Pro Tools Intro - The Complete Beginner’s Guide

[@Iesous27]

Thanks for this. My friend who's a drummer uses pro tools as he learnt that in school, so I was gonna start with pro tools as well but it's a steep learning curve. You made it less so.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi Steven! I'm glad I could help. Let me know if you have any questions!

[@gwugluud]

I never use a lot of tracks. I come from 4-track cassette, and most limited versions of DAWs seem like unreal luxury to me.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hey All, Be sure to check out my FREE 7 Steps to a Pro Mix guide! You can get it right here: mailchi.mp/fa1f60bd66ff/7-steps-to-a-pro-mix

[@RecordingStudio9]

A well presented tutorial for beginners.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thank you! Hoping to get beginners or those switching to Pro Tools up and running as fast as possible.

[@cantrn5937]

Thank you this was helpful, still a little too fast for me in a few spots but I just rewound to hear again-I'm really new to protools. But still very helpful and I subscribed.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Glad it helped! Feel free to comment if you have any questions along the way. Good luck on your musical journey!

[@ObiVybz07]

It's my turn to say thank you for this video, just got the pro tools intro on my kid bro machine with 4gb ram, I'm a little afraid it's too little to run the software many processes. Have only opened fully once after a long loading up time. I'll keep having what i can get until i can get what i want to have.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Let us know how it works out with 4gb. I know Avid is saying 8gm min nowadays but it was only a few years ago with Pro Tools First that 4gb was the recommendation.

[@ObiVybz07]

I had to leave pro tools first to start working on Studio one prime. 4gb ram just doesn't cut it for pro tools, takes a really long time to load up, then comes the lags after. It's pure headache, so until i have a capable spec to run pro tools first, I'll stay down with studio one.

[@michaelporter5935]

Thanks for making this video. I really appreciate it. I liked and subscribed.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thanks Michael. What are you interested in learning more about? Happy music making!

[@michaelporter5935]

@The Ultimate Mixdown I think I need some basic setup tips. Working with MIDI recently, I layed down a small sample. It's fun to work with. Intimidating, but fun. Hope that helps.

[@billesposito2112]

The only thing I would suggest Is when you bounce your mix bounce it to wave not MP3 wave is so much better. Great job very easy to understand for a beginners.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thank you and I absolutely agree. Lossless WAV is much better, though MP3 is fine for most home or beginner applications.

[@shaunblack3142]

Thumbs up to you for this beginners guide. Quick question. I saw you went to setup hardware ... what does hardware peripherals mean? Thank you.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi Shaun, thanks a lot! Peripherals are controllers, mainly hardware, that interact with the DAW in some fashion. In this video you can see my audio interface as a peripheral, and if you click "Launch Setup App", it'll bring up the Audio MIDI Setup for that device on a mac or the equivalent on a PC. Another type of controller may be something like an HUI (human user interface), where you can control the mix faders in the software using a physical control board that has physical faders for you to adjust and slide with your hands. So once connected, moving the faders on the controller up and down would move the faders in the software up and down. I hope this helps!

[@shaunblack3142]

@@theultimatemixdown Over and over again I would like to say thank you.

[@jeffkomzbeats]

Work around... I can use vst3 Plugins using the waves studiorack or Bluecat's patch work for VSt... Its awesome...

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thanks for the tip! Awesome to know there's a work around

[@DJMLJPT]

smart ;)

[@tylergarza163]

Awesome video!

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thanks Tyler. Hope it helped!

[@sidehustlefilms8007]

A great beginners guide. Quick question. I saw that you set your input on the track ... but did not set your output on the track. Does our output defaults to our monitor left and right? Thanks

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hey, thanks a lot! You are correct. The default output is the Built In Output 1-2 (Stereo). You have the option to select no output, the left or right channel as a mono output, or you could select a bus output which can be used to send the signal 100% to another track (such as an effects track) and it will only be heard through that other track.

[@sidehustlefilms8007]

@@theultimatemixdown Thank you! Thumbs up to you again.

[@waynegomillion4976]

Great. Can I access projects I created using Protools 8?

[@theultimatemixdown]

Great question! I have been able to but the tracks will be limited to whatever Pro Tools Intro allows. What I've seen is by default, it will remove the later tracks in the session e.g., more than 8 audio tracks = anything after track 8 is removed. Many times, the tracks don't appear visible but I can hear the music. There is a way to resolve this as I have in the past and I plan to post a video once I figure it out (again).

[@afterforever2765]

Well done!

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thank you!

[@kozmobotgames]

Why can't I have more than 8 audio tracks in one Pro Tools Intro project? I have moved to Cakewalk by BandLab and now I can have a project with 200 tracks and my PC won't crash.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Great question. A lot of premium daws have free versions with limited functionality, but there are so many alternatives out there today that offer just as much if not more for a fraction of the cost. I'm a huge fan of REAPER myself. Haven't tried Cakewalk but looks promising!

[@AbsoluteAbsurd]

I guess it depends on what device people are using.. my experience with CakeWalk has been abysmal. Constant crashing. Lol

[@stephentyndall159]

I know! It’s annoying! Always used sonar in past, then cakewalk but then I figured why not try Pro Tools because It’s the most widely used. So far it seems the least intuitive but I’m going to stick to it, especially now cakewalk are ending the free version 😢

[@kozmobotgames]

@@stephentyndall159 I have bought Ableton Live Intro and I can now add up to 16 tracks (audio or MIDI). Now I am happy and I can record MIDI notes and audio files with microphone in one program, without need to change programs.

[@AbdullahYazbahar]

Can i just use the built in speakers and mic ? i want to use soundQ ready sfx packs for short film sound design. Is that possible?

[@theultimatemixdown]

The short answer is you can, but with some serious limitations. What is the mic being used for - vocals? In this case, it's very difficult to capture quality vocals through a built-in mic. With built-in speakers, you're missing a lot of the audio information to mix properly for anything aside from your laptop or computer. You may not have a quality/dedicated sound card as well, which will also impact the quality of your audio. Lastly, you may open up the potential for a feedback loop when you're using both the built-in mic and speakers at the same time. This can cause a very unpleasant, repetitive noise to come from the machine. If you want to start small and build up, I would suggest getting a pair of over-ear headphones (if you're going to eventually record your voice, make sure they are "closed back" over ear headphones). There are some pretty affordable USB mics that could provide a better quality for your voice as well. If you can, an affordable external audio interface with headphones and vocal microphone would be best to start - something like the Scarlett Solo with Sennheiser closed back/over ear headphones, and a Shure mic would work (appropriate cables are necessary as well). Something like the setup that was used in the Recording: Start to Finish series - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHKul3ysaMuCmck Let me know if you have any further questions!

[@AbdullahYazbahar]

thank you. What do you think about macbook pro m3 max? I'm not recording voices. Just editing the audio etc. It's all packs. @@theultimatemixdown

[@guiancarlozabala3558]

tnx

[@theultimatemixdown]

Of course!

[@weezgawd]

very helpful

[@theultimatemixdown]

Glad to hear it!

[@baushakcchingkhung4347]

Please help 🙏.... Xpand 2 is missing on the pop up screen and when it is still exist in the folder..

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi there. If you open up Avid Link and look for Pro Tools under your products, you should see a link that says 'Included Apps & Plugins'. Click this and see if Xpand II is installed and current. If so, close Pro Tools and reopen, then create a new Instrument Track and add an Insert for Xpand!2. It should be under the Instruments folder.

[@cantkillaghost]

When I try and download pro tools intro, it doesn’t show up in avid link when I hit download now. Any suggestions?

[@edwin_art_studio414]

That's awesome...thnks

[@theultimatemixdown]

I'm glad you liked it. Feel free to ask any questions that come up as you familiarize yourself with the software!

[@JHood]

I installed it on windows and dont see my mbox software

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi there. Which mbox are you using? And are you saying that when you open Pro Tools Intro, the interface isn't there to choose for input/output?

[@bluecityfilmsLA]

what do u mean by "the next tier"?

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi there. What I meant is there are different tiers of the Pro Tools software with different price plans. Pro Tools Intro is the free tier and then there are other paid tiers that have additional functionality.

[@dustymalone6275]

My Protools Intro does not have panning pots in the mix window. How can I find them?

[@theultimatemixdown]

I know this is an old comment and you probably already figured it out, but for others struggling with this - be sure the track is not assigned to a mono output if you're looking to pan. All the best.

[@dustymalone6275]

Thanks. In fact, your comment is very helpful. Take care.@@theultimatemixdown

[@TyJ329]

Hey so I’m using pro tools first and I have the behringer umc 22 and for some reason when I’m recording it’s popping really bad and I can’t fix it, any idea why it’s doing that?

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi Tyler, there are many reasons that could be causing the popping, unfortunately. Some things you could check: - the source signal isn't coming in too hot e.g. guitar level coming into interface could be too high - your computer has the processing power and disk space to properly run the software - the cables connecting your instruments to your audio interface and your audio interface to your computer are good - you don't have too many programs running / you don't overload your machine with lots of plugins on your tracks - increase your buffer size if it's too low; note this will increase latency Just some things to check / try. Let me know what you're trying to do specifically when the popping occurs, and I'll try to narrow it down.

[@whamboozy]

how do you resize the fonts ? just installed PT

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi there! This is not as straight forward as one would expect, and the answer may be different depending on whether you're using a Windows, Mac, or Linux machine, as well as what your actual screen resolution is. This link is straight from Avid and lays out the options for folks in similar situations. If you have any further questions, just shoot a reply and I'll see if I can help from there. Best of luck! avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Compatibility/Pro-Tools-and-4K-Resolution-Monitors-on-Windows

[@tedstyx3734]

W video

[@baushakcchingkhung4347]

Will it work on Behringer uphoria um2 audio interface..? Please 🙏

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi Baushak, I don't have experience with the Behringer um2 personally, but at first glance it looks like it should work with most DAWs. I did see some folks on other forums saying that they had some difficulty however. I'd suggest giving it a try and posting again if you run into any issues in your setup.

[@restu_widodo]

how to get EZ DRUMER into protools intro?

[@theultimatemixdown]

You should be able to do this by creating a new stereo instrument track and adding the EZ Drummer plugin as one of the inserts on the track. Let me know if this doesn't work for you.

[@verxxe]

I cant find the exe file in the pro tools zip

[@flosim5087]

the bass in this video's audio is set to +500dB, that doesn't make you an inch more macho dude, on the contrary, the insecurity is deafeningly loud...

[@MegaBadgeman]

Personally There are very few occasions I've needed more then 8 instrument track.

[@theultimatemixdown]

For many 8 may be enough, and there are certainly ways to operate within the 8 track (per track type) limit if more tracks are required. May make a video on that if there's enough interest.

[@gauravattrey]

🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@مؤسسةخالدأبوحشيللإنتاجوالت-ر4ن]

Peace be upon you, God's mercy and blessings.. Is there anyone who has an idea about programming the midi device page for protools and how to connect the Yamaha a5000 organ via the sound card with programming the midi page to the organ itself so that the protools are the master controller and the keyboard is the slave slaev?

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hello and apologies for the late reply. One way I've been able to do this is to: 1. Connect the hardware synth to the computer via USB 2. Create a midi track in Pro Tools with the output set to your hardware synth 3. Connect your hardware synth to the inputs on your audio interface using 1/4" line cables 4. Create an audio track in Pro Tools with the inputs set to the inputs on your audio interface where you are routing your hardware synth into via the 1/4" line cables Of course, you will need to record some midi data in Pro Tools in order for the midi to trigger the hardware synth. Best of luck. Let me know if this helps or if you are getting stuck somewhere in the process!

[@gwugluud]

Oh, iLok. Never mind...

[@theultimatemixdown]

I can't blame you there. If you haven't yet, take a look at REAPER. It has a 60 day free trial without hassle and has much of the same functionality and tends to operate smoother than Pro Tools (at least for my applications). Here's my REAPER Basics tutorial if you decide to give it a try: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGfThnigl6iYa6M

[@spawnyboii]

autotune?

[@theultimatemixdown]

Unfortunately, Pro Tools Intro doesn't come with any free autotune capabilities but some decent free (or freemium) options are: Graillon 2 - www.auburnsounds.com/products/Graillon.html MAutoPitch - www.meldaproduction.com/MAutoPitch Another good but paid option for tuning vocals is Celemony Melodyne - shop.celemony.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CelemonyShop

[@msongs]

opened ths program on a PC and it killed ALL the sounds on my computer, no sounds at all, no wav, no video, no windows sounds. tried the setting of windows sound or reaktek asio and still no sound. had to close the program to get the sound back. no wonder its free

[@theultimatemixdown]

Hi there. Sorry to hear! While this is the free version of Pro Tools, the core design is similar to their premium products. Are you using an audio interface or some kind of sound card? If you go to Setup > Playback Engine, what is the device set as the Playback Engine and what is your H/W Buffer Size set to?

[@mattjbatkinson1911]

Is it just my ears or can I hear lots of clicks on his voice over edits??

[@subramaniamchandrasekar1397]

A beginner has no clue what is a session or AAX. You start comparing the session in intro with pro in the beginning. Not catching. Before making any video, please have the show of the beginner. Regards.

[@theultimatemixdown]

Thank you for the constructive feedback. To help, sessions are the files you create to build your song in, similar to a new document in Microsoft Word. AAX stands for Avid Audio eXtension, which are plugins created by Avid, the creator of Pro Tools. Essentially, you could only use Avid (AAX) plugins with the previous free version of pro tools. In Pro Tools Intro, you can ue third party plugins as well.

[@chanwerk]

if its free why are they making you do all this lol

[@theultimatemixdown]

For better or worse, only I am making me do this :) There is plenty of power behind the free version of pro tools and free versions of other DAWs, and that may be enough for some people. I could record a midi drum track, a bass track, four guitar tracks, and a few vocal tracks, mix and be done without needing to upgrade. However, the goal of these companies is to get your foot in the door and when you find there's something more you need, they hope you'll upgrade to the next tier.

[@chanwerk]

@@theultimatemixdown When I said 'you,' I meant us as consumers! 😊 I found the installation and iLok process a bit overwhelming. My apologies for the confusion must have been a late night! I appreciate your time and video!

[@theultimatemixdown]

Haha I get it. Not a fan of iLok myself, especially for something that's free. I also use Ableton, Digital Performer, and Reaper and really appreciate how much less invasive Reaper seems. Two months free, then $60 for individuals and those making less than $5k/yr I believe, and then the price goes up for larger commercial businesses. They don't force ilok and they don't hassle you either.