DigiDesign Digidesign Pro Tools 8.0, Reference Manual

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Pro Tools Reference Guide 832
Common Uses for Instrument Tracks
By playing back MIDI from or through an In-
strument track you can control and monitor the
audio from:
• Instrument plug-ins, such as software syn-
thesizers or samplers.
• External MIDI instruments, such as synthe-
sizers and samplers
To route audio from an external MIDI instrument to
an Instrument track:
1
Click the Input Path selector of the Instru-
ment track and choose the corresponding hard-
ware input for your external MIDI instrument.
2
Click the Output Path selector of the Instru-
ment track and choose an output or bus path.
3
In Instruments view, click the MIDI Input se-
lector, and assign a device and channel from the
pop-up menu to record and control the external
MIDI instrument.
4
In Instruments view, click the MIDI Output se-
lector, and assign the port and channel for the
external MIDI instrument from the pop-up
menu.
5
Adjust the Instrument fader to set the volume.
VCA Master Tracks
(Pro Tools HD Only)
VCA Master tracks emulate the operation of
voltage-controlled amplifier channels on analog
consoles, where a VCA channel fader would be
used to control, group, or offset the signal levels
of other channels on the console.
VCA Master tracks do not pass audio, so they do
not have inputs, outputs, inserts or sends. A Mix
group is assigned to a VCA Master track, which
appears in the VCA track’s Group Assignment
selector. The controls of the tracks in that Mix
group, called the
slave tracks, are modified by
the controls on the VCA Master.
For information on assigning MIDI input
and output for Instrument tracks, see “As-
signing MIDI Input and Output for Instru-
ment Tracks” on page 188.
For information inserting plug-ins on
tracks, see “Inserting Plug-ins on Tracks”
on page 876.
VCA Master track
Group Assignment
selector
VCA Track Type indicator
TrackInput
Mute
Volume
Solo
Record
Level meter