Lesson 1 A

Lesson #1a: New Session and Track Creation

Launch the Pro Tools application and execute the following steps carefully!

• 1. Hit cancel to bypass the Quick Start dialog if necessary.
• 2. Hit ⌘ N. This opens the New Session dialog box.
• 3. Choose Create Blank Session, WAV, 44.1 kHz, 24 Bit & hit Return.
• 4. Name the new session Shortcuts 1 and save it to your audio drive.
• 5. Hit ⇧ ⌘ N to open the New Tracks dialog box
• 6. Hit the number 2 and,
• 7. while holding the ⌘ key, hit the → one time to choose stereo Audio tracks.

Do not hit The Return key yet until we finish creating all the tracks.

Next we are going to create 2 Aux Tracks.

• 8. Hit ⇧⌘N
• 9. hit the number 2 and,
• 10. while holding ⌘, hit the → one time to choose stereo tracks and hit ↓ one time to choose Aux tracks.
• 11. Hit ⇧ ⌘ N, hit the number 2 and,
• 12. while holding the ⌘ key, hit the → one time to create stereo tracks and
• 13. while still holding the ⌘ key, hit ↓ repeatedly (4 or 5 times) until you have chosen Instrument tracks and,
• 14. Hit⇧⌘N,
• 15. while holding ⌘, hit the → one time to create a stereo track and
• 16. while holding ⌘, hit ↓ two times to create 1 Master fader Track.
• 17. Now Finally, hit Return.

While holding ⌘, hit the = key. This will toggle the view between the Edit and the Mix windows.
⌘ S to save our current session.

For the next part of this exercise we will Import a stereo WAV file of a song into our session. While the session we just created is running, drag a song file from a CD to the Pro Tools application icon, or get something from your iTunes library and drop it directly onto the Edit Window. You can also drag a song file directly from the clip list and drop it onto the Edit Window.

Basic Navigation and Operation

While holding the ⌥ key the user can perform an operation on all tracks at once.
While holding the ⌥ ⇧ keys an operation will be performed on all selected tracks only.
All of the single key keystroke commands require that the Command Focus button be turned on. This button is found in the top right corner of the Edit Window.