Optimize Pro Tools: Custom Plugin Presets

Sometimes when working on an album or series of songs you tend to mix with some similar plugin settings. For instance, your kick drum may have been recorded the exact same for each song. Therefore any tweaks you needed to do on it for one song may very well be needed for all the songs. Instead of having to remember what EQ curve you tweaked for the kick in one session wouldn’t it be nice if you had saved a custom preset in your EQ plugin that you could recall in a separate session? Heck yes it would! And you can. Here’s how:

Save Your Current Setting

What ever settings you have your plugin set to, this is what you are going to capture as a preset. Click on the drop down menu in the Presets section of the plugin window and choose Save Setting.

Give your “new setting” a name. Try to name it something practical that you’ll recognize when you see it later. Try to be as specific as you can also. Click Save and you’re done. Pro Tools has automatically placed your new setting in the correct folder for that plugin.

Recall Your New Custom Preset

Now when you want to apply that custom preset to a new track (even in a new session) you can simply open the plugin, click on the factory default button, and BOOM! there’s your brand spankin’ new preset ready and waiting for you to open it up. Select it and watch your plugin settings change to your custom preset.

Imagine The Possibilities

With custom plugin presets in Pro Tools, your possibilities are limitless. You can save custom delay settings for vocals, EQ effects for guitars, even mix bus compressor settings ready to be recalled at a moments notice. Remember, the more time you save in Pro Tools mumbo jumbo, the more time you get for making music. And isn’t that what this is all about anyways?