If you’ve been using Pro Tools for a long time and you’re anything like me then when new features are introduced they sometimes don’t get incorporated into workflows because you are so comfortable with the old way of doing whatever it is that the new feature updates. My most extreme example of this had to be the amount of time it took me to start using the Smart Tool. I was so comfortable switching tools using the Function Keys that it took an extended period of using Macs which didn’t belong to me, on which the Function Keys were assigned to volume controls, Mission Control and the like that I finally started using it regularly.

One such example for me has to be the new track creation options which were introduced in Pro Tools 11.  I am so comfortable with the New Track creation window and all its associated keystrokes that they simply didn’t solve anything I saw as a problem. I have started to use them recently and if you’re not an old stick in the mud like me, I’d definitely recommend them as an addition to, but not replacement for, the New Tracks window.

Creating New Tracks By Double-Clicking

• CMD/Control + Double-Click - Audio Track
• Option/Alt + Double-Click - Instrument Track
• Control/Start + Double-Click - Aux Track
• Shift/Shift + Double-Click - Master Fader
• No Modifier + Double Click - Track of the last type created (Audio Track if no tracks created yet).

This system is a handy time saver. It isn’t a replacement for the New Tracks dialogue as there isn’t facility for controlling channel width, multiple tracks or any way to create MIDI tracks, VCAs or Video Tracks. One useful trick it is worth being aware of is that these double-click track creation shortcuts work in combination so, for example holding Shift and Control while double-clicking will create an Aux Track and a Master Fader in one operation.