CTC Knowledge Base

It's that dreaded, exciting time - time for you to submit your Pro Tools session to the Screen Scoring Department so that you can conduct your scoring session! It's a daunting endeavor, getting that session ready to submit. There's so much that can go wrong when you have to get all your files from Cubase (or whichever DAW you use) into the Pro Tools session…

Introduction! The Inspector is one of the most important sections of Logic Pro's user interface. From helping out with quick tasks like transposing an audio region to helping avoid the scatteredness of the mixer, the inspector packs loads of utility into one small strip of screen space.  The Inspector can definitely be quite counterintuitive for new…

The Beat-Making Station is an interactive system of three drum machines, one monophonic bass-oriented synthesizer, and one granular effects processing unit. All devices in the system are tempo-synced through the implementation of MIDI clock and have MIDI and audio running into an interface, making the system easily integrate with any DAW. CLICK HERE TO…

Distinctively, audio is defaulted to an elastic state in Ableton Live.  Logic calls it Flex Time ProTools calls it Elastic Audio  Ableton calls it Warping In basic terms, all of these functions do the same thing. They allow users to automatically or manually adjust the timing of audio without affecting its pitch. Ableton’s…

Working with music for picture can often be a difficult feat. In my opinion, Logic makes it pretty straightforward. The video accompanying this post walks through the basics of importing movies into Logic and the basic project settings and formatting to watch out for!   Here's a quick "Logic Video" checklist you can keep handy to keep everything in…

by Matt Ho A few ways to organise your sessions to keep your projects neat We’ve all been there. Creating and creating at the spur of the moment, and not naming tracks until somebody asks - what are these tracks? And then you realised - you only know that they sound good together, and not what each one of them are individually? Well, this is where good…

What are all these tools and what are they for? I find that a lot of new (and even experienced) Logic users don’t even realize that there is an array of tools that transform your cursor into something new and useful! The “toolbox” in Logic might seem self-explanatory to some, but there are a lot of tools that not only improve workflow but enhance…

Strip Silencing in Pro Tool A guide by Kari Estes Want to get rid of drum bleed in your snare track? Cut out that pesky room noise in your vocal tracks? Strip Silencing will save your life! For this tutorial, I am using a snare track as an example. When I recorded this, the cymbals bled into the mic a fair amount. Removing this bleed will not only make…

By Tristan Klopp Finale's Smart Shape Tool - What Is It? Need to add some instructions for your performer in your score? You can find lots of good stuff in the expression tool (tempo marks, expressive texts, and more), but there are a few crucial musical notations that can only be found in Finale's smart shape tool. This includes slurs, crescendos,…

  Ableton Live’s Simpler: The Basics by Maya Wagner Ableton Live can do a lot. However, its most reputable aspect may very well be its sampling abilities. Whether you have Live Lite, Standard, or Suite, learning how to use Simpler is something well worth your time.    So, what is Simpler? Simpler gets its name from its comparison to…

Tutorial Created by Althea Steynberg, Edited by Michael J. MacDonald  Step 1 To start, add an instrument track and load an instrument. If not already, connect your MIDI keyboard to your computer.  On your Instrument track that you just added, set the track time base to Linear, indicated by the Clock icon on your track.  Step 2 On…

SCROLL DOWN FOR A VIDEO VERSION OF THIS POST!!!! The concept of sends and busses, in general, is one that beginner DAW users often struggle to understand. It took me quite a while to feel confident enough in my understanding of the concept to adopt it, but after I started, I never looked back! Sends provide a powerful way to manage effects, save CPU, and…