Store tons of takes with Pro Tools playlists – Andre’s…

Hi guys it’s Andre.

It’s now my 26th week at the Benztown Studios.

Those of you who ever place recorded audio in many takes,  need playlists.
Playlists are a great way to store unlimited variations of the same raw audio file, without using tons of audio tracks.
When it comes to chosing the right VO take, IDs, FX, etc… playlists are perfect for this task. Just switch between the playlists without creating new tracks for all the takes.
When you’re loop recording in Pro Tools, just use the preference “Automatically create new playlists when loop recording.” found under the Operations tab of Setup > Preferences. When this option is checked, Pro Tools automatically appends each new pass in loop record to a new playlist.

Here’s an example for using playlists for loop recording:

1. Create a new track for your Loop you want to record and toggle on the option “Automatically create new playlists when loop recording.”
2. Record a few takes. Every take will be saved as a new playlist.
3. Switch the view from waveform to playlists. You can see your active or main playlist and the other takes. to hear the other takes, just toggle on Solo next to the playlist and just hit play.

4. If one of the other takes sounds better, just copy the take to the main playlist by right-click and choose “copy to main playlist,”

5. If you’re recording in grid, you can chose single sections from all alternate playlists, copy them to main playlist and create the best possible take.
6. After editing, just switch to waveform. All your alternate playlists keep saved.

A little tip: If you’re working with a lot of takes and playlists, consider rating them to chose the best later. Simply right-click on any region in the edit window and choose Rating > 1-5. After rating you can filter lanes. To filter the playlist lanes: In playlists view, right click on any playlists name and choose “Filter Lanes.”