KROSS 88 MB - The definitive “do-everything” synth workstation

Cubase Pro: Key Commander

By John Walden

The Key Editor is packed with MIDI editing features but the trick to a faster workflow is training yourself to access them as efficiently as possible.

With some DIY Smart Controls for Cubase's Key Editor, you could become a MIDI-editing ninja.

Cubase Pro 10's VariAudio Smart Controls bring all the main VariAudio functions within easy reach when you hover the cursor over a pitch segment. It saves you time, and makes you less likely to lose your musical focus. Seeing the concept applied so brilliantly in VariAudio made me hanker after a similar 'smart toolset' for the MIDI Key Editor. When editing MIDI data here, repetitive tasks include: entering and selecting notes, changing note positions or lengths, transposing notes and muting or deleting notes. The potential for streamlining things is obvious, so — in the absence of VariAudio-style Smart Controls here — just how close to hand can we bring the tools and settings required to perform these sorts of tasks?

Tool Utility Belt

The most frequently used MIDI editing tools (eg. Draw, Erase, Trim) are available in the Tool Buttons Palette of the Key Editor's toolbar. This is easy to access, but going back and forth between this Palette (to select each tool) and the notes you wish to edit means a lot of 'mouse travel', particularly if you're working in a floating Key Editor, perhaps expanded to give you more screen space in which to work (rather than the compact Lower Zone).

Published October 2019

Nu:Tekt NTS-1 digital kit - Unboxing and Assembly tutorial

Q. How can I attach acoustic foam to the wall?

By Chris Korff

Gluing acoustic foam to walls can be impractical, which is why Paul White hit on the idea of gluing old CDs to the foam and using those to hang the foam on nails or hooks. The dog is, reportedly, not essential to the process...

I have bought some Auralex LENRD bass traps and I wondered if anyone at SOS has had any success fixing them to a soundproof plasterboard wall/ceiling without them dropping off in a matter of minutes! Any help would be much appreciated.

Ray Parkes

SOS Reviews Editor Chris Korff replies: Auralex sell their own brand of spray-on adhesive (there may be a cheaper alternative, but I'm afraid I can't remember what type of glue it is!), and as you'd expect it works very well. But depending on where you want to fix the foam it might actually work rather too well; you won't be able to peel the foam off the walls again without destroying the foam and the paintwork!

Our very own Editor In Chief Paul White came up with an ingenious solution that he's used in a number of our Studio SOS visits: he uses the adhesive to attach old CDs to the foam, and then uses the holes in the centre of the CDs to hang the foam on nails or hooks, just as you would with a picture frame. That way you can always move the foam to another location if needed.

Published November 2019

Korg Nu:tekt NTS-1 – Build it, Tweak it, Connect it.

Q. Can I flatten out my finished tracks using a hardware compressor?

By Mike Senior

In my hardware-based setup, with my TC electronics Triple*C compressor, is it possible to do the kind of limiting on a full mix where you end up with a waveform that is levelled off at the top and bottom, 'brick wall'-style? Also, when recording the co-axial digital output from the Triple*C onto my hi-fi CD recorder, what should the Triple*C's dither setting be if my source is a 24-bit Tascam 788?

SOS Forum Post

Reviews Editor Mike Senior replies: If you're after a waveform which is levelled off at the top and the bottom, then simply clip the output of the processor by cranking up the make-up gain control. To make this slightly less unpleasant on the ear, make sure that the Soft Clip option is on. However, you've got to ask yourself why you're wanting to do this. Although short-term clipping usually doesn't degrade pop music too much, it's really easy to go overboard and do serious damage to your audio if you're not careful. I'd advise doing an un-clipped version as well as the clipped version for safety's sake. You've got to ask yourself just how well your monitoring system compares to the one in a dedicated mastering studio — you should always let your ears be the judge, but remember that your monitors, combined with the room they are in, may not be giving you sufficient information to make an informed decision.

If you're after maximum loudness, then clipping isn't going to get you all the way there in any case. Use the Triple*C's multi-band compressor as well — set an infinity ratio, switch on lookahead, and make the attack time as fast as possible. Adjust the threshold and release time to taste. Make sure that you're aware of what the thresholds of the individual compression bands are doing as well (they're set in the Edit menu), as you might want to limit the different bands with different thresholds. Switch on Soft Clip and set the low level, high level, and make-up gain controls for the desired amount of clipping. Once again, make sure to record an unprocessed version for posterity as well, because you may well overdo things first time, or in case you get access to a dedicated loudness maximiser such as the Waves L2 in the future.

The Triple*C's dithering should be set to 16-bit, because you should set it according to the destination bit-depth, not the source bit-depth. The CD recorder will be 16-bit, so set the dithering to the 16-bit level.

Published December 2003

KORG prologue 2.0 Update: Installation Tutorial