I have just started to try out VST Live, and initially to use it primarily for using Metronome and Lyrics.
Currently you have to enter Lyrics row by row spanned over timeline.
It would be so much simplier if you could import a whole set of lyrics from a text file (.txt or .doc or whatever), and have VST Live separate each line of the lyrics as one instance and put it on separate rows/beats/bars in the timeline.
Possibly even be able to select on what bar/beats each line should be imported on, i.e. every bar or beat etc.
Then it would be so easy to finally move and adjust each row manyally to get correct synchronisation rather than to have to enter it row by row.
Ok, we tried that but it never works out, because the text would have to be strictly formatted according to time which it almost never is.
You might want to have a look at the “Notes” module. It now allows for time markers which you can easily set, and when playing back it jumps to those markers when that time is reached.
Thinking about it…we might offer a transformation from Notes to Lyrics maybe…
Why not just ask how many bars per line, and which bar to start at, before import. Only import text files, and make each crlf denote a new lyric line? Should work in 90% of cases…
As a singer I just need to know what the lyrics are. Being able to see the entire line of lyrics at the start of the phrase would be perfect for me. I don’t need each word highlighted as it would be in a karaoke - I already know the phrasing, but sometimes I forget the words.
And if you could also include a function for moving remaining text from cursor position down to a new specific bar/beat you can easily manually adjust for breaks solos etc.
Tried that and it does not. It’s less than 20% here. Almost no lyrics are formatted like that.
You might say 2 Bars and then insert verse by verse (given each verse line has 2 Bars) though. We’ll check that.
There are several possible solutions, which can work in parallel.
If you have Midi for vocal tracks, use the same function as in Cubase and Dorico:
As in Cubase, all the lyrics is placed in a textbox. Select (mark) a part of the lyrics, eg row 1 and select which note the current text should start on. Continue with the remaining text in the same way.
This should also enable the import of Midi files that contain text.
It also allows exporting from Cubase (where the lyrics are included in the track) and linked to different notes.
If midi for lyric track is missing. Similar functionality as in point 1, but instead of marking a note, the selected track is marked where the text is to be inserted.
Import of already time coded text (eg srt, sub etc). This, of course, requires that the tempo matches between the time-coded text and the tempo in VST Live.
Yes, it’s like cut and paste… but hopefully a little bit simplified and easier to edit in Lyrics window.
The problem for me right now is that it is based on lyrics on each beat and I just want to add blocks of text in a simple way (I don’t currently use midi for lyrics).
By using the Zoom slider it’s easy to display blocks of text not entirely in sync with every beat,
but if you zoom in it scrolls to fast.
So another proposal for making it work a little bit better for very simple cases in the LYRICS window would be to make the timeline scrolling a bit more flexible by introducing a Visibility filter with differents options for displaying certain bars/beats:
Show only bars/beats with text/lyrics
Show only Bars
Show only every second bar/beat etc… (other possible options)
Example:
Let’s say I insert blocks of text (4 rows of verse, some rows of chorus etc.) at different bars/beats in the timeline to follow the music, and zoom in to see it correctly (see image below)
Then make it possible to “Show only bars/beats with text”
Now the scrolling of timeline and Lyrics will be slower and you will see the whole text slowly following the music
I think that would work for a lot of cases when you only want to see the lyrics in a simple way
… and it’s up to you to use it or not.
The problem with this is that it makes the Lyric track in Track window containg large chunks of text not vissible correctly, but in my case I will not use the the track window for Lyrics.
This sounds like it could be consolidated with my Note Track idea
Cubase should definately extend their cycle marker functionality by allowing to import text with timecodes so that you can place certain text somewhere in your timeline easily - e.g. notes from a client or even lyrics.
Additionally, how cool would it be to print or generate a PDF out of all the markers, e.g. for a cue sheet that needs to be submitted to a PRO or if you just want to print your lyrics paired with measures/timecode info so your singer or session player in the cabin has some more reference material to work with
