Creating new Pro Tools tracks
To create a new track, choose Track → New from the main menu or press ⌘ +Shift+N (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+N (PC). Either method opens the New Tracks dialog box, where you get to choose the following:
- Number of new tracks: The default here is 1, but you can pretty much create as many tracks as your version of Pro Tools allows.
- Track format: Here you choose stereo or mono.
- Track type: Clicking the arrows opens a drop-down menu that lets you choose between an Audio, an Auxiliary Input, a Master Fader, a VCA Master, a MIDI, or an Instrument track.
- Samples or ticks: You can choose between samples or ticks (bars/beats) for your new tracks.
- Plus sign: Clicking this adds another tracks selection row containing all the options listed in this section so that you can add more than one type of track without having to open the New Track window repeatedly.
Track Types
- Audio Track - Used for Audio Files. Place, Edit, and record your audio files here. (Side Note : Can not switch between Mono and Stereo Once track created.) (can not change Sample rate after session is set)
- Aux input - Auxiliary Input tracks can be used as effects sends, destinations for submixes, as a bounce destination, as inputs to monitor or process audio (such as audio from external MIDI instruments), and for many other audio routing tasks.
- Master Fader - Used to monitor headroom for the output (ALWAYS HAVE ONE IN YOUR SESSION) (Be aware that the insert slots are post fader in Master Faders, for other track types they are pre fader. Very often the fader is never touched but having that Master Fader meter is helpful and it should be present.)
- VCA Master - Control Levels of mix groups. (Great for Analogue Mixers) A VCA is a master fader for a mix group and behaves as a remote control for the channel faders assigned to it. Because of this it behaves independently of the audio routing set up on each track meaning that a track can be a member of multiple Mix groups controlled by multiple VCAs.
- Midi Track - Used to incorporate external midi hardware to capture midi plays (Mostly been outed by Instrument Track)
- Instrument Track - Pick a virtual instrument, Write and Edit musical notes with Midi data right in Pro Tools, to play out the notes you are playing
- Video Track - AS you may assume, It plays video with the Pro Tools video engine. (Pro Tools is one of the few DAWS that allows you to edit with both sound and video. Reason why it is one of the many DAW for in the industry.)
Track Formats
- Mono Tracks - A mono audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or Instrument track controls volume, and, in some cases, panning, for a single channel of audio. A mono audio track uses a single voice. A mono track can also be routed to a multichannel output.
- Stereo Tracks - A stereo audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, or Instrument track is a single channel strip for two channels of audio as a stereo pair. Stereo audio tracks use two voices.
- Multichannel Tracks - A multichannel track is a single channel strip that plays multiple channels of audio (from 3 to 8 channels at a time). This allows Pro Tools to support multichannel mixing formats including LCRS, 5.1, 6.1, and others. Audio, Auxiliary Input, Master Fader, and Instrument tracks can all use any sup- ported multichannel format.