Getting Started

What is fMusic?

fMusic is a native macOS application that runs alongside Avid Pro Tools and automates the repetitive parts of session preparation. It is a standalone app, not a plugin: it brings audio in as an organized session, reorganizes sessions you already have, and prints stems and deliverables back out through Pro Tools' own bounce engine.

The three jobs

Everything in fMusic is one of three jobs, each covered by its own section of this manual.

• Import turns audio files (stems, multitracks) into Pro Tools tracks that arrive already recognized, named, colored, routed, and placed. Drop files or entire folders, let AI-R (Automatic Instrument Recognition) identify every instrument, and fMusic names, color-codes, and groups every track by category, resolves stereo content, and routes each track to its category's destination in your template. Silence is then cut by Pro Tools itself, using the per-category parameters you set in fMusic.
• Organize renames, recolors, reorders, re-routes, deletes, and merges the tracks of a session that already exists, using the same screens as Import: it is the same operation, only the source of the audio differs. Organize requires Suite.
• Export bounces stems and mixes as prints: named deliverables you define once and reuse, each with its own tracks, range, and delivery format. Build your print list, select what you need, and fMusic renders everything through Pro Tools' own engine, in every format you configured, in one pass.

Everything goes through Pro Tools

fMusic never touches your session behind Pro Tools' back. It reads the session over PTSL, Pro Tools' scripting layer, and drives Pro Tools' interface through the macOS Accessibility permission, operating the same menus and dialogs you would. Instrument recognition is the one job that stays inside fMusic: an on-device CoreML model, included in the app, sorts tracks into ten families (Bass, Brass, Drums, Guitar, Keys, SFX, Strings, Synth, Vocals, Woodwinds), falls back to the filename when it is not confident about the audio, and marks a track Unclassified rather than guessing. Your audio is never uploaded for recognition, and the model can be switched off in Settings, under General, with Use intelligent track recognition.

One queue behind everything

Every job goes through a single queue, including immediate runs: running now and batching overnight follow the exact same execution path, so they can never behave differently. Queue the work for several sessions, process it all, and walk away. Defaults live in Settings and are set once, so the flows only ask what genuinely changes per session.

Intro, Studio, and Suite

fMusic has three tiers. Intro is what the app runs as without a plan: the same capabilities as Studio, limited to 8 tracks in the editor, 1 favorite print, and 1 custom print. Upgrading to Studio removes those limits.

Studio is the complete import and export workflow:

• Import with drag and drop and folder expansion, AI-R recognition with per-category instrument vocabularies, category grouping and ordering, stereo content resolution, and per-category strip silence settings
• The Routing placement mode, with full control over import position, track placement, destination session, and naming style
• Export with favorite and custom prints, export categories sourced from buses, time and bars|beats ranges, project-wide mix source and audio formats, grouped or individual rendering, and adding prints back into the session
• The queue with run now and batch processing, plus the print library, recent sessions, and print and preset files you can share between machines

Suite includes everything in Studio and adds:

• The entire Organize module
• The Track preset and Match template placement modes
• Audio normalization on import: your target level, measured as true peak or RMS (see Gain staging)
• A per-print mix source, per-print audio formats, and markers as a print range
• The Folder export mode: export categories built from routing folders instead of single buses
• Print preview: audition a print before bouncing
• A mixed queue: import, organize, and export jobs lined up together in one run
• Full offline use (Intro and Studio need an internet connection)

Controls outside your tier are never hidden: they stay visible, disabled, with a SUITE badge, so you always see what an upgrade adds.

Working in Logic Pro?

fMusic Studio and Suite are Pro Tools only. If you work in Logic Pro, use fMusic for Logic Pro, a separate product with its own import and export workflow, covered in its own section of this manual.

Next steps