Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual
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![Page 297
CUBASE SE
The Audio Part Editor 16 – 297
•To move an event to another lane without accidentally moving it hori-
zontally, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag it up or down.
This is the default modifier key for this – you can adjust this in the Preferences dialog if
you like.
Overlapping events
Only one event per track can be played back at the same time! This
means that if you have overlapping events, on the same lane or different
lanes, these will cut each other off, according to the following rules:...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/103305/w64_Operation_Manual_d-296.png "Page 297
CUBASE SE
The Audio Part Editor 16 – 297
•To move an event to another lane without accidentally moving it hori-
zontally, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag it up or down.
This is the default modifier key for this – you can adjust this in the Preferences dialog if
you like.
Overlapping events
Only one event per track can be played back at the same time! This
means that if you have overlapping events, on the same lane or different
lanes, these will cut each other off, according to the following rules:...")
![Page 298
CUBASE SE
16 – 298 The Audio Part Editor
Operations
Zooming, selecting and editing in the Audio Part Editor is done just as in
the Project window (see page 81).
•Note that if a part is a shared copy (i.e. you have previously copied the
part by [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift]-dragging), any editing you perform will
affect all shared copies of this part.
To indicate that it is a shared copy, its name is displayed in italics and a symbol is dis-
played in the lower right corner of the part in the Project window...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/103305/w64_Operation_Manual_d-297.png "Page 298
CUBASE SE
16 – 298 The Audio Part Editor
Operations
Zooming, selecting and editing in the Audio Part Editor is done just as in
the Project window (see page 81).
•Note that if a part is a shared copy (i.e. you have previously copied the
part by [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift]-dragging), any editing you perform will
affect all shared copies of this part.
To indicate that it is a shared copy, its name is displayed in italics and a symbol is dis-
played in the lower right corner of the part in the Project window...")
CUBASE SE The Audio Part Editor 16 – 301 Common methods Assembling a “perfect take” When you record audio in Cycle mode, an event is created for each recorded lap (see page 48). These events are named “Take X”, where “X” is the number of the take. You can create a perfect take by putting together sections of the different takes in the Audio Part Editor. First, you have to create an audio part from the takes. Creating an audio part from events 1.In the Project window, use the Object Selection tool to draw a rectan- gle around the recorded events. This is necessary, since clicking on the event may just select the event on top (the last take). If in doubt, check the info line – the info text should be yellow. 2.Pull down the Audio menu and select “Events to Part”. The events are converted to an audio part. •Note that the events cycle record mode also makes it easy to combine different takes in the Project window – see page 48.
CUBASE SE 16 – 302 The Audio Part Editor Assembling a take 1.Double click the part to open the Audio Part Editor. Now, the different takes will be placed on different lanes, with the last take at the bottom. 2.Use the tools to cut out pieces of the takes and assemble the final result. This can include splitting with the Scissors tool, resizing events with the Arrow tool or deleting with the Eraser tool. •Remember that the events on the lowest lane have playback priority. Use the Audition icon to audition the result. 3.Close the Audio Part Editor. You have now assembled a “perfect take”!
CUBASE SE The Audio Part Editor 16 – 303 Options and Settings The following options and settings are available in the Audio Part Editor: •Snap You can specify an independent Snap mode (and snap value for the Grid mode) in the editor. The functionality is exactly the same as in the Project window. •Autoscroll When Autoscroll is activated on the toolbar, the window will scroll during playback, keeping the project cursor visible in the editor. This setting can be activated or deacti- vated individually for each window.
CUBASE SE 17 – 306 Working with hitpoints and slices Background Hitpoint detection is a special feature of the Sample Editor. It auto- matically detects attack transients in an audio file, and then adds a type of marker, a “hitpoint”, at each transient. These hitpoints allow you to create “slices”, where each slice ideally represents each indi- vidual sound or “beat” in a loop (drum or other rhythmic loops work best with this feature). When you have successfully sliced the audio file, you can do a number of useful things with it: • Change the tempo without affecting pitch. • Extract the timing (a groove map) from a drum loop. This can then be applied to quantize other events. • Replace individual sounds in a drum loop. • Edit the actual playing in the drum loop without affecting the basic feel. • Extract sounds from loops. • The term “loop” is used throughout this chapter. Loop in this context usually means an audio file with a musical timebase, i.e. the length of the loop represents a certain number of bars and/or beats at a certain tempo. Playing the loop back at the right tempo in a cycle set to the cor- rect length will produce a continuous loop, without gaps.
CUBASE SE Working with hitpoints and slices 17 – 307 Using hitpoints The basic functionality of using hitpoints to slice up a loop is to make a loop fit the tempo of a song, or alternatively to create a situation that allows the song tempo to be changed whilst retaining the timing of a rhythmic audio loop, just like when using MIDI files. What audio files can be used? Here are some guidelines to what type of audio files will render the best results when slicing files using hitpoints: • Each individual sound in the loop should have some noticeable attack. Slow attacks, legato playing etc. may not produce the desired result. • Poorly recorded audio might be difficult to slice correctly. However, the hitpoint detection function can automatically normalize the audio to im- prove the detection results – see below. • There may be problems with sounds drowned in smearing effects, like short delays. Calculating hitpoints and slicing a loop – a quick tutorial Before proceeding, find a suitable loop using the criteria above. At this point it doesn’t matter whether you know the original tempo of the loop, as this will be automatically detected. Proceed as follows: 1.Open the event or clip for editing in the Sample Editor. You could do this by double clicking an event on an audio track in the Project window or a clip in the Pool. In this example, we assume you work with an event on a track. 2.Select the Audio Tempo Definition tool on the Sample Editor toolbar. 3.Enter the length and the time signature of the loop in the respective fields on the toolbar. The tempo is calculated automatically.
CUBASE SE 17 – 308 Working with hitpoints and slices 4.Click the Hitpoint Mode button on the toolbar. Now the Sensitivity slider is added, and the Use menu is activated. The items on this pop-up don’t affect the actual detection but rather which hitpoints will be shown after- wards. If you e.g. know that your loop is based on 1/16th notes, select “1/16”. If you’re uncertain, set this to “All” – you can change this setting afterwards if needed. 5.Select “Calculate Hitpoints” on the Audio menu – Hitpoints submenu. Now a dialog appears with settings for the hitpoint detection. On the Presets pop-up you can choose a preset detection mode best suited to the audio material. Alternatively you can select “Advanced” where you can specify settings yourself. •The “Sense” parameter sets the sensitivity of the detection. The higher the setting the more transients will be detected. •The “Threshold” parameter sets the level threshold. The lower you set this the more low level transients will be detected. 6.Click Process. The hitpoints are detected.
CUBASE SE Working with hitpoints and slices 17 – 309 As you now can see, hitpoints have been set at the beginning of each sound in the loop (or at least at most of them). 7.If you now move the hitpoint sensitivity slider to the left, this gradually hides the hitpoints. Moving the slider to the right increases the sensitiv- ity to reveal additional hitpoints detected during the calculate process. The basic aim is to add, remove or in various other ways edit the hitpoints so that one individual sound is played between each hitpoint. This is described in detail starting on page 311. In the next step, the loop will adapt to the project tempo of Cubase SE. 8.Pull down the Audio menu, and select “Create Audio Slices from Hit- points” from the Hitpoints submenu. Now the following happens: • The Sample Editor closes. • The audio event is “sliced” so that there is a separate event for each hitpoint. • The audio event is replaced by an audio part, containing the slices (double click the part to view the slices in the Audio Part Editor).
CUBASE SE 17 – 310 Working with hitpoints and slices • The loop is automatically adapted to the project tempo. The slices in the Audio Part Editor. Here, the project tempo was higher than the loop’s original tempo – this means the slice events will overlap slightly. •If you opened the Sample Editor for a clip in the Pool, you will find that the icon for the clip changes in the Pool (to indicate that it is sliced). Dragging the sliced clip from the Pool to an audio track will create an audio part with the slices adapted to the project tempo, just as above. 9.If you activate cycle playback on the Transport panel, the loop should now play back seamlessly at the tempo set in the program! •Note that if the project tempo is lower than the loop’s original tempo, there may be audible gaps between each slice event in the part. This can be remedied by using the Close Gaps function on the Advanced submenu – see page 325. You should also consider activating auto fades for the part’s audio track – fade-outs set to about 10 ms will help eliminate any clicks between the slices when you play back the part. See page 150. •If the project tempo is higher than the loop’s original tempo, you may want to activate auto crossfades for the track. You can use the Close Gaps functions in this case as well if needed.