In high end studios, Pro Tools is the industry standard recording software and hardware. While many other recording software programs are great tools for recording and can get professional results, Pro Tools packs a punch on the most important basics for recording, editing and mixing. For example, beyond its unparalleled audio editing capabilities, its audio file management, grouping, automation, and stability are the best in the industry. Recently, Pro Tools has released version 8 which steps deeper into the midi, virtual instrument world that most studios have been using other software programs for. Many studios are now able to use Pro Tools as their only recording and composition platform.
Pro Tools 8 is an outstanding upgrade for Music Production. It has been fantastic for our current projects. The most exciting part of this upgrade has been the midi improvements. Previously, we have been doing any complex midi editing in Sonar. Transferring projects back and forth between different platforms always costs time and money. However, now projects involving Midi can stay inside Pro Tools and we can make midi edits just as fast as we could in Sonar.
Clients will be happy to know that Pro Tools incorporates Sibelius Notation. This last week a client came in with a Midi clip he had recorded himself without a click track (metronome). We spent the time lining up his track to the time line and it resulted in notation that looked surprisingly good. Pro Tools isn’t meant to take the place of notation software completely (no sequencer is currently meant to do that), but instead, it is meant to be a tool that allows you to get a rough notation of your song that is a usable way of sharing your music with others. Pro Tools can export the notation as a Sibelius file which can then be taken into Sibelius (one of the leading notation software programs) where you can add articulations and polish it to its professional form. The good news is that clients can now ask for a decent looking notation of their midi recordings.
Other huge improvements include the sleek new look, a playlist view that allows us to more easily put together the best parts of your takes, 10 inserts per track allowing us to shape each track just the way we’d like to. New instruments are included such as a great authentic sounding B-3 Organ with leslie (my personal new favorite), a Vacuum Tube synth, Boom drum machine and others. New plug-ins by Digidesign’s Air group are extremely innovative and will allow some fresh new sounds for artists that are looking for something new.
We give Pro Tools 8 a big thumbs up and we are excited to make it part of your future projects.