I’m sure most of us found half-speed playback before we knew it was a Pro Tools feature. If like me you hit the Spacebar to start playback but you were still holding the Shift key from a previous keystroke you’ll have been greeted by the turgid, octave-down sounds of half-speed playback.

For many, it’s just one of those things in Pro Tools you only get reminded of by accident but it can be really useful if you ever find yourself drawing in tight automation. I’ve always thought it’s better to automate most things while passing audio. However, if you need to pull in a quick automation move but you’re not fast enough, give yourself twice as long by running in half-speed playback.

How To Play Back At Half Speed In Pro Tools

Press Shift+Spacebar or right-click on the play button in the transport window

There is the related half-speed record, which can be accessed by adding Command on a Mac or Control on a PC to Shift and Spacebar if you need an octave-up recording that doesn’t have any of the artifacts of pitch shift algorithms, just don’t mention Chipmunks…