Pro Tools: Using Markers & Memory Locations

You can now have multiple Marker Rulers in Pro Tools. For example, you can use one to identify different song sections, and another for comments.

The new Markers and Memory Locations system makes session navigation easier than ever.

Pro Tools is a very mature product, and unlike some other DAWs it is very careful to maintain backwards compatibility, but sometimes that means it can lag behind its competitors when it comes to new features. That said, I’ve always been of the opinion that, while Avid aren’t always first, when they introduce new features they usually do a very thorough job.

One of the areas which has seen the most progress in the last 12 months is the system of Markers. Pro Tools 2023.6 introduced Track Markers, which I covered in this column in SOS August 2023. These are very useful, and the implementation is well thought through, but the marker‑related feature I have been wanting for years is additional Marker Rulers. That is exactly what was delivered in Pro Tools 2023.12, addressing a longstanding workflow issue for me: the inability to keep markers created for different purposes separate from each other.

From quickly showing and hiding groups of tracks through to saving edit selections and recalling Window Configurations, Memory Locations are very powerful.

Markers and Memory Locations are central to managing and navigating a Pro Tools session. From quickly showing and hiding groups of tracks through to saving edit selections and recalling Window Configurations, Memory Locations are very powerful. But navigating sections of a song is probably the most popular use for Memory Locations, and before the introduction of Track Markers I, like many people, used to resort to creating a track at the top of my session specifically to populate with empty Clip Groups which I could navigate through using the Tab key, as a way of getting Marker‑like functionality.

Ruler Them All

But the Marker Ruler is the most appropriate place for marking points on the timeline, and being restricted to only one ruler could be frustrating. For example, in a typical session I’ll mark out sections of a song and use the ‘period‑number‑period’ shortcut on the number pad to jump from Marker to Marker. However, I’ll also drop markers on the fly during playback to make notes of sections which need attention, for example minor mistakes that might need fixing. Already I’ll have two categories of Markers inhabiting the same ruler. The most obvious solution is to offer additional Marker Rulers, and that is what we finally have in Pro Tools 2023.12.

Up to five independent Marker Rulers can be displayed, and they can be renamed from their default Markers 1‑5 to something more indicative of their content, for example ‘Structure’ and ‘Comments’. Markers created using the Enter button can be directed to the desired ruler using the...