Nudging Notes
Sometimes you’ll record a great take but one or two notes are just a bit out of time. A good example of this is when a bass player hits a downbeat slightly ahead of when the drummer hits the kick drum. (I’m not implying that bass players tend to rush, they just get overly excited sometimes.) To fix the syncopation, you can nudge the bass note slightly later in time to match the kick downbeat.

To nudge a note or several notes, first find the note(s) in the waveform in the Edit window. Zoom in close enough so you can see where the note begins and ends. Select the note(s) and create a new region by choosing Separate Region from the Edit menu.

Fig. 4.14. Use the Nudge dropdown menu to easily move selected regions without having to mess with ultra-accurate mousing.

Now select the nudge value from the Nudge dropdown menu in the upper-right corner of the Edit window. You can choose from Bars:Beats, Min:Secs, or Samples. Pro Tools offers a list of values for each of these, but you can type in your own if you want. I recommend trying 10ms as a starting point and adjusting from there. Press the plus key (+) on the numeric keypad to move your selection forward by the nudge value or the minus key (–) to move the selection back. You may have to press either key several times to align the bass note with the kick drum.

And if you want to get really fancy. . . . If you nudge while pressing Control (Mac) or the Start key (Win), you can actually nudge the contents of a region without changing the region’s start and end point. This only works if there’s audio or MIDI material outside the region’s start and end points. (It would work in our bass/kick drum example and could possibly yield slightly better results.) You should also note that the Nudge command works the same regardless of the Edit mode you’re using at the time.

Be careful using the nudge editing technique though. You can go crazy trying to align every note, killing way too much time and taking away from the real performance — the “vibe” — of the part. If the part needs that much fixing, re-record it!

Repairing Waveforms With the Pencil Tool
The Pencil tool allows you to redraw waveforms and make precise edits. This is particularly useful for repairing vocal plosives and pops or clicks that might randomly occur. Be careful when using this tool though; redrawing a waveform with the Pencil permanently alters the audio file on your hard drive once it’s saved (i.e., it is destructive editing), so it’s a good idea to make a backup of the original file before editing. Still, you can undo pencil edits.

To repair a waveform by redrawing it you must view the waveform at the sample level. Zoom in all the way so the waveform appears as a continuous thin line. With the Free Hand Pencil tool, redraw the waveform by dragging the pencil over it. Try to keep the same basic form of the sound wave when redrawing or you might create an even nastier sound than the pop or click you were trying to fix. At the same time, you can create some wacky effects with pencil edits. Experiment with your waveform drawing technique . . . remember, you can always undo your edits. (In this case, just make sure you’re very happy or have a backup before you save.)

Editing Automation Data With the Pencil Tool
I use the Pencil tool most to edit automation data — it’s so easy to draw fades and panning moves. I’ve found it very beneficial to create automation data first using the Mix window faders in Auto Write and Auto Touch modes, then fine tuning with the Pencil tool. (Automation is covered in chapter 12.)

This is particularly helpful when riding vocal levels.

Fig. 4.15. Volume automation data can be adjusted in fine increments using the Pencil tool.

After you’ve recorded a good automation pass using the mouse or MIDI controller on a fader, go to the Edit window and select Volume from the Track View menu (as seen in figure 4.15). Use the Pencil tool to redraw any volume levels to make the track sound its best.

SEVERAL USEFUL KEY COMMANDS FOR EDITING
Key commands make your life a lot easier when using Pro Tools. Learn as many as you can and use them to improve your efficiency. More editing techniques and commands I find useful are described in chapters 9, 11, and 12, but here are a few I use often:
• You can slide a copy of a region to another location or track by pressing Option (Mac) or Alt (Win) while dragging.
• To retain a region’s horizontal location when dragging to another track, press Control (Mac) or right-click (Win) while dragging.
• To zoom in/out horizontally, press . + ] or [ (Mac) or Control + ] or [ (Win).
• To zoom in/out vertically, press . + Option + ] or [ (Mac), Control + Alt + ] or [ (Win audio), or Control + Shift + ] or [ (Win MIDI).