Keystage Video Manual - Chapter 3 - Controlling Software Instruments

Cubase 15: Modulators As Macro Controls

 By John Walden

Three Macro Knob Modulators provide broad‑brush control over compression and EQ on each of the main audio busses (group channels) within this project

Could Flow‑style macro controls, courtesy of Cubase’s powerful Modulators, enable you to mix more quickly?

When I’m mixing, after making some initial adjustments to individual tracks that are very obviously required, I’ll often shift my focus pretty quickly to the buses — both my various instrument subgroups and the stereo master. My intention is to make rapid progress by applying broad‑brush strokes to the mix, before my ears grow too accustomed to the sound. In general, this will involve setting an initial static mix balance between the instrument groups using the faders, and then some decisions around compression and EQ.

I recently explored — and was impressed by — Softube’s Flow Mixing Suite (my review is in this very issue), and found it really useful at this stage of a mix, and its macro controls particularly intrigued me. They’re a set of knobs that can each be mapped to control one or more key parameters in a multi‑plug‑in signal chain. For example, a single ‘compression’ macro control might influence both the threshold and make‑up gain controls of a dynamics plug‑in, so that as you turn the macro control, it applies more compression by lowering the threshold, but simultaneously increases the make‑up gain to compensate for the loss in level. As well as saving you having to turn two knobs to achieve one task, this approach means you don’t have to keep opening/closing individual plug‑ins, and you can keep your screen relatively uncluttered.

But of course, impressive as it is, the Softube system works only with Softube’s plug‑ins, and so, with this experience fresh in my mind, I decided to see if I might emulate the approach in Cubase, using the Pro version’s Modulator feature. It worked pretty well, and below I’ll take you through some examples.

There isn’t a tilt EQ in Cubase’s stock plug‑in collection... but with a little bit of Modulator magic you can create one based on the stock Studio EQ.

One‑knob Wonder

Let’s start with that compressor example. For this experiment, I instantiated Cubase’s Black Valve plug‑in on my project’s main lead vocal bus, but you could apply the same principles to any of Cubase’s stock compressors, used on any audio signal. With my vocal bus (a group channel) selected, I opened the Modulator panel in the Project window’s Lower Zone, then popped that open as a separate floating window (use the arrow button, located top right of the pane). That let me see it alongside the MixConsole, not just in the Project window.

In the Modulator panel,...

Published March 2026

Keystage: Video Manual - Chapter 2 - Basic Operation

Cubase 15: Vocal Doubling Techniques

By John Walden

A combination of subtle VariAudio pitch correction and equally gentle AudioWarp Quantize can create a believable vocal double from a duplicate of the original lead vocal.

Need to fake a double from a single vocal? Cubase has plenty of options...

When it comes to vocal doubles, if you want to keep things sounding ‘natural’ then nothing beats a well‑sung second pass. There are plenty of circumstances where that might not be possible, but thankfully, if you have only a single lead line and need a double on the double, Cubase has a number of tools that can fake one. And if you already have the Artist or Pro version of Cubase 15, you now have yet another option at your disposal: the new PitchShifter plug‑in. In this article, I’ll explore a range of options. I’ve also created some audio demonstrations that you can find on the SOS website at: https://sosm.ag/cubase-0426

Something Old

When vocals are authentically doubled‑tracked by a singer, the differences in both pitch and timing of the performances lend the part a sense of additional ‘weight’ and, with suitable panning, width. Generally, it works best when those pitch and timing differences are pretty small, and being sufficiently consistent across two or more vocal performances can require considerable control on the part of a singer — but, of course, some after‑the‑fact audio editing can help to a degree.

Assuming, though, that you need to fake such a double, Artist and Pro users have a particularly powerful option that exploits VariAudio and AudioWarp. We considered exactly this combination in SOS October 2022 (https://sosm.ag/cubase-1022-doubling), including the possibility of generating harmony parts. That approach still works well, so I’ll reiterate the key steps here as they pertain to creating a vocal double, but do dip into that article if you want more detail.

The first step is simply to duplicate the lead vocal track. Open this duplicate in the Sample Editor, and in the Sample Editor’s VariAudio panel activate VariAudio. This will populate the Sample Editor display with note objects, and if you select these and then trigger playback, you can (back in the VariAudio panel) make minor adjustments to the Correct Pitch, Straighten Curve and Shift Formant sliders. As you do, you’ll start to hear the original and ‘double’ vocals deviate from each other.

For the same clip, a next step is to move to the Hitpoints panel, and ensure Edit Hitpoints is activated (Hitpoints might appear...

 

Published April 2026

Keystage: Video Manual - Chapter 1 - Setup

Cubase 15: Hyping Your Drum Bus With UltraShaper

 By John Walden

Bring the hype: UltraShaper is a one‑stop option to take your drums from polite to powerful.

Looking to hype up your drum sound? Cubase’s new UltraShaper plug‑in might be just what you need!

In SOS January 2026, I explored dynamics processing for acoustic drums at a number of different points in the signal chain (read it here). My aim then was to retain a natural sound while controlling the drum dynamics. But what if you want a more aggressive or ‘hyped’ sound coming from your drum bus? Well, Cubase’s stock plug‑in collection has long had plenty of options for more assertive processing, including some you can use in combination. Cubase Pro 15, though, introduced a new option that’s well worth exploring: UltraShaper. Let’s find out just how much drum hype can you extract from this powerful new plug‑in.

Sum Of The Parts

UltraShaper is not just about hyping drums: the supplied presets provide plenty of starting points for both corrective and creative use with a wide range of sound sources.

Before we unleash UltraShaper on our drum bus, I’ll share two quick observations. First, don’t assume that UltraShaper is simply a reworking of some of Cubase’s existing stock plug‑ins. I don’t think that’s the case and, in any case, UltraShaper is rather more than the sum of its parts. Second, note that UltraShaper has plenty of scope to do ‘subtle’, and it isn’t just for drums; it can do a perfectly good turn on vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass or synths, and has potential applications for both individual tracks and group busses, or even your stereo mix bus. Steinberg really have brought us something of a dynamics Swiss Army knife!

Park It On The Bus

For my first exploration, I simply inserted UltraShaper on my drum bus. Whether you’re dealing with acoustic drums or electronic drums (I’ve used both in the Audio Examples that accompany this workshop on the SOS website: https://sosm.ag/cubase-0526), you can start pretty easily by dialling in UltraShaper’s more conventional compressor controls: threshold, ratio, attack and release. These will do exactly what you might expect for any kind of conventional compression task.

Even used for such standard tasks, UltraShaper has a couple of nice touches up its sleeve. First, it has a real‑time waveform and gain‑reduction display that provides excellent visual feedback as you adjust the controls. Optionally, you can also show the compression curve beside this.

Perhaps more significant, though, is the Auto Gain control, which is pretty clever. While it’s not quite a ‘set and forget’ option (it interacts with some of the other control options), it’s pretty easy to set it so that when you bypass UltraShaper, the processed and unprocessed sounds can be closely level matched, even as you make adjustments elsewhere. This makes it far easier to judge exactly what your threshold and ratio settings are doing to the character of the audio, and reduces the risk of significant volume differences clouding your processing...

Published May 2026

MPS-10 Version 2: Preset Kit P75 Tropical Pop Loop (feat. Trigger Reserve)