Carlyman|Online

Back in February 2008 I recorded some music on my Pro Tools equipped system at MKII Studios in Hawthorn, using only a Yamaha Pacifica 1221, a Vox Tonelab SE, a Vox AC30, and a handful of delays. The result was a 55 minute soundscape, a guitar-driven, immersive, reverb and delay drenched wall of sound featuring the amazing versatility of the criminally underrated Pacifica 1221. I have been listening to the results on and off over the last two years, and have been unable to find anything to add to this mix, so now I’m making it available to Internet Land. Surprisingly, this actually constitutes my first solo release, which just goes to show that sometimes the best laid plans count for naught.

Unfortunately I could find no source of online digital distribution that I could promote this through, being that the there is only one song on this album, in fact, it is the album, and it’s longer than 10 minutes. Every site I visited informed me that I was only able to sell this as a single, and that I’d have to split the track into several parts in order to physical transfer it onto their servers in the first place. “Bollocks to that” I said, and set about doing it myself.

So for your listening pleasure, I present my first solo full-length release, ‘Constellation’, compressed at 128 kbps. Naturally, there is a full quality version available, the highs are more sparkly, the lows boom better, and everything in between sounds a whole lot better. Contact me if you’re interested in a copy of that, however it will cost the princely sum of AUD$15 as it will arrive in form of a compact disc.

Download the compressed (lossy) 128 kbps version here.

It's been an eventful day today, but I'll try and cover off what I've done.

I've made huge progress on drum tracks. Brakefoot (parts 1 to 3) now have their drum parts. I have also completed drum parts for Making Up Time In The Air (part 1), and made inroads into 31 Thousand 500.

My continuing evaluation of Pro Tools on OSX/Windows has turned up more interesting results. I downloaded and installed trial versions of all the updated software I'm waiting on (SampleTank 2.5, SampleMoog, SampleTron, B4II) and ran up my sessions on the Mac with these plug-ins loaded. Essentially, the Mac is now running the majority of software that the PC runs, so it is in this form that I can really get a decent feel for how the two systems compare.

I had terrible sync issues with my 002R all day. Pro Tools complained about running out of CPU, delivered hardware interrupt messages, and frequently lost communication with the 002R interface. Now, these messages annoyed me somewhat, as not only did they stop my session from playing back, they were tough to diagnose simply because I the system had loads of CPU left.

Original configuration (teh fail)

Here are the error messages I received using my 002R unit:

You are running out of CPU power. Remove some RTAS plug-ins, or increase the CPU Usage Limit in the Playback Engine dialog. (-9128)

The operating system held off interrupts for too long. If this occurs frequently, try increasing the "H/W Buffer Size" in the Playback Engine panel. (-6086)

Pro Tools was set to use both processors in the Mac, with the maximum CPU rate set at 99%. Having tried everything else, I modified these values so Pro Tools could only use 1 processor, and set the maximum CPU of 85%. Instantly all issues ceased. I spent the rest of the day without receiving a single error message and started to fly through the drum parts I'd been working on.

Tweaked configuration (da winnah)

The lesson learnt here is that setting everything to the maximum settings is not always the way to go, so if any of you out there have been having the same issues, I'd recommended thinking outside the square a little, and try reversing your settings. At this stage I have no idea how these settings will go with 12 guitar tracks and a host of extra processing plug-ins loaded, but I have a feeling that time will tell :-)

So as I write this at 2220 on a Saturday night, tucked in bed with a glass of wine (that's right, I live on the edge), I can't help but feel very positive about moving my DAW to a Mac. I am not yet converted, however I am getting pretty close. So far OSX has been hugely impressive, and Pro Tools has performed like a dream in that environment. The only question I have now is what to do with my $5k Dell XPS...

Some time ago I was making noises regarding how much more powerful FXpansion's wonderful BFD2 can be if you just take the time to try and get more out of it. BFD2 has been beautifully built, with quality sounds straight out of the box, some decent onboard effects, a fantastic mixer, and more, however BFD2 really comes into it's own when you take the time to break it out of it's plug-in environment.

And of course, by that I mean using BFD2 to do what it does best, ensuring the plug-in hands off all the other jobs to software that is more suited to the task, for example, Pro Tools. I don't use BFD2's onboard pattern editor, and since the latest patch, I am somewhat relieved, as it appears old patterns won't play with the new patch. I prefer to use Pro Tools as my MIDI authoring tool and sequencer of choice, letting it drive my plug-ins etc. It's really all about dividing the work up between all the moving parts, choosing the best tool for the job at each step.

With this in mind, sometime ago I created a test session in Pro Tools, breaking out all BFD2 tracks to aux-input tracks within Pro Tools. This approach naturally bloats the size of your Pro Tools mixer, but I believe that should mean nothing to those whom rank quality and control above the layout of one's mixed - naturally, I'm pretty sure that'd be all of us.

• I changed all the output settings within BFD2 on each track from Master to the appropriate value (mono outs for some, stereo outs for others)
• I created the appropriate number of aux-inputs within Pro Tools. One mono aux-input for each mono out assigned from BFD2 (7 in total), and one stereo aux-input for each stereo out assigned from BFD2

With these tracks all working correctly, you now load your plug-ins onto any aux-input you like, giving you complete flexibility and control over the entire BFD2 mix. As you can hear from these examples, the difference is amazing - once you make the shift, there will be no going back, let me assure you!

• Brakefoot drums unmixed
• Brakefoot drums mixed

• Introduction
• Architecture
• Auxiliary vs. Instrument Tracks
• Sequencing Basics
• Creating Your Tracks
• Setting Up Your Tracks
• Adding SampleTank to Pro Tools
• Adding BFD2 to Pro Tools
• Conclusion

Introduction

Understanding how to operate and activate software plug-ins is an essential part of running any modern recording software, and this is no different with Digidesign's Pro Tools platform. Pro Tools' ability to host software created by manufacturers other than Digidesign make it a powerful platform for including effects, instruments, and sound libraries that manufacturers with years of experience excel in, but can also make the amount of options available to an operator seem complex. The reality is: it's not as difficult as it looks :-)

This tutorial will describe the steps involved in adding a virtual instrument plug-in (such as IK Multimedia's SampleTank, or Fxpansion's BFD2) to Pro Tools 8, using the procedure employed at MKII Studios. It is assumed that you are well aware of the fundamentals of Pro Tools.

Architecture

Pro Tools provides a number of different ways to host and sequence plug-ins. Essentially, there are 4 different kinds of tracks (not including mono/stereo combinations) that you may use within Pro Tools to host audio files and/or plug-ins: Audio, Auxiliary, MIDI, and Instrument. Whilst you may use Instrument tracks to achieve the same results from this tutorial, we will be using Auxiliary tracks. Why? Personal preference :-)

Type of tracks available in Pro Tools 8

Auxiliary vs. Instrument tracks

What's the difference? Well, I have only really used Auxiliary tracks to host plug-ins, so that is my track of choice. Generally I pick a stereo Aux. Input track to host a plug-in that may serve many MIDI tracks, however an Instrument track will serve you fine if you plan to host one kind of plug-in, and sequence it with one MIDI track only. In conclusion:

If you will sequence your plug-in with more than one MIDI track, choose Aux. Input.

If you will sequence your plug-in with one MIDI track ONLY, choose Instrument. Think of an Instrument track as your Aux. Input and MIDI track combined.

Sequencing Basics

The act of sequencing has been around for many years in the music world, and is bought to life within Pro Tools via the MIDI and Instrument tracks. Fundamentally, sequencing is the act of sending MIDI data from one device to another. Traditionally, this is done over the wire using MIDI cable connecting two or more devices (e.g., a keyboard sequencing a sound module), however in Pro Tools, this is all done via the host system, in the case of Pro Tools LE, the host computer. These fundamentals are applied here as well, in fact, you can use Pro Tools to sequence external devices, and vice versa should the case apply. You might setup your keyboard to sequence events within a Pro Tools session (e.g., change a patch).

Think of sequencing as a guitarist: the sequencer (device or system sending the MIDI) is the guitarist's hands, the sequence (device receiving and then responding to the message) is the guitar, responding by creating a sound. Information sound as volume (how loud the sound is), panning (where in the stereo spectrum the sound appears to emanate from), velocity (with what degree of 'hardness' or 'softness' the originating message was sent at - using a guitarists analogy again, notes can be struck at different volume, however this done not affect the overall volume of the instrument, just that note itself) and other such qualities, such as modulation wheel settings and more. You may be able to control various parameters of your plug-in depending on what the manufacturer has included, we will look at these settings later on in this tutorial however.

Creating Your Tracks

To get up and running, add one MIDI track and one Stereo Aux. Input track into your session. The Aux track will be used to host your plug-in, and the MIDI track will be used to author your music.

Tracks ready for use

Switch to your edit view (command +) and make sure your MIDI track has been switched to the notes view, as Pro Tools 8 seems to add new tracks with the default region view.

Setting Up Your Tracks

Switch to your mix view (command +) and click the second insert, and select your plug-in. On a Stereo Aux. Input track, you will usually select the insert, then multichannel plug-in, then the plug-in from the corresponding menu. You can find the insert section located at the very top of the mixer strip on your Stereo Aux. Input track, labelled 'Inserts A-E'. For sequencing, I always select the second insert, as you can never be sure if you will need to stick something in front of the signal chain (e.g., a compressor). To be safe, you might like to select the middle insert option, which will leave you with two inserts before the plug-in (compressor, EQ), and two inserts after the plug-in (delay, reverb).

Next, change the output of your MIDI track to the corresponding input provided by your plug-in. Track output is the bottom of two options located in the I/O section on the mixer strip of your MIDI track. Selecting output should reveal a menu, allowing you to select a host channel in your plug-in. Normally, you will be presented with a choice of up to 16 channels here, in this instance, select channel-1.

Adding SampleTank to Pro Tools

Setting up SampleTank in Pro Tools is relatively easy once you have completed the steps above. Switch to the mixer view, and load your SampleTank plug-in onto your Stereo Aux. Input track in the second insert space provided (on my system, SampleTank is located under the multichannel plug-in, then Instrument menu), and change the output of your MIDI track to SampleTank 2.x 1, channel-1. Load an instrument into the first Part in SampleTank. Note that each Part in SampleTank corresponds directly to a MIDI channel, so MIDI Channel 1 will sequence the first Part in SampleTank, MIDI Channel 2 will sequence the second Part, and so on all the way up to 16 MIDI channels sequencing 16 SampleTank parts. In this example, I will load a bass instrument (Meat T Bass) into the first Part in SampleTank.

SampleTank plug-in tracks loaded in Pro Tools 8

IK Multimedia's SampleTank 2 plug-in

Switch to your edit view, expand the your MIDI track, and switch to the Pencil tool. You may now draw notes directly onto the MIDI track, and should here the corresponding bass instrument from SampleTank. Each note you draw into Pro Tools is now saved, and will sequence SampleTank on playback.

Adding BFD2 to Pro Tools

Load BFD2 into the second insert space provided (on my system, BFD2 is located under the multichannel plug-in, then Instrument menu), and change the output of your MIDI track to BFD2 1, channel-1.

Switch back to your edit view, expand your MIDI track, and select the Pencil tool. Adding notes to the MIDI track now will sequence BFD2, triggering the corresponding kit piece to sound. In this fashion, you can build your own custom beats that will sound amazing.

Simple MIDI track edit used to sequence Fxpansion's BFD2 plug-in

Conclusion

To conclude this tutorial, the check list to get a virtual instrument plug-in (such as SampleTank or BFD2) working on your Pro Tools system is pretty straight forward:

1. Add a MIDI track (for authoring and sequencing) to your session
2. Add a Stereo Auxiliary Input track (to receive MIDI and sequence your plug-in)
3. Load your plug-in onto the Stereo Aux. Input track
4. Change the output of the MIDI track to channel-1 of the Stereo Aux. Input track
5. Select the Pencil tool, and draw notes onto your MIDI track

So, that's how you add plug-ins to Pro Tools, and sequence them with MIDI tracks. I hope that this has been of some use to you, and I welcome you to leave your comments and feedback.

G'day all, apologies for not updating the site is so long, but with moving interstate, a new job, finding a house, and being forced at this stage to live out of boxes, I've had no time at all to address any recording, mixing, or anything else Pro Tools based.

One issue I've had for quite some time is loading new kits into FXpansion's wonderful BFD2, as this process causes and application hang, then unloads Pro Tools completely. This issue has been occurring for as long as I can remember, but last night I found out why: Novation's Remote SL Compact and Automap products. I used that hardware for a couple of weeks, and then found myself not taking advantage of it at all, but if I think back correctly, it would have been around that time that BFD2 refused to load new kits for me.

So, in order to get around this, I uninstalled the Remote SL and Automap software. Be warned: you *must* remove the wrapped plug-ins first using the Automap plug-in manager before uninstalling the application itself. Since completing this process, not only are my kits now loading correctly, but Pro Tools in general seems a great deal snappier.

For those of you considering a Remote SL, be warned, it may introduce system sluggishness and plug-ins instability.