All DAWS need to be cleaned out once in a while. Luckily, there's an easy way to fix most cryptic error messages that may arise in Pro Tools, including Pro Tools Express Akai Professional/M-Audio Edition. This guide will walk you through deleting your Pro Tools preferences on both PC and Mac.
This guide will cover basic troubleshooting steps to determine whether your USB MIDI device is recognized, and working properly on a Mac computer.
Most USB audio and MIDI computer peripherals are Class Compliant USB devices. This means that to communicate with the computer, they use drivers that are built right into the host computer’s operating system. These drivers are written by Microsoft (or Apple for Macintoshes), and come pre-installed on all computers.
The advantage of Class Compliant USB devices is that they work on all modern computers, and all modern operating systems, and will work with the next generation of Microsoft or Apple operating systems the very same day they are released. There are no special drivers to install, update, or configure.
With these products, we commonly receive inquiries with the following symptoms reported:
Based on our experience, 95% of similar inquiries can be quickly resolved and the user gotten up and running. For the most part, similar symptom descriptions indicate incomplete software setup, rather than a true malfunction or defect.
This means that in the vast majority of cases, a preference, setting, or option in the host software (i.e. Ableton, Cubase, GarageBand, Pro Tools) is misconfigured. These software programs don't configure themselves, and the user will not get any audible or visual response from the computer or peripheral until the software is properly configured.
This guide will help determine whether difficullty is due to software settings, a hardware defect, or other factors that can cause similar symptoms.
Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion only allows apps that are downloaded directly from the Apple app store to launch. Apple calls this new security feature Gatekeeper. In this article we'll provide an overview of Gatekeeper, including a walkthrough on how to bypass it to install software or drivers you've downloaded outside the Apple App Store.
I use a Mac, and after installing an OS update, one or more of my MIDI devices aren't communicating with the computer or are acting strangely. What should I do?
When installing a major Mac OS update over an existing one (not using a clean install), or when using Apple's Migration Assistant to transfer files and preferences from one Mac to another, you will often run into trouble with drivers not working properly, authorizations being lost or corrupted etc. When files are mixed between systems, or are transferred to a system they weren't specifically intended or created for, difficulty is always a possibility.
The suggesions below may help resolve these symptoms.
So you bought an audio recording interface, followed all the instructions, and set everything up. Now what?
A typical PC or Mac recording setup may contain software and hardware products from a dozen or more companies. i.e. Dell, Microsoft, Belkin, Steinberg, Syncrosoft, Waves, Universal Audio, Arturia, FXpansion, Native Instruments, Akai Pro, Alesis.
Even with a minimalist setup, getting all the separate hardware and software components to work together smoothly can be tricky. One component’s manual might not pick up exactly where the other one left off, and there are very few manuals which will discuss how to optimize your system over-all for the best performance.
In this article, will cover some measures you can take to optimize your system for maximum recording performance, prevent audio-dropouts and manage latency.
This tutorial walks through how to map a MIDI controller in Serato DJ. This guide teaches how to map personal preferences, save them, and then load the saved settings into the Serato DJ software.
The various Serato DJ software programs offer a variety of features to help enhance your DJ performance. One feature offered is the ability to analyze audio files prior to using them. Analyzing an audio file prepares the waveform overviews, detects file corruption, calculates BPM values and creates Beatgrids. This articles walks through why and how to analyze audio files in Serato.
With so much music available to us DJ's, organizing our collections can be quite a headache. One of the most popular programs for this purpose is Apple's iTunes. iTunes works both on Mac & PC platforms and provides us with a number of ways to save and organize our music. In this guide, we will cover some of the most common settings most of us DJ's find useful.
All DJs know how important it is to keep their music libraries organized. Serato makes it easy by including a feature called Crates. Many Numark controllers such as the NS7, NS6, Mixtrack Pro I and II and the Mixdeck series, work with the Serato. This guide walks through how to build crates and orgnize your music in the various Serato programs.
When it comes to computer based recording Pro Tools has been the industry standard for many years. Up until recently Pro Tools has been a tool used mainly by professional trained recording engineers. Today we have multiple versions of this software with different features geared toward users with different skill sets. Pro Tools Express was introduced a couple years ago, and is a lighter version for the novice user looking to record at home. In this article we will cover the basic steps to setup your MIDI keyboard controller and, begin recording.
Hot Cues are important for nearly every style of DJ. This guide walks through the basics how to utilize the Hot Cues, why they are important, and how they will benefit you.
Are you trying to record multiple instruments simultaneously but do not have enough inputs on your audio interface? Well, if you or a friend has a second audio interface laying around you can combine the interfaces and double the amount of inputs and outputs. The instructions below will show you how to achieve this in Ableton on a Windows and Mac.
In this Tip's N Tricks article, I want to point out a very important tip for getting around one of Apple's more peculiar security precautions in Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion. By default, the User Library folder is hidden in Mac OS 10.7 and above. We'll cover a few different methods to easily access this hidden folder.
This article covers some useful tricks in the Mac OS X terminal. Search for hidden files, Switch between the 32 bit and 64 bit kernel, fixing kernel extensions, enabling NTFS support and more.
In the world of computing, the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit anything can be quite confusing. The following article helps to clarify the differences between 32 and 64-bit operating systems as well as between 32 and 64-bit programs. It also explains the reasons for choosing one way or the other and walks through the steps to determine if your current operating system and/or DAW is 32-bit or 64-bit.
Some readers have asked what kind of stabilization system I use when recording video. I often use the Glidecam 2000 Pro.
The Glidecam 2000 Pro is a less expensive alternative to a Steady Cam for those floating-type shots.
There are many types of video stabilization devices availalble, each with its own set of benefits and applications. You'll want to think carefully about what types of shooting you'll be doing.
If you are considering a Glidecam 2000 Pro, it is likely that you were inspired by a certain type of shot that you'd like to be able to achieve.
I'll cover the applicaitons and benefits of this product, as well as some alternative stabilization methods you ma want to consider if this will be your first purchase of a video stabilization device.
Hopefully this discussion will get you thinking about some specific goals you have for your video shooting, and how a stabilizer can help you achieve them.
A new version Pro Tools Express will be included in select Akai Professional and M-Audio products in the future. To help you get up to speed with all the details, we've put together answers to your most common questions.