I have Pro Tools M-Powered 8 and Music Production Toolkit 2 on an iLok for sale. Retail = $750+

I’m selling the whole ilok, not individual assets to reduce transfer fees.

Ilok assets included:
Pro Tools M-Powered 8
Music Production Toolkit
Structure LE
Structure LE Content
Hybrid
Smack LE
Eleven LE
TL Space Native
MP3 option
Bonus! Nomad Factory BlueTubes Analog Trackbox

Now accepting offers.

Jon

The aim of the partnership is to bring together their expertise and influence for the benefit of the Pro Tools Community in both music and post and to offer manufactures and distributors a single point of access to the huge community this will create.

The new site will launch soon, at the moment it is just a portal to the 3 partner sites. Keep an eye on that site, when it launches its going to be a HUGE asset to the Pro Tools user community.

There is also a rumor that a former AVID support guru is also involved.

My article is below, you can read the rest of the 31 Days to Better Sounding Drums series on Travis’ blog.

The article is not meant to be a tutorial on drum editing, but an overview of the concepts and methods, reasons why you’d want to edit your drum tracks or outsource the work to a pro editor. I also go over why I prefer editing manually in REAPER rather than with the ‘industry standard’ Beat Detective in Pro Tools.

Drum Editing

Drum editing has become an absolutely necessary part of the record production process. Out of time drums are one of those things that prevents a recording project from sounding as good as it can. Along with off tune vocals and too much reverb, it is one of the things that keeps home studio productions from sounding like pro recordings. For the past 3 years I’ve been offering drum editing services to home and pro studios worldwide and today I’ll explain a little of what goes on behind the scenes. This isn’t a tutorial.

Why edit drums?

A lot of people might think this is some cost-cutting or time saving part of recording. It’s absolutely not! Proper drum editing actually takes a lot of time and as the ancient saying goes “time is money”. Editing comes after the drummer has given the best performance possible and the best parts of each take are combined to a composite.

Engineers edit drums to achieve the following:

• Consistent timing and groove
• Replace missed or bad hits
• Create a solid foundation for the rhythm section

I have a lot of respect for drummers. The ones I work with get their parts 80-95% perfect. They get me to help with the rest. Drummers have a lot to think about, that hand and foot independence thing, plus keeping time, plus hitting the right drums in the right place, plus remembering the pattern and which ones come next… well that’s a hell of a lot of work, and is physically exhausting. The typical drum recording session for an album is two 8-10 hour days. This definitely demands some respect.

But I don’t want to sound like a robot!

To the drummers: If it’s done right, I guarantee you won’t sound like a robot! The performance will be consistent and powerful and will never fall out of time with the other instruments. All of the natural nuances of the playing are still there. It’s not about making you sound like a drum machine. We have other ways of achieving that. Beyond that, the bass, guitar, keyboards and other instruments will have a solid foundation for laying down their parts.

Phase accuracy

One of the primary concerns with editing a multi-track drum recording is phase accuracy. If you edit just the kick or snare mic tracks individually, it will be out of time with the overheads and room mics and bleed in other mics. This would be a huge problem, but is easily avoided by using the edit group function in the DAW. An edit group will ensure that when you slice it will apply to all tracks with sample accuracy.

What tracks should be edited

With the tracks grouped, the close miked kick and snare tracks are the primary concerns to get tight. The next important are the toms, after that the ride cymbal. Depending on the project I’ll do all of these to a 16th note grid.

Quantizing methods

Quantizing like with MIDI, means aligning to a grid. There are 3 methods of quantizing drums:

• Time stretching and snapping to grid
• Automatic slicing and snap to grid
• Manual slicing and aligning to grid

I’ve listed these in order of sound quality from worst to best and is also from least time required to most.

Time stretching

When I started out drum editing I was in love with Elastic Audio, a feature of Pro Tools 7.4. I could quantize drums quickly without a lot of effort. What was cool was that the audio would stretch proportionally between each edit. But often there would be glitches or things would sound weird. A bunch of time was required to fine tune. Sometimes it was good enough, sometimes it was immediately obvious that the quality just wasn’t there, and it didn’t get any better in Pro Tools 8. The same thing applies to Logic’s “Flex Time.”

Automatic slicing and quantizing

The world standard tool for drum editing is Beat Detective in Pro Tools and for good reason. It is a powerful editing tool that can analyze the transients on all or individual tracks, slice before all transients simultaneously, lock the transients to the gridline, fill gaps and crossfade all edits in just a few clicks. Some editors do the whole song at once, some do a section or a few bars at a time. Sounds like a great thing, well it’s far from perfect. My primary complaint was that Pro Tools is extremely hard on your system due to their ‘fade files’ which are tiny wave files for every single edit. With my drum editing sessions having 8,000 to 15,000 fade files, the hard drive just can’t keep up. After the bulk of the editing was finished making the fine tuning edits would take a long time because the system becomes very unresponsive trying to keep track of all these files. I dealt with this for a few years before moving to REAPER for drum editing.

Manual slicing and aligning

Manual slicing and alignment is my preference and it has been absolutely worth the extra time and effort. In a lot of cases I’ve found it to be faster that using Beat Detective. There is far less error correction required because I ensure every edit is correct from the start. The downside to this method is that it it’s entirely editing with your eyes and mouse, listening as you go slows you down by a significant amount and I’ve found it best to save the listening to the end. The key reasons I prefer the manual method is that, I select where to cut, I decide what the transient is, and I decide where the transient should be. By doing this by eye and ear rather than via algorithm I get the edits exactly how I like the first time.

Why I edit with REAPER now

After several years of editing with Beat Detective in Pro Tools I got fed up with the inefficiency. I saw a colleague editing drums in REAPER and once I tried it I was hooked. REAPER is a super light-weight but full featured DAW. Some of the editing specific advantages are:

1. No fade files. No slowdown from making tens of thousands of edits
2. Automatic cross fade for every edit.
3. The mouse can be armed to split the regions on every click.
4. Audio within the regions can be moved without changing the region boundaries.
5. Customizable key commands and build-your-own actions

Drum editing isn’t for everyone

Honestly, drum editing is pretty boring and monotonous. It can also take a pretty big time commitment. Learning to do it well certainly was. Its not a skill you can pickup in a weekend, you can’t read a book or watch a video and learn all you need to know. It takes months, and you may hate every grueling hour of it. If you try it, hate it, or would just rather focus on other aspects of music making, you can outsource this work to an editor like me for less than the cost of an hour in a pro studio. I also guarantee my work is better than that of a typical pro studio which usually delegates drum editing to unpaid interns with little to no experience.

Photo Credit

Programming Rock Drums in Pro Tools is presented by Travis Brown and runs about two hours, fifteen minutes. This is shorter than many of the other Groove3 titles which run three to six hours, but it is $10 cheaper than the others. Regardless of the length, there is plenty of content in this tutorial.

Travis uses Pro Tools for the tutorial but I wouldn’t say there is anything Pro Tools specific about the lesson, you should be able to apply the info to your DAW of choice. He also uses Steven Slate Drums EX but again any modern virtual drum package can be used in the same way.

This tutorial is aimed at beginners. Travis did an outstanding job of presenting the information in a way that will get beginners up to speed, but without dumbing it down too much for the intermediate viewer. I’ve been programming drums for years and I took a way a trick or three from this video.

Travis came up with a great beat for each section of the song, starting with a basic foundation, then making each part special, then working on humanizing. This is a great strategy that I’m going to adopt as I tend to spend far too long worrying about all the details before I’ve got the big picture and the full song laid out.

Mixing and processing drums is not covered in this tutorial beyond balancing the kit, just FYI.

The only criticism I have is some of the Pro Tools specific things that the average viewer may not notice. One was that he was switching tools all the time. Pencil tool to insert notes, grabber tool to move notes and selector tool to choose where to play from, rather than using the smart tool and modifier keys as necessary. This is just a personal issue for me and for the beginner, using a specific tool for each task is probably the better way to teach, but is really inefficient. The other  is that the main ruler was on Samples instead of Bars|Beats  so when he switched to slip mode the gridlines changed to samples. He even commented on that. Again, not something terribly important, just a little nitpick.

Groove3 sets and maintains the standard for software video tutorials. This video met the high level of quality I’ve come to expect from Groove3. Worth checking out.

You can get Programming Rock Drums In Pro Tools here: Groove3 The smartest option is the All-Access pass which let’s you watch the entire Groove3 library, hundreds of hours whenever you want.

The coupon code is AGZ2011

Go to PT Tuts.com to get 40% off the 1 year membership.

• Improved site usability
• All content is instantly available. Previously each module was unlocked weekly. That’s almost 18hrs of video tutorials.
• New pricing – $199/year or $24.95/month

And now the good news:

PT Tuts creator Chris Bryant has been kind enough to offer AGZ readers with a 40% discount for annual memberships.

The coupon code is AGZ2011. It is valid until January 31.

http://pttuts.com

In the chart below I’ve made RED any new feature I would actually use.

Let’s go through the list.

1. More I/O. I don’t need this at the moment. I’m currently using 5 in (on average) and 9 out with my interface. To actually utilize all 26 my interface is capable of would require a bunch more hardware, cables and I really have no need for more at the moment
2. More Buses. I don’t tend to run out of buses, but this would allow me some more routing flexibility or organizing ability. I can’t see needing more than 48 though.
3. More audio tracks. Never needed the 64 I had, my busiest mix had 60 including plenty of aux tracks.
4. MP3 option. No change, I’ve already paid for this feature
5. Import Session Data options are unlocked, this is nice and would save a few steps when mixing multi-song projects.
6. Beat Detective. No change, I’ve already paid for this feature
7. Automation options. The advanced automation options that I would like to have will require another costly upgrade. Upgrading to PT 9 gives me nothing new in this area.
8. Open hardware options. Great! As much as I still like my Profire 2626, when I got it I felt forced. That was the best PT interface at the time, and still is of anything made by AVID in my budget. I may go with Lynx or RME or Apogee in the future, or maybe a Duet for my laptop.
9. Delay Compensation. Great! Too bad I’ve already learned to avoid delay inducing RTAS plugins in my mixing methods. I’m also just as comfortable mixing in Reaper as PT, which has has ADC already.
10. I still need an iLok. Doesn’t bother me that much because I need it for many plugin licenses anyway.
11. Plugins. I got all these plugins in my Music Production Toolkit upgrade. These all get used often and when combined with #3, 4, and 6 made the MPT2 upgrade a fantastic deal ($62/feature).
12. OMF. Not really needed.
13. Timecode. Only needed this a few years ago in school for 2 projects. Don’t care now.
14. Pan Depth. I want to play with this feature. Of course if I find I like the default most that’s a waste of money!
15. Route to new track function. A time saver for sure, but not as useful as something like “Folders” in Reaper which I use often.
16. VCA faders and automation. I’d love to have this. It’ll cost me big bucks to get it.

So it looks like my options are:
Hold steady with my already working system. I haven’t run into any serious limitations of PT8+MPT2+Reaper. It works, sounds good and makes me money.
Make the upgrade for $50/useful feature.

New code means new bugs. I’ve never had the best of luck with Pro Tools. Bugs seem to find me. The upgrade will also make me tempted to buy a new audio interface, I’m more likely to get a second interface rather than a replacement so the cost is not deferred by selling used gear.

I don’t feel like I really need to upgrade, but I do remember how good it feels to have the latest toy. My mixes likely aren’t going to sound better directly due to the upgrade.

Ugh, I’m no closer to deciding. NOT doing something doesn’t feel like making a decision, just putting it off for another day.

I’m not going to even attempt to cover everything, just the essential info on this major change.

Highlights

• Open hardware options, use any audio interface from any brand including the built-in mic, speakers on a laptop
• Automatic Delay Compensation
• I/O limit increased from 18 to 32 for Native systems
• Core Audio and ASIO driver implementation
• One installer for all versions and options
• More tracks of all types
• More buses (256!) and new type of bus
• Music Production Toolkit and DV Toolkit features now included – Multitrack Beat Detective, Timecode, OMF etc
• Replaces LE and M-Powered versions
• EUCON integration for Euphonix control surfaces
• New Complete Production Toolkit bundle 2 which bridges the gap between Pro Tools 9 (native) and Pro Tools HD 9 (for HD TDM and HD Native systems)
• A Pro Tools HD 9 license includes a Pro Tools 9 (native) and Complete Production Toolkit licenses allowing you to unplug from your TDM rig and keep working
• New Panning depth options (aka pan laws)
• Works on Snow Leopard and Windows 7 ONLY (this is a good thing)
• So much more

Check out the comparison and compatibility chart: http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/Pro-Tools/compare

Read the What’s New in Pro Tools 9 document (pdf): http://akmedia.digidesign.com/support/docs/Whats_New_in_Pro_Tools_v90_69545.pdf

Read the Pro Tools 9 Reference Guide (pdf): http://akmedia.digidesign.com/support/docs/Pro_Tools_Reference_Guide_v90_69548.pdf

This update does not improve performance of the RTAS format or add any new MIDI features and Pro Tools is still a 32 bit application. There’s still a ways to go but this update has drop kicked the competition in the face and proved that AVID actually are listening to the wants and needs of Pro Tools users.

THANK YOU AVID!!

Buy Full version Pro Tools 9 software (if you don’t currently own a Pro Tools system): http://shop.avid.com/store/product.do?product=307036370313696

Buy Pro Tools 9 Crossgrade from LE or M-Powered: http://shop.avid.com/store/product.do?product=324639693075136

Buy Pro Tools HD 9 Upgrade (for current HD users): http://shop.avid.com/store/product.do?product=307036370308416

.

Click to watch video

• Hours of Pro Tools Training Videos
• Access to Member Community
• Text Based Articles
• Illustrated Tutorials
• 165 Page QuickStart PDF Guide
• QuickStart Tutorial Pro Tools Sessions
• Membership Bonuses
• One Year Membership

Chris gave me a chance to see the first few modules of his course and it did not disappoint! I’ve seen over a hundred hours of online Pro Tools training and this is among the very best in quality. Large, clear videos with clean audio; excellent clear narration by Chris; and a ton of content covering everything you need to know. One great aspect of this course is that the massive amount of content is not just dumped on you. Each week new articles and videos are unlocked giving you time to learn and really understand each concept before moving on.

Now because I’ve  seen over a hundred hours of PT vids, went through a year of training including ProSchool 110 certification and 5 years of almost daily use, this particular product doesn’t give me a lot I haven’t seen before. It’s aimed at beginner to intermediate users, I’m probably closer to the Guru status at this point. Having gone through all that, I’ve got pretty high standards when it comes to PT Training, this product is in another league above the rest. I wish this was available a few years ago as a supplement to my PT training in school, this is actually much better than what I paid hundreds more for. I’m being as honest as possible here.

I recommend this course for:

• New Pro Tools users (less than 1yr frequent use or 2yr occasional use)
• Anyone that wants a solid foundation of knowledge for Pro Tools Operation
• Anyone that’s NOT interested in becoming an engineer, but needs to know Pro Tools
• Anyone thinking about going to recording school and wants a jump start on PT (I wish I had this when I was in school)

At the regular price of $129, I’d say this is a fantastic deal. At the current introductory special price of $97 (or 3x $39), well it’s a no-brainer!

If you’re thinking of signing up for this course please purchase through these links as they will help support AudioGeekZine, otherwise go to pttuts.com

Multipay Monthly $39

All Access Membership $97

If you have any questions about the course leave a comment below.

This was reported in August and there is no official fix for it yet.
Effected are Windows 7 and XP users
Mboxen, 003 series, 002 series
Pro Tools 8.0.4 only
Using the beta drivers for 8.0.4 with 8.0.3 works, but you may be trading one bug for another.

Eleven Rack is not effected. Does not apply to OSX users or M-Powered users.

45+ page thread on the DUC
http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=279955
Digi says a CS update to fix this is in testing, for legal reasons they cannot give a date. It’s been 6 weeks so far.

How to duplicate this test:

For all interfaces (003/003R, 002/002R, Mboxen, Eleven, etc):

* create a session with 1 click track, and 2 mono audio tracks
* bus the output of the click to the first audio track, arm the track and record it for 8 bars or so.
* disarm the track.
* mute the click track
* make sure you can hear the recorded click on playback
* connect a microphone to an available analog input
* set the input of the second track to the input with the mic attached
* put your headphones near the mic
* Arm the second audio track
* record.

For the interfaces with multiple outputs (003/003R, 002/002R, etc):

* create a session with 1 click track, and 2 mono audio tracks
* bus the output of the click to the first audio track, arm the track and record it for 8 bars or so.
* disarm the track.
* mute the click track
* make sure you can hear the recorded click on playback
* set the output of the first track to one of the analog outs
* set the input of the second track to one of the analog ins
* patch a cable from the output you chose to the input you chose.
* Arm the second audio track
* record.
Now zoom in and examine both waveforms. What do you see?