{"id":1770349,"date":"2021-08-19T16:48:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T16:48:32","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-12-15T20:32:23","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T20:32:23","slug":"setting-up-external-instruments-in-pro-tools","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/setting-up-external-instruments-in-pro-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting Up External Instruments in Pro Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In this guide, we will show you how to set up and configure external instruments in Pro Tools. Follow the instructions below to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"#Configure-Pro-Tools-MIDI-settings\"><strong>Configure Pro Tools MIDI settings<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"#Setting-up-the-tracks\">Setting up the tracks<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"Configure-Pro-Tools-MIDI-settings\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader blackHeader alignLeft noUnderline customh2 swheader\">Configure Pro Tools MIDI settings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For the most part, Pro Tools should automatically work with your connected MIDI devices without needing to configure anything. If you do not see your MIDI device in the lists mentioned below, close Pro Tools, ensure your MIDI devices are connected following the <strong>Basic Connections <\/strong>section in our <strong>setup guide<\/strong>, then reopen Pro Tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/how-to-set-up-external-instruments-in-your-daw\/\" class=\"relatedcontent_link\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-related-content\"><div class=\"relatedcontent_block\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/External-instruments-DAW-featured-image.png);background-size:cover;background-position:center\"><div class=\"relatedcontent_overlay_content\"><\/div><div class=\"relatedcontent-text relatedcontent_content\"><p class=\"relatedcontent_title\" style=\"color:#fff\">How to Set Up External Instruments in Your DAW<\/p><p class=\"relatedcontent_subhead\" style=\"color:#fff;border:none\">Learn more about how to set up external instruments in your DAW.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"Setting-up-the-tracks\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader blackHeader alignLeft noUnderline customh2 swheader\">Setting up the tracks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Create an\u00a0<strong>instrument\u00a0<\/strong>track.<\/li><li>Set the instrument track&#8217;s audio input to your instrument&#8217;s input connected to your audio interface.<\/li><li>Set the instrument track&#8217;s audio output to the outputs you are using on your audio interface.<\/li><li>Open the\u00a0<strong>Mixer\u00a0<\/strong>window if it is not already open.<\/li><li>Click on the\u00a0<strong>Mix View Windows Selector<\/strong>\u00a0on the bottom left of the\u00a0<em>Mix\u00a0<\/em>window.<\/li><li>Check off\u00a0<strong>Instrument\u00a0<\/strong>in the menu that pops up.<\/li><li>Set the instrument track&#8217;s MIDI input to the controller you are using. This could be a keyboard or pad MIDI controller.<ul><li>Ensure that the instrument tracks receive MIDI channel matches the MIDI channel on your MIDI controller.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Set the Instrument track&#8217;s MIDI output to your instrument.<ul><li>Ensure that the instrument tracks send MIDI channel matches the MIDI channel on your instrument.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Once this is done, record arm your\u00a0<strong>instrument\u00a0<\/strong>track. You should now be able to play the instrument with your controller and will be ready to record.<\/li><li>After you record your MIDI notes, make the changes you&#8217;d like, if any. Once you are ready to commit, you can create an audio track and set the instrument track audio output to a bus.<\/li><li>Next, set the audio tracks audio input to the same bus, then record arm just the audio track and start recording right before the MIDI notes to record the audio from the instrument onto the audio track.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"199\" height=\"646\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/Pro-Tools-Instrument-Track-settngs.png\" alt=\"Pro Tools Instrument Track settngs\" class=\"wp-image-1770350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/Pro-Tools-Instrument-Track-settngs.png 199w, https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/Pro-Tools-Instrument-Track-settngs-92x300.png 92w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Pro Tools Instrument Track settings<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"411\" height=\"987\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/Pro-Tools-Bus-Settings.png\" alt=\"Pro Tools Bus Settings\" class=\"wp-image-1770351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/Pro-Tools-Bus-Settings.png 411w, https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/08\/Pro-Tools-Bus-Settings-125x300.png 125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Pro Tools bus settings<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1770430,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[42006,341603,34739,33883],"storecat":[],"itemids":[107961,116948,82496,96535,107962,96538,318364,107965,96483,96484,89687,111929,96533,111928,82050,81240,82498,82049,96536,82497,81867,90217,81239,81928,244050],"manufacturers":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out the Setting Up External Instruments in Pro Tools page at Sweetwater \u2014 the world&#039;s leading music technology and instrument retailer!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/setting-up-external-instruments-in-pro-tools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Setting Up External Instruments in Pro Tools - SweetCare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this guide, we will show you how to set up and configure external instruments in Pro Tools. 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