Sound Design

One of the ways I do sound design on Pro Tools is to staggered the tracks.

Usually I will create 5 tracks. Typically the last track will be for the soundtrack.

For example if the scene is a guy walking in the rain with cars in the background.

Track one will contain the footsteps

Track two will have car sounds

Track three will have the rain

Track four could be various ambiance noise.

I will also lock the tracks so I dun accidentally move them. ctrl + L for PC and cmd + L for Mac

Using Distortion

One of the ways I use a distortion in Pro Tools is to spice the snare up. Sometimes the snare feels like it lacks that extra kick or that in face feel, I will add some distortion to the snare track. Using distortion on the snare will also bring out some of the highs as well.

Using Reverb to Create Space

One of the very cool things I like to do with a reverb is to make it feel like you're in a very big room.

For example in a song with a lead vocal and some backing vocals.I will have the lead vocal upfront in the mix. I will have the backing vocals softer and also adding some reverb to it. Usually I will use more reverb for the backing vocals, like maybe 15% or even more.

With more reverb added to the backing vocals, it gives the backing vocals some distance and feels like you are in a big room.