1st Time Mastering in ProTools 6.4

[DJ Xsinna]

Help fam!!!!
I've got 9 tracks that I've already mixed and set-up to master in ProTools. i've setup the two tracks and placed the song files in the sequential order with fade ins and outs. Now, how to i get ProTools to create a bounce without turning the session into one big audio file? in otherwords, how to I create separtions between each song? I keep bouncing the the 9 tracks into one long audio file. Can someone help a PT Newbie out?

 

[Relic]

I asked this question to my tech support guy and he informs me....................
You dont.... Sucks doesnt it... ? Screwed up my LP too.
What your talking about is CD markers, I dont think it has that feature. Hopefully m wrong and someone will tell both of us how to.
What you could do is just highlight the diff songs and bounce them individually but I think what you are trying to do is to make the thing flow from one song to the next seamlessly and tho you can do this with lesser software this one doesnt. Made me feel cheated..lol

 

[thedreampolice]

Check out Sampltude basic. I always burn with that software. Cheapest version is under $100 worth every penny.

 

[Relic]

True you could master it in protools as one long trak then drop it in sampltude and set the markers.. Get at me dreampolice your pm box is full!!

 

[DJ Xsinna]

True you could master it in protools as one long trak then drop it in sampltude and set the markers.. Get at me dreampolice your pm box is full!!

Good lookin' out Relic & Dreampolice!!
I will definately check out Samplitude. Oh, i did find out this: Relic, you were right on the money about selecting and bouncing each song individually. in addition to that, i need to place those files into Roxio Jam which is included with Toast 6 (this is just one software option) and create my playlist there with fades and whatnot. Since i am quite familiar with Jam, I'll use that for now but I'm most definately gonna check out Samplitude. Again, thanks guys!

-X

 

[MORFEEUS]

you can also use CD Architect to arrange your songs and adjust master levels and all that.....the good thing about CD Architect is that it burns in Red Book Standards........so you CD will pretty much play in any CD player

 

[DJ Xsinna]

you can also use CD Architect to arrange your songs and adjust master levels and all that.....the good thing about CD Architect is that it burns in Red Book Standards........so you CD will pretty much play in any CD player

You know what? I just read about CD Architect just a couple of nights ago. Sounds like a great software to have. Thanks Morfeeus!

 

[Hypnotist]

Yea, Roxio Jam works pretty well; I've used it before. You can fade a song out right into the next and make a CD Index wherever you want the next track to start.

I've mastered in Pro Tools before (I'm no professional mastering engineer) and the way I did it was pretty simple:

1. Create at least 2 stereo tracks
2. Drag Track 1 into the first track, Track 2 into the 2nd, Track 3 into the first again, and stagger them accordingly, so that it's every other track.
3. Edit the transitions between songs by automating volumes and working in the fades. I've even used time compress/expansion in some parts to make the next beat drop on the last 4 bars of the previous song exactly on time before it kicks in.
4. If you want to get technical, and if you have the processing power, put each song in 9 different tracks, and use a multiband compressor on each, modifying it so that all your frequencies are harmonious with one another.
5. Put a limiter on the master fader, but don't push it at all. Just set the threshold to -0.1 or -0.3 and don't juice it more than it already is, unless you didn't "master" the tracks originally.
6. Hit "Enter" on every transition to create a marker for the beginning of each track, and name them accordingly.
7. Highlight from marker to marker (you can shortcut this by holding shift at one marker, and then typing period, marker #, period (e.g. ".3." from the beginning of track 2) and you'll highlight exactly from marker to marker.
8. Bounce to disk 9 separate times. Make sure you're using dither correctly if you're in 24-bit, or a different sample rate to make it Stereo, 16-bit, 44.1kHz files.
9. When you burn the CD make sure there's no time between songs, and they will play continuous.

10. If you were happy with the levels originally, and you want to make a quick rendition instead of bouncing all those times in real time, just put the whole mix in one track, make fades accordingly, (without automation) highlight and consolidate each region, and then export each selection to a stereo file. Your consolidations will be exactly how long the track will be anyway, and you won't need markers. This is just a quick method if you want to make a mix CD or something on-the-fly.

Hope this helped.

-Hypno

 

[Relic]

^WOW-just when I thought I was learning pro-tools I am now thoroughly confused...lol
Nice new avatar Hypnotist!
Yours posts are always very deep and technical...which is a good thing!
The only problem with protools that I have is the lack of cd trak markers.

 

[DJ Xsinna]

Yea, Roxio Jam works pretty well; I've used it before. You can fade a song out right into the next and make a CD Index wherever you want the next track to start.

I've mastered in Pro Tools before (I'm no professional mastering engineer) and the way I did it was pretty simple:

1. Create at least 2 stereo tracks
2. Drag Track 1 into the first track, Track 2 into the 2nd, Track 3 into the first again, and stagger them accordingly, so that it's every other track.
3. Edit the transitions between songs by automating volumes and working in the fades. I've even used time compress/expansion in some parts to make the next beat drop on the last 4 bars of the previous song exactly on time before it kicks in.
4. If you want to get technical, and if you have the processing power, put each song in 9 different tracks, and use a multiband compressor on each, modifying it so that all your frequencies are harmonious with one another.
5. Put a limiter on the master fader, but don't push it at all. Just set the threshold to -0.1 or -0.3 and don't juice it more than it already is, unless you didn't "master" the tracks originally.
6. Hit "Enter" on every transition to create a marker for the beginning of each track, and name them accordingly.
7. Highlight from marker to marker (you can shortcut this by holding shift at one marker, and then typing period, marker #, period (e.g. ".3." from the beginning of track 2) and you'll highlight exactly from marker to marker.
8. Bounce to disk 9 separate times. Make sure you're using dither correctly if you're in 24-bit, or a different sample rate to make it Stereo, 16-bit, 44.1kHz files.
9. When you burn the CD make sure there's no time between songs, and they will play continuous.

10. If you were happy with the levels originally, and you want to make a quick rendition instead of bouncing all those times in real time, just put the whole mix in one track, make fades accordingly, (without automation) highlight and consolidate each region, and then export each selection to a stereo file. Your consolidations will be exactly how long the track will be anyway, and you won't need markers. This is just a quick method if you want to make a mix CD or something on-the-fly.

Hope this helped.

-Hypno

Good lookin out on that fam. I knew there was a way to master in ProTools because I've seen it done but I could remember all the steps. I will save your notes and try that out.