A Dear John Letter to Pro Tools

Dear Pro Tools,

    Well, I wish I could say it's been fun, but honestly, you've been a thorn in my side since we started this cantankerous romance.

    The money I've spent on plugins and upgrades - Thousands of $$$$. The headaches I've had with losing the use of plugins due to switches in file format (vst to aax, etc...), or frustration from just not knowing how to deal with things like compression, dynamics - And YOU were no help! The confusion, the days lost, the ups, the downs. It was a love affair gone wrong! 

So, goodbye Pro Tools! I'm breaking up with you! 

   You see, I've met someone else. 

Yes, you may say that they're not as great as you. You may say that they only work on one operating system, and that's ok, because it just happens to be the one I use. 

And you may say, that they can't fulfill my needs with score writing and composition. Yes, there may be a learning curve and I may just keep your brother, Sibelius, for he has always been a more intuitive, gentler friend. However, I'm confident that eventually, that too will not be a mystery and that together this new program and I will be happy.

 Who is it? Who has stolen me from you? Well, it just happens to be Apple's own Logic Pro X. 

At a fraction of the cost of you, Pro Tools, I get:

• Mixing Plugins
• Realistic Midi instruments (including excellent drum sets - no need for EZ Drummer or other 3rd party costly plugins)
• Free updates
• User friendly interface

We fell madly in love while I watched composers using it to create beautiful scores for film about 3 years ago. Then, my brother bought me the lighter version last year (many thanks big bro!). 

Now, I had set myself into a quiet complacency with you after figuring out all your traps and nuances. Your hidden features and confusing guides. But, after I found out that you would be charging me $300 to upgrade you yet again! I put my foot down! How DARE you! You POMPOUS, OVERINFLATED, PRIG!!

And so, let us let bygones be bygones. Let us not look back with anger and discontented ruminations, but remember the good times (of which there were very few) and consider what we have learned from each other. 

So get lost Pro Tools!!!... I have found a new love.

With Regrets, 

(for having wasted so much of my life on you)

Amy

PS - I've already written a song in Logic Pro X and it sounds so goooood!

Midi Instrumentation - As Real As It Gets

I tend to struggle with midi instruments vs. live. The pros and cons of both tend to make the situation somewhat frustrating.

Live Instruments:

• While you can easily have the sound you want with a live instrument, you can't control how the instrumentalist will interpret your work, even if you do spell everything out for them prior to the recording session. 
• There's payment involved with live musicians... But don't get me wrong, I'm all for supporting my fellow musicians, I just have spent a lot on these midi patches and would like them to be what they promise.

Midi Instruments:

• Complete control, but they don't always sound real - Even with the best midi patches. 
• Expensive for good ones.
• Can be difficult to control.

So, where does that leave us? 

While we could just live with the presets of the midi controls and not worry about the best sounds for our midi devices, if we want the best sounds they can produce, we'll need to read the instructions and play with it.

Like getting directions from a Albanian cabbie, 

this is can be confusing depending on the company you get your patches from.

Now, I'm not an expert yet, but I do want to show you what I've learned and hopefully help you to gain some perspective on your midi instruments.

I'm going to attempt to explain the UVI Instruments to you and how to use them. If you have the UVI suite, download this image, it will help you make sense of it.

Take special note of #9. They don't tell you this, but this area controls much of the other areas on the same board. For example, "Pitch" controls how much of #8 gets thrown into your mix. "Filter" takes care of #6 LFO and the 4 different filters that can be assigned. 

Currently, I'm working on a Alto Sax part that is kinda kicking my butt. I need it to sound as authentic as possible. Here's a recording of an alto sax to use as a reference. 

Amazing Sax Solo

It also has some slides, but I'm having a hard time making it sound real. Getting closer all the time though. 

To help navigate the UVI suite, here's a video I made to help you make sense of the interface.

Midi Instruments Episode 1 - UVI Suite 

As you can see, it's not as cut and dry as the handout they give you in the guide.

In the next episode:
"How to Tweak Midi Instruments"

Looking at the individual parts -> working with volume, velocity, breath control, etc...

STAY TUNED!!!

Anyway, here's a cut of the song that I recorded. Love to hear your feedback! Is it catchy? Do you love it? Why? Dislike it? Why? Let me know! 

"Hot Fish" - Amy Kurylo

As always, I hope you're creating, making, be amazing in your own way! Be inspired! Be creative! 

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!

TTFN,

Amy