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Dillon Abell
Just like a musician must know how to operate a piano or a guitar, an audio engineer must know how to operate his "instrument." In this case, that instrument is Protools. Digital Audio Worksations (DAWs) are the standard for recording, mixing and producing music in todays time, so learning how to properly use them is essential. There's so many function, setting, and general customizability within Protool it's really important to know what you're doing! I still have a far way to go before completely understanding all the possibilities within Protools, but this lesson definately helps define the essentials that are absolutely necessary. The setup tab is a very dense but important aspect of Protools and will definately become more and more useful over time as my home setup expands, This lesson goes in depth on a the main functions of Protools, the edit and mix windows. Of course that makes sense because those two windows are where you do all your work! The edit window is necessary to view your tracks and make changes to them, keep track of your session parameters (meter, samples, tempo, etc.), as well as control inserts/sends and input/output options. The mix window gives you access to control inserts, sends, inputs and outputs as well, but it's main functions is to double and a mixing console. With faders, pan control as well as mute and solo track buttons as the name says it is used for all your song mixing needs. It was very useful to hear my mentor Jim describe how recording was done before DAWs were ever around. Because he's been doing this for decades, he discussed how it took many expensive analog consoles and mixboards to even think of accomplishing everything that can be done in protools today. Now all you technically need is an interface and a computer, and much of that old hardware is now software!
This week my professional audio computer arrived from ADK Pro Audio. With 16 gigs of RAM, two hard drives, the main being solid-state (much more quiet) and a little over 1000 gigs of storage space, it is indeed a force to be reaconed with! I also purchased a Steinberg UR824 Audio Interface from Jim, who also runs a seprate business buying and dealing audio gear. Along with my two KRK speakers and collection of mics, my home studio is ready to go! Just a little more work on some soundproofing material and i'll be in full swing! I also got to spend more time at Allusion Studio using his professional facilities, and learning more about the gear that i'm now working with. It was a pretty good week.
