Drum Triggering

 By Matt Houghton

If you've ever wanted a cheap and easy way to do drum 

replacement with Cubase, there are some good solutions 

out there...

While it is, of course, best to capture the right sound at source while recording, everyone comes across times when they'd like to have captured a different drum sound, or a more consistent performance. Whether the purpose is remixing or emergency surgery on sub-standard recordings, drum replacement seems to have become an increasingly common technique in much modern music production.

For years, though, this is an area in which I've found Cubase to be rather lacking. Even the old PC version of Logic has a simpler method than the latest versions of Cubase, and in the past I've often turned to Logic or Pro Tools for this task.

One obvious option for Cubase users is to use a commercial drum replacement plug-in. If you've ever looked into these, you'll have heard of Drumagog (www.drumagog.com), which, alongside Digidesign's Soundreplacer (for Pro Tools), has long been an industry-standard tool. Though Drumagog offers great results, it isn't a modest purchase for the home studio musician, and it offers arguably more functionality than you need for simple jobs. With this in mind, I decided it was about time I discovered ways of going about drum replacement inside Cubase without having to splash the cash.

Hitpoints

My first thought was to try to find a way to use the hitpoint function to detect the beat and to use that to generate MIDI information to trigger a sampler. However, I soon discovered that Sam Inglis had beaten me to it, back in SOS August 2005 (www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug05/articles/cubasetech.htm). He devised a way of using hitpoints generated from multitrack drum recordings to line up replacement drum beats. I take my hat off to Sam for his patience in finding that particular solution because, although it remains the only way I know to do this using Cubase 's in-built functionality, and although constructing the macros he suggested makes things a little easier, it is still not (at least for me) an intuitive approach. Of course, it may work for you, and it's well worth checking out that article.

Cubase 4.0.2 Update

Steinberg have issued an update to Cubase 4 and Cubase Studio 4 that fixes 51 minor bugs in these programmes. Version 4.0.2 was released on 2nd March and is available as a free download from the Steinberg website (www.steinberg.net). For details of what has been fixed you can download a PDF document of the version history, which also lists the remaining known issues and suggested workarounds.

Third Party

With the options inside Cubase apparently so limited, my next thought was to see what cheap or freeware third-party solutions existed.

The first product that cropped up on a web search was Digital Black's Raven DRT for Windows (see screenshot below left), and I promptly downloaded the demo from their web site (www.digital-black.net). This plug-in offers functionality that is not a million miles away from Drumagog and, though it is not as feature-packed, at $35 it is much more affordable. You define the threshold, set a filter to determine the trigger frequencies, and either load samples (up to eight different samples, triggered by different velocities — which is great if you have something like the free multi-layer NS7 Kit) or set it to output a MIDI note. While I initally had some difficulty getting it to trigger the samples I loaded in (this may be a plug-in compatibility issue with Cubase 4, as I've had similar issues now with a few plug-ins!), it eventually worked pretty well, with good, tight timing. The biggest issue I have with Raven DRT versus Drumagog (other than it being Windows-only) is that there's no visual representation of the incoming audio, and you must set everything by ear. Apart from this, for Windows users at least, it provides a neat and pretty reliable MIDI trigger at a decent price.

Boxsounds freeware Replacer provides a nice, basic drum-trigger solution for PC users.Another popular product is Apulsoft's Aptrigga 2, which provides a similar solution to Raven and is available for both Mac and PC. Downloadable for 35 Euros from www.apulsoft.ch, it is slightly more costly, but it includes some simple metering to help you set thresholds and filters, and it comes with a well-written manual, so it is still pretty good value. Unlike Raven, though, there is no MIDI output, so you are limited to triggering the samples that you load in to Aptrigga.

Moving on, I discovered that there are a few good freeware/donationware solutions. Like Aptrigga, Boxsounds' PC-only Replacer (www.boxsounds.com) has no MIDI output but allows you to load in samples. These must be in WAV format, though — which is a little frustrating if you happen to have a vast drum-sample library in a different format! Again, there is no graphical representation of the audio to aid you in setting the trigger. Also, you are limited to triggering up to four separate sounds and, while this may be enough for some styles, it isn't ideal. On the other hand, what it does, it does pretty well, and as it's free you can't really complain!

With 24 channels, plenty of control and a visual display of the trigger points, KT Drum Trigger from Smart Electronix is arguably the best freeware drum trigger.If you prefer to trigger MIDI, and don't need the sample functionality, you could try the very unfussy JTRIG (www.jens.org/stuff/jtrig/readme.htm). It doesn't have its own GUI, so all you get are the default slider controls in Cubase to set the trigger level, attack and release times, the MIDI note and channel, and a couple more basic functions. A similar, but more aesthetically pleasing alternative is Fretted Synth Audio's Drum Direction (www.frettedsynth.asseca.com).

A more comprehensive option — and the best freeware solution I came across by quite a distance — is KT Drum Trigger, by Koen, of Smart Electronix (www.smartelectronix.com). Like J Trigga, KT Drum Trigger only outputs MIDI, so you need to use it in conjunction with a sampler, synth or drum module. However, it offers much more extensive functionality — so much so that it can at first appear a little daunting. You are confronted by 63 separate slider controls and six graphs, spread across three separate trigger channels. Further investigation reveals that the plug-in offers up to 24 separate channels (more than you could possibly need for drums, though I'm sure there must be some more creative uses this could be put to!). Each channel includes a filter that is settable to low pass, band pass or high pass, and allows full control over cutoff frequency, Q and gain. Not only do you get a graphical representation of the audio passing through each channel but, as with Drumagog, markers appear to show visually which parts of the waveform are triggering the notes. Though it takes a little effort setting up the filters, I found that it wasn't too difficult to generate pretty accurate MIDI information relating to kick, snare and hi-hats (which, let's face it, is the essence of most drum patterns) from a single stereo drum loop. KT Drum Trigger also offers an audio thru mode, which means you can still listen to and process the original drum recording as usual, and merge the sound with those triggered by the plug-in. You also have much greater control over the MIDI information that this plug-in generates than you do with the others mentioned above. Not only can you select the note and MIDI channel, but you can also have the plug-in derive MIDI velocity from the level of the incoming audio (which works brilliantly where the performance is good, but you wish to change the sound), or it can be set to a fixed velocity (great for an erratic performance, where you want to achieve a more consistent level).

MIDI Routing

Having found a plug-in capable of doing the job, I encountered complications with the MIDI routing in Cubase. For example, if you place separate instances of your drum trigger plug-in on different elements of your multitrack drums (for example, one on the kick channel, one on the hi-hat and one on the snare), the MIDI output of each will be treated by Cubase as a separate MIDI source — one for each instance.

To route multiple drum-trigger signals to your drum module, you may want to set up an empy MIDI track for each instance of your plug-in. Select the relevant drum trigger output as the MIDI In source and your drum module channel as the destination. Also note that the orange 'monitor' button is on for BFD here: if this, or the record button, isn't enabled, your drum module won't play the incoming data.No surprises so far, but this can present problems, because the MIDI track for your drum module can only be set to receive either a single MIDI input or all MIDI inputs — you cannot define two or three specific inputs, while at the same time excluding others. This may be fine if you are replacing only one drum part but for multiple parts, especially if you have other MIDI information flowing around your project, it can be something of a pain.

To get around this issue, there are two possible approaches. The most simple is to create a separate, empty MIDI channel for each instance of the trigger plug-in. Set the MIDI input source to the plug-in's output, set the channel's output to the drum module, and ensure the orange monitor button on both MIDI tracks is on. The MIDI data will then be routed through each channel to your drum module.

Of course, you might sometimes want to try the trigger signals on more than one drum module, or experiment with sounds from different modules. In this case, it might prove easier to use a virtual MIDI cable, and there is one built into OS X on the Mac (if you've not discovered this yet, you can find it at Applications / Utilities / Audio MIDI Setup), and on the PC you can install a freeware one such as MIDI Yoke (www.midiox.com/myoke) or Maple (www.hurchalla.com/Maple_driver.html). A virtual MIDI cable allows you to group and route MIDI tracks, and it works across all the MIDI applications open on your computer. As before, you'll need to create separate MIDI channels, but this time, instead of routing the output direct to your drum module's MIDI channel, assign it to one of the virtual MIDI channels. Then, on each drum module's MIDI channel, select the corresponding virtual cable from the drop-down as the channel's MIDI input source. This technique proves particularly useful if you want to create layered sounds, using multiple modules.

Getting Creative

One pleasant discovery I made while researching this article was that you don't have to limit yourself to using drum triggers with recorded drums or drum samples. I can't play drums and, though I'd like to, I don't have the resolve to spend years learning to play them as well as I'd insist they should be played on my tracks. I don't get on very well with the MPC-style drum pads either but, like many people, I often find myself absent-mindedly 'beatboxing,' or tapping out rhythms on the desk, steering wheel, or whatever comes to hand.

A virtual MIDI cable — in this case Marblesounds' Maple — can be useful to route the MIDI data from multiple drum triggers to multiple drum modules.If you often find yourself doing the same, it might be worth experimenting with drum-trigger plug-ins as a means of inputting your drum parts. All you need do is set up a microphone and record yourself tapping or beatboxing away. Provided you make sufficiently percussive sounds (so there is plenty of attack — otherwise the timing will be a bit late) you can use this signal to trigger your drum sounds. As when working with recorded drum loops, if you make sure that you create sounds at sufficiently different frequencies that can be isolated by filters, you can trigger more than one part at once. For example, I found that tapping with my thumb gave a lower sound than tapping with the fingernail of my index finger. An alternative would be to set up a junk kit using, for example, stationery or kitchen utensils in place of a drum kit. As we've seen, by setting the filters on KT Drum Trigger it is pretty easy to trigger three separate parts from a single audio source. Thereafter, though, isolating the sounds so that the filters can separate them becomes more tricky. If you can do better, let me know how you get on!

Using this approach, it is easy to trigger new parts to add percussion to existing drum tracks, playing along in time to the track. To do this in real time, though, you will of course need a sufficiently low latency audio interface: latencies that seem acceptable when you're singing or playing guitar soon become irritating when working with shorter, percussive sounds.

If you haven't tried this before, you really should. It is a bit of a surreal experience beatboxing into an SM58, or hitting an invisible kit, and hearing 'real' drums playing back, but when you get used to it, it provides a genuinely useful way of getting down your rhythmic ideas.

Realism

If you are remixing, for some styles it may be fine to trigger the same hit every time a beat is detected. However, it is often desirable to have a little variation, so things sound a little more human. As I mentioned earlier, one way to do this is to ensure that you trigger hits at different velocities. This works better if you have a multi-layered sampler or drum module patch, so you get slightly different hits at different velocities.

If you have a drum module such as BFD, that has a dynamic control, you can use automation to breathe life into your triggerd drums. This is particularly useful for hi-hats.If you have one of the more advanced modules, such as BFD, which I was using for my testing while I was writing this article, then you can also vary the dynamic of the played drum parts. Though you can only extract the basic groove from the original drums, you can vary what gets played by automating the module's 'dynamic' control, either for the whole kit or for individual kit pieces. I found that this worked particularly well with BFD when I was triggering hi-hat parts. The sound can otherwise tend to get a bit repetitive, as your drum trigger isn't really capable of detecting whether the hi-hat is open, closed, or somewhere in between. Automating the dynamic control of the hi-hat or of the whole kit will vary how the part is played back and make the resulting part feel more natural.

This prompted another thought, although I didn't have time to try experiment (if anyone does, please let me know what happens): it should be possible, using audio-to-MIDI controller plug-ins (such as Venusian Snails' Gatefish) to use the level of the incoming audio as an automation source for the dynamic control (or anything else, such as send level, for example), so that parts get slightly busier as the source track gets louder.

Some of the uses I've described above go rather further than drum 'replacement', but it is perfectly possible to use these tools more subtly. The better results I achieved were where I took 'good' samples of the kick from the original kick-drum track, loaded these into a sampler and used a drum trigger plug-in to play them back. As the 'replacement' sounds are from the original recording, this can give very credible results when played alongside the other drum parts.

Anyway, there we have it: drum replacement in Cubase on a budget. Happy triggering! 

Published May 2007

Korg opsix - Randomize

Creating Rhythmic Effects With MIDI Gate

By John Walden

Using a gate to create rhythmic performances from sustained sounds is a classic dance-music trick, but the same approach can work in almost any contemporary music style.

Drums and percussion dominate the rhythmic elements of many modern musical styles. Sometimes, however, it's nice to let other instruments help drive things along, and there is plenty of musical fun to be had by making the harmonic content also do some rhythmic work. Of course, there are all sorts of ways of approaching this — including something as a simple as a well-strummed acoustic guitar — but, for the techie geek in all of us, the MIDI Gate plug-in (which has been around in Cubase for some time) provides some interesting creative options.

The MIDI Gate plug-in is great for creating rhythmic effects from a sustained sound.

The MIDI Gate is, in essence, a noise gate that is applied to an audio track. However, it is triggered to open and close by MIDI data routed from a MIDI track, rather than by an audio signal. While the plug-in has a number of uses, it provides an excellent tool for taking a sustained sound and chopping it up in a way that provides rhythmic interest or reinforces other rhythmic elements in the project. These possibilities can be further enhanced with judicious use of one or two of Cubase 4 's other plug-ins. Let's get some rhythm...

Source Material

In order to experiment with the MIDI Gate, some suitable audio source material is required. While this could be almost any sort of performance, a good starting point is a sustained synth sound (a pad or lead sound, for example) or other sustained sound such as an overdriven guitar. These can be playing a single note or chord or, for something a little more interesting, a progression of notes or chords, each of which is sustained prior to a pitch change. The audio samples on the SOS web site at www.soundonsound.com/sos/ jun07/articles/cubaseaudio.htm contain examples based on a heavily overdriven guitar sound, but the same processing could just as easily be applied to other sustained sounds.

What-a-Gate

One feature that many users (especially those who can remember studios when they were dominated by hardware rather than software!) would like to see appear in Cubase is side-chaining. Side-chaining allows the response of an effects processor to be influenced not by the audio signal it is processing but by an alternative audio input. One of the more common applications of this might be in 'ducking' (that is, lowering the level of) a backing track when a voice appears. A compressor with a side-chain input can be used for this. The compressor is inserted onto the backing track, but the side-chain input is fed from the vocal track. Whenever the vocal is present, the compressor is set to kick in and automatically lower the level of the backing track by a suitable amount. This is often used with voiceovers in adverts and ensures that the vocal — the most important element of the sales message — remains clear and is not in danger of being lost beneath the backing track.

In Note Off mode and with the Velocity To VCA set at maximum, triggering is controlled by the length of each MIDI note and its velocity.Side-chain inputs are also a common feature on hardware noise gates and, as described above, one common application is to create a rhythmic performance from a sustained sound. So, while Cubase does not, by default, include a means for triggering either a compressor or a gate plug-in from an external audio source (although it can be done — see the 'Side-chained Melody' box for details), in MIDI Gate, it does provide a way of triggering a gate via a MIDI track.

Page 48 of the Cubase 4 Plug-in Reference PDF manual does a good job of describing how to configure the MIDI Gate plug-in, so there is no need to go into too much detail here. In essence, it is placed as an insert effect on the audio track that is to be processed. A MIDI track is then created and the output destination of this track is set to the audio track containing the MIDI Gate. Any MIDI data held on this MIDI track (either recorded or played live) is then fed to the MIDI gate to control its behaviour.

The MIDI Gate plug-in contains a single switch and six rotary controls. The Hold Mode switch determines how the gate responds to the length of the MIDI note that triggers it. In Note On mode (when the Note On button is grey), the gate stays open for the length of time determined by the Hold and Release controls, and the length of the MIDI note plays no part. In contrast, in Note Off mode, the gate remains open for the length of the MIDI note, with the Hold and Release settings applying only once the Note Off message has been received.

Once a MIDI Gate has been inserted into an audio track, it becomes available as a possible output for any MIDI track.

The Attack, Hold and Release settings are all fairly self-explanatory. As might be expected, if you want your MIDI performance to have absolute control over how the gate behaves, setting all these controls to zero while in Note Off mode will mean the gate opens instantly when a MIDI note triggers it, and closes equally quickly once that note finishes. When applied to a sustained audio sound, this provides a means of 'chopping' the sound — opening and closing the gate — with as much precision as you include in your MIDI performance.

The three lower controls all allow MIDI velocity to influence the operation of the gate. Positive values of the Note To Attack or Note To Release controls cause higher MIDI note velocities to extend the Attack and Release times of the gate respectively, while negative values mean higher velocities open or close the gate more quickly. However, perhaps the most interesting control is Velocity To VCA. At a setting of zero, the volume of the audio is unaffected by the MIDI note velocity (that is, the audio volume is determined entirely by the volume of the original audio track and its settings). However, with increasing values of the Velocity To VCA control, MIDI note velocity exerts an influence on the audio volume of the gate output. This can be particularly useful when using MIDI Gate to 'chop' a sustained sound into rhythmic slices, as it provides a means of adding some volume variation to the resulting performance.

Hand Chop

MIDI Gate can, of course, be triggered by a 'live' MIDI performance or via a recorded MIDI part. The former provides the most creative fun, even if such a live performance is then recorded for some detailed editing. The most straightforward starting point is to select Note On mode with a very short Hold setting (about 0.1) and all other controls set to zero. Any MIDI notes then open the gate for a short, fixed time period with no MIDI velocity control. Essentially, the rhythm of the MIDI notes dictates the rhythm of the 'chopped' audio. Depending upon the sound being used, this can create a percussive element or, if the audio contains strong harmonic content (sustained chords or long notes within a slow moving melody line), a staccato rhythm part can be generated.

A different response is created by selecting Note Off mode, Velocity To VCA to maximum and all other controls to zero. Now, the length of the audio slices is controlled by the length of the MIDI notes and the MIDI velocity controls the audio volume. This provides plenty of performance options, but also means that a little practice might be needed (or some post-performance MIDI editing) to achieve the required performance.

Side-chained Melody

Twisted Lemon's Sidekick plug-in provides a way to get some audio side-chaining effects within Cubase — and it's free! If you are a regular Cubase user but frustrated by the lack of simple side-chaining functionality in the various audio compressor and gate plug-ins provided by Steinberg, there is a solution. Sidekick is a VST plug-in, available as a free download from Twisted Lemon's web site (www.twistedlemon.nl), which can be used for both ducking (compression) and keying (gating) applications by linking the audio between two tracks within the same project. Instances of Sidekick have to be inserted into both the track to be controlled and the track that is going to drive the gate or compression process. Up to four instances of the plug-in can be used in a given project and these are identified as ±, ¾, « and ¥. Linking the audio track you wish to be controlled then simply requires the 'Use Virtual Channel' setting to match that of the instance of Sidekick in the audio track that is to drive the process.

The Twisted Lemon web site provides details of which DAW hosts the plug-in has been tested with and, while I have not done extensive tests within Cubase 4, my initial experiments were encouraging. For example, I was able to recreate the gating process described in the main article using an audio hi-hat track as the trigger to gate a sustained guitar part. I didn't encounter any stability issues (often a concern with freeware) and, if you hanker after a side-chain capability, Sidekick is well worth a look.

Drumming Up Trouble

A common trick when using a noise gate with an external side-chain input is to feed that input from a drum track (for example, a hi-hat, snare or kick drum mic) so that the noise gate operating on the sustained sound is triggered by the drum sound. Heard with the drum sound, this obviously synchronises tightly with the drum track, while if the drum track itself is muted and only used to trigger the gate, it can be used to replace an element of the drum mix with an alternative sound but the same rhythmic pattern.

Providing you are working with a MIDI-based drum track, this same process can be emulated using the MIDI Gate plug-in. All that is required is to copy the MIDI parts from the drum track to a second MIDI track and, as before, set the output of that track to direct data to the MIDI Gate plug-in. By using Cubase 's MIDI editing features, the MIDI data can be edited to produce the required result. For example, all MIDI notes except those that trigger the hi-hat could be muted. Again, some experimentation with the Note On and Note Off modes and the Hold and Velocity To VCA controls can produce a variety of effects.

Pedal Power

While there are plenty of possibilities offered by MIDI Gate in the approach described above, it is easy to add a further dimension with some additional processing. One classic option (or cliché, depending upon your viewpoint!) is to add a filter-based plug-in to the audio track after the MIDI Gate. This can add some nice timbral movement to the sound. While Cubase includes some nice filter plug-ins that can be automatically synched to the Project tempo (such as the Step Filter or Tonic plug-ins supplied in earlier versions of Cubase), for simplicity, the WahWah plug-in is well worth some experimentation.

Here, a MIDI hi-hat part with variable velocity is being used to trigger the MIDI Gate plug-in.

As its name suggests, WahWah is intended to emulate the sound of a stomp-box wah-wah pedal — although it does contain more controls than most stomp-boxes. The user can specify the frequency, resonance (width) and gain for both the 'lo' and 'hi' positions of the pedal control. The filter sweeps between these two settings as the Pedal control is tweaked and the slope of the filter can be switched between 6dB or 12dB. The screenshot shows a good starting point for further experimentation, with the lo and hi Width controls set at a fairly neutral 50 and the lo and hi Gain both set at zero. The gentler 6dB filter slope also makes for a more subtle (and easier to control) effect.

The settings for the lo and hi Frequency controls influence how radical the filter sweep effect is between the extremes of the Pedal control's range. While the best values for these settings will depend very much on the nature of the audio material being processed, in this example, I've used a fairly narrow range (400 and 2400Hz respectively) and this represents a nice compromise: plenty of 'wah' but not so much that even small movements of the Pedal control produce a huge change in the tone of the audio.

For some extra fun, add in an instance of the WahWah plug-in and control it via the Modulation Wheel (as here), or via MIDI velocity.

Of course, the best bit is when the Pedal control gets tweaked. Clicking on the label beneath this virtual knob will display a pop-up from which a number of controller options are available (personally, I tend go with the Modulation wheel). As with the MIDI Gate, once WahWah is placed as an Insert effect on the audio track to be processed, it becomes available as an output destination for any MIDI track. This should now result in two MIDI tracks that can potentially alter the way our audio track is heard — one controlling MIDI Gate and the other the Pedal of the WahWah plug-in. If you select both these tracks in the Track List, your MIDI keyboard will send data to both tracks, and combining both MIDI note and Modulation wheel data in a single performance provides control of both the gate and filter effects. The audio samples on the web site demonstrate the kind of results that are possible from this fairly simple (and non-CPU-intensive) combination.

If you want to add some additional ear candy, including an instance of the AutoPan plug-in in the Insert effects chain for the audio track is an obvious next step. With the Sync option switched on, the Rate of panning can be set to create either a subtle sweep between the speakers or a more rapid (and more noticeable) movement. The Width setting controls how far the sound travels between the left-right extremes.

It Takes Two

Combining multiple tracks that have been sliced via MIDI Gate is also perfectly possible, but this does need to be carefully done, as you can have too much of a good thing: it is very easy to go overboard and end up with a mix that is all tricks and has no focus. For example, two or more different sounds being sliced and bounced around the stereo image, while perhaps fine for a short, sharp special effect (perhaps a couple of bars linking two main song sections), is likely to be very distracting if placed alongside a lead vocal in a chorus or verse section.

If you select both MIDI tracks, you can control the MIDI Gate plug-in (via MIDI notes) and the WahWah effect (via the Modulation Wheel) simultaneously.

A more subtle approach is to take the same sound source and place it on two audio tracks, each with an instance of MIDI Gate and an appropriate MIDI track to control it. Each audio track could, if required, also have an instance of WahWah and AutoPan inserted. Providing some suitable restraint is employed, this opens up a number of creative possibilities, including some quite complex rhythmic and stereo effects.

Finally, a further, more experimental application of the general approach outlined, above is to take a MIDI drum track and separate out each of the main elements (kick, snare, hi-hat and so on) onto different MIDI tracks. These can then be used to trigger a MIDI Gate inserted to the equivalent number of audio tracks with each audio track containing a different sustained sound and, depending upon the audio sound sources, this can provide an interesting alternative to a traditional drum kit.  

Published June 2007

SQ-64: beats, bass, modular, oh my!

Working With Multiple Takes

By John Walden

Four takes of the same vocal line displayed as lanes within a single audio track. Note that the last take is displayed at the bottom of the stack and is therefore the one that is currently heard on playback.

Love it or loathe it, computer-based recording has made compiling the perfect performance a whole lot easier than with that pesky tape. We look at 'comping' techniques in Cubase 4.

Whatever your own personal stance on the relative merits of analogue tape and digital hard drive as alternative formats for multitrack recording, in one regard, at least, computer-based recording wins hands down: the ease of editing. Of course, this can be both a blessing and a curse. On the negative side, it is perfectly possible to overdo the editing process and, eventually, remove the life from a recorded performance. However, used with the right musical sensibilities, the sophisticated editing tools available in a DAW such as Cubase 4 offer a powerful creative environment.

One of the most obvious ways this manifests itself is in the recording and editing of multiple takes. The ability to cycle through a particular song section makes it so much easier for the musician to get into the flow of the performance and, hopefully, produce something memorable. Once the recording has been made, being able to identify the best take, or piece together the 'perfect' take at your leisure, is something that is so much easier in a DAW than with magnetic tape. So, what is the best way to approach this process in Cubase 4?

Around & Around

Cubase 4 's Cycle mode is the most straightforward way to record multiple takes. Setting the positions of the Left and Right Locators to define the section to loop can be done via clicking and dragging the mouse along the main Ruler or via entering the required positions in the Transport Panel (providing you have the Locators section of the Transport Panel displayed). They can also be set to the current project cursor position using key commands ( Ctrl+Number Pad 1 or Ctrl+Number Pad 2 for the Left and Right Locator respectively). Alternatively, the Locators can be set around the currently selected objects (Events, Parts, and so on) within the Project window. Using the 'P' key command simply positions the two locators, while using the Shift+G key combination sets the locators, engages Cycle playback mode and starts playback from the Left Locator — very neat! Of course, it makes sense to set the Locators around a somewhat longer section of the song than you actually need to record in. For example, a couple of extra bars is usually enough to allow musicians to prepare themselves for the start of their performance, while a bar at the end usually allows enough time for any sustained notes to fade out.

The Record Mode and Locators displays within the Transport Panel.When recording audio in Cycle mode, how Cubase actually handles the process can depend upon settings made in two different locations: the Transport Panel and the Preferences dialogue. The choices made in the Preferences / Record window are of the 'set-and-forget' variety. Three options are available for the Audio Cycle Record Mode setting, and the difference between these depends upon an understanding of the differences between audio Regions and audio Events. These are defined in the 'What's In A Name?' box but, for reasons that are explained later, the Create Events + Regions option is probably the most sensible choice to make in terms of flexibility.

If the Record Mode options are displayed in the Transport Panel, a further five settings are available to configure how recording operates in Cycle mode. The first two of these apply to MIDI recording. Of the three options that apply to audio, 'Stacked' is probably the one to choose. 'Keep Last' does pretty much what it says, in that only the last take through the looped section is displayed within the project window (although the other takes are not discarded and can be retrieved from the Pool if required). The difference between 'Stacked' and 'Stacked 2 (No Mute)' is simply that, in the former, all takes expect the last one are automatically muted in the Project window. However, in both cases, the individual takes are all stored on the audio track and, if the Lanes Display Type button is engaged (Lanes Fixed mode), then each take is seen as a separate lane on the track. The last take is placed at the bottom of the stack and therefore forms the currently audible take.

If the Cycle mode setting in the Transport Panel is set to either of the two MIDI options while audio recording is being performed, Cubase defaults to the option specified in the Preferences dialogue (described above) and, again, a separate take is recorded for each pass through the looped section of the song.

With all this preparation done — which takes longer to describe than it does to actually perform — you are now ready to record your multiple takes.

Did You Get That?

While Cycle mode allows you to endlessly repeat a performance to finally get it right, have you ever been rehearsing a part with the project in playback, only to sing or play the perfect take?

Fortunately, providing that an audio track was armed for recording, that 'I wish I'd just recorded that' feeling can be overcome using Cubase 's 'Audio Pre-Record' option. This allows you to capture up to 60 seconds of audio, even when record was not activated. In order to configure this option, you need to set the length of the pre-record time in the Preferences / Record dialogue. The Cubase documentation says that enabling this option causes audio to be captured into a memory buffer. While no technical details are provided, I assume this does mean a certain amount of RAM is allocated to the task, so there is probably a price to pay in this respect. However, I have not found this setting to have a significant impact upon the performance of my own system and, when you find yourself needing it, this facility can be a complete life-saver.

It's Not Comp-licated

Having made your recording, it is then time to audition the performances and, if there is not a single stand-out take, to compile the 'perfect' performance by selecting the best bits from each take. There are actually two main (and very similar) ways of doing this: the first, via the Audio Part Editor; and the latter (described below), directly within the Project window. My own preference, for neatness if nothing else, is to use the Audio Part Editor, and I'll look at this first.

The Record options in the Preferences dialogue. Note the Audio Cycle Record Mode and the Audio Pre-Record Seconds settings.In order to use the Audio Part Editor, you first need to combine your various takes into an audio Part. If you have chosen either of the options in the Preferences dialogue that 'Creates Events' in Cycle mode, each take created by the recording processes will be a Cubase audio Event. To combine these into an audio Part simply requires that you select them all (for example, via the mouse) and then choose the Events To Part' option from the Audio menu (or right-click and select the same thing from the Audio / Events To Part option in the context-sensitive menu that appears). The appearance of the takes then alters to indicate the change of status. Double-clicking on the new audio Part will open it in the Audio Part Editor. The appearance of this window is rather like a multi-lane version of the Sample Editor, and a similar set of tools is available.

The first step in compiling the best performance is to divide the individual takes into separate phrases. If the performance has clear periods of silence between musical phrases, this is a relatively straightforward task. If you are happy with a hands-on approach, the Scissors tool can be used to split each take into separate phrases and the periods of silence can be removed. Alternatively — and this is much quicker if you have several long takes to process — you can use the Detect Silence option, by right-clicking on the selected takes and accessing the Advanced options from the pop-up menu. This function includes the ability to define how 'silence' is detected in terms of level thresholds, and also to set a pre- and post-roll time so that phrases do not get cut off too severely. If you select all the takes prior to activating Detect Silence, each take will be processed automatically, making it a very speedy process.

As with lanes on an audio track within the Project window, audio in the very bottom lane of the Audio Part Editor takes priority on playback. However, I find the easiest way to then begin auditioning and selecting from the various takes is to use the Mute tool to mute all the individual phrases, and then set either the Audio Part Editor into Cycle playback mode or the whole project into Cycle playback mode (depending upon whether you prefer to hear the performance you are compiling in isolation or in context). The Mute tool can then be used to switch individual phrases from individual takes on or off as playback is cycled.

Make It Seamless

The Audio Part Editor. In this example, the four takes have already been split and the best bits for each phrase selected.The Detect Silence function makes splitting takes into individual phrases very easy.Aside from tidying up the occasional location where a phrase from one lane may overlap with that of another, the approach I've just outlined makes it very easy to identify the best bits from each take. In order to reduce the amount of detailed editing required for each phrase, it is worth using the Project / Auto Fade settings to enable automatic fades and crossfades. This applies the settings to all audio tracks automatically and saves you from having to add fades to each and every audio event to get rid of any nasty clicks created by the Detect Silence function. Do bear in mind, however, that these fades are calculated in real time and, if you have a lot of audio tracks in your Project there is a modest CPU impact as a result.

Once you're done, on closing the Audio Part Editor and returning to the Project window you might find that the waveform display in the Audio Part can look a bit strange, as it is based upon the bottom lane of the various takes, and this may include some muted phrases. Visual appearance aside, this is worth putting up with until you are absolutely sure you've finished tweaking the compiled part, and it does make it very easy to move the compiled take within the Project window. However, if preferred, right-clicking on the Audio Part in the Project window and selecting Audio / Bounce Selection creates a new audio Event based upon only the unmuted phrases. This looks much neater but does mean that you cannot go back to editing the compilation in the Audio Part Editor.

The most obvious application for this type of multi-take editing is for vocals but it can, of course, be used with instrumental parts as well. For solo or melodic instrument lines played as distinct phrases, the basic process is identical. However, where one melodic phrase merges into the next, it is obviously more difficult to use Detect Silence to split the takes into shorter sections. A more hands-on approach is therefore required to split the takes at suitable points. Clearly, the best point to place a split is where a well-defined note attack is present. The trickier issue is dealing with the transitions between each phrase, where a fading note in one take may overlap with the attack of a new note in a different phrase. The Crossfades section of the Auto Fades dialogue can help here, and one possibility is to set a standard fade-out curve but design a rapid fade-in, so that the new note takes precedence in the crossfade. If all else fails, some manual editing may be required!

What's In A Name?

Steinberg use a number of terms to label the audio used in Cubase and it is useful to know what the basic differences are between these. If you'd like a detailed description, Mark Wherry wrote an excellent piece on this very subject in the June 2005 issue of SOS. However, a brief summary of four terms is useful here.

While you are creating audio files when recording in Cubase, the software refers to any audio used within the Project as an audio 'Clip'. Information about Clips is stored separately from the original audio file itself, allowing that file to remain unchanged. However, these audio Clips are presented to the user in three different formats; Events, Parts and Regions. In the context of the ideas presented in the main text, an individual take from a Cycle mode recording session, or a single phrase from such a take once the take has been split, will be an audio Event. If, as described within the main text, several such Events are combined, they form an audio Part (that is, a collection of audio Events grouped together). Regions can be thought of as 'bookmarked' sections of an audio Clip. Essentially, these are sections of audio that you have (knowingly or not!) identified as 'useful' and which you might need to go back to and re-use. Mark explains some of the uses for Regions in the article mentioned above but, in the context of multiple takes, creating Regions from each take allows you to retrieve the original takes from the Pool if you find you need to re-edit them at a later stage of the Project.

A Dip In The Pool

If, having compiled the best performance and then moved on to some other aspect of the project, you find you need to return to the original takes for some further work, the Pool can come to the rescue. As you chose the Create Regions + Events option in the Preferences dialogue, each take from the original recording will be readily available within the Pool and can be dragged and dropped back into the project window as required. Once all the takes are placed upon a single audio track, they can be dragged again to recreate the original lane-based display. The compilation process described above can then be repeated.

All In One

Once edited, the audio Part may look a little odd in the Project window, but it will play back, and further editing can be performed if required.All four of the original takes are available as audio Regions in the Pool, and can be re-used as needed.Takes can be edited directly in the Project view, which avoids the need to open another window.Of course, it is possible to perform the same splitting and phrase-compilation process with the original audio Events entirely in the Project window. Detect Silence can be used in exactly the same way to split the audio Events into phrases and, with Cycle playback activated, the Mute tool can be used to switch individual phrases from individual takes on and off while the best bits are selected.

Whether you choose to work in the Project window or the Audio Part Editor is very much a matter of personal taste, and exactly the same results can be obtained in either. My own preference is for the Audio Part Editor, as I think this provides a neater solution and makes it easier to flip between editing at the project level and editing at the track level. It also makes some associated tasks (such as moving the compiled take around within the project) a little easier.

Bits & Pieces?

Technical issues aside, it is worth thinking about the best artistic strategy before launching into a cut-and-paste strategy to recording a song. This is particularly important with the featured elements of a song, such as the lead vocal, as different singers may be more comfortable (and therefore give a better performance) with different approaches.

While some singers will be more than happy to work on discrete song sections, allowing them to focus in on the delivery of a particular verse or chorus, others may well prefer to run through the whole song, treating it more like a live performance. The latter approach can be particularly beneficial if the singer has performed the song regularly live and is used to delivering the full performance, with associated dynamics.

The other practical consideration is how many takes to record. Again, this is perhaps critical with a singer, and expecting them to simply loop through a song or song section over and over again is eventually going to result in fatigue. If the singer is both well-rehearsed and reasonably competent, then four or five takes is probably going to represent a good compromise. It also gives the producer or engineer (you) a suitable amount of material to go through — fewer takes might not give you the choice that you need, while many more just makes the compilation process very time-consuming. With four or five takes, a quick compilation might be done while the singer takes a short break, before returning to the mic in the same session to re-do any lines or phrases that are problematic. For consistency of sound, this can often be preferable to calling them back at a later date and then having to match the vocal sound. 

Published July 2007