Print One Track to Another in Oro Tools

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Signal Routing in Pro Tools

This article will show you how to configure Pro Tools to record from any of the available inputs and outputs on your audio interface. In this article, you will learn how to:

• Configure an audio track's input and output settings
• Configure a MIDI track's input and output settings
• Configure audio and MIDI input/output settings for an Instrument track
• How to load virtual instruments
• How to use an external MIDI device
• Use auxiliary buses
• Bounce an instrument track to an audio track

Common Descriptions of Issues Regarding Signal Routing

• The first track records fine, but not the second track.
• What's an instrument track? How do I use it?
• How do I load a virtual instrument?
• How can I make a group track?
• How do you convert MIDI to audio?

How to access a track's I/O settings
This article will show you how to change your track's I/O settings in the Mix Window, but you can also set up your Edit window to configure these settings by going to the View menu, highlight Edit Window Views, and enable the appropriate sections.

1. Open a Pro Tools session.
2. Go to the Window menu and choose Mix.
3. In the middle of the track, you should see a section called I/O.
4. The first (upper) button will be the Input selector.
5. The second (lower) button will be the Output selector.

NOTE: The names of the input/output paths may show up differently, depending on your audio interface. All of the examples below use the 003 Rack.

Audio Tracks
The first button in this section is the Audio Input Path Selector. This is where you're going to choose which input this track is going to receive it's signal from. In the example below, we have a guitar that we have connected to Input 2 of our audio interface, so we're choosing Input 2 as the input for our audio track.

1. Click on the audio track's input selector.
2. Highlight 'Interface'.
3. Choose Analog 2.

The second button is the Audio Output Path Selector. This is where you change where the track will send its signal to. By default, this will be sent to your Main Outputs, Outputs 1 and 2. In the example below, we're choosing Outputs 3 and 4 as the output for the audio track, since we're monitoring through an outboard mixer which we have connected to Outputs 3 and 4 of our audio interface.

1. Click on the audio track's output selector.
2. Highlight 'Interface'.
3. Choose Analog 3-4.

NOTE: Depending on your audio interface, the names of the input and output paths may show up differently.

MIDI Tracks
The first button in this section is the MIDI Input Selector. This is where you can choose which MIDI source the track will receive MIDI from. By default, this is set to All which is fine in most cases. In the example below, we want this track to only receive MIDI from Channel 1 of our Axiom Pro.

1. Click on the MIDI track's input selector.
2. Highlight 'Predefined'.
3. Highlight 'Axiom Pro XX, Axiom Pro USB A In'
4. Choose Channel 1

The second button in this section is the MIDI Output Selector. This is where you can choose where the MIDI track will send MIDI to. In the example below, we're sending MIDI to Channel 2 of a Yamaha Motif that we have connected to the MIDI Output of our audio interface.

1. Click on the MIDI track's input selector.
2. Highlight 'Predefined'.
3. Highlight '003 Rack, Port 1'
4. Choose Channel 2.

Instrument Tracks
Instrument tracks are a special type of track that provide both MIDI and audio capabilities within a single track. Instrument tracks simplify using software and hardware instruments in Pro Tools.

By default, the I/O section of the instrument track will show you the Audio Input Path Selectors. You will need to enable Instrument View to see both the MIDI and audio input and outputs.

1. Click on the View menu in Pro Tools.
2. Highlight 'Mix Window Views'.
3. Choose 'Instruments'.

The Instrument section of the instrument track works exactly like the MIDI track.

The I/O section of the instrument track works exactly like the audio track.

Using Virtual Instruments
In the example below, we're going to use the instrument track to insert Mini Grand, our grand piano virtual instrument, onto.

1. Create 1 stereo instrument track.
2. Click the track Insert selector near the top of the Instrument track.
3. Highlight 'Multichannel Plug-in'.
4. Highlight 'Instrument'.
5. Choose 'Mini Grand'.

Using External MIDI Devices
In the example below, we have a Yamaha Motif connected to the MIDI ports on our audio interface and Inputs 1 and 2, and will set it up in Pro Tools using an instrument track.

1. Create 1 stereo instrument track.
2. Click on the MIDI Output Selector.
3. Highlight 'Predefined'.
4. Highlight '003 Rack, Port 1'.
5. Choose Channel 1.

1. Click on the Audio Input Path Selector.
2. Highlight 'Interface'.
3. Choose Analog 1-2.

Auxiliary Buses
A bus is a way that you can route a signal from one track to another location. To do this, you route the target tracks' outputs to a bus, and on another track, set its track input set to the same bus. (See next section.)

Aux Input Tracks
Aux Input tracks (we will refer to them in this article as 'aux tracks') are tracks only used to monitor input sources. The I/O section of an aux track works just like the audio and instrument tracks. A common use for them is to use them as a "group track" by using the method described in the "Auxiliary Buses" section. In the example below, we're going to bus our 2 vocal tracks to an Aux track so that we can process them together.

1. Create 1 mono aux track.
2. Click on the Audio Input Path Selector.
3. Highlight 'Bus'.
4. Choose Bus 1 (Mono).
5. Click on the Audio Output Path Selector on Vocal 1.
6. Highlight 'Bus'.
7. Choose Bus 1 (Mono).
8. Click on the Audio Output Path Selector on Vocal 2.
9. Highlight 'Bus'.
10. Choose Bus 1 (Mono).
11. Click the track Insert selector near the top of the aux track.
12. Highlight 'Plug-in'.
13. Highlight 'Dynamics'.
14. Choose 'bombfactory BF76'.

The compressor will now affect all tracks that are routed to the aux track.

Bouncing a Hardware Device or Virtual Instrument to Audio
There are many reasons why you might want to do this. You might be taking your session to another studio, or using one device to produce multiple sounds, or want do post-processing on the audio file. In the example below, we're going to bounce Mini Grand down to an audio track.

1. Create 1 stereo audio track.
2. Rename this track to Piano Audio.
3. Click on the Audio Input Path Selector.
4. Highlight 'Bus'.
5. Choose Bus 1-2 (Stereo).
6. Click on the Audio Output Path Selector on Piano.
7. Highlight 'Bus'.
8. Choose Bus 1-2 (Stereo).
9. Record enable Piano Audio.
10. Record enable the Pro Tools transport.
11. Press Play to start recording.

By default, you won't be able to hear the track while it's recording. To monitor the track while it's recording, go to the Track menu and click on Input Only Monitoring.

Print One Track to Another in Oro Tools

Source: https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/how_to/en367979

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