Cannot change the time signature?

Hi,

When I bought Cubasis my idea was be able to write songs on the road, make a very simple pre production and later throw it all inside Mac Cubase to finish the idea.

But I notice there is no way to change the time signature of a song between two bars, or even change the tempo in the middle of the song (gradually or at least suddenly).

This is very frustating for a software with this level (and price), because it’s not a technical limitation, it’s a musical restriction.

I hope to see this basic feature available soon, otherwise I wasted $50.

Hi Luiz,

At the moment it is not possible to change the tempo or time signature in a project.
This is however on our feature request list.
Of course we would like to have all features of Cubase in Cubasis now but please note that Cubase has had a development time of 25 years already and we just started with Cubasis! :slight_smile:

I had a piece I did recently that starts in 5/4 and then half way through changes to 4/4 time. The only solution was to record some basic rhythm tracks in 4/4 time in GarageBand, export it and then import into Cubasis and place on beat 1 of the first bar after the 5/4 section. Then added the rest of the instrumentation. Turned out fine.

But I agree, time change and tempo change over time is very much needed. Especially tempo change to give a more natural human feel to sequenced tracks.

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Carlos,


I have my feet on the ground and know you can’t rewrite a solid and old application, porting it to a more limited hardware, with all features, in few time. This is the reason I can understand the absence of features like VST, automation, time stretching/pitch tuning and others. I think it’s easy to live without automation on your iPad, at least when you get home you can discharge your project into your computer and finish the edition+mastering. Same thing VST.

But with a musical limitation, I can’t even start a song, just if I totally ignore the bars and record the songs out of metronome. But MIDI tracks will become weird.

The point is, I can’t understand the role of Cubasis in this world yet, can’t write songs on the road, can’t make a final production replacing the desktop (and it should never try to). I think it would be nice to choose a direction and focus on it. I was very amazed the first time I open Cubasis, but soon I realized I don’t have how to do anything from the beginning to the end. This is a little disappointing when you’ve spent a lot of money in an app.

Cubasis future seems to be brilliant, but today, it’s aimless. No much more than amateur Garage Band, but with a much higher price.

My opinion, sorry, I don’t want to offend. I am really anxious for change this opinion.

Hi Everyone,

Is there any new Development regarding this Feature? I just bought cubasis for ipad a While ago and cannot seem to find a proper way to capture Song ideas with Different Time signatures and Tempo changes, which is quite limiting.

Hi jansendirk,

You’ve commented on a topic from Jan 2013, and Cubasis has evolved drastically since then.
“Tempo Track” is on our list for a future update.

Best,
Lars

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So for the time being [Cubase 8.5] time signatures cannot be changed in the middle of a song?
If that’s true that is a severe limitation to any sequencer.
Or am I missing something on how to do it? [I cannot change the “position” on my time signature track, so any change I make is always global]

Hi sacksmusic,

you are writing in the CUBASIS forum.

Best,
Ricardo

How do you change time signature to 6/8 as it will only allow 6/4?

Hi,

As of yet, Cubasis allows to change time signature between 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 7/4.

Best,
Lars

Hi thanks for confirming. This is ridiculous as this is such a basic requirement. As this along with not being able to glue audio tracks and a very awkward dubbing system please can you arrange for a full refund of this software. I purchased an iPad Pro on the basis that this would be an viable alternative to Logic Pro. As this is not the case I am now having to repurchase a MacBook and Logic and sell the iPad. Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your message.

As stated earlier tempo track/time signature support is on our feature list for future updates.

Cubasis gets updated on a regular basis, and we do our best to fulfil as many as possible user-requested features/improvements per update.
The app is driven by a very small but skilled team, some bigger feature requests - which applies for tempo track/time signature support - might take longer in the process.

To glue audio tracks, simply press the freeze button in the track list, which creates a new track below the original track.
In this context, please make sure to set the “Unfreeze Deletes Audio Track” option located in Setup/Arranger accordingly.

If you decide to part with Cubasis, please get in touch with Apple, who handle all app purchase matters.

Hope that helps!

Best,
Lars

Hi Lars,

Any news on the tempo / time signature track feature? any ETA by any chance? I understand about the team being small, but even if it’s a “big feature”, it could have been planned as part of the main release, and not in an update, or very early, but not after a 2.0 version. This is actually a very common feature that everyone is using quite often…
I own Auria Pro, which has it. I could just use it, but I like using Cubasis whenever I’m working on a project on the go that I’ll have to import into my Cubase later; one of the main reasons I’ve actually purchased Cubasis.
Anyway, please let us know.

Cheers!

I’ve managed to fake time changes by using the freeze track function on my my midi tracks and then stretching or shrinking the resulting components. Far from ideal, but it works, in a punk sort of way for simple projects, especially if you have only a few time changes per project. To change time signature it would be necessary to freeze various parts of the track and mess around a bit but it should be possible. Its a nuisance rather than a total road block. I agree that I hope to see this functionality in a future upgrade this year.

Hello Lars,
Any news on this? I’m on the verge of purchasing Cubasis, as I read that the UI gives a better experience than Auria Pro. However, my daughter’s first song includes a couple of lines ending in a bar of 3/4, in what is otherwise 4/4 time. So, changes in time signature seem to be needed right from the start of a person’s song writing and it will be a deal breaker ifor me if it’s not in an imminent update.
Stéphane

Hi Stéphane,

Thanks for your message.
Tempo track/time signature support is on our list, but definitely takes some more time.

Best,
Lars

This is a fundamental feature for actual musicians. It has been requested for years now. It’s especially frustrating to see that less-necessary developments occur with each version/update, such as integration with hardware toys. Simply saying that it’s on the list is not enough for those of us who bought in at the outset believing that such a critical ability would be the top priority.

Hi Don,

As mentioned earlier, tempo track and time signature both remain on our list for future topics.
Due to the complexity, it still will take a while until it becomes available in Cubasis.

Best,
Lars

Time signature change has been a feature of much more primitive sequencers/DAWs since, we’ll I won’t date myself. Do other iOS programs enable this? It’s been a goes-without-saying feature of Cubase since…
Please make looong-time users like me (I do a lot of theatre work from conductor’s score) happee happee by instituting time signature functionality, and while you’re at it, tempo change mapping as another absolutely necessary feature for making sophisticated music. (Think of the Pink Floyd song in 7/4 time for what I’d be willing to pay for these features).

Hello!
I’m joining in to what other users have been saying. I’m after a 6/8 time signature. I hope there will be an upgrade to solve this issue soon.
Ronnie