Best Way To Print Click

Cubase
#1

Hi Everyone,

So I three ways to print a click track out of Cubase but I’m wondering if there is a better way. I’m hoping someone can enlighten me.

  1. Use one of your hardware outputs and inputs and literarily record in the click. Downsides are you loose an input/output and you can’t do this in an offline bounce.

  2. Have a track in your template with clicks on all the quarter notes and then export said track. Downsides are it doesn’t work for 6/8, 7/8 or any other compound meter.

  3. Have a Kontakt instrument that plays back a click instrument. This seems like the most promising but I’ve found that it’s kinda buggy. Cubase often looses the midi routing settings in the metronome setup window or sometimes the click just doesn’t sound for reasons I can’t figure out. Also if you mute the track it also mutes the Pre-Fader sends to other outputs which sucks. Would direct outputs fix this? I’ve never used them.

Those are the three ways I know. If anyone knows a better 4th way I’d love to hear it. And for me efficency is very important. Think busy TV film composer with no time to spare. I also have to have the ability to mute the click going to my speakers but at the same time have musicians hear it through a separate output.

Thanks! Hopefully this is helpful to others as well.

#2

I like external metronome that work like clicker for drummers.
Tempo is according to beat, then you choose volume of each division in a simple way.
100 bpm 4/4 triplet feel, just raise slider for that.

In daw you have to recalculate this to 12/8 150 bpm due to how midi works. Which the rest of the musical world does not care about.

  • you said 150 bpm, that’s not it!!!

Both Peterson BBS-1 and Boss DB-90 has metronomes that sync to midi as well if you want.
But for more complicated click patterns I just use Korg Beatlab to get any pattern I like - record as audio and just stretch to match grid in daw, or use some tempo matching feature(have not tried how well that works).

Beatlab allow any tuplet up to 9 I think it was - and own slider for that if you want click on the odd ones.

You wanted another way - there it is…I soooooo want own patterns for clicks in Cubase(there is an annual request in request forum).
And the principle for each division, like many external metronomes, have it’s own audio volume is simple and brilliant.
My eDrum engine clicks works the same way.

The way midi clock works, with 24 ticks each quarternote, screws up the way we think about tempo - when odd signatures.