The Joy of Six

By Joe Gore

Part 1
The Mac users among us are in an awkward position. Many of us have dabbled in — or at least read about — Apple's radically rewritten OS X enough to realize how thoroughly it stomps ass on any previous Mac OS. But few musicians have made a complete break with OS 9 because so many audio applications are not yet fully X-accessible.

But the long-awaited debut of Pro Tools 6.0 for Mac OS X is a massive milestone on the road to X. I just got my mitts on a release-ready copy, and I'm stoked, to say the least. I predict you'll find the improvements exciting enough to warrant an upgrade ASAP.

So far my Pro Tools 6.0 experiences have been nearly glitch-free. I was also very surprised to find out how many plug-ins are already working on OS X. Though not all of my favorite plugs and virtual instruments are ready to rock on Apple's new platform, all of Digi's plug-ins and many of the third-party plug-ins and application will be OS X-ready when the software ships.

Pro Tools 6.0 offers a lot of action on the LE front. Some new features were previously available only on the big-ticket TDM systems, while others are entirely new. Some simply exploit the intrinsic talents of OS X. This column will survey the coolest new features of Pro Tools 6.

LE Makeover
At first glance, the Pro Tools 6.0 Edit and Mix windows look dramatically redone. But a longer look reveals that things aren't all that different.

Several Edit window controls have simply been consolidated into a single, more ergonomic location: the black option bar above the audio tracks.

You use the grid icons to the left to specify which items are viewed with the tracks and in the ruler. The adjacent icons call up tab-to-transient and command focus modes, the latter a powerful new trickle-down feature from Pro Tools TDM (more about this in a bit), as well as the link timeline/edit control. To the right are the grid and nudge controls. A visual plus: Color-coded track types in the show/hide list and mixer view.

Most importantly, almost all of the key commands — you know, those things I've been browbeating you into learning for the last year — are unchanged.

X-philes
Almost everyone I know who's dabbled with OS X loves it — so much so that returning to OS 9 can be a bit of a bummer. Aside from the visuals, OS X apps simply run smoother, faster, and better. Your computer almost feels like it's purring.

One of X's hippest features is the option of displaying Finder windows in column form. This is a godsend when searching for samples to import. You can, for example, view and sift through sample folders, subfolders, and individual audio files, all within one window. Just type the Command + Shift + I "import audio file" command, and you'll see something like this:

PT also takes advantage of OS X's multi-user and permission architectures. Multiple users may now store their own preference sets. And those of a paranoid persuasion can now sleep easier knowing their audio gems are locked away in a password-protected box.

Browse Till You Drowse
In addition to the aforementioned import window column view, PT 6 introduces two new browser windows as part of the new DigiBase file management utility, which you can use to view, search, audition, and import all your audio and video content. The first, the project browser, opens directly onto the folder for your session.

Meanwhile, the workspace browser surveys all connected discs and drives. You can drag and drop files directly from the browser onto the Edit window's timeline and regions list. Very cool.

There's also a third window to track such tasks as copying and importing large numbers of files. These operations can now run in the background while you slave away in the Edit and Mix windows.

New Edit Window Tricks
In most cases, you no longer have to pause play to add, remove, or change plug-ins. And speaking of plug-ins, you get more of them with the basic PT install: Chorus, flanger, multi-tap and ping-pong delays are now gratis. And, at long last (make that looooooooong last), PT includes a new Click plug-in that can be inserted on any audio or aux track, and it offers a choice of tones.

There's also a brand new "relative grid" editing mode. Now you can drag regions that don't happen to fall directly on the grid by the grid value. It's sort of like nudging a non-quantized region by a set value, only you do it with the grabber tool.

Three other new editing options are simple, yet powerful.

• Now you can trim audio regions in slip mode without exiting grid mode (just hold down the command key).
• You can toggle through different track heights without schlepping your cursor over to the little ruler icon — just type Command + up/down arrow.
• The selector tool now works vertically as well as horizontally. You no longer have to shift-click repeatedly to highlight the same selection on multiple adjacent tracks — just drag sideways and down.

• The Time Compression/Expansion (TC/E) trim tool works magic in resizing audio regions. If you've clocked long hours lining up loops with the AudioSuite Time Compression/Expansion tool, you'll flip over this powerful feature.
• The Command Focus mode lets you execute the most frequently used PT commands with a single key rather than arcane combinations of modifier and alphanumeric keys.
• A new set of groove templates affords much greater control of the feel of your MIDI tracks.
• I'm also going to get into the tab-to-transient option, which lets you zero in on accents (or peak transients) within an audio region. While this option isn't new to Pro Tools 6.0, it's an excellent tool to get accustomed to using.

These mega-features have the potential to radically alter the way you work in Pro Tools.

Click here to read previous columns.