Pro Tools Session Organization

Time to put in work.

This week I am going to be explaining the setup of a pro tools session. Being an organized engineer is one of the most important things of being an engineer. Not only does it make you look and be professional, it also helps if sending a session to another engineer. Sometimes the session is sent out to be mastered or another engineer may take the session over they need to see and know what things are. If you send them a session that’s not labeled, color-coded, or organized is not a good look for you. Now you don’t have to do these things at all but I would suggest that you take the time to setup a session and make it easier for you. A side note is that if you are going to be using the same type of session over and over, setup the session and save it as a template so all your setting save.

I will be explaining setup in Pro Tools so follow along if you are using this same software. One you have a blank session open figure out how many tracks you will need. Usually drums, synths, strings, vocal etc. This will depend on what music you are doing. I am explaining this as a hip-hop genre. After you have the number of tracks you need, create that amount of tracks. Next go to the mix window and begin the setup process. Here you can label all of the tracks however you would like. I usually do all of the drums, instruments, vocals, and master fader. Always have a master fader no matter what in any case that is very important. Once you have all the tracks labeled and in an organized manner, color-code them however you like. I usually have red for drums, instruments are green, and vocals break down from verse to hook being orange and yellow. This just help you know where and what things are once you begin editing and mixing a session. Next set your inputs to your microphone or whatever you are using. Set your outputs to your speakers. That’s it simple basics of making a session organized so when you begin recording you are ready to go.

Once you get familiarized and used to your software you find your own way of doing things. I figured that out being an engineer for myself. The way I set things up is how I am efficient and feel comfortable working. Every engineer has their own way of doing things. So keep working and making your session better for you. 

Stay tuned next week for more advanced session setups.