Looking for some assistance with Pro Tools First

iBrAzY

New member
Hey,

I am new to Pro Tools First and would appreciate some help. Please read my questions below.

1. How do I find a midi virtual keyboard to make beats without having a physical midi keyboard.

2. How do I load new plugins that are just in .wav format.

3. When I want to start recording I click the play button and then the record button, but this doesn't seem right to me.


Thanks in advance for the help!!
 
I’m surprised Pro Tools doesn’t have a virtual keyboard at this point. I know Reaper, Reason, Logic, and evem freaking Garage Band has it. I don’t know a Pro Tools at all, so I can’t help there, but at the very least, there’s likely a virtual keyboard that you can download for Pro Tools.

2. I’m not sure what you’re asking here. You’re using some jargon together that doesn’t make sense. Can you clarify?

3. You don’t need to hit the play button first and then record. Simply hitting record should automatically play the track for you...unless Pro Tools is the one pretentious DAW that doesn’t do that, but I doubt it.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. To answer your three questions 1: No it doesn't come with an onscreen keyboard but you can create beats by "drawing" them in the midi edit window which does have "keys" to the left side you can "play" to hear the sound you are working with. 2: PT First is an introductory software(NOT fully functioned) and will only see plugins that are purchased through the online store accessed at the top right tab Marketplace. Wav. files are not plugins, they are audio files and should be dragged and dropped onto the protools edit window. 3:To record first record enable the track (red button on track) then record enable the transport(red button next to play button) then hit play button. I would definitely recommend going to the Pro Tools youtube channel and looking at the basic videos to get you started. Once you get the basics down you can find a lot more info at the users forum Avid Pro Audio Community - Powered by vBulletin
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. To answer your three questions 1: No it doesn't come with an onscreen keyboard but you can create beats by "drawing" them in the midi edit window which does have "keys" to the left side you can "play" to hear the sound you are working with. 2: PT First is an introductory software(NOT fully functioned) and will only see plugins that are purchased through the online store accessed at the top right tab Marketplace. Wav. files are not plugins, they are audio files and should be dragged and dropped onto the protools edit window. 3:To record first record enable the track (red button on track) then record enable the transport(red button next to play button) then hit play button. I would definitely recommend going to the Pro Tools youtube channel and looking at the basic videos to get you started. Once you get the basics down you can find a lot more info at the users forum Avid Pro Audio Community - Powered by vBulletin

What!!!! That’s ludicrous! 2018 and Pro Tools still doesn’t have its own on screen keyboard? Granted, I hardly ever use the on screen, but when I do, it certainly made my workflow go a lot faster than if I had to draw it in the MIDI track.


You’re also telling me that you need to click on both the play and record buttons to record.



Add these two reasons to the whole list as to why I will never be buying Pro Tools, ever. Lol
 
I'm not sure if First has a built in keyboard but there are hundreds of free or extremely cheap VST piano plugins. Can yo be clearer about 2? To record just hit 3 on your numpad.
 
Were talking about First which is, again, not full featured. VSTs are not supported. Plugins bought through the marketplace in app. Some of the PT VI's have onscreen keyboards, they all have some way of inputting onscreen. With Numeric keypad set to transport you can indeed hit 3 to start recording but tracks must still be record enabled prior to starting. There are also keyboard shortcuts for just about everything but I didn't go into them as the poster seems to be just starting out and might not be ready for them yet which is why I suggested the videos.
 
PT First projects can't even be used with PT full version, IIRC.

That sounds almost like a real scam to me...
 
Sorry but that is not true. Projects can be opened in any Pro Tools version 12 and up as long as the sample rate matches. I do it all the time. Create project on laptop. Save to cloud. Open on desktop PT Native. Save copy to> Convert to higher sample rate if necessary and save again. Erase from cloud to free up space.
 
Its a program with training wheels. Its not meant to be anything but a complete beginners introduction to pro tools. Per avid "Singers, songwriters, and musicians who are new to audio recording or Pro Tools" is the intended end user.
 
i think you'll regret buying this expensive daw when there are so many others that are equally as good and some better for a lot less money.
 
Pro Tools First is FREE, no cost, gratis, for nix, nada etc.

It has most of the important features you will find in Pro Tools and is a great start out, below is a link to the comparison chart.

Pro Tools | First - Compare - Avid

Not sure why PT should draw so much hate, its just a tool, and looking at the comparison chart it comes with expand2 bundled, pretty good value for no cash.
 
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