Avid Offer $1600 Worth Of Free Software With Pro Tools - Everything You Need To Know
There continues to be concern in some quarters about the value of the Pro Tools Perpetual license upgrade plans and Pro Tools rental subscription plans with some users still dissatisfied with the range and quality of the new features that have been added to Pro Tools over the last 12 to 18 months.
However, in all the comments, we rarely, if ever, hear mention the loyalty rewards that Avid offer to all Pro Tools users with a valid Pro Tools Upgrade Plan or Subscription plan. In this article, we will explore what Avid is offering in loyalty rewards.
Currently, they are offering the following loyalty rewards. Clicking on the link will take you to the appropriate part of this article for more information about that particular Avid loyalty reward.
A free copy of BioTek, a virtual synthesis instrument worth $150 from Tracktion
50 professional, royalty-free production music tracks for your projects from Sound Ideas worth $495
A selection of videos and books from Groove 3 worth up to $120
Foley Essentials foley sound effects from Pro Sound Effects worth $49
These all add up to a total value of over $1,600 in free software, music, sound effects and plug-ins.
Although we appreciate that not all these products will be useful to every Pro Tools user we believe that there are a good number of these free products that will be useful to every Pro Tools user.
Who Is Eligible?
Pro Tools, Pro Tools Ultimate and Pro Tools for Education customers with an active monthly or annual rental subscription plan or a 1-Year Software Updates Plan (perpetual licenses) are eligible to receive these gifts.
Avid says that "It’s our way of saying thank you for being a great customer!" Note that none of these offers are available to Pro Tools First users.
Biotek From Tracktion - Worth $150
With this Avid loyalty reward, you get a full copy of Biotek from Tracktion worth $150. Biotek is a software synth designed to combine the sounds of nature with a synthesis engine to create weird and wonderful organic soundscapes. This should be perfect for sound designers and music creators, as BioTek has been created to provide truly unique sounds with endless possibilities.
Key Features:
Blend various patches into new sounds and morph them in real-time
Create simple, or extremely complex, instruments with unlimited sound layers
Tweak every parameter of sound with 200 modulation routes and 32 modifier routes
40 Sounds From Film Composer Christian Halten
Christian Halten’s work can be heard on soundtracks for Catwoman, The Ring 2 and Double Take as well as documentaries and video games. Exploring new instrumental sounds is always his first step toward fresh material. Christian created this video to introduce 40 new sounds he’s added to the BioTek library.
Royalty-free Music From Sound Ideas - Worth $495
With this Avid Loyalty Reward, you get 50 professional, high-quality production music tracks for your projects from Sound Ideas worth $495. This royalty-free music library allows you to use these tracks on any project, as the music comes with a worldwide license, so you never have to worry about where in the world your production may be watched or used.
The collection includes techno/dance/house, motivational/inspirational, classical, rock/pop, world music, jazz, comedy/cartoon, Christmas, and new age tracks.
Learn From The Pros With pureMix Tutorials Worth $99
Get the 5 most popular pureMix.net tutorials for as a part of the Pro Tools Loyalty program and learn the skills professionals use to make great sounding records.
Whether you are starting out, or just upgraded your workstation, these videos will give you real-world tips and tricks that you won’t find in the manual. You can learn how to:
Produce a beat using virtual instruments
Record vocals with confidence
Add EQ to make your vocals shine
Compress tracks for loudness and dynamics
Dial in a radio-ready mix
UVI Falcon 2 and Plugsound Avid Edition - Worth $498
This loyalty reward came in with Pro Tools 2018 at the end of November 2018. UVI Falcon and Plugsound Avid Edition are included with Pro Tools and Pro Tools Ultimate subscriptions and 1-Year Software Updates and Support Plans at no additional cost. More recently Avid updated this to Avid Falcon 2.
All Pro Tools users with a valid support plan or subscription plan will be able to get your hands on the most complete hybrid virtual instrument available, offering both sample-based and pure synthesis sound generation. UVI Falcon is an incredible sounding beast of an instrument that enables you to produce a wide range of fresh sounds quickly with drag-and-drop ease. Or roll up your sleeves and tweak and layer sounds to your heart’s delight to create something truly jaw-droppingly unique.
UVI describes Falcon as a ‘creative hybrid instrument with…
15 oscillators, 80+ effects, modulators, events, scripting and more in an expansive semi-modular sound design environment
Sample-based or pure synthesis sound generation
Infinite possibilities with Falcon Factory presets, UVI-powered libraries and your own sounds
The UVI Falcon has been designed to enable users to generate sounds fast with drag-and-drop ease. Alternatively, you can roll up your sleeves and go in deep with a set of tools designed to enable users to create and tweak sounds extensively.
Quickly build sounds and layer parts via drag and drop using presets and sample library content
Create something totally unique using 15 state-of-the-art oscillators and over 80 effects
Layer multiple parts together to generate bold new sounds that are rich and complex
Freely manipulate, mix, and modulate sounds, synthesis modules, effects, and more with finesse and precision
Script events to take your sound creation even further
What’s New In Falcon 2?
New And Enhanced Oscillators - UVI have added the Additive oscillator, FM support in the Wavetable oscillator, and they have improved IRCAM Stretch, FM and Pluck oscillators.
New & Enhanced Modulation Sources - A new Parametric LFO and improved the Multi Envelope modulator to allow creation with MIDI and audio sample drag-n-drop.
New & Enhanced Effects - UVI have added Tape Echo, Sallen Key Filter, Formant Crusher, Track Delay, Digital Filter, Digital EQ, Frequency Shifter, Rotary, Phasor, Phasor Filter, Diode Clipper, Thorus and new effect racks such as Fuzz4 and MaxMS. And we’ve also improved Redux, 3-Band Compressor, Dual Delay, Xpander Filter, UVI Wide and Tilt.
New MIDI Processors - Event modules using the Script Processor such as Step Sequencer, Euclidean Drum and Euclidean Tonal sequencers, Chord Bank, Range Limiting, MIDI Delay, Velocity Remapper and more, and have added support for AnaMark tuning.
Enhanced Workflow - New functionality and optimizations have been implemented such as Favorite tagging, user interface scaling, Search tab in the right panel, and MPE devices support.
New Sounds And Wavetables - Hundreds of factory presets, wavetables and even exclusive presets from Expressive E and dedicated MPE presets have been regularly added.
With Avid Edition of Falcon 2, Pro Tools users also get the Plugsound Avid Edition Pack, which is a 2.6 GB sample library. Curated by some of the industry’s top sound designers, this collection has been designed to get a great starting point offering everything from high-quality keyboards, drums, synths, and fretted instruments, to loops and atmospheric soundscapes, all fully editable to enhance any music or sound design project.
Falcon 2 comes loaded with Factory Sounds, which include a versatile collection of 1,000 patches from some of the most respected sound designers in the world. Pro Tools and Pro Tools Ultimate owners with a valid upgrade plan will be able to explore your sonic possibilities, from classic synths, percussion, and physical modeling, to sample-driven multi-granular soundscapes and multi-oscillator hybrids. You can choose to use them ‘as-is’ for a quick fix or dig in to fuel your creative sound design.
There is a lot more about the UVI bundle and all the sound libraries you can get for both music and post production. Check out these articles for more information…
Read: Pro Tools - Avid Announce Inclusion Of UVI Virtual Instruments At No Extra Cost With Pro Tools 2018
Read: The Pro Tools UVI Virtual Instruments Bundle - What We Think About The UVI Sound Libraries
Read: UVI Falcon 2 Now Included In Many Active Avid Pro Tools Plans - Read On To See If You Qualify
Accusonus ERA Voice Leveler - Worth $59
Do you spend a lot of time adjusting the dialogue levels of your talent? Tired of manually riding vocal faders or drawing endless vocal level automations? Save time by avoiding manual gain adjustments. Auto-correct the volume level inconsistencies without leaving Pro Tools.
Accusonus ERA Voice Leveler is a next-generation, single knob plug-in. It detects audio level inconsistencies and corrects them in real-time. It has a patent-pending algorithm that achieves natural results without using compression, so you can quickly balance vocal and dialogue levels
Are you a singer, podcaster, producer, dialogue editor or post-production engineer? The ERA Voice Leveler will help you save time by instantly leveling your dialogue and vocal levels throughout your project.
Pick Your Own Videos And Books From Groove3 Up To The Value Of $120
Enhance and improve your mixing, production, and software knowledge and skills at Groove3. For being a loyal Pro Tools user, Avid are giving you 3 free credits to use to choose from a large assortment of top rated video tutorials and books available for streaming and download from Groove3.
Covering a wide range of topics, you can learn all about the tools needed to produce and mix music in today's world, as well as get captivating stories, eye-opening methods, and priceless tips and tricks from some of the greatest producers and engineers ever, like Quincy Jones and Bruce Swedien.
Note that this is not an offer from the complete Groove3 library of books and video tutorials but from a specific list of curated tutorials and books. You will be able to choose from the following list of videos and books…
Videos
Compression Explained - If you produce and mix music, you’ve got to understand how compression is the glue holding everything together. In this, all new, in-depth video tutorial series, studio expert Dave Askew teaches you everything you need to know about compression from the beginning to end. Reg. Price $ 25
Delay Explained - The Delay effect is one of the oldest effects to be used on recordings, and there are many different types and ways to apply it. Multi-Platinum mixer/producer extraordinaire Kenny Gioia returns with a must-have series for anyone recording, mixing, engineering or producing music. See how delay can be used to make tracks bigger, wider and just cooler! Learn the important fundamentals and advanced techniques of delay, and you'll find yourself using delay smarter and more creatively. Reg. Price $ 30
EQ Explained - Equalization or "EQ" as it's commonly referred to, is the most basic, but important effect you'll apply to your tracks and recordings. But do you really know how to effectively use it, or better yet, how to not use it? Eli Krantzberg is back yet again with another truly awesome product, "EQ Explained". So dig in and learn to sculpt your sound like a true sonic artist. Reg. Price $ 30
Home Studio Know-How: The Room & Acoustics - Studio professional Dave Askew breaks down the things you need to know for a solid foundational understanding of room acoustics, and how to set up your studio for better sound and mixes! Reg. Price $ 35
Microphone Preamps Explained - This series is designed for those who are new to using microphone pre-amps and want to know about all the common features and controls found on mic pres, as well as how to set them up. It also touches on how the components and circuit design varies between units and gives some sonic examples between an inexpensive “all-in-one” mic pre / audio interface and more expensive stand-alone mic pres. Reg. Price $ 30
MIDI Explained - Are you new to MIDI or have you been using it but don’t really understand what it is and how it works? Learn how MIDI works in this series of 20 tutorial videos that will give you an understanding of MIDI and what you need to know in order to connect, program and control all of your MIDI-capable software and hardware. Reg. Price $ 35
Mix Review with Bob Horn & Erik Reichers - Episode 1 Industry pro engineers, mixers and producers Bob Horn and Erik Reichers are pulling back the curtain, taking a volunteer's submitted mix and importing it side by side into their DAW, showing you in detail how they would approach the mix in real-time, from start to finish. Get priceless tips and see where the improvements can be made and how to make them, creating a true professional, radio-ready mix! Reg. Price $ 40
Mix Review with Bob Horn & Erik Reichers - Episode 2 - Industry pro engineers, mixers and producers Bob Horn and Erik Reichers return with their second episode of Mix Review! Watch as they take a recordist’s non-pro mix and import it side by side into their DAW, and show you in-detail, how they would approach the mix in real-time, from start to finish. Get priceless tips and see where the improvements can be made and how to make them, creating a true professional, radio-ready mix. Reg. Price $ 40
Mix Review with Bob Horn & Erik Reichers - Episode 3 - Want to know how professionals would mix a homemade Soul Pop track? Industry pro engineers, mixers and producers Bob Horn and Erik Reichers bring you yet another series where they take a recordist's non-pro mix and import it side by side into their DAW, showing in-detail, how they would approach the mix, from start to radio-ready. Reg. Price $ 40
Phase Explained - Phase is an incredibly important term that anyone who records or mixes audio has to know. Multi-Platinum mixer/producer Kenny Gioia is back with a series that explains everything you should know about Phase and includes audio demonstrations that make it very obvious why Phase is both a friend and foe. Reg. Price $ 25
Pro Tools Beat Detective Explained - Pro Tools wiz Morgan Pottruff shows you what you need to know to get started with the Pro Tools Beat Detective editing tool, plus advanced info and how to tighten up a multi-tracked drum kit performance! Reg. Price $ 25
Pro Tools Signal Flow Explained - If you're new to Pro Tools, or want to further your knowledge on the art of routing and signal flow, this title is a must-see. Kenny Gioia breaks down everything you need to know about both basic and advanced signal flow and routing in Pro Tools, making your workflow faster and more creative. Reg. Price $ 25
Reverb Explained - Reverb is perhaps the most misunderstood /misused effect in the mixer's toolbox today. DAW superman Eli Krantzberg reveals everything you need to know about this mysterious effect and how to apply it to the most popular instruments in your productions. Don't get lost in space... Reg. Price $ 30
Books
Arranging for Horns - Write for a horn section! In this book, you will learn how to add saxophones and brass to a rhythm section ensemble. Reg. Price $ 19.99
Behind the Boards - In the pages of Behind the Boards: The Making of Rock 'n' Roll's Greatest Records Revealed, readers are taken inside the studio, into the creation of the generations of classic records that collectively make up that soundtrack of our lives. Reg. Price $ 24.99
Desktop Mastering - Desktop Mastering is a conceptual guide, intertwining a broad range of knowledge regarding audio engineering principles and practical applications for those wishing to enhance their own as well as their clients' work. Reg. Price $ 29.99
Melody in Songwriting - Melody is a subject too often neglected in the teaching of music. This unique resource gives melody that attention it deserves and proves that melody writing is a skill that can be learned. Reg. Price $ 24.99
Q on Producing - Q on Producing presents the master's approach to making music and is essential reading for aspiring producers and artists everywhere. Told to and compiled by author and audio expert Bill Gibson, Quincy's observations culled from over a year of in-depth interviews, are collected and presented, providing an unparalleled course of instruction from one of the true legends of American music. Reg. Price $ 34.99
The Bruce Swedien Recording Method - The Bruce Swedien Recording Method is an incredibly timely and timeless reference for anyone interested in capturing and mixing the best possible music recordings. Reg. Price $ 39.99
Unlocking Creativity - In Unlocking Creativity, record producer Beinhorn reveals how to deal with interpersonal issues record producers face when they work with artists one on one or in small groups. Reg. Price $ 24.99
Convology XT And Plates Impulse Response Library - Worth $99
Convology XT is a free convolution reverb, the result of a collaboration between Wave Arts and Impulse Record. Convology XT comes with 70 vintage impulse responses, a sampling of the 2,965 impulse responses in the Convology XT Libraries. You can buy additional impulse responses to extend the library in Convology XT. In this loyalty reward, Avid is giving away one of these additional libraries - Plates.
In The Plates Impulse Response Library, there are 17 different Plates across 185 Files. These plates have been sampled in 7 Different Countries including Australia, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia and the USA. In addition, there are 8 German 140s that include Mono, Mono Tube, Valve, Transistor and ST models.
Many pieces of gear listed have been used on major recording artists, albums and Grammy productions.
Here is a full list of the plates sampled for this library…
Aud (Audicon “The Plate II”) Memphis, TN
Brick – Chicago, IL
EPlate I (ECOPLATETM – trademark of Studio Technologies, Inc) Chicago, IL
Eplate II – Appleton, WI
Eplate III – Sweden
German 140 Mono – Nashville, TN
German 140 Mono Tube – Nashville, TN
German 140 Valve – Slovenia
German 140 ST – Cleveland, OH
German 140 ST – Australia
German 140 ST – Portland, OR
German 140 T – Los Angeles, CA
German 140 T – Finland
German 240 (Gold Foil) Los Angeles, CA
German 240 (Gold Foil) San Francisco, CA
Lawson – Nashville, TN
Stock (Stocktronics) Finland.
In case some of the titles are not known to you or a little cryptic then here is some more background…
Aud - (Audicon) – middle of the road – somewhat bright, similar in overall size to their West German plate competition, with a steel plate thickness a little under the 1/64 of an inch used by the Germans, yielding a brighter sound.
Brick – some variations with models, but the 4’ X 4’ plate was typical. For being half the size of the 140, sounds quite good. The Brick is not as warm but is very useful when wanting a rich plate sound and to bring out a particular sound such as a snare.
Eplates - (ECOPLATESTM trademark of Studio Technologies, Inc) – tend to be brighter and a little more metallic sounding. Useful to bringing certain production elements out in the mix when you need it to cut through. These units were a little smaller than the German 140 plates.
German 140s – For many, the 140s are viewed as the king of the hill for a number of reasons. They were the first and came to market in the late 1950s. They tend to be a little warmer, tend to replicate, as they were originally designed, the sound of a concert hall and with limited EQing can for the most part, more readily replicate a dark, bright or a warm sounding room, etc. The need to scoop low-end EQ might be useful when applying to certain instruments and voices, to avoid the bass multiplier effect. There are beautiful sounding files in every 140 model sampled – try them all along with very cool hybrid impulses that really are a solid addition to anyone’s convolution library!
Lawson – tends to be brighter and a bump in the lower mids tends to warm them up. This unit was designed and built by Gene Lawson who continues to make microphones today at his shop in Nashville, TN. His microphones are well regarded and his tenure in the business is remarkable.
Stocktronics - manufactured in Sweden. Only a little over 250 of these units made in their entirety and are very rare. Impulse Record was lucky to get these impulse response files recorded from Finland The original owner/designer Lars Liljeryd, talks about the Stocktronics plate and made these comments on the manufacturing process. “The specially manufactured stainless steel used in the Stocktronics 4000 was totally unique with its 0.3 mm thickness and extremely low “pile-height”. Thus the steel sheets were 2-D stretched in a stretching bench at the steel manufacturer and thus became very flat, before cutting it to size. This two-dimensional stretching process also cold-forged the steel so it became even harder, thus producing proportionally longer reverberation times at higher frequencies than any steel quality used by the competition. Therefore it had a very special sounding reverb, liked by many and disliked by some, as it sounded a bit synthetic. It, however, had a very high resonant density so it could cope extremely well with high-frequency impulsive sounds and still sounded smooth.”
German 240 – darker sounding. Weighing 148 lbs with dimensions of 1’ X 2’ X 2’. Some say better on shorter settings and for sound sources like drums. Originally designed as a way to make the original 140 (4’ X 8’) in a smaller and lighter box. It really was a technological feat for its time. Both versions of the 240s sampled, tend to be darker in tone and sound as most do when searching online with user comments. They use a gold foil plate and are a hybrid between the original large 140 plate and early analog to digital rack mount and smaller floor units, although the 240 is totally analog. The thickness of the gold foil plate is 18 microns (very thin like aluminium foil – note that average human hair thickness is between 40 – 50 microns)
What Do They Sound Like?
This video from Impulse Record using a solo piano recording demonstrates the different plate impulse responses in this library…
Boost your Foley library with Foley Essentials From Pro Sound Effects - Worth $49
The Foley Essentials sound effects library features over 90 lifelike recordings of everyday actions from Academy Award-winning sound artists Mark Mangini and Richard L. Anderson. Craft your scenes with common Foley recordings like footsteps, cloth rustle, body grabs, and dozens of props to bring your everyday scenes to life.
Foley is technically the act of recording sound effects performed in-sync to picture, using various props and surfaces, often on a Foley stage. For this library, these Foley-like sounds were recorded by Mangini and Anderson to fill out temp mixes of feature film projects before the traditional Foley process – with a focus on discrete actions within natural sonic environments.
Foley Essentials is a specially curated collection taken from a much bigger foley library from Pro Sound Effects - Odyssey Foley Effects featuring over 4,500 everyday recordings curated from the private library of award-winning sound artists.
Sound Credit Publisher Desktop App - Worth $99 Per Year
Sound Credit is billed as the new standard for music credits. In the age of digital distribution, the stories and artwork once included with music have disappeared. Sound Credit enables you to collect and track credits as they happen and publish them or deliver to labels.
Sound Credit, created by Soundways, provides an affordable digital home for project credits, album art, and liner notes. Capture your credits via free-standing or DAW plug-in software where credits are created and then stored in the DDEX RIN standard open format. Once you've logged your credits, you can upload them to the Sound Credit Portal where you can freely edit and distribute them worldwide.
What Do You Get?
It all starts with the RIN data collection software that comes as a DAW plug-in (AAX, AU, VST, VST3) or as free-standing software. You can also enter this data on the Sound Credit Portal. The plug-in is a one-time $49 fee, and the portal is $99 per year. Just like the original Soundways RIN-M plug-in, the Sound Credit software uses the RIN standard created by DDEX.
Soundways says:
DDEX is a consortium of companies including Apple, Amazon, Pandora, Spotify, and over 30 others. They met over the course of 10 years to make music metadata standards. For 4 of those years, The Recording Information Notification (RIN) standard was being discussed and prepared.
DDEX and RIN is the key to making this all work. With players like Apple and Amazon involved, it's a format with legs to carry it into the future.
Check out our review…
Other services exist, but Sound Credit is the first to provide an affordable way to log, then post credits, album art, and liner notes internet-wide. If you intend to put your name on your work permanently, be it as an artist, musician, producer, composer, manager, or studio owner then Sound Credit should be part of your workflow. How much can you hate money?
The Sound Credit Publisher app is simple to review, add and edit music credits. Once the information is complete you can easily generate codes, export PDF reports, and more.
When you use the voucher code that you will find in your Avid Master Account, you will ‘buy’ the Sound Publisher app for free instead of $99 per year. In the email, you get from Soundways, the company behind Sound Credit, it shows that not only will you get the first year worth $99 free but at least the second year free too.
In a separate email, you will be invited to set up your Sound Credit account and then to download and install the Sound Credit Publisher app.
How Do I Get These Free Gifts From Avid?
If you are an existing or new customer on an active subscription or upgrade plan, these gifts will be readily available in your Avid account. If you have allowed your plan to lapse you will receive these free gifts when you take advantage of a Reinstatement Plan.
As you can see from the above image most of the loyalty reward products are listed separately on the My Products page of your Avid Master account. The only one you won’t find listed separately is the UVI Falcon bundle. This you will find in the Downloads and Links inside the Pro Tools section of your Avid Master Account My Products tab.
Expired Loyalty Rewards
If you have been an Avid Customer with a valid upgrade plan for a Pro Tools perpetual license or a rental subscriber then you may have also been offered these loyalty rewards. But note Avid is not currently offering these expired loyalty rewards, but Pro Tools users who had an active perpetual license upgrade plan or a current rental subscription plan should still find these in your Avid Master Account.
Pro Sound Effects First Library - Worth $99
With this loyalty reward from Avid, you get 350 royalty-free sound effects at your fingertips worth $99. The Pro Sound Effects First library has been collated to be a starting point for sound designers and music producers in need of a first library and was created to give a glimpse into the quality, depth, and breadth of PSE’s Hybrid Library and Master Library.
This library includes a wide variety of sound effects—from ambience, crowds, environments, and rumblings, to crashes, stings, and Foley sounds. Check out these samples.
This offer was originally made in December 2017 and although not available to current Avid customers, If you were an active user at the time, RX Elements should still be available now in your Avid account My Products and Subscriptions.
iZotope RX Elements
Back in March 2018 Avid partnered with iZotope to offer current Pro Tools Subscribers with a loyalty copy of iZotope RX Elements and this offer ended 7th May 2018. However, customers you were offered it an the time may well still have it in your Avid Master Account.
This offer was only available to Pro Tools users with an active subscription or Software Update + Support Plan. If you were an active user at the time, RX Elements should still be available now in your Avid account My Products and Subscriptions.
The iZotope RX Elements installer is not hosted on the Avid website. Under your Avid account > My Products, you will find a product serial number along with a link to the iZotope website where the installation instructions can be found. Note that it will be for RX6 Elements rather than the current RX7 Elements.
iZotope describes RX Elements as an essential audio repair toolkit that includes:
Standalone editing application
Voice De-noise
De-clip
De-click
De-hum
RX Elements is a budget-friendly version of RX designed for small home studios that need the basics worth $129. Check your Avid account to see if you have this available to you.