Last time around we scoped out AudioSuite, one of the two types of plug-ins available in Pro Tools LE. This month we'll look AudioSuite's sexier cousin, RTAS. Why "sexier?" While RTAS plug-ins generally perform the same functions as their AudioSuite equivalents, they do so in real time. Running a track through an RTAS plug-in is a lot like using a hardware effect. When you tweak settings, you hear the results instantly. RTAS makes signal-processing a more liquid and intuitive process. RTAS is a recent development. Not long ago, only upscale TDM systems supported realtime Pro Tools processing. The new format brings Pro Tools LE a lot closer to TDM-grade power. And while a few high-end plug-ins only run on TDM rigs or the new HD systems, most exist in RTAS incarnations. But if RTAS is so cool, why mess with AudioSuite at all? Excellent question — I'm glad I asked. Unlike AudioSuite, which does its processing "off line," RTAS plug-ins make greedy demands on your computer's processor. Insert too many, and Pro Tools slows to a crawl or stops altogether. Your maximum number of RTAS plug-ins depends on your computer's speed, the number of audio tracks in your session, and the specific plug-ins used. You won't know for sure if you've exhausted your resources until Pro Tools tells you. And sooner or later, it will — though we'll look at resource-conserving strategies in this and future columns. The download for this month's workshop is a bit hefty: almost 10MB PC, 8MB Macintosh. But I wanted to use examples that demonstrate the sorts of tasks you might perform on a real pop or rock track. The download folder contains six Pro Tools sessions that share a single Audio Files folder. (While you could make a new session from scratch and import the audio files as we've done in previous workshops, this time I suggest starting with my sessions so our screen views match.) Open "Session 1." You'll find an eight-bar segment of a full-band recording featuring four tracks of drums (kick, snare, and stereo overheads), bass, two guitars, a lead vocal, and a stereo background vocal track. That's 10 tracks, total. If you're trying this workshop on Pro Tools Free, you'll only be able to open the first eight of them. No biggie — just blow off the backing vocals. All these tracks are "flat" — that is, there are no plug-ins engaged, nothing has been EQed, all levels are set at a default –0dB, and everything is panned to the center except the stereo tracks, which are panned hard left and right. Go ahead and hit Play. Ouch. The sound is dense, dry, and impenetrable, with the abrasive guitars overshadowing the other tracks. This mix needs help. That's where you (and RTAS) come in. Let's start with the kick drum. Listen to the soloed track. It's solid enough, but sounds dull and thuddy. Improve it: Click-hold on one of the black dots in the track's Inserts column and select 4-Band EQ. (It doesn't matter which dot you select, since you can click-drag plug-ins from slot to slot at any time.) The plug-in is now engaged and its control panel opens. The initial settings are flat — you won't hear any sonic changes until you dial in new settings. Try some. Good equalization is a matter of taste, context, experience, and the occasional happy accident. We don't have space here to offer a thorough introduction to the art and science of EQ (though we'll take that up in future columns). But try these conventional settings as a starting point:
The treble and bass controls (at the top and bottom of the plug-in screen, respectively) offer two parameters: Freq, which controls the exact tonal range that is boosted or cut, and Gain, which specifies the amount of said boost or cut. The upper and lower midrange controls add a third parameter, Q, which sets the width of the adjustment. Here I've suggested boosting both the highs and lows, but cutting some low-midrange at 290Hz. I've bypassed the upper-midrange control altogether by clicking on the circular icon at the left (yellow denotes engaged, white bypassed). This setting adds low-end whomp and treble snap while clarifying some of the low-mid muddiness. But it's just one of many possible choices. Now add a compressor by click-holding on the dot to the right of the EQ and dialing in these typical settings:
A super-brief explanation: Compression makes the loudest parts of a recording quieter, which, ironically, can make a track louder, because you can now boost its overall level more without the dynamic peaks sending you into the distortion zone. This setting trims down only the initial impact of the drum, but that's enough to let us boost the track substantially (note the 4.6dB Gain setting). Now the kick sounds punchier, louder, and, for better or worse, more like the sound on most pop records. Some RTAS factoids:
Can you mix an entire song using only presets? Probably not. But presets often make strong starting points.
Now let's improve some of the other tracks. You could manually insert similar combinations of EQ and compression, but why not do it the lazy way and open "Session 2," which has a likely assortment of inserts? (If you've dialed in any plug-in settings you'd like to revisit later, save "Session 1" under a new name before you close it.) All settings are flat. Solo the various tracks, click on the Inserts button to open the plug-in control panels, and work some sliders, perhaps starting out with presets. If you're in a hurry, simply open "Session 3," which has some compression and EQ settings dialed in. Here I've also adjusted levels and panning, lowering the volume of the drum overheads and guitars, and panning the guitars hard left and right. A few more words about the "Session 3" settings:
Click image to enlarge. I've selected a high-pass EQ for the "hi guitar" track by clicking the leftmost icon. ("High pass" means high frequencies pass through the filter unimpeded, while lows are chopped.) I made the choice because the track is jagged and trebly by nature. Removing lows diminishes the muck factor without tempering the bite. The chunky "lo guitar" track, on the other hand, benefits from some added low-mids. Finally, I've evened out the vocal tracks with a typical fast-attack setting and dialed in extra high-end sparkle. If you find these choices bewildering, join the club. There's a reason why the leading mixers get paid $10,000 per song. EQ and compression place relatively modest demands on your computer. Unless you're working on a pretty wimpy machine, you were probably able to open "Session 3." (If not, hang in there — we'll look at some workarounds below.) Delay effects are greedier, and reverb is an insatiable DSP pig. As anyone who's worked on an analog mixing board knows, a common way to maximize your delay and reverb resources is to assign the effect to a single stereo auxiliary input, and then route multiple tracks in varying quantities to this single effect. Let's do that now. Create a new track by selecting File/New Track and specifying Stereo and Aux Send types. Click-hold on the new track's "i" button and specify Bus 1-2 as the input.
Note that when you create a new track, the output level defaults to -00 (all the way down). Set it to a flat -0dB by option-clicking on the digit. Now make sure the Sends column is displayed in the Edit Window by selecting Display/Edit Window Shows/Sends View. Next, click-hold on one of the aux track's Insert buttons and choose the Long Delay effect. Finally, send some vocal track into the delay by clicking on one of the track's diamond-shaped Send buttons. Choose Bus 1-2 again, and a little send fader appears. Raise the fader to -0dB, or simply option-click on the fader. Now you should have a view like this:
Click image to enlarge. Fiddle with the delay settings, or check out mine by opening "Session 4," which also routes the background vocal tracks into the delay. Try fiddling with the effect send amount via the vocal tracks' Send controls and the "vol" setting of the Aux 1 track. Note that the delays are synched to the track's 124 bpm tempo.
Click image to enlarge. Good ear? Naw, I just used MusicCalc, a shareware delay-time calculator. Here are the numbers you get when you type in "124":
If you have Digidesign's D-Verb, take a listen to "Session 5," which includes a second aux channel for reverb, and "Session 6," which adds a Master Fader with a Limiter plug-in. (Limiting is a sort of industrial-strength compression process.) And what if your computer isn't buff enough to support all these plug-ins? Here's one way to reduce the plug-in load: Once you have an RTAS setting you like, you can copy the settings into AudioSuite. For example, highlight the kick track and open its 4-Band EQ screen. Then select the same plug-in from the AudioSuite menu and copy over the RTAS settings, like so:
Click image to enlarge. Press the AudioSuite plug-in's Process button, and the effect will be imposed onto the track. Now you can remove the original RTAS plug-in. (Remember: Pro Tools doesn't erase or overwrite tracks unless you tell it to. When you click Process, the program creates a new file featuring the AudioSuite effect and places it in your session. But you can always reload the original file.) Hint: If you have a cool setting, save it from RTAS as detailed above. Then you can select the new setting via the same menu within the AudioSuite plug-in. Don't be frustrated if some of these operations seem confusing at first. These aren't beginner skills — these techniques are the real deal, the stuff that spawns hits, flops, and control-room fistfights. Proceed with open ears and a healthy sense of humor. Click here to read previous columns.
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