What Is Pro Tools?

In a nutshell, Pro Tools is computer software for Macintosh and Windows computers that is used to create audio projects through recording, editing, and automated mixing of hard disk–based digital audio and MIDI data. Though originally developed by Digidesign, Pro Tools software and related hardware (cards, audio interfaces, and peripheral equipment) are now products of Avid Technology. Digidesign merged with Avid in 1995, operating as an independent division of the company until 2010, when the company consolidated operations under the Avid name.

The first Pro Tools system was introduced in 1991, originally supporting just four tracks of digital audio. Since then, numerous updates to the Pro Tools software and hardware have brought about revolutionary changes in the audio industry. The latest version of Pro Tools—Pro Tools 10—was unveiled in October 2011 and furthered some of the radical modifications in features and configurations that were first introduced a year earlier with Pro Tools 9.