The audio and video quality sucks, but it's my first screencast so cut me some slack ;-)
For daily tips about recording, production, and songwriting, follow Create Music Productions on Twitter @CreateMusicPro
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Adding Character to a Virtual Instrument Sound Using Reverse Reverb
Just made a screencast that shows you how to add a little ambience to your virtual instrument sounds using the reverse reverb effect in ProTools 8 with stock plug-ins. Enjoy:
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
RANT: "...Due to Human Error."
One of my favorite movies is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’m not going to attempt to describe what it’s about, but I will say most of it revolves around “Hal 9000,” a supercomputer that runs the spaceship. Hal predicts that a part on the ship will fail, but the humans on the ship can’t find anything wrong with the part. The humans ask Hal if any computers like him have ever made an error. Hal confirms that the 9000 series “has a perfect operational record.” Hal can tell the humans are worried about whether he is malfunctioning or not, so he proposes his theory about the misdiagnosis of the failing part. “This sort of thing has cropped up before,” says Hal, “and it has always been due to human error.” What a great line!
My Dad used to work as an IT guy helping people with their computers. He had a saying: “You can usually fix a computer by replacing the nut at the end of the mouse.” His point? Most people cause their own computer problems. My point? Some people blame their music software for “sucking” when the problem is really the operator. Most of the time, I have to agree with Hal. If your music software sucks, it’s usually “due to human error.”
For example: a guy contacts me and tells me that he’s about to give up on GarageBand because it “sucks.” “I knew I should have got Logic,” he keeps repeating. I inquire about his problems and recommend that he schedule a 15 minute slot with me via iChat. “15 minutes?” he asks confused. “I’ll be able to get you up and running in 15 minutes,” I assure him. See, he was hating GarageBand because it “wouldn’t line up the beats properly.” He also didn’t know how to loop regions and complained that GarageBand was a pain in the butt to use. Sure enough, I showed him the quantize feature in GarageBand, how to loop, and made a few other basic recommendations in less than 15 minutes. Turns out, he had no recording experience, never watched the free instructional videos, and was entering MIDI information by “playing” the tiny on-screen keyboard with the trackpad. I thought to myself, “Yes, it must be GarageBand that sucks.”
Now, in the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey it turns out that Hal the supercomputer was indeed failing and the humans were right. Sometimes that’s the case in our world as well. The Audio Geek Zine recently reported that ProTools 8.0.4 has some serious issues for Windows users . But most of the time, frustrations with music software have more to do with a faulty user than a faulty program. So, before you go blaming your computer or your software, please think to yourself, “What have I done to prove that I am capable of making an informed judgment about the benefits or limitations of my software?” It sucks to enter notes with a trackpad on a tiny virtual keyboard. Buy a fricken $100 controller! The beats won’t line up? Get some rhythm, or at least learn how to quantize! GarageBand won’t loop? Yeah, it’s probably because the program is glitchy. That recycle sign that comes up when you move your cursor in the upper right hand corner of the region has no purpose…it’s just there to look cool. I agree, you’re right: buying Logic will solve all your problems. Increasing the complexity of a piece of software usually results in an easier learning curve. You are detecting my sarcasm, right?
MY ADVICE: before you throw up your hands in despair because your gear sucks, please first make sure that the problem is not “due to human error.”
For daily tips on recording, songwriting, music production, and ProTools, follow Create Music Productions on Twitter @CreateMusicPro
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Top Ten Mistakes of Newbie Pro Tools Users
During the day I work at a school where I teach teens music creation using Pro Tools. I also meet with people privately (in their homes) and online (via video chat) doing the same thing. In my instructional journeys, I’ve noticed that complete newbies to both recording and Pro Tools have the same kinds of problems. Fortunately for you, their pain is your gain. In the following post, I list the top 10 mistakes that Pro Tools newbies usually make either before or after purchasing Pro Tools…then I tell you how to remedy those problems. Simple as that.
1) No External Hard-Drive
People…use an external hard drive! When you save your session to your host computer’s hard drive, it has to work twice as hard to simultaneously run ProTools, access/capture audio files, AND run instrument and/or effects plug-ins. So, here’s what you do: save your session files to an external drive. Put your audio loops and samples on that drive. Love that drive. Back-up that drive. Whatever you do, just use one. Just make sure it's an AVID-approved drive spinning at least 7,200 rpm. Evil things can happen if it's too slow (like most of the "tiny 'n' cute" drives running at 5,200 rpm) or is running an incompatible chipset.
(@ObediaTutor correctly pointed out that AVID actually recommends using an internal drive that's separate from your host drive (partitioned drives don't count). My advice is geared toward laptop users, people who can't add an internal drive, or users who plan on transferring projects between studios.)
2) No Filing System
Unless “cluttered-mess” qualifies as a filing system, most newbies scatter their saved session folders all over the place. Or worse, they just save sessions to whatever black hole the default save-to window suggests. Both bad news when you need to find a session you were working on last month. My advice: Come up with a filing system and stick to it. That way you’ll always know where to locate your sessions.
3) No Mouse (For Laptop Users)
Using the trackpad on your laptop is a recipe for frustration and insanity. Using that confounded device will drastically hinder your ability to navigate your session quickly and efficiently. Just get a fricken mouse and stop saying, “Ooops…ooops…ooops.”
4) Crappy Headphones
Ear buds or $20 headphones won’t let you hear what you need to hear. Invest $100 or more on a decent pair of closed-back headphones and you’ll actually be able to hear what you’re doing. A good place to start is with the Sennheiser HD-280 Professional Headphones .
5) Template Fear
If you click “Create blank session” every time you create a new session, it will take you 10+ minutes to set it up the way you like it. There’s nothing that will kill an inspirational burst of creative energy more than setting up your session or creating tracks. The solution?: Make a simple template with all your favorite track types and settings so you don’t have to pull a Sisyphus and start from scratch every time you open a new session. It’s not hard, and there are tons of video tutorials on how to set up and create a template on youtube. In an upcoming screencast, I also intend on showing you all my favorite session settings.
6) Keyboard Shortcut Fear
Even with a mouse, you can waste a lot of valuable time clicking around everywhere in the middle of your session. For example, why would you drag your mouse over to the transport and click the play button if you could just hit the spacebar to start/stop playback? Exactly. I’m not talking about memorizing all 40 pages of shortcuts. But learning a few time-saving shortcuts could really make your Pro Tools experience more enjoyable. Here are a few common ones to get you started:
• Start/stop playback: spacebar
• Turn click track on/off: 7 on numeric keypad
• Arm transport and start recording: F12 or 3 on the numeric keypad
• Create new track: Shift + cmd + N (Mac); Shift + cntrl + N (PC)
• Activate the smart tool: cmd + 7 (Mac) or cntrl + 7 (PC) on the qwerty
keyboard
• Bypass a plug-in: cmd + click (Mac) or cntrl + click (PC) on plug-in
name in the insert section
• Undo: cmd + Z (Mac); cntrl + Z (PC)
(@CreateMusicPro posts daily tips about using Pro Tools, and many of those tips include useful keyboard shortcuts)
7) Using Too Much Reverb/Delay
I know it’s exciting…look at all the cool plug-ins you can use now! Yea! But here’s the thing: just because Pro Tools allows you to easily work with plug-ins doesn’t mean you have to drench your tracks in reverb, delay, and/or distortion. “But I’m embarrassed of my voice,” you say, “I have to use a lot of reverb.” I know, I’ve heard all the reasons. If you want to continue sounding like you’re making amateur home recordings in your bedroom then keep drowning your vocals in large cathedral reverberations. If you’re trying to out-fuzz all the stoner rock that’s ever been made, go ahead. But if you’d like to up the commercial viability of your music and improve the quality of your tracks, add reverb, delay, and distortion like you would add pepper to food. A little bit goes a long way.
In a related note, I’ve seen a lot of people use reverb as an insert. If you do this, skip to 9) really quick and read it…I’ll wait. Okay, thanks, I can now let you in on standard operating procedure for time-based effects: Learn to set up a send and put your reverbs and delays on aux tracks instead of inserts. Learn why from my book recommendation in 9).
8) Magic Bullet Mindset
Many excited musicians buy Pro Tools with the expectation that it’s gonna be the audio equivalent of a robot vacuum. New users soon discover that Pro Tools won’t do a damn thing on your behalf. There is no “set-it-and-forget-it” button. It’s a tool, and like most tools, it’s as only good as its operator. In a similar vein, many folks buy amazing plug-ins with a parallel mindset. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve helped that have Pro Tools M-Powered, a M-Audio Fast Track interface, AND have also somehow acquired the Waves Mercury Bundle (I’m assuming through “alternatively-legal” means). What’s the point of having the best plug-ins if you don’t know how to use them? Yes, their presets will sound better than your stock Pro Tools plug-ins, but presets generally suck. There is no “magic” setting that will work for every recording/mixing situation. Pro Tools and plug-ins are tools, not dust-sprinkling fairies. Sorry, but you’re gonna have to study daily and work hard to record/mix great music…just like every other mortal out there.
9) Clueless About Recording
Many people I work with haven’t a clue about basic recording principals. I know this isn’t directly Pro Tools related, but it definitely affects your ability to accomplish what you’d like to do. You bought ProTools so you could record, right? Then you need to become educated about how recording works. For example, it’s not uncommon for beginners to invest a decent amount of money on a great mic. Good move, if you ask me. But then they take that great mic and place it on a table (no mic stand or pop filter) in the middle of a large, tile-floored room. No joke. If you read Jeff Strong’s “Home Recording for Musicians for Dummies” then you would know that capturing vocals is best done with a mic on a mic stand with a pop filter that’s sitting in some kind of “dead” space. A walk-in closet with lots of clothes works way better as a tracking booth than in the middle of your tiled kitchen. But, I digress. My point is that you’re gonna need to acquire a basic understanding of how the recording process works before you can best use your software to produce the kind of results you expected when you first purchased Pro Tools in the first place. If we were all living in the Matrix, then I’d recommend the “Comprehensive Recording Skills” mental download, but we’re not, so I guess I just have to recommend a lot of book reading, online tutorial study (AudioTuts+ is good), and youtube searching (try WinkSound for ProTools specific recording tricks). I also suggest subscribing to Recording Magazine . Even if you can’t decipher what you’re reading initially, it’s a great way to gradually become acclimated to the weird world of recording. (In fact, I highly recommend reading through their "Beginners' Series." If you're brand new to all of this, most of the content might go over your head. But it's chock full of newbie goodness.)
10) Manual? What Manual?
Whenever I ask my Dad for help with a complex electronic device his reply is always the same: “Read the Damn Manual!” Let’s face it, to figure out how-the-hell Pro Tools works, at some point you’re going to have to read portions of that 1,000+ page document Avid calls the “Reference Guide.” Ignoring it like it doesn’t exist will just cause you pain in the long run. So, let me walk you through the “creative person’s way” to use any manual. First of all, always at least read through the quick start guide. That should get you up and running as well as introduce you to the terminology of the program. From there, treat the Reference Guide like any other reference: read it when you need it. If you can remember the correct terminology for what it is you’d like to do, then just enter that term into the “Find” box of Adobe Reader or look it up in the index. Search this way until you find the correct portion of the Reference Guide and then only read the applicable information in that section. Solve one problem at a time. You’ll be tempted to follow the many labyrinthine paths that lead off into the nether regions of the document, but beware… before you know it you’ll forget the original reason you turned to the Reference Guide in the first place. I’m assuming you’d rather be creating music, no? If so, then troubleshoot one issue at a time. Or, just hire me to solve your problems for you. Which method sounds cheaper?
11) Unrealistic Expectations
Hey, if Spinal Tap’s amps went up to eleven, then I’m allowed to make an eleventh point in a top ten list! Unrealistic expectations, while not Pro Tools specific, can hamper your progress toward recording enlightenment. Recording with Pro Tools will seem like a magic voodoo art for a while, especially if you took 9) and 10) seriously. I’ll be frank: at first you will not be able to hear the effects of some basic but crucial recording procedures. For example, when I teach clients about leveling out a vocal recording with a compressor, many cannot hear the difference when I toggle the bypass. Same with EQ. Subtle EQ moves are hard to hear. I’ve even had people struggle to hear a high-pass filter totally eliminating everything below 300Hz on a mid-range instrument. When this happens to you, you might find yourself saying, “Well, if X effect makes a barely audible difference, I don’t see why I have to use it…no one’s gonna notice.” Ooooooooo…bad idea. Subtle effects build up. Compare your dry vocal to a vocal that’s been processed with tasteful amounts of EQ, compression, reverb, and delay, and then you’ll hear the difference. Even when you can hear subtle effects at work, you may question whether it’s really worth all the effort it takes to add ‘em. Trust me on this one: processing audio with effects will take your recordings to the next level, just like basic “developing” and sharpening techniques in Photoshop will turn a cool picture into an amazing photograph. The hard truth is that it’s gonna take a while to hear like mix engineers hear. Then it takes double that time to be able to apply effects judiciously. Be patient. That dog-eared kind of hearing and knowhow will come through study and experimentation. Again, Pro Tools won’t do it for you. But once you get the skills, Pro Tools will allow you to execute most of your recording tasks quickly and easily.
Happy ProTooling!
For daily tips and links on recording, songwriting, music production, and Pro Tools, follow Create Music Productions on Twitter @CreateMusicPro
1) No External Hard-Drive
People…use an external hard drive! When you save your session to your host computer’s hard drive, it has to work twice as hard to simultaneously run ProTools, access/capture audio files, AND run instrument and/or effects plug-ins. So, here’s what you do: save your session files to an external drive. Put your audio loops and samples on that drive. Love that drive. Back-up that drive. Whatever you do, just use one. Just make sure it's an AVID-approved drive spinning at least 7,200 rpm. Evil things can happen if it's too slow (like most of the "tiny 'n' cute" drives running at 5,200 rpm) or is running an incompatible chipset.
(@ObediaTutor correctly pointed out that AVID actually recommends using an internal drive that's separate from your host drive (partitioned drives don't count). My advice is geared toward laptop users, people who can't add an internal drive, or users who plan on transferring projects between studios.)
2) No Filing System
Unless “cluttered-mess” qualifies as a filing system, most newbies scatter their saved session folders all over the place. Or worse, they just save sessions to whatever black hole the default save-to window suggests. Both bad news when you need to find a session you were working on last month. My advice: Come up with a filing system and stick to it. That way you’ll always know where to locate your sessions.
3) No Mouse (For Laptop Users)
Using the trackpad on your laptop is a recipe for frustration and insanity. Using that confounded device will drastically hinder your ability to navigate your session quickly and efficiently. Just get a fricken mouse and stop saying, “Ooops…ooops…ooops.”
4) Crappy Headphones
Ear buds or $20 headphones won’t let you hear what you need to hear. Invest $100 or more on a decent pair of closed-back headphones and you’ll actually be able to hear what you’re doing. A good place to start is with the Sennheiser HD-280 Professional Headphones .
5) Template Fear
If you click “Create blank session” every time you create a new session, it will take you 10+ minutes to set it up the way you like it. There’s nothing that will kill an inspirational burst of creative energy more than setting up your session or creating tracks. The solution?: Make a simple template with all your favorite track types and settings so you don’t have to pull a Sisyphus and start from scratch every time you open a new session. It’s not hard, and there are tons of video tutorials on how to set up and create a template on youtube. In an upcoming screencast, I also intend on showing you all my favorite session settings.
6) Keyboard Shortcut Fear
Even with a mouse, you can waste a lot of valuable time clicking around everywhere in the middle of your session. For example, why would you drag your mouse over to the transport and click the play button if you could just hit the spacebar to start/stop playback? Exactly. I’m not talking about memorizing all 40 pages of shortcuts. But learning a few time-saving shortcuts could really make your Pro Tools experience more enjoyable. Here are a few common ones to get you started:
• Start/stop playback: spacebar
• Turn click track on/off: 7 on numeric keypad
• Arm transport and start recording: F12 or 3 on the numeric keypad
• Create new track: Shift + cmd + N (Mac); Shift + cntrl + N (PC)
• Activate the smart tool: cmd + 7 (Mac) or cntrl + 7 (PC) on the qwerty
keyboard
• Bypass a plug-in: cmd + click (Mac) or cntrl + click (PC) on plug-in
name in the insert section
• Undo: cmd + Z (Mac); cntrl + Z (PC)
(@CreateMusicPro posts daily tips about using Pro Tools, and many of those tips include useful keyboard shortcuts)
7) Using Too Much Reverb/Delay
I know it’s exciting…look at all the cool plug-ins you can use now! Yea! But here’s the thing: just because Pro Tools allows you to easily work with plug-ins doesn’t mean you have to drench your tracks in reverb, delay, and/or distortion. “But I’m embarrassed of my voice,” you say, “I have to use a lot of reverb.” I know, I’ve heard all the reasons. If you want to continue sounding like you’re making amateur home recordings in your bedroom then keep drowning your vocals in large cathedral reverberations. If you’re trying to out-fuzz all the stoner rock that’s ever been made, go ahead. But if you’d like to up the commercial viability of your music and improve the quality of your tracks, add reverb, delay, and distortion like you would add pepper to food. A little bit goes a long way.
In a related note, I’ve seen a lot of people use reverb as an insert. If you do this, skip to 9) really quick and read it…I’ll wait. Okay, thanks, I can now let you in on standard operating procedure for time-based effects: Learn to set up a send and put your reverbs and delays on aux tracks instead of inserts. Learn why from my book recommendation in 9).
8) Magic Bullet Mindset
Many excited musicians buy Pro Tools with the expectation that it’s gonna be the audio equivalent of a robot vacuum. New users soon discover that Pro Tools won’t do a damn thing on your behalf. There is no “set-it-and-forget-it” button. It’s a tool, and like most tools, it’s as only good as its operator. In a similar vein, many folks buy amazing plug-ins with a parallel mindset. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve helped that have Pro Tools M-Powered, a M-Audio Fast Track interface, AND have also somehow acquired the Waves Mercury Bundle (I’m assuming through “alternatively-legal” means). What’s the point of having the best plug-ins if you don’t know how to use them? Yes, their presets will sound better than your stock Pro Tools plug-ins, but presets generally suck. There is no “magic” setting that will work for every recording/mixing situation. Pro Tools and plug-ins are tools, not dust-sprinkling fairies. Sorry, but you’re gonna have to study daily and work hard to record/mix great music…just like every other mortal out there.
9) Clueless About Recording
Many people I work with haven’t a clue about basic recording principals. I know this isn’t directly Pro Tools related, but it definitely affects your ability to accomplish what you’d like to do. You bought ProTools so you could record, right? Then you need to become educated about how recording works. For example, it’s not uncommon for beginners to invest a decent amount of money on a great mic. Good move, if you ask me. But then they take that great mic and place it on a table (no mic stand or pop filter) in the middle of a large, tile-floored room. No joke. If you read Jeff Strong’s “Home Recording for Musicians for Dummies” then you would know that capturing vocals is best done with a mic on a mic stand with a pop filter that’s sitting in some kind of “dead” space. A walk-in closet with lots of clothes works way better as a tracking booth than in the middle of your tiled kitchen. But, I digress. My point is that you’re gonna need to acquire a basic understanding of how the recording process works before you can best use your software to produce the kind of results you expected when you first purchased Pro Tools in the first place. If we were all living in the Matrix, then I’d recommend the “Comprehensive Recording Skills” mental download, but we’re not, so I guess I just have to recommend a lot of book reading, online tutorial study (AudioTuts+ is good), and youtube searching (try WinkSound for ProTools specific recording tricks). I also suggest subscribing to Recording Magazine . Even if you can’t decipher what you’re reading initially, it’s a great way to gradually become acclimated to the weird world of recording. (In fact, I highly recommend reading through their "Beginners' Series." If you're brand new to all of this, most of the content might go over your head. But it's chock full of newbie goodness.)
10) Manual? What Manual?
Whenever I ask my Dad for help with a complex electronic device his reply is always the same: “Read the Damn Manual!” Let’s face it, to figure out how-the-hell Pro Tools works, at some point you’re going to have to read portions of that 1,000+ page document Avid calls the “Reference Guide.” Ignoring it like it doesn’t exist will just cause you pain in the long run. So, let me walk you through the “creative person’s way” to use any manual. First of all, always at least read through the quick start guide. That should get you up and running as well as introduce you to the terminology of the program. From there, treat the Reference Guide like any other reference: read it when you need it. If you can remember the correct terminology for what it is you’d like to do, then just enter that term into the “Find” box of Adobe Reader or look it up in the index. Search this way until you find the correct portion of the Reference Guide and then only read the applicable information in that section. Solve one problem at a time. You’ll be tempted to follow the many labyrinthine paths that lead off into the nether regions of the document, but beware… before you know it you’ll forget the original reason you turned to the Reference Guide in the first place. I’m assuming you’d rather be creating music, no? If so, then troubleshoot one issue at a time. Or, just hire me to solve your problems for you. Which method sounds cheaper?
11) Unrealistic Expectations
Hey, if Spinal Tap’s amps went up to eleven, then I’m allowed to make an eleventh point in a top ten list! Unrealistic expectations, while not Pro Tools specific, can hamper your progress toward recording enlightenment. Recording with Pro Tools will seem like a magic voodoo art for a while, especially if you took 9) and 10) seriously. I’ll be frank: at first you will not be able to hear the effects of some basic but crucial recording procedures. For example, when I teach clients about leveling out a vocal recording with a compressor, many cannot hear the difference when I toggle the bypass. Same with EQ. Subtle EQ moves are hard to hear. I’ve even had people struggle to hear a high-pass filter totally eliminating everything below 300Hz on a mid-range instrument. When this happens to you, you might find yourself saying, “Well, if X effect makes a barely audible difference, I don’t see why I have to use it…no one’s gonna notice.” Ooooooooo…bad idea. Subtle effects build up. Compare your dry vocal to a vocal that’s been processed with tasteful amounts of EQ, compression, reverb, and delay, and then you’ll hear the difference. Even when you can hear subtle effects at work, you may question whether it’s really worth all the effort it takes to add ‘em. Trust me on this one: processing audio with effects will take your recordings to the next level, just like basic “developing” and sharpening techniques in Photoshop will turn a cool picture into an amazing photograph. The hard truth is that it’s gonna take a while to hear like mix engineers hear. Then it takes double that time to be able to apply effects judiciously. Be patient. That dog-eared kind of hearing and knowhow will come through study and experimentation. Again, Pro Tools won’t do it for you. But once you get the skills, Pro Tools will allow you to execute most of your recording tasks quickly and easily.
Happy ProTooling!
For daily tips and links on recording, songwriting, music production, and Pro Tools, follow Create Music Productions on Twitter @CreateMusicPro
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