Converting protools file types (AIFF?) and creating (cheap) rough mixes

A

adamdynamic

New member
Hey,

I used to play in a band about 5 or 6 years back, I was digging around some old boxes and found a bunch of DVDs with some protools recording sessions on them that we never mixed. It would be great to see what they sound like but I don't have access to protools anymore (we recorded in a music college that we have since left). To complicate matters further, I've since lost touch with the 'technical expert' in the group who actually did all the recording, so I'm learning as I go along on this one.

The first challenge is that Windows 7 doesn't seem to recognise the file type? I think they are AIFF, though I'm not sure how to be certain. I read something that suggested that AIFF files can be 16-bit or 24-bit? Is this true (and would it matter?)

Secondly, can anyone recommend a cheap (or free) tool that I can use to put together some rough mixes of the tracks? I'm not expecting anything with any polish, just the ability to mix, add basic compression etc. I'm doing google research but it's hard to tell whats good or not so any guidance would be great.

Any help on this would be much appreciated!

Adam
 
Windows should recognise aiff files, but it won't play 24 bit files of any kind. An aiff is the same thing as a wav file, its just the mac version.
Reaper is a good program to start with and will open the files.

The only problem you could run into is if the tracks were not contiguous files. For example, if you did a lot of punching in on a solo,there could be 10 files that are all the different takes and pieces of the solo, and you would have to figure out which ones are the good ones and where they go on the timeline.

What you need to do is find someone with protools and pay them to consolidate the files. then you can take them home and put them in any daw and do that you want with them. otherwise it might be impossible to sift through everything on you have and put it in the right place.
 
Farview's right there.
Unless someone was incredibly neat and tidy, you're going to have an audio file for every single take, whether it ended up in the final session or not.

The best bet would be to get access to ProTools setup, then to consolidate each session into wavs or aiffs that actually represent the session content.

Do you have an ilok for any plugs? PT10 has a demo version but you need an ilok key for it.
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies! The files are stored on CD's, each CD seems to have a different track (~450mb per track). In the root of the CD there's a file (with no extension) with the same name as the song and then a folder named 'audio files'. There are maybe 50-70 files, the names suggest that each track is a different track (rather than punch-ins on the same track) though I don't know enough to be sure.

I had to google what an 'ilok' was so I'm fairly sure I don't have one :)

I might try looking for a service that can convert the files into something generic that I can use with Audacity (or something similar), if anyone has any recommendations please let me know!

Thanks again for your help,

Adam
 
If the names suggest that each file is a different track, then maybe you've got lucky.

Theoretically, you should be able to import the lot into audacity and work from there.

The only big problem I can see is that they may not all start at the same time, and you'd have to work out where everything goes.

Where do you live? Maybe someone near you would open your PT sessions and consolidate them out to nice neat wavs for you, with a common start point?
 
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