Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

CUBASE SX/SLAudio warp realtime processing19 – 431
4.Select the Warp Samples tool (the arrow and clock button) on the 
Sample Editor toolbar.
A grid appears in the waveform display, and warp tabs are automatically added at the 
start and end of the audio clip. These are locked and cannot be removed. 
The Warp Samples tool.
For aligning the tempo you should use Bars and Beats as the ruler 
resolution. When you place the mouse pointer in the waveform display 
it changes to a clock with arrows on either...

CUBASE SX/SL19 – 432 Audio warp realtime processing
7.In our example the first beat of bar 3 in the audio event is slightly offset 
from the corresponding grid position and thus needs to be moved 
back a bit.
The arrow points to the third downbeat in the audio event.
8.Place the pointer at the position of the first beat in the audio event and 
click and hold.
When you click a warp tab is added.
9.With the mouse button still pressed, drag the warp tab so that the po-
sition lines up with the first beat of...

CUBASE SX/SLAudio warp realtime processing19 – 433
10.Release the mouse button.
Now the first beat in the audio event is perfectly aligned with the corresponding posi-
tion in the project! 
•If you prefer, you can first add warp tabs at the relevant musical posi-
tions and change their positions later – see page 434.
Beside the warp tab handle in the ruler, a number is shown. This num-
ber indicates the warp factor, i.e. the amount of stretch. Warp factor 
numbers higher than 1.0 indicate that the audio...

CUBASE SX/SL19 – 434 Audio warp realtime processing
Editing warp tabs
Moving the destination position of existing warp tabs
•To move an anchored destination position of a warp tab (and thus 
stretch the audio), select the Warp Samples tool and position the 
pointer on the Warp line in the waveform so that the line in the middle 
of the pointer becomes blue. Then click and hold to move the position 
of the warp tab. 
Moving the source position of existing warp tabs
•If you simply wish to move the position...

CUBASE SX/SLAudio warp realtime processing19 – 435
Showing/hiding warp tabs
When you are using other Sample Editor tools than the Warp Sam-
ples tool you can decide whether to show or hide warp tabs by click-
ing the Show Warp Tab button.
Unstretching audio files
By selecting “Unstretch Audio” from the Realtime Processing sub-
menu on the Audio menu, all time stretching (by sizing or by warp 
tabs) can be removed.
Whether the “Unstretch Audio” menu item is available depends on 
whether the time...

CUBASE SX/SL19 – 436 Audio warp realtime processing
Advanced settings
If you select the Advanced menu item, a dialog opens where you can 
manually change the three parameters that govern the sound quality 
of the time stretching:
Creating warp tabs from hitpoints
You can also create warp tabs from hitpoints selecting “Create Warp 
Tabs from Hitpoints” on the Audio menu – Realtime Processing sub-
menu. This can be useful when applying Audio Quantize, see below.
For descriptions of how hitpoints are...

CUBASE SX/SLAudio warp realtime processing19 – 437
Quantizing audio
You can use realtime time stretch to quantize audio. This is achieved 
by using hitpoint detection and adding warp tabs at the positions of 
each detected transient in the audio clip. When you apply audio quan-
tize the warp tabs stretch the detected “hits” to the grid positions the 
selected quantize-grid is set to. Warp tabs that are not quantized will 
be removed.
The quantizing can either be applied by automatically creating warp...

CUBASE SX/SL19 – 438 Audio warp realtime processing
5.Select a quantize resolution from the Quantize Type pop-up, e.g. 1/8.
Here is a section of the sample before applying Quantize Audio. The hitpoints are 
not on exact grid positions.
6.Select “Quantize Audio” from the Audio menu – Realtime Processing 
submenu.
Now the audio event is quantized by applying time stretch.
7.Open the audio event in the Sample Editor, and either select the Warp 
Samples tool or activate the “Show Warp Tabs” button on the...

CUBASE SX/SLAudio warp realtime processing19 – 439
Quantizing without hitpoints
It is also possible to apply Quantize Audio without creating hitpoints 
first. Although this method is quicker, it is in most cases better to cal-
culate hitpoints using the normal method, as this gives you more con-
trol over where the warp tabs will end up. 
•If you apply Quantize Audio to a selected audio event after just having 
set the length or tempo, the whole event will be quantized. 
Hitpoints are detected...

CUBASE SX/SL19 – 440 Audio warp realtime processing
Freezing the realtime processing
You can “freeze” any realtime processing at any time. This can be done 
to serve two purposes; to conserve CPU power, and to optimize the 
sound quality of the processing. 
•Select the audio event(s) that you wish to process and select “Freeze 
Timestretch and Transpose” from the Audio menu - Realtime Pro-
cessing submenu.
You should also use this function before applying any offline processing. When the 
freeze...