By John Walden
Custom modulation envelopes can now be constructed more easily in the Sampler Track’s Pitch, Filter and Amp panels using the new shape options.
We throw some shapes with the powerful new sound‑design options in the Sampler Track.
The Sampler Track (which is a feature in the Pro, Artist and Elements editions of Cubase) is a simple but undeniably creative tool, so it’s great for experimenting with sample‑based sound design. It’s been with us a while, but in Cubase 13 Steinberg added some new features, including some intriguing spectral‑based modes for the sample playback engine. For this workshop, though, I thought I’d explore another of the new options: the shape‑based drawing tools now present in the Pitch, Filter and Amp modulation panels. These make it so much easier to design tempo‑based patterns, so that risers, pitch drops, patterned filter sweeps and rhythmic volume effects should all feel well and truly in sync with your project.
I want to keep things simple to follow, so with that in mind let’s explore some of the possibilities when using just a single sample as a starting point — in this case, I’ll be using a sustained single note from a synth pad. There are audio examples on the SOS website that you can audition (https://sosm.ag/cubase-0624) and, with the aid of a second sample (a drum loop) and a vocal hook, these include putting these Sampler Track‑designed sounds into the context of an initial sketch for a musical project.
Shaping Shifting
We’ve explored some of the Sampler Track’s established features in previous workshops so I’ll not retread that ground other than to remind you that the engine works on a single sample and provides various means of time‑stretching (designed for different use cases), loop slicing (for working with drum loops), sample looping (to create sustaining sounds), automatic mapping of the sample across a user‑defined key range, and pitch, filter and amplitude toolsets, each with envelope and LFO‑based modulation, amongst a bunch of other possibilities.
The new ‘shaper’ tools introduced in Cubase 13 mean more options when creating modulation envelopes. In the Mod panels of the Pitch, Filter and Amp windows, a new toolbar drop‑down provides access to a whole range of Factory curves, and you can save your own user curves too. Once a curve shape is selected, you can add it to the modulation envelope using either the Draw (pencil) or Paint (brush) tools. The former lets you draw a single instance of the selected curve, and you can drag as you draw to resize it. The latter lets you add multiple repeats of the selected curve and uses the panel’s Sync setting to set the beat division (length) of each repeat (so defining a rhythm for the modulation). By dragging up/down as you use the Paint tool you can control the amplitude of each repeat, and therefore the amount of modulation to be applied. And, of course, you can build custom curves by combining different shapes and/or different beat divisions.
A useful selection of factory curve shape elements are included, and you can also save your own user curve creations.
Two other options are worth noting. First, the F button enables/disables Fixed mode. When enabled, adding a new shape (with its curve nodes) replaces any curves/nodes already present in the targeted section of the overall modulation curve. When disabled, existing nodes are automatically shifted to the right along the timeline to make room when new curves/nodes are added. Fixed mode also influences what happens when you edit individual nodes and whether moving one node does (or does not) cause other nodes to the right to also change position.
Second, the Mode types in each Mod panel now include a Shaper option. You don’t have to use this mode in order to create modulation curves using the shape presets but it does allow you to create modulation curves that can cycle perfectly, as it ensures the start and end node values are linked.
One Sample, Many Sounds
In creating different sound types from a single sample, we can make use of the Sampler Track’s full feature set, but these new shape‑based modulation tools can certainly play a useful part. For my (totally arbitrary) mission of generating all my non‑drum sounds from a single source sample, there are some obvious contender sounds that I’ll need to generate. These include bass, lead, and pad/chord sounds, as well as options such as a risers or bass pitch drops that can be used to add some ear‑candy.
Let’s start with a simple case: a short (non‑sustaining) bass sound. The key settings are shown in the screenshot. In the Playback window, I’d engaged Audiowarp and selected one of the new Spectral modes, then tweaked the Formant and Key F controls to alter the tonality to taste, while in the Filter section I chose a low‑pass valve‑style filter. However, it’s the Amp and Filter modulation that then control the nature of the sound, and each is based on one of the new preset curve shapes. The Amp modulation provides a short, ramped attack, short sustain and then a rapid fade, while the filter uses an S‑shaped modulation curve to smoothly but rapidly open the filter as the sound plays to give it a little tonal movement. The Filter panel’s AMT control (far left) can be used to adjust the degree of this tonal shift, while the S‑curve nodes could be manually adjusted, along with the starting cutoff value, for further control. When played in the lower registers suitable for a bass line, the end result is a short, solid bass tone with a little sonic movement.
Even simple curve shapes become easier to generate, as seen here for our simple bass sound with short modulation curves in the Amp (on the left) and Filter (right) panels used to generate a short bass note with a little bit of tonal movement.
A similar filter modulation approach was used to create a lead sound but for this I used a high‑pass filter. In this case, the Mono and Legato options were enabled in the Sampler Track’s main Toolbar area so that the Pitch panel’s Glide control could then be used to provide a pitch slide between overlapping notes.
For this exercise, I created a couple of different pad sounds, both of which involved defining a loop region in the main waveform display (enabling Snap To Zero Crossings and adding a crossfade in/out to the loop region help with creating a smooth looping experience). For the first of these pads, I used a simple curved shape to add a very gentle filter sweep that created a subtle tonal shift as the sound sustained. However, for the second pad, I used the shaper‑based tools to create a custom Amp modulation (the main screenshot shows a similar custom modulation curve). When played, this creates a rhythmic effect that’s automatically sync’ed to tempo. And, with a further custom modulation curve added to the Filter, I was able to add a tonal element.
The various curve shape options were also useful in creating some ear candy elements. For example, for a bass ‘hit and drop’, I duplicated my bass Sampler Track and, as well as making tweaks to the filter settings, I added a short pitch modulation curve that smoothly dropped the pitch by an octave. By using the beat divisions in the display, you can adjust the curve shape as you draw it, so its length locks in sync with the project tempo. Similar curves in the Amp and Filter modulation panels can help emphasise the effect created.
I created a number of different risers. Obviously, the initial element required for this is a volume rise that lasts the required time. Again, the beat grid in the modulation panels lets you draw a suitable curve to exactly the length that’s required, and I created one‑beat, two‑bar and four‑bar versions using this approach. The rise effect can then be enhanced by using a similar modulation curve for the filter, and I used a band‑pass filter this time, to sweep upwards as the riser was playing. In a second version of the four‑bar riser, I added a further element by superimposing a small amount of LFO based modulation (based upon a pulse waveform set to 16ths) on top of the shaper‑based curve to give the riser an additional rhythmic pulse effect.
Lock Then Load
To keep this workshop easy to follow, I confined my experiments to a single source sample — this is a great way to learn what’s possible too! — but in the real world you can use a selection of contrasting source samples to give you a broader range of tonal properties to play with. Also, note that if your modulation curve designs result in something you like, but you’d still like to experiment further, you can try using the same settings with a different underlying sample to produce a variation. To do this, just create a duplicate of your Sampler Track and enable the Lock button (the padlock icon) on the main Sampler Control toolbar strip for the duplicate. You can then load (or drag and drop) an alternative sample into the Sampler Control panel. This replaces the original sample in this instance but retains (locks) all the other settings — including your carefully constructed modulation curves!
As mentioned above, you can hear the results of my shaper‑based modulation experiments in the audio examples on the SOS website, both in isolation and in a short sketch. It’s great that Steinberg are continuing to nudge the Sampler Track feature set forward. No, it’s not a fully blown HALion or Kontakt‑style sampler, but it’s quick and easy to get to grips with, full of creative potential, and well worth digging into if you like to design your own sounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment