IAMGI

Music & Entertainment Services

Avid’s NEW Pro Tools Express Overview

March 21st, 2012

G.I.

As a lot of you already know, Avid released their new Pro Tools Express software. Lets first go over the primary specs:

Maximum 16 simultaneous Audio Tracks
16K of ADC (Auto Delay Compensation)
Elastic Audio
Max 8 Instruments
Max 16 Midi Tracks
Max 8 Aux Tracks
Max 16 Busses
Max Sample Rate 32bit 96khz (You still get 32bit floating point resolution!!)
Record up to 4 tracks at the same time
AAX, RTAS, & Audio Suite supported plugin formats
3 Virtual Instruments (Boom, Structure Free, Xpand) & 25+ Effects, Sound Processing, and Utility Plug-Ins
Session can be opened on any current version of Pro Tools

Pro Tools Express is FREE, but is currently only available bundled with Mbox 3 & MBox 3 Mini, but there is an upgrade available for $399 to cross grade to full Pro Tools 10.
Mbox 3 Mini w/ Pro Tools Express $299
Mbox 3 w/ Pro Tools Express $499

Now that you know the specs, lets discuss what its missing and the differences of Pro Tools Express vs Pro Tools 10 (Work arounds at bottom):

16 simultaneous Audio Track Count vs up to 256 w/ PT10
Pro Tools Express has 30+ Virtual Instruments & Plugins vs Pro Tools 10 has 75+ Virtual Instruments & Effects
No ASIO, Core Audio, and EUCON support (for third-party interface and control surface integration)
No AAF/OMF/MXF file interchange
No Clip Gain
No Beat Detective
No MP3 Option Included (May be able to get future add-on for this)
No Full Import Session Data
Will NOT work with any third party interfaces including M-Audio Interfaces (Only works with Mbox 3 & Mbox 3 Mini plugged in)

System Requirements for Pro Tools Express:

Avid-qualified Mac- or Windows-based computer (Check here)

Mac OS X 10.6.8, Mac OS X Lion (10.7), or Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate (32- or 64-bit)
2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended)
5 GB of free hard disk space for Pro Tools Express installation
USB port for iLok authorization (iLok 2 included)

For third-party audio software use:

Core Audio-, ASIO-, WDM-, MME-, or Multiclient-compatible software (—drivers included)

For Avid video software use:

Avid-qualified Mac- or Windows-based system running Media Composer 5.5, Symphony 6, or NewsCutter 9.5 or higher software
One available USB port for interface connection

Pro Tools Software Comparison Chart & full details:

Pro Tools Software Comparison Chart

Air Users Blog Video Review from Pro-tools-expert.com

We have anticipated possible gripes customers may have with Pro Tools Express, and have included solution/workarounds for each of them:

Only 16 Audio tracks - Feel like this isn’t enough? Imagine how people on analog 16ch boards feel. This is our response… learn how to bounce stems which you should be doing anyways. Free’s up processing, gives you more available tracks to use, and is an overall good habit to develop in order to be flexible on any system
No ASIO, Core Driver, or Third party interface support – This system isn’t made or targeted for that. It is meant as an easy all in one solution for a certain niche of customers to accomplish what they set out to accomplish without the need for additional software or hardware
No MP3 option – You can actually export your finished song or project directly to iTunes & simply use the “Convert to MP3″ option within iTunes
No Clip Gain – You can still effectively use Automation for the same purpose as you always have been able to in Pro Tools
No Eucon support for Avid Artist series controllers – Again, in our opinion, this feature is intended for a different target audience and product ie. PT10, but you can still use Hypercontrol on M-Audio Midi Controllers to control the program and plugins
-No Beat Detective – Beat Detective is a great way to quantitize audio, but you can do some of the same things with Elastic Audio and with more flexibility
No Full Import Session Data – This is another advanced feature of full blown Pro Tools, but you can simply save templates for say Songwriting, Producing, Recording, Mixing, etc with all your needed tracks, aux’s, plugins, etc
Doesnt ship with some of the free plugins from PT10 (Channel Strip, etc), but can be copied from another user’s Pro Tools 9 or 10 plugin folder and pasted in Pro Tools Express’s plugin folder for use (Pretty COOL!)

In conclusion, Avid discribes Pro Tools Express as being for “Aspiring music and audio pros on a limited budget who want the best sound quality possible and the essential features of Pro Tools”. Us here at IAMGI see it the same way, but more specifically being perfect for Songwriters, Artists/Bands recording their own demo tracks or albums, as well as aspiring beginner to intermediate Mixing Engineers, Producers, and people just wanting the functionality of Pro Tools 10. It is a great all in one solution that is able to be upgraded and grow as you grow with out the $699 software only price tag.

(Comment below for more info on Pro Tools Express or questions)

IAMGI's Jaycen Joshua Larrabee Studio Pro Tools 10 HD install

IAMGI Installs Pro Tools 10 HD for Jaycen Joshua at Larrabee Studios!

March 15th, 2012

G.I.

IAMGI does Pro Tools 10 HD installation for Grammy Award winning Mixer Jaycen Joshua (Beyonce, Usher, P. Diddy, Michael Jackson, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, etc) at the legendary Larrabee Sound Studio in North Hollywood California.

: Jaycen Joshua on his 80 channel SSL 9080 XL K-Series Console at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, CA.

“After setting up the new Pro Tools 10 HD at Dave Pensado’s studio, he requested that I contact Jaycen Joshua to set him up with Pro Tools 10 as well. I went out to Larrabee’s, installed Pro Tools 10, and had the best time. It was a blast!” -G.I. of IAMGI

IAMGI handles Studio & Software Installations for Studios of all sizes. For more info on all of our Pro Audio services including Studio Installations, be sure to visit our Services page. http://www.IAMGI.net/services

IAMGI Team Produces & Mixes GetRight’s latest track “Turnt Up” with Bay Style.

February 26th, 2012

G.I.

The IAMGI Team produces another BANGER featuring G.I., but this time with a little Bay style to it. G.I. & Fess of IAMGI both work GetRight’s new song, and its HOT…

“With ‘Turnt Up’, we just wanted to make something a little more Bay-ish; kind of reminiscent of The Team (Clyde Carson & Kaz Kyzah). We handn’t really heard that in a while, so we figured, why not?!” -G.I.

GetRight, ft G.I. – Turnt Up

Produced, Mixed, Co-Written, & Co-Performed by G.I. (In an amazing 2 days)
Mastered by Fess, Performed by GetRight

Download the entire Mixtape here for FREE!
GetRight “Mind of a Man” Mixtape

G.I. Produces & Mixes songs from GetRight "Mind of a Man" Mixtape.

IAMGI Crew Produces & Mixes Songs on GetRight’s latest “Mind of a Man” project!

February 24th, 2012

G.I.

After Hosting & DJing for GetRight‘s “GetRight or GetLeft” mixtape on Datpiff.com, G.I. & Fess of IAMGI.net Produced & Mixed songs on GetRight’s latest project; “Mind of a Man” mixtape.

Here’s what GetRight had to say about his new project in our EXCLUSIVE interview with him:

“The title “Mind Of A Man” describes exactly what I want the listeners to embrace while listening to my music. I want them to envisions themselves being let into the thoughts, the actions, & the motivations behind me, the Man. I have a couple of videos coming up to give the listeners a better visual experience of my music. Hopefully this will give people a chance to feel the music the same way I intended it to be felt. During this project I had the opportunity to work with GI & Fess of IAMGI Music & Entertainment Services and they both helped to bring different elements to my project that lead to the creation of 14 diverse songs. I’m fortunate enough to have met & had the experience to work with the IAMGI crew and specifically both of these talented & professional individuals. At this moment I am already working on my next project so make sure to keep up with GetRight music on facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/itsGetRightMusic. Also entertain yourself on the daily with posts from the blog at http://www.itsGetRight.com”

SONGS WORKED FROM IAMGI CREW:
Turnt Up – Executive Produced, Recorded, & Mixed by G.I.
Intro – Mixed by G.I.
Big Headed Alien – Mixed by G.I.
Mind Control – Produced & Mixed by Fess

Download the entire Mixtape for free here!
GetRight “Mind of A Man” Mixtape

(Like the work the IAMGI crew did on this song? Visit our Services page to hire us for your next project!)

G.I. Produces Julian Write – Mazel Tov

February 5th, 2012

G.I.

G.I. Produces Julian Write’s song from his Hearts of Gold EP, “Mazel Tov”. Check it out here!

Executive Produced, Recorded, Produced, & Mastered by G.I.

(Like the work the IAMGI crew did on this song? Visit our Services page to hire us for your next project!)

Don’t Download the New Mac Lion OSX 10.7.3 Before Reading This!

February 2nd, 2012

G.I.

As most know, Apple updated their Lion operating system yesterday by releasing OSX 10.7.3; only problem is that for A LOT of people, it’s causing more problems than fixing.

An alarming number if people have reported that after installing this update, all of their apps crash and give an odd error (see pic). If you havent updated yet, there is a simple fix which is installing the 10.7.3 COMBO UPDATE instead. (I 100% always recommend turning off Apple’s Software Update and installing updates ONLY from the Combo Updater. This is especially important if you use any professional audio or video editing/creation software as the Combo Update includes all necessary drivers for your programs and hardware to work correctly. As always, you should not update your Operating System on any computer until you are sure it works correctly with all your current programs and hardware.)

To install the Combo Update, visit Apple’s support page and type in “OSX 10.7.3 Combo Update”. Or you can download it from the following link http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1484 (This file will be larger than the files downloaded from Software Update since it includes ALL necessary drivers and such needed for your OS to run in the correct manner.)

Below is a link describing the OSX 10.7.3 crashes in more detail. Please spread the word so your friends don’t do what many unsuspecting Mac users did by installing this update too soon:

http://lifehacker.com/5881831/mac-os-x-bug-causing-all-apps-to-crash-in-107

*PRO TOOLS USERS, DO NOT INSTALL ANY APPLE OSX VERSION UNLESS AVID HAS SPECIFICALLY SAID IT IS COMPATIBLE.