Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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![Page 919
Editing tempo and signature
The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only)
919
5. Press [Shift] and click in the event at the position of the first downbeat (the
start of the bar).
When you press [Shift], the pointer turns into a pencil. Clicking adds a tempo event
at the first downbeat – when you later adjust the tempo with the Time Warp tool, the
first downbeat will stay in place. Note that if the event starts exactly on the first
downbeat (no audio before the “one”), you do not need to do this. This is...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/98229/w64_d_1507296127-steinberg-cubase-8-manual_d-918.png "Page 919
Editing tempo and signature
The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only)
919
5. Press [Shift] and click in the event at the position of the first downbeat (the
start of the bar).
When you press [Shift], the pointer turns into a pencil. Clicking adds a tempo event
at the first downbeat – when you later adjust the tempo with the Time Warp tool, the
first downbeat will stay in place. Note that if the event starts exactly on the first
downbeat (no audio before the “one”), you do not need to do this. This is...")
Editing tempo and signature Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only) 921 The Tempo Detection Panel The Tempo Detection Panel contains the functions for analyzing the tempo of an audio event or MIDI part. It is opened via the Project menu. In the top section of the panel, the name of the selected event or part is shown. Below the name, the Analyze button is located. Click this button to start the tempo detection. The middle section contains several functions for correcting and fine-tuning the detected tempo curve. The arrow buttons at the bottom right let you change the direction in which the algorithm will analyze the material during a manual correction operation. To work backwards, i. e. to reanalyze the beginning of the tempo curve, activate the left arrow button. With the Reset button at the bottom left you can delete the complete analysis data and start again from scratch. NOTE The Tempo Detection Panel has to be opened specifically for the material that you want to analyze. RELATED LINKS Correcting and fine-tuning the detected tempo map on page 922 The beginning of the tempo curve needs to be corrected on page 924
Editing tempo and signature Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only) 922 Detecting the basic tempo of an audio event/MIDI part PROCEDURE 1. In the Project window, select the audio event/MIDI part that you want to analyze. 2. On the Project menu, select “Tempo Detection…”. The Tempo Detection Panel opens. 3. Click the Analyze button. RESULT • A rough tempo map based on the beat analysis is created for the selected audio clip. • A tempo and a signature track are added to the project. • The project will get a 1/4 signature, because the tempo detection only calculates a tempo based on beats, regardless of a musical signature. The signature can be modified later. • The Time Warp Tool is selected for fine-tuning or adjusting the newly generated tempo map. Depending on the rhythmic quality of the source material, the tempo analysis may directly lead to a perfect result. However, if this is not the case, you can apply the correction and fine-tuning functions. To find out whether such actions are necessary, activate the metronome click and play back the project. Correcting and fine-tuning the detected tempo map If the metronome click does not match the material perfectly, perform any of the following operations, depending on the situation. The detected tempo is too fast or too slow • To double or halve the detected tempo, use the “Multiply by 2” and “Divide by 2” buttons. • To adjust the detected tempo with a factor of 3/4 or 4/3, use the “Multiply by 4/3” and “Multiply by 3/4” buttons. Examples: • If your material is twice as fast as the detected tempo, you can apply the “Multiply by 2” function. • If your material contains dotted notes or triplets and the algorithm detects 3 beats where 4 are expected, you can apply the 4/3 conversion. • If the actual signature is 2/4 and the algorithm detected 6/8 beats or vice versa, you can apply a 3/4 conversion combined with the “Multiply by 2” function.
Editing tempo and signature Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only) 923 The detected tempo has jumps and spikes although it should be steady If you get the message that the algorithm has detected irregular tempo changes, even though you know that the material has a more or less steady tempo, you can use the “Smooth Tempo” function. • To retrigger the tempo analysis based on the assumption that the material has a steady tempo, click the “Smooth Tempo” button. Irregular spikes or tempo changes are removed during this analysis. The detected tempo is off by half a beat In some cases, the offbeat of a rhythm might be dominant enough to confuse the beat detection algorithm resulting in an offset. In that case it is necessary to shift the tempo events. • To shift the detected tempo events by half a beat, click the “Offbeat Correction” button. The tempo was not detected properly for the whole event/part Sometimes it is impossible for the algorithm to properly detect the tempo for the whole audio event/MIDI part because it contains sections played in a different tempo or has special rhythmic characteristics. Manual adjustments are then necessary to create a perfect tempo track. To manually correct tempo events, proceed as follows: PROCEDURE 1. With the Tempo Detection Panel still open, play the track from the beginning and listen to the click. It is useful to zoom in on the waveform so that the transients are visible. Using the stationary cursor could be useful as well. 2. Locate the first tempo event that is off. Use the Time Warp Tool to move this tempo event to the correct position. The material to the right of the corrected event or part will be reanalyzed and the tempo recalculated. 3. Continue listening to the audio or MIDI until you reach the next misplaced tempo event and repeat the manual correction procedure until you reach the end of the song.
Editing tempo and signature Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only) 924 The beginning of the tempo curve needs to be corrected When you edit a tempo event, the tempo curve by default is reanalyzed from the point of editing towards the right. However, if the detection did not produce proper results at the beginning of the event or part, you can change the direction in which the algorithm works. PROCEDURE 1. At the bottom of the Tempo Detection Panel, activate the left arrow button to change the direction of reanalysis. 2. Locate the first correct tempo event at the beginning of the audio/MIDI and use the Time Warp tool to move the corresponding tempo event slightly back and forth to trigger a backwards detection. The tempo at the beginning of the audio event/MIDI part is corrected and new tempo events are added where necessary. The material contains sections with different tempos In some cases, a track may include multiple sections with different tempo and the tempo detection might stop at the position of a tempo change or pause. If the manual adjustment of individual tempo events does not give you the desired results for files with varying tempo, you can cut them at each major tempo change and perform the tempo detection for each of the resulting sections independently. NOTE Remember that each cut needs to have a length of at least 7 seconds. Finishing Once the tempo map is correct, close the Tempo Detection Panel. You can now set up signature events with the correct time signature.
Editing tempo and signature Adjusting the audio to the project tempo 925 Adjusting the audio to the project tempo If you want freely recorded audio to follow a fixed tempo or a different project tempo, you can use the Set Definition From Tempo dialog to save the tempo information from the tempo track in the corresponding audio clips. PROCEDURE 1. Select the audio events that you want to have follow the project tempo. For example, this could be the individual tracks in a multi-track drum session. 2. On the Audio menu, open the Advanced submenu and select the “Set Definition From Tempo…” option. The Set Definition From Tempo dialog opens. 3. Select whether you want to save the tempo information in the project file only or in the selected audio clips. Writing the definition into the audio files allows you to use these in other projects, complete with tempo information. 4. Select if you want to set all tracks to musical time base. If you do not activate this option, only the tracks containing the selected events are set to musical time base. 5. Click OK. The tempo information is now copied into the selected audio clips and the tracks are set to musical time base. Furthermore, Musical Mode is activated for the audio events. IMPORTANT If you have placed audio events referring to the same audio clip at different positions on the timeline and you apply the “Set Definition From Tempo” function simultaneously to these events, new audio files are written for all the events except the first. RESULT The audio tracks will now follow any tempo changes in the project. Therefore, you can disable the tempo track and set a fixed tempo for your project or edit the tempo track for a new tempo map. Warping is applied to the events to match the tempo. By default, the “élastique Pro Time” time shifting algorithm is applied, which should lead to the best-quality results. RELATED LINKS About time stretch and pitch shift algorithms on page 428
926 Project Browser (Cubase Pro only) Window Overview The Project Browser window provides a list based representation of the project. This allows you to view and edit all events on all tracks by using regular value editing in a list. 1) Project Structure list 2) Time Format pop-up menu 3) Add pop-up menu and Add button 4) Filter pop-up menu 5) Event display
Project Browser (Cubase Pro only) Window Overview 927 Opening the Project Browser You open the Project Browser by selecting “Browser” from the Project menu. The Browser window can be open while you are working in other windows; any changes made in the Project window or an editor are immediately reflected in the Project Browser and vice versa. Navigating in the Browser You use the Project Browser much like you use the Windows Explorer/Mac OS Finder for browsing folders on your hard disk. • Click on an item in the Project Structure list to select it for viewing. The contents of the item are shown in the event display. • Items with hierarchical substructures can be folded out by clicking the “+” symbols or the “closed folder” symbols in the Project Structure list. When the substructure of an item is revealed, a “-” symbol or an “open folder” symbol is shown instead – click this to hide the substructure. • To reveal or hide all substructures in the Project Structure list, use the buttons “(+) All” and “(–) All” above the list. • The actual editing is done in the event display, using regular value editing techniques. There is one exception: You can rename items in the Project Structure list by clicking on a selected name and typing. Customizing the view You can drag the divider between the Project Structure list and the event display. Furthermore, the event display can be customized in the following ways: • You can change the order of the columns by dragging the column headings to the left or right. • You can resize columns by dragging the dividers between the column headings.
Project Browser (Cubase Pro only) Editing tracks 928 • To select a display format for all position and length values, use the Time Format pop-up menu. • You can sort events in the display by columns, by clicking the column heading. For example, if you want to sort events by their start positions, click that column heading. An arrow appears in the column heading, indicating that events are sorted by that column. The direction of the arrow indicates whether the events are sorted in ascending or descending order. To change the direction, click the column heading again. Importing files via the MediaBay You can also import audio, video and MIDI files into the Project Browser via the MediaBay using drag and drop. NOTE You can only import into existing tracks. This means, for example, that a video track has to exist in the Project window prior to importing a video file in the Project Browser. RELATED LINKS MediaBay on page 522 About the Sync Selection option If the “Sync Selection” checkbox is activated (on the Project Browser toolbar), selecting an event in the Project window automatically selects it in the Project Browser, and vice versa. This makes it easy to locate events in the two windows. Editing tracks Editing audio tracks Audio tracks can have two “subitems”: Track Data and Automation. • The Automation item corresponds to the automation track in the Project window, and contains the track’s automation events. • The Track Data item corresponds to the actual audio track in the Project window. It contains audio events and/or audio parts, which in turn can contain audio events. Note that if you have not performed any automation or opened an automation track, the Browser will only contain the audio data.
Project Browser (Cubase Pro only) Editing tracks 929 The following parameters are available for the different items: RELATED LINKS Editing automation tracks on page 934 The list columns for audio events Name Allows you to change the name of the event. Double-clicking the waveform image to the left of it opens the event in the Sample Editor. File The name of the audio file referenced by the event’s audio clip. Start The start position of the event. If the event belongs to an audio part, you cannot move it outside the part. End The end position of the event. Snap The absolute position of the event’s snap point. Note that adjusting this value will not change the position of the snap point within the event – instead it is another way of moving the event! Length The length of the event. Offset This determines “where in the audio clip” the event starts. Adjusting this value is the same as sliding the contents of the event in the Project window. You can only specify positive Offset values, because the event cannot start before the start of the clip. Likewise, it cannot end after the end of the clip. If the event already plays the whole clip, the Offset cannot be adjusted at all. Volume The volume of the event, as set with the Volume handle or on the info line in the Project window. Fade In/Fade Out The length of the fade-in and fade-out areas respectively. If you use these settings to add a fade (where there previously was none), a linear fade will be created. If you adjust the length of an existing fade, the previous fade shape will be maintained.
Project Browser (Cubase Pro only) Editing tracks 930 Mute Click in this column to mute or unmute the event. Image Displays a waveform image of the event inside a gray box corresponding to the clip. The image is scaled according to the width of the column. The list columns for audio parts Name The name of the part. Double-clicking on the part symbol to the left of it opens the part in the Audio Part Editor. Start The start position of the part. Editing this value is the same as moving the part in the Project window. End The end position of the part. Editing this value is the same as resizing the part in the Project window. Length The length of the part. Editing this value is the same as resizing the part in the Project window. Offset This adjusts the start position of the events within the part. Adjusting this value is the same as sliding the contents of the part in the Project window. Setting a positive Offset value is the same as sliding the contents to the left, while a negative Offset corresponds to sliding the contents to the right. Mute Click in this column to mute or unmute the part. Creating audio parts When the “Audio” item of an audio track is selected in the Project Structure list, you can create empty audio parts on the track by clicking the Add button on the toolbar. This will insert a part between the left and right locator. Editing MIDI tracks Just like audio tracks, MIDI tracks can have two “subitems”: Track Data and Automation. • The Track Data item corresponds to the actual MIDI track in the Project window and can contain MIDI parts (which in turn can contain MIDI events).