David Franz is a songwriter, producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and educator. David’s production company, Underground Sun, writes, produces and engineers music for a wide range of clients. He teaches production courses online at Berkleemusic, the continuing education arm of Berklee College of Music, and performs with his touring rock band, midatlantic. He is author of Producing in the Home Studio with Pro Tools (the first book about using Pro Tools, now in its third edition) and Recording and Producing in the Home Studio (Berklee Press).

In the second installment of my Pro Tools blog, I want to show you the basic steps for setting up a new Pro Tools session and recording an audio track. If you’re anything like me, when you come up with a new musical idea, you want to record it right away. My memory is good, but trying to remember that cool lick I played last night can be quite difficult. And even if I remember it, many times I can’t recreate the original feel even a day or two later. Capturing that fresh idea is the first step in the preproduction process for songwriting. Here’s how to record that idea quickly using Pro Tools.

Follow the steps in the text below and watch the video at the end of the article for all of the details:

1. After launching Pro Tools, select File > New Session, name the session, choose where to save it, and select the session parameters. For this example, choose the settings shown in figure 2.1. (More information on session parameters can be found in my book in chapter 3.)

Fig. 2.1. New Session Dialog Box. In the New Session dialog box, you can choose the session’s title and save location, as well as its audio file type, sample rate, bit depth, and I/O settings.

2. Plug your mic/instrument into an input, choose the appropriate input type (Mic, DI, Line, etc) on your Digidesign/M-Audio device, and turn up the gain knob on that input.

3. Create a new audio track by selecting File > New Track. If recording a single input (like a mic or a guitar direct), create “1” new “Mono” track. If recording two inputs (like a stereo keyboard), create “1” new “Stereo” track. For both, choose “Audio Track” and “Samples” for the track types, as in figure 2.2.

Fig. 2.2. New Tracks Dialog Box. The New Track dialog box enables you to create multiple mono and stereo audio tracks, aux inputs, master fader tracks, MIDI tracks, and Instrument tracks. Click the plus symbol (+) to add more tracks of any type.

4. If you’re not already viewing the Edit window, select Window > Edit. Then, select View > Edit Window and make sure there’s a check next to “I/O” to see the input and output selectors on the new track.

5. Select the input source that your mic or instrument is plugged into by clicking on the input selector, e.g., Mic/Line 1, as in figure 2.3. Inputs for audio and aux input tracks can assigned to audio interface channels (such as “Mic/Line 1”) or to busses (e.g., Bus 1–2).

Fig. 2.3a. Input Selector

Fig. 2.3b. Input Selector List

Fig. 2.3 (a) and (b). Selecting the Input Source. (a) The input selector is used to assign which input will be routed to a track. (b) When you click on the input selector, a list appears with all of the available input options. Any input can be routed virtually to any track.

6. Select Setup > Playback Engine, choose the smallest H/W Buffer Size (e.g., 128 Samples), and click OK. (This reduces the amount of latency, explained in more detail in chapter 3 in my book.) If using a USB powered device like the Mbox2, Fast Track USB, etc., I recommend turning the “Mix” knob all the way to the left to the “Input” side to achieve zero-latency monitoring. (Note: On some USB devices, like the MobilePre, this Mix control is software driven. Go to Setup > Hardware, and click the Launch Setup App button to adjust the mix level.)

7. Record-enable the track by clicking on the Record (R) button on the track, as in figure 2.4.

Fig. 2.4. Record-Enable. Press the Record-Enable button (R) to “arm” the track. The button will turn red when it’s armed.

8. Choose Track > Input Only Monitoring. This sets the “monitoring mode” so that you always hear the input signal on record-enabled tracks. (Monitoring modes are discussed in more detail in chapter 2 of the book.)

9. Set the input level on your Digidesign/M-Audio device by adjusting the input level controller (gain) knob while singing/playing. The recording level should go into the “yellow.” Try not to let it hit the red Peak light.

10. Record your idea by clicking the round Record and triangular Play buttons in the upper-right corner of the Edit window or in the Transport window. Click the square Stop button when you’re done.

Fig. 2.5. Transport Controls. The basic transport functions are located in the upper-right corner of the Edit window. With your track armed, hit the round Record button first, and it will blink red. Then hit the triangular Play button. Pro Tools will start recording and the Record button will stop blinking.

This may seem like a lot of steps just to start recording. However, these steps will become second nature to you very quickly. Also, note that you don’t have to be in the Edit window to record on a track. You can be viewing the Mix window instead. In fact, I often view the Mix window while recording multiple tracks at once because I like the larger faders. And speaking of that, recording more than one audio track at a time is just as easy as recording one. Create the number and type of tracks you want, record-enable them, set good recording levels, hit Play/Record, and you’re good to go.

(This text is an edited excerpt from David Franz’s Producing in the Home Studio with Pro Tools (3^rd Edition), Berklee Press/Hal Leonard, 2008) Visit www.protoolsbook.com to learn more about the book and DVD.