Cubase’s Input Transformer Explained

By John Walden

Cubase Pro’s Input Transformer; somewhat intimidating but capable of some very useful tricks.

The Input Transformer can do all sorts of useful things to incoming MIDI signals.

Most Cubase users will know of the Logical Editor, which is an amazingly powerful tool for transforming MIDI parts you’ve already recorded, but the Pro edition of Cubase also includes the Input Transformer. This is a more streamlined tool that operates in real time on incoming MIDI data and it’s capable of performing some very useful tricks. In this article, I’ll walk you through some simple examples that demonstrate the possibilities.

DIY Switch Builder

Many sample libraries have the ability to keyswitch between different sounds (for example, string section performance articulations). But for those that don’t, you can turn to the Input Transformer. The main screenshot shows an example which switches between different sounds in the first three channels of an instance of HALion Sonic SE (HSSE). By default, these sounds respond to MIDI channels 1, 2 and 3, respectively. I’ve constrained the MIDI note range to C1‑G8 for each sound, so as to free up the MIDI notes below C1 for use as DIY keyswitches. Also note the instance of the MIDI Monitor plug‑in that I’ve placed in the track’s MIDI Insert panel; this lets you see, as you experiment, exactly what MIDI data is reaching HSSE.

To access the Input Transformer click on the ‘squiggly arrow’ button in the top‑most Inspector panel, and you’ll see three options: Off, Global and Local. Global means the Input Transformer actions you create will apply to the incoming data on all the project’s MIDI and Instrument tracks. With Local, selected here, only the current track’s MIDI input will be affected. The Input Transformer window looks similar to the Logical Editor: in an upper Filter Conditions panel you specify which MIDI events you want to trigger an action; and, beneath, an Action List panel specifies what actions will be performed when those MIDI events are detected. The four Module tabs, each activated by a small ‘power’ button, allow you to configure up to four independent Input Transformer setups, all of which operate on the same input signal.

Some virtual instruments offer velocity‑based sound switching... and your DIY keyswitch can achieve the same thing for instruments that lack this feature.

Assuming your external MIDI keyboard is set to transmit on MIDI channel 1, the instrument in the HSSE’s first slot will be the default sound. In the main screenshot, though, you can see how I’ve set up Module 1 so that when you press a keyswitch the incoming notes are assigned to MIDI channel 2 — so HSSE’s second instrument plays instead. In the upper Filter Conditions panel, the Input Transformer is instructed to look for the MIDI note D0 (the Last Event is Equal to note 26/D0) and to understand that the filter condition is still being satisfied while the ‘Note is playing’ (ie. until you release the note). The lower Action List panel is configured so that when the Filter Conditions are met (ie. you’re holding down note D0) the incoming data’s MIDI channel is changed to 2. Thus, any MIDI notes that arrive while D0 is being held down are assigned to MIDI channel 2. So in this example your keyboard’s D0 becomes a non‑latching keyswitch that accesses the Synth Pizzicatos (HSSE slots), but switches back to the default Ensemble Strings patch in the first slot upon release.

The Module 2 settings are identical, except that MIDI note E0 is the keyswitch, and it reassigns notes to channel 3. You could set up Modules 3 and 4 similarly so this approach offers you the ability to switch between up to five different instruments or articulations, including the default one.

Using MIDI velocity to control the MIDI channel provides an alternative approach to DIY sound switching.

Hard Choices

Some virtual instruments also offer velocity‑based sound switching, whereby different MIDI note velocities trigger different sounds, and your DIY keyswitch can achieve the same thing for instruments that lack this feature — you just need to make some small tweaks to the Input Transformer’s Filter Conditions section, and the second screen shows what’s required. As before, the default sound is on channel 1. The second screenshot shows what’s required and, again, a single condition is specified within the Filter Conditions panel. This time, it looks to see if the incoming MIDI note velocity is larger than 64 (you can set this to whatever velocity value you prefer). If this condition is met, then the Action List commands are executed. So, when a MIDI note arrives with a velocity greater than 64, the MIDI channel is switched to channel 2 before the data is passed on to the virtual instrument.

As seen in the image, Module 2 is also active. The entries in this module are identical to Module 1, but the threshold velocity is set to 100 and the MIDI channel set to channel 3. The combined result of both modules is a three‑way, velocity‑based, switching between MIDI channels 1 (velocity 0‑64), 2 (velocity 65‑100) and 3 (velocity 101‑127). It’s very simple, but it’s effective.

Generic Controller

Of course, the Input Transformer can be used with more than just MIDI notes, velocities, or channel numbers — it can also be used to convert any MIDI data into anything else. Another simple example that demonstrates this pretty well is identifying a specific MIDI CC number and changing it to a different CC number or, if you prefer, into a different sort of continuous MIDI data entirely.

One such transformation might be to turn the Mod Wheel data (MIDI CC1) into Aftertouch data (in this case, strictly speaking, it will be Channel Pressure; the same Aftertouch value will be sent to all notes). This could be useful if you’re trying to get the most from a virtual instrument sound that responds to Aftertouch, but don’t have a keyboard that offers Aftertouch, or if its Aftertouch capability is less than smooth (as, in my experience, is sometimes the case with compact MIDI keyboards of the sort you might use when travelling). Provided that the keyboard offers some sort of CC data control — a Mod Wheel is the most likely offering, even on small keyboards — then the Input Transformer can come to the rescue.

The Input Transformer can also be used to manipulate controller‑style MIDI data in various ways.

The final screenshot, above, shows the Input Transformer settings that are required to achieve this. Hopefully you can see that the Filter Conditions panel now contains two conditions, along with an ‘And’ entry in the final ‘bool’ column. The conditions are set so that incoming MIDI is identified for transformation if it is, first, a controller message and, second, its CC number is 1 (by default, the Mod Wheel transmits as MIDI CC1). Only if both of these conditions are met will the Action List transform the CC1 data into Aftertouch data before then transmitting the event to the virtual instrument. Obviously, with some slight tweaks to the Action List panel, you could target a different parameter (for example, another CC number) with your Mod Wheel CC1 data.

Input Transformer For Dummies?

A couple of points are worth making to bring this gentle introduction to the Input Transformer to a close. First, once you’ve designed an Input Transformer configuration, it’s worth saving it as a preset (to add to those already supplied by Steinberg), so you can recall it later.

Second, try not to be put off by the rather opaque nature of some of the Input Transformer’s settings. In particular, the meaning of Value 1, Value 2 and Value 3, seen in the column pop‑up menus, can leave you scratching your head. These refer to different parameters depending on whether you’re targeting MIDI notes, CC numbers or something else. For instance, in our final example, in the second line of the Filter Conditions panel, I had to select Value 1 in the first column’s pop‑up menu. There is no ‘MIDI Controller Number’ entry in that menu, but that’s what Value 1 represents when the ‘Type is’ is set to Controller in the first line.

This sort of thing can be difficult for some people to get their head around, and is perhaps the thing that new Input Transformer or Logical Editor users find most confusing. While the Cubase Pro Operational Manual PDF has some helpful information, I keep hoping that, one day, a Logical Editor guru at Steinberg will fully document the various options! This would undoubtedly enable more users to benefit from the vast potential of the Logical Editor and Input Transformer. 

Published February 2022

KORG Slimpitch Compact Chromatic Tuner with Full Color Display

Exploring Cubase’s Bundled MIDI Plug-ins

By John Walden

Screen 1: The MIDI Echo plug‑in is an alternative approach to creating delay/echo type effects with your MIDI instruments.

Cubase's stock MIDI plug‑in collection includes some unsung heroes...

New musical ideas aren’t always easy to come by and, while Cubase has all sorts of ‘muse assistance’ tools built in, its rather humble‑looking collection of MIDI plug‑ins can often be all you need to get the creative juices flowing. Both the Pro and Artist versions of Cubase (sorry Elements users!) include a suite of 18 MIDI plug‑ins, and I’ve touched upon a number of these plug‑ins individually in previous columns — for example, I used Arpache SX in SOS December 2020: www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-string-theory-part-2. But as each MIDI/Instrument track has four MIDI insert slots you can use them in combination, and this month I’ll explore how you might do that to provide the creative spark for a new song or composition.

Repeat After Me

The MIDI Echo plug‑in provides a somewhat different approach to the concept of delay/echo than the more commonly used audio‑based delay effects: rather than operate on an instrument’s audio output, It repeats the MIDI notes that are fed into it. In Screen 1, I’ve inserted MIDI Echo into the first MIDI insert slot of an Instrument Track, with a Halion Sonic SE piano sound from the free (and super‑cool) LoFi Piano expansion pack loaded.

Screen 2: The MIDI Monitor plug‑in provides very useful visual feedback when processing your MIDI data.

Note that I’ve also inserted an instance of the MIDI Monitor plug‑in in the final insert slot (see Screen 2), and if you leave this one open as you experiment, you’ll see a live stream of the MIDI data being generated by the MIDI Echo plug‑in. Obviously, you need first and foremost to listen when making changes, but a visual display can be very useful if the adjustments you make aren’t delivering the results you intend.

MIDI Echo’s controls can be used to create simple delay effects, as illustrated by the screenshot settings. The Repeats setting is configured to generate four repetitions of any note played (by default, the first occurs with the actual input note itself), while the negative Velocity Offset value means that the MIDI velocity (and therefore volume) is gradually reduced for each repeat.

The Delay parameter, set here to simple quarter‑note values, determines the delay time: play a note or simple chord, and it will repeat four times, each with gradually lower volume, and with the delay time locked to the project tempo. With various options for different time bases (with dotted and triplet settings) as well as PPQ (effectively giving you a time‑based adjustment if you don’t want the delay locked to the project tempo), you can easily add to the rhythmic interest it creates. Positive Velocity Offset values are also available, so you can make the repeats get gradually louder.

So far, so simple, and although it works in a different way, the results are not so far removed from those you can achieve with an audio‑based delay plug‑in. Yet, other elements within the control set allow us to travel into somewhat different territory. For example, the Beat Align setting allows you to quantise the timing of the very first repeat, and this then plays off against the Delay setting (which controls the timing of subsequent repeats). Or take the Delay Decay setting, which can apply changes to the regularity of the delay repeats.

A Delay Decay of 100 percent means that the Delay setting applies exactly. Lower Delay Decay values gradually shorten the time between each repeat, while higher ones lengthen the delay time. This can result in the repeating notes drifting away from the project tempo — in as subtle or trippy ‘that’s weird’ way as you like!

Screen 3: Once you have MIDI Modifier working as required, add in some Pitch Offset within MIDI Echo to give your semi‑random melodies a bit of musical direction.Length lets you set an absolute length for the repeated notes, which doesn’t have to match the length of the incoming MIDI note, and you can then use the Length Decay setting to apply positive/negative changes to the lengths of the repeated notes. Negative Length Decay values can produce shorter (staccato) repeats, which sound less cluttered, while positive Length Decay times can, again, get quite trippy, and are perhaps best reserved for slower, more ambient contexts.

At this stage, the effects produced are entirely rhythmic in nature. However, MIDI Echo’s final ‘not an audio VST’ trick is to introduce a Pitch Offset, as in Screen 3. This allows you to apply a positive or negative pitch change for each repeat of the note that’s created by the plug‑in. Depending on the setting and the musical context, Pitch Offset can be used to create some really interesting, arpeggio‑like steps in pitch or, if you prefer, dissonant/creepy‑sounding semi‑melodic lines. With simple two‑note chords as the input and some deliberately unsettling rhythm settings courtesy of MIDI Echo’s other parameters, media composers could have a lot of fun using this to scare an audience of a nervous disposition! Equally, a pair of percussive or drum tracks configured with different MIDI Echo settings can generate all sorts of interesting rhythmic results.

Melody Modified

In Screen 4, I’ve added an instance of the MIDI Modifiers plug‑in immediately after MIDI Echo. As the name suggests, this plug‑in lets you make modifications to the MIDI data passing through it so it’s not unlike the Transformer and Input Transformer plug‑ins I explored last month — but you get a more user‑friendly experience in return for accepting a more limited range of modification options. These options, though, are still useful and include transposition, velocity adjustment and velocity and note length reduction/expansion.

Screen 4: The MIDI Modifier’s Random and scale‑based MIDI pitch settings provide some useful creative possibilities.For our ‘inspire me!’ creative quest, the Random and Scale/Scale Note options perhaps offer most potential. With the latter, you can set a specific root note/scale type combination and the plug‑in will scale‑correct the pitch of any incoming MIDI note data, allowing you to exert some control over the creepy/dissonant quotient. If you have used a positive/negative Pitch Offset value in MIDI Echo, this will automatically remove any ‘out of key’ notes and, on its own, can start to generate some interesting melodic phrases. I’ve illustrated this with some audio examples and text descriptions/captions that you’ll find on an accompanying web page: https://sosm.ag/cubase-0322.

The MIDI Modifiers’ Random settings provide further options. You get two slots to randomise any two of note pitch, velocity, length or position. Adding a little velocity randomness is always a good way to make things feel a little more natural. Randomising pitch, though, allied with the scale‑based correction provided by the Scale setting, means that the output from MIDI Echo can generate all sorts of interesting melodic output. A Pitch Offset of zero in MIDI Echo provides a sensible starting point until you’ve worked out what’s going on but, if you then add a positive or negative Pitch Offset into the mix you can start to give the randomly generated melodies an upward or downward pitch bias.

Combined with the rhythmic elements created using MIDI Echo, there are endless cool opportunities to explore here and, again, I’ve tried to demonstrate a few of the possibilities within the audio examples.

Pitch Offset can be used to create some really interesting, arpeggio‑like steps in pitch or, if you prefer, dissonant/creepy‑sounding semi‑melodic lines.

Keep It Real(‑Time)

There are a couple of ‘gotchas!’ to be aware of in this whole process. First, while the majority of what MIDI Echo and MIDI Modifiers do in terms of generating new MIDI notes can be heard ‘live’ (that is, as you play notes on your MIDI keyboard), the pitch randomisation settings cannot: these only work with playback from a recorded/loaded MIDI clip. Second, while you can hear the additional MIDI notes generated by MIDI Echo and MIDI Modifiers plug‑ins on playback, recording the MIDI note output isn’t straightforward — and until you do that you’ll get different ‘random’ results each time you play a sequence back. That’s cool for generating new ideas but not always ideal when trying to finish a project.

To capture the output you can route it to another MIDI track using a virtual MIDI cable (MIDI sends don’t seem to work for this). It’s possible to do this with Groove Agent SE but I’ll cover that another time. Record‑arm the destination track, record the MIDI in real time, and not only should it play back predictably every time, but you can also edit the MIDI manually. Another option is to render an extended performance sequence to audio and comp the best bits from that. Alternatively, you can use the Transformer MIDI plug‑in for both the pitch‑randomisation and scale‑correction functions performed here by MIDI Modifiers. That requires you to dig into the Logical Editor‑style instruction set, though, so I’ll save that for another day too.

Until then, feel free to audition the audio examples and then enjoy what MIDI Echo and MIDI Modifiers can offer by way of musical inspiration. 

Published March 2022

Korg Cliphit – What will you clip and play?

Cubase 12 released

Steinberg update established DAW

Steinberg's flagship music-production platform has just received a major update. As we reported last year, this new version of Cubase will be the first piece of Steinberg software to abandon physical copy protection in favour of a soft-licensing system, but there are many other improvements to its name.

New to Cubase 12 are:

• A new MIDI Remote system that helps to map hardware controllers to Cubase functionality;
• The addition of a Scale Assistant to VariAudio, to aid in automatic pitch correction;
• A new Audio To MIDI chords function, which can extract chord information from polyphonic audio;
• A new multi-effects processor called FX Modulator, which allows you to modulate its parameters using custom LFOs, audio side-chain signals and more;
• Improvements to the AudioWarp time-stretching algorithm, plus the ability to stretch audio directly within your project timeline;
• Improvements to the audio editing workflow, including the addition of new keyboard shortcuts, improved navigation and new slip and nudge edit modes;
• A new dynamics processor called Raiser, which promises extra-fast attack times and ultra-transparent limiting;
• Sample-accurate volume automation;
• New tools for importing tempo and signature tracks from other Cubase projects;
• Compatibility with Bluetooth MIDI (on Windows machines);
• The ability to export channels and stems in isolation while applying correct side-chain processing;
• Improvements to the Logical Editor;
• A new felt piano instrument called Verve;
• Native support for Apple Silicon architecture;
• Smoother waveform drawing.

As well as all the above, Steinberg are also trailing, in a future update to Cubase 12, a suite of Dolby Atmos tools that will let you produce immersive audio entirely within Cubase Pro (chiefly, this means Cubase 12 will eventually get its own integral Atmos Renderer). 

Published 2/3/22

KORG Pa3X Le Professional Arranger Keyboard -- Introduction and Overview

Cubase: Working With Strummed Guitars

By John Walden

Cubase’s Channel Settings window provides all the options needed for you to apply basic tonal sweetening EQ to your strummed acoustic guitar parts. As described in the main text, this might include cutting some of the low end, adding a little high‑end ‘zing’, and/or managing any low‑mid mud or other problematic resonances.

We offer some tips for processing strummed guitars.

I work in a lot of different musical genres and something that appears in almost all of the mainstream ones is strummed acoustic guitar. Really, to achieve a good strummed acoustic sound, the main battle is won or lost at the recording stage: right guitar, right performance, right room, right mic and right mic technique. If you need some advice on that front, I’d suggest checking out Mike Senior’s SOS April 2010 article 'How To Record A Great Acoustic Guitar Sound' and an earlier one by Paul White (August 2001: 'Recording Acoustic Guitar Masterclass').

But if you have a good recording or even choose to program your parts using a virtual guitar instrument, you still need to get that part working well in your mix and to that end, as Mike outlined in his August 2020 SOS Podcast 'Troubleshooting Acoustic Guitar Recordings', some processing of such guitar parts is almost always required at the mix stage. Thankfully, Cubase has a lot of tools to help you on that front, and in this article I’ll explore some strategies that Cubase Elements, Artist or Pro users can try.

Trim The Fat

For almost any strummed acoustic guitar recording, a good first step is to try applying a high‑pass (low‑cut) filter. This can easily be done in the Pre section of Cubase’s Channel Settings panel or its MixConsole, using the Low Cut control. The slope of the filter means it reaches gently up from the specified turnover frequency, and if you set it around 30‑40 Hz it should take care of any unwanted bumps and rumbles that can eat up headroom and trigger dynamics processors such as compressors, without impacting negatively on the guitar sound itself. You might or might not want to roll this up higher as you get further into the mix, to carve out space for other instruments (that all depends on the mix in question) but this is generally a decent place to start — even if you can’t actually hear any difference!

A further low/low‑mid EQ move might help too, and be rather easier to hear. I’ll often try ‘cleaning out’ some frequencies in the 200‑500 Hz range. Don’t get me wrong, this sort of decision is all about context, of course. But lots of instruments have energy within this range, and if it’s left unchecked on all sources you’ll often hear a build‑up of ‘mud’. Since strummed acoustic guitars are rarely contributing much of real musical importance in this region, I usually find that cleaning them up in this region allows more prominent parts the space they need.

For such cuts, Artist/Elements users can turn to the Channel Settings EQ section — I suggest experimenting with a static cut of a few dB somewhere in this frequency range, with a Q value around 1‑2 being a good starting point in terms of bandwidth. You’ll often audition the result in solo but make sure you also listen to it in the context of the mix — depending on the style of the production, you might be surprised by just how far you can go with cuts in this area before you perceive the guitar as sounding ‘thin’. If you do choose to be fairly aggressive, though, make sure you listen to it in the parts of the mix where the guitar part is most exposed.

Frequency 2 offers Cubase Pro users the option of using dynamic EQ. This allows you to control when cuts or boosts are applied, using compressor‑like controls for each EQ band.

Cubase Pro users have a more sophisticated option for this ‘mud removal’ job: a dynamic EQ band can be applied using the Frequency 2 plug‑in. Actually, Frequency presents you with a number of potentially useful options, but the most simple is often enough: you configure Frequency 2 to apply a cut only when the guitar displays particularly high energy in the target frequency band. As shown in the Frequency 2 screenshot, you can take this further by adjusting the Start control. This way, you can apply both a static (always on) cut, in this case of 1.7dB, with some additional dynamic cut when there’s more energy in this band. The combination of the Threshold, Ratio and Gain controls determine the extent of the latter, and as you’re only cutting when it’s really needed you can, in theory at least, be left with a more natural tonal balance most of the time.

Enhancing Or Taming Top-end Zing

Having brought the lower frequencies under control, you can turn your attention to the top end. Again, you can’t EQ by numbers since what’s required here always depends on the tone of the original recording and the instrument’s role within the mix. But if you want to enhance (or tame) the ‘zing’, a good starting point is to adjust the 10‑15 kHz frequency range, and perhaps even higher.

For Elements or Artist users, in the absence of a multiband compressor, Cubase’s DeEsser plug‑in can be used to tame some frequency‑specific issues such as pick click.Elements/Artist users can configure band 4 of the Channel Settings EQ as a high shelf; I tend to use the type IV shape, but pick what sounds best to you. Set it to start somewhere around 10‑15 kHz and adjust the gain to boost/cut to taste. Again, Pro users might do something similar with Frequency 2, and investigate the additional potential of dynamic boosts or cuts. As shown in the screenshot, and like with our low‑mid cut, the Start control lets you apply a fixed boost/cut if required, and any dynamic element can be ‘superimposed’ on this static setting.

Balancing Act

While the low end and high end are the obvious places to start, there may well be other frequency ranges that could benefit from some TLC. Overprominent resonances can be caused by various things, such as the room within which the recording was made, the specific instrument being played, or the skill/consistency of the player. Whatever the cause, though, such resonances might mean some notes or note ranges tend to sound louder/quieter than others. That’s rarely desirable in a strummed chord, so how should you tackle it?

Compression can undoubtedly be part of the solution, but it can also be worth applying a little EQ first to target any specific frequency ranges that appear to be problematic. Pro and Artist users can put the SuperVision metering plug‑in to good use here — inspect the frequency curve for obvious humps and hollows. Elements users can use the frequency spectrum display in the Channel Settings window to similar effect.

Whether by ear or by eye, if you find a very specific frequency range that needs a little attention – perhaps associated with a single resonating pitch — a narrow‑band cut/boost can be applied, whether via the Channel Settings EQ (Elements/Artist) or dynamically via Frequency 2 (Pro; just cutting/boosting when the resonance is most problematic). However, care is needed if you end up with two or more cuts at similar frequencies as the possible overlap between the filters can result in some unpleasant artefacts. Frequency 2’s Linear Phase mode can help in this regard, although the processing involved does add additional latency and can’t be combined with dynamic EQ in the specific band. You should also listen out for the effect on notes in other parts of the performance — EQ a high E note and it will likely impact on the harmonics of a low E, for example (if it does, then dynamic EQ can be a useful tactic).

Pick Control

Depending on the recording and performance, pick noise may be apparent. If it’s too loud it can be a distraction but the ‘clicky’ (rapid transient) element of the pick noise (generally above 5kHz) can also contribute usefully, enhancing the percussive nature of the guitar part. While a single band of a multiband compressor (focused on the required frequency range and with fast attack/release settings) can often be put to good use here, Elements and Artist users don’t have that option in their stock plug‑in collection. Thankfully, for toning down a too‑clicky pick, the De‑esser plug‑in provides an alternative. In the screenshot example, I’ve focused on the 5‑10 kHz range and set a fast release (you can’t change the attack time). In dialling in the required frequency band, the Solo and Diff buttons are particularly useful as they let you hear exactly what the De‑Esser is taking away from the signal.

Pro users could use the Multiband Compressor but, having come this far with Frequency 2, I’d happily suggest using a dynamic band focused on the required frequency range to either boost or reduce the pick attack as needed. Here, you can control both attack and release times on the dynamic EQ, and the Listen button (when Side‑Chain is set to Internal) allows you to solo the band to hear exactly what elements of the sound you are processing.

On The Spot

Noise generated by finger movements across the fretboard often find their way into acoustic guitar recordings. In some cases, these ‘spot’ noises add a sense of realism to a performance (indeed, there are pop tracks where said squeaks often seemed to be emphasised for effect) but, usually, they’re an unwanted intrusion.

While EQ or clip‑based volume automation can be used to subdue spot noises such as finger squeaks, spectral editing via SpectraLayers (the One or Pro versions) is a very effective alternative. It allows you to adjust the gain over very tightly specified time/frequency ranges.Conventional EQ can address them to some extent but there are usually ways to achieve a better result. Elements users can try detailed level automation to duck the level of the performance by a few dB, to mask the offending noises, whereas Pro/Artist users can turn to a dynamic EQ band in Frequency 2 or attempt some spectral editing using SpectraLayers One. SL One doesn’t offer all the selection options of SL Pro, but finding finger noise, selecting the required frequency/time range, and then adjusting the gain of that selection, is fairly easy. If your performance has a lot of finger noise it’s somewhat time consuming but, short of re‑recording, this is likely to be the method that enables you to achieve the most satisfying results.

Splendid Isolation?

I’ve provided some audio examples (available on the SOS website: https://sosm.ag/cubase-0422) to accompany the suggestions made here. In the majority of the audio examples, I’ve provided just the isolated guitar part to make auditioning easy. With any EQ moves made when mixing, though, while you might use the solo function, you should always make sure you audition them in the context of the other parts in the mix too. It’s an iterative process, and in a busy arrangement you may well find that moves that sound quite radical when soloed can seem more subtle in the mix. Provided you don’t rob the guitar of its overall impact, the more of it you can surgically chip away, the more sonic space you have to let other instruments shine.

Either way, whether Elements, Artist or Pro, Cubase 11 has all the tools you need to get good results. And once your EQ‑based tonal balancing is done, you can move on to some additional dynamics control... but that’s a discussion for another day.   

Published April 2022