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Compressors seem to confuse a lot of people in the beginning, they certainly did me! Here is some helpful information concerning using a...

Here are ten quick tips to think about the next time you record vocals: 1) Warm Up: Every vocalist needs to warm up. You wouldn’t run...

So . . . you want to record a song and you’re running out of space on the computer or external hard drive? Wondering if you have enough...

Here are ten quick tips to think about the next time you record vocals: 1) Warm Up: Every vocalist needs to warm up. You wouldn’t run a marathon without stretching first, would you? Vocalists should warm up for at least 15 mins. before laying down a great performance. 2) Don’t record vocals in the morning: … Continue reading “10 Tips for a great vocal recording”

Patchbays Having a patchbay helps to optimize your signal routing and organization. Even the most modest of studio setups can benefit...

Group Cabling Keep cables grouped together by type (audio, MIDI, mains, etc.). This makes it easier to find faulty cables, patch...

In Pro Tools, material (audio or midi) on a track is associated with a type of Time Scale. All track types can be set to either...

Did you know that it is important to power up your system and equipment in a certain order? In the early days, for me, I didn’t know that!...

If you’re involved with a lot of production work and do a lot of MIDI work like I do, you record a lot of projects using your sound...

Have you ever tried to eject a hard drive from your system that you used in a Pro Tools session while Pro Tools was still up and running?...

I don’t like wasting time while working on a mix. Being organized in a session is critical. A lot of time can be wasted looking for...

Patchbays Having a patchbay helps to optimize your signal routing and organization. Even the most modest of studio setups can benefit from the simple addition of a patchbay. Almost any configuration of cable connection – xlr, 1/4″ TRS jack, Cat5, etc. can be connected to a patchbay. And you can make your connections without ever … Continue reading “Organization Pt. 3 (patchbays)”

Group Cabling Keep cables grouped together by type (audio, MIDI, mains, etc.). This makes it easier to find faulty cables, patch equipment quicker and easier, and help reduce cable-borne noise problems. Putting a little distance between different types will reduce the potential for EMI (electromagnetic interference) problems, because mains cables can induce a 50Hz hum … Continue reading “Organization (in your Production Studio) Pt. 2”

In Pro Tools, material (audio or midi) on a track is associated with a type of Time Scale. All track types can be set to either sample-based (for the Sample Time Scale) or tick-based (for the Bars/Beats Time Scale). Different tracks can be set to different timebases as needed. Audio tracks are sample-based by default. … Continue reading “Timebase in Pro Tools”

Did you know that it is important to power up your system and equipment in a certain order? In the early days, for me, I didn’t know that! Because systems are typically composed of both hardware and software, preparing your system for use might involve more than simply turning your computer on and launching your … Continue reading “Powering Up Your Music Production System in the Proper Order”

Have you ever tried to eject a hard drive from your system that you used in a Pro Tools session while Pro Tools was still up and running? It didn’t work, did it? Here’s the scenario and solution: You’re working in a Pro Tools session and the client gives you a hard drive (or flash … Continue reading “Unmount hard drives from within Pro Tools”

I don’t like wasting time while working on a mix. Being organized in a session is critical. A lot of time can be wasted looking for tracks again and again and again! (Like I used to do in the early days!) Because I use templates (see the post dated Feb. 23, 2015 ‘Creating and using … Continue reading “Organizing sessions in your DAW”

In the last blog post I covered the first tab under pro tools preferences – Display. Today I will cover Operation Preferences. First...

I remember how terrified I felt going to the Preferences (under Setup) tab! I looked at all that and said “Maaann! I am NOT touching...

To help stay organized in Pro Tools, I colorize my tracks, MIDI channels, and sometimes regions. My master fader is always one color, the...