Cubase 6 Workflow

Cubase
#1

Can anyone suggest simple / efficient workflow in Cubase 6 for doing the following:

  1. Import a demo song to a stereo track (nb normally a 3 - 4 minute track) for use as a guide track
  2. Lock the demo song to the project tempo or alternatively create a tempo track based on the demo song.

At the moment I think I am using rather long winded approach of importing a demo with timing variations and chopping it up into parts then warping each part.

#2

Import song, use merge tempo from tapping to create a tempo map, refine with the timewarp tool (page 469)

#3

Hello,

Import audio track, select inported region, and select Tempo Detection from the Project menu.

#4

He’ll be lucky to get any reliable result with Temp Detection!!! Or is it just me :confused:

#5

I have no problem with Tempo detection.

#6

Even with complex complete songs! Must be me then :stuck_out_tongue:

#7

Yes, even the whole mix.

#8

Hmm… I’ll give it another go

#9

I’ve used this a few times now with mixed results…
To get the best out of it i’ve found that the more prominent and percussive parts there are, particularly forward in the mix, seem to work best… pretty obvious really if you think about it…
On a couple of occasions now it’s nailed it for me 100% where the original track was quite ‘beaty’…

#10

Good advice here about Beat detection and refining with Tempo Warping. I remember there was also a way that used a MIDI track, which you could create and tweak - or nick from the track.

One final point - don’t expect it to be quick! Some take longer than others but it’s always worth taking your time to do it properly, bearing in mind you can always go back and tweak it up later in the Tempo Map. The best thing is to have plenty of tricks up your sleeve and choose the best one(s) for the job.

#11

Just spent an hour playing around with tempo detection. I stand by my original advice! Tempo detection is just to unpredictable on anything but stuff with good steady peaks. Try it with a squashed mix? Far quicker to tap the tempo and refine. Unless you can convince me otherwise :slight_smile:

#12

I don’t get as elaborate as OP. But, I do do this quite frequently

I import the demo, establish approximate tempo (beat calculator)

Then I just cut and position the demo every few bars to keep it in time with my click track. Yes it jumps a bit, but who cares? I am only using it for reference. Nine times out of ten, it’s close enough for my needs ie. transferring patterns and lines.

Finally I junk the demo and decide the key and tempo-mapping of my new version.

Simples!

P

#13

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I too find that Tempo estimating tools, hit points, audio warp, timestretch and all assoicated tools etc. work only where there is a very clear beat and rhythm throughout the song. If you have no clear beat or passages without a beat or odd tempos, off beats etc these tools cause more problems than they solve. Read: Dance music OK classical /prog rock, Jazz etc. forget it. I have resorted to breaking up demo into 8 bar phrases and working on each individually using tap tempo (even this is hard work unless you have drummer to hand with a better sense of time than me!) and then gluing them all back together with cross fades. Works sufficiently well for the demo which gets deleted once I get main tracks laid down.

I find the tools a little strange especially as the original demo I am working with currently was initially recorded with a drum machine. Odd then that tempo estimation creates a tempo track that is all over the place.

#14

Identical experience - tempo detection doesn’t work on my (not beaty) stuff. The above is fool-proof, even in my hands.

#15

I go with tapping. Some things on any DAW just take time. Unless you work with tempo mapping every day, and even then, it probably takes longer to pull the spikes out of a full (live?) track. And with the DIY it’s you doing the setting and not the machine. Less WTF?! moments.