Pro Tools Session Prep

Everything the engineer needs from you before a recording session with live players: a set of exports from your mock-up session, and a Pro Tools session built around them that opens and plays correctly on any machine in the studio. Work through both checklists in order; the session is built from the exports.

Exports from the DAW Mock-up Session

All audio exports should:

• start in measure one and be the same length;

• have a sample rate of 48,000 Hz and a bit depth of 24 bits; and

• be .WAV files.

• Stereo Mix (rough mix)

  • Includes both the instruments that will be replaced during the recording session and any additional instruments or sounds that will not be replaced.
  • Should sound as close as possible to what you want the final product to sound like.
  • Name it Your-Initials_Cue-Title_Rough-Mix_VersionNumber.WAV — e.g. DRD_The-King_Rough-Mix_V002.WAV

• Mix-Minus — everything that is not being recorded by live players in the session

  • If you have pre-records (instruments or sounds that will not be replaced by live instruments), export a stereo mix without the instruments that will be replaced.
  • Reduce the stereo width so that a musician with one headphone side on can still hear everything.
  • Reduce the dynamic range (with volume faders, not compressors) so it is easier to hear what is in the room over big impacts in the mix-minus.
  • Sessions often need multiple versions of this file, depending on which musicians are present for different parts of the session.
  • Name it Your-Initials_Cue-Title_Mix-Minus_VersionNumber.WAV — e.g. DRD_The-King_Mix-Minus_V002.WAV

• Mock-Up String Mix — only needed for a strings-only session (e.g. the Budapest session)

  • A stereo mix of just the strings that will be replaced in the session.

• Multi-Track (every individual pre-record) — not needed for the Budapest session

  • If you have pre-records, export each as an individual audio file without any mixing or mastering effects applied.
  • Name each Your-Initials_Cue-Title_Instrument-Name.WAV — e.g. DRD_The-King_Low-Synth.WAV

• Click — a rendered click track, used as a backup if anything goes wrong in the session

  • Mono.
  • Starts in measure one and continues through the last measure of music.
  • Follows every tempo and meter change, with the subdivisions and groupings the music needs.
  • No accents, so there is no headphone bleed.
  • Uses the standard UREI click sound: UREI Click 48k WAV.zip
  • Name it Your-Initials_Cue-Title_Click.WAV — e.g. DRD_The-King_Click.WAV
  • Guides for producing a click track: Logic Pro · Cubase · Reaper

• MIDI File — the tempo map

  • Used to import all of your tempo and meter changes into the Pro Tools session that will host your audio files during the session.
  • Export a standard MIDI file that begins in measure one and continues through the last measure of music.
  • It must include every tempo and meter change and align exactly with your score.
  • Name it Your-Initials_Cue-Title_TempoMap.mid — e.g. DRD_The-King_TempoMap.mid

Why an audio click, rather than the DAW’s built-in one, can save a session:

The Pro Tools Session

1. Create a new Pro Tools session:

   • Project title: Your-Initials_Cue-Title — e.g. DRD_The-King
   • File type: BWF (.WAV)
   • Sample rate: 48 kHz
   • Bit depth: 24-bit
   • Interleaved: on

2. Import your MIDI tempo map.

   • Check that every measure number, tempo, and meter change matches your score and mock-up exactly.

3. Once everything aligns, delete the MIDI files and tracks — you only needed the MIDI file to import the tempo and meter changes.

4. Import all of the session audio files.

   💡 Copy, don’t add

   Copying files while importing places copies of the audio files inside the project’s Audio folder, so the Pro Tools project has everything it needs when it is opened at the studio. Simply adding the files does not copy them into the project, and they will be missing when you open the project at the recording session.

5. Color and order the tracks:

   Order	Track	Color
   1	Click	Yellow
   2	Mix-Minus	Blue
   3	Rough Mix	Green
   4	Individual pre-records (named logically)	Purple

6. Listen to every track and confirm it sounds correct, is aligned to the tempo map, and matches the score exactly.

7. Mute all tracks except the Click and Mix-Minus tracks.

8. Save the Pro Tools project.

9. Confirm that all of your audio files are inside the project’s Audio folder.

10. Upload the entire Pro Tools project folder to the designated folder on SharePoint.

11. Download the project to another computer with Pro Tools and confirm that it opens and plays correctly.

Related

• Score Prep — the score and parts that go on the stands
• Pro Tools: Working with Playlists — comping the takes after the session