Pro ToolsAll-in-One For Dummies, 3RD EDITION
by Jeff Strong
Pro Tools All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Pro Tools is a registered trademark of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport .
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com .
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012940027
ISBN 978-1-118-27783-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-33344-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-33062-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-33460-7 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Jeff Strong, the author of Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies, is President of the Strong Institute ( www.stronginstitute.com
) and founder of Brain Shift Radio ( www.brainshiftradio.com
). Jeff graduated from the Percussion Institute of Technology at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles in 1983, and has worked in or owned a recording studio since 1985. He has released over three dozen commercially available CDs and recorded hundreds of tracks for Brain Shift Radio using the techniques found this in book.
Dedication
I am especially grateful for the love and support of my wife Beth and my daughter Tovah, who never cease to amaze me with their capacity to endure non-stop recording talk.
Authors Acknowledgments
This book wouldnt have happened without the inspiration and vision of executive editor Steve Hayes. This is my fifth book with Steve; this one was just as much fun to do as the others.
Books, by nature, are a team effort and this book is the result of an extremely talented and dedicated team of professionals: project editor Blair Pottenger, who kept this book on track with his attention to detail and exceptional editorial skills; copy editor Barry Childs-Helton, who cleaned up my writing and helped me look like I actually know how to write; and technical editor Chris Cosgrove, who offered many excellent insights and ideas to improve this book. Im indebted to you all.
Publishers Acknowledgments
Were proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com . For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions and Editorial
Project Editor: Blair J. Pottenger
Executive Editor: Steve Hayes
Senior Copy Editor: Barry Childs-Helton
Technical Editor: Chris Cosgrove
Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner
Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham, Leslie Saxman
Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case
Cover Photo: iStockphoto.com / Chris Schmidt
Cartoons: Rich Tennant ( www.the5thwave.com )
Composition Services
Project Coordinator: Katie Crocker
Layout and Graphics: Jennifer Creasey, Brent Savage, Christin Swinford
Proofreaders: Rebecca Denoncour, Toni Settle
Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director
Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher
Composition Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
C hances are that after you became interested in recording some music, you started hearing about a great software program Pro Tools. Maybe you read an article in which an artist said that she records with Pro Tools, or you heard that such-and-such major recording studio uses Pro Tools, or a friend told you that you need Pro Tools to record professional-quality music. Of the many great recording programs that are available, the most popular and one of the most powerful is Pro Tools.
Pro Tools is an audio and Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) recording program. Aside from recording audio and MIDI tracks, Pro Tools offers some of the most powerful editing functions available, allowing you to tweak your recordings to a high level of detail, clarity, and accuracy. You also get excellent mixing abilities that help you mix your tracks together, EQ (equalize) them, and apply effects. Pro Tools is a comprehensive, all-in-one program you can use to control your music from start to finish.