A Mixing Question

[RichrdC]

Hello to all.
So, you've been working on the volume of a particular instrument in a mix. You've made your adjustments up and down as the session plays through.. You get to the end and you like the small changes made as you listen, but realize you'd like the entire overall level to be something less than it is.

My question is, without changing any of the small adjustments you've made, is there a way of adjusting the entire instrument track's volume down a certain amount? Is there a command screen that you can get too where you can enter a volume decrease that will then move the entire strip the amount you want?

Thanks for any insights..

[Darryl Ramm]

The nice thing with audio is there are many ways to do anything. And what way to do this might depend on lots of stuff like other plugins/effects you are using and overall workflow.

You can just insert a Trim plugin at the end of the plugin chain for what you are doing and turn the level down in that plugin. That's a very traditional use of the Trim plugin and maybe the easiest way here.

Other approaches could include routing signals though an Aux track and pulling the level down on the Aux fader... that's maybe more useful if you have multiple instruments to bus together and you want to adjust the level of those (and maybe apply the same effect plugins) together

You could print the track to a file, or commit it (and include volume automation in the commit) and then adjust the clip gain or fader level on that track.

And if you want to do adjustments in the volume automation layer you can select the volume automation points you want and move them up and down with the trimmer tool.

That's enough for starters.

[its2loud]

In addition, automation Trim mode will achieve what you are desiring.

Show the automation volume trim lane on the track and adjust the trim accordingly or write to the entire selection.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

... just insert a Trim plugin ...

+1

[Darryl Ramm]

Oh and Automation Trim mode as well. A truly lovely thing to play with, neat UI once you understand it, or a wonderful thing to confuse the heck out of people who notice the automation button is yellow and the automation UI has "gone crazy"

Originally Posted by its2loud

In addition, automation Trim mode will achieve what you are desiring.

Show the automation volume trim lane on the track and adjust the trim accordingly or write to the entire selection.

Ah thinking I should have said that as well... and then looked for the Volume Trim lane and it was not there in my edit window. What the !@#$%, took a few minutes to realized I had unplugged my iLok and Pro Tools was running as Pro Tools Intro.. with no Volume Trim.

[albee1952]

Lots of good advice already. Yep, several ways to reach this goal. I start by considering the plugins on the track. Many will have an output control and that is another spot for a simple over-all change to volume(especially the last plugin on the track). For myself, I already have the TRIM plugin in the last slot on every audio or instrument track, so that's another easy grab for me. Just remember to consider what might be happening AFTER one of these adjustments(just in case it changes how some dynamics plugin might be affected)

[RichrdC]

My Goodness!!
Thanks to all of you.. I've got some editing fun coming up!! Great info to work through on my quest, as a hobbyist, to understand Pro Tools... I probably need a couple more lifetimes, but it sure is a lotta fun knowing there are those out there who know their stuff.. thanks again to all!!
Take care

[take77]

Originally Posted by RichrdC

My Goodness!!
Thanks to all of you.. I've got some editing fun coming up!! Great info to work through on my quest, as a hobbyist, to understand Pro Tools... I probably need a couple more lifetimes, but it sure is a lotta fun knowing there are those out there who know their stuff.. thanks again to all!!
Take care

I feel your excitement.
As Darryl says, there's more than one way to achieve audio ends. So it's all about learning and knowing your options.
Pro Tools has many of those allowing you to develop your own workflow.
Such a vast and multi-faceted program. You'll never get tired of it if you're the true creative type.

Learning the various tools within PT empowers you with creative & expressive control over anything you want to do.
If you can conceive it, PT is an enabler to achieve it.

All with a view to to achieving whatever desired end you envision.