MUS 2014 - Introduction to Music Technology

Pro Tools Assignment 01 Radio Edit

Reference Material • 01 Pro Tools Introduction.pdf • 01a Pro Tools Edit Window.pdf • 02 Pro Tools Basic Editing.pdf • Assignment instructions below

Assignment 01 10%, Due Sep. 29th at the Beginning of Class [1] Create a new Pro Tools Session /1

• Set the sample rate to 44.1kHz and the bit depth to 16bit • Be sure to use the correct file naming convention (-3 points if

incorrect) • eg. MUS2014_D_Assignment01_Mike_Ardagh

• Import audio titled: “Assignment01_Audio.mp3” to a new audio track. • Name the track “City Riff” (the song’s name) /1

[2] Identify structural components of the song with Memory Location Markers

• accurately drop the markers shown in the image to the right /2

• place your markers accurately to save time in editing

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MUS 2014 - Introduction to Music Technology

• markers must appear on the downbeat of the section they denote /1

[3] Copy all audio and location markers to 7:00 (7 minutes) on the time line /2

• keep the original in place and perform the Radio Edit on the copy • good practice when editing since we always have original audio

to go back to, avoiding confusion • Tip:

• Make sure you are on the SMART Tool, click on the lower part of the region to select the entire thing (this will be the grabber tool)

• shift-click in the markers ruler to add the markers to the highlighted selection

• copy • cursor to timeline at 07:00

• click in audio track (this will be the selector tool)

• shift-click in markers ruler to add them to the selection

• paste • place Memory Location with text "--Final Edit--" just before

07:00 /1 • this type of label makes it clear to everyone who looks at the file

which is the original take and which is the edited version • this is good practice

[4] Radio Edit: this song is “too long for radio” at 6 minutes. Do the following edits to get the song down closer to 4 minutes.

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MUS 2014 - Introduction to Music Technology

a) Cut the band intro entirely. Start the track musically 8 bars into the Guitar Intro where the pedal steel begins. Place a memory location here titled “Intro” and use a very short fade (~30 milliseconds) to start the song. /3

• Tips: • zoom to marker ‘GUITAR INTRO’ • Count in 8 bars where the pedal steel starts. • Use multi-tool (SMART) or selector tool to highlight back from

this point to before the beginning of the track. • Shift-Click in the Memory Locations lane then delete everything

up to the new song start. • Add a short musical fade to the new start of the song (as

above). Note: this is not a ‘fade in’ happening over many bars just a short fade so that the first pick-up strum of the guitar sounds natural.

b) At the beginning of the outro, the 2 bar guitar figure repeats 4 times. Remove the 2nd and 3rd time it is played to create a 4bar guitar part before the band is in. /3 • Play the outro, rhythmically dropping markers at the beginning

of each phrase. • Select the phrases you wish to delete by Shift-Clicking between

the appropriate memory locations • Use shuffle mode [F1] • shift-click in markers ruler bar (so that markers move as well) • delete

• these 4 bars will disappear but there will be no break in the music (we're in shuffle mode)

• Listen to the unfaded version of your edit. How is the timing? If it sounds good create a short crossfade (use your judgement) to smooth the edit. If it doesn’t sound right then undo (Command Z), readjust your markers and try again!

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MUS 2014 - Introduction to Music Technology

c) Repeat the same procedure for the full band instrumental at the beginning of the outro. the full band portion should now be 4 bars long. /3

d) Once the female vocal double comes in towards the end of the outro, start a long gradual ‘fade out’ that is approximately 15 seconds long. /3 • Go to the marker entitled ‘VOCAL DBL IN’ and highlight past

the end of the track. • Use “Command F” to open the fade dialogue and pick an

appropriate fade • Trim the end of the fade back (using the trim tool) so that the

fade isn’t too long • You can find out the exact length of a fade by clicking in

the fade to highlight it (with the grabber tool) then referring to the “Length” parameter in the “Counters and Edit Selection Indicators Bar” (refer to the document 01a Pro Tools - Edit Window.pdf)

[5] Submit properly named Pro Tools folder containing the session file (.ptx), Audio Files Folder and other applicable files file to teacher's Dropbox

• The folder you submit should have at least these contents:

total /20�4