Pro Tools Ed in NYC

[froyo]

Hello. You didn't answer most of the questions I laid out for you. I still don't know why you want to learn Pro Tools and ultimately what you will use the audio from this facility for. As I mentioned before, if you have any professional intentions for it, you will need an experienced professional to do the task. A Pro Tools course will not prepare you for the myriad of issues you will need to present a professional final product. It will strictly teach you how to run Pro Tools.

And again, if all you need and want is how to operate Pro Tools, download the manual and read it. It has all the step by step explanations on how to record, mix, edit, etc. That's free. Read it a couple of times. Write down your questions and trouble areas, then you can hit a local engineer up, pay him for an hour or two of his time and get some answers. Much cheaper, easier and on your own schedule and at your own pace.

As a matter of fact, if you list the questions here on the DUC I dare say you will get some very good answers to any and all questions you may have. First you would have to read the manual a couple of times. It's very well written and with very clear, step by step explanations and examples. After that, ask your questions on the DUC and there you go.

To reiterate, if all you want is to strictly learn how to operate Pro Tools you are probably better off reading the manual and asking a professional for consulting. If however, your audio will ultimately be used professionally I think you will severly shortchange yourself if you plan to record, edit, mix and troubleshoot the audio by yourself strictly from a Pro Tools course.

[stevegries]

Thanks again, Froyo.

You're right, I didn't really answer your questions, but I had sort of addressed them in previous posts. I am using this studio as a compositional tool. I would also like to be able to run sessions for friends and colleagues who are interested in hashing out ideas in a "semi-pro" environment (again *not* for commercial release). I am primarily a performer and composer, but I want to gradually increase my level of familiarity *both* with audio engineering and Pro Tools. This studio *already* has a Pro Tools system in place. I have been using Logic Pro 6/7 for about three years in a home studio and am thus generally familiar with DAW basics. I do know that Logic's documentation is often unclear and sometimes flat out wrong because the manual has not been updated to account for changes in the system.

I know that theoretically I could read the Pro Tools documentation two or three times and hire an engineer to come to my studio to provide guidance now and then, but frankly, I often find that hands-on training is, for me, a better way of learning. And $1000-$1700 is not the same as a $60,000 Full Sail program or something. It's not an insignificant amount of money, but it's within my budget.

If I were to undertake a "professional" project for "commercial" release, I would certainly either take the job to a more pro-level studio (there are plenty in NYC) or I would hire a freelance engineer to run the session with me. (Though my professional experience as a musician has taught me that there are many "engineers" out there who have little more sophisticated understanding of sound than I do.)

Again, thanks for your thoughts, Froyo.

Steve

[wolfdavis]

Froyo still has a good point... Just saying that you want ot take on a studio and do some project work does not lead anyone in a direction capable of leading you.

You have experience with other DAWs, you know the technical aspects of the app, you have no problems starting a session (from what I can tell,) and you are a musician in New York city (which means you likely have an ear for the music you will be recoding.)

What is it about ProTools that you need to learn?
Mixing skills? Those come from time spent mixing. ProTools functions much like a normal mixer if you have a control surface.
Production skills? Time with a producer give you this.
Training on how to get good digital recordings? If you can't do this with Logic then your going to have problems with ProTools.

At your level of knowledge you can do what you need. You may want to sit in on a basics class to refresh some of the quick keys and quick functions of the app, but honestly, you've got more than some of the working engineers out there.

To me it sounds like you need time more than anything.
Good luck to you.

[froyo]

Hello. OK I see where you are coming from a little more. For the record, when I mentioned reading the manual I meant that very much as a hands on experience. As I said, it has very clear step by step instructions that you can do. Which is the same thing that will happen when you go to a class. The only difference is in one you will have a person telling you how to arm a track into record ready and in the other you will be reading it yourself. It's just as hands on either way .

You may want to look into Future Media Concepts training as an option also. Try here . That may be another viable option. Also SAE and IAR have audio courses, maybe they have a Pro Tools crash course or they may know a good place to recommend a crash course.

As far as the places you cited you are probably better off talking to graduates from there. They will tell you exactly what they got while they were there. Most of these schools have placement programs and have some sort of graduate testimonial or a way to communicate with graduates. Look into that. Also, most schools have a way for potential students to come in and check the place out, talk to a teacher or counselor, etc. That may be an option. Also do a Google search on those places. More than likely there is some material dedicated to people talking about the schools (magazine articles, blogs, forums, etc).

Also there are training DVD's like Method One and Pro Tools 101 that you may want to consider.

Good Luck.

[Shawn Simpson]

I hear these guys do some kind of Pro Tools Training in NYC too

And I think there's some dude on here with another forum dedicated to Pro Tools training

[jeremyroberts]

I think this is wise advice, but also see it being somewhat akin to telling a teenager who wants rock guitar lessons that he'll be a better musician if he studies Bach chorals first.

Uh, yeah... that would be the advice I'd give.

I see your situation differently... I am a musician who became arranger then producer and then engineer - by sitting next to Grammy winning guys for many years.

When I talk about fundamentals, I speak of signal flow. Basics of EQ and verb and delay and use of processing. You don't need to be anywhere near protools to master these skills. In fact, eliminate protools from this part of your education, and learning PT will be almost automatic -- since the principles of these elements are the same no matter WHAT platform you're on. Remember in the old days, engineers could work on any desk. The house assistant knew the patchbay and which modules needed a jiggle.

Now, since you are a musician, you have an advantage, but also have these golden handcuffs --- you have to be a great engineer to engineer for yourself, because when it's time to create, the engineering has to be automatic. NO thinking. All your resources towards the music, not the technical. So you have to be so good at what you do (engineering) so that you can forget about it and be a creative.

I promise you, if you try to master PT before learning the fundamentals of engineering, it will bite you. But you will learn that on your own.

[stevegries]

Thanks to everyone who's chimed in with their thoughts. I've decided to both take your advice *and* stick to my guns, and I'll be taking two classes in the next two months: one in fundamentals of audio engineering and the other in fundamentals of Pro Tools. If there's redundency, so be it - I'm making a significant investment in leasing this studio and I'm willing to spend a little more to hopefully get the education I need to make the best use of it. At the very least, for six weeks I'll be guaranteed access to someone who will likely be able to help out with technical issues.

For those of you interested, I'm taking courses SAUD1600 and SAUD0650 at the New School:

http://ceregistration.newschool.edu/...cfm?schoolid=7

Feel free to send me a personal email through this site if you'd like my opinion on the quality of the classes.

Thanks again,
Steve

[rockridge]

I don't think it's been mentioned, but how computer literate are you?

Some people will say, "I don't care about the computer or understanding the OS, just teach me the program i want to use."

That can be a recipe for headaches.

[stevegries]

Thanks, rockridge.

I'm definitely not worried about my general Mac OS understanding - I'm no expert, but I've yet to meet an application that gets the better of me on account of my inability to navigate the Mac.


>I don't think it's been mentioned, but how computer literate are you?

>Some people will say, "I don't care about the computer or understanding the OS, just teach me the program i want to use."

>That can be a recipe for headaches

[Produce_Dept]

I think you'll be happy you took the general engineering class, as well as the protools class.

Once you get your room up, you'll be able to benefit from other engineers that might visit and do a session.

After university, I went to an engineering school, which taught ProTools as well. I learned a ton in the classes. But when it all started to click into place was when I was on actual sessions. Some with engineers better than myself, and others where I was the engineer.

Anyway - I think you'll be happy with your decision! I love working in the studio!