Chapter Nine - Pro Tools Basics and College Planning - Posted on 2016-11-05 by Andrew Pitts

Chapter nine was an understandably dense chapter, as it covers the basics of the editing tools/window and the mix window. Fortunately, I have been working with Pro Tools a lot, and other DAWs before it, so most of it made sense quickly. I need to work on memorizing key commands fluently, although I do have an idea of what parameters are mapped to what keys.

Working in the studio has been a very wonderful experience, and I feel lucky to have found a studio to match my taste and meet my educational needs. Bonus points to Sound of Music for their experienced and always helpful crew and for being compassionate and patient. Plus it's in a great part of town that hosts all sorts of events from live music to Halloween festivals to various shops full of vintage junk and little restaurants.

Finding and earning a job helps with my sense of accomplishment that for a while I was essentially ignoring. Although its not my first job at a restaurant, I have hope that some day soon I'll be able to apply my experience to studio or live sound work through one of the studios or venues downtown. Yet another bonus of having the right studio is getting to know the people who already work in the music industry and make a living off it. From there I have relevant references to put on applications, aside from the vast and individual knowledge they each hold.

From my job I want to learn to be more financially secure and stable, while aquiring audio equipment I could use myself and ultimately moving to Tennessee for college. From there I've thought about actually moving back to Richmond, as I see it as a rapidly developing music scene to the extent that I've already had reservations about giving up the valuable resources I have here. On the other hand, training at an internationally acclaimed college for music degrees in an already world-famous audio environment will likely prove even more valuable. If I can keep myself on track, I should be able to make it within a year. If not, I can take more time, but its too exciting an idea for me to not want to jump in as soon as possible.