows the interface input, so if you’ve plugged your mic into channel 1, you’ll find it in ‘Mic/Line 1.’ If you are set with the input, click on the red ‘R’ under Audio 1. It should start blinking red, and if you produce sound into the microphone, you should see some green levels rising and falling in the vertical bar to the right of the ‘Audio 1’ section, and to the left of the ‘i/o’ section.
You are now ready to begin recording, which is called “tracking.”