Finishing Off a Session

This guide will explain how to safely reset the SSL XL desk, reset the patch bay with­out dam­ag­ing any cables and how to save, close and back up a Pro Tools ses­sion at the end of a pro­duc­tion ses­sion. This is an impor­tant step because the stu­dios need to be ready to use in a default con­fig­u­ra­tion for the next group/user.

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Resetting the Monitor Section:

1. In the Monitor Section located on the lower right side of the XL desk, turn down all knobs to their minimum setting (fully anti-clockwise) including the MONITOR LEVEL knob. This will ensure no loud pops or sounds will be heard from the Gen­elec 8040As when reset­ting the desk.

2. Again in the Mon­i­tor Sec­tion, ensure that only the MIX A but­ton has it’s LED set to on. This pre­vents any pops or sounds from enter­ing other mon­i­tor sources such as head­phones used in a record­ing session.

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Resetting Channel Strips:

1. For all chan­nel strips on the XL desk includ­ing MIX A, pull down the faders to the Infin­ity (∞) value marking.

This will pre­vent any pops or sounds out­putting from the desk’s main outputs.

2. In the MIC PRE sec­tion on chan­nel strips 1-8 located on the upper left side of the XL desk, turn down the red gain knob labelled dB to the +20 value mark­ing (fully anti-​clockwise).

This will pre­vent any loud pops or dis­tor­tion when micro­phones are con­nected in future ses­sions. Fail­ing to do this could also result in dam­ag­ing the mic pre-​amps or speaker cones.

3. Again in the MIC PRE sec­tion on chan­nel strips 1-8, ensure all +48V switches are not pressed in as this could dam­age micro­phones con­nected to the desk in future ses­sions, espe­cially rib­bon microphones.

4. In the MIC PRE sec­tion on chan­nel strips 1-8 and TRIM sec­tion on chan­nel strips 1-24, ensure all switches are not pressed in to reset the desk to the default con­fig­u­ra­tion for the next group.

5. If the 500 Series EQ has been used ensure all switches are not pressed in, the trim knobs labelled dB are set to the cen­tre posi­tion and the fre­quency knobs labelled kHz and Q knobs are turned fully anti-​clockwise.

6. In the Stereo Cue and Mono Auxes sec­tion on chan­nel strips 1 – 24 located along the mid­dle of the XL desk, turn down all green knobs down to the Infin­ity (∞) value mark­ing (fully anti-​clockwise).

This will pre­vent loud sounds from poten­tially enter­ing head­phone mixes in future record­ing ses­sions that use the aux buses.

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Resetting the Patchbay:

1. Unplug all ban­tam patch cables and XLR patch cables by their con­nec­tors, not the cable’s wire, from the patch bay and store on the correct cable hooks located in the room.

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Sav­ing and Clos­ing a Pro Tools Session:

1. To save a Pro Tools ses­sion click File located on the upper left of the screen on the Mac tool­bar to reveal a drop down menu and click either Save, Save As or Save Copy In depend­ing on the type required.

TIP: For more infor­ma­tion about the avail­able save options and Pro Tools project man­age­ment, see ‘Pro Tools Essen­tials – Basic Project Man­age­ment’ guide on YouTube via this link.

2. To close a Pro Tools Ses­sion click Pro Tools located on the upper left of the screen on the Mac tool­bar to reveal a drop down menu and click Quit Pro Tools located at the top left of the screen.

Alter­na­tively use the key­board short­cut cmd + Q to close the session.

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Back­ing Up a Pro Tools Session:

1. Open finder using the dock at the bot­tom of the screen and nav­i­gate the fold­ers to find your Pro Tools ses­sion folder.

2. Click and drag the ses­sion folder to a desired stor­age medium. Use a USB drive or cloud ser­vice, such as Google Drive, to back up a Pro Tools session.

3. Ensure it is not just the .ptx file that has been stored but all con­tents of the ses­sion folder, espe­cially the audio files.

TIP: Always store copies of ses­sions on mul­ti­ple devices to pre­vent los­ing work in case one of the stor­age medi­ums fail.