Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Audio Effects And VSTi Manual

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The included effect plug-ins 1 – 61
Vocoder
The Vocoder can apply sound/voice characteristics taken from one 
signal source, called the “modulator” and apply this to another source, 
called the “carrier”. A typical application of a vocoder is to use a voice 
as a modulator and an instrument as a carrier, making the instrument 
“talk”. A vocoder works by dividing the source signal (modulator) into 
a number of frequency bands. The audio attributes of these frequency 
bands can then be used to...

CUBASE SX/SL
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2.Select the Vocoder as an insert effect for the audio channel with the 
modulator signal.
3.Make sure that the Vocoder Mode is set to “MIDI”.
4.Select a MIDI track.
This can be an empty MIDI track, or a MIDI track containing data, it doesn’t matter. How-
ever, if you wish to play the Vocoder in real-time – as opposed to having a recorded part 
playing it – the track has to have monitoring activated (or be record enabled) for the Vo-
coder to receive the...

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To use an external carrier instead of the built-in synth (“Ext mode”), 
you set up as follows:
1.Create a Group channel from the Add Track submenu on the Project 
menu.
2.Open an audio file you wish to use as the carrier source and place it 
on an empty audio track.
3.Pan the audio channel full right in the Mixer or in the Inspector.
4.Route the output of the audio channel to the group.
5.Open an audio file you wish to use as the modulator source and place...

CUBASE SX/SL
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Vocoder parameters
The Vocoder parameters govern the general sound quality of the 
vocoded sound.
Parameter Description
Number of 
BandsThis governs how many frequency bands the modulator signal is di-
vided into (2-24). Fewer bands will provide a thinner more resonant 
sound, whereas using more bands will make the sound fuller and 
more intelligible.
Bandwidth This sets the bandwidth for the frequency bands, which affects the 
overall timbre. Very narrow...

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Vocoder synth parameters
If the built-in synthesizer is the carrier, it is the sound of this instrument 
that the modulator source is applied to. The synth is polyphonic with 
up to 8 voices and features 2 oscillators per voice. The synth has the 
following parameters:
Parameter Description
Voices This sets the number of voices for the synth (1-8).
Fine Tune Tunes the oscillators ± a semitone, in cents (100th of a semitone) steps.
Pitch Bend Sets the...

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Restoration
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the “Restoration” 
category.
Grungelizer
The Grungelizer adds noise and static to your recordings – kind of like 
listening to a radio with bad reception, or a worn and scratched vinyl 
record. The available parameters are as follows:
Parameter Description
Crackle This adds crackle to create that old vinyl record sound. The farther to 
the right you turn the dial, the more crackle is added....

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Reverb plug-ins
This section contains descriptions of the plug-ins in the “Reverb” cat-
egory.
Reverb A
Reverb A is a reverb plug-in which provides smooth, dense reverb 
effects. Reverb A has the following parameters:
Parameter Description
Mix Sets the level balance between the dry signal and the effect (wet). If 
Reverb A is used as a send effect, this should be set to maximum wet, 
as you can control the dry/wet balance with the send. 
Room Size This...

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Reverb B
The Reverb B provides reverb with low processor demands. It has the 
following parameters:
Parameter Description
Mix Sets the level balance between the dry signal and the effect. If Reverb B 
is used as a send effect, this should be set to maximum as you can con-
trol the dry/effect balance with the send.
Room Size Governs the “size” of the simulated room environment.
Predelay This parameter sets a delay between the direct sound and the reverb...

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RoomWorks
RoomWorks is a highly adjustable reverb plug-in for creating realistic 
room ambience and reverb effects in stereo and surround formats. The 
CPU usage is adjustable to fit the needs of any system. From short 
room reflections to cavern-sized reverb, this plug-in delivers high qual-
ity reverberation. RoomWorks has the following parameters:
Parameter Description
High Freq Frequency at which the high shelving filter takes effect. Both the 
high...

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Width This controls the width of the stereo image. At 100%, you get full 
stereo reverb. At 0%, the reverb is all in mono.
Efficiency This unique control determines how much of the CPU is used for 
RoomWorks. The lower the percentage of efficiency, the more 
CPU resources will be used. This will yield a higher quality reverb 
than higher percentage settings. Interesting effects can be cre-
ated with very high Efficiency settings (>90%). Experiment for...