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Suggested Reading - Books

Pro Tools All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies
May 28, 2004 - Contributed By dB Masters
A very informational reference book for Pro Tools users and for a few of their common hardware packages.

Pro Tools All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is a new "for Dummies" series release from Wiley. I would suppose by now most everybody has seen, if not read, a "for Dummies" series book at some point. The thing I like about the books I have read is that they keep things light by mixing in some shots of humor. Also, they live up to the series name by really starting from the ground floor, assuming very little about the reader, other than that they know nothing about the subject at hand.

Pro Tools All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is stated to be 8 quick reference guides, as opposed to one large book. It's a big book at 649 pages not including the glossary and notes pages. The book's 8 quick reference guides are as follows:

1. Home Recording Basics - is a look into the very beginning of setting up a home studio, discussing what you will need, how it all fits together, looks at MIDI and electronics instruments as a whole, how microphones work, and a brief introduction and explanation of a mixing console, what it does and how.
2. Getting Started Using Pro Tools - takes a look at Pro Tools specifically, choosing your hardware to use with it, configuring your computer for it, a quick look into the different windows of Pro Tools and how to import and export files into and out of it.
3. Recording Audio - discusses concepts of multitracking, miking techniques and other considerations before hitting the record button...and after hitting the record button.
4. Editing Audio - covers what to do after you record. How to cut, copy, paste, arrange and otherwise edit and manage the sound you have just recorded.
5. Managing MIDI - explains how MIDI used, transmitted and recorded. It also looks at after the recording, how to edit MIDI data and the events that are recorded with each note of MIDI data.
6. Mixing in Pro Tools - will cover the concepts of mixing in Pro Tools, how to use EQ to your advantage, dynamics processing, the use of automation and your final mixdown.
7. Mastering with Pro Tools - Is a look into the mystical and often misunderstood world of mastering, with basic concepts of mastering and how to execute them in your Pro Tools environment.
8. Getting Your Music out to the Masses - discusses the art of burning CD's, how set up and burn your first CD, how to best prepare your CD for mass duplication, how to find a duplicator, how to put your music on the internet and more.

Looking At Each Reference Guide

Home Recording Basics

This is a very ground level introduction to a home studio, introducing the components involved in a studio. Each component is reviewed so the reader gets an understanding of why it is necessary, the different ways components can be made, the basic concepts behind how it works (as specifics can vary from model to model) and how it affects the resulting sound. You can then analyze your situation to determine what the weak points and strong points of your studio plans, you can then adjust accordingly.

After that the book then goes into detail regarding how the different components are connected for most effective use. Included in this is an introduction to the mixing console, and the vast array of signal ins, outs and loops in it, which is a key component part of any studio.

Lastly, this quick reference has a substantial lesson in the concepts of MIDI and other electronic instruments, and a good tutorial to help you understand microphones, the different kinds, and the pros and cons of each type.

Getting Started Using Pro Tools

This quick reference deals with all introductory aspects of the Pro Tools application, and includes lessons regarding the Mac and PC platforms.

It looks at everything from choosing the right hardware for your need to configuring your computer to use it most effectively. It specifically addresses the MBox, Digi001 and Digi002. After your computer is set up for maximum efficiency looks at the basics of Pro Tools, how to set up the preferences to your liking, how to create, save and open sessions and understanding the handling of audio and MIDI files and how to import and export files into and from your pro Tools application.

By the end of the chapter you should have a good basic understanding of the primary functions of Pro Tools, how to navigate the application for the most efficient workflow.

Recording Audio

Covered topics begin with getting to know Pro Tools tracking, the types of tracks it uses, the formats that it saves tracks as, how to set tracks up, duplicate them, name them, configure inputs and outputs and all the different ways you can view, group and manage tracks. It further goes in to soloing and muting functions in Pro Tools.

After that it briefly discusses different techniques to using microphones and even gets into some suggestions for setting up microphones for specific instruments.

Finally, the chapter digs in to actually preparing to record including the different modes, enabling recording, setting levels and record ranges and the different ways to monitor your tracks. After that it's actually clicking the record button with your mouse or control surface and off you go, to the happy land of digital recording, managing different takes punching in and out and all things recording.

Editing Audio

Reference guide 4 is a pretty in depth look into audio editing, and more specifically, editing in Pro Tools (as expected:-). It begins with an introduction to editing basics in Pro Tools. It further explains exactly what non-destructive editing is, and how to do it, and explains the types of editing you can do during playback and how to do it.

Going more in depth, the guide goes on to explain all the different options that exist in Pro Tools to view audio, including zooming in and out, adjusting track view properties and much more. It also explains and different editing types, or "modes", how the display grid is handled and the resolution(s) of it.

"Regions" of audio is a concept that I will not spend a great deal of time explaining here (but the book for that) but suffice it to say, it is a pretty major concept to become familiar with when working with audio in the Pro Tools environment. Not being a Pro Tools user myself, I learn a great deal about it while reading this book that I was unaware of, it's actually a very cool way to look at audio.

The end of this section deal with a very important concept of using a computer that is unique to the digital environment. The magical function that is known as "undo"...it's a beautiful thing...

Managing MIDI

For those of us that have not had the opportunity, or the need as of yet, to get to know MIDI and all the technology behind it, it can be very daunting. There is a lot to it. One needs to understand that MIDI is not sound, MIDI triggers sound, and can trigger many sounds on many devices at the same time, and it can tell each sound on each device how long to play the sound, how "hard" to hit the sound, whether to pitch-bend or modulate the sound, which speaker to pan it to and much, much more. Plus, MIDI can send message called "System Exclusive" messages (also called "SysEx") to any given device that is not heard but is simply unheard instructions.

Pro Tools can send and receive all of this data and handle it accordingly, and Pro Tools All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies has this complete quick reference guide to explain how. It covers enabling devices, running MIDI through the app, recording MIDI data, quantizing, offsetting and more. It also explains these tasks for both the current Mac and Windows Platforms.

It goes on to explain how to edit the MIDI recordings after the fact, along with editing any of the recorded parameters, or "events", associated with any given note. These events include quantizing, duration, velocity, splitting notes and even to more powerful functions like transposing and "groove quantizing", which, from the sounds of the book is quite cool.

Mixing in Pro Tools

This, the 6th quick reference book in this compilation, covers mixing in your Pro Tools environment. It begins by explaining some basic concepts of mixing and how it is effectively done in Pro Tools, and with the different Pro Tools hardware.

It explains the mix window, how to adjust levels in the mix window, how to best use the stereo field, how to effectively use the EQ and plugin effects.

The quick reference has a good portion to cover dynamic processing as well, which is something every home recording enthusiast has to have a good understanding of.

You will also have a good look into automating many parts of the mix to make things easier and smoother and mixing down to your final premaster, prepared for mastering.

Mastering with Pro Tools

A little over 100 pages of this book deals with the fine art of mastering, discussing the processes that mastering involves and tips to help you do it the best you can including harmonic balancing and balancing levels from track to track of your full recording project.

In case the prospect of doing your own mastering scares you, they even discuss how to best go about hiring a professional to do it for you.

Getting Your Music out to the Masses

The final 30 pages are so covers different ways to market your product. These include everything from getting them into stores to marketing them on the internet.

My Two Cents

This is a very good read. I am not a Pro Tools user, and have minimal familiarity with it, which makes me their perfect candidate for evaluating it.

It is a very thorough, ground up view of not only the Pro Tools application, but of the home studio and recording in general with a lot of information that will be useful for anyone, whether or not Pro Tools is their application of choice.

After laying the book down the last time, I had a firm understanding of the Pro Tools application and believe I could stumble my way around it pretty well with just what I had read.

Considering the investment that I Pro Tools rig is, this book will be a wise purchase to help you quickly get up and running with it, and can remain there as a perfect reference manual for years to come.

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