Fixing 'the oldest clocking mistake in the book' for Pro Tools users

tricyclesound — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:49:35 -0700

Reposting this important trick for Pro Tools users because it's a really good one. I recently experienced a case of mismatched session sample rate and external clock rate myself. My issue arose when I was tracking drums on a 48khz rate session using an external clock. I used the external clock for tracking the remaining instruments at the same rate. However, when bouncing a rough mix and converting to a 44khz stereo mix, playback was fast regardless of playback device. Why? Apparently because the headers embedded into the individual tracks were still 48khz. Joel Hamilton posted this great tip on the Tape Op message boards:

I FINALLY figured out how to deal with this:

Simple and effective, and fast as well....

Simply make a new session (at 44.1) with the name of the song, and 44-1 in the title (so you dont get confused AGAIN). Go to "import tracks" under the file menu.
Choose all the tracks in the 48k session. MAKE SURE YOU UNCHECK THE "apply SRC" function. make sure you choose "link to source media" as well (NOT copy from source media).

Once all the tracks are in the new session, simply highlight ALL of them. Every single audio file in the edit window, and (option>shift>3) consolidate.

This will write new files with the 44.1 header that play back at the correct speed in a 44.1 session. Everything "acts normal" at this point. Bounce away!

Obviously,The same thing can be done for sessions at 44.1 with the clock set to 48k.

I tried this on my session, and it worked wonderfully. I didn't even realize that the Consolidate command rewrote the header information, but it does, and encodes the sample rate of the active session. This can be very useful, especially if you're working with tracks recorded on other systems.

Two Stage Compression

DJ — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:40:05 -0700

This month's issue of Tape Op features an article by Mike Caffrey of Monster Island Studio on Two Stage, or 'Parallel' Compression. A nice technique for a quiet verse, loud chorus type of song, since this kind of compression will bring levels of selected instruments up during verses, yet retain a dynamic lift when the chorus kicks in.

Mike Caffrey explains the concept:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Tricycle Sound Recording Studio and Community - Chicago - recording_tips

Fixing 'the oldest clocking mistake in the book' for Pro Tools users

Two Stage Compression