Stretch to Project Tempo VS. Musical Mode for Audio Track

From Media Bay , Drag an Audio loop - Techno-Beat Loop 01_130bpm into default 120 bpm project
It’s not an Acid loop - so it’s off the click/beat

I can select the track now and go to - > Audio → Advanced → Stretch to project Tempo and say ok and it will stretch the loop and put the loop on the beat/click .

At the end will be a little symbol that looks like a seagull in flight or an ‘A’ with wings

OR I can put the loop on the Click/beat by ….

Selecting the Track and choosing ‘Musical Mode’ from the Info line above . In which case , it also puts the track on the click and stretches it …but … it has 2 symbols … the ‘yellow Note symbol’ and the seagull/‘A’ with wings symbol.

What is going on ? What is the difference ? Why would you choose to put the track on the Tempo click with one or the other ? I know that the yellow note symbol means that the track itself is in musical Timebase and I understand the difference between musical and linear timebase . But I’m confused about the issues surrounding the differences between “stretch to project tempo” and ‘musical mode’

The “seagull” means the underlying Audio File has been adjusted/modified in some manner.

The note indicates the Audio FIle is set to Musical Mode.

When you see both that means that if you change the Tempo the length of the Audio Event will adjust as needed (because it is in Musical Mode), further modifying the Audio File.

Where you don’t see the note icon if you change the Tempo the Event Length will remain the same and not fall on the Bar line. And the Audio File will not be additionally modified (but the initial mods are retained).

There are a several detailed threads here about the distinction between Timebase and Mode which would be worthwhile to search for.

Thanks for the quick and helpful reply . So the ‘stretch to project tempo’ doesn’t seem much different than Musical mode to me though. IF - I got a drum loop that I want to be on the Click at 130bpm … i just choose ‘stretch to project tempo’. But If I change the tempo now to 175 bpm - and choose ‘stretch to project tempo’ again … it stretches to fit that tempo .

It seems that musical mode just makes it so you do not have to keep choosing ‘stretch to project tempo’ , over and over as you change the tempo .

By the way, I hooked up a mic , created an audio track and sang a vocal - for some reason going to Audio → advanced and there was NO “Stretch to Project Tempo” available ? But musical mode worked fine to play with different tempos and keep the vocal on Tempo. So that does appear to be one difference that is notable.

Stretch is static. Once you change it it stays that way independent of what is happening to the Tempo. Although as you point out the process can be repeated.

Musical Mode is dynamic. Any changes to the Tempo will change the length of the Audio Event and it does this on-the-fly as it occurs.

While the 2 are similar the differences are more apparent when you consider music that is not at one fixed Tempo. If you have a song that starts off at 120BPM but when the Bridge hits the tempo ramps up to 128BPM over the course of 4 bars. Stretch won’t really work here since there isn’t a single Tempo to stretch it to. But if the Audio is set to Musical Mode it will smoothly and automatically adjust Audio over the course of the Ramp.

One thing to be aware of with Musical Mode is that Cubase does not always correctly identify the original Tempo of the Audio. So before making any adjustments it’s a good idea to look at the Audio File(s) in the pool and make sure the Tempos shown are correct.

Also you might want to take a look at the options for the Select (Arrow) Tool, specifically Sizing Applies Time Stretch. This will let you drag the end of the Audio Event and snap it to a Bar line to quickly adjust its Tempo. This works on both Audio Events and MIDI Parts in the Project Window.

Thanks again, 1 last question . When i record a vocal audio track - then select it and try to stretch it …stretch to project tempo is NOT available . Why would that be ? Am I missing some setting or something ??

Thanks for mentioning sizing applies time stretch … seen it before but I will dig into it to add it to the Stretch to fit project tempo and musical mode as ways to adjust the Tempo and keep track on tempo.

I’d assume the Audio File is already at the Project Tempo if you recorded it in the Project. You can look at it in the Pool to see what Tempo Cubase thinks the file is.

Thanks again :slight_smile: