Acknowledgements Sequencing 1 - Music Tech...

ContentsIntroduction ................................................................................................................ xxvii

Conventions used in this book .................................................................................... xxvii

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................xxviii

Sequencing ..................................................................1Getting Started..................................................................................................................2

The Transport ..............................................................................................................4The Metronome ..........................................................................................................4Changing Tempo ..........................................................................................................5Picking a sound ...........................................................................................................5Naming Tracks and Parts .............................................................................................6The Info Line ................................................................................................................6Toolbar and Transport Setup .......................................................................................6

Making a recording ...........................................................................................................6Snap ............................................................................................................................7Trimming a part to size ................................................................................................7Adding another track ..................................................................................................8Adding Drums .............................................................................................................8Adding more notes to a part .......................................................................................9Picking which tracks play .............................................................................................9

Mute ......................................................................................................................9Solo ......................................................................................................................10

Creating an arrangement ................................................................................................10Practicing a section ...................................................................................................10Cycle Recording .........................................................................................................11

Adding notes to a part .........................................................................................11Keeping only the last version ...............................................................................12Recording different versions ................................................................................12

Editing .............................................................................................................................14Non-Keyboard player tips ..........................................................................................16

Slowing things down............................................................................................16Recording rhythm then changing the pitch .........................................................16Step Input ............................................................................................................17

Saving your work ............................................................................................................19

The toolbar .....................................................................................................................19The Selection Tool .....................................................................................................19

Normal Sizing .......................................................................................................20Sizing moves contents .........................................................................................20Sizing applies Time Stretch ..................................................................................21

The Range Selection Tool ..........................................................................................21The Scissors ...............................................................................................................22The Glue ....................................................................................................................22The Eraser .................................................................................................................23The Zoom Tool ...........................................................................................................23

The Mute Tool ...........................................................................................................23The Pencil Tool ..........................................................................................................24The Play Tool .............................................................................................................24The Line Tool .............................................................................................................24The Time Warp Tool ..................................................................................................25The Comp Tool ..........................................................................................................25

Editing Drums .................................................................................................................25

Volume and Panning .......................................................................................................26

The MixConsole ..............................................................................................................26

Instrument Tracks vs Rack Instruments ..........................................................................27Instrument Tracks ......................................................................................................27VST Instruments and Separate MIDI Tracks...............................................................28Advantages and Disadvantages .................................................................................29Sending MIDI to an Instrument Track ........................................................................30Using more than one output on a VST Instrument ...................................................31

Setting up the outputs in the rack .......................................................................31Assigning an output from inside the instrument .................................................32Linking the Inspector to the Output Track ...........................................................34

Considerations for VST Instruments ..........................................................................35MIDI Devices .............................................................................................................35

The Project Window in Detail .........................................................................................36The Main Area ...........................................................................................................36The Left Zone .............................................................................................................36The Inspector ............................................................................................................37

Visibility ...............................................................................................................37The Right Zone ..........................................................................................................37

VST Instruments ..................................................................................................38MediaBay .............................................................................................................38

Control Room ............................................................................................................38Meter ........................................................................................................................39The Lower Zone .........................................................................................................39

MixConsole ..........................................................................................................40Sampler Control ...................................................................................................40Chord Pads ...........................................................................................................41

Transport ...................................................................................................................41The Status Line ..........................................................................................................41Info Line.....................................................................................................................41Project Window Layouts ...........................................................................................42Backing up your work ................................................................................................42

Exercises .........................................................................................................................43Sequence a simple melody .......................................................................................43Sequence chords .......................................................................................................43Sequence a bass part ................................................................................................44Sequence drums........................................................................................................44

Change sounds ..........................................................................................................44Apply volume and panning .......................................................................................44

Summary .........................................................................................................................44

How MIDI Works ....................................................... 45MIDI ................................................................................................................................46

Communication ..............................................................................................................46Controllers .................................................................................................................48Common MIDI Controller Messages .........................................................................48General MIDI Program Changes ................................................................................49

Drums .............................................................................................................................51

Less Common Messages .................................................................................................51Interpretation ............................................................................................................51

General MIDI Standards ..................................................................................................52MIDI Connections ......................................................................................................52MIDI Files ..................................................................................................................53MIDI File Types ..........................................................................................................54

Typical MIDI setups .........................................................................................................54A controller keyboard, a computer and a synthesizer ...............................................55A controller keyboard and computer ........................................................................55A keyboard with built-in sounds and a computer .....................................................56

Summary .........................................................................................................................56

Effective Sequencing .................................................. 57The Guitar .......................................................................................................................58

Solo playing ...............................................................................................................61Vibrato.......................................................................................................................62Bending Notes ...........................................................................................................62Multiple note bending ..............................................................................................63Strumming sounds ....................................................................................................64Tuning ........................................................................................................................64Slides .........................................................................................................................65

The Bass Guitar ...............................................................................................................65

The Drums ......................................................................................................................66

String Instruments ..........................................................................................................67

The Voice ........................................................................................................................68

General Techniques ........................................................................................................70Velocity ......................................................................................................................70Quantization ..............................................................................................................70Iterative Quantize ......................................................................................................70Swing .........................................................................................................................71Randomness ..............................................................................................................72Controllers .................................................................................................................72Using Volume / Expression / Velocity ........................................................................72Volume – controller 7 ................................................................................................73

Expression – controller 11 .........................................................................................73Editing controller data in a relative manner ..............................................................73Velocity ......................................................................................................................74Viewing Multiple Controllers .....................................................................................74

Tempo Mapping ..............................................................................................................75Importing the original audio file ...............................................................................75Trimming the Audio...................................................................................................75

The Time Warp Tool ........................................................................................................76

The Tempo Track .............................................................................................................79Changing Tempo ........................................................................................................79

Deleting a Tempo event .......................................................................................80Changing Time Signature ..........................................................................................80

Deleting a Time Signature ...................................................................................80

Transpose ........................................................................................................................81

Marker Tracks .................................................................................................................82Creating the Marker Track .........................................................................................82Active Marker Track ...................................................................................................83Cycle Markers ............................................................................................................83Applications ...............................................................................................................84

The Arranger Track ..........................................................................................................84

Good and Bad programming ...........................................................................................87Velocity ......................................................................................................................87Controllers .................................................................................................................88Pitch Bend .................................................................................................................88Sound Selection.........................................................................................................88

Exercises .........................................................................................................................89Sequencing Guitar Parts ............................................................................................89

Chords .................................................................................................................89Strumming ...........................................................................................................89Bending ................................................................................................................89Bending more than 2 semitones .........................................................................89Unison Bends .......................................................................................................89Slides ...................................................................................................................89

Drums ........................................................................................................................89Sequence a simple drum part ..............................................................................89More complex playing .........................................................................................90Change the hi-hat ................................................................................................90Repeat with 16ths ...............................................................................................90Use written music ................................................................................................90

String Instruments .....................................................................................................90Voice ..........................................................................................................................90

Large range pitch bend ........................................................................................90Vibrato .................................................................................................................90“Scooping” into notes ..........................................................................................90

Tuning ..................................................................................................................91Volume / Expression .................................................................................................91Tempo Mapping ........................................................................................................91

Summary .........................................................................................................................92

Sequencing an Entire Song ......................................... 93Listen and Analyse ..........................................................................................................94

Tempo-map the entire song............................................................................................94

Create Markers ...............................................................................................................94

Create parts ....................................................................................................................95Create empty parts ...................................................................................................95Work out the parts in a basic form ............................................................................95

Tuning ..................................................................................................................95Repetition ............................................................................................................95

Modify and improve the parts ........................................................................................96Subtle variations........................................................................................................96Listen with the original ..............................................................................................96

Programming of sounds ..................................................................................................96Dynamic changes ......................................................................................................97Filtering .....................................................................................................................97EQ ..............................................................................................................................98Performance characteristics ......................................................................................98

Mixing and Effects ...........................................................................................................98

Summary .........................................................................................................................99

MediaBay ................................................................ 101The Full view ................................................................................................................ 102

Attribute Filter ........................................................................................................ 102Text Search ............................................................................................................. 103Auditioning ............................................................................................................. 104

MIDI .................................................................................................................. 104Patches ............................................................................................................. 104Audio ................................................................................................................ 104

Filtering Media Types in MediaBay ........................................................................ 105

Search using Logical Filters .......................................................................................... 106Using Logical Mode ................................................................................................ 106Filtering by type and tempo ................................................................................... 107Filtering by Key ....................................................................................................... 107

Media Bay in the Right Zone ........................................................................................ 108Instruments ............................................................................................................ 108

Using MediaBay to scan your own samples ................................................................. 109Editing Attributes ................................................................................................... 110

Editing Tempo Information ............................................................................... 111Editing Categories ............................................................................................. 113

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 114

Music Theory ........................................................... 117Musical Notation ......................................................................................................... 118

Rhythm ........................................................................................................................ 119

The Major Scale ........................................................................................................... 120Sharp Keys .............................................................................................................. 121

The Sharp Keys in order .................................................................................... 123Flat Keys ................................................................................................................. 123

The flat keys in order ........................................................................................ 125

Reading Key Signatures ................................................................................................ 125

The Circle of Fifths ....................................................................................................... 126

More complexity .......................................................................................................... 127Enharmonic Notes .................................................................................................. 127Dynamics ................................................................................................................ 127

Intervals ....................................................................................................................... 128

Chords .......................................................................................................................... 128

Inversions ..................................................................................................................... 130Chords with more notes ......................................................................................... 131

Reading Chords ............................................................................................................ 132Remember the Key ................................................................................................. 132Get the notes in the right order ............................................................................. 132More examples....................................................................................................... 133

Harmonising a Melody ................................................................................................. 134Movement .............................................................................................................. 135Voice Leading ......................................................................................................... 137Using the bass note ................................................................................................ 137

Using different chords .................................................................................................. 139

Modes .......................................................................................................................... 140Alterations from the Major Scale ........................................................................... 144Tonal Quality .......................................................................................................... 144Using Modes to alter a melody and chords ........................................................... 145

Chords from Modes ..................................................................................................... 148

Development of a Melody or Rhythm ......................................................................... 149Repetition ............................................................................................................... 149Transposition .......................................................................................................... 149

Tonal ................................................................................................................. 149Exact ................................................................................................................. 150Sequences ........................................................................................................ 150

Inversion ................................................................................................................. 150Tonal ................................................................................................................. 150Exact ................................................................................................................. 151

Retrograde ............................................................................................................. 151Strict ................................................................................................................. 151Pitch .................................................................................................................. 151Rhythm ............................................................................................................. 151

Removing Notes ..................................................................................................... 152Augmentation ........................................................................................................ 152Diminution ............................................................................................................. 152Rhythmic Offset ...................................................................................................... 152

Common tricks ............................................................................................................. 152Relatives ................................................................................................................. 152Two Before Five ...................................................................................................... 154Five of Five ............................................................................................................. 154Flat Five Substitution .............................................................................................. 155

Modulation .................................................................................................................. 156Direct Modulation .................................................................................................. 156Reinforcing the Key Change ................................................................................... 157Hinting at the new key ........................................................................................... 158Using a pivot chord ................................................................................................ 159Common Tone Modulation .................................................................................... 160

Ear Training .................................................................................................................. 161

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 161Harmonise a melody .............................................................................................. 161Add extensions ....................................................................................................... 161Voice lead ............................................................................................................... 161Develop Melody ..................................................................................................... 161Develop Rhythm ..................................................................................................... 162

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 162

Cubase and Chords .................................................. 163Introduction ................................................................................................................. 164

Chord Tracks ................................................................................................................ 164Creating a Chord Track ........................................................................................... 164Editing a Chord Part ............................................................................................... 164Voicings and Instruments ....................................................................................... 166Creating New Chords.............................................................................................. 167Chord Assistant Modes .......................................................................................... 168

Cadence Mode ................................................................................................. 168Common Notes ................................................................................................. 168

Complexity ............................................................................................................. 169Gap Mode .............................................................................................................. 169Converting to MIDI ................................................................................................. 170

A Single Part ..................................................................................................... 170All Chord Parts .................................................................................................. 170

Live Transform ............................................................................................................. 171Setup ...................................................................................................................... 171Following Chords .................................................................................................... 171Following Scales ..................................................................................................... 172

Chord Tracks and Audio ............................................................................................... 175

Chord Editing Tools ...................................................................................................... 176

Inversions ............................................................................................................... 179Inserting Chords ..................................................................................................... 180Drop 2, 3 and 2/4 ................................................................................................... 181Add to Chord Track ................................................................................................. 182Match with Chord Track ......................................................................................... 183

Chord Pads ................................................................................................................... 184Activating ............................................................................................................... 184Editing .................................................................................................................... 185Voicings .................................................................................................................. 185

Adaptive Voicings ............................................................................................. 185Editing Voicings ................................................................................................. 185Players .............................................................................................................. 186

Remote Control ...................................................................................................... 188The Chord Assistant ............................................................................................... 188

Circle of Fifths ................................................................................................... 189Proximity........................................................................................................... 189

Exercises: ..................................................................................................................... 190Simple Chord Parts ................................................................................................. 190Using Cadence mode to suggest new chords ......................................................... 190Using Gap mode to bridge between chords ........................................................... 190Use the Arpeggiator ............................................................................................... 190

Arrangements.......................................................... 191Listen............................................................................................................................ 192

Musical Elements in an Arrangement .......................................................................... 192Form ....................................................................................................................... 192Instrumentation ..................................................................................................... 193Rhythm ................................................................................................................... 193Time Signature ....................................................................................................... 194Melody ................................................................................................................... 195Harmony................................................................................................................. 196

Example Arrangements ................................................................................................ 197The Ace Of Spades – Motorhead / Hayseed Dixie .................................................. 197

Structure ........................................................................................................... 197Instrumentation ............................................................................................... 197Musical changes ............................................................................................... 197

Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police (1979 and 1986) .................................... 198Structure ........................................................................................................... 198Instrumentation ................................................................................................ 198Production ........................................................................................................ 199

Sex Type Thing / Swing Type Version- Stone Temple Pilots .................................... 199Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden / The Moog Cookbook .......................................... 200

Instrumentation ................................................................................................ 200Rhythm ............................................................................................................. 200Introduction ...................................................................................................... 200

Structure ........................................................................................................... 200It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls/ Geri Halliwell ............................................ 201

Structure ........................................................................................................... 201Introduction ...................................................................................................... 201Choruses ........................................................................................................... 201

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 202

Synthesizers ............................................................ 203History ......................................................................................................................... 204

Hardware ..................................................................................................................... 205

Structure ...................................................................................................................... 207

Editing a synthesizer .................................................................................................... 207Oscillators ............................................................................................................... 208Filter ....................................................................................................................... 208Amplifier................................................................................................................. 208Envelopes .............................................................................................................. 208LFO ......................................................................................................................... 208The Amplifier Section (VCA) ................................................................................... 209

Controlling the Amplifier .................................................................................. 209The Envelope Generator ................................................................................... 210The Dynamics Switch ........................................................................................ 211

The Filter Section (VCF) .......................................................................................... 212Resonance ........................................................................................................ 213

Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) .............................................................................. 215The Oscillators (DCOs) ............................................................................................ 216Two Oscillators at once .......................................................................................... 217

MIDI Learn ................................................................................................................... 218Controlling Cutoff Frequency ................................................................................. 218

Storing A Sound ........................................................................................................... 219Loading a Preset ..................................................................................................... 221Choosing a Preset by using Attributes .................................................................... 221

Searching by name ........................................................................................... 222Filtering Results ................................................................................................ 222Adding Attributes to Sounds ............................................................................. 223Converting to VST Presets ................................................................................ 224

Halion Sonic SE ............................................................................................................ 225The Main Window .................................................................................................. 225The Edit Page .......................................................................................................... 226The MIDI Page ........................................................................................................ 226The Mix Page .......................................................................................................... 226The Effects Page ..................................................................................................... 227The Options Page ................................................................................................... 227Trip ......................................................................................................................... 227

Oscillator (OSC) ................................................................................................. 228Sub (SUB) .......................................................................................................... 228

Modulation (MOD) ........................................................................................... 228Arpeggio (ARP) ................................................................................................. 229

Flux ......................................................................................................................... 229The Bottom Section .......................................................................................... 230OSC Page ........................................................................................................... 230SUB Page ........................................................................................................... 231MOD Page ......................................................................................................... 232Voice Page ........................................................................................................ 233ARP Page ........................................................................................................... 233

Using the Arpeggiator ............................................................................................ 233The Lower Section ............................................................................................ 235Using the Arpeggio Controllers ......................................................................... 235

Other Synths ................................................................................................................ 237Different Controls ................................................................................................... 237

TAL Elec7ro ....................................................................................................... 237Sylenth 1 ........................................................................................................... 238

Different Sounds..................................................................................................... 238Different Features .................................................................................................. 239

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 240Listen to waveforms ............................................................................................... 240Use the amplifier’s ADSR ........................................................................................ 240Use the filter .......................................................................................................... 240Use the filter’s ADSR .............................................................................................. 240Use multiple oscillators .......................................................................................... 240

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 241

Sampling ................................................................. 243The History of Sampling ............................................................................................... 244

Sampling Hardware ...................................................................................................... 245

How a Sampler Works .................................................................................................. 246

Sampling in action ....................................................................................................... 247

Sampler Tracks ............................................................................................................. 247Creating .................................................................................................................. 247Pitch Section ........................................................................................................... 249Amp Section ........................................................................................................... 249Trimming the sample ............................................................................................. 249Fading the sample .................................................................................................. 250The Filter ................................................................................................................ 250

Low Pass ........................................................................................................... 251High Pass........................................................................................................... 251Band Pass .......................................................................................................... 251All Pass .............................................................................................................. 251Band Reject ....................................................................................................... 252

Envelopes .............................................................................................................. 252Filter Envelope ....................................................................................................... 253

Pitch Envelope ........................................................................................................ 254Advanced Envelope Modes .................................................................................... 254

Sustain .............................................................................................................. 254Loop .................................................................................................................. 254One Shot ........................................................................................................... 254Sample Loop ..................................................................................................... 254

AudioWarp ............................................................................................................. 255Changing the Pitch ................................................................................................. 255

Root Key............................................................................................................ 255Range ................................................................................................................ 256

Looping................................................................................................................... 256No Loop ............................................................................................................ 256Continuous ....................................................................................................... 256Alternate ........................................................................................................... 257Once ................................................................................................................. 257Until Release ..................................................................................................... 257Alt Until Release ............................................................................................... 257

Other Features ....................................................................................................... 258One Shot ........................................................................................................... 258MIDI Reset ........................................................................................................ 258Fixed Pitch ........................................................................................................ 258Reverse ............................................................................................................. 258Monophonic Mode ........................................................................................... 258Transfer to New Instrument ............................................................................. 258

Sample Backup ....................................................................................................... 258Summary ................................................................................................................ 259

Shortcircuit .................................................................................................................. 259The Shortcircuit Window ....................................................................................... 259Sampling for a percussion instrument or single note ............................................. 260Melodic Sampling ................................................................................................... 261Sampling with velocity zones ................................................................................. 262Altering the sample’s volume over time ................................................................ 263Using filters ............................................................................................................ 264

Modulation .................................................................................................................. 265Altering the filter over time ................................................................................... 265Velocity control of the filter ................................................................................... 266Velocity and envelope control of the filter ............................................................. 267

Looping a sample ......................................................................................................... 267Making use of short cycle waveforms .................................................................... 269

Tuning a sample ........................................................................................................... 270

Using the LFOs ............................................................................................................. 271Creating a waveform for the LFO ........................................................................... 271Assigning the LFO ................................................................................................... 272

Advanced Modulation ................................................................................................. 272

Using a MIDI controller to alter LFO speed ............................................................ 272Using automation to control LFO speed ................................................................. 274Using one LFO to control another .......................................................................... 274

Using Groups ............................................................................................................... 275

Making your own samples ........................................................................................... 277Using Loops with the sampler ................................................................................ 277Using samples without a sampler .......................................................................... 277Using Loops with Cubase ....................................................................................... 277

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 278Sample a single note ............................................................................................ 278Sample percussion sounds, program basic drumkit ............................................... 278Sample singer over 1 octave .................................................................................. 278Extend above and below / detune ......................................................................... 278Looping................................................................................................................... 278Single-cycle looping ................................................................................................ 278Modulation............................................................................................................. 279

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 279

Automation ............................................................. 281Basic Principles ............................................................................................................ 282

Controls .................................................................................................................. 282

A first piece of automation .......................................................................................... 283

Creating Automation Data ........................................................................................... 284

Editing Automation Data ............................................................................................. 285Range Selection vs Point Selection ......................................................................... 286Trim ........................................................................................................................ 288Suspending Automation ......................................................................................... 289

Viewing Automation types quickly .............................................................................. 289

Automating more than one parameter at a time ........................................................ 289

Bypassing an effect ...................................................................................................... 289

Automation of MIDI controllers ................................................................................... 290

Automating Instruments .............................................................................................. 291Automation of an Instrument Track ....................................................................... 292Automation of a Rack Instrument .......................................................................... 292

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 294Automate Volume .................................................................................................. 294Automate Panning.................................................................................................. 294Automate a Mute ................................................................................................... 294Automate Bypass ................................................................................................... 294

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 294

The Logical Editor .................................................... 295Overview ...................................................................................................................... 296

The filter section .......................................................................................................... 296Selecting Notes ...................................................................................................... 297

Selecting Notes by Pitch ......................................................................................... 297Selecting by Velocity .............................................................................................. 298Filter Section Summary .......................................................................................... 298

The Action Section ....................................................................................................... 298Changing the Pitch ................................................................................................. 298Random Velocity .................................................................................................... 300Delete Short Notes ................................................................................................. 300Extract Note (C3) .................................................................................................... 300Accent Downbeat ................................................................................................... 301Delete Black Keys ................................................................................................... 302

Making a part more realistic ........................................................................................ 302Using the editor for Composition ........................................................................... 303

Generating new pitches ................................................................................... 304Changing note lengths and speed .................................................................... 304Changing Tonality ............................................................................................. 305

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 306Select a single pitch ................................................................................................ 306Alter the pitch ........................................................................................................ 306Extract all the snares .............................................................................................. 306Select all of a given note ........................................................................................ 306Apply velocity changes ........................................................................................... 306Apply timing changes ............................................................................................. 306

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 307

The List Editor .......................................................... 309Setup Window Layout ............................................................................................ 311

The Filter ...................................................................................................................... 312The Show Menu ..................................................................................................... 312

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 313

Scoring .................................................................... 315Basics ........................................................................................................................... 316

Staff Settings ................................................................................................................ 318Clef and Key ............................................................................................................ 319

Drums .......................................................................................................................... 319Editing the Drum Map ........................................................................................... 320Tidying up note lengths .......................................................................................... 323Multirests ............................................................................................................... 324Unpitched Percussion............................................................................................. 324

Guitar Tab .................................................................................................................... 325Chord Boxes ........................................................................................................... 326Making Chord Symbols........................................................................................... 326Strummed Parts ..................................................................................................... 326

Staff Modes .................................................................................................................. 328Split ........................................................................................................................ 328Polyphonic .............................................................................................................. 328

Adding Dynamics ......................................................................................................... 330

Adding Text .................................................................................................................. 331

Bars and Bar Numbers ................................................................................................. 332Using Repeat Marks ............................................................................................... 333

Graphic Elements ......................................................................................................... 334

Bracketing Parts together ............................................................................................ 334

Aligning Elements ........................................................................................................ 335

Editing Multiple Parts .................................................................................................. 335

Scoring for sampled parts ............................................................................................ 335

Printout ........................................................................................................................ 335

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 336Produce a part ........................................................................................................ 336Produce a part for a transposing instrument ......................................................... 336Produce a strummed guitar part ............................................................................ 336Produce a drum part .............................................................................................. 336

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 336

Audio ...................................................................... 337The Language of Sound................................................................................................ 338

Frequency............................................................................................................... 338Amplitude .............................................................................................................. 339Frequency Response Diagrams .............................................................................. 340Waveforms ............................................................................................................. 341Harmonics .............................................................................................................. 342Dynamic Changes ................................................................................................... 344Phase ...................................................................................................................... 345

Microphone Types ....................................................................................................... 346Dynamic Microphones ........................................................................................... 347Condenser Microphones ........................................................................................ 348Ribbon Microphones .............................................................................................. 349Boundary Microphones .......................................................................................... 350Summary of Microphone Characteristics ............................................................... 351

Polar Patterns............................................................................................................... 351

The Proximity Effect ..................................................................................................... 353

Connections ................................................................................................................. 353Balanced Signal Transmission ................................................................................. 355

Gain.............................................................................................................................. 355Setting Gain ............................................................................................................ 356

The Mixer ..................................................................................................................... 357

Analogue and Digital .................................................................................................... 361Bit Depth ................................................................................................................ 362Sample Rate ........................................................................................................... 364

Storing audio in less space ........................................................................................... 365

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 368

First Recordings ....................................................... 369Recording using a PC .................................................................................................... 370

Preparation for the recording ...................................................................................... 371

Making the recording................................................................................................... 372

Ambient Recording ...................................................................................................... 373

Microphone placement ............................................................................................... 374Spaced or “AB” Pair .............................................................................................. 374Coincident or “XY” pair .......................................................................................... 374MS Mic’ing ............................................................................................................. 375MS Recording and decoding ................................................................................... 375

Without a plugin ............................................................................................... 375With a plugin .................................................................................................... 376

Setting up ..................................................................................................................... 378

Making the recording................................................................................................... 380

Listening back .............................................................................................................. 380

EQ ................................................................................................................................ 381

Trimming the recording ............................................................................................... 381

Mixdown ...................................................................................................................... 382

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 382Record something .................................................................................................. 382Experiment with mic types..................................................................................... 382Experiment with stereo mic placement ................................................................. 382

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 383

Multi-Track Recording.............................................. 385Advantages .................................................................................................................. 386

Disadvantages .............................................................................................................. 386

Recording Techniques .................................................................................................. 386Planning ................................................................................................................. 387Recordist ................................................................................................................ 387Performers ............................................................................................................. 388

Microphone Placement ............................................................................................... 388Amplified instruments ............................................................................................ 389

Multiple Microphones ...................................................................................... 389Acoustic Instruments ............................................................................................. 391Acoustic Guitar ....................................................................................................... 391Double Bass ............................................................................................................ 392Piano ...................................................................................................................... 392

The Grand Piano ............................................................................................... 393Upright Piano .................................................................................................... 394

Vocalist ................................................................................................................... 395Drum Kit ................................................................................................................. 395

Bass Drum ......................................................................................................... 395Snare ................................................................................................................. 396

Toms ................................................................................................................. 397Overheads ........................................................................................................ 397

Making use of Polar Patterns ................................................................................. 400Experimentation ..................................................................................................... 401How placement alters the sound ........................................................................... 401The 3 to 1 rule ........................................................................................................ 403

DI ................................................................................................................................. 403

Budgeting for tracks ..................................................................................................... 404A typical recording session ..................................................................................... 405

The recording sessions ................................................................................................. 406Instrument order to record .................................................................................... 406

Playing along to a backing ................................................................................ 406Click Tracks........................................................................................................ 406

Overdubbing .......................................................................................................... 407An example ....................................................................................................... 407

Setting the record mode ........................................................................................ 408Keep History ..................................................................................................... 408Replace ............................................................................................................. 409Cycle History + Replace ..................................................................................... 410

Cycle recording and Lanes ...................................................................................... 410Keep History and Cycle History + Replace ........................................................ 410Replace ............................................................................................................. 411

Dropping In ............................................................................................................ 411Using Punch In / Out ......................................................................................... 412

Providing Foldback for Overdubs ........................................................................... 413Performer hears control room mix ................................................................... 413Performer hears their own mix ........................................................................ 413General Tips ...................................................................................................... 413

Assessing the tracks ............................................................................................... 414

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 415Basic Overdubbing ................................................................................................. 415Build up a track with multiple overdubs ................................................................ 415Record a simple blues ............................................................................................ 415Compare microphone positions ............................................................................. 415Drop in and edit replacements ............................................................................... 416

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 416

Audio Editing ........................................................... 417The Tools: ..................................................................................................................... 418

Trim ........................................................................................................................ 418Fade ........................................................................................................................ 418Dynamic Automation ............................................................................................. 419

Cutting audio ............................................................................................................... 419

Creating a loop from a sample ..................................................................................... 420

Finding the tempo of a sample .................................................................................... 421

Altering the Tempo of a sample ................................................................................... 423Using timestretch ................................................................................................... 423Making a sample follow Cubase’s tempo ............................................................... 424Changing the Algorithm ......................................................................................... 425

Changing Pitch ............................................................................................................. 425Transpose Mode ..................................................................................................... 426Envelope Mode ...................................................................................................... 427Timing .................................................................................................................... 428Using AudioWarp ................................................................................................... 430VariAudio ................................................................................................................ 433

Using Snap ................................................................................................................... 436Grid Mode .............................................................................................................. 436Event Mode ............................................................................................................ 436Cursor Mode .......................................................................................................... 436Shuffle Mode .......................................................................................................... 437

Audio Editing Examples................................................................................................ 438Fixing a timing error ............................................................................................... 438

Using Time Stretch............................................................................................ 438Fixing Multitrack Drum Tracks ................................................................................ 442Replacing a section ................................................................................................ 444

Without timestretch ......................................................................................... 444With timestretch .............................................................................................. 445

Comping ................................................................................................................. 446Fixing pitch errors on a vocal.................................................................................. 448

Using pitch shift ................................................................................................ 448A simple example ............................................................................................. 448A more complex example ................................................................................. 449Using VariAudio ................................................................................................ 450

Removing Breaths .................................................................................................. 452Changing what someone has said .......................................................................... 452

Audio Alignment .......................................................................................................... 453Audio Alignment Example ...................................................................................... 454Manual Editing After Audio Alignment .................................................................. 455Alignment Precision ............................................................................................... 457Multiple Clips ......................................................................................................... 457

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 458Create a Loop ......................................................................................................... 458Find the Tempo of a sample ................................................................................... 458Alter tempo of a sample......................................................................................... 458Find errors and fix them ......................................................................................... 458

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 459

Effects ..................................................................... 461Send and Insert Effects ................................................................................................ 462

Send Effects ........................................................................................................... 462

Insert Effect ............................................................................................................ 464

Effect Types .................................................................................................................. 465Reverb .................................................................................................................... 465Delay ...................................................................................................................... 466Tremolo .................................................................................................................. 467Distortion ............................................................................................................... 467Chorus .................................................................................................................... 468Flanger ................................................................................................................... 468Phaser .................................................................................................................... 469

EQ ................................................................................................................................ 469Using EQ in Cubase ................................................................................................ 471

Viewing Modes ................................................................................................. 471EQ Modes ......................................................................................................... 472Editing EQ ......................................................................................................... 473Pre Section ........................................................................................................ 473Spectrum Analyser ........................................................................................... 473

Frequency EQ Plugin .................................................................................................... 476EQ Display .............................................................................................................. 476Piano Keyboard ...................................................................................................... 476EQ types ................................................................................................................. 477

Peak .................................................................................................................. 477Low/High Shelf ................................................................................................. 477Notch ................................................................................................................ 477Cut .................................................................................................................... 478

EQ Modes ............................................................................................................... 479Stereo Mode ..................................................................................................... 479L/R Mode .......................................................................................................... 479M/S Mode......................................................................................................... 479

Other Controls ........................................................................................................ 480Inv ..................................................................................................................... 480Lin ..................................................................................................................... 480Output .............................................................................................................. 480Auto Listen for Filters ....................................................................................... 480Settings ............................................................................................................. 480

Applying EQ ............................................................................................................ 481Complimentary EQ ................................................................................................. 481

Compression ................................................................................................................ 482Threshold ............................................................................................................... 482Ratio ....................................................................................................................... 482More controls ......................................................................................................... 483

Make-up Gain ................................................................................................... 483Attack ................................................................................................................ 483Release ............................................................................................................. 484

Side-chain ............................................................................................................... 485Setting up.......................................................................................................... 485

Ducking ............................................................................................................. 486Kick Drum side-chaining ................................................................................... 487

Sidechain in VST Instruments ...................................................................................... 488Setup ...................................................................................................................... 488Multi-band compression ........................................................................................ 492Limiting................................................................................................................... 494

Gating .......................................................................................................................... 494Attack ..................................................................................................................... 495Release ................................................................................................................... 495Side-chain filtering ................................................................................................. 495

Direct Offline Processing .............................................................................................. 495Applying a single process ....................................................................................... 496Making a process permanent ................................................................................. 497Applying Multiple Processes .................................................................................. 497

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 499Insert effect to several channels, note difference .................................................. 499Set up FX channel, setup sends .............................................................................. 499Use tempo matching to create musical delay-based effects .................................. 499Use of EQ ................................................................................................................ 500Use of compression ................................................................................................ 500Use of gating .......................................................................................................... 500

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 501

The Mix Console ...................................................... 503Opening the Mix Console ............................................................................................ 504

Mix Console Sections ............................................................................................. 505

Zooming and View ....................................................................................................... 506

Channel Faders ............................................................................................................ 507Pan Control ....................................................................................................... 507Mute, Solo, Listen and Edit ............................................................................... 507Channel Fader and Meter ................................................................................ 507Automation, Monitor and Record .................................................................... 508Name ................................................................................................................ 508

The Channel Right-Click Menu ............................................................................... 508Adding Group Channels to selected channels ........................................................ 509Adding FX Channels to selected channels .............................................................. 510

Left Zone ...................................................................................................................... 511Visibility ................................................................................................................. 512

Channel ............................................................................................................. 512Zones ................................................................................................................ 512

History .................................................................................................................... 513Snapshot ................................................................................................................ 513

Channel Racks & Selection ........................................................................................... 514The Strip ................................................................................................................. 515The Sends Right-Click Menu ................................................................................... 516

Use Default Send Level ..................................................................................... 516Show “Enable” and “Level” Automation Track ................................................. 516

EQ ............................................................................................................................... 517

Channel Strip Effects .................................................................................................... 517Gate ........................................................................................................................ 517Comp ...................................................................................................................... 517Tools ....................................................................................................................... 517Sat .......................................................................................................................... 518Limit ....................................................................................................................... 518Changing the order of the Strip section ................................................................. 518

The Toolbar .................................................................................................................. 519Setup Window Layout ............................................................................................ 519Channel Types ........................................................................................................ 519Configuration ......................................................................................................... 520Agents .................................................................................................................... 520Racks ...................................................................................................................... 521The Racks Menu ..................................................................................................... 521Mute, Automation and Bypass ............................................................................... 522

Mute, Solo and Listen ....................................................................................... 522Read, Write, Suspend All Automation .............................................................. 522Bypass Rack Sections ........................................................................................ 522

Linking channels ..................................................................................................... 523Linking limits: ......................................................................................................... 524

Faders ............................................................................................................... 524Pan .................................................................................................................... 525

Suspend .................................................................................................................. 525Absolute ................................................................................................................. 525Q-Link ..................................................................................................................... 525

Sections not shown by default ..................................................................................... 526Overview ................................................................................................................ 526Meter Bridge .......................................................................................................... 526Equalizer Curve....................................................................................................... 527Pictures .................................................................................................................. 528Notepad ................................................................................................................. 529Control Room / Meter ............................................................................................ 530

Master Mode .................................................................................................... 530Loudness Mode ................................................................................................ 531

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 531

Mixing ..................................................................... 533Importing Tracks .......................................................................................................... 534

Trimming the tracks ............................................................................................... 534

Add Group Channels .................................................................................................... 535

Add Folder Tracks ......................................................................................................... 535

Panning ........................................................................................................................ 537

Set Levels ..................................................................................................................... 537

Effects .......................................................................................................................... 537

Individual Sounds ......................................................................................................... 539Compression .......................................................................................................... 539EQ ........................................................................................................................... 540

EQ Settings ........................................................................................................ 540

Making drums sound better ........................................................................................ 543EQ ........................................................................................................................... 545

Conflicts ....................................................................................................................... 546

Building the Mix ........................................................................................................... 547Automation ............................................................................................................ 547Using the volume setting ....................................................................................... 547Using volume curves on events .............................................................................. 548Using compression ................................................................................................. 548

Mixdown ...................................................................................................................... 548File Type ................................................................................................................. 549

Wave File .......................................................................................................... 549MP3 .................................................................................................................. 549Add to Project ................................................................................................... 549After Export ..................................................................................................... 549Advanced Options ............................................................................................ 549

Accurate Mixdowns ................................................................................................ 550Setting locators ................................................................................................. 550The correct tracks ............................................................................................. 550Levels ................................................................................................................ 550

Compare your work ..................................................................................................... 551Rough mix & notes ................................................................................................. 552Re-mix and A/B mixes ............................................................................................ 552

Final editing and mastering ......................................................................................... 553Multi-band compression ........................................................................................ 553Normalising ............................................................................................................ 557

Topping and Tailing ...................................................................................................... 557

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 559Mixing .................................................................................................................... 559Multi-Band Compression ....................................................................................... 559

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 559

Audio Setup in Cubase ............................................. 561Latency ......................................................................................................................... 562

Altering the driver and latency ............................................................................... 563

Routing Audio in Cubase .............................................................................................. 564

Plugins ......................................................................................................................... 56632-bit or 64-bit? ..................................................................................................... 566

Obtain 64-bit versions ...................................................................................... 567Abandon 32-bit plugins and find alternatives .................................................. 567

Bridge 32-bit plugins to 64-bit. ......................................................................... 567Bridging plugins using JBridge ................................................................................ 567

Bridging plugins on Windows ........................................................................... 568Bridging Plugins on Mac ................................................................................... 570

Installing Plugins .......................................................................................................... 571Using an installer .................................................................................................... 571

Locating the VST Plugins Folder ........................................................................ 571Adding a location for VST2 Plugins .................................................................. 572

Copying the file manually ....................................................................................... 572

Arranging your plugins ................................................................................................. 573Arranging VST2 Plugins .......................................................................................... 573Arranging VST2 and VST3 Plugins with Plugin Collections ..................................... 574

Shortcircuit (Windows Only) ........................................................................................ 575

Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................... 576CPU Overload ......................................................................................................... 576

Checking CPU Load on Windows ...................................................................... 576Checking CPU Load on Mac .............................................................................. 577

Disk Access ............................................................................................................. 577Disk Overload ......................................................................................................... 577

Getting more from a system ........................................................................................ 578Freeze ..................................................................................................................... 578Economising ........................................................................................................... 579

Exercises ...................................................................................................................... 579Set up Inputs .......................................................................................................... 579Route audio inputs ................................................................................................. 579Install a plugin ........................................................................................................ 579

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 580

Binary, Hexadecimal and MIDI Communication ....... 581Binary ........................................................................................................................... 582

Hexadecimal ................................................................................................................ 583

MIDI Transmission ....................................................................................................... 584Sending larger values ............................................................................................. 586

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 587

Glossary .................................................................. 589Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................. 599

Editing - based ........................................................................................................ 600Transport - based ................................................................................................... 600Window - based ..................................................................................................... 601Tool - based ............................................................................................................ 601View - based ........................................................................................................... 601

Index ....................................................................... 603A ................................................................................................................................... 604

B ................................................................................................................................... 604

C ................................................................................................................................... 604

D .................................................................................................................................. 605

E ................................................................................................................................... 605

F ................................................................................................................................... 606

G .................................................................................................................................. 606

H .................................................................................................................................. 607

I .................................................................................................................................... 607

J .................................................................................................................................... 607

K ................................................................................................................................... 607

L ................................................................................................................................... 607

M.................................................................................................................................. 607

N .................................................................................................................................. 608

O .................................................................................................................................. 609

P ................................................................................................................................... 609

Q .................................................................................................................................. 609

R ................................................................................................................................... 609

S ................................................................................................................................... 610

T ................................................................................................................................... 610

V ................................................................................................................................... 611

W ................................................................................................................................. 611

Z ................................................................................................................................... 611

Acknowledgements Sequencing 1 - Music Tech...

Documents

Transcript of Acknowledgements Sequencing 1 - Music Tech...