Saturday, November 1, 2025
Friday, October 31, 2025
Cubase: Working With Strummed Guitars
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.
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Monday, October 27, 2025
Creating Electronic Rhythms In Steinberg Padshop 2
Screen 1: With its powerful arpeggiation options and the ability to import samples, Padshop 2 can create far more than the evolving pads that are its raison d’être.
Steinberg’s Padshop 2 can create much more than just pad sounds! We show you how...
Isn’t it satisfying when you discover a cool application for a plug‑in that its designers probably didn’t intend? This month I’ll take you through a great example of that: using Steinberg’s Padshop 2 synth (included in the Pro and Artist versions of Cubase but also available separately for other DAWs) to generate electronic and cinematic rhythms.
Padshop was designed, as the name implies, primarily for creating pad sounds. To that end, it combines two independent sound layers (A and B), each of which gives you the choice of spectral and grain oscillator sources, as well as its own filter, effects and modulation possibilities. It’s certainly a powerful tool for pad/texture sound design. But we can also experiment with those same elements to create rhythmic interest, and two features are particularly useful for this: sample import, and each sound layer’s independent arpeggiators.
Dropping In
When attempting to create sounds suitable for an electronic‑style rhythm, it probably makes sense to start with impact/hit samples, but the nature of the oscillator engines means almost any sample can provide something useful. Before you attempt to bring samples into Padshop, pop open the Sample Functions mini‑menu, accessed using the small double arrow icon in the top right of the waveform display for both the Spectral and Grain engine displays. Ensure that the Import Sample When Dropping option is ticked; this ensures that any drag‑dropped samples are copied to Padshop’s user folder, so can later be found and recalled easily in Padshop’s sample browser (next to the Sample Functions mini menu).
For our application, sensible sample choices would include a low‑frequency dominated sound (eg. a kick drum or impact sound) and a more high‑frequency dominated source (for example, a hi‑hat or other percussive sound). However, two different low‑frequency samples or two different high‑frequency samples can also be put to good use; it all depends upon the musical context. Your chosen samples can simply be dragged and dropped from your OS file browser into Padshop 2’s layer A and layer B.
Button Mashing
Both the Spectral and Grain engines can be used for our purposes so, at this stage, pick whatever combination takes your fancy. Whichever engine type(s) you choose, the next step is to experiment with each layer’s engine settings, to coax a suitably percussive sound out of each of your samples. I find it best to work on one layer at a time: use the layer power buttons (top centre or bottom right) to solo each layer as you work.
Some of your experimentation will involve configuring fairly conventional things, such as the filter and amplifier envelope controls, to manipulate the tonality and attack/release of each sound, but you’ll definitely want to delve into the Spectral or Grain oscillator settings — this is where things can get more interesting. The first screenshot (above) shows examples that, essentially, initialise the controls beneath the waveform displays of both engines. Note that Loop mode is switched off in both engines, so we get a ‘one‑shot’ sound when triggered. In addition, playback speed has initially been set to 100%, so when triggered using C3 (the default root note) you’ll hear the sample at the original pitch. These ‘vanilla’ settings are a good ‘base camp’. From here you can start adjusting the Pos (position) dial, to identify a good playback starting point for your sample, and then the Gain, Level and Width controls can be adjusted, to create an initial level balance between the two layers.
From this point on, we’ll ramp up the ‘experimental’ component of this process. I wouldn’t be surprised if Padshop 2’s design team are the only people who truly understand how every one of the Spectral and Grain oscillator panel controls interact — there’s so much going on here — but thankfully some random button mashing (knob twiddling) is unlikely to break anything. At this stage therefore, perhaps the best advice is move it and, if it sounds good, try moving something else until it sounds even better! That said, I’ll come back to a couple of the key oscillator controls in a minute...
Got Rhythm
Screen 2: Both the Spectral and Grain engines can be used to design hit, impact or percussive type sounds, but starting with some ‘vanilla’ settings makes it easier to experiment.
Having found suitable Pos settings, lets inject some rhythm. Padshop 2’s arpeggiator is well specified so, with independent control over layers A and B, it’s easy to coax an interesting rhythm from our two sound elements. The second screenshot again illustrates some useful starting points. In the Main panel, the arpeggiator is toggled on and the Mode can be set to Chord or Step. Both settings simply mean that the MIDI output doesn’t employ the typical pitch up/down arpeggiator patterns; the active steps create a rhythmic pattern rather than a pitch‑based arpeggiation. If you wish to add pitch changes too, though, you can do that using the Steps panel’s Pitch lane.
Next, focus your attention on the Steps, Tempo and Vel panels. You can drag the Vel panel’s triangle icon to change the number of active steps (up to a maximum of 32) and adjust the tempo sync using the Tempo Scale setting. Then, it’s simply a matter of defining your pattern by activating steps within the Steps panel and adjusting the velocity of each active step in the Vel panel. Providing you have Loop engaged in the Tempo panel, when you hold a MIDI note your sound will play back with a rhythm as defined by the pattern steps. Create a complementary pattern for the second sound layer and hey presto! You can trigger a cool electronic rhythm from a single MIDI note.
Screen 3: The arpeggiators can be configured independently for layers A and B, and these can help you conjure up all sorts of rhythmic interest.
Steinberg have populated Padshop’s arpeggiator with an extensive collection of presets that are worth checking out if you need some inspiration. But whether using presets or rolling your own rhythms, a couple of tricks can be employed to introduce further rhythmic interest. First, note that you can use different step counts for layers A and B (Screen 3). For example, if you use 16 steps in layer A and 15 steps in layer B, as you hold a trigger note and cycle through these patterns, the different step numbers mean that the patterns will shift against each other. Second, and as an alternative way to shift the rhythm, once you trigger (and hold) a note to initiate playback, you can press the Shift Phrase Left/Right buttons (with your mouse; they are found at the left of the Steps panel) to offset the pattern in the currently selected layer by one step at a time. Both approaches can produce some interesting results — sometimes very cool ones, sometimes rather unsettling.
All Mod Cons
A further level of movement can be created using Padshop 2’s comprehensive modulation system. There are too many possibilities here to consider them all, but the Matrix and LFO panels in the first screenshot show a simple example that illustrate the potential. I’ve configured LFO1 as a simple sine wave, sync’ed to cycle over two bars (8/4). In the modulation Matrix panel, I’ve used LFO1 to modulate two parameters in the Spectral engine: Pos and Purity. Pos (Position) is a good target, and if you use this you can see the LFO modulation cycling the playback start position within the waveform display as the pattern is triggered. In the Grain engine, Pos and Pitch make good initial modulation targets and the Number parameter is also a good target in both engines. Note that the strength of the modulation is very modest as even small changes in these parameters can produce quite a significant tonal change in the sound. In this example, I’ve also targeted the old favourites of Cutoff and Distortion in the Filter section for good measure. Incidentally, in both engines, a low value of the Random control produces random variations in the Pos setting and, as a result, can add some further tonal variation.
Of course, you don’t have to confine yourself to these targets or just a single modulation source; you have four independent LFOs, a step modulator, an envelope (Env 3) and (within the Arpeggiator screen) three step‑based Control lanes you can also use, as well as MIDI velocity, key follow, pitch wheel and mod wheel options. For the mod wheel, right‑clicking on Padshop’s Mix control (bottom right) and linking this to your hardware mod wheel provides a great way to adjust the blend of your two sound layers in real time.
So you can hear some examples before creating your own sounds, we’ve put some audio clips below. But with the ability to use your own samples and the almost endless parameter and modulation possibilities, you can coax all sorts of electronic rhythmic performances out of Padshop 2. So go experiment!
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Friday, October 24, 2025
Cubase 12: Audio To MIDI Chords
The upper half of the screenshot shows the Audio To MIDI Chords result from a fairly simple strummed guitar performance with three‑ and four‑note chords. The chords were correctly identified (top) and only some minor timing edits (second row) were needed. The lower half shows a less successful example, based on simple chords but with some open‑string drones. Cubase’s chord identification struggled but, even so, the required editing took only a couple of minutes.
We get to grips with Cubase 12’s new Audio To MIDI Chords feature included in Pro, Artist and Elements.
One of the most intriguing features Steinberg introduced in Cubase 12 is Audio To MIDI Chords. Included in Pro, Artist and Elements, it’s one of a number of enhancements to the Chord Track system and the basic process couldn’t be easier. Simply drag and drop an audio recording onto the Chord Track: Cubase will analyse it to work out the chord and key/scale changes contained within, and will then populate the Chord Track with that information. Obviously, you can use this to analyse commercial tracks and sampled loops, but in this column I’ll focus on using it when you’ve laid down your own musical ideas — a strummed guitar part, for example — and want to develop them further in Cubase but are a little unsure of the chords.
Keep It Simple?
It’s quite a tricky thing that Cubase is attempting to do here, and common sense suggests that simpler recordings should increase the chances of success — so how ambitious can you be? In my experiments, Cubase did an impressive job of extracting the chord sequences from clean DI electric guitar performances containing three‑note triad chords, even when played with busier rhythms, and with four‑note chords the identification was still good, though not always quite as accurate. Unsurprisingly, the results grew less predictable as I reached the limits of my jazz‑flavoured voicings, and I found that arpeggiating the chords or using an alternating thumb bass note could throw the detection off track. Things were also a little hit‑and‑miss with guitar chords that featured open strings as ‘drones’.
When extracting the chords from an overdriven or heavily processed guitar sound, the process was still very usable if the original part featured a solid chord progression. I also experimented with a bunch of EDM‑style synth/piano loops and, with the same qualifiers about harmonically complex chords, the process also did a decent job with this type of audio source. By the way, note that the chord identification process won’t distinguish between different voicings or inversions; a G minor will be displayed on the chord track as G minor, regardless of how or where you play it on the neck.
The first screenshot and the audio examples (you can find these at: https://sosm.ag/cubase-0722) show how successful my various experiments were.
If you do find that Audio To MIDI Chords struggles to analyse any given performance (for example one that contains complex rhythms and processed sounds), you can always record a simplified ‘guide performance’ — simplify the strumming or just play chords where you want the chord changes to appear.
Check & Change
Chord Events in the Chord Track can be auditioned easily with a virtual instrument such as HALion Sonic SE.
Once Audio To MIDI Chords has done its thing, you can check the chord identifications and timings in several ways. The easiest is to add an instrument track (I used a HALion Sonic SE acoustic piano patch) and, in the Chord Track’s Inspector panel, ensure the Acoustic Feedback button is enabled (the ‘speaker+cursor’ icon is orange). Then, in the Chord Track’s header in the Track List, use the Select Track For Auditioning drop‑down to pick the target track (in this case, my HSSE piano). On playback, the Chord Track sends simple block chord changes to this target track and, as the performance loops, you can easily compare the timing of the Chord Track changes with those in your audio performance. Then simply then add/remove or adjust the position of the Chord Events, until all the chord changes are perfectly timed.
The Chord Editor’s Detected tab can help with editing any Chord Events created using the Audio To MIDI Chords function.When it comes to editing the chords themselves the previous Chord Editor tools remain available, but Cubase 12 adds an option specifically for Audio To MIDI Chords. Called the Detected tab, this is found in the Chord Assistant panel, and it’s only available when the Chord Events have been detected by Cubase from an audio source.
It shows a list of chords that might be suitable alternatives to Cubase’s own first choice, and they’re ranked in order of likelihood. You might actually find that the Chord Editor offers alternative chord choices that are more interesting than the original performance — that could be great if you’re stuck in a rut! Any changes you make here (or using other Chord Editor options) will be reflected during playback, so cross‑checking between your original audio and the virtual instrument is quick and easy.
If you’re struggling to identify a chord in a guitar performance, you can always enter the notes into a MIDI event and let Cubase help.By the way, if you are struggling to match a chord from within your own guitar recording using the Chord Editor, you can always create a new MIDI track and, based upon the fingering of the chord (including any open strings), enter those notes into a MIDI clip. If you then select all the notes, the Chord Editing panel in the Track’s Inspector will take its best guess at identifying the chord for you. Usefully, it also offers an Add To Chord Track button, so you can easily add it to your chord sequence.
There’s An App For That
Once you’ve smoothed out any of the wrinkles, what can you do with your perfectly populated Chord Track? Quite a lot actually, given how deeply the Chord Track is integrated with other Cubase 12 features! But I’ll finish this month’s column by exploring two simple, yet very useful applications.
First, having started with a strummed guitar part, you may wish to add virtual instruments to flesh out a musical arrangement. As I’ve mentioned before in these columns, my piano skills are somewhat limited, so I’ll often turn to the Chord Pad system to trigger MIDI chord sequences for instruments such as piano, keys or synths. And, as the Chord Pads system includes the Assign Pads From Chord Track option, the Chord Track can be used to populate the Chord Pads instantly with all the chords required for your project.
Once your Chord Track is populated with the correct chords, the full chord set can be assigned to the Chord Pads for use with any virtual instruments.Second, if you add and select a new instrument track and execute the Project / Chord Track / Chords To MIDI command, this will create (on the selected MIDI track) a MIDI clip containing block chord changes based on the Chord Track. Then select a patch for your virtual instrument that uses an arpeggiator (whether built into the instrument or courtesy of a MIDI plug‑in such as Arpache 5), hit Play, and you have an instant arpeggiated chord pattern that follows the chord sequence of your original audio recording. Tweak the arpeggiation to suit, and the results can seem almost magical!
Of course, a suitably stocked Chord Track can be used for a whole range of other applications. And, as Audio To MIDI Chords provides such a useful kickstart in populating the Chord Track, it’s probably a topic I’ll return to in future columns.
Thursday, October 23, 2025
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Steinberg Cubase Pro 12
Cubase gains new features and dispenses with the dongle.
Cubase’s substantial and diverse user base might have had to wait a few months beyond Steinberg’s regular end‑of‑year update cycle, but version 12 is now with us. Of course, in its Pro form, Cubase has been a sophisticated, feature‑rich music production platform for many years. So what have Steinberg added to v12 to improve upon their already‑impressive flagship product and to tempt existing users, and potentially new ones, to invest?
Licence To Roam
I’ll get to Cubase Pro 12’s list of additions in a minute but perhaps the item that caused the most chatter online prior to launch was actually something Steinberg was taking away; licensing via a dongle. USB dongles are something that engender very mixed feelings. If you primarily work in a fixed studio space (as I do), it’s perhaps not so much of an issue but, for those who are more mobile, looking after a dongle (or three) when you move between locations can be problematic.
Of course, all developers have to protect their software from piracy, but Steinberg obviously feel that that can now be done effectively without the eLicenser key. With v12, activation is linked to your host computer and you can activate on up to three different machines under a single license. This worked very smoothly for me when installing Cubase Pro 12 (although some users did report issues immediately after the launch, presumably caused by Steinberg’s servers being inundated with update requests) and I was able to install and activate on both my main studio machine (under Mac OS) and on a Windows‑based laptop I occasionally use for mobile work, without any problems. For understandable pragmatic reasons, Steinberg are planning to transition their other major software titles to the new licensing system as each goes through its own update cycle. Users of WaveLab or SpectraLayers, for example, will therefore have to wait a little longer to be completely eLicenser‑free, but it is coming.
Silicon Tally
Dongle‑free licensing aside, what’s new in Cubase Pro 12? Sensibly, Steinberg have adopted an evolutionary approach rather than a revolutionary one (existing workflows therefore remain intact) but, as befits a whole number upgrade, there is plenty of ‘new and improved’ to discuss.
The Audio Performance meter has been improved — but Cubase 12 doesn’t seem to place any noticeable additional burden on your host system.For example, Apple‑based users will welcome the news that Cubase 12 has native support for Apple Silicon. That said, for those with a M1‑powered Mac, Rosetta is likely to remain a fact of life (albeit a fairly innocuous one) for a while yet as music software developers gradually embrace the chip format. It’s also worth noting that, amongst the brief ‘requirements’ list for Cubase 12, Steinberg’s website lists Mac OS Big Sur or Monterey. However, early user reports suggested plenty of folks running quite happily on older Mac OS iterations such as Catalina. For Windows‑based users, 64‑bit versions of either Windows 10 or Windows 11 are supported. Both Mac and Windows installs require 70GB of free storage space, and a minimum 8GB of RAM is suggested.
One further benefit of the new, dongle‑free licensing arrangements is that a trial version of Cubase is now possible. It was still listed as ‘coming soon...’ at the time of writing, but obviously will mean you can test Cubase 12 on your own hardware/OS without risk prior to making a purchase decision.
Software developments will, eventually and inevitably, leave older host systems behind. However, in use, Cubase Pro 12 felt very responsive on my now ageing 2013 iMac during the review period. Running some of my existing v11 projects under v12 created no obvious problems; if my experience is anything to go by, Cubase Pro 12 doesn’t seem to place any noticable additional demands on your computer host compared to v11.
You Hum It, I’ll Play It
Specific new additions or improvements may have differing appeal to different users but, in scanning Steinberg’s ‘what’s new?’ list prior to actually launching Cubase Pro 12, the new Audio To MIDI Chords option particularly caught my attention. The concept is simple enough; drag any audio recording to the Chord Track and Cubase will then analyse the audio, identify the underlying chord changes within it (this takes a few seconds), and place those changes as chord events within the Chord Track.
The Audio To MIDI Chords feature requires just a simple drag and drop operation, while the Chord Assistant’s new dedicated tab streamlines any subsequent finessing required after Cubase’s initial chord identification.
The applications are obvious. For example, those with limited music theory might use it to analyse a full mix or instrumental backing track to get a start on unpicking the key/chords, either for educational purposes, or to assist in any later remixing, mash‑up, or top‑line additions. You might also use it to extract the chords from a piano or synth loop so you can build other musical elements around it. Personally, however, I’d use it as a workflow enhancer to get the Chord Track populated with the chords from a new idea captured as a guitar recording (my instrument of choice), before dragging those chords off to something like Toontrack’s EZkeys or EZbass to flesh out the idea. Manually entering chords into the Chord Track is straightforward enough but can also be time consuming; having Cubase do this for me automatically is a very attractive prospect.
So, the concept is appealing, but does it actually work? Amazingly (well, I think it’s pretty amazing given what must be going on under the hood), the answer is mostly ‘yes’. Can you fool it with complex chords in a busy mix, weird chord extensions in a complex jazz piece, or bit of prog‑based strumming? Yes, you can. Might you sometimes find yourself having to go in and fine‑tune the automatic chord identification? Yes, you will.
However, even with these qualifications, the process works remarkably well. I tried it with the aforementioned guitar parts, some synth loops and some full mixes (my own and some well‑known commercial releases). As you might expect, the more straightforward the original performance, the more accurate the chord identification is likely to be but, whether perfect or not, as way of getting a first pass at the chord changes, and their entry into the Chord Track, this is a heck of a trick. In addition, even if you do find yourself needing to then finesse the results, editing chords within the Chord Track has been enhanced, with the Chord Assistant now including a new Detected tab. This gives you a prioritised list of chord alternatives that can easily be auditioned to see if they provide a better musical fit to the first choice that Cubase made on your behalf.
If your workflow doesn’t make use of the Chord Track, or your ear training is good enough to work out the chordal structure of a piece of music without any assistance from software, then this feature might not be such a big deal. For everyone else (myself included), this is a super‑useful addition and it’s available to Pro, Artist and Elements users.
Remote Control
Cubase has included support for external MIDI controllers for a very long time. Some of the previous features remain as legacy options, but the new MIDI Control Surface Editor and the associated Mapping Assistant, both accessed via a dedicated tab within the Project window’s Lower Zone, represent a considerable revamp. Preset configurations are included for a small number of popular controller devices, but a key aim of the new system is to make it easy for users to create their own preset for whatever controller device (or devices; the system support simultaneous use of multiple controllers) they have connected.
The new MIDI Controller Editor and Mapping Assistant features — including the new Focus Quick Controls — provide a significant step forward for external MIDI controller integration.
This is a three‑step process completed via the new MIDI Remote tab within the Lower Zone. First, on opening this tab, you can click on the large ‘+’ icon to add a new controller and identify its appropriate MIDI ports. Second, you can then use the new MIDI Controller Surface Editor to graphically recreate the appropriate combination of buttons, rotary knobs and faders available on your hardware device. The editing tools let you easily position and scale individual controls to reflect the actual hardware layout. However, the key element of this second step is to establish links between each of the actual hardware controls and their respective graphical representations. A well‑implemented MIDI Learn system makes this one‑time process very straightforward.
The third step is where you link a Cubase control/command to each of the buttons, sliders and knobs. The new MIDI Remote Mapping Assistant dialogue lets you step through each of the controllers and, via the dialogue’s Functions Browser panel, link it to a Cubase command option. It’s both easy to do and flexible and, start to finish, I had the faders, buttons, transport controls and rotary knobs on my Novation Impulse controller configured in just a few minutes. This is a massive step forward from the previous Generic Remote system.
A new element introduced as part of this revamp is the appearance of what Steinberg have termed Focus Quick Controls. If your controller includes a set of eight rotary CC controllers (as my Impulse does), assigning these to the new Focus Quick Controls is particularly useful. Essentially, Focus Quick Controls automatically remap themselves to the Quick Controls of either the selected (‘in focus’) track or plug‑in window. There are options to lock the focus, or to give it either track or plug‑in priority, but the system is incredibly easy to use and seems more consistent than the previous Quick Control iteration.
For track‑level Quick Controls, you can still specify the targets via the Project window Inspector panel. However, rather brilliantly, a new QC button is located top‑right of every effect or instrument plug‑in window (whether Steinberg or third‑party) and these pop open a panel where you can define your plug‑in‑specific Quick Control targets. Once done, the rotary knobs on your hardware controller automatically ‘focus’ on the Quick Control assignments of the currently selected track or plug‑in window. It just works and, if your MIDI keyboard doesn’t currently include eight rotary knobs, this may be a good enough reason to add one that does.
Oh, and the final icing on the cake is that, for any connected controller, you can define multiple mapping pages. While you can only use one at any one time, you can easily switch between them; if you want different mappings for different types of task (for example, recording and mixing), that can easily be done.
Scale New Heights
Steinberg added the Scale Assistant functionality to the MIDI Key Editor in Cubase 11. It both speeds up routine MIDI editing (out‑of‑key notes can be avoided) and makes it easier to experiment with note combinations when creating harmonies/chords.
For the Pro and Artist editions of Cubase 12, exactly the same Scale Assistant functionality has now been added when editing audio pitches using VariAudio within the Sample Editor. This allows you to choose between the scale defined within the Chord Track or a scale selected within the VariAudio editor panel. If you go with the latter, then you can also specify the key/scale or choose from some options suggested by Cubase on the basis of the notes identified within the audio event being edited. You also get the same Scale Assistant options to change the note lane shading to emphasise the notes within the scale, enable pitch snapping when editing, and to pitch quantise selected notes.
The Scale Assistant is now available within the VariAudio system.
Whether it’s to assist your music theory, or simply to get to the correct notes faster, Scale Assisted audio editing brings a welcome workflow enhancement. And, while pitch quantising can obviously be used as part of your pitch‑correction process, where it really shines is in the speed/freedom it brings to experiment with either changing a melody or creating a harmony to a melody. In either case, with Snap Pitch Editing engaged, you instantly know that any edits you make will stay in key. It’s very slick and, given VariAudio’s excellent pitch‑shifting algorithms, the results can be very impressive indeed.
Request A Raise
Cubase’s stock plug‑in collection includes a range of very effective dynamics processors but, for Pro users, v12 adds a further single‑band option: Raiser. Described as a versatile limiter, as shown in the screenshot, the UI includes options that are familiar from earlier plug‑ins such as Maximiser or Brickwall Limiter (for example, Detect Intersample Clipping). However, there are also some different elements and Steinberg are keen to emphasise that Raiser offers some unique release time options.
The latter include very fast release times (you can specify a Time setting of 1.0ms), and a Fast button that provides a two‑stage release (an initial very fast phase followed by a second phase controlled by the Time setting). The Release drop‑down menu provides a number of different modes including Manual, Auto and Aggressive. There’s no threshold control; you simply use the Gain control to drive the input up against Raiser’s fixed threshold to get the peak limiting to kick in. The display gives a real‑time indication of the gain change upon the waveform and, interestingly, the release behaviour. This provides very useful visual feedback as you set the Release speed.
Raiser: things might get loud!
In use, Raiser makes it very easy to, er, raise the level of almost any type of signal. It works well on an individual instrument/vocal, a bus, or as a final limiter on your main stereo output. By balancing the input Gain and release Time controls, you can go from gentle, smooth dynamics control right through to very aggressive (and much louder) treatments. The Compare button lets you A/B the original and processed signals without the added loudness so you can also easily check for any undesirable consequences of the processing without being sucked in by ‘louder equals better’.
That said, things can get remarkably loud before the sonic consequences become obvious; as a means of levelling out a very dynamic source to ensure it sits consistently within a mix, Raiser does an impressive job. If supervised by SuperVision’s loudness metering, it’s also a very handy tool for fine‑tuning the overall level of a mix. And, whatever algorithm Steinberg have developed here to allow Raiser to operate with such fast release times, it’s not at the expense of latency; an instance of Raiser only added 2.6ms to the signal chain on my host system.
All Mod Cons: FX Modulator
FX Modulator: tempo‑sync’ed multi‑effects with modulation in an easy‑to‑use format.
Raiser is not the only new plug‑in though; Pro and Artist users also get FX Modulator. This is essentially a multi‑effects unit where you can build your own six‑slot effects chain from a choice of 14 different modules. These include Filter, Volume, BitCrusher, Overdrive and Reverb amongst some modulation and frequency‑based effects. You then get to modulate key parameters within each module via parameter‑specific LFO curves, with curve presets, manual curve editing, and control over the time‑base for the curve cycling.
There is perhaps nothing drastically new about any of the individual effects modules, but the tempo‑sync’ed modulation is powerful and allows you to get very creative in terms of sound design. This is very much along the lines offered by third‑party plug‑ins such as Output’s Movement, Sugar Bytes’ Looperator or Turnado or Lunatic Audio’s Narcotic. FX Modulator is perhaps not as deep as some of these, but the straightforward UI is very accessible and encourages experimentation. While you can use it for subtle treatments, the design intention is most certainly aimed at ‘notice me!’ processing. Whether it’s to turn the most boring pad sound into a raging, pulsing, monster, spice up a dull drum loop into a glitchy, filtered, powerhouse, or create some ear‑candy vocal effects, FX Modulator is a great place to start. In short, this is a lot of fun to use if your music production involves more creative sound treatments.
Up The Warp Factor
The update also sees a number of enhancements to the AudioWarp system. First, you can now see and edit Warp Markers directly within the Project window as well as the Sample Editor. This is very useful when you want to warp one track to tighten its alignment with another. An obvious example might be to tighten up a bass guitar recording against a kick drum, and the ease with which you can see both waveforms as you make those edits certainly speeds up the process.
The AudioWarp system has been significantly upgraded, with operation within the Project window, phase‑coherent multitrack warping, and the ability to copy/paste Warp Markers between events.
Second, Project‑window AudioWarp editing is also possible with Group Editing enabled, and now offers Phase Coherent AudioWarp (engaged via a button found in the Group’s Folder header within the Inspector). This is ideal when editing multi‑microphone recordings such as those from an acoustic drum kit. Warp Markers added to one track automatically appear in all the other tracks within the group and, when you edit a marker in one track, the corresponding marker in the other tracks moves in sync, maintaining the phase coherence. This makes for very slick drum editing.
Third, you can now copy the Warp Markers from one audio event and apply them to another. There are a number of contexts in which this might be useful, but the obvious example is with multitrack vocals and backing vocals. For example, you might perform some VariAudio editing on a lead vocal part. You can then copy the Warp Markers from this event, select the backing vocal events, and then paste the Warp Markers into your various backing vocal events. The markers get added, and AudioWarp automatically applies the same timing adjustments to your backing vocals. Providing the BVs were in time with the original lead vocal, they will now also match the lead vocal’s revised (warped) timing.
In practice, all these new features are very easy to use and, if this kind of editing is a regular part of your workflow, you will undoubtedly see some efficiency gains.
And There’s More...
While the above may represent some highlights of the new release, it’s not an exhaustive list. Space precludes a detailed look at everything, but a number of other improvements deserve a mention. For example, amongst workflow enhancements scattered throughout v12, we get some very useful new options in handling and editing crossfades (including a significant improvement in the crossfade editor window). New key commands are added for various nudge functions, the Range Selection tool and when slip editing audio. Volume automation has also been enhanced to provide near sample‑accurate resolution. In addition, within the Sample Track, you can now use the AudioWarp option with sliced audio mode.
An upgrade to the Logical Editor system and a new dithering plug‑in are amongst a host of other additions and improvements in the v12 update.
There are also improvements for ARA extensions such as SpectraLayers or Melodyne. These can now be inserted at track level as well as event level, and this makes for a more efficient workflow. And while the Logical Editor system is a somewhat intimidating mystery to some Cubase users, v12 sees some considerable enhancements to its capabilities and a much‑expanded collection of presets. It might still be a little scary, but it is also more powerful and well worth exploring. Oh, and very welcome for those who have to generate multiple stems from their mix projects, for Pro users, Audio Export now includes features that take sidechain processing into account when generating stems.
A new and more capable dither plug‑in, Lin One Dither, is also available, and support for the increasingly popular Dolby Atmos format is promised shortly in an upcoming maintenance release. Media composers now get a second video track — ideal when the director supplies you with all those last‑minute changes to the video cut! Finally, and a personal favourite amongst a few new additions to SuperVision’s module list, as shown in the opening main screenshot, we now get a VU meter with customisation of the meter’s response and a good selection of scale presets.
I’ve undoubtedly missed a number of other new additions but, before wrapping up, I ought to also mention something that, alongside the dongle, has also disappeared. Some of Steinberg’s older synths that were present within v11 — for example, Prologue, Spector or LoopMash — seem to have bitten the dust with v12, even if you are upgrading from v11, although the LoopMash FX plug‑in is still present. Thankfully, if you have older projects using these instruments, upgrading to v12 does leave v11 intact, so you can still open those projects in v11. I’ll perhaps miss LoopMash (the others are easily surpassed by Padshop and Retrologue) but I do wonder whether Steinberg might relight that particular fire at some stage.
Conclusion
As someone who is part of the Cubase user base (Cubase Pro sits at the heart of my own project studio), I think Steinberg have done an excellent job with the v12 update. In a commercial context, the $99 upgrade price for Pro is a modest investment, yet it brings a significant number of new features that deliver obvious workflow enhancements in some very common recording and mixing tasks. Whether it’s the ability to extract the chords from an audio recording and begin populating the Chord Track, the ease with which you can edit the timing of multichannel audio recordings, the ability to edit pitch in vocal/solo instrument tracks without having to think about keeping things in the appropriate key/scale, or the tighter integration of your MIDI controller hardware with almost any aspect of Cubase, it’s all part of a more efficient workflow. And, on top of the workflow enhancements, there is also a number of new creative additions, such as new sounds from Verve and new processing options via FX Modulator and Raiser. Users working in almost any musical genre could benefit from many of these changes; it’s a lot of evolution for a pretty modest outlay.
Yes, for a brand‑new user, Pro’s asking price is a significant investment but, equally, Cubase Pro 12 is exactly what its name suggests: a music production platform capable of handling recording and mixing duties in a fully commercial, professional working environment. And, while not all the bells and whistles are included within the Artist and Elements versions (there is a comprehensive comparison of the respective feature sets on the Steinberg website), they provide a more affordable route into the Cubase family with sensible upgrade paths to Pro should that be required. And, as mentioned earlier, with Cubase 12’s new dongle‑free, licensing system, you are also soon going to be able to download a free, 30‑day trial version before committing to a purchase.
Cubase Pro was already a powerhouse of an application. Steinberg have simply given it the bigger, better, faster, more treatment. Cubase Pro 12 is fabulous.
Verve: Feel The Felt
The new Verve instrument for Halion Sonic sounds fabulous — and note also the new panel open at the top of the UI, where you can select assignments for the plug‑in‑specific Quick Controls.
New for both Pro and Artist users is Verve. This virtual instrument combines very detailed sampling of a felt piano (a layer of felt sits between the hammers and the strings creating a softer, more intimate sound) with a second layer provided by a sustained texture from a selection of 60+ options. The instrument runs within Halion Sonic 3 (including SE) and the bespoke UI lets you adjust the balance between the two layers, tweak various parameters for each layer, and also apply delay and reverb effects.
On its own, the solo piano is both beautiful and expressive. The Distance control allows you to adjust the balance between the close and distant microphones used in the sampling process, giving you control over the natural ambience. The textures cover a fairly wide range of tones, from soft breathy sounds and various types of strings to sounds with metal ovetones, dreamy pulses and warm pad‑like options. However, they are all fairly subtle (no raging EDM here) as befits the instrument’s intention. For soft pop ballads, cinematic moods spanning dreamy love, sad reflective melancholy, or slightly sinister dark suspense, Verve can be just the thing. The combination of a soft piano and a pad texture is perhaps not a new one, but that doesn’t stop Verve sounding absolutely fantastic.