Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

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The Sample EditorVariAudio (Cubase only)
•If you press [Alt]/[Option] while dragging up/down, the tilt anchor is used as an 
axis around which the micro-pitch curve can be rotated.
4.Repeat the steps above to set anchors and tilt the micro-pitch curve until you are 
satisfied with the result.
•If you want to remove a tilt anchor from a segment, hold down [Alt]/[Option], 
position the mouse pointer at the top border of the segment until it turns to a glue 
tube, and click.
The tilt anchor is deleted.
Straighten Pitch
If you want to compensate for the rise and fall of notes, i. e. the deviation of the micro-
pitch curve from the representative pitch, you can use the Straighten Pitch slider. This 
correction comes in handy when a note is played flat (pitch rises) or sharp (the pitch 
falls) at the end. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the segments.
2.Move the Straighten Pitch slider to the right.
The pitch of the selected segments is straightened. 
…to indicate that you can rotate the 
micro-pitch curve. …and press [Alt]/[Option], the mouse pointer 
becomes a diagonal arrow…
If you set a tilt anchor…
This micro-pitch looks a bit off. By moving 
the Straighten Pitch slider to the right…
…the micro-pitch curve is straightened.  
						

							362
The Sample EditorVariAudio (Cubase only)
MIDI Input
You can change the pitch on the fly by selecting the segment you want to change and 
pressing a key on your MIDI keyboard or using the Virtual Keyboard (see 
“The Virtual 
Keyboard” on page 108). 
Proceed as follows:
1.After having corrected the segmentation, select the segment for which you would 
like to change the pitch.
2.Activate the Pitch & Warp tool and click the MIDI Input button.
3.Press a key on your MIDI keyboard or use the Virtual Keyboard to change the pitch 
of the segment.
The pitch of the segment changes according to the note you play. 
The MIDI Input function has two modes: Still mode and Step mode. You can switch 
between them by [Alt]/[Option]-clicking on the MIDI Input button:
•In Still mode you can select individual segments by clicking on them and change 
their pitch by pressing a MIDI key. You can also select several segments and press 
a MIDI key to change the pitch of several segments simultaneously. The pitch of 
the first selected segment is changed to the pitch of the MIDI note you play. The 
pitches of the other selected segment are changed by the same amount.
•In Step mode you can step through the segments by selecting the first segment 
that you would like to change and pressing a MIDI key. The next segment will 
automatically be selected afterwards. This allows you to work in a more creative 
way, for example, to develop completely new melody lines via MIDI.
4.When you are done, deactivate the MIDI Input button.
ÖMIDI controller data like pitchbend or modulation are ignored.
Warping segments
Time correction, i. e. warping at segment level, is useful if you want to align a musical 
accent to a certain position, or change or quantize the timing of single segments in 
monophonic vocal recordings. When warping audio segments, warp markers will be 
created. These are shown on the VariAudio and the AudioWarp tabs of the Sample 
Editor Inspector. (For information on warping complete audio files, see 
“Free Warp” 
on page 345.)
Still mode is activated for MIDI Input. 
Step mode is activated for MIDI Input. 
!Any correction of the segmentation must be applied before warping segments. 
						

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The Sample EditorVariAudio (Cubase only)
To warp a segment, proceed as follows:
1.On the VariAudio tab activate the Pitch & Warp tool.
2.To change the timing of a segment, move the mouse pointer over the start/end of 
the segment.
The mouse pointer becomes a double arrow and the warp markers are displayed in 
the ruler.
3.Drag the start/end of the segment to the desired position. 
If the Snap button is activated, the segment border will snap to the grid. When you 
drag the segment border, warp markers are shown not only at the border but also 
at the adjacent segment borders to indicate which portions of the audio are 
stretched/affected.
ÖWarping a segment will also change the timing of the adjacent segments. 
ÖTiming modifications introduced this way will not adapt to the project tempo. If this is 
what you want, use Musical Mode (see 
“Musical Mode” on page 340). 
•You can change the insert position of a warp marker in the audio by clicking and 
dragging the warp marker handle in the ruler. This will change the warping (see 
“Editing Warp markers” on page 363).
•Hold down [Shift] (by default) to delete warp markers. To delete a warp marker, 
hold down the tool modifier so that the pointer becomes an eraser and click on the 
warp handle. 
•If you are not satisfied with your changes, you can revert the timing of the selected 
segments by choosing the “Warp Changes” option from the Reset pop-up menu 
(see 
“Reset” on page 365).
Editing Warp markers 
In some cases the beginning of the waveform does not correspond to the beginning 
of a segment, e.
 g. when the audio starts with non-tonal portions like breath sounds 
(see 
“Understanding the waveform display in VariAudio” on page 353). But when it 
comes to warping, any changes you wish to make must affect the waveform as a 
whole. 
						

							364
The Sample EditorVariAudio (Cubase only)
You can of course change the segmentation to achieve this, but if you want to pitch 
your audio afterwards, this would affect also any non-tonal portions of the audio. If this 
is not what you want, proceed as follows:
1.Activate the Pitch & Warp tool and activate the Snap button.
In this example the beginning of the segment does not correspond to the beginning of the 
waveform.
2.Move the mouse pointer over the start of the segment so that it becomes a double 
arrow and drag the segment start to the beginning of the bar.
The segment border snaps to the grid at the exact bar position.
Now the beginning of the segment matches the beginning of the bar, but we want the 
beginning of the waveform to match the beginning of the bar:
3.Point at the warp handle displayed in the ruler so that it turns into a double arrow 
and drag it to the beginning of the waveform.
The background is displayed in orange to indicate which part of the waveform is 
affected by the change.
Now the beginning of the waveform matches the desired bar position.
Editing warp markers can also be useful if you change the length of a segment that 
you have already warped. In this case, editing warp markers can help you synchronize 
your audio again. 
						

							365
The Sample EditorVariAudio (Cubase only)
Reset
This pop-up menu at the bottom of the VariAudio tab allows you to reset the 
modifications you performed with the Pitch & Warp tool. It also lets you reset the 
changes you made in Segments mode by reanalyzing the audio and returning to the 
original segmentation. The following options are available:
ÖYou can set up key commands for the reset and the reanalyze function in the Sample 
Editor category of the Key commands dialog (see 
“Key commands” on page 711). 
Listening to your modifications
You can listen to the results of your modifications using the following methods:
•By activating Acoustic Feedback on the toolbar.
The segments are played back so that you can easily audition your pitch 
modifications while editing. 
•By using the Play tool on the toolbar.
•By using the Audition and the Audition Loop tool on the toolbar.
•By using cycle playback in the Project window.
If you want to compare the original to the modified audio (i. e. hear the audio without 
pitch or warp modifications), you have the following possibilities: 
•You can disable your pitch modifications by clicking the Disable Pitch Changes 
button on the VariAudio tab or by setting up and using the “VariAudio - Disable 
Pitch Changes” key command in the Key Commands dialog, Sample Editor 
category (see 
“Key commands” on page 711).
•You can disable your warp modifications by clicking the Disable Warp Changes 
button on the AudioWarp tab or by setting up and using the “VariAudio – Disable 
Warp Changes” key command in the Key Commands dialog, Sample Editor 
category (see 
“Key commands” on page 711).
FunctionDescription
Pitch ChangesIf you select this option, pitch changes including micro-pitch 
modifications with the Tilt Micro Pitches tool are reset either for the 
selected segments (if available) or for the whole file.
Warp ChangesIf you select this option, warp changes are reset.
Pitch + Warp 
ChangesIf you select this option, pitch, micro-pitch, and warp changes are 
reset either for the selected segments (if available) or for the whole 
file.
Reanalyze AudioIf you select this option, the audio is reanalyzed and all your 
segmentation changes are reset. 
						

							366
The Sample EditorVariAudio (Cubase only)
Extracting MIDI
You can extract a MIDI part from your audio. This is useful if you have an audio event 
with a certain tune and sound and you want to create an identical second tune with a 
MIDI instrument or VST instrument. The extracted MIDI part can also be used to print 
out notes from within the Score Editor or it can be exported as a MIDI file (see 
“Exporting and importing standard MIDI files” on page 692). Furthermore, you can 
convert the audio to MIDI notes containing Note Expression data which allows you to 
adopt the modulation data for individual notes (for information about Note Expression, 
see the chapter 
“Note Expression” on page 565).
ÖBefore extracting MIDI from your audio you should correct the segmentation. 
Otherwise, you will have to correct segmentation errors later in the MIDI part. 
Transition changes, tilting of the micro-pitch curve, Quantize Pitch settings, and pitch 
corrections will also be taken into account. 
ÖIf your audio event references only a section of the audio clip, only this section will be 
extracted.
The quality of the resulting MIDI data depends on the quality and the characteristics of 
your audio.
To extract a MIDI part from your audio, proceed as follows:
1.Open the audio file that you want to extract a MIDI part from in the Sample Editor.
2.Open the VariAudio tab.
3.Activate Segments mode (see “Segments mode” on page 356).
4.Click the “Extract MIDI…” button.
The “Extract MIDI” dialog opens.
5.On the Pitch Mode pop-up menu, specify which data should be included when 
extracting the MIDI part.
The following options are available:
6.On the Volume Mode pop-up menu, specify how volume information from the 
audio is extracted to MIDI.
OptionDescription
Just Notes and No 
Pitchbend DataOnly notes are included in the MIDI part.
Notes and Static 
Pitchbend DataA pitchbend event is created for each segment. Select a pitchbend 
value from 1 to 24 in the Pitchbend Range field. When you are 
working with an external MIDI device, it might be necessary to set it to 
the same value.
Notes and 
Continuous 
Pitchbend DataPitchbend events that correspond to the micro-pitch curve are 
created within the resulting MIDI part. Select a pitchbend value from 
1 to 24 in the Pitchbend Range field. The setting should correspond 
to the value set on your MIDI device or the controlled VST instrument. 
Note that although the graphic representation of the pitchbend curve 
is smoothed, all pitchbend data is included.
Notes and 
NoteExp 
Pitchbend CurveMIDI pitchbend events that correspond to the micro-pitch curve are 
created as Note Expression data for the resulting MIDI notes.
Notes and 
NoteExp VST3 
Tuning CurveVST 3 events for the “Tuning” parameter are created as Note 
Expression data for the resulting MIDI notes. Note that this works only 
with a connected VST instrument that is compatible with Note 
Expression. 
						

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The Sample EditorGenerating Harmony Voices for Monophonic Audio
The following options are available:
7.On the Destination pop-up menu, specify where the MIDI part will be placed.
The following options are available: 
ÖIf you have opened the Sample Editor from the Pool and the audio file is not part of 
your project, the MIDI part will be inserted at the beginning of the project.
8.Click OK.
A MIDI part is created according to the specified settings.
You can also use a key command to extract a MIDI part from your audio. In this case 
no dialog opens and the settings that were used for the previous extraction are used. 
For further information on how to set up key commands, please refer to the chapter 
“Key commands” on page 711.
Generating Harmony Voices for Monophonic Audio
You can quickly harmonize monophonic audio using the “Generate Harmony Voices” 
function on the Audio menu. This function automatically performs a VariAudio analysis, 
copies your event the specified number of times, and adds the resulting voices on 
separate tracks in the Project window. If you add a chord track to your project, the 
pitches of the resulting voices are altered to match the voicing of the chord track. For 
further information on the chord track, see 
“Working with the Chord Functions” on 
page 542. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Import a monophonic audio file.
2.In the Project window, select the audio event.
OptionDescription
Fixed VelocityAll created MIDI notes get the same velocity. Select a velocity 
value in the Velocity field.
Dynamic VelocityEach created MIDI note gets an individual velocity value according 
to the amplitude of the audio signal.
Volume Controller 
CurveA continuous volume controller curve is created within the MIDI 
part. You can select the MIDI controller to be used for the curve in 
the MIDI Controller field. 
NoteExp Volume 
Controller CurveMIDI volume controller events are created as Note Expression data 
for the resulting MIDI notes.
NoteExp VST3 
Volume CurveA VST 3 volume curve is created as Note Expression data for the 
resulting MIDI notes. Note that this works only with a connected 
VST instrument that is compatible with Note Expression.
OptionDescription
First Selected 
TrackThe MIDI part will be placed on the first selected MIDI or instrument 
track. Note that any MIDI parts from previous extractions that are on 
this track will be deleted. 
New MIDI TrackA new MIDI track will be created for the MIDI part.
Project ClipboardThe MIDI part is copied into the clipboard so that you can insert it at 
the desired position on a MIDI or instrument track in the Project 
window. 
						

							368
The Sample EditorFlattening realtime processing
3.On the Audio menu, select “Generate Harmony Voices…”.
4.Specify the number of voices that you want to create and enter a value for the 
vibrato reduction.
The new voices follow the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices from the chord 
track voicing. 
•To open all voices in the Sample Editor, activate the “Open Sample Editor After 
Completion” option.
This allows you to view and edit the different voices. For further information, see 
“Handling Several Audio Events” on page 338.
ÖIf you generate harmony voices without the chord track, the generated VariAudio 
segments of voice number 1 (soprano) are transposed three semitones upwards in 
relation to the original audio. The segments of voice numbers 2, 3, and 4 (alto, tenor, 
and bass) are transposed three, six, and nine semitones downwards. 
Flattening realtime processing
You can “flatten” realtime processing at any time. This can be done to serve two 
purposes: to reduce the CPU load and to optimize the sound quality of the 
processing. Also use this function before applying any offline processing. When the 
flatten processing is applied, a copy of the original file is automatically created in the 
Pool so that the original audio clip remains intact.
The flatten function takes the following into account:
- Warp modifications (see “Free Warp” on page 345 and “Warping segments” on 
page 362), even when Bypass is activated. After the flattening, your Warp markers 
will be lost. However, you can undo this function as usual.
- VariAudio pitch modifications (see “Changing the pitch” on page 359), even when 
Bypass is activated. After the flattening, your VariAudio data will be lost. However, 
you can undo this operation.
- Event transpose (see “Transposing individual parts or events using the info line” on 
page 165). 
						

							369
The Sample EditorFlattening realtime processing
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the audio events that you want to process.
2.On the Audio menu, open the Realtime Processing submenu and select the 
Flatten command.
Provided that the time stretching factor is not outside the range of 0.5 and 2, a 
dialog opens where you can select an algorithm for the processing.
•If the audio has been transposed, the dialog also contains the “Formant 
Correction” option. You can activate this, for example, if you want to avoid a 
“chipmunk voice” effect.
3.Select an algorithm preset and click OK.
After the processing, any loop that was previously stretched in realtime or had 
been pitch shifted will play back exactly the same, but Musical Mode will be 
deactivated and the realtime pitch shifting will be set to 0.
ÖInstead of the Flatten menu command, you can click the Flatten button on the Process 
tab of the Sample Editor.
The audio clip is now like any standard audio clip before applying realtime processing, 
i.
 e. it does not follow tempo changes. The flattening processing function is best used 
when you have determined the tempo or key of a project. If you want to adapt the 
audio to a new key or tempo after flattening, it is better to revert to the original audio 
clip rather than to process the already processed file again.
Selecting an algorithm for the flattening
When you flatten the realtime processing, you can use the MPEX 4 algorithm or the 
Realtime algorithm to process the audio. The MPEX 4 algorithm may produce better 
sound quality than the realtime processing. The Realtime algorithm corresponds to 
the algorithm preset selected on the Sample Editor toolbar. For a detailed description 
of the available presets, see 
“About time stretch and pitch shift algorithms” on page 
322.
ÖIf you introduced VariAudio pitch modifications, the MPEX presets will not be available 
and the algorithm preset “Standard – Solo” is used automatically.
The Realtime presets can be selected from the Algorithm pop-up menu on the 
Sample Editor toolbar, see 
“Selecting an algorithm for realtime playback” on page 
340.
In the Pool, you can select an algorithm for several selected clips at a time.
Unstretching audio files
By selecting “Unstretch Audio” from the Realtime Processing submenu of the Audio 
menu, all realtime time stretching (by sizing or by warp markers) is removed.
ÖNote that realtime transpose (in the info line) and Musical Mode will not be removed 
by this. 
						

							370
The Sample EditorFlattening realtime processing
Whether the “Unstretch Audio” menu item is available depends on whether the time 
stretching has been applied at event or clip level:
•If you have sized an audio event in the Project window using “Sizing Applies Time 
Stretch” (see 
“Resizing events using time stretch” on page 77), you can undo the 
time stretching by selecting the event in the Project window and then applying 
“Unstretch Audio”.
This removes all time stretching and warp markers.
•When you have entered a tempo and/or length on the toolbar, this information is 
saved for the source clip.
These changes cannot be undone using “Unstretch Audio”.