Cubase Artist 12 - I have just started using Chord Tracks. I would like to bring in specific Instrument tracks at different points in the song. What do you use to automate this? I could use Volume automation, but that would get clunky. Automating Mute on tracks is also messy. Maybe automation for Enable Output? Is there a better way to do this? Thanks!
You could just drag the chord events you want from the chord track to the MIDI/instrument track - Cubase will create MIDI events on that track for you.
In case you want to change the chords later on, be sure to enable “Follow chord track” (Using Follow Chord Track)
What do you mean by “clunky” and “messy” and why do you think automating a different parameter wouldn’t be basically the same? If you want to mute the track then that’s the parameter you should automate.
The first time I tried using Mute, I had that track soloed. When it muted, it un-soloed, and every other track started playing. If I use Volume to play or not play, then I can’t use the mixer to mix. I was just hoping there was a simple way to say, “play this track or tracks for these measures”, without affecting other things. Thanks.
Well that’s exactly what automating Mute is for.
The Solo and Mute buttons do interact with each other and you need to take that into account to get the results you want.
For example there are 2 different mechanisms that can cause a Track to become Muted - 1) Enabling the Mute Button on the Track - if Writing Automation is Enabled then this will cause Mute Automation data to be written to that Track 2) By Enabling Solo on a different Track - if Writing Automation is Enabled this will cause Solo Automation to be written on that Track, but none of the Tracks that became Muted will have Mute Automation written.
I’d suggest testing the Muting sequence manually to get the right settings in the correct order before trying to Automate it.