Q: I’m enjoying using Avid’s Boom drum machine virtual instrument plug-in in Pro Tools, but I can’t get it to lock up to the Pro Tools transport — when I hit play in PT I want Boom to start playing in sync. What am I missing here?
A: Boom doesn’t sync up to the Pro Tools transport directly. In order to give you access to any of the 16 patterns as well as the ability to do fills, etc., Boom is triggered using MIDI notes. Simply write the MIDI note that corresponds to the pattern you want into the track, and extend the note for the duration that you want the pattern to play back for. Now when you start Pro Tools, the note will be triggered.
Beyond triggering the pattern, there are three ways that Boom locks or syncs to Pro Tools, which are set using the Sync Mode.
- Beat — Boom starts playing the selected pattern from the step that corresponds to where the incoming MIDI note is placed in the bar.
- 1/16 — Boom starts playing the selected pattern from one of the first five steps in the pattern, depending on the incoming note’s place in the current quarter note.
- Off — Boom doesn’t sync to Pro Tools. It starts playing the pattern whenever triggered by the incoming MIDI note
You can also start Boom playing, then, when you start the Pro Tools transport playing, Boom will lock to it and play back in sync.
