Steinberg’s Cubase has lots of history at its back; the first version was released way returned in 1989. Version nine. Five of the present-day edition got here are way past due in 2017 and reaffirms the software’s popularity as one of the first-class DAWs in the global.
With first-rate strength can come a certain amount of complexity, but, so we’ve got compiled 20 hints that’ll flip you into an all-understanding Cubase champion.
Read greater: Kratos Audio Reformer Pro
1. Compensation payout
Latency is an essential evil that allows certain plugins to paintings their DSP voodoo. But what in case you need to record MIDI or audio into a latency-heavy assignment even as monitoring through Cubase? You ought to flip off the offending plugins manually… or you could click on Cubase’s Constrain Latency Compensation button to disable them instantly. Please turn it off when you’re completed the recording.
2. MIDI Modifiers
Cubase’s MIDI Modifiers tweak the notes of a MIDI or Instrument track on the fly. You’ll find them within the Track Inspector, or you can use the MIDI Insert of the identical name. Use them to transpose, compress, randomize, and restrict MIDI notes. One of our favorites is applying the Random role to a quantized part, humanizing it in actual time – deliver it a try!
3. Fadeaway
Have you ever split or resized an audio clip and heard virtual clicks at its obstacles? You can repair the problem with guide fades. However, that’s a tedious task. Cubase to the rescue! Head to Project > Auto Fades Settings to configure Auto Fade In/Out/Crossfades for all clips without guide fades. Right-click on a music header to use it in step with the music.
4. Like a virgin
By default, even the shortest bit of automation creates a fixed-fee line spanning the whole mission. Annoying, proper? There’s an answer. Open the Automation Panel, click the lower-left cog, and permit Use Virgin Territory. Now automation is best written where movements are made and can be deleted with the Range device. When gambling regions again without automation, parameters stay freely tweakable.
5. Audio Alchemy
The capacity to turn audio into MIDI is glaringly exquisite-beneficial – and dead easy to implement in Cubase. Double-click on a monophonic audio clip to open it, click the VariAudio phase in the Inspector, then Pitch & Warp. Cubase analyses the audio’s pitch and timing content material. Hit the Extract MIDI button a chunk beside down, pick out your options, and you’re finished!
6. A groove is in the heart
While we mainly companion groove templates with greater electronically-aligned software programs consisting of Reason and Live, Cubase has had this capability for years. To make a Groove Map from any audio, double-click on a clip, open the Hitpoints phase, then click Create Groove. Your groove turns into available alongside the usual 1/8, 1/sixteen, and many other options inside the Quantize/Snap menus.
7. Never miss a beat
Sometimes the magic takes place whilst the tape ain’t rolling – however, your genius noodlings aren’t always misplaced forever. In Preferences > Record > Audio, set Audio Pre-Record as much as a maximum of 60 to have Cubase buffer audio from all armed tracks, even at the same time as stopped or playing again. Then, hit Record, Stop, then drag the left fringe of the ensuing clip to go ‘returned in time.’ Now that’s magic!
8. Right on cue
Every musician in the band desires their own mix – referred to as a cue mix – while recording, and Cubase’s Control Room makes putting them up a breeze. For speedy setup, choose the channels you want to ship within the MixConsole, proper-click on your Cue channel inside the Control Room, then use the From decided on channels sub-menu to allow sends duplicate the ranges from your current blend.
9. Meter marketplace
Even while you’re slamming tiers right up to the virtual limit in Cubase, the meters never honestly go into the pink. A bit disappointing, that. To do something about it, head to the Preferences menu and open the Metering > Appearance section. Here, you may specify custom color stages for Cubase’s meters for clearer remarks on exactly what levels you’re hitting.
10. Listen and analyze
Cubase’s Listen function is the oft-misunderstood cousin of the best-antique Solo characteristic. Let’s study exactly the way it works and what actual-world makes use of you may use it on.
Step 1: To pay attention to a man or woman channel inside the mix, we instinctively reach for the Solo (S) button, which mutes all different tracks. During a recording consultation, this can backfire because it also mutes those devices in each musician’s headphone cue mix!
Step 2: Instead, we want the Listen (L) feature to be had whilst Control Room is enabled. Listen to routes a channel at once to the primary output without upsetting the alternative tracks. To make this manifest, it bypasses group busses and the master bus – useful for checking signal integrity at the fly.
Step three: Listen additionally lets you listen to FX Channels in isolation – in contrast to Solo, in which you constantly pay attention to the supply channel. This is top-notch for EQing reverb and postpones returns, for instance. Finally, Listen Dim lets you listen to the rest of the mix in the background at a stage of your selection.
11. Automation bumps
A usual automation flow is to momentarily boom a parameter with the aid of creating a square ‘bump’ on the automation curve. You can draw this shape manually… or do it cleverly: select the Line device, change it to Square in the dropdown, then maintain Shift+Cmd/Ctrl and drag to without delay insert a ‘bump.’
12. So metro
Cubase’s Metronome is a simple device that we all depend on – perhaps a lot that you might not have the notion to customize it to your liking. Cmd/Ctrl+click on the Metronome inside the Transport bar (or go to Transport > Metronome Setup) to get the right of entry to a gaggle of handy settings regarding metronome behavior. You can modify the pitch and stage of the default ‘beeps’ metronome in the lower-right panel. Alternatively, click Sounds to load any samples you like because of the Hi and Lo click. More cowbell, everybody?
13. TrackVersion trickery
TrackVersions are a completely accessible way to attempt out opportunity tune edits and preparations… however, they can also be used to make versions on Tempo, Time Signature, and Chord Tracks? It’s actual! Not all of those tracks have their personal TrackVersions Inspector tab, so click the drop-down arrow by the tune name to test with pace map variations, exchange chord arrangements, and so forth.
14. Master channel automation
Channel and plugin parameters are effortlessly automated in Cubase’s Project view. However, the master channel doesn’t appear in that display… so how do you automate it?
Like this: open MixConsole and click on the Automation Write (W) icon on the master channel (named ‘Stereo Out’ using the default), then turn it off again. Voila! Your grasp channel is now represented within the Project page.
15. What a drag
We all recognize that Alt+dragging duplicates a plugin in MixConsole. But did you understand that dragging the Insert header copies all of the channel’s plugins and dragging the channel name copies all the channel’s settings? Alt+Shift+click Channel Edit (the Channel’s E icon) to open all plugins right now. And Alt+click on a plugin’s electricity icon in MixConsole to disable the plugin in place of simply bypassing it, saving on gadget assets.
