User`s guide

Pro Tools Reference Guide224
For instance, suppose a MIDI track lasting
32 measures starts out with a volume of
127 and in the last bar fades the volume
down to 0. If after playing the track in its
entirety you attempt to play from bar 8, the
initial volume of 127 is chased and sent to
the track’s assigned device—otherwise the
track would not be heard since the most re-
cent volume event sent would have been 0.
Chasing also occurs for a MIDI track’s de-
fault program changes, along with any pro-
gram change events residing within the
track. Therefore, if you have chosen a de-
fault program change for a track, when
playing from any point within the track,
the program change event is sent to the
track’s assigned device.
Default Controller Values and Chasing
Though new MIDI tracks appear to have
default values for continuous controller
playlists, this is actually not the case. For
instance, when viewing a MIDI track’s Mod
Wheel playlist, you’ll see that the break-
point line is set to a default of zero. How-
ever, since the modulation wheel on your
synth may purposely be set to a different
value, the default value in the track is not
transmitted when playing.
This can cause some confusion, however, if
you insert a fade (for instance, from 0–90)
in the Mod Wheel playlist towards the end
of the track. If you then play from the be-
ginning of the track, or from anywhere be-
fore the fade, the Mod Wheel value on your
synth will be at 90 until the beginning of
the fade data is reached—which is likely
not what you want.
To ensure that the default controller value
for a playlist is sent (and chased), click on
the initial breakpoint at the beginning of
the track, move it slightly, and set it back to
the default value.
MIDI Offset
Pro Tools offers a MIDI offset preference
that allows MIDI tracks to play back earlier
(than audio tracks) by a specified number
of samples. The offset affects playback only
and does not alter in any way how MIDI
data is displayed in the Edit window.
This capability is provided in large part to
compensate for the audio monitoring la-
tency in Pro Tools LE. If you are monitor-
ing the output of your MIDI devices with
an external mixer or sound system (or
headphones), there is no latency. If, how-
ever, you are monitoring the output of
your MIDI devices through a Digi 001 (or
Audiomedia III), your MIDI tracks will ap-
pear to play slightly later than your audio
tracks. The larger the setting for the Hard-
ware Buffer Size (128, 256, 512, or 1024
samples), the larger the latency.
By configuring a MIDI offset, you can get
your MIDI tracks to play back slightly ear-
lier (by a specified number of samples),
thereby compensating for the latency in
monitoring audio within Pro Tools LE.