Avid Pro Tools LE, Eleven Rack User Guide
Intro to Pro Tools
Pro Tools LE® and Eleven Rack
Version 8.0.1
™
Welcome to Pro Tools LE and Eleven Rack
Headphones
LR
To mixer
Main outputs (L/R)
-or-
To powered monitors
Read this guide if you are new to Pro Tools® or are just starting out making your own music. Inside,
you’ll find examples of how to record, compose, mix, and produce your own music in Pro Tools.
One quick question: Have you installed Pro Tools yet? If not, follow the Eleven Rack Quick Setup instructions or the detailed Eleven Rack User Guide to install software and your Eleven|Rack
TM
hardware.
Do not connect your Eleven Rack to your computer until you’ve installed Pro Tools from your installer
DVD as described in the Eleven Rack Quick Setup instructions.
Connect Headphones, a Mixer, or Powered Monitors
You have to be able to hear your music, so plug in some headphones or a monitoring system.
Before you power on Eleven Rack, make sure any connected amplifiers or powered monitors are turned
off or muted.
Plug headphones into the jack on the front panel. If your headphones have an 1/8-inch plug, use
an 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch adapter.
If you’re setting up to listen through a mixer/P.A., or powered monitors, connect them to the XLR
monitor outputs Main Out L and R on the back panel (L to left, R to right).
Welcome to Pro Tools LE and Eleven Rack 1
Listen to the Demo Session
Open Session
To get started, you can use the Demo Session to see and hear many of the things you’ll soon be doing
in Pro Tools. (If you want to start recording guitar right away, skip to “Record Yourself” on page 5)
The Demo Session also gives you sound to play so you can test your headphones or speakers.
To install and open the Demo Session:
1 Put the Pro Tools LE
• On a Mac, open the Additional Files folder, then open the Demo Sessions Installer folder. Double-click the Install LE Demo Session.pkg, then follow the instructions on-screen to install the
Demo Session. Make a note of where you install it.
– or –
• On Windows, open the Additional Files folder, then open the Demo Sessions Installer folder.
Double-click LE Demo Session Setup.exe, then follow the instructions on-screen to install the
Demo Session. Make a note of where you install it.
For best performance, we recommend using an external hard drive for Pro Tools recordings. But if you
don’t have an external hard drive yet, it’s OK to put the Demo Session on your system drive.
2 Launch Pro Tools LE by clicking its icon in the Dock (Mac) or double-clicking its icon on your desktop
(Windows). If this is the first time you’re launching Pro Tools, enter your Authorization Code (located
on the back of your Eleven Rack DVD wallet). This is only required the first time you launch Pro Tools.
3 Next, do either of the following depending on what you see on-screen:
• If the Quick Start dialog appears, click Open Session, then click OK. Navigate to the file “Filtered
Dream” and select it (it’s in the folder “Filtered Dream Demo Session”), then click Open.
®
Installer disc in your DVD drive and do one of the following:
Quick Start dialog, Open Session
Mac Macintosh HD/Pro Tools LE Demo Session
Windows C:\Program Files\Digidesign\Pro Tools
Intro to Pro Tools2
– or –
• If the Quick Start dialog does not appear, choose File > Open Session (click the File menu to
choose Open Session), then open the file “Filtered Dream.” If you didn’t install the file in a
specific place, it can be found in the following default locations:
Pro Tools opens the session, which should look similar to the following:
Tra c ks
Toolbar
Edit window
Eleven Rack
Control window
Volume/Monitor
Level
Stop Play
Stop Play
4 For now, go ahead and close the Eleven Rack Control window; we’ll get to that soon.
Play and Listen
To play the Demo Session:
1 On the front of the Eleven Rack, turn the Volume knob counter-clockwise to a low level (less than
3.0 on the display).
2 To start and stop Pro Tools, press the Spacebar, or click the Play and Stop buttons on-screen. (These
buttons are located at the top of the Edit window; you can also have them appear in their own Transport window by choosing Window > Transport.)
Stop and Play controls in Edit window (left) and Transport window (right)
3 While the session plays, gradually raise the Volume knob until you reach a good listening level.
Welcome to Pro Tools LE & Eleven Rack 3
4 Explore Pro Tools while the demo plays by using the zoom and Track view c ontro ls to zero in on d if-
Ver tic al
Horizontal
Click the Horizontal and
and Vertical Zoom
buttons to adjust size
and length of what is
shown in tracks
(Double-click the Zoomer tool to zoom back out again)
Click to select the Zoomer tool and then drag-select to zoom in.
a display height
Click the Track Options selector and choose
Zoomer
Mix window
Tra c ks
ferent tracks:
5 Next, click the Window menu and choose Mix (Window > Mix). The Mix window shows tracks in ver-
tical channel strips.
The Edit window and the Mix window are the two main work areas in Pro Tools. Throughout the rest
of this guide, you’ll see examples of both windows being used for different types of production work.
(To learn about the Eleven Rack Control window, see the Eleven Rack User Guide.)
6 Press the Spacebar or click the Stop button to stop playback.
7 When you’re through checking out the Demo Session, choose File > Close Session.
The Demo Session is a great example of a complete, finished project that has been arranged, edited,
and mixed. You don’t need to return to the Demo Session for anything else in this guide, but you might
want to check it out again later, after you’ve been introduced to a few more Pro Tools features. If you
wa nt to re t urn to t h e Demo S ession o r any re c ent one , click F ile > Re c ent and choose t he Demo S ession
(if it is still one of your most recently opened sessions), or choose File > Open and open it that way.
Intro to Pro Tools4
Record Yourself
Session Template list
Session Template pop-up menu
In this section you're going to create a new session, then record yourself playing guitar through an
Eleven Rack Rig.
Create a New Session from a Template
Session templates save you the time of having to create tracks and effects, and assign signal routing.
The template shown in this example (named “Guitar Tracking”) is one of three provided that consist
of audio tracks, instrument tracks, effects and busses tailored specifically for recording (or tracking)
guitar.
To create a new session from a template:
1 Do one of the following:
• If you followed the previous section and closed the Demo Session, choose File > Open, navigate
to the Session Template file “Guitar Tracking” and select it, then click Open.
• If you just launched Pro Tools and the Quick Start dialog appears, select Create Session From Tem-
plate, then click the Session Template pop-up menu and select the Eleven Rack category. Select
the Session Template file Guitar Tracking from the list and click OK.
Quick Start dialog
2 In the New Session From dialog, leave the settings unchanged and click OK.
3 When the Save New Session As dialog appears, name the session, choose where you want to save
the session and click Save.
4 Make sure the Mix window is open by choosing Window > Mix.
Welcome to Pro Tools LE & Eleven Rack 5
5 In the middle of the E.Guitar track’s channel strip notice where it says Eleven Rig L/R (Stereo). This
Input Path selector
Record Enable button
shows which Input channel is assigned to this track. (To specify a different input channel, click the
Input Path selector and choose the other channel.)
6 Click the E.Guitar track’s Record Enable button.
Record enabling a track in the Mix window
7 Next, choose Options > Low-Latency Monitoring. This setting is highly recommended when tracking
through the Eleven Rig (it provides the best way to hear your guitar while recording to be able to get
the right “feel.”)
8 Now tu rn your gu itar’s volume knob( s) up abo ut halfway and play a few chords or leads. You should
be able to hear the guitar through Pro Tools!
Intro to Pro Tools6
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