Adding Reverb To Audio Tracks in Pro Tools

Now that we've had some time to learn about recording, let's get into adding some FX to what we've recorded. If you remember, we learned about adding FX inside of Reason. In Pro Tools, it's going to be different. There are different types of audio editing. Commonly used terms are Destructive and Non-Destructive editing. Destructive editing happens when you make edits directly to the audio file. These edits are non-reversible and therefor considered destructive. Non-Destructive editing is editing that doesn't have any effect on the audio file itself. The results of a Non-Destructive editing are reversible, so if you make a change now that you later decide you don't like, you can easily make adjustments without having to worry about your audio file being potentially damaged. Let's look at how we can use Non-Destructive Editing to add FX to an audio track in Pro Tools.


1. Open Pro Tools


2. Open a Pro Tools Session that contains recorded audio.


3. Create a Master Fader Track. This will help us to monitor and make any necessary adjustments to the volume of your session.

4. Notice the Master Fader track on the screen? You can now make adjustments to the overall volume if you hear any distortion in your session. Notice that there is no Mute or Solo buttons on this track.

5. Now that we have the Master Fader, let's create a new track. This track is called an Aux Input. If you want to add an effect such as Reverb, you may want to use a Mono Aux Input. If you want to add Delay, you may want to use a Stereo Aux Input.

6. Notice the Aux Input track has a Solo and a Mute button. Also notice that there is no audio input, indicated by the No Input on the I/O section.

7. We're going to add an input to our Aux track. Click "No Input" and change that by going to Bus > Bus 1 (If you have mono) or Bus 1-2 (If you have stereo).

8. Now that we have our audio input, we need to Insert an effect. For this demonstration I'll insert a reverb into our track.

9. With our reverb now created, we will take our audio track and send it to our aux input.

10. You should now see 2 things on the screen. One is the reverb effect. On the reverb effect we can control the type of reverb we want, the size of the reverb and a few other settings. On the other small pop-up we can control just how much of that effect do we want on our audio track.

11. Make adjustments to the reverb (or whichever effect you're using) until you feel that you have the sound you're looking for.


Keep in mind the following things:


1. Your Master Fader should ALWAYS be Stereo.


2. Your Aux Input tracks can be Mono or Stereo depending on the effect you want.


3. You can send multiple audio tracks to an Aux Input.


4. You can create multiple Aux Input tracks.


5. Your different Aux Input tracks will need to be assigned to different Buses.

Announcements

Hey Audio A Students,

We've been doing a great job so far working on our projects and recording. There's a few announcements that need to be made for this week.

1. Friday, March 18 - Makeup Lab (also a time to schedule personal recording projects in the DAS...). Chris Runde (of Audio B) will be running this make-up lab. If you would like to use this time to work on any new music, make-up music, or schedule sometime to work on music in the DAS, we must know ASAP so that we can notify Chris.

2. Tuesday, March 22 - Job Readiness Workshop (this is a mandatory class for all Digital Pathways students. If you absolutely CAN'T make it on that day, you must email Felice and ask her how you can make it up - felice@bavc.org)

3. Thursday, March 24 - BAVC is having a Members Event and needs help recording audio for a podcast. This would be first hand experience recording a live event to be broadcasted on the internet. You would be assisting Chris Runde for this assignment. Any students interested should let us know ASAP so that we can notify Chris Runde.

4. March 28-April 1 - Spring Break. No Class! However, if anyone would like to schedule time for recording sessions during the week, talk to me and we'll see what we can work out. The sooner the better - DON'T call me up randomly in the middle of the week and be like, "Can I come through right now?" Chris Runde will be in attendance in this office throughout the Spring Break.


5. After Spring Break we will begin working on a collaborative project with students from 3D Gaming. 3D Gaming is looking for music and sounds for their projects and they'll be needing assistance from us! More information on this project will be available when we arrive from Spring Break.

Projects to work on

 Finish Trailer Project

• Sound Fx
• Dialog Replacement
• Music Score

Start Creative Final Project  

For your final project we want you have a polished creative audio project of your choice.  You are lucky to have access to Reason, Pro Tools and a Studio, so use what you have learned in class and make it happen! Take your time -make this your best work!

Project Ideas:

1. Full Song with recorded Vocals or Instrument
2. Video Post Production
3. Short Story with Sound Fx
4. A Capella or Acoustic Song
5. If you have other project ideas please let us know!

Things to think about as you get started....

• What do you want your project to be?
• Get Organized!
• Figure out what you will need to complete your project 
• Should you find someone to collaborate with?
• Song Arrangement
• Intro, Verses, Chorus, Outro
• Lyrics
• Verses, Chorus
• Mixing
• Panning, Volume, Reverb, EQ, Fx
• Don't be afraid to ask for help and advice!

ALSO...

TUESDAY MARCH 22: Mandatory Job Readiness Workshop

It is during our regular class time so make sure you come on time!

What Makes a Good Recording?

This past Tuesday we began recording vocals inside the DAS. Now, let's talk about what makes a good vocal recording. In some cases this can all be personal opinion, but there are also things we should be looking out for when we're making these recordings. There are things to keep in mind if you're in the seat of either the Engineer or the Talent.

As an engineer it is very important to pay attention to the the sound quality you're getting. You want to pay attention to things such as whether or not the vocals are being recorded too quiet or too loud and if their voice is being recorded to "dark" or "high". With vocals that are too loud or quiet, we can simply adjust the volume on our output or gain. However "dark" and "high" vocals can be from a combination of things. One of these is the type of voice a person has. There may be instances where you will record someone who has a very deep voice (Barry White) or a higher voice (Alicia Keys). Now I used a man and a woman as an example because men more frequently have deeper voices than women. So now that we have established 2 different types of voices, let's consider the different types of studio microphones. Studio microphones, often referred to as Condenser Microphones, come in various styles. However, appearance isn't the only thing different about these mics. What's inside also counts. There are microphones designed for these different kinds of voices. They are designed for these types of voices because of the way they record certain frequencies. They might help add clarity to a voice that has a lot of bass or help make a softer voice sound more "full". Then there's also "transparent" microphones which try to make as little adjustments to the frequency as possible to give you a real "exact" recording. Today we'll experiment with 2 different microphones.

Now there's also your preamplifier. This preamp that we're using is what gives power to our condenser microphone. Some preamps do more than just give power to the mic. They might also give us control over compression or E.Q. to help us adjust frequencies should we need to. We'll take a look at these things in the DAS today.


Now what should you consider on the talent side? It is referred to as Mic Technique. Mic Technique can be considered knowing the right amount of distance to be from the microphone, the right voice intonation to use, speaking clearly, etc. All of the things that give a believable performance. This is important for all who record. Voice actors, performing artists, narrators, etc.






Check out the tips displayed in this video

Intro to DAS

Today we will be learning how to use the Digital Audio Suite, also known as DAS.  We will go through the steps on how to turn on all the equipment and start a recording session.  

Our goal this week is to give all of you a chance to experience what it is like to record someone in the DAS and also what it is like to be recorded. You will need a sample of your own creative writing or an essay to be recorded.  If you have other ideas of something to record let us know so we can make it happen.

Once you are in the DAS, here is how to get started:

Now that the equipment is on you will need to create new Pro Tools session for recording.  Someone will need to be in the vocal booth to make sure the headphones and microphone are set up correctly for recording.