tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57459154429833190322024-03-27T16:54:23.960-07:00No Limit Sound ProductionsWelcome to No Limit Sound Productions. Where there are no limits! Enjoy your visit!Audrey/Kicks 'n' Giggles Nurseryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10498643894656058365noreply@blogger.comBlogger5225125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-89679922146860281172024-03-27T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-27T12:00:00.161-07:00Cubase Pro: Key Commander<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Key Editor is packed with MIDI editing features but the trick to a faster workflow is training yourself to access them as efficiently as possible.", "alt": "The Key Editor is packed with MIDI editing features but the trick to a faster workflow is training yourself to access them as efficiently as possible."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_01-uG3F4mt0RIwG.DGkc0E7NoPqbYU7fJGH.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Key Editor is packed with MIDI editing features but the trick to a faster workflow is training yourself to access them as efficiently as possible." height="165" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_01-vsJ1tIX92wPfpOy4nh4i9e1VOgCqWrYZ.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Key Editor is packed with MIDI editing features but the trick to a faster workflow is training yourself to access them as efficiently as possible." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The Key Editor is packed with MIDI editing features but the trick to a faster </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>workflow is training yourself to access them as efficiently as possible.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">With some DIY Smart Controls for Cubase's Key Editor, you could become a MIDI-editing ninja.</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Cubase Pro 10's VariAudio Smart Controls bring all the main VariAudio functions within easy reach when you hover the cursor over a pitch segment. It saves you time, and makes you less likely to lose your musical focus. Seeing the concept applied so brilliantly in VariAudio made me hanker after a similar 'smart toolset' for the MIDI Key Editor. When editing MIDI data here, repetitive tasks include: entering and selecting notes, changing note positions or lengths, transposing notes and muting or deleting notes. The potential for streamlining things is obvious, so — in the absence of VariAudio-style Smart Controls here — just how close to hand can we bring the tools and settings required to perform these sorts of tasks?</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-key-commander#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Tool Utility Belt</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The most frequently used MIDI editing tools (eg. Draw, Erase, Trim) are available in the Tool Buttons Palette of the Key Editor's toolbar. This is easy to access, but going back and forth between this Palette (to select each tool) and the notes you wish to edit means a lot of 'mouse travel', particularly if you're working in a floating Key Editor, perhaps expanded to give you more screen space in which to work (rather than the compact Lower Zone).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The Key Editor already has a more immediate option that's similar to 'smart tools' — the Toolbox pop-up menu. Right-click and hold while hovering the cursor in the MIDI note grid, and a pop-up Tool Buttons Palette will appear, allowing swift tool selections. If this is the only thing you retrain yourself to do, you'll already have saved yourself a lot of time!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Enabling the right-click pop-up Tool Buttons Palette is an instant time-saver.", "alt": "Enabling the right-click pop-up Tool Buttons Palette is an instant time-saver."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_02-lTK33F4aQWufEVBBRUGq5AdGMfOReglo.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Enabling the right-click pop-up Tool Buttons Palette is an instant time-saver." height="283" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_02-C4tyih.JjPRqb9mrldD_jx8H.nqVjy0r.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Enabling the right-click pop-up Tool Buttons Palette is an instant time-saver." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Enabling the right-click pop-up Tool Buttons Palette is an instant time-saver.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">This pop-up only appears when the 'Pop-up Toolbox on Right-Click' option is enabled in the Tools section of Cubase's Preferences. Otherwise, right-clicking opens a subset of the main MIDI menu. There are all sorts of useful commands here, particularly in the Functions submenu, and it can be good to have easy access to this. I prefer the Toolbox as the default right-click action, but you can have the best of both worlds: press the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) key when right-clicking and the MIDI menu will be displayed instead of the Toolbox.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Keyboard shortcuts are another option for rapid-fire tool changes. Many tools are already assigned (in the Tools section of the Key Commands panel) to the number keys. I rejigged these to put the tools I use most frequently (Object, Draw, Mute and Erase) on keys 1 to 4. With one hand on my mouse and the other hovering over these keys, I can select these tools rapidly.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">If you right-click and hold while the mouse is hovering in the MIDI note grid, a pop-up version of the Tool Buttons Palette appears.</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-key-commander#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Snap To It</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Using the Object Selection tool to select notes doesn't require you to leave the note editing grid, but controlling subsequent movement of notes might. I find that for most note movements along the timeline I want to snap to the grid, move the note relative to the grid, or turn snap off altogether. You can change between these different modes in the Snap section of the Key Editor's Toolbar.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">There are no smart-tool-style pop-up options, but there are still faster ways to move between these modes. By default, for example, you can toggle Snap on/off using the J key — or, probably better, defeat Snap temporarily by holding Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) as you move one or more MIDI notes. In the Key Command dialogue's Edit section, you can also define Key Commands for each of the Snap types. I tend to favour Grid and Grid Relative, so I've created easy-to-use key combinations for these.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Key Commands make it super-easy to flip between different quantise resolutions as you enter or move notes within the Key Editor.", "alt": "Key Commands make it super-easy to flip between different quantise resolutions as you enter or move notes within the Key Editor."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_03-XSzHKtwOqiNvZJey2Fo0EMzuJdCeaznj.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Key Commands make it super-easy to flip between different quantise resolutions as you enter or move notes within the Key Editor." height="312" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_03-8YAiEoa0bdhPTUOAy29uqyX6U9.vUqYZ.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Key Commands make it super-easy to flip between different quantise resolutions as you enter or move notes within the Key Editor." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Key Commands make it super-easy to flip between different quantise resolutions </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>as you enter or move notes within the Key Editor.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Whether inserting new notes with the Draw tool or moving notes with the Object Selection tool, if you want their position to snap in some way to the grid, you'll often find yourself moving between different grid resolutions. The grid resolution can be set via the Quantize section of the Key Editor's Toolbar but, again, this involves navigating to the Toolbar, clicking and selecting the required resolution from the drop-down menu. To speed things up, the Quantize Category in the Key Commands windows comes with all the common grid divisions pre-defined, using Ctrl+number combinations. So, for example, quarter-note or 16th-note quantise settings can be selected with Ctrl+4 and Ctrl+9, respectively.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-key-commander#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Nudge, Nudge</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Two further useful Key Editor facilities are the Nudge Palette and the Transpose Palette. They aren't shown by default, but you can toggle their display on via the Settings options at the far-right of the Key Editor's Toolbar string (the cogwheel icon). Collectively, these palettes provide options to move and trim the lengths of selected notes in a speedy fashion. For example, in the Nudge Palette, you can trim the start or end of selected notes relative to the current quantise settings.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Of course, if you configure and master the appropriate Key Commands you may never need to turn on the display of the Nudge and Transpose palettes in the first place; you'll have much quicker access to the same functions. The Nudge section of the Key Commands window has options for moving notes left/right along the timeline or up/down in pitch. Some of these have keyboard shortcuts assigned by default, while others need assigning manually if you use them often enough to make a shortcut worthwhile. Nudge Left/Right are great for moving notes along the timeline but the Up/Down and Up/Down Larger Step commands are also worth considering — these transpose selected MIDI notes by a semitone or an octave, respectively, without requiring any fiddly mouse work.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Adding the Nudge Palette and Transpose Palette to the Key Editor Toolbar brings some useful editing options, but you can also access the same tools via Key Commands.", "alt": "Adding the Nudge Palette and Transpose Palette to the Key Editor Toolbar brings some useful editing options, but you can also access the same tools via Key Commands."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_04-0qDqAKlQqMWcHDknskmsrgW8UgYVwwOx.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Adding the Nudge Palette and Transpose Palette to the Key Editor Toolbar brings some useful editing options, but you can also access the same tools via Key Commands." height="351" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1019_04-F8BPwwMwOwMKKhy_SKIkKitxZYS_fSFH.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Adding the Nudge Palette and Transpose Palette to the Key Editor Toolbar brings some useful editing options, but you can also access the same tools via Key Commands." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 567px;"><i>Adding the Nudge Palette and Transpose Palette to the Key Editor Toolbar brings </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 567px;"><i>some useful editing options, but you can also access the same tools via </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 567px;"><i>Key Commands.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Looking at the Key Command's Nudge section, you could be forgiven for thinking that the various Trim commands aren't available for assignment. Actually, they are, but for some reason Steinberg have listed them as Start Left, Start Right, End Left and End Right. If you're unfamiliar with the MIDI note Trim options, these are well worth exploring, especially if you frequently need to tidy up less-than-stellar keyboard performances!</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-key-commander#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Work Smarter</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">If you do a lot of MIDI editing, committing only these few key commands and modifiers to finger-muscle memory should save you a massive amount of time in most projects. And not only can you finish projects more quickly (which is obviously great if you have clients with deadlines), but getting what are otherwise tedious editing tasks out of the way rapidly allows you to retain a sharper focus on the creative side of things.</p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Given just how rich Cubase's MIDI editing features are, the examples I've suggested only scratch the surface, and there are more than enough options for me to revisit the theme in a future column. Of course, if someone in Steinberg's Cubase development team is trying to work out how to bring VariAudio-style Smart Controls to the MIDI Key Editor, there'd be no need for such an article. In the meantime, if you're prepared to train your fingers to fully exploit them, there are plenty of shortcuts available.</span> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2019-10" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">October 2019</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-62218813786583336532024-03-26T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-26T12:00:00.129-07:00Korg Kronos Tutorial: Route programs and combinations to different audio outputs<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RZi8N_j5AX0?si=J08iU5m8a6SZLqOM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-61181155230486211752024-03-25T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-25T12:00:00.144-07:00Cubase Pro: Riff Maker<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Don't fear the Logical Editor! Even a simple preset can help generate some interesting musical ideas.", "alt": "Don't fear the Logical Editor! Even a simple preset can help generate some interesting musical ideas."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_01-69Kcl5ZL5olQftatC9mmJjiqR__SFghn.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Don't fear the Logical Editor! Even a simple preset can help generate some interesting musical ideas." height="179" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_01-KGx7Mdqdqp3oHrHMXSYsc_asaTuj.dvX.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Don't fear the Logical Editor! Even a simple preset can help generate some interesting musical ideas." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Don't fear the Logical Editor! Even a simple preset can help generate some </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>interesting musical ideas.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Stuck in a musical rut? Cubase Pro might just be able to provide the inspiration you need.</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">A number of third-party tools aim to offer the spark of musical inspiration around which you can build a project. Nobody expects them to cough up the sort of fully formed melody that could grace the next chart-topping hit, but by combining elements of key/scale 'rules', a dose of randomisation and a little user input — to influence the general direction of the riff-making process — they can be a great source of new melodic ideas. Happily, Cubase Pro 10 users need look no further than their own DAW for a toolset that allows you to experiment with this sort of random-but-guided riff generation. To follow the examples, you'll need a MIDI clip as a starting point. Anything will do; a simple two-bar sequence of 16th notes, all set to C3 and a velocity of 80, will suffice. Use this MIDI to trigger a staccato-style synth patch.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-riff-maker#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Iterative Inspiration</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "You can manipulate note velocity in various ways using the Logical Editor, whether that's subtle randomisation (above) or note muting (below).", "alt": "You can manipulate note velocity in various ways using the Logical Editor, whether that's subtle randomisation (above) or note muting (below)."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_02-uR7LpctMURPwC1ylecNlwxY82fJyIFLd.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="You can manipulate note velocity in various ways using the Logical Editor, whether that's subtle randomisation (above) or note muting (below)." height="272" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_02-gLWG4_p8nB9f.9EkaM1Em5QFuCWFvAU9.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="You can manipulate note velocity in various ways using the Logical Editor, whether that's subtle randomisation (above) or note muting (below)." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>You can manipulate note velocity in various ways using the Logical Editor, whether that's subtle randomisation (above) or note muting (below).</i></span></span>Many third-party plug-ins work by applying iterative changes to note pitches and velocities, often snapping notes to a specific key/scale combination. The hope, in repeating this sort of 'guided randomisation', is that something musically interesting will grab your attention. Cubase Pro 10's Logical Editor makes this approach possible — it can be used to select, in a clip, any MIDI data that meet the criteria you define, and then make adjustments. For example, you could use it to select only notes with a velocity under 30 and change their velocity to zero.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">To do this, we first have to create the necessary Logical Editor presets, so let's start by tweaking the note pitches. In the first screen, the Logical Editor's upper panel is set so when you run the preset it will select all MIDI notes, and the lower panel defines the changes that will be applied. Two actions are defined. The first randomises the current Value 1 (pitch) by up to three semitones in either direction. The second (optional) line changes the resulting pitches to the nearest note on the specified key/scale. I used E Pentatonic since that was the key/scale of this project, but there are plenty more options in the drop-down menu of the parameter 2 column.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Logical Editor presets can also be used to reset your original MIDI clip, so you can start over.", "alt": "Logical Editor presets can also be used to reset your original MIDI clip, so you can start over."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_03-s5RTZuPOZdw9bwlFI3f3ozs.X7EbskkR.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Logical Editor presets can also be used to reset your original MIDI clip, so you can start over." height="139" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_03-Pz4gVUc95GVcx.5FwRmqaSU2f9mFddcy.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Logical Editor presets can also be used to reset your original MIDI clip, so you can start over." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>Logical Editor presets can also be used to reset your original MIDI clip, so you can start over.</i></span></span>Each time this preset is applied to the selected MIDI clip all note pitches are randomised by a small increment and then nudged to work in the specified key/scale. Importantly, note that a Logical Editor preset can be applied while the MIDI clip is being played; you can hear the changes as you apply them.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The next screen shows two Logical Editor presets to adjust note velocity data. The first again selects the clip's MIDI notes. A single action then applies a small random change (+10 or -10, but you could experiment with other values) to Value 2 (velocity data). Applied iteratively, the note's velocity pattern will slowly evolve.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In the second preset, the upper panel selects only MIDI notes whose velocity is currently 30 or lower. The action then changes their velocity to zero, effectively muting them. This can be fun to apply occasionally, as it removes low velocity notes from playback and can thus help add some rhythmic interest to our (initially) 16th-note-pattern starting point.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">It's not hard to imagine creating other similar Logical Editor presets — for example, you might set a zero velocity for specific note pitches if you wanted to exclude some notes from one of the preset scales.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-riff-maker#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">The Key To Success?</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "By executing the Logical Editor presets via Key Commands, you can generate new ideas more efficiently.", "alt": "By executing the Logical Editor presets via Key Commands, you can generate new ideas more efficiently."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_04-B89iAbAy7wvrHUVIIfYB8jBn9YhtqMjj.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="By executing the Logical Editor presets via Key Commands, you can generate new ideas more efficiently." height="227" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_04-cQcdEphdSNoJ61DFOlWI1H9cweXv.Fwt.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="By executing the Logical Editor presets via Key Commands, you can generate new ideas more efficiently." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>By executing the Logical Editor presets via Key Commands, you can generate new ideas more efficiently.</i></span></span>Applying randomisation processes in the hope of something good can feel a little crude and won't always bear the tastiest fruit, and in that case you might want to start afresh. The next screen shows the lower (action) panel for two further Logical Editor presets. In both cases, the upper panel is configured to select all MIDI notes. The two actions then reset all notes pitches to C3 (or whatever note you prefer) and reset the note velocity data to 80 respectively. You could combine both actions into a single preset, but I prefer the flexibility of being able to reset this data independently. If I have a melody I like, I can reset just the velocity data, and vice-versa. And don't forget the undo Key Command (by default, Ctrl/Cmd Z), which can be used to undo your iterative changes if you just want to go back a step or two in the randomisation process.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Executing these presets via the Logical Editor window itself is a bit clumsy, as you have to switch between the presets manually via the window's preset panel. A more efficient workflow can be established via the Process Logical Preset section of the Key Commands window, where you can define convenient key commands for your DIY presets. Having selected your target MIDI clip, you can then fire off repeated presets without opening the Logical Editor. If you also have the clip open in the Lower Zone Key Editor, you can combine your 'guided randomisation' with some occasional manual MIDI editing.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">For a further creative step, why not try combining your Logical Editor presets with a bit of Chord Track magic?</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-riff-maker#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">More Options</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The basic process described here really is very simple, and the idea is that you can use manual editing to refine the results — once this tactic has sparked a fresh musical idea, it's done its job. But if you want different options, you could try giving your initial MIDI clip a more obvious direction and/or rhythmic feel, whether it's different note intervals or leaving some steps blank. There are plenty of options, but one neat example is to copy your kick/snare MIDI data to a bass synth track, reset the pitch values, and see if you can't randomly generate a cool bass pattern to play alongside your drums.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Chord Track can add a further creative twist to your random melody generation workflow.", "alt": "The Chord Track can add a further creative twist to your random melody generation workflow."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_05-lYCp4frer0MZsZVUZOB.KxJSnWDYxxqr.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Chord Track can add a further creative twist to your random melody generation workflow." height="78" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1119_05-bjLMBxV8i0pG4IKn5dA8OGKNO23gIWyW.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Chord Track can add a further creative twist to your random melody generation workflow." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The Chord Track can add a further creative twist to your random melody generation </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>workflow.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">For a further creative step, why not try combining your Logical Editor presets with a bit of Chord Track magic? For the final screen, I used my Logical Editor presets to generate an initial two-bar MIDI sequence. Then I made three copies to create an eight-bar sequence, which I set to follow both the chords and scales defined in the Chord Track. So the sequences in bars 5/6 and 7/8 have been subjected to further pitch tweaking by the Chord Track engine, resulting in some nice further variation.</p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Finally, in the Key Command window, you could easily create a Macro that bundles some of the Logical Editor randomisation presets into a single command... but I've already encouraged you to face your Logical Editor fears, so I'll leave that for another time!</span> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2019-11" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">November 2019</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-63663333918314640442024-03-23T10:00:00.000-07:002024-03-23T10:00:00.133-07:00Korg Kronos Tutorial: Save a song file (.SNG) as a standard MIDI file (.MID)<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RZxdG47V8Hs?si=NRgIHWJmBXcrlSEB" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-64806834266826431552024-03-22T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-22T12:00:00.128-07:00Cubase Distroyer Plug-in<p><span face=""Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By</span><span face=""Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 0.85714rem;"> </span><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85714rem; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></p><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700;">We dish the dirt on Distroyer, the new distortion plug-in introduced in Cubase 10.</span></div><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Cubase boasts several impressive distortion tools and whether you want saturation, overdrive, fuzz or lo-fi effects, there's something for the job. But Cubase 10 brought Pro and Artist users a new toy called Distroyer, so let's see (and hear — you'll find audio examples at <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin-audio-examples" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin-audio-examples</a>) what it can do.</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="file" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><img alt="Package icon" class="file-icon" src="https://www.soundonsound.com/modules/file/icons/package-x-generic.png" style="border: none; box-sizing: content-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" title="application/zip" /> <a href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/assetlibrary/c/cubasedistroyer.zip?9_NrvVd5sTe5uAiW_ifZSi1dRuS2m.h4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" type="application/zip; length=12531943">cubasedistroyer.zip</a></span></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Scene Of Destruction</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Distroyer's somewhat unconventional Mix control presents some interesting creative options — but note that you'll need to use the plug-in as a send effect if you want to do true parallel processing.", "alt": "Distroyer's somewhat unconventional Mix control presents some interesting creative options — but note that you'll need to use the plug-in as a send effect if you want to do true parallel processing."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_01-6wgoEzUyoO2hbnYkFd5dyBZcnaxsoBpl.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Distroyer's somewhat unconventional Mix control presents some interesting creative options — but note that you'll need to use the plug-in as a send effect if you want to do true parallel processing." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_01-k8y4LPMGFdBpQ92zbUSSy2xRdymkrN5y.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Distroyer's somewhat unconventional Mix control presents some interesting creative options — but note that you'll need to use the plug-in as a send effect if you want to do true parallel processing." typeof="foaf:Image" width="258" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 258px;"><i>Distroyer's somewhat unconventional Mix control presents some interesting creative options — but note that you'll need to use the plug-in as a send effect if you want to do true parallel processing.</i></span></span>While users of Cubase's older Distortion will instantly recognise Distroyer's heritage, Distroyer offers more controls and, like Quadrafuzz 2, makes it possible to aim the processing at a specific frequency range. Distroyer also has some design quirks, most notably in terms of the Mix control as I'll discuss below, but these also give this tool a distinct character and feel.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The first screen shows the settings required to 'zero' Distroyer's controls, so the audio sounds the same as when the plug-in is bypassed. This is a useful starting point, especially if you intend a fairly subtle effect. As explained in Cubase 10's Plug-in Reference PDF, some of the controls apply to the 'wet' signal only, and the wet/dry balance is adjusted via the Mix knob. These include the Lo/Hi Filters, which allow you to restrict the distortion effect to a specific frequency range. Incidentally, once set, if you click and hold in the blue zone that defines the frequency range, you can drag the whole range left/right to find the sweet spot. Drive adjusts the distortion character, going from a gentle overdrive to something more full-on, while the Offset control, which you can adjust via the graphic or the slider display, can tweak that character further. The Spatial control changes the left/right characteristics of the distortion and can generate some very cool stereo effects when applied to individual instruments.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Interestingly, the Boost, Shelf Freq, Shelf Gain and Tone controls operate on both the wet and the dry signals. Boost acts as a distortion gain control, while you can also adjust the frequency and gain of a high-shelf filter. Tone is actually a low-pass filter and, of course, Output sets the overall output level. As these controls come after the Mix knob, they can influence the overall sound regardless of the Mix knob setting. This somewhat unusual configuration makes for some very interesting creative options when Distroyer is used as an insert processor; if you want more conventional 'wet/dry' parallel processing, simply deploy the Distroyer as a send effect.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Kick It</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "With filter settings like these, Distroyer can really add some punch to your kick's low end, even when working with a pre-mixed drum loop.", "alt": "With filter settings like these, Distroyer can really add some punch to your kick's low end, even when working with a pre-mixed drum loop."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_02-tDXe07JvDzkpCy6NC2gIa1C5ZkiKMKkN.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="With filter settings like these, Distroyer can really add some punch to your kick's low end, even when working with a pre-mixed drum loop." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_02-6j2prJ2LQbOOARxX45agBJ9juZiPmkR1.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="With filter settings like these, Distroyer can really add some punch to your kick's low end, even when working with a pre-mixed drum loop." typeof="foaf:Image" width="246" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 246px;"><i>With filter settings like these, Distroyer can really add some punch to your kick's low end, even when working with a pre-mixed drum loop.</i></span></span>Because you are able to restrict the frequency range to which distortion is applied, Distroyer is a particularly useful tool for manipulating kick drum sounds, whether of the acoustic or electronic variety. It's particularly helpful if you're working with pre-mixed loops and finding the kick in need of a little 'something extra' to get it to punch through in your mix. While some focused EQ might also do the trick on occasion, adding new harmonic content with distortion can often be more effective — and in this role, Distroyer is a powerful tool.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The second screen shows some suitable settings to get you started: the Lo/Hi Filter is set to span just the 40 to 100 Hz range, and the Offset is set to neutral but the Drive to 9, to give quite a strong distortion effect. While Mix is set to 100 percent (so the full drum loop is subject to processing), the Tone (low pass) filter is set at 150Hz so that the bulk of the high-frequency content (eg. snare and cymbals) doesn't actually reach the output. Leaving Boost at zero also means that Distroyer won't colour the sound outside the frequency range bracketed by the Lo/Hi filters. And with the Shelf Gain set to zero, the high-shelf filter is also essentially bypassed.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">I've used Distroyer as a send effect, so the balance between the unprocessed drum loop and this 'kick enhancement' is dictated by the send level from the drum loop's track. Distroyer's various filters mean that any distortion applied to the higher-frequency elements doesn't reach the plug-in's output, but if you want to get even more aggressive with your kick you can gradually roll up the Boost and experiment with the Offset.</p><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eeeeee; background-origin: initial; background-position: 5px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">Because you can restrict the frequency range to which distortion is applied, Distroyer is a very useful tool for manipulating kick drum sounds.</blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">If, instead of using a mixed loop, your kick has its own dedicated channel in Cubase's MixConsole, you can push Distroyer harder — and turn even an underwhelming kick into a cone-ripping monster in a way no amount of EQ could achieve alone. If it's thump enhancement you want, the settings described above will again serve as a starting point — just tweak the Boost, Offset and Drive controls to take things from subtle saturation to more daring decimation.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Distroyer is also great at enhancing the attack/beater/click element of your kick sound.", "alt": "Distroyer is also great at enhancing the attack/beater/click element of your kick sound."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_03-E.swRJ0OJbmXDOeJxx9Wn09PNOvEZFP4.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Distroyer is also great at enhancing the attack/beater/click element of your kick sound." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_03-vP4_0IZ0yr7ZTc4xFk_8IlD1rq2jQ32v.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Distroyer is also great at enhancing the attack/beater/click element of your kick sound." typeof="foaf:Image" width="259" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 259px;"><i>Distroyer is also great at enhancing the attack/beater/click element of your kick sound.</i></span></span>As your dedicated kick channel means you don't have to worry about Distroyer destroying other drum elements, the Lo/Hi Filter settings can be used more creatively here to target the effect exactly where you want it in the frequency spectrum; this can be a great help if you need to give the kick its own dominant frequency relative to any bass sounds used in the mix.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Of course, the Lo/Hi Filter can also be used to focus Distroyer's processing on the click (beater) element of your kick too — to bring out more of its percussive attack. The third screen shows a possible send-return effect starting point for this application. The click of the beater is generally found in the 2-4 kHz range so I set the Lo/Hi Filter accordingly, dialled in plenty of Drive and Boost, and gradually increased the Mix from zero until I started to hear the effect. After that, the fine-tuning is a matter of taste.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Bass Enhancer</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In SOS May 2018's Cubase workshop, I discussed band-splitting your bass sounds to apply different processing to the low, mid and high-mid frequency ranges, and one option is to distort to the mid/high-mid components — with the aim of improving the definition of the bass in the mix. I used Cubase's VST Bass Amp plug-in in that earlier workshop and Quadrafuzz 2 could also be used, but the principle works just as well with Distroyer. And Distroyer's control set offers some different and potentially useful options.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "With two Distroyer instances configured as send effects, you can target processing on your bass track's low end to add girth, while treating the low/hi mids differently, to help the part cut through.", "alt": "With two Distroyer instances configured as send effects, you can target processing on your bass track's low end to add girth, while treating the low/hi mids differently, to help the part cut through."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_04-9xABnKArQ0bPqcGMj80Ql.X5Eqvkxj07.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="With two Distroyer instances configured as send effects, you can target processing on your bass track's low end to add girth, while treating the low/hi mids differently, to help the part cut through." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_1219_04-mS5BOt8qSlJF6Jf4Q.VxI5KgJtAoFfkw.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="With two Distroyer instances configured as send effects, you can target processing on your bass track's low end to add girth, while treating the low/hi mids differently, to help the part cut through." typeof="foaf:Image" width="295" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 295px;"><i>With two Distroyer instances configured as send effects, you can target processing on your bass track's low end to add girth, while treating the low/hi mids differently, to help the part cut through.</i></span></span>The basic setup involves two sends from your bass track to separate effects channels, each with an instance of Distroyer inserted. The final screen shows some example settings. The amounts of Drive and Boost can be set to taste, but the most crucial parameters are the Hi/Lo Filter values. One instance is set to add processing only to the sound below 200Hz, essentially providing a bit of overdrive to the fundamental frequencies of the part. The other, however, is configured to operate in the 200-5000 Hz range and, depending on the Boost, Drive and Offset controls, this can add some nice sizzle to the harmonics above the fundamental frequencies, which can help the bass cut through more clearly. Then, simply balance the wet/dry mix, and the degree of low and/or low-mid/high-mid distortion, by varying the two send levels. As in the May 2018 article, you could also add an instance of Studio EQ to each effects channel prior to Distroyer, to provide even finer control over the frequencies that each instance is processing.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Don't Stop Me Now</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Of course, it doesn't have to be just kicks and basses! The principles are the same for other applications — just restrict the frequency range you want to focus the processing on and set the distortion to be as subtle or as brazen as you want — but the somewhat unconventional control set always seems to help make Distroyer an interesting creative tool. While I've just about filled my allotted space for this month, I've included in the audio examples on the SOS website a couple of other potential applications for Distroyer: vocal processing and master-bus processing.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Finally, it's perhaps worth me repeating that Quadrafuzz 2 also offers frequency-specific distortion options — so it could just as easily be used as Distroyer in the above examples. I'd suggest that you experiment and see what works best for you, but whatever your thoughts, I reckon Distroyer is a very worthwhile creative addition to Cubase's plug-in suite.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2019-12" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">December 2019</a></div><div><br /></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-61603836366781767632024-03-21T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-21T12:00:00.124-07:00Korg Kronos Tutorial: Record time signature and tempo changes in a song<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQ3An015QTk?si=FBZGXkyMTyDSwSLW" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-4979385109067921862024-03-20T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-20T12:00:00.250-07:00Steinberg Cubase Pro 10.5<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/mark-wherry" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark Wherry</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Cubase Pro 10.5 in all its glory. Note the new MultiTap Delay effect included with the Pro and Artist editions, and the coloured channel strips in the mixer.", "alt": "Cubase Pro 10.5 in all its glory. Note the new MultiTap Delay effect included with the Pro and Artist editions, and the coloured channel strips in the mixer."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_01-rIKWvCRUXAE4dFLtKfJ4qTgNlZHPrjFZ.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Cubase Pro 10.5 in all its glory. Note the new MultiTap Delay effect included with the Pro and Artist editions, and the coloured channel strips in the mixer." height="266" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_01-zbbDvUHu8tj2LoEPKy0_nzM0zgqHSf3N.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Cubase Pro 10.5 in all its glory. Note the new MultiTap Delay effect included with the Pro and Artist editions, and the coloured channel strips in the mixer." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Cubase Pro 10.5 in all its glory. Note the new MultiTap Delay effect included with </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>the Pro and Artist editions, and the coloured channel strips in the mixer.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">There's something for everyone in the latest version of Steinberg's flagship music production package.</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Christmas was coming, the goose was becoming rather overweight due to a lack of dietary restrictions, and Steinberg released what has become the now-traditional end-of-year update to Cubase. Given that the last release of the company's Advanced Music Production System was version 10, launched on November 14th 2018, Steinberg's past roadmap strongly suggested 2019 would be an x.5 year. And indeed, the company didn't disappoint, unveiling Cubase 10.5 almost a year to the day on November 13th with no shortage of new features and improvements.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Available in the usual Pro, Artist, and Elements editions, this review focuses primarily on Cubase Pro 10.5 — the inclusion (or lack thereof) of certain new functionality in other editions will be mentioned as necessary.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/steinberg-cubase-pro-105#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Exporting Video, Ten-Point-Fivenally!</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">One of the most requested features in Cubase has been the ability to export a video file containing both the audio mixdown and accompanying video from a Project. Long-time Cubase users might remember the Replace Audio in Video command, which allowed you to replace the audio within an existing video file, and which was dropped when Steinberg introduced a brand-new video engine in Cubase 9.0.30.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Despite some consternation, this new video engine was necessary — and arguably overdue — because Steinberg's previous cross-platform video engine utilised Apple's QuickTime technology. The Windows version of this had been withering on the vine for years, and was finally put out of its misery in 2016. The new engine was a huge step forward in terms of supporting modern containers and codecs for playback, but the capability to export video was, to paraphrase a Steinberg support article, pushed back as a planned development for future updates. It was promised for Nuendo 10, released in April 2019, but missed the initial 10.0 release, and eventually showed up in Nuendo 10.2 around six months later. Finally, it's now available to Cubase users too.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Unlike the original Replace Audio in Video command, which added audio to an existing video file, the new Export Video command offers much more flexibility by creating new video files based on the position of the locators. To export a video, simply set the required range using the left and right locators and select Video from the File / Export submenu. In the Export Video window, set a name and path for the video file to be created, choose the stereo output to use for the audio to be included in the video (and whether that audio should be rendered in real time or not) and click the Export Video button. <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Et voilà!</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">A new video file will be created in an MP4 container, using the H.264 codec to render HD (1920x1080) video (upscaling or downscaling the resolution as necessary from the source resolution) at the same frame rate as the imported video. For audio, the AAC codec is employed to compress audio at a 16-bit resolution using the Project's sample rate, although only 44.1 and 48 kHz sample rates are supported.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The new Export Video window makes it easy to create a new video file with audio from the active Project.", "alt": "The new Export Video window makes it easy to create a new video file with audio from the active Project."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_02-J6Wl15GAWhFYpjrIDf8GRw6528R5YE8I.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The new Export Video window makes it easy to create a new video file with audio from the active Project." height="332" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_02-OTrxj62SrvkH9Re397QAOR5GiKpoMs2w.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The new Export Video window makes it easy to create a new video file with audio from the active Project." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The new Export Video window makes it easy to create a new video file with audio </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>from the active Project.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">I tested the Video Export command by importing a MOV file into a Project. The video was encoded with Apple ProRes 422 SD (1280x720) at a 23.976 frame rate, and the feature worked as advertised, which was great. However, I couldn't help but think I'd like to see more options for choosing additional containers and both video and audio codecs, with support for 24-bit resolutions and other sample rates. The lack of options on offer at export stands in sharp contrast to the wide array of video formats supported for import and playback. Perhaps we'll see more choice in future versions, although maybe I'm being picky: even in professional contexts, sending a file created using the current Export Video offering gives you something that can be played back by almost any system and will be more than acceptable to almost any client.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">For such a useful and advanced feature, it's perhaps surprising Steinberg decided to include Export Video not in just Cubase Pro, but Artist and Elements as well.</blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">One additional thing that an be optionally included in a video exported from Cubase is a timecode burn-in based on the current Project time. This could be useful for reference, or if the source video doesn't include such a burn-in already, although there aren't too many options to define how the timecode appears on the video. Based on the Video Player settings in the Studio Setup window, you can set how the timecode is horizontally aligned, resulting in white numbers in a black box being displayed. Again, more options would be nice: since you can add burn-in to the video, why not offer size, font, colour, and vertical alignment options as well? Or take it a stage further and allow dates to be added, plus the source video file name and custom text if required?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">For such a useful and advanced feature, it's perhaps surprising Steinberg decided to include Export Video not in just Cubase Pro, but Artist and Elements as well — although given the number of users who add audio to video clips these days, it probably makes sense, giving Cubase Elements even more allure for those looking for powerful features at a cheaper price point.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/steinberg-cubase-pro-105#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">In Retrospect...</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The seemingly innocuous Retrospective MIDI Record command has been both renamed and enhanced in Cubase 10.5. Previously, this relatively straightforward feature captured any incoming MIDI data while the sequencer's transport was either stationary or playing back, maintaining the timing data in both states. If you happened to play something unbelievably brilliant, rather than kick yourself for not being in record, you could simply select Retrospective MIDI Record, and a new MIDI part containing the captured sequence of Events would be created on the selected MIDI or instrument track. Easy. In fact, many people I know prefer to use this command rather than putting the sequencer into record, although I find myself being more old-fashioned in this respect.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">MIDI Retrospective Record functionality is now accessed through several different commands, which are available in a few different places, starting with the Transport menu. There's now a MIDI Retrospective Record submenu, and the closest command to the original is called Insert from All MIDI Inputs, which is assigned the same default key command (Shift and the * key on the numeric keyboard) as before. This results in the captured Events being inserted on the selected track; but, where previously the command could only be used once, this is no longer the case. Now you can select the command as many times as you like, inserting the Events on the same track or different tracks, with the buffer only being reset if Cubase either begins receiving new Events or you select Empty All Buffers from the submenu.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The new MIDI Retrospective Record commands can be accessed from a Transport submenu, or a new menu from the Basic Settings section in the inspector.", "alt": "The new MIDI Retrospective Record commands can be accessed from a Transport submenu, or a new menu from the Basic Settings section in the inspector."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_03A-0dEKWeE71KXiLECnY830UfLvL.5dLTNh.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The new MIDI Retrospective Record commands can be accessed from a Transport submenu, or a new menu from the Basic Settings section in the inspector." height="228" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_03A-bYFgRYyfMQvtrNvQ7wxDIIm_h0lJf5cs.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The new MIDI Retrospective Record commands can be accessed from a Transport submenu, or a new menu from the Basic Settings section in the inspector." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The new MIDI Retrospective Record commands can be accessed from a Transport </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>submenu, or a new menu from the Basic Settings section in the inspector.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">You'll notice the command is named Empty All Buffers and not Empty Buffer, and this is because — in addition to there being one overall buffer, as before — each MIDI and instrument track now has its own, independent buffer for retrospective recording. Using the new Insert as Linear Recording command you can insert Events played on the track selected at the time of capture, which is similar to Insert from All MIDI Inputs except that Events can only be inserted on the track that was selected when they were captured: if a different track is selected, Insert as Linear Recording is unavailable.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "", "alt": "Steinberg Cubase Pro 10.5"}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_03B-2EGN.kuLG2teLXn7Ir23B9PpC_AfjeCO.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Steinberg Cubase Pro 10.5" height="184" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/C/C105_03B-8yy3qAq_KGYoGRsVIlBp4qFH_zuz82Tf.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="" typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a></span>To make this a bit more obvious without having to access the Transport menu, the Inspector's Basic Track Settings section now features a new Retrospective Recording pop-up menu at the bottom that provides access to the appropriate commands (sans Insert from All MIDI Inputs) for that track. This pop-up will be greyed out and inaccessible if there are no Events to specifically insert on that track. And, in addition to being able to insert a linear recording, if you were playing back a project in Cycle mode, MIDI Retrospective Recording can also insert the captured Events as a cycle recording, which is rather neat.</p><p><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Overall, I think it's fair to say that if you use MIDI Retrospective Recording, Cubase 10.5 has got you covered — and, if you don't, this release might convert you.</span> </i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-01" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">January 2020</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-48780807195806126332024-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-19T12:00:00.150-07:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 8 of 8: Changing, Saving and Recalling Global Settings<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zh63U5oEiG0?si=ZTpOWzO9mH2F70qU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-37717900535601914632024-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T12:00:00.236-07:00Cubase 10: Channel Settings Workflow<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="group-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Channel Settings window provides a flexible and efficient environment for many basic mix processing tasks.", "alt": "The Channel Settings window provides a flexible and efficient environment for many basic mix processing tasks."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_01-4iEcZxY_TKuYnAOPMmpquvBIAHHFeaAV.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; outline: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Channel Settings window provides a flexible and efficient environment for many basic mix processing tasks." height="188" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_01-LN9GnGYyXk6fz94g8LidjNDeJJpST6Rd.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Channel Settings window provides a flexible and efficient environment for many basic mix processing tasks." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The Channel Settings window provides a flexible and efficient environment for many </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>basic mix processing tasks.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Could Cubase 10's Channel Settings window become your go-to mixing tool?</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Cubase's Channel Strip has the potential to make mixing much more efficient. Indeed, the same concept has translated fairly well from its hardware origins into most modern DAWs now. But when screen space is at a premium some implementations can require considerable screen real-estate — and while the collapsible Rack system in Cubase's MixConsole is brilliant in so many respects, accessing all the controls for each channel can entail a lot of opening/closing of Racks or scrolling up/down.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">A small-screen-friendly alternative is to build your workflow around the Channel Settings window. Sure, you can only display controls for one channel at once, but this window makes the complete Channel Strip's controls available in a very easy-to-use format. And with the useful refinements Steinberg made to the operation of the Channel Settings window in Cubase 10, you really should consider putting it at the heart of your mixing workflow.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-10-channel-settings-workflow#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Channel Guide</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">The Channel Settings window can be opened for the currently selected track/channel by clicking on the 'e' button in the Project window's Track List or in the MixConsole, and it gives you access to the full control set that's found in the MixConsole — but in a larger, easier to use GUI.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">As in previous versions, the contents of the MixConsole's EQ and Channel Strip Racks dominate the central portion of the display, but in v10 Steinberg made some worthwhile tweaks to what's possible here. For example, the UI was improved to offer better access to the core controls of each module, the visual feedback/metering was revamped and, while the EQ section could already be viewed in an expanded form via the Equalizer tab, you can now do that for the Compression section too (via a further 'e' button). The Channel Strip tab now includes a compact version of the EQ section in situ, and you can drag and drop to change the order of the various modules in the signal flow, which makes it much easier to see and configure your preferred processing chain.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-10-channel-settings-workflow#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">The Sound Of Beating Drums</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">When considering what the Channel Settings approach might offer you, there are two key questions to ask. First, are the tools provided up to the job? Second, how can they facilitate a more efficient workflow? The first is a huge question, but by way of example let's briefly consider a common mixing task: submixing a multitrack drum recording. In the example shown in the first screen there are seven mic channels, with single kick, snare and hi-hat mics joined by pairs of overheads and room (ambience) mics. For all the shiny appeal of your third-party plug-ins, the stock Cubase plug-ins in the Channel Strip and EQ sections are more than capable enough for routine mix-processing tasks like this, so the bulk of your work can easily be done in the expanded Channel Strip display.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">The exact settings required for each module across the various drum channels will obviously be project-specific, but it's worth exploring some cool features in the Channel Strip plug-ins. For example, the Noise Gate features a very useful input filter, and you can activate this via the AF button. You can then engage the LST (listen) function while you adjust the Freq and Q settings of the filter to focus the action of the gate within the dominant frequency of each sound source. In this drum mix, I used this on the kick, snare and hi-hat mics, and it allowed me to maximise the spill rejection from other drums into those mics.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "You can now access the full control set for your selected compressor within the Channel Settings window.", "alt": "You can now access the full control set for your selected compressor within the Channel Settings window."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_02-QynGLh4Gfgwz8Z6FblA.j9ShOzpFjQoy.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="You can now access the full control set for your selected compressor within the Channel Settings window." height="242" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_02-eye5oPTmho9IjP5Bq_B7BUQQ4QEnl.Kc.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="You can now access the full control set for your selected compressor within the Channel Settings window." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>You can now access the full control set for your selected compressor within the Channel Settings window.</i></span></span>It's also worth noting that all three compressor options (Standard, Tube or Vintage), which offer different characters of compression, also include Mix controls — making it possible to experiment with parallel compression on individual drum mics without leaving this window. And that, alongside the expected four-band EQ controls and an expanded display of the EQ curve, the Equalizer tab grants you access to controls from the MixConsole's Pre section. Most usefully, this includes a variable-slope low-cut filter for routine high-pass processing, and the Phase button (a polarity inverter), which is useful to optimise the phase relationships of multiple mics used on a single source. In this drum mix I used the low-cut filter to remove unwanted rumble to varying degrees on all the tracks (yes, even the kick), and set it higher for the two room mics, to prevent the kick being too ambient.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The EQ tab includes full access to the four-band EQ but also the very useful high-cut and low-cut filters from the Pre Rack section.", "alt": "The EQ tab includes full access to the four-band EQ but also the very useful high-cut and low-cut filters from the Pre Rack section."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_03-lkenVv6XRzf.Sdhxhv1nuavcE2E0MCP..jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The EQ tab includes full access to the four-band EQ but also the very useful high-cut and low-cut filters from the Pre Rack section." height="243" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_03-veWoVkBiRR7lhbIFspSvw_gqLCiO2OmY.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The EQ tab includes full access to the four-band EQ but also the very useful high-cut and low-cut filters from the Pre Rack section." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>The EQ tab includes full access to the four-band EQ but also the very useful high-cut and low-cut filters from the Pre Rack section.</i></span></span>The Tools section offers a choice of the DeEsser (useful for vocal tracks, obviously, but drums too on occasion) and EnvelopeShaper. The latter is very useful for drums and a doddle to use. In this mix I use it to enhance the attack of the kick and snare, to help them punch through more clearly. Finally, I applied a subtle amount of saturation to all the channels (you can choose between Magneto II, Tape or Tube options) and limiting (Standard Limiter, Brickwall or Maximizer) just to control any really hot peaks.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">I've provided a couple of audio examples, in which I compare my raw drum tracks to the drum 'mix', with processing configured solely in the Channel Settings window on each track. To my ears, the end result is clearer and has more punch — I achieved what I set out to achieve using only these tools. So whether or not you have access to third-party, channel strip-style plug-ins, I'd say the Cubase Channel Settings toolset could take you a long way along your mixing journey. For routine mix tasks, at least, I'd answer our first question with an emphatic 'yes'.</p><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eeeeee; background-origin: initial; background-position: 5px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">As you build up experience with the common control set, your familiarity will translate to much faster operation...</blockquote><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-10-channel-settings-workflow#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Command & Conquer</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">What about ease of use? Well, like the channel strips on a hardware console, a good dollop of that ease of use comes from the consistency of the control set for every channel. As you build up experience with the common control set, your familiarity will translate to much faster operation. But the other element that contributes to workflow efficiency is how quickly you can navigate the controls within the Channel Settings window itself. If you're fortunate enough to own Steinberg's CC121 hardware controller, that navigation will be very slick. But even for the rest of us, there are options and shortcuts that can speed things up.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">As a starting point, for frequent use, I'd define a keyboard shortcut for the Edit Channel Settings option (you can create/edit shortcuts in the Edit section of the Key Commands dialogue) so you can quickly open and close the Channel Settings window; I've assigned the 'E' key to this, as it matches the on-screen button.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "To get the most from the Channel Settings window, defining a few key commands will greatly enhance the workflow, including the ability to swiftly move between different tracks and channels.", "alt": "To get the most from the Channel Settings window, defining a few key commands will greatly enhance the workflow, including the ability to swiftly move between different tracks and channels."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_04-cGASi7iq8qgFaK1hNFa9rCe_xWkvQhmU.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="To get the most from the Channel Settings window, defining a few key commands will greatly enhance the workflow, including the ability to swiftly move between different tracks and channels." height="226" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0120_04-3mfTYoUuQSQURH7A8DjvIeIdyXaQjZ8q.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="To get the most from the Channel Settings window, defining a few key commands will greatly enhance the workflow, including the ability to swiftly move between different tracks and channels." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>To get the most from the Channel Settings window, defining a few key commands will greatly enhance the workflow, including the ability to swiftly move between different tracks and channels.</i></span></span>For the fastest workflow, two further options are worth enabling, and both are accessible from the pop-up menus in the top-right of the Channel Settings window. First, from the Toolbar menu, enable 'Always On Top'. This prevents the Channel Settings window from disappearing behind other windows as you work (once open, it's always accessible). Second, from the Function menu, enable 'Follow 'e' buttons or selection changes', so that when you select a different track/channel in the Project window or MixConsole, the Channel Settings window will update to display the newly selected track/channel's settings.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Given that the Channel Settings window only displays settings for the currently selected channel/track, the other thing we must be able to do is move efficiently between tracks. There are buttons for this in the Channel Settings window itself but key commands can speed up navigation, and it's well worth defining keys for the 'Select Track: Next' and 'Select Track: Prev' commands (which are found in the Key Commands window's Project section). As you navigate with these keys, the Channel Settings window will automatically refresh to reflect the selected track/channel. It's very slick and well worth a tick in the 'ease of use' box.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-10-channel-settings-workflow#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">For Better Or Worse</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">To finish, one further Channel Strip/EQ workflow tip is worth mentioning. When editing multiple channels, such as the drum kit recording in the example, I often find it useful to toggle all my Channel Strip and EQ settings off, for an A/B reality check as to whether my processing is actually making things better or worse! In practice, this can be a bit of a pain, as in the MixConsole you have to bypass both the Channel Strip and EQ Racks individually for every channel involved to do this. Now you could, I suppose, go to town and design a macro to solve that... but a simpler approach is to quickly select multiple channels and then press and hold Alt+Shift to temporarily 'Quick Link' them. Then, when you click on the bypass buttons on any of the selected EQ or Channel Strip sections, those Rack sections will be bypassed for all selected channels simultaneously.</p><div class="boxout clearfix" style="background: rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-10-channel-settings-workflow#top" id="para5" style="background: rgb(102, 102, 102); box-sizing: inherit; color: white; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 7px 20px; text-decoration-line: none;">Audio Examples</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px 20px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">cubase_0220_audio01.mp3</strong></p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"></p><div class="media-soundcloud-audio mini-player light media-element file-sc-mini media-soundcloud-1" style="background: rgb(242, 242, 242); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 6px 8px 2px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="media-soundcloud-player" frameborder="0" height="20" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A//soundcloud.com/soundonsound/cubase-0220-audio01&show_artwork=&show_comments=&show_user=&sharing=&color=" style="box-sizing: inherit;" title="Cubase 0220 Audio01 by Sound On Sound" width="100%"></iframe></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"></p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;">This audio example is based around a seven-microphone acoustic drum recording, featuring kick, snare and hi-hat mics alongside a pair of overheads and pair of room (ambience) mics. In this clip you hear a short section the unprocessed recording presented in three sections as follows; (1) just the kick, snare and hi-hat mics, (2) just the overhead and room mics and (3) all mics with a basic level adjustment to balance the overall sound of the kit.</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">cubase_0220_audio02.mp3</strong></p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"></p><div class="media-soundcloud-audio mini-player light media-element file-sc-mini media-soundcloud-2" style="background: rgb(242, 242, 242); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 6px 8px 2px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="media-soundcloud-player" frameborder="0" height="20" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A//soundcloud.com/soundonsound/cubase-0220-audio02&show_artwork=&show_comments=&show_user=&sharing=&color=" style="box-sizing: inherit;" title="Cubase 0220 Audio02 by Sound On Sound" width="100%"></iframe></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"></p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;">This second example presents the same three sections of the drum recordings but after basic processing options have been configured for each microphone channel via the Channel Settings window, as described in the main text of the workshop. On each channel, the processing involves frequency targeting use of the noise gate, high/low cut filters applied, modest amounts of compression (3-4 dB maximum) using a medium attack time, some more targeted EQ to shape the sound of individual mics as required, application of the EnvelopeShaper on the kick and snare mics to enhance the attack of both drums, subtle application of saturation, and limiting applied to catch any stray peaks. The Distroyer plug-in was applied as a send effect on both the kick and snare channels (as described in the <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/cubase-distroyer-plugin" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">December 2019</a> workshop) for a little extra edge. Finally, a further 2-3 dB of compression was applied on the drum bus.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;">The differences between the unprocessed and processed versions of the drum mix are relatively modest but do result in a somewhat punchier sound suitable for the project (a garage rock track) they are part of. However, what’s key in the context of the article is that (a) all processing was done using stock Cubase plug-ins and (b) all the processing options were applied via the Channel Settings window, with the task taking no more than 10 minutes in total. Further processing might be required as the full mix evolves, but the Channel Settings window provides a powerful and efficient means by which this kind of basic task can be performed across multiple channels/tracks.</p></div></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><br /></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><br /></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="group-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-02" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">February 2020</a></div><div><br /></div></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-52263405234694620832024-03-16T10:00:00.000-07:002024-03-16T10:00:00.132-07:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 7 of 8: Dynamic Effects for Extensive Mix Control<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4cADyBLWV6Q?si=SewsKroHA8x7mUSf" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-7670130293131305982024-03-15T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-15T12:00:00.132-07:00Steinberg Cubasis 3<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "While the Cubasis UI remains familiar, there's a whole raft of improvements in version 3.", "alt": "While the Cubasis UI remains familiar, there's a whole raft of improvements in version 3."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_01-FKgTl9BevvbnnblpTcDxM1N8MOXrIvbb.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="While the Cubasis UI remains familiar, there's a whole raft of improvements in version 3." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_01-.CnhHtZug0TU6sn1hEfh9VlTXFclsiam.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="While the Cubasis UI remains familiar, there's a whole raft of improvements in version 3." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>While the Cubasis UI remains familiar, there's a whole raft of improvements in version 3.</i></span></span></p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">For those who want an iOS workflow that closely follows established desktop conventions, Steinberg's Cubasis is probably the most popular DAW/sequencer app currently available. Naturally, the feature set is scaled down from Steinberg's flagship Cubase Pro, but Cubasis has always struck an excellent balance between a well-chosen set of core features, a slick UI that works well on the iPad's relatively compact touchscreen, and a price that makes it accessible to almost anyone with a serious mobile music-making habit.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The latest update, to Cubasis 3, is a significant one. Indeed, it's so significant that Steinberg are presenting this as a new app rather than a free upgrade for current Cubasis users; Cubasis 2 will remain available via the App Store at a reduced price. Some may grumble at this — and it would be helpful all round if the App Store made a system for 'upgrades' more straightforward for developers — but it's worth noting that any in-app purchases made in Cubasis 2 can be activated in Cubasis 3 at no additional cost. As Steinberg have already provided Cubasis users with over 30 free updates since it first went on sale, I think they should be cut considerable slack. After all, it's important for all users that the Cubasis project remains financially viable.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The new UI is more easily customisable. For example, you can set the Mixer view to one of three diferent zoom presets.", "alt": "The new UI is more easily customisable. For example, you can set the Mixer view to one of three diferent zoom presets."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_02-Waa_j6debUbTVQZLuuVPIuvB1A.LeTCS.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The new UI is more easily customisable. For example, you can set the Mixer view to one of three diferent zoom presets." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_02-_ygXK9MyXjHzydALEt5OlEB1o_RYzfaT.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The new UI is more easily customisable. For example, you can set the Mixer view to one of three diferent zoom presets." typeof="foaf:Image" width="262" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 262px;"><i>The new UI is more easily customisable. For example, you can set the Mixer view to one of three diferent zoom presets.</i></span></span>So, what's new in Cubasis 3? Well, lots actually — it has pretty much been rewritten from scratch. This has enabled Steinberg to take full advantage of more recent developments in iOS and in Apple's hardware, and of particular note is that it also means we now have universal app status; for the first time, Cubasis can run on your iPhone as well as your iPad. (iOS13.0 or later is required, so you'll need a device that supports that — an iPhone 6S, or iPad fifth-generation or later, for example).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">As you'd expect, Cubasis 3 on an iPhone demands more scrolling, good finger dexterity and decent eyesight, but having undertaken a quick tour on my (now aging) iPhone 6S I'm left impressed at just how well Steinberg have translated the workflow to the smaller screen. While working is undoubtedly faster on a larger iPad screen (the new version ran very smoothly on my first-generation iPad Pro), having the option to carry Cubasis 3 around in my pocket is very welcome!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Group tracks are a major new feature, and allow easy configuration of the tracks within a Group.", "alt": "Group tracks are a major new feature, and allow easy configuration of the tracks within a Group."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_03-q498KhuAFmCZN.DNhXB146UwoRBRcqdy.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Group tracks are a major new feature, and allow easy configuration of the tracks within a Group." height="269" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_03-L4BvvHM99sFvVR0QZQXSxIIKelg2senQ.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Group tracks are a major new feature, and allow easy configuration of the tracks within a Group." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>Group tracks are a major new feature, and allow easy configuration of the tracks within a Group.</i></span></span>While Cubasis 3 will seem very familiar to users of previous versions, Steinberg have made a huge number of refinements to improve both the workflow and visual experience. For instance, editing of audio, MIDI and automation has been improved substantially, while the bundled effects and instruments have been visual revamped.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Perhaps even more useful (particularly given the iPhone support) are the new UI scaling options. You can zoom in/out on various views, as before, but you now also get some UI presets that allow you to change the display quickly. This includes the Mixer, for which a combination of full-screen mode and three channel-zoom levels make for much easier operation.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">To me at least, Cubasis has always represented the best balance between features and usability in any iOS DAW/sequencer...</blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Of the other highlights, top of my personal list is the addition of Group tracks. If you're familiar with Cubase, you'll know this is Steinberg's take on creating subgroup buses — so you can route several tracks (for example, a set of individual drum tracks) to a Group track. You can then control the overall volume of the Group or apply Group-level effects before the audio flows to your master output.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Creating a new Group track is easy, and standard (audio or MIDI) tracks can be added to and removed from Groups with ease. Group tracks make all sorts of mixing tasks much easier, including the ability to focus your broad-brush mix–level automation down to a few instrument groups. It's a simple but powerful addition.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "It's now even easier to move projects you start in Cubasis to the more powerful Cubase DAW software on a Mac/Windows computer.", "alt": "It's now even easier to move projects you start in Cubasis to the more powerful Cubase DAW software on a Mac/Windows computer."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_04-3M7jCS_k.lGqrn6rF6P.d92e.oFq4IM9.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="It's now even easier to move projects you start in Cubasis to the more powerful Cubase DAW software on a Mac/Windows computer." height="264" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/s/steinberg_cubasis_3_04-0ZQV_u4FavDtqGD6OJ.fhV3cZHQomQI9.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="It's now even easier to move projects you start in Cubasis to the more powerful Cubase DAW software on a Mac/Windows computer." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>It's now even easier to move projects you start in Cubasis to the more powerful Cubase DAW software on a Mac/Windows computer.</i></span></span>There are all sorts of other useful refinements and additions, all of which either improve the workflow or offer new possibilities. For example, getting into the technical nitty gritty, the MIDI editing resolution has been increased to 960 pulses per quarter note. If you're particular about the precision of your MIDI sequencing, this is a very useful step forward. Also, tracks can now have up to eight insert and eight send effects, and these can be re-ordered easily, and their position set pre- or post-fader. Events can now be colour-coded vertically — and in the absence of something like Cubase's Marker track this provides an easy way to identify the different musical sections in a project. Automation is now supported within Micrologue ARP (if you have the Micrologue in-app purchase) and AU MIDI effects. Oh, and Cubasis now includes a proper History List for undo/redo operations, making it easier to navigate individual steps in your project editing timeline.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Another personal highlight is the improvements to the MediaBay, where you manage your various projects, audio files, MIDI loops and so forth, and can find options for mixdown and exporting your projects. There are many improvements, but the option to use AirDrop to transfer your Cubasis project to your desktop machine, and then have Cubase open the project, is super-cool. If you've used only Steinberg virtual instruments and effects in the Cubasis project, their Cubase equivalents will automatically appear in the desktop version of the project too; it all worked very smoothly for me.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">If you purchased Cubasis 2 recently at full price, you may feel a little aggrieved at the lack of an upgrade route to Cubasis 3. But if you've been making music with Cubasis for a while, Steinberg have added more than enough to the Cubasis experience to make v3 a very tempting proposition at this price. To me at least, Cubasis has always represented the best balance between features and usability in any iOS DAW/sequencer, and in Cubasis 3, Steinberg have raised a high bar even higher.</p><div class="infobox" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 4px; text-transform: capitalize;">Information</h3><div class="us" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 2px 0px;"><span class="infop" style="box-sizing: inherit;">$49.99.</span></p></div></div><p><a href="https://www.steinberg.net/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">www.steinberg.net</a> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-03" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">March 2020</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-38503185200205786662024-03-14T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-14T12:00:00.138-07:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 6 of 8: Exploring Analog and Digital Tone Control<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ozh4xDarpck?si=6d9dGnP_K8OQ6HwI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-5376324874794962312024-03-13T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-13T12:00:00.150-07:00Cubase Padshop 2: Grain Oscillator<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="group-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Padshop 2's Granular Oscillator, with layer A set to its initial state and a sample dragged and dropped. Ready to commence pad creation!", "alt": "Padshop 2's Granular Oscillator, with layer A set to its initial state and a sample dragged and dropped. Ready to commence pad creation!"}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_01-qOYTccAhugq6W1R_RYzB1sR3mnz8jkrl.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Padshop 2's Granular Oscillator, with layer A set to its initial state and a sample dragged and dropped. Ready to commence pad creation!" height="291" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_01-meBobcvy0AByUpIkuTCVIGOLNq9WiwzH.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Padshop 2's Granular Oscillator, with layer A set to its initial state and a sample dragged and dropped. Ready to commence pad creation!" typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Padshop 2's Granular Oscillator, with layer A set to its initial state and a sample </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>dragged and dropped. Ready to commence pad creation!</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Cubase 10.5's Padshop 2 granular synth can create wonderfully engaging pads from any sample.</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Cubase's Padshop has always seemed to me to be something of a hidden gem, but with the Cubase Artist/Pro v10.5 update this granular synth was treated to a significant overhaul. Where once we had only a 'lite' version of Padshop, we now get the full version of Padshop 2 (which is available as a paid product for users of other DAWs). Padshop 2 still includes its predecessor's dual-layer (A and B) engine, the Grain Oscillator, flexible filter, modulation options and effects, and all this is contained in a refreshed, yet still familiar GUI. However, it also boasts an expanded preset and bundled sample collection, drag-and-drop support for your own samples in Cubase, improved sound modulation, additional filter options, an integrated arpeggiator/phrase player (which will be familiar if you use Retrologue) and a new Spectral Oscillator.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">The original grain oscillator and the new spectral oscillator make Padshop 2 an intriguing option for sound creation, but they might be unfamiliar concepts to many taking their first steps in DIY sound creation. I hope to take a detailed look at the Spectral Oscillator in a future column, but this month and next I'll do my best to nudge you along the learning curve for the Grain Oscillator, by looking at the creation of pad/soundscape-style patches.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Padshop 2's new Spectral Oscillator provides some very different sound-creation options, which I'll explore in a column in the near-future.", "alt": "Padshop 2's new Spectral Oscillator provides some very different sound-creation options, which I'll explore in a column in the near-future."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_02-WbKqhvAT2TLlVIK2lFwG55c6FwtJiy_2.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Padshop 2's new Spectral Oscillator provides some very different sound-creation options, which I'll explore in a column in the near-future." height="74" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_02-5_dF9jg6ySe2G_7CmcJRRCyb7Z_FnwHj.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Padshop 2's new Spectral Oscillator provides some very different sound-creation options, which I'll explore in a column in the near-future." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Padshop 2's new Spectral Oscillator provides some very different sound-creation </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>options, which I'll explore in a column in the near-future.</i></span></span></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Grain Brain Drain</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">If granular synthesis is an alien concept, Simon Price's article in SOS December 2005 (<a href="https://sosm.ag/dec05-granular-synthesis" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://sosm.ag/dec05-granular-synthesis</a>) is an excellent overview. In essence, grain-based audio processing involves dividing your audio sample into tiny sections (each a fraction of a second) called 'grains'. It's rather like beat-slicing but done on a micro-scale: if the individual grains are played back in sequence at the original speed and pitch, you simply hear the original sample, but grains can also be played back individually, sequenced in original order, sequenced out of original order, looped, re-pitched, filtered and reversed; multiple grains can be played simultaneously, different grains can be used on the left and right sides of the stereo image and, well, you get the idea.</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">There are all sorts of options and combinations, which mean that granular synthesis makes it possible to create entirely new sounds in which the original sound source is unrecognisable. Its potential for original sound design is huge — and you need nothing more than Padshop's Grain Oscillator to get started.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Clean Drop</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">To begin our introductory tour of pad creation using Padshop's Grain Oscillator, start by: (1) ensuring only layer A is active (turn off layer B via its power button, located bottom-right); (2) selecting the Grain Oscillator in layer A (the button located top-left of the oscillator panel lets you toggle between the grain and spectral oscillators); and (3) ensuring that layer A is reset to its initial state (use the drop-down menu towards the right side of the Plugin Functions section, which is the topmost tool strip).</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Having 'blanked' layer A, rather than choosing one of the preset samples, you can use one of v2's most significant new features: you can drag and drop one of your own samples (mono or stereo) into the Grain Oscillator. This can be done from various locations, including the Project window, but for the example illustrated here I dragged a sample of a sustained guitar chord from my OS's file browser. If original sounds are what you want, starting with your own unique sound source is obviously a good plan, but almost any sound can provide something useful.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">No Pain, All Grain</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">The Grain Oscillator's control set is split into three main sections: the waveform display, with its series of numerical/rotary knob controls; the 'position settings' (on the left); and the 'level settings' (on the right). In the waveform display, you can set the range of the waveform to be used for the grain-based playback by dragging the start and end markers. You can also set the starting position for grain playback by dragging the waveform playback head or by adjusting the Position (Pos) knob to the left of the waveform display.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Tweaks to the number of grains, their relative starting position and the playback speed produce timbral changes, but not always a very musical result.", "alt": "Tweaks to the number of grains, their relative starting position and the playback speed produce timbral changes, but not always a very musical result."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_03-JyJp_46x3FxC62x7niblaJTv.EmqseWc.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Tweaks to the number of grains, their relative starting position and the playback speed produce timbral changes, but not always a very musical result." height="74" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_03-sIgEWg_gORJyQw6eyIcYGZsSxhjA24lI.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Tweaks to the number of grains, their relative starting position and the playback speed produce timbral changes, but not always a very musical result." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Tweaks to the number of grains, their relative starting position and the playback </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>speed produce timbral changes, but not always a very musical result.</i></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">If you now play a few MIDI notes into Padshop the odds are that you'll hear a very static sound, albeit one that's pitch-mapped across the keyboard. So while the sound will change in timbre as you move the playhead position, you'll need to twiddle a few more knobs to create something more pad-like.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">A decent first step is to tweak the Speed knob. When you play and hold a MIDI note, this setting controls the speed and direction in which the playback head moves through the grains from the starting position. At 0 percent (the default value on initialising the settings), the playback position is static (the same grain is played repeatedly), hence our currently rather bland sound. But you can set the Speed between -200 and +200 percent. At +100 percent, the playback speed sequences the grains at their original tempo, and you hear something approximating the original sample. Well, sort of, depending on the MIDI note you play and the Shape setting (which creates different crossfade styles to smooth the transition between grains), amongst other things.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Negative Speed values move the playhead backwards through the original sample, and they can produce some interesting, often unsettling, effects. In this case, I opted for a Speed of +6 percent and the 'Welch' Shape setting, but what's 'best' will almost always depend on the nature of the original sample and what sort of result you want; there are no magic numbers to share!</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">Granular synthesis makes it possible to create entirely new sounds, in which the original sound source is unrecognisable.</blockquote><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">It Takes Two (Or More)</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Next, try: (a) increasing the number of grains being played at any one time; and (b) ensuring that each grain uses a subtly (or perhaps not so subtly) different playback start position. The Number setting can be adjusted to a maximum of eight, but even values of two or three (used in my example) will have a noticeable impact on the sound. To the left of the waveform section, adjust the Position Spread control (I opted for 10 percent) so that each grain starts from a different point around the playback head. These adjustments should add greater complexity/richness to the sound.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">To add further sonic variation, you can also adjust the Random Position and Position Channel Offset controls. The former injects some randomness to the start position of each grain, while the latter applies start position differences between the left and right channels, to enhance the stereo width. In the example, I dialled in 10 percent for both. (By the way, it's also worth noting that Padshop always creates left and right channels, even from mono samples.)</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "My Grain Oscillator configuration is complete: it's the core of a pad sound — but the filter, modulation and effects options can help to make this patch sound much less 'static'.", "alt": "My Grain Oscillator configuration is complete: it's the core of a pad sound — but the filter, modulation and effects options can help to make this patch sound much less 'static'."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_04-qsCS9YsQeiR.cwaXmfIJciLsFTram1MZ.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="My Grain Oscillator configuration is complete: it's the core of a pad sound — but the filter, modulation and effects options can help to make this patch sound much less 'static'." height="73" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0320_04-uThhTK6B7qamT5EzH9fGhKBeew6ufKvt.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="My Grain Oscillator configuration is complete: it's the core of a pad sound — but the filter, modulation and effects options can help to make this patch sound much less 'static'." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>My Grain Oscillator configuration is complete: it's the core of a pad sound — but </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>the filter, modulation and effects options can help to make this patch sound </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>much less 'static'.</i></span></span></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para5" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">More Than Noise?</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">By this stage, the sound can easily be one in which it's impossible to identify the original sample — but it may be as much 'noise' as 'musical', and in most cases, you can shift the balance towards the latter by experimenting with the Duration setting. This adjusts the length (duration) of each individual grain, and it influences the timbre of the sound and the pitched elements. With lower values (shorter grains), pitch is dominated by the frequency at which the grains repeat, while at larger values (longer grains; I've used 50), pitch elements from the underlying sample tend to dominate.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">You may also need to experiment with the Duration Key Follow setting. This interacts with the Duration setting, with shorter Duration values generally requiring higher Key Follow values (and visa-versa) so that pitch is mapped in a conventional fashion across the MIDI note range. As a guide, start at 100 percent (which worked fine in my example) and then switch to 0 percent. See which feels most natural, and adjust to taste from there.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para6" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Rich Pitch</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Provided you're using more than one grain, perhaps the last initial setting to tweak before digging into the modulation options should be the Pitch Interval. If this is set anywhere other than zero, grains are randomly played either at their original pitch or at the specified pitch interval. Certain values (eg. a fifth) produce more obviously musical results, but the -12 semitone setting I used here is always a good bet; it adds a little low-end depth and richness to almost any sound.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2-grain-oscillator#top" id="para7" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">See You Later, Modulator!</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">With sufficient tweaking of the Grain Oscillator controls that I've described above — and, as always, a little luck — you'll hopefully now have created a pad-like sound of your own. But while it could well be usable, chances are that you'll feel it could be made somewhat more interesting and engaging!</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">That's where Padshop 2's filter, effects and modulation options come in, and is where we'll resume our look at Padshop 2 next time. In the meantime, I've created an audio example below that demonstrates the various stages of my pad's development, from original sample through to my final Grain Oscillator tweaks. I've included an example of how this sound can then be enhanced with the filter, effects and modulation options, so you can get an idea of where we're headed next.</p></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><br /></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><br /></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="group-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-03" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">March 2020</a></div><div><br /></div></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-67912450460765377272024-03-12T10:00:00.000-07:002024-03-12T10:00:00.127-07:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 5 of 8: Using the Digital Multi-effects Section<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rLh8UKPjFaw?si=SSZ7khIh4cxQ0UA_" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-49163139608731539962024-03-11T12:00:00.000-07:002024-03-11T12:00:00.139-07:00Cubase: Padshop 2's Modulation Matrix<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "You can target a number of the Grain Oscillator's parameters for modulation in Padshop Pro 2.", "alt": "You can target a number of the Grain Oscillator's parameters for modulation in Padshop Pro 2."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_01-uqfcO6xlWBx_vo6NZLmTDkQbCGHvKYs5.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="You can target a number of the Grain Oscillator's parameters for modulation in Padshop Pro 2." height="298" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_01-Jzad6eYQwX.VH9EOFAmVOLEhBoL0ozcG.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="You can target a number of the Grain Oscillator's parameters for modulation in Padshop Pro 2." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>You can target a number of the Grain Oscillator's parameters for modulation in </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Padshop Pro 2.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">If you want to inject some motion and mystery into your pad sounds, why not fire up Padshop 2 and enter the matrix?</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In last month's introduction to Cubase 10.5's Padshop 2 synth (<a href="https://sosm.ag/cubase-0320" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://sosm.ag/cubase-0320</a>) I explained how to turn your own audio samples into basic pad sounds with only a few of the synth's Grain Oscillator controls. Those sounds were usable enough, but also a little 'static' for some tastes, and Padshop 2 has plenty of options for injecting more interest and movement into the sound — and this time, I'll explain some ways to do this using its modulation section.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">If you're new to rolling your own synth sounds, modulation can seem a rather mysterious thing. At heart, it's actually a really simple concept: you use one control or parameter (the 'modulation source') to change one or more other parameter (the 'destination') over time — the mystery probably stems from the sheer number of options modulation can open up! So where do you start? Well, thankfully, Padshop's modulation system (enhanced in v2) is easy to use, and is centred on two fairly conventional approaches: a 'modulation matrix', and a streamlined MIDI Learn/parameter assignment system.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">I'll discuss some examples below, and you'll find accompanying audio examples on the SOS website (<a href="http://https//www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop2-workshop-0420-audio" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop2-workshop-0420-audio</a>).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="file" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><img alt="Package icon" class="file-icon" src="https://www.soundonsound.com/modules/file/icons/package-x-generic.png" style="border: none; box-sizing: content-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" title="application/zip" /> <a href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/assetlibrary/c/cubasepadshop2workshop0420.zip?n.z7niENGNyCIIgdh4eOARpxYrgQ3ler" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" type="application/zip; length=2454752">cubasepadshop2workshop0420.zip</a></span></p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2s-modulation-matrix#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Target Practice</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">First, decide which synth parameters you want to modulate. As with any synth, most filter and effects parameters offer plenty of potential, but for those with last month's introduction to the Grain Oscillator fresh in the mind, we'll start with some candidates in the oscillator section. Click on the Matrix tab to access the modulation matrix, where you can link up to 16 different modulation sources with parameter destinations (the 16 slots are arranged in four banks of four).</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">A drop-down menu in any of the matrix's Destination slots allows you to select your modulation target. While not all of the Grain Oscillator's controls are assignable (I'll come back to this), Grain Position is a great choice: as outlined last month, the Grain Position defines the starting point in the waveform for grain playback, so modulating this will give your pad sound some timbral variation over time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">A further drop-down menu in the corresponding Source slot allows you to select the modulation source. There are plenty of possibilities, but for this example I've selected one of the four LFOs, configured to follow a sine waveform over four bars. I've also set the Depth value in the matrix to 10, for a fairly modest amount of modulation. With the modulation configured this way, when playing and holding a note over four bars (or longer), you should notice a slow and steady change in the pad's sonic character.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">For more hands-on control, instead of the LFO, try selecting the Mod Wheel as the modulation source. If you're a good keyboardist, note velocity or aftertouch will also work well, as they allow elements of your playing dynamics to change the timbre of the sound. For more timbral change, the other two Grain Oscillator parameters to try modulating are Speed and Duration. In both cases, start with small, positive Depth values — otherwise things can soon get weird. That said, if 'weird' is what you want, target the Formant control; even with low Depth values, it can produce some wonderfully unsettling tonal/pitch variations.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Outside the Grain oscillator itself, parameters in the filter section make good modulation targets if you want to add movement to your pads.", "alt": "Outside the Grain oscillator itself, parameters in the filter section make good modulation targets if you want to add movement to your pads."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_02-_wTTgORzePqFxqeMv9W5GCiR0DD8OVHd.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Outside the Grain oscillator itself, parameters in the filter section make good modulation targets if you want to add movement to your pads." height="174" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_02-CGRsulJnq1lryAUx0_CX9L7FitCPlF_J.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Outside the Grain oscillator itself, parameters in the filter section make good modulation targets if you want to add movement to your pads." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 597px;"><i>Outside the Grain oscillator itself, parameters in the filter section make good </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 597px;"><i>modulation targets if you want to add movement to your pads.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Of course, with 16 modulation slots, you're not limited to targeting only one or two of the Grain Oscillator's parameters. Other classic candidates are the filter's cutoff, resonance and distortion settings. It's perhaps worth noting that the filter section has its own dedicated ADSR envelope, which can be used to modulate the filter's response, and this includes a Velocity setting which allows the envelope's behaviour to be modulated by note velocity. But you can also configure the filter cutoff, resonance and distortion as destinations for any of the other modulation sources in the matrix. Again, using a slow-moving LFO to gently sweep any of these parameters and making them react to note velocity can be great ways to induce further timbral variation.</p><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eeeeee; background-origin: initial; background-position: 5px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">You can create a step-based pattern (with a maximum of 32 steps) which can be used to modulate any of the matrix's destination parameters.</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2s-modulation-matrix#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Step On It</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Padshop 2 offers many modulation source options, but a personal favourite that I keep coming back to is the Step Modulator, which is accessed via the Step tab. Here you can create a step-based pattern (with a maximum of 32 steps) which can be used to modulate any of the matrix's destination parameters. Usefully, Step Modulator pattern presets can be saved and recalled.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Step Modulator provides a very flexible modulation source.", "alt": "The Step Modulator provides a very flexible modulation source."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_03-NSDBj.Hw6rQuIyDimXeidnUsewPfd51C.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Step Modulator provides a very flexible modulation source." height="82" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_03-p8MJxaF9yj73AQq_BMmw.MiNSP6jZsUp.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Step Modulator provides a very flexible modulation source." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 598px;"><i>The Step Modulator provides a very flexible modulation source.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">With this, you can achieve all sorts of outcomes, from modest tonal changes (using a smooth set of step pattern values and a low Depth value) to strong pulse-like effects (using a step pattern of alternate high/low values and a high Depth value), whether targeting grain position, filter cutoff or volume. For pulse-like effects, you can control how obvious the pulse or rhythmic pattern becomes by adjusting the Depth control to taste. And, if you specify the mod wheel as the Modifier in the appropriate modulation matrix slot, you can then vary the degree to which the Depth parameter is applied — and therefore control the intensity of this pulsing effect in real time.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2s-modulation-matrix#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Rocking The Mod</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "No menus required: initial links between sources and destinations can be established via drag and drop.", "alt": "No menus required: initial links between sources and destinations can be established via drag and drop."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_04-_.uzZkJ04GlFe6Ms9pKyt_z096f6HxEi.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="No menus required: initial links between sources and destinations can be established via drag and drop." height="210" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_04-y4rTKFNnMeTfJ5FzS3rwVJMS1Nun1oKL.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="No menus required: initial links between sources and destinations can be established via drag and drop." typeof="foaf:Image" width="300" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 300px;"><i>No menus required: initial links between sources and destinations can be established via drag and drop.</i></span></span>The examples above provide some fairly safe places to commence your voyage into pad design. But Padshop's modulation system allows almost endless combinations, as well as some different ways to set things up that can make more complex creations easier to achieve. First, note that Padshop 2 allows some modulation options to be configured via drag and drop. Beside some of the controls that can act as a modulation source you'll find a small 'four arrowhead' icon. If you click (and hold) this, and then drag away, the parameters that can be targeted as modulation destinations will become highlighted. Simply drag to the desired destination and a modulation link will be established; the link will be added automatically to an empty slot in the modulation matrix, where you can fine-tune it. This is a great way to, for instance, link the mod wheel to a parameter or two.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Second, I want to revisit that point about not all grain oscillator parameters being available as modulation destinations in the matrix. Why that is, I don't know, but Padshop 2 does include a conventional MIDI Learn system that provides a workaround — while you can't, for example, target the grain oscillator's Spread, Offset or Grain Number controls using an LFO or the Step Modulator, you can link them to the mod wheel or another MIDI continuous controller if you want to change them in real time.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Grain Oscillator parameters can be modulated via MIDI even if they're not present in the modulation matrix. MIDI Learn is supported, as is mod wheel control.", "alt": "Grain Oscillator parameters can be modulated via MIDI even if they're not present in the modulation matrix. MIDI Learn is supported, as is mod wheel control."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_05-t8q0TiG9c6vuYjCOXR7qOj0AooDWh2Oi.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Grain Oscillator parameters can be modulated via MIDI even if they're not present in the modulation matrix. MIDI Learn is supported, as is mod wheel control." height="209" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0420_05-DaeAXf4qP8MBJQMs2jnjWhw7sq7vlZJ4.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Grain Oscillator parameters can be modulated via MIDI even if they're not present in the modulation matrix. MIDI Learn is supported, as is mod wheel control." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Grain Oscillator parameters can be modulated via MIDI even if they're not present in </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>the modulation matrix. MIDI Learn is supported, as is mod wheel control.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Right-clicking on any control opens a pop-up menu to configure this. For instance, targeting all three parameters I mentioned above with the mod wheel can provide some cool tonal variations for your pad sounds. Incidentally, while none of the parameters in Padshop's Effects page are available in the modulation matrix, they can all (including the controls within the four-band EQ) be modulated via this MIDI Learn approach.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-padshop-2s-modulation-matrix#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Double Trouble</a></h2><p><span face=""Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">I'll leave you with two thoughts. First, recall that in the examples I've used here I've used only one of Padshop's layers. You can, of course, make perfectly usable pads with a single layer, but there's twice the fun to be had (and twice the complexity of the sound that can be created) by blending sounds from two layers. Second, despite its name, Padshop can be used for sounds other than pads. Hopefully, that's a topic I can return to soon, while also exploring another pair of Padshop 2 features — the Spectral Oscillator and the arpeggiator/phrase player.</span> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-04" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">April 2020</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-21468333170917702812024-03-09T10:00:00.000-08:002024-03-09T10:00:00.342-08:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 4 of 8: Monitor Mixing with the Musician’s Phones Feature<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MGoonjGF02s?si=-UgrFLh5kL4Ph0PA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-33923853112133673392024-03-08T12:00:00.000-08:002024-03-08T12:00:00.130-08:00Cubase MultiTap Delay Tricks<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "A little bit of creative MultiTap Delay can turn even the most basic of drum patterns into something groovy.", "alt": "A little bit of creative MultiTap Delay can turn even the most basic of drum patterns into something groovy."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_01-4zfLqKjhVhboQ4MdfaM8birj7tHyuTG9.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="A little bit of creative MultiTap Delay can turn even the most basic of drum patterns into something groovy." height="357" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_01-6CLwlQ_POQewBaBqawFssYs_Xa3b5762.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="A little bit of creative MultiTap Delay can turn even the most basic of drum patterns into something groovy." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>A little bit of creative MultiTap Delay can turn even the most basic of drum patterns </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>into something groovy.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Looking for creative inspiration? Tap into Cubase's new MultiTap Delay...</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Steinberg have seriously improved Cubase's stock plug-in collection in recent years, and among the new options for Pro and Artist users in v10.5 is the modestly named MultiTap Delay. It offers emulations of both modern and vintage delays, up to eight taps (repeats), and very flexible configuration and modulation options. I'll provide a very brief overview of the key features before illustrating some options via a specific example: spicing up a drum part to generate new rhythmic ideas.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">MultiTap Delay's GUI is split into three sections. The central portion, with larger knobs and graphic display, is where you configure the number of taps, their relative timing, level and pan, feedback, and other settings that fine-tune the balance between the original and processed signals. Above this, in the Character Panel, you choose between four styles of delay (Digital Modern, Digital Vintage, Tape and Crazy) or pop open the full panel for more detailed adjustments to 'colour' the broad sonic character of the repeats. The options range from pristine, through lo-fi vintage/tape effects, to special effects territory. The bottom strip contains three more pop-open panels (Loop, Tap and Post) which focus on additional effects that can be applied to your delay line. Each provides a six-slot effects chain and there are 14 different effect types available. The three panels differ in terms of where their processing occurs in the signal path, with effects placeable in the effects loop, on individual taps or at the plug-in's main output. The effects include various modulation choices, filtering, pitch-shifting, panning, reverb and, as if eight taps with feedback weren't enough, an additional delay.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-multitap-delay-tricks#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Fun With A Drum</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">For all the potential trickery, this is also a really good, all-purpose, delay plug-in — but its more creative aspects make it stand out from the crowd. So let me take you through a fun exercise with a drum sound.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Our starting point is a simple four-bar Groove Agent acoustic tom pattern, with an instance of MultiTap Delay inserted on the GA Instrument Track. You could use the delay as a send effect, but for the automation options described below the Insert route is easier to configure, so I've done that here and set the delay plug-in's Mix control to 40 percent. I chose the Tape Character preset and tweaked the settings from there (more Saturation and picking the half-sample-rate setting), and added a touch of Overdrive in the Loop Effects panel for extra crunch. This combination means that, as well as adding rhythmic interest, MultiTap Delay will vary the sonic texture with each repeat.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "While I've only used a touch of overdrive in my example, MultiTap Delay's effects options provide plenty of interesting possibilities.", "alt": "While I've only used a touch of overdrive in my example, MultiTap Delay's effects options provide plenty of interesting possibilities."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_02-2faAmSdymC_PLE8GSrxxgxCxUCYdK1HB.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="While I've only used a touch of overdrive in my example, MultiTap Delay's effects options provide plenty of interesting possibilities." height="150" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_02-tAr_UMfphG8W6RxPzccqGQt5qEL3yhln.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="While I've only used a touch of overdrive in my example, MultiTap Delay's effects options provide plenty of interesting possibilities." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>While I've only used a touch of overdrive in my example, MultiTap Delay's effects </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>options provide plenty of interesting possibilities.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In the main panel, I've configured three taps with slightly decreasing volumes, and adjusted the Feedback to taste (30 percent) so the pattern of repeats is fed back to the delay line but (in this case) at a relatively low level. You can manually edit the position, level and pan of each tap or, via the Tap Rhythm button, position the taps by playing the rhythm that you require. Tap positions can be snapped to a grid resolution or moved without a grid. You also have Quantize and Randomise options (the latter is fun for a 'lucky dip' approach!). However, the key thing to understand is that the Delay setting determines the length of the tap grid. In this example, I've engaged the Sync option and set Delay to 1/1, so the tap grid represents one bar of time. A Decay setting of 2/1 makes the tap grid two bars in length, gives half a bar, and so on. Once you've grasped this, the logic behind laying out a pattern of taps becomes clear. (Without Sync engaged, Delay is set in milliseconds, but the same principle applies.)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Finally, I've engaged the clever Ducker controls — the repeats are ducked (in this case, their volume is lowered by 50 percent) whenever there's a signal at the input to the plug-in. This can be used to duck both the feedback and the delay line, and ensures that your original sound doesn't get masked by the repeats.</p><blockquote style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eeeeee; background-origin: initial; background-position: 5px 8px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">For all the potential trickery, this is also a really good, all-purpose, delay plug-in — but its more creative aspects make it stand out from the crowd.</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-multitap-delay-tricks#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Tap Tweaker</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">As the audio examples at the end of this article show, we now have something more rhythmically interesting than our original drum pattern. Depending on the musical context this might be all you require, but if you're looking for more complexity, or to add variations during the performance, we can do plenty more.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "As you adjust the Taps control, your additional taps do not have to appear sequentially along the grid timeline.", "alt": "As you adjust the Taps control, your additional taps do not have to appear sequentially along the grid timeline."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_03-Vfu44Kr_9Qjx2MLerTK_WMfnat2BwqPt.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="As you adjust the Taps control, your additional taps do not have to appear sequentially along the grid timeline." height="160" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_03-4NvTo6rTHqDyQ60Q_oC7hof7a2Sp_WyQ.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="As you adjust the Taps control, your additional taps do not have to appear sequentially along the grid timeline." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>As you adjust the Taps control, your additional taps do not have to appear sequentially </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>along the grid timeline.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Effects aside, the two simplest tactics are (a) to add more taps and (b) to adjust the Feedback level. As it's super-easy to assign both the Taps and Feedback controls to the Track Quick Control system (right-click on the control to access the pop-up menu), automating both is a great way to change the intensity of the delay processing on the fly. Adjusting the Feedback level is straightforward, but for the Taps control you'll need to pre-configure each additional tap (position, level, pan, etc). It's worth noting that while you're allowed up to eight taps, and each is assigned a number, their position along the grid's timeline doesn't have to be numerically sequential — tap 7 can be positioned before tap 3, for example — so, as you automate the Taps control, you can add repeats with shorter or longer delays, as you prefer.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-multitap-delay-tricks#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Double Delay</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Again, if you check out the audio examples, you should hear that our very basic drum pattern has been transformed into something much more interesting, and it's possible to vary the intensity of the 'performance' with some simple automation moves. But you don't have to stop there. Why not add a second instance of MultiTap Delay, so you have a second set of eight taps to exploit in your quest for rhythmic variation?</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "MultiTap Delay's parameters can easily be automated via the Track Quick Control system.", "alt": "MultiTap Delay's parameters can easily be automated via the Track Quick Control system."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_04-5YihbXYgKpRaBjZD_qli3jROznXU7wiR.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="MultiTap Delay's parameters can easily be automated via the Track Quick Control system." height="204" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0520_04-pA54n5teBwWO4Gz5pa_CYVSKZfVQrVmP.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="MultiTap Delay's parameters can easily be automated via the Track Quick Control system." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 601px;"><i>MultiTap Delay's parameters can easily be automated via the Track Quick Control system.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">At this point, whether you use Insert (as here) or Send effects makes more of a difference. With Inserts, the repeats created by the first instance of MultiTap Delay become the inputs to the second instance and are then subject to processing; things can get quite busy very quickly! However, if you use two Send-based instances of MultiTap Delay, they're independent of each other; both are fed directly by your source track. On the flip side, real-time automation of your two MultiTap Delay instances is much easier when both are used as Inserts on the same track; you can use one set of Track Quick Controls to change the settings for both plug-ins. Real-time control is trickier to do with two independent Send effects.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Anyway, as a starting point for this 'double delay' effect (heard in the final audio example), I've configured two instances of MultiTap Delay as Inserts on my Groove Agent track, using the same simple drum part. To make this easy to replicate, on the first instance I selected the Alt Beat Counterpart preset, while on the second I used Snare Trap Groover. I then set the Feedback, Taps and Mix controls for both instances as Track Quick Controls. The Feedback and Taps controls can be used as before (although lower settings, especially of the Feedback controls, are best unless you want things to get really trippy). However, the two Mix controls are well worth playing with, as they allow you to blend the two delay lines or, by turning either Mix control to zero, effectively remove the delay processing of one plug-in or the other.</p><p><span face=""Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px;">I've only really scratched the surface of what's possible with MultiTap Delay and, bar a little overdrive, not even started on the creative options provided by the various effect panels. Perhaps I'll explore that side of things in more depth another time!</span> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-05" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">May 2020</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-3385556810542701282024-03-07T12:00:00.000-08:002024-03-07T12:00:00.130-08:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 3 of 8: Mute Groups<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/InWfKds3hcE?si=ZUGXhdF_mscAZSzA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-81396124776442068452024-03-06T12:00:00.000-08:002024-03-06T12:00:00.147-08:00<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="group-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Channel Strip's audio-sweetening tools are as good for dialogue as they are for music.", "alt": "The Channel Strip's audio-sweetening tools are as good for dialogue as they are for music."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_01-LV6XU9mSEWLh5E_FE.0KFY6m1GnQpfeY.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Channel Strip's audio-sweetening tools are as good for dialogue as they are for music." height="132" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_01-RTTTTOubkErRFfVRA79JPWFITh3lRxP_.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Channel Strip's audio-sweetening tools are as good for dialogue as they are for music." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The Channel Strip's audio-sweetening tools are as good for dialogue as they are for music.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Reduce the time you spend on podcasting post-production, with these Cubase voice-editing tips.</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Some podcasters are happy simply to record their dialogue in a single take, top and tail it with their standard channel intro and outro, and publish, warts and all. But most — while still usually recording an episode in a single take — will perform in a way that allows obvious gaffes, over-long pauses, ums and errs, to be edited out later. Knowing that mistakes can be edited can mean a more relaxed attitude when recording and, for example, allow you to take a deep breath and start again if you fluff your lines. But equally, anticipation of an extended period of detailed editing could deter you from creating a podcast in the first place! So it's important to strike the right balance.</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Thankfully, a little once-only work to organise things in Cubase can streamline many repetitive editing tasks — and have you transforming your raw takes into polished 'performances' in no time.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/podcast-dialogue-editing-cubase#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Podcasting Presets</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Let's consider a typical situation where the dialogue has been recorded as a single take to a Cubase audio track. Everything you need to do to lick this performance into shape falls into two broad categories: you'll no doubt want to 'sweeten' and 'clean' the audio a touch, using EQ and compression; and you'll need to edit the recording to create a better-paced, more polished-sounding performance.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">There are plenty of suitable third-party compressor and EQ plug‑ins, but in the vast majority of cases the Cubase Channel Strip has more than enough firepower. If you record your content using a consistent equipment/location setup, it's worth spending time up front figuring out some EQ, de-essing and compression settings, and creating a Track Preset based on them, for rapid repeat use. The Channel Strip's DeEsser can help tame any sibilance, and I also tend to use the low-cut filter in the Pre section to reduce the impact of any plosive sounds that crept past my pop shield. A combination of a fairly high frequency (perhaps 150Hz) and a steepish filter slope (24dB per octave) will generally take care of the worst offenders without robbing the voice of too much body. You can, of course, adjust the cutoff frequency to taste, or perhaps combine a steep high-pass filter cut with a gentle low-shelving boost that restores any lost body. (And if this isn't cutting the mustard, consider addressing the problem while recording before you look for more post-prod solutions!). Finally, if you've recorded different takes with different mics, Cubase Pro users might consider using the bundled Voxengo Curve EQ's 'match EQ' facility to make the takes more consistent before further processing is applied.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Note that while Cubase's plug‑in suite is great for music production, spoken-word can require more attention to extraneous noises and Cubase doesn't include a dedicated noise-reduction plug‑in. Again, try to address this in your recording environment, but if Cubase's EQ and (multiband) gate, compressor and expander options aren't up to the job, you'll probably want to explore third-party de-noisers (eg. iZotope RX, the freeware Cockos ReaFIR or, indeed, Steinberg's own Wavelab).</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">If you create this macro and assign a key command to it, each edit requires nothing more than you making a range selection and pressing a key.</blockquote><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/podcast-dialogue-editing-cubase#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Speedy Macros</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">With some time-saving Channel Strip settings in the bag, it's time to move on to the detailed audio editing. In general, this involves two kinds of task: removing unwanted sections of audio to tighten up the overall flow of the dialogue (including 'ums' and 'errs'); and reducing the level of breaths and other such natural noises (removing them completely often sounds unnatural and thus just as distracting to listeners as when they're too loud!). Both tasks can involve lots of tedious, repetitive, manual editing — but Cubase's powerful system of key commands and macros can turn 'tedious and repetitive' into 'speedy and efficient'!</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">We've looked at the Cubase Macro system many times (see SOS August 2018: <a href="https://sosm.ag/cubase-0818" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://sosm.ag/cubase-0818</a>) but the uninitiated need to know that a macro is simply a sequence of key commands, and that the Key Commands dialogue box (accessed via the File menu) is where you view, create and edit macros; just open the dialogue and click the Show Macros button.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Macros can be created and edited in the lower pane of the Key Commands window, and you can assign a macro its own key command in the Macro section of the upper pane. The command sequence for the Cut Time And Fade macro is shown in the lower pane.", "alt": "Macros can be created and edited in the lower pane of the Key Commands window, and you can assign a macro its own key command in the Macro section of the upper pane. The command sequence for the Cut Time And Fade macro is shown in the lower pane."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_02-TmTZPAtDRahq8Lmbv6FTfmbiWMx.ktQX.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Macros can be created and edited in the lower pane of the Key Commands window, and you can assign a macro its own key command in the Macro section of the upper pane. The command sequence for the Cut Time And Fade macro is shown in the lower pane." height="363" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_02-cMRfVCDWbvOJU82TqxZzeisWKQz4JJF9.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Macros can be created and edited in the lower pane of the Key Commands window, and you can assign a macro its own key command in the Macro section of the upper pane. The command sequence for the Cut Time And Fade macro is shown in the lower pane." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Macros can be created and edited in the lower pane of the Key Commands window, </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>and you can assign a macro its own key command in the Macro section of the upper pane. </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>The command sequence for the Cut Time And Fade macro is shown in the lower pane.</i></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Steinberg have made some useful additions to this panel since I last covered it (there are additional buttons on the left) so creating and editing a macro is now much easier. As before, though, once you've created a new empty macro and named it, you simply select key commands in the upper panel and 'add' them to the macro. Key commands can be moved up/down or removed from the macro. And, once you've created your macro, if you go to the Macros section of the key command list, you can also assign a dedicated key command to run the macro. You can also run macros within macros in this way... so a lot is possible.</p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/podcast-dialogue-editing-cubase#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Cut It Out</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">If you prefer your podcasts free of ums, errs and outright 'bad' takes where you had to repeat a section, the most time-consuming editing task will be cutting out all these vocal fails. You need not only to audition your performance, but to zoom in and select the offending sections, cut the unwanted audio, and move what remains to the right of the cut section so it neatly fills the gap you just created, butting up nicely against audio to the left of the cut section, apply suitable crossfades, and then repeat the process multiple times until all your cuts are made.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; display: table; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;"><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;">A little once-only work to organise things in Cubase can streamline many repetitive editing tasks — and have you transforming your raw takes into polished 'performances' in no time.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">If this sounds like a recipe for RSI, fear not, as Cubase can prevent the pain! Switch to the Range Select tool and you can highlight the section of audio you wish to remove. Then, execute the Edit>Range>Cut Time command (the default shortcut is Cmd-Shift-X on the Mac, Ctrl-Shift-X on Windows), which will instantly delete the selected audio and move all audio to the right of the cut on the current track accordingly. Select, key command, done, repeat.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">If 'auto fades' is switched on (via the Project menu's Auto Fades settings dialogue), every time you cut audio in this fashion a fade-out/fade-in will be applied on playback, reducing the possibilities of any click and pops at your edit points. Note that auto-fades aren't actually visible on the clips themselves, though. If, like me, you prefer to see any fades but don't want to have to insert them all manually, the Cut Time And Fade macro shown in the screenshot can do the Cut Time process and add the required short fades to the events either side of the cut.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">This macro includes a number of steps. The first three commands set the left and right locators around your selection, move the cursor to the left locator, and execute the Cut Time command. The remainder of the commands move the cursor either side of the edit point, select each audio event that lies under the cursor in turn, and then apply suitable short fades. Finally, the last command ensures that the Range selection tool is still selected, so that, after the macro has run, you can move swiftly to your next edit point.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">If you create this macro and assign a key command to it, each edit requires nothing more than you making a range selection and pressing a key. This is perhaps the most common type of audio edit any podcaster will make and, via this macro, the process is about as efficient as it can get — it's a massive time-saver!</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "A breath noise that has been processed via the Breath And Fade macro. The breath itself has been reduced in volume and a fade-in/out applied to the audio event containing the breath. Fades have also been added to the audio events on either side of the selection.", "alt": "A breath noise that has been processed via the Breath And Fade macro. The breath itself has been reduced in volume and a fade-in/out applied to the audio event containing the breath. Fades have also been added to the audio events on either side of the selection."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_04-a9AATsQbBiWygIEW2oxq2W48_C9rEnCU.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="A breath noise that has been processed via the Breath And Fade macro. The breath itself has been reduced in volume and a fade-in/out applied to the audio event containing the breath. Fades have also been added to the audio events on either side of the selection." height="309" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_04-dj5mf9zHIGhk0_MyyiHYKEgqxsyAql4h.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="A breath noise that has been processed via the Breath And Fade macro. The breath itself has been reduced in volume and a fade-in/out applied to the audio event containing the breath. Fades have also been added to the audio events on either side of the selection." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 568px;"><i>A breath noise that has been processed via the Breath And Fade macro. </i><i style="font-size: 0.85714rem;">The breath </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 568px;"><i style="font-size: 0.85714rem;">itself has been reduced in volume and a fade-in/out applied to the audio </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 568px;"><i>event containing the breath. Fades have also been added to the audio events on </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 568px;"><i>either side of the selection.</i></span></span></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/podcast-dialogue-editing-cubase#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Breathe Easy</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Breath And Fade macro comprises a long series of key commands, but the whole sequence can be executed with a single key.", "alt": "The Breath And Fade macro comprises a long series of key commands, but the whole sequence can be executed with a single key."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_03-Q1UEeZFAJM_.WUvQzfkZGkr0A.O5vXlJ.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Breath And Fade macro comprises a long series of key commands, but the whole sequence can be executed with a single key." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0620_03-AQuGte2lKqJC9gJb5DyFzulNTJ25Rx4I.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Breath And Fade macro comprises a long series of key commands, but the whole sequence can be executed with a single key." typeof="foaf:Image" width="164" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 164px;"><i>The Breath And Fade macro comprises a long series of key commands, but the whole sequence can be executed with a single key.</i></span></span>Breath noises can often be distracting. But as I said above, deleting them can sound unnatural, and simply reducing their volume so they're less prominent can often lead to a better result. The same can go for some other mouth noises.</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Again, a macro can be created so each edit can be executed with only a simple range selection operation and a keystroke. I included a macro for reducing the level of breath noises in the <a href="https://sosm.ag/cubase-0818" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">SOS August 2018</a> column I linked to above, but I've expanded on that process in the Breath And Fade macro shown here. Many commands used are similar to the Cut Time And Fade macro, but adding the fades requires more steps, simply because three audio events are involved rather than two.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;">Fades aside, the key part of the process splits the audio range you've selected containing the breath into a separate audio event. It then applies six instances of the Decrement Event Volume command, each instance adjusting the event volume handle by about 1dB. You can, of course, change the number of instances for less or greater volume reduction to suit your needs.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-06" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">June 2020</a></div></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-64038757417409884932024-03-05T12:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:00:00.128-08:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 2 of 8: Sub Groups and Submixing<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yl5ogmyl06c?si=eLrI7jxq5D01jZTM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-36658300916914395532024-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:002024-03-04T12:00:00.136-08:00Cubase: Delta Monitoring Explained<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700;">With some simple signal routing, Cubase can tell you exactly what a plug‑in is doing to your audio.</span></div><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">A limiter's primary function is to prevent the loudest signal peaks from exceeding a specified maximum level, but they're often also used as a 'maximiser' to increase loudness — as you raise the input signal, everything below the limiter's peak detection threshold gets louder, while the peaks are reduced to the threshold level. But the latter tactic can mean the limiter both acting more frequently and applying more attenuation, and the more you ask your limiter to do, the more unwanted sonic artifacts it will leave behind. Eventually, it will become audibly unpleasant.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "The Brickwall Limiter inserted on a drum bus Group Track, with the track's Pre Gain control used to adjust the input gain.", "alt": "The Brickwall Limiter inserted on a drum bus Group Track, with the track's Pre Gain control used to adjust the input gain."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0720_01-T0dC6TZPy2V5VtR_IP.7ShCIKDJeDeSx.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="The Brickwall Limiter inserted on a drum bus Group Track, with the track's Pre Gain control used to adjust the input gain." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0720_01-lRhGyFnEGYttrGlSPSCbpz4BtulwNM6u.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="The Brickwall Limiter inserted on a drum bus Group Track, with the track's Pre Gain control used to adjust the input gain." typeof="foaf:Image" width="117" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 117px;"><i>The Brickwall Limiter inserted on a drum bus Group Track, with the track's Pre Gain control used to adjust the input gain.</i></span></span>You can't simply crank up the gain and hope for the best, then; you must train yourself to hear exactly how the limiter is changing your audio. When you overdo it significantly, it's very easy to hear any damage being done. But, especially when you first start experimenting with limiters, it can be harder to judge where the sweet spot is.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">To make this a little easier, you can use a technique that's often referred to as <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">'delta monitoring'</em>. Essentially, this requires you to subtract the processed signal from the unprocessed one, so that you can listen to the remainder, which is what your limiter is removing. Some third-party plug‑ins helpfully include delta monitoring facilities (Tokyo Dawn Labs' Kotelnikov and Limiter 6, for example), but a little creative audio routing allows you to achieve it with almost any plug‑in in Cubase (or, indeed, any other DAW). I've used Cubase's simple Brickwall Limiter for the examples that follow.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-explained#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Hitting Bricks</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">You can start by familiarising yourself with the Brickwall Limiter by using it on a drum bus track, as per the first screenshot — I've used the Gain control in the MixConsole's Pre section to set the signal level coming into the Brickwall Limiter. This plug‑in offers switchable dual-mono or stereo operation (via the Link button; best left engaged unless you have specific reasons to change it) and an auto-release option that generally works well. The most important control, though, is the Threshold slider, which sets the maximum level a signal can reach before limiting is applied. Any peak that exceeds this level is quickly brought down to the threshold.</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">To reduce the possibility of exceeding 0dBFS, you should set the Threshold to allow a small margin of error — the screenshot example shows 2dB of headroom left on a drum bus limiter. But if in doubt, the DIC (Detect Intersample Clipping) feature adds an extra level of safety; it uses a lookahead oversampling process that, at the cost of an additional 1ms of latency, ensures the signal won't exceed the Threshold, even at a point between two samples.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-explained#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Take It Away</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Delta monitoring: the final track and routing configuration required to isolate the audio differences between the processed and unprocessed versions of the drum bus signal.", "alt": "Delta monitoring: the final track and routing configuration required to isolate the audio differences between the processed and unprocessed versions of the drum bus signal."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0720_02-slgzn3rFXvmJaaD3Bgsnfw3D.LbHMIyl.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Delta monitoring: the final track and routing configuration required to isolate the audio differences between the processed and unprocessed versions of the drum bus signal." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0720_02-fEUMHZPXLi5baW88uhDHlFIj97nD0mlo.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Delta monitoring: the final track and routing configuration required to isolate the audio differences between the processed and unprocessed versions of the drum bus signal." typeof="foaf:Image" width="93" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 93px;"><i>Delta monitoring: the final track and routing configuration required to isolate the audio differences between the processed and unprocessed versions of the drum bus signal.</i></span></span>Now let's look at how we can set up delta monitoring to better hear what this limiter is doing — the final configuration is set out in the second screen, but a number of steps are required to get there. I'll assume we're starting with a limiter on the drum bus, as described above.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">First, create two FX Tracks and insert an active (ie. not bypassed) instance of the Brickwall Limiter on each. Initially, configure these two instances identically to the one on your drum bus. Then disable the drum bus track's output (in the Routing section), and create two sends, each at unity gain (0dB), each going to a different one of your new FX Tracks. The audio from the drum bus now flows to the master output only via these two FX Tracks, so you can bypass the Brickwall Limiter on the drum bus track. Don't engage playback just yet, though, or the signal will be twice as loud as the original!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Now, in the Pre panel of the second FX Track, switch the 'phase' (polarity) from 0 to 180 degrees. Engage playback now, and you should hear silence — the two FX Tracks are playing identical audio out of phase and therefore perfectly cancel. Finally, bypass the Brickwall Limiter on the second FX Track. Now, identical parts of the audio will still cancel, but where the limiter has acted you'll hear only what it has removed.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-explained#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Split The Difference</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">That was easy enough, but what does it tell you? Well, for a quick example (because it results in an obvious difference), experiment with the Threshold setting and listen to how the characteristics of the delta signal change. In practice, though, the Threshold is likely to be a 'set and forget' parameter. It's more interesting to change the input level (in this case, via the Gain control within the drum bus track's Pre section).</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">The delta monitoring signal will include any gain differences introduced by the processor.</blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">As you'd expect, as you increase the gain, you force the Brickwall Limiter to work harder, and the differences between the processed and unprocessed audio become increasingly obvious. These differences manifest themselves in three ways. First, you can hear which elements within your audio are being altered most by the limiting (whether on a drum bus or a full mix, this will probably be the kick and snare drums). Second, you may be able to hear some audio nasties, which may encourage you to think about just how far you should push your limiter. Third, the delta monitoring signal will include any gain differences that are introduced by the processor itself.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In my example, the gain change is applied equally to both FX Tracks because it's performed on the drum bus Group Track that feeds them — so you won't hear any gain differences. But if the plug‑in being monitored is one with an input gain control (Cubase's Limiter, for example), and you adjust this in the FX Track instance of the plug‑in, then the delta signal will include this gain difference, and it will be present whether or not the limiter's gain reduction circuit is active. (It's also a great way to spot plug‑in presets that try to trick your ears with a sneaky 'louder-sounds-better' boost!) There are pros and cons to both approaches: it can be handy to hear just the limiting, or a combination of the limiting and any gain change.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-explained#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Listen & Learn</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Of course, while I've used limiting for this example, the same approach can work with almost any plug‑in. For example, try it with a compressor, or tape saturation processor if you struggle to hear precisely what it is they're doing. As a means of educating your ears, it's a really helpful technique. Hearing the differences isolated in this way can be really interesting, and when you then go back to monitoring the processed signal in the normal way, you'll hopefully have a better idea of just what artifacts to listen out for as you adjust the plug‑in's controls.</p><div class="boxout clearfix" style="background: rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: black; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-explained#top" id="para5" style="background: rgb(102, 102, 102); box-sizing: inherit; color: white; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 7px 20px; text-decoration-line: none;">Audio Examples</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px 20px;">I've created a number of audio examples so that you can hear what I'm writing about. You'll find them on this accompanying page:</p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-audio-examples" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-delta-monitoring-audio-examples</a></p><p class="nindent" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 20px;">Stream them by all means, but as this is about critical listening, you'll have a much better experience if you download the Zip file of uncompressed WAV versions and audition them in your DAW.</p></div><p><img alt="Package icon" class="file-icon" src="https://www.soundonsound.com/modules/file/icons/package-x-generic.png" style="background-color: #cccccc; border: none; box-sizing: content-box; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" title="application/zip" /><span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/assetlibrary/c/cubasedeltamonitoring0720.zip?n7QX.4m4LBKMaV0ZKI1RFNauklQW1pCi" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none;" type="application/zip; length=109616586">cubasedeltamonitoring0720.zip</a> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-07" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">July 2020</a></div><div><br /></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-77687300882889788042024-03-02T10:00:00.000-08:002024-03-02T10:00:00.360-08:00Korg Soundlink Video Tutorial Ep. 1 of 8: Setting Input Levels<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4MFrzUazCfs?si=2SIl8FtItdL-ZHwJ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-16963077705641295552024-03-01T12:00:00.000-08:002024-03-01T12:00:00.131-08:00How To Use Cubase's Spectral Comparison EQ<div class="group-header" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span class="field--author" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Cubase Pro 10.5's Spectral Comparison EQ can be helpful when adjusting the frequency relationship between two sources, such as kick drum and bass guitar, whose frequency ranges overlap.", "alt": "Cubase Pro 10.5's Spectral Comparison EQ can be helpful when adjusting the frequency relationship between two sources, such as kick drum and bass guitar, whose frequency ranges overlap."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0820_01-uNX5_VuZhmWMVL_vJhVPW5nclhbdMOpe.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Cubase Pro 10.5's Spectral Comparison EQ can be helpful when adjusting the frequency relationship between two sources, such as kick drum and bass guitar, whose frequency ranges overlap." height="193" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0820_01-hUOkSD39bE_.gPVH39bGvFkhdNuH2X71.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Cubase Pro 10.5's Spectral Comparison EQ can be helpful when adjusting the frequency relationship between two sources, such as kick drum and bass guitar, whose frequency ranges overlap." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Cubase Pro 10.5's Spectral Comparison EQ can be helpful when adjusting the </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>frequency relationship between two sources, such as kick drum and bass guitar, whose frequency ranges overlap.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Cubase Pro's Spectral Comparison EQ makes it easy to figure out why things sound too different or too similar!</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In Cubase Pro 10.5, Steinberg added a very useful Spectral Comparison EQ option to the Channel Settings window. This makes it easy to compare the frequency distribution of two audio signals, in real time, providing a very useful visual guide to complement what your ears might already be telling you. There are plenty of scenarios in which such comparison can be useful, and I'll explore two here:</p><ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 1px 0px;">managing the relationship between a kick drum and a bass guitar.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 1px 0px;">comparing the overall balance of your mix to that of a reference track in the same musical style.</li></ul><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/how-use-cubases-spectral-comparison-eq#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">EQ For Two</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Let's start with the kick and bass example. In the first screenshot (above) I've selected my bass guitar track and, in the Equaliser tab of its Channel Setting window, engaged the Activate Channel Comparison button. In the second (orange) drop-down slot, I've selected my kick drum track. As the project plays, I now see the EQ spectrum for my kick drum (orange) through that of the bass guitar (blue). This makes it easy to spot the two parts' peaks and troughs and identify frequencies where one part might be masking the other. You can then devise EQ settings to give each part enough space to play its intended role in the mix.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">But this tool isn't just a visual aid; the Spectral Comparison feature also makes it easier to do the second part of this job. By default, the displayed EQ controls will be active for the currently selected channel (in my case, the bass guitar in blue). But clicking on the orange drop-down tab toggles the EQ controls to the kick drum (orange) track — so I can quickly flick back and forth to make the required EQ adjustments. As both tabs also feature solo buttons, you can isolate either signal (or both) from the rest of the mix.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In this kick/bass example, I eventually took a few decibels out of the bass at about 60Hz and a few out of the kick at around 110Hz. In conjunction with a little side-chain compression (to duck the bass guitar by one or two dB during kick-drum hits) this improved the clarity of the low end of the mix, without adding lots of additional energy that might devour the remaining mix headroom.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/how-use-cubases-spectral-comparison-eq#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Master Strokes</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In SOS July 2019's <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-pro-reference-tracks" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Cubase 'Reference Tracks'</a> workshop, Matt Houghton outlined various strategies for comparing your own mix with reference tracks when preparing your final mix or doing DIY mastering. The new Spectral Comparison EQ feature can play a useful role in this process, helping you visualise what EQ moves might be required to nudge the tonal balance of your own mix towards that of your target. It can also be combined with Cubase Pro's metering options, so you can compare loudness between your mix and the reference.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">It's not just a visual aid... the Spectral Comparison feature also makes it easier to adjust the EQ of the two channels.</blockquote><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">To compare the tonal balance or loudness of your mix to those of a reference, you need to be able to switch quickly between hearing your own mix, with any master-bus processing applied, and the reference mix, without that also passing through your master-bus signal chain. As Matt described, there are various ways to set this up in Cubase, but if you want to exploit the Spectral Comparison EQ alongside any overall level metering, the following approach will allow you to switch between the mix-in-progress and the reference track very efficiently. It requires a little configuration, and there are six steps.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">First, configure a Group Channel to act as the 'master bus' for your own mix (we'll call it 'Master Bus'). Other tracks from your mix that are normally routed to Cubase's Stereo Output should be routed to this channel, including group channels such as drum buses that act as submix buses. Any mastering-style processing you want to apply to your mix can be inserted on this new Master Bus group track, which can then be set to output to the Stereo Output.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Second, you need to add your reference track to your project and insert it on a standard stereo audio track. This track should also be routed to the Stereo Output track, so it doesn't pass through any 'mastering' processing you apply on the Master Bus channel. In the Project window, drag this 'Reference Mix' track so it appears directly below the Master Bus one. Your Master Bus and Reference Mix tracks should now also be sitting side-by-side in the MixConsole.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Third, we need to create two simple macros, as per the screenshot. I've named these Track Left Solo and Track Right Solo; when executed, all they do is toggle the mute status of the currently selected channel in the MixConsole, navigate to select the track immediately to the left (or right), and then toggle the mute status of that track. Once created, assign these macros to convenient key commands.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Don't be scared: the two macros described in the text are easy to create in the Key Commands window.", "alt": "Don't be scared: the two macros described in the text are easy to create in the Key Commands window."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0820_02-GCMS3DCacMbmz_MmR4eDDC10iflKItpT.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Don't be scared: the two macros described in the text are easy to create in the Key Commands window." height="381" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0820_02-vOzvGgt6Ac30Nkc0OM8SvBzHeRjiJUyZ.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Don't be scared: the two macros described in the text are easy to create in the Key Commands window." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Don't be scared: the two macros described in the text are easy to create in the </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Key Commands window.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Fourth, with the MixConsole in the foreground, select the Master Bus track. Open the Channel Settings window for that track and, in the Equaliser tab, click the Activate Channel Comparison button. Select the Reference Mix track in the orange drop-down menu (the Master Bus track will already be selected under the blue drop-down). Open the Channel Settings Function Menu from the down-arrow icon located top right and deselect the option called "Follow e buttons or selection changes". Normally, the contents of the Channel Settings window change to reflect the selected channel in the MixConsole but deselecting this means that even if we change the track selection in the MixConsole, the Channel Settings will continue to display the Master Bus track settings, so we can keep our comparative EQ display for the Master Bus and Reference Mix tracks in view.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Fifth, open the Right Zone on the MixConsole and select the Meter option (upper tab), and the Loudness option (lower tab), to display the Loudness Meter. A detailed discussion of the options here is a topic for another day but, for now, just focus on the visual feedback of the meter if you want to compare the loudness of your mix to the reference.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Finally, mute the Reference Mix track and select the Master Bus track. When you initiate playback, you'll hear your mix; but if you then execute the Track Right Solo macro, the Master Bus track will be muted and the Reference Mix track selected and unmuted. You've instantly toggled playback from your mix on the Master Bus track, to the reference mix. Apply the Track Left Solo macro to flip back to your own mix.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Together, Cubase's Spectral Comparison EQ facility and its Loudness Meter can provide very useful insights when comparing your mix with a reference track.", "alt": "Together, Cubase's Spectral Comparison EQ facility and its Loudness Meter can provide very useful insights when comparing your mix with a reference track."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0820_03-CCcvaUNCbAB5r6g0oLItroY1OTtZokcA.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Together, Cubase's Spectral Comparison EQ facility and its Loudness Meter can provide very useful insights when comparing your mix with a reference track." height="191" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0820_03-ZqL.OHM2khk1UqQOcmPuXYm2itLQrXhl.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Together, Cubase's Spectral Comparison EQ facility and its Loudness Meter can provide very useful insights when comparing your mix with a reference track." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Together, Cubase's Spectral Comparison EQ facility and its Loudness Meter can </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>provide very useful insights when comparing your mix with a reference track.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">As you do this, the Spectral Comparison EQ display allows you to compare the tonal balance of the mix and reference in real time. And, if you spot frequency ranges where your mix might have relatively more or less energy than your reference, you can easily experiment with EQ adjustments.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">In terms of loudness comparisons, watching where the Loudness Meter settles as you switch between the two tracks is the best place to start. But if you want to use the numerical readouts, make sure you reset the meter (the rightmost button above the numerical panel) as you switch between the mix and the reference.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">It's also worth noting that, while the overall shape/slope of the two EQ distributions can indicate the similarity (or otherwise) of the tonal balance between your mix and the reference track, the vertical axis of the EQ spectrum is also quantifying differences in signal level. So, for example, if the overall frequency curves show a similar distribution of low, mids and highs, but your mix just has lower amounts of all frequencies (as per the example in the second screenshot, where the blue curve mirrors the orange curve but sits consistently beneath it), you might want to add some overall gain to your mix — or attenuate the reference — before making more detailed EQ tweaks to refine the frequency-distribution match.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/how-use-cubases-spectral-comparison-eq#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Making Space</a></h2><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Of course, sorting the kick and bass relationship and informing mastering decisions aren't the only applications for real-time frequency comparison. For example, you might compare your lead vocal with a bus containing the instrumental elements that make up the rest of your mix. You can then experiment with EQing to create space in the instrument bed for the most important vocal frequencies, to help improve the clarity of the vocal and intelligibility of the lyrics. Spectral Comparison EQ lets you go compare!</span> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-08" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">August 2020</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-50332104175996622992024-02-29T12:00:00.000-08:002024-02-29T12:00:00.132-08:00Korg Livestream - All about the Korg NuTekt OD-S Overdrive Pedal<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gk9MejaSprg?si=nJYSbpN3g6yd-h86" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5745915442983319032.post-57697801929228090662024-02-28T12:00:00.000-08:002024-02-28T12:00:00.164-08:00Cubase: Archiving Projects<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85714rem;">By</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85714rem;"> </span><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/author/john-walden" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85714rem; text-decoration-line: none;">John Walden</a></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Making a clean and compact backup of your current project is easy in all versions of Cubase.", "alt": "Making a clean and compact backup of your current project is easy in all versions of Cubase."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_01-j36w_D8xQYBLbdtQDiO2yqS.ebP4Lxt4.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Making a clean and compact backup of your current project is easy in all versions of Cubase." height="257" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_01-KUa_kqOgXFA8huwmJp1MJnl_QGcPiBg3.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Making a clean and compact backup of your current project is easy in all versions of Cubase." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 538px;"><i>Making a clean and compact backup of your current project is easy in all versions of Cubase.</i></span></span></p><p class="introtext" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.14286rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px 0px 1em;">Future-proof your projects. We examine the archival options for users of Cubase Elements, Artist or Pro.</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">While archiving your projects is perhaps not the most exciting aspect of working with Cubase, you'll one day thank your younger self for having put in the effort, so in this month's column I'll examine the archival options for users of Cubase Elements, Artist or Pro. Archiving isn't just about saving your project to another hard drive; it should ensure that you have a backup copy should the original project be lost or become corrupted. It should also ensure that you can access your project even without the current versions of Cubase or the plug‑ins you used.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">The first step is to decide on the balance between your desired degree of future-proofing and the time and effort required to achieve it. I tend towards pragmatism rather than perfectionism, and will focus on the former here. But hopefully there will be enough ideas here that you can develop a more comprehensive strategy if you prefer.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-archiving-projects#top" id="para1" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">All Backed Up</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">A sensible first step is to create a self-contained backup copy of a project that would restore the project on your own host system in the event of data loss. It's a two-step process and can be done in an identical fashion in Pro, Artist and Elements.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Using the Audio Mixdown dialogue (shown here in Cubase Elements) allows you to render your virtual instrument tracks to audio, albeit one at a time.", "alt": "Using the Audio Mixdown dialogue (shown here in Cubase Elements) allows you to render your virtual instrument tracks to audio, albeit one at a time."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_02-_kgTH_a4dtEzoVwN7MsbzFBIGKoJl9q..jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Using the Audio Mixdown dialogue (shown here in Cubase Elements) allows you to render your virtual instrument tracks to audio, albeit one at a time." height="236" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_02-c7j1JJHJVCn5kE_fOYXX2pivtlORkKwb.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Using the Audio Mixdown dialogue (shown here in Cubase Elements) allows you to render your virtual instrument tracks to audio, albeit one at a time." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Using the Audio Mixdown dialogue (shown here in Cubase Elements) allows </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>you to render your virtual instrument tracks to audio, albeit one at a time.</i></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">First, execute the Media/Prepare Archive command. This will check whether all files referenced by your project reside in the project folder, and will place copies of them in there if not. Second, from the menu, select File/Back Up Project, and you'll be prompted to specify a new folder for the backup copy. A few tickbox options dictate exactly what gets placed in the new folder. Minimise Audio Files (only copy those portions of any audio files actually used on the timeline) and Remove Unused Files will help keep your backup compact. Provided everything else (plug‑ins, sample content locations) remains the same on your host system, this backup project should open fully intact and ready to go if your original working copy is lost.</p><blockquote style="background: url("https://www.soundonsound.com/sites/all/themes/sound_on_sound/images/bb_quote.png") 5px 8px no-repeat rgb(238, 238, 238); border-radius: 12px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; display: table; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px auto 14px; max-width: 90%; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 20px 12px 28px; width: auto;">Together, these files should meet pretty much any need when it comes to resurrecting a project, be it tomorrow or many years down the line.</blockquote><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-archiving-projects#top" id="para2" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">The Future Is Now</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">While useful in the short term, the above process won't protect you from plug‑ins that might go missing in the longer term. The most straightforward insurance against this problem is to render all the project's audio and virtual instruments tracks as audio files, with all channel-level processing included. If you like, you can do the same with all the channel processing bypassed, so you have a version of your audio files with any edits, for example, but free from processing, which is handy if you want to revamp your project in the future.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">What follows will work in all versions of Cubase. It's a little clunky, though, and users of Pro have a better option in the Export Audio Mixdown dialogue, on which more later. First, save a copy of your project with a suitable 'version for future-proofing' name. If the Freeze button isn't already visible, right-click on any track in the Track List to open the Track Controls Panel and make it visible for both Audio and MIDI tracks. Track freezing is actually designed for reducing CPU loads, but it also happens to create an audio render of the frozen track, and places this in a new folder (sensibly named Freeze) in your main Project folder. The render file 'captures' both the audio and the results of any channel processing, but there is a catch. In order to keep the file sizes compact, the Freeze function only captures those sections of your track where something is actually happening, and without a little further intervention before freezing, the format of these renders doesn't really meet our 'archiving' needs.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-right" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "If you are not using Cubase Pro, a workaround combining the track Freeze and Audio Mixdown dialogue features can let you create an audio-only render of all audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project.", "alt": "If you are not using Cubase Pro, a workaround combining the track Freeze and Audio Mixdown dialogue features can let you create an audio-only render of all audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_03-PFw8qYwRYjBjM_5l2meREFcGeiCPH.FL.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="If you are not using Cubase Pro, a workaround combining the track Freeze and Audio Mixdown dialogue features can let you create an audio-only render of all audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project." height="300" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_preview/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_03-xuwG.P0dVKZuxOW2.jlV0n0D350R1T7Y.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="If you are not using Cubase Pro, a workaround combining the track Freeze and Audio Mixdown dialogue features can let you create an audio-only render of all audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project." typeof="foaf:Image" width="243" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 243px;"><i>If you are not using Cubase Pro, a workaround combining the track Freeze and Audio Mixdown dialogue features can let you create an audio-only render of all audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project.</i></span></span>For audio tracks, the workaround is simple. First, find a short (a single bar or beat) section of one of your audio tracks that contains silence. Second, copy this clip to the very start of every audio track that doesn't already start at bar 1, beat 1. Third, select all the audio events on a track (or tracks; you can handle multiple tracks simultaneously) and from the file menu execute Audio/Bounce Selection. This replaces all the separate audio events on each track with a single contiguous event starting at bar 1, beat 1. Finally, if you now Freeze each audio track, the Freeze files will all start from bar 1, beat 1 and can be dragged into a new project.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">For virtual instrument tracks, a different workaround is required, and must be done one track at a time. In the MixConsole, make sure the output of every virtual instrument track is set to the main Stereo Output. Next, bypass any plug‑ins on the Stereo Output bus (so you don't end up capturing a 'mastered' version of the instrument's audio). Then set the left locator to bar 1, beat 1 and the right locator to a point just beyond the end of your project.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Finally, one VSTi track at a time, solo the track and execute the File/Export/Audio Mixdown command. In the Audio Mixdown dialogue box, specify a filename to reflect the track's contents and point the File Path to the Freeze folder (which, assuming you've already dealt with your audio tracks as described above, will already be there). In the After Export section, deselect the Create Audio Track and Insert To Pool options (so you don't get extra tracks or audio file entries cluttering up your project) and hit Export Audio. Repeat as required for each virtual instrument track.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Then there's the MIDI: the audio might give you all you need, but you may want to consider archiving the MIDI information used to trigger any virtual or hardware instruments so that you can, for example, choose different voices or layer different parts and so forth at a later date. To do this go to File/Export/MIDI File. You'll find a few options here, so you should feel free to explore them, but the defaults should suffice.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-archiving-projects#top" id="para3" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Go Pro?</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Cubase Pro makes this all much easier as it allows the simultaneous export of multiple tracks (any track type that uses audio) over a time range defined by the left and right locators, so every audio file created starts at the same time point and is exactly the same length. You can define a dedicated folder for the exported files and a naming scheme that can number and name the tracks. (Note that I've also deselected the Create Audio Track and Insert To Pool options.)</p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" data-cbox-img-attrs="{"title": "Cubase Pro's Audio Mixdown includes batch processing, making it easier to create a render of all the audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project.", "alt": "Cubase Pro's Audio Mixdown includes batch processing, making it easier to create a render of all the audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project."}" data-colorbox-gallery="all" href="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_04-PHQS.xMjlKKh3.7Dp6FvaE3js0uYkFvY.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; display: block; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;" title=""><img alt="Cubase Pro's Audio Mixdown includes batch processing, making it easier to create a render of all the audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project." height="241" src="https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/header/s3/imagelibrary/c/cubase_0920_04-mJXcPsuDp5LZlOI7KiVokpv062E7BdkX.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" title="Cubase Pro's Audio Mixdown includes batch processing, making it easier to create a render of all the audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project." typeof="foaf:Image" width="400" /></a><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>Cubase Pro's Audio Mixdown includes batch processing, making it easier to </i></span><span class="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; width: 620px;"><i>create a render of all the audio and virtual instrument tracks within a project.</i></span></span></p><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Perhaps the only catch is that you have to choose stereo (the default) or mono bounces; you can't do both at once. So either choose to live with stereo (no real hardship, unless you're trying to create a particularly compact archive) or perform the export in a couple of passes, dealing with stereo and mono (tick the Mono Downmix box) separately. Either way, Pro makes this process incredibly efficient, and for users of other Cubase versions, this might be reason enough to upgrade.</p><h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Oswald, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.71429rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em;"><a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-archiving-projects#top" id="para4" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Peace Of Mind</a></h2><p class="nindent" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Yes, it's fiddly, but if you've followed all these steps, you'll have access not only to a backup of your project, but also a version of the project's tracks where you can drag and drop all the files to bar 1, beat 1 of a new project. You'll have a pretty good working version of the original audio, the processed audio, the MIDI information — including the project tempo — and to virtual instrument tracks. Together, these files should meet pretty much any need when it comes to resurrecting a project, be it tomorrow or many years down the line.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 0px;">Whichever route you took, it's now time to copy your archive to an external drive, and ideally somewhere off-site too. Next time, I'll expand on these ideas and look at additional export options to help ensure a smooth workflow when collaborating with other musicians or mix engineers. Until then, keep your data safe.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="media-image-none media-image-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; margin: 15px 0px;"></span></p><p></p><div class="group-header" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #444444; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="field--issue-date" style="box-sizing: inherit; float: right; font-size: 0.85714rem;">Published <a href="https://www.soundonsound.com/magazine/2020-09" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">September 2020</a></div></div>No Limit Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14070854520250260068noreply@blogger.com0