Would like tips about how to use the Audio Pre-Record buffer…

Cubase
1

Just this morning, I found a little guitar riff that I sadly lost, as Cubase wasn’t in a recording state. So, remembering that there was an audio ‘retrospective record’ equivalent, I looked more closely in the preferences : the audio pre-record time setting was only 1 second. To be honest, I never have used this feature until now, though having used the MIDI retrospective record one many times in the past.

So, as a test, I set it to 30 seconds and tried to follow the Operation manual procedure below :

C14_OM_AudioPre-record
C14_OM_AudioPre-record854×1014 62.3 KB

The results were as following :

  1. Being dumb and disciplined, but also dubious, I hit the transport bar Record button, as indicated in ‘4’. As expected and feared, I got nothing but a completely flat and silent event. I stopped the record after more or less 30 seconds.

  2. So, I tried again, but this time and just in case, clicking on the Record Enable button in the audio track header instead. Nothing happened.

  3. I finally made a combination of the two, disabling the track Record Enable state and launching the record : the cursor advanced in the time line without creating anything and I stopped again after more or less 30 seconds.

At the end, an utter failure. I have seen very old threads on the subject in the Nuendo forum, especially a post from @Fredo, but that didn’t work either : actually, all my already existing events and parts disappeared from view, with a -1 23:59:30:00 Project Start Time : Ctrl-Z at rescue. More or less the same result, using the Project Offset.

So, if any of you has/have already used this function… I must be missing something, but what ?

Thanks in advance.

2

Try taking one of your ‘failed’ attempts and dragging the Audio Event’s lower left corner to the left - disable Snap first. I think the pre-buffer Audio is located before the start of the Audio Event. Remember an Audio Event represents a section of an Audio File and not necessarily the entire file.

1 Like
3

I asked Copilot to describe the various audio elements in Cubase.

Sure! Here’s a comparison of audio files, clips, events, and parts in Cubase:

Audio Files

  • Definition: Audio files are the actual sound recordings stored on your hard drive.
  • Usage: When you record or import audio into Cubase, it is stored as an audio file.
  • Location: Typically found in the “Audio” folder within your project folder.

Audio Clips

  • Definition: Audio clips are references to audio files within a Cubase project.
  • Usage: When you add an audio file to a project, Cubase creates an audio clip, which is a representation of that file.
  • Function: Clips allow you to manage and edit audio within the project without altering the original file.

Audio Events

  • Definition: Audio events are segments of audio clips that are placed on the timeline.
  • Usage: When you drag an audio clip into the project window, it creates an audio event.
  • Function: Events determine where and how the audio clip is played back within the project.

Audio Parts

  • Definition: Audio parts are collections of audio events grouped together.
  • Usage: You can create audio parts by selecting multiple audio events and combining them.
  • Function: Parts allow you to manage and edit groups of audio events as a single unit.

Summary

  • Files: The actual sound recordings.
  • Clips: References to those files within the project.
  • Events: Segments of clips placed on the timeline.
  • Parts: Groups of events managed together.
4

Audio Pre-record works a bit differently than MIDI retrospective recording in that it requires you to actually record an audio event, so it is not really retrospective recording. Which you did in step ‘4’, and then you’d just needed to follow the rest of the instructions, which is essentially what Raino wrote - resize the audio event to the left.
It is a great function that I use all the time, mostly to record little leading notes before landing on the “1” when recording starts at the left locator.

1 Like
5

Thank you both ! I’m not at home, presently. So, I’ll answer you in a more détailed way in few days.
Cheers ! :slightly_smiling_face:

EDIT : dumb smartphone correction implementation misused…

6

Also the intended use case for each is quite different. With MIDI you’d use it after playing something and realizing you want to keep it after the fact. Where with Audio it is to keep you from accidentally snipping off bits of Notes or Vocals that begin a little bit before the beat where the Recording actually starts. It lets you automatically catch the upbeat.

7

Back to Cubase after 5 days in vacations…

Thanks both ! This works, but ONLY (at least, on my end) if the audio event “recorded” after the fact is dragged to right on the timeline, first. Otherwise, the pre-recorded event remains both invisible and unusable.

Workflow related, there is room for improvement, using this function. The MIDI retrospective record is much more intuitive in its implementation… :thinking:

8

I’m guessing this is because the Event is at the very start of the Project Timeline so there isn’t any space on the left to drag into.

9

Indeed it was : testing this again after having set the project cursor at 14.0.0 (26s at 120 bpm), I can retrieve 26 seconds of what was played earlier. Dragging the event to the right up to 16.0.0 and the whole 30 seconds buffer is retreived.

Thank again… :slightly_smiling_face: