Getting Started With Cubase4

[Cabong]

Heya all!

I play keyboard in a band. I have a few synths and a mix of software and hardware. I mostly like progressive rock/Rock. I'm not too much into creating songs or doing recording. We do mostly cover of well known rock band.

Although I know the basics for having played with Cubase in the past, the vast majority of the features are unknown to me. Lately I have acquired Cubase 4 and Novation SL controller.

I know together they can do great things but I have honestly been able to do jack shit due to my lack of knowledge. I know what I want to do but I don't know where to start. I came here not to leech complete instructions but perhaps to be stirred in the right direction. I can do my own research and reading.
So that's about it.
Thanks

[brandondrury]

I know what I want to do but I don't know where to start.

I'd start with the Getting Started guide in Cubase. Taking a few hours to go through all of those tutorials will get you rocking. From there you can ask more specific questions which we can address.

Brandon

[Cabong]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I'd start with the Getting Started guide in Cubase. Taking a few hours to go through all of those tutorials will get you rocking. From there you can ask more specific questions which we can address.

Brandon

Thanks for your reply Brandon. BTW I just realized I have SX3 and not CB4.

I have two questions:

Is it possible to assign "play a track" to a specific key on a keyboard (controller) via midi? That would really rock!

Also, I found how to export tracks to wave file. But is there a way I could route the VST output of certain midi tracks to an audio track directly? I'm making certain paterns of music and loops, mostly using VSTs. So I figured that if I created an audio file out of it, I could perhaps free up my cpu and ressources usage. Is this good thinking? Perhaps the good way to do it is to import a created wave file in a brand new project?

I'm not entirely sure if I'm making any sense here. But I'm sure many of you must have faced this issue at one point or another.

Thanks for any of your inputs,

Regards,

[adamschneider]

If i am understanding your question correctly, i think you might like to try the "freeze track" capability. i know its on cubase and studio 4, not sure about sx 3. but freezing the track frees up much of your cpu by creating a wave file of the vst track, and storing it in a designated folder. This frees up a lot of cpu as cubase is normally processing everything in real-time which tends to weigh you down after you start messing aroudn with a laod of vst and other plugins etc.

hope that helped?

[Cabong]

Originally Posted by adamschneider

If i am understanding your question correctly, i think you might like to try the "freeze track" capability. i know its on cubase and studio 4, not sure about sx 3. but freezing the track frees up much of your cpu by creating a wave file of the vst track, and storing it in a designated folder. This frees up a lot of cpu as cubase is normally processing everything in real-time which tends to weigh you down after you start messing aroudn with a laod of vst and other plugins etc.

hope that helped?

Yes SX3 does it too. I knew about that. Thanks for your input.

[so-fye]

how do u freeze track in cs4

[tacman7]

Originally Posted by Cabong

Is it possible to assign "play a track" to a specific key on a keyboard (controller) via midi?

Sure, you use generic remote device which you setup on the device menu, device setup. Create a generic remote then use the lines in the top section to match your hardware(set them or 'learn' them) and the corresponding lines in the bottom section to assign commands. So much you can do.
It would be a problem somewhat if it's keys you also play though...
I use a lot of midi button things for that. Like MPD16 etc.

Originally Posted by Cabong

Also, I found how to export tracks to wave file. But is there a way I could route the VST output of certain midi tracks to an audio track directly?

Well if you look, the audio you record 'is' a wav file in the audio folder. But the same thing you use to save a finished mix can be used to create an audio track from a VSTi. File menu/Export/Audio mixdown.
That will get you a dialog. You can choose what sound source you want to export (overall mix, VSTi, or group channel, rewire, etc.) and what bit rate etc. Just set the locators before you do it as it will export whatever is between them.