Posted: Fri May 03, 2002 4:02 am
Getting those filter loops right with Cubase.
One of the great aspects of using Pulsar with a sequencer like Cubase is the amount of instant control you can have over the Pulsar synths. There are many ways of achieving this but here is a little tip or 2 on adding controller events to your midi recording.
As an example, take a bass or bass synth, perhaps to be used for dance/techno tracks – perhaps a 303 sound.
1. Select your Pulsar synth patch and assign a controller number (e.g 16) to the cut off dial. Repeat for the resonance dial using another controller number (e.g 17)
2. In Cubase record a loop of perhaps 4 bars. The accent here is on short staccato bass notes, perhaps with very small changes in pitch (1 chord trick!)
3. Create a new track with the same midi channel number. It is much easier to keep your controller events away from the note events (easier for editing anyway)
4. There are many ways of putting in the controller values. You can draw them in, in key edit. You can paint them in etc, but for the purpose of this example we'’ll record them in.
5. Set the quantise above the arrange window to, say, 32 if your bass line has been played in 32 beats to the bar.
6. Click on the AQ auto-quantise button in the transport bar and the punch out button.
7. Ensure that “Play in Background” is ticked.
8. Click on record and switch to the Pulsar screen. While the 4 bars are played back move the cut off filter dial. You should now have 4 bars of music with the controller effectively clocked to the beat due to the auto-quantise feature.
9. Create another track for the same midi channel and repeat the process if you like for the resonance dial. Why not reverse it to give a nice short filter sweep?
Of course you may need to edit and tidy up the controller curves a bit afterwards – I prefer to work with the editors and draw them in.
This leads to another possibility if you think about it –
1. If you have recorded the controller with AQ on the beat, then the attack or first portion of the note is instantly different from the previous note by the value change of the controller. If you have longish note, why not change the quantise value to 64 and then kick the controller settings 1/64th to the right. In this way the first part of the note retains the frequency of the tail of the previous note and then changes mid note to the new frequency.
2. Add a bit of clocked delay to the above and you’re really cooking on gas!
3. When you think about it, you now have 4 bars that you can copy and paste ad infinitum. They will all have the same controller/frequency changes and therefore make a consistent ear-pleasing loop. Because they are the same you only need to record just the 4 bars to audio instead of perhaps 32 bars due to the controllers being different throughout. Saves a bit of disk space!
Finally, why not try it with longer notes and the volume controller switching between extreme values – instant clocked gating.
Hope this is of some use to you.
One of the great aspects of using Pulsar with a sequencer like Cubase is the amount of instant control you can have over the Pulsar synths. There are many ways of achieving this but here is a little tip or 2 on adding controller events to your midi recording.
As an example, take a bass or bass synth, perhaps to be used for dance/techno tracks – perhaps a 303 sound.
1. Select your Pulsar synth patch and assign a controller number (e.g 16) to the cut off dial. Repeat for the resonance dial using another controller number (e.g 17)
2. In Cubase record a loop of perhaps 4 bars. The accent here is on short staccato bass notes, perhaps with very small changes in pitch (1 chord trick!)
3. Create a new track with the same midi channel number. It is much easier to keep your controller events away from the note events (easier for editing anyway)
4. There are many ways of putting in the controller values. You can draw them in, in key edit. You can paint them in etc, but for the purpose of this example we'’ll record them in.
5. Set the quantise above the arrange window to, say, 32 if your bass line has been played in 32 beats to the bar.
6. Click on the AQ auto-quantise button in the transport bar and the punch out button.
7. Ensure that “Play in Background” is ticked.
8. Click on record and switch to the Pulsar screen. While the 4 bars are played back move the cut off filter dial. You should now have 4 bars of music with the controller effectively clocked to the beat due to the auto-quantise feature.
9. Create another track for the same midi channel and repeat the process if you like for the resonance dial. Why not reverse it to give a nice short filter sweep?
Of course you may need to edit and tidy up the controller curves a bit afterwards – I prefer to work with the editors and draw them in.
This leads to another possibility if you think about it –
1. If you have recorded the controller with AQ on the beat, then the attack or first portion of the note is instantly different from the previous note by the value change of the controller. If you have longish note, why not change the quantise value to 64 and then kick the controller settings 1/64th to the right. In this way the first part of the note retains the frequency of the tail of the previous note and then changes mid note to the new frequency.
2. Add a bit of clocked delay to the above and you’re really cooking on gas!
3. When you think about it, you now have 4 bars that you can copy and paste ad infinitum. They will all have the same controller/frequency changes and therefore make a consistent ear-pleasing loop. Because they are the same you only need to record just the 4 bars to audio instead of perhaps 32 bars due to the controllers being different throughout. Saves a bit of disk space!
Finally, why not try it with longer notes and the volume controller switching between extreme values – instant clocked gating.
Hope this is of some use to you.
