User Manual

Pro Tools Reference Guide18
Each audio, Auxiliary Input, Instrument, Master
Fader, and VCA track also has a single set of au-
tomation playlists. Automation playlists can in-
clude volume, pan, mute, and each automation-
enabled control for the insert and send assign-
ments on that track.
MIDI controller data on Instrument and MIDI
tracks is always included as part of the track
playlist.
Channel
The term channel is used to describe several re-
lated components of a Pro Tools system. The
first example of channel refers to a physical in-
put or output of your Pro Tools system. For ex-
ample, HD I/O provides up to 16 channels of au-
dio input and output to a Pro Tools|HD or
Pro Tools|HD Native system, while an Mbox au-
dio interface provides up to four inputs and two
outputs.
The second use of the term channel refers to a
channel strip in the Pro Tools Mix window.
Each track in a Pro Tools session has a corre-
sponding channel strip in the Mix window.
Audio and MIDI channel strips have similar
controls, but those controls have slightly differ-
ent effects. For example, audio, Auxiliary Input,
and Instrument track channel strip faders con-
trol the output gain to the mix bus for that
channel, while MIDI channel strip faders send
MIDI volume data (MIDI controller 7) to the se-
lected MIDI instrument.
The term ‘MIDI channel’ also describes a
separate aspect of MIDI operation. See
“MIDI” on page 11.
Channel strip in the Mix window (audio track)