How to set up Pro Tools First

[RobJKennedy]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new here and I'm coming over from the land of Mixcraft 8, no jokes please.

I will be buying PT 12 just before my Uni course in Music Comp starts next year, along with a Macbook Pro. But, do you suggest that starting with PT First is of any use? I get the feeling I should bite the bullet and just get PT 12.

Anyway, I managed to get PT First running, but I know it's not setup properly, such as Playback Engine is only set to Windows Audio Device, because it was the only one that was stable. I tried my ASIO4ALL, no luck there.

I have a Roland FA-08, but PT First didn't like that either. It said "Current Playback Engine does not support a sample rate of 48Khz", as I don't know how to change that, I just left it.

What would be very useful is a solid run through on setting up PT First, but that does not exist. Even after an hour of searching, I can't find anything that gets you up and running. Unless, I have missed that, so it would be wonderful if someone could point me in the right direction.

I managed to import a MIDI file with 8 tracks, and after much research and guess work, I got a sound, but all 8 tracks have the same instrument sound, which is the flute in track 1. I tried everything and still no luck, any thoughts?

Just on Expand!2 that comes with PT First, are there only 4 tracks available to use in that device, because that's all I could see?

I hope one day to be able to help others with their PT questions, in many years from now.

Cheers

rob

[junkgear]

Hello and welcome to the Pro Tool community.

Pro Tools First is a great place to start and to get familiar with Pro Tools.

Be sure to check out the Pro Tools First FAQ for answers to common questions.

Another good resource for getting familiar with PTF is the Learn and Support section of the Pro Tools First web page.

If you still have specific questions, post back to this thread and I'm sure the community can help get you going.

[RobJKennedy]

Hi Will,

Thanks for that I'll look at the links.

Just wondering, did you start with PT First?

Cheers

rob

[junkgear]

Originally Posted by RobJKennedy

Just wondering, did you start with PT First?

No, I've been a Pro Tools user for a long time, and Pro Tools First wasn't even a product when I started using it.

As far as the Expand VI, the four slots are the 4 different sounds you can mix together on that instance of the instrument. I'm not sure how your session is set up, but each midi track can have its own instance of Expand, so no, you are not limited to four sounds.

My guess is that your session has one instance of Expand and all of your midi tracks are routed to that one instance, which is why they all use the flute.

As a quick test, create a new Instrument track and put Expand on the track insert. Choose a different sound than a flute in that instance of Expand. Now drag one of the midi clips from one of the other tracks to your new instrument track and see if it plays with the sound you picked.

[RobJKennedy]

Ah, you are right. That's exactly what I did. I'll give that a go and I bet that will fix my issue.

I'd be interested to know what sort of virtual instruments you use? I'm mainly looking for orchestral instruments, and I have a quite a few VSTs, but nothing that I can say is of the quality where I could submit to a movie producer, as that is the sort of music I'll be using Pro Tools for.

Cheers

Rob

[Southsidemusic]

Rob, be aware that no third party VI will work in PT First. Only VI and Plugins purchased from the Avid Marketplace inside PTF will work.

You would need to buy into the full version of PT in order to use plugins and VI from the developers outside of Avid ecosystem.

[RobJKennedy]

Ok, cool, thanks for that Christopher.

[junkgear]

Originally Posted by RobJKennedy

Ah, you are right. That's exactly what I did. I'll give that a go and I bet that will fix my issue.

I'd be interested to know what sort of virtual instruments you use? I'm mainly looking for orchestral instruments, and I have a quite a few VSTs, but nothing that I can say is of the quality where I could submit to a movie producer, as that is the sort of music I'll be using Pro Tools for.

Cheers

Rob

I don't really do much with orchestra instruments, but the East West instruments get great reviews from people I know that use them. You can check them out here:
http://www.soundsonline.com/hollywood-orchestra

[RobJKennedy]

Yes, I have used EW instruments and found them fantastic. But the cost is too much. I know you have to pay for good sounds, but, I just can't afford the dollars for EW at this point in time, or any of the others in the same quality category.

Guess I'm looking for a miracle really.

Cheers

rob