{"id":27746,"date":"2023-07-06T18:44:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-06T22:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=27746"},"modified":"2024-08-09T13:24:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T17:24:39","slug":"tips-for-using-cubase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/tips-for-using-cubase\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips for using Cubase: Unique tools and workflows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Steinberg has made powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use tools for decades.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve already covered their powerful drum re-synthesis tool Backbone<\/a>\u2014available as a standalone plan through Splice Rent-to-Own\u2014but they\u2019re most widely known for developing one of the industry\u2019s most beloved DAWs: Cubase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cubase is way too deep to cover everything it can do in a single article, so let\u2019s take a look at five unique tools and features that streamline and supercharge your production, mixing, and editing workflows. Remember, you can try Cubase Pro 12 yourself on Splice Rent-to-Own<\/a>\u2014free for 14 days, then just $16.99\/mo until it\u2019s yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll be demonstrating these Cubase tools using a quick, 16-bar funk beat that\u2019s made with a few Splice loops, very minor processing, and Cubase workflows. Here\u2019s how it first sounds with just a songstarter<\/a> and drum loop<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Get more from your samples with Audio to MIDI chords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cubase uses the concept of a Chord Track<\/strong> to dictate chord progressions to other channels. This isn\u2019t only helpful for composition\u2014powered up by the Chord Assistant that can suggest alternative chords for new variation\u2014but it can also be used to make loops more usable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This loop feels a bit thin in the low-mids, even though the bass underneath is nice. I want to add an organ that\u2019s doubling the chords and only hitting with the chords in the loop, but figuring out and timing the chords would get pretty time-consuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, we can use Audio to MIDI chords to analyze the chord progression from an audio event. Simply dragging the audio clip to a new Chord Track will do the trick, revealing the chord progression from the loop. This analysis got the chords I wanted, but you can correct the analysis if it got any of them wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, I\u2019ll create a new Instrument channel and load up the Retrologue synth that comes with Cubase, picking and making some tweaks to an organ preset I like. I\u2019ll make sure to set the \u201cTrack for Auditioning\u201d in the Chord Track to the Organ channel so the organ will read chords from the Chord Track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To make sure that the organ hits with the chords in the loop, I\u2019ll gate the organ using the loop as a sidechain input. Loading up the stock Cubase Gate plugin, I\u2019ll activate sidechaining and set my sidechain input as the Main Loop. Activating the SIDE-CHAIN control in the bottom SC panel and dialing the gate in to register according to the loop, the gate now only opens when the big hits in the loop happen, while the organ is automatically playing the analyzed chords underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now I have a layered organ beneath the chords to beef them up\u2014and I didn\u2019t have to insert a single MIDI note. Here\u2019s the 16-bar loop from before, with the organ layer added for bars 5 – 8 and 13 – 16 (the organ will be a bit louder than necessary in this one so you can really hear how it sits in the chord stack):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Make chord progressions easier with Chord Pads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that I\u2019ve added this organ layer to the track, I want to change the inversion that these chords are playing. This is super simple with the Chord Pads<\/strong> feature, a tool that lets you trigger full chords using individual pads, which can be mapped to a MIDI controller for easy playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of setting the chords themselves, the Chord Pads can also specify the tensions (everything from a simple maj7 to jazz-oriented 9th and 11th chords) and the voicings of your chords (i.e. which inversion the chord plays). And very helpfully, each pad will react to the voicing of the previously played pad to ensure smooth voice leading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, I like this new organ layer, but I want it to play a different inversion, and I\u2019m not sure which inversion would sound best just yet. To figure this out, I\u2019ll first open the Chord Pads on this Organ channel, and then use the drop-down menu to pull chords from the Chord Track we set up earlier. I\u2019ll also temporarily disable the Gate from the last step so I can actually hear the organ playing, even though that Main Loop will be muted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After playing around with some different voicings, I\u2019ve determined that I want the Fmin7 in first inversion, the E\u266d chord in 2nd inversion, and the D\u266d chord in its root position. But remember, this organ is playing its chords according to the Chord Track at the top of our project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To change the inversions in our Chord Track, we can simply select any chord event in that channel. In the top Info<\/strong> section, we\u2019ll find a parameter for this chord\u2019s inversion. I could change this setting for each chord event, but I could also enable \u201cAdaptive Voicings\u201d in the Inspector window on the Chord Track and Cubase will automatically voice lead the chords. These inversions follow ‘correct’ voice leading rules, so I\u2019ll just enable Adaptive Voicings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s our 16-bar loop with the organ playing the right voicings and set a bit further back in the mix (again, organ is only playing for bars 5 – 8 and 13 – 16):<\/p>\n\n\n\n