im trying to get more tracks in protools

[benjaminflam81]

hey guys can anyone help me plse ...i have recently made beats that take up 16tracks and leave none for recording ....do i need to get a better external drive for more tracks or upgrade to protools 8 BUT!! i just read you only get 48 tracks why not unlimited like they advertise . i have mpowered which says it has 32 but i can only use 16tracks what do i need to do to get more tracks i have A g5 mac ppc 1.8 dual and 4gigs ram , projectmix i/o protools 7.4 seagate 500g freeagent pro sata external ANYONE HELP!!

[djani]

You can have 32 mono or 16 stereo tracks in PTMP or LE ver 7....
In PT 8 you can have 96 mono or 48 stereo tracks and,
with Music Production Toolkit 2 you can expand to 64 stereo with PT M-Powered 8 and with Complete Music Production Toolkit (only PT LE) you can have 128 stereo or 256 mono tracks. Hope this is clear enough...

[benjaminflam81]

i have a track with 16 stereo tracks and if i try to create to make 32 mono tracks or less it makes the 16 stereo tracks inactive do you know why ? should i upgrade to production kit ?

[grayter1]

Originally Posted by benjaminflam81

i have a track with 16 stereo tracks and if i try to create to make 32 mono tracks or less it makes the 16 stereo tracks inactive do you know why ? should i upgrade to production kit ?

If you used 16 stereo tracks (and your using PT 7 LE or MP) you can add more tracks, but they will be inactive. You cannot play more than 16 stereo tracks - period. That's the limitation of the software.

If you want more, then you have to upgrade to PT8 (to get 48 stereo tracks) and/or get the Music Production Toolkit 2 (to get 64 stereo tracks).

I remember when 32 tracks used to be enough, but now that most drum samples are stereo, it takes some planning when producing R&B and Hip Hop, as drums can now eat up most of your available tracks. I teach music and video production at a high school, and my students use Garageband to create their tracks. GB only exports stereo tracks - even if the sound was mono to begin with. So by the time they move them to PT, there are few tracks left over to record vocals with. It's a good thing we have an PTHD system too.

I feel your pain, but you're going to have to spend a little to get more, or bounce your tracks down to keep going.

Hope this helps...

tg

[lwilliam]

Originally Posted by benjaminflam81

hey guys can anyone help me plse ...i have recently made beats that take up 16tracks and leave none for recording ....do i need to get a better external drive for more tracks or upgrade to protools 8 BUT!! i just read you only get 48 tracks why not unlimited like they advertise . i have mpowered which says it has 32 but i can only use 16tracks what do i need to do to get more tracks i have A g5 mac ppc 1.8 dual and 4gigs ram , projectmix i/o protools 7.4 seagate 500g freeagent pro sata external ANYONE HELP!!

Digi has never advertised unlimited tracks. Originally, this was because Digi "guaranteed" a certain level of performance on the earlier TDM systems: They could "guarantee" 64 tracks when others struggled. With Protools Native (LE) and the drives available today, it doesn't apply much any more in the real world.

Cubase, Sonar, and Reaper advertise unlimited tracks. Logic has a limit of 255, and I think DP has a limit of 244 voices. PT8 allows 48 unless you purchase the MPT as mentioned above.

There should be a way for you to work more efficiently (fewer tracks) though. You should be able to either bounce a few of those tracks together, or simply move the regions onto fewer tracks (if they don't overlap). Then you can use automation if necessary to change the levels, etc.

Large tracks counts has never been one of Protools' strengths. It has other strengths though.

[peppertree]

Originally Posted by lwilliam

There should be a way for you to work more efficiently (fewer tracks) though. You should be able to either bounce a few of those tracks together, or simply move the regions onto fewer tracks (if they don't overlap). Then you can use automation if necessary to change the levels, etc.

Let's be clear that that is not a "more efficient" way of working. It's an anachronistic pain in the ass.

[lwilliam]

If you say so. My thought was that if every 2 or 4-bar loop is put onto it's own track, then that's simply not very efficient - or if you're using stereo hihat or snare drum loops, that's kind of inefficient as there isn't any real stereo information there.

It didn't sound like the OP had extensive production experience with DAWs, so it's worth asking whether that many tracks are even necessary. It's kind of like someone putting a reverb on every track - it's simply not efficient and has nothing to do with anachronistic workflows or limitations. It has to do with learning the tool and how to best take advantage of it's features. For instance, with Logic, you may be more concerned about how much editing or automation you have to do and less concerned about how many tracks you're using.

Don't forget that PTLE allows 128 voiceable audio tracks, it's just that only 48 (PT8) can play at the same time. That's in addition to 128 aux tracks, 32 instrument tracks, and 256 midi tracks.

Would I prefer if PT had unlimited audio tracks? Of course, but I haven't even found 32 tracks all that limiting and 48 tracks gives me some breathing room.

If the production style absolutely requires extremely high audio track counts, then Protools is probably not the best choice. One of the programs that offers unlimited tracks might be better suited.

[chris110000100101001]

Originally Posted by peppertree

Let's be clear that that is not a "more efficient" way of working. It's an anachronistic pain in the ass.

I must respectfully disagree. Not having to comp is the main reason why projects drag on and on ad infinitum and why many arrangements suffer from simply having too much stuff going on.

Nobody seems to be able to make a decision anymore. Limited track count made life easier for working engineers in some respects. Protools has introduced a whole world of endless dicking around.

Don't get me wrong, The tools at our disposal are phenomenal and I wouldn't go back to da88's & vca automation for anything, but I don't believe workflows are necessarily more efficient now.

Ultimately it's the song, not the mix, that matters. Any decent engineer should be able to pull an acceptable mix live, and shouldn't have a problem committing to a single stereo track of BV's, for example.

Chris

[grayter1]

Originally Posted by chris110000100101001

Nobody seems to be able to make a decision anymore. Limited track count made life easier for working engineers in some respects. Protools has introduced a whole world of endless dicking around.
Chris

Well said, and I second it loudly... One of my co-workers has a song with about 85 tracks that will only play on HD. 60 of those tracks aren't even needed - it's just to try "different arrangements". He's been working on the song for months, and it's still not done.

My biggest track plays comfortably on PTLE and it's around 30 tracks - and that's with all the drums on their own tracks.

If I can't write and produce a well crafted song with 48 tracks, then I don't need to be doing this anymore.

Less is more...

[peppertree]

The people who are recording r&b/soul vocal arrangements know the pain of which I speak. I know every workaround in the book but I paid for my Mac Pro and I'd like Digi to let me use my gaddamn hardware thank you.