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Please post all workshop questions you have
in this topic.
Thanks.

Hi Chris,
I've been looking forward to this very much.
I'm just starting to download the zips now but I am worried because I only have 3.0 of Pulsar - perhaps I will have to come back to you to ask some questions about the project.
Neil

@Neil, my Pulsar Project use ,in 3.0 language, a bigMixer with 24Channels Asio2-32 bit driver are connected with BigMixers In, BigMixersDirect Out´s are dirctly connected with the Asio 2 Destination Module.You can use of course only 16 channel of your mixer,and any asio2 driver, because this workshop has only 9 stereo tracks.
Cheers

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChrisWerner on 2002-09-09 10:35 ]</font>

Chris,
A quick & simple question only & I'm at work not by my music rig - just reading your tutorial. When you say beats 1 to 4, do you mean bars 1 to 4?
The same applies to "...permanent intervals, here four beats"

Yes,bars.
hm..

Wow, you went through great efforts to put this workshop together. Lots of respect due to you! Great work.
You deserve much more than this short note of appreciation.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2002-09-13 14:44 ]</font>

So you get another one.

That´s nice to hear,Ken. I´m glad that you like it.
Thanks

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChrisWerner on 2002-09-13 16:00 ]</font>

Well done Chris,
It's a credit to you for all the work that you've put in. Let's hope that lots of people benefit from your labours.
I must say that I'm looking forward to taking my time and going through this workshop steadily. At first glance there is going to be a lot for me to learn.
Well done again.

Chris,
I have now made time to get into your workshop fully and of course this is raising a few questions.
First of all I have to say that the work that you have done is great and very beneficial to me.
Secondly, you will have to accept that I am coming from a midi only background. Aspects of audio, effects, EQ, Grps and suchlike are new territory, and to be honest, looking at your track I feel really inferior now to you and others on this Planet Z.
I also own up to not having delved into the manuals too deeply yet, both for Pulsar and for Cubase too, so some of my questions I am sure will be embarrassing to me and I wouldn’t be offended if your answer is to “read the MANUAL!!” I am off to Scotland next week for some mountain biking fun but I am taking some manuals with me now that I have time to study and now that I realise it is time to move away from midi only – so don’t be too harsh on me!
Anyway – on to the questions (the first batch of many I expect)

On your day for the drum tracks, where you explain the GRP1 settings you mention Stereo Spread (Cubase) 80% etc. Is the Stereo Spread and additional plug-in for Cubase or am I missing something obvious?

You have included effects files for all but the WaveSurround FX – should there be one or do I use one of the “init” ones?

I have the OhmBoyz delay (recently purchased). When I load in the effect that you supplied I am again unsure as to the name of it – which one is it please? It is not obvious that any new patches have been loaded.

The same question applies to the Multilens and RoomMachine – once loaded, what is the name of the effects?

Regarding the Pulsar project. As I haven’t got version 3 you informed me that I can use just a bigmixer with 16 channels and with the Asio Source and Asio Dest set to up to 16 channels. This has confused me. I’ve not really done anything yet with Asio. If you are doing all the mixing in Cubase (complete with mixer automation) and there is no other processing done in Pulsar (Pulsar is being used merely as a vehicle for audio output through a mixer) why do I need more than 2 channels on the Asio source because isn’t it a final stereo mix coming out to Pulsar? I’m too embarrassed to ask about Asio Dest though because I have never read what it does and can’t see why I need it set to 16 channels. Still, I’ve just written my confession so perhaps you can enlighten me about that too!

EQ: I feel that I’ve learned a bit about the EQ section from your workshop, subtle though the changes are. Another stupid question though. Some of your EQ settings specify 3 changes and there are up to 4 dials. Should I use the first 3, the last 3 or doesn’t it matter? (oh I am SO embarrassed!).

What determines your decision as to whether an audio track should be mono or stereo? For instance you could record the FX in mono as a midi track, including midi pan messages and then convert it to audio as a mono wav file, but still have the pan events/movement – or is this a silly question?

I haven’t fully put all of the workshop track together yet as there is many hours of learning for me and I want to take my time over it. I have learned a lot though such as how to save on processing limits by using group tracks and lots of other things so well done and keep up the good work.

Glad to hear that this workshop could help you, Neil.

The Stereo Spread is a internal Cubase PlugIn it can be found in your PlugIn list.
The list will appear when you try to load a PlugIn. If you don´t know how to load a effect, read your Cubase manual..

I used the spread as an insert effect, insert effects will only work for just one stereo or mono channel, so you have to open the channel mixer, here the Group 1. You can see some buttons over the Volume Sliders in the Cubase Mixer of grp1 ?
Ins,Dyn,FX,EQ just click on ins and the channel mixer will open. The Insert Slots are on the left hand side, just click on the text "kein effekt" - german, "No effect"-english. Your PlugIn list will appear.

It is possible that I forgot to give you the WaveSurroundDX preset, sorry for that.
I´ll e-mail you that.
Anyway, here are the settings, because I don´t know if you can load custom presets with the demo version.

SurroundDX: from left to right, width=90deg,
Surround and Reverb is switched on, Bass +4dB, Volume=0dB, Mix=50 Percent, Time=6sec, Size=100 Percent, PreDelay=0ms, Damping= 8,9kHz.

No new presets are seen when you load the effect-settings ?
Well, I didn´t gave them new names, when you load a effect preset it will become the actual preset. Maybe you can´t see a change in the name but maybe you can see that some knobs has turned. Try to use the MultiLens on a drumtrack, choose a factorypreset and listen. Then load my preset, you should hear the difference.

Why 16Asio Channels ?
You are a very good student,Neil. It´s my mistake. You are right, you only need one Asio pair because no additonal Pulsar Mixing is done on this track.
I was not sure if I will use the Pulsar for this track or not, I was undecided.

But let me tell you something about my default Cubase and Pulsar Project files.
Today I use 24 AsioChannels, Asio Source is connected to my PulsarMixer as In´s ,the Asio destination stands alone and has the
Analog-Wave and SP-DIF source connected.
When I want to play and record a Pulsar Synth, the only thing I have to do is to connect the synth to the Asio Destination,
load cubase and switch on the appendant Asio channels in the Cubase Mixer.
Now I´am able to play a Pulsar Synth with all VST-Effects in real-time.
When I want to record this Synth ,I record it in midi, because it is easier to edit after the recording, velocity higher, deleting or moving notes etc.
When I run out of System Ressources, Pulsar or Cubase, I will start to record the miditracks to pure audiotracks, that means without effects.
It is better to add the effects after the recording, once you record them, you are not able to edit the effects, not in Cubase 5.
With my default projects your are able to mix in Cubase and Pulsar, or both together, it is your choice.

A small thing to asio, all the multimedia management on a PC is done by the DirectX Interface, Asio will replace that DirectX. Asio (Audio Stream Input Output) is developt by Steinberg and works much faster than DirectX.

EQ´s, for the low frequences I use the first Band of the EQ, for the high frequences I always use the last Band Nr.4.
Nr.1 and Number 4 works as an shelf EQ ,that means the curve will not be cut after the breakpoint(LowPass). Try this one, activate Number 4 of a EQ and set the breakpoint somewhere in the upper half of the spectrum. Now switch between High Shelf and High Cut -the small button in the right corner. You will see what shelf or cut means.

mono or stereo, I always use stereo channels, because we have two not only one ear. Of course you can record a Bassdrum in mono and place it with the panaorama, use mono effects etc. I don´t know why I always use stereo channels but I do. Maybe you can open a topic on that, "Why stereo or when stereo or mono?"

I hope I´ve understood your questions and I could answer it.

Chris

Thanks Chris,
that is really useful and has answered many questions for me. I'll try them out after my holiday. Also thanks for such a thorough explanation.
I know that your were kidding about the manuals but regarding the stereo spread - this does not appear in my list of insert effects. I wonder if it is a new effect - I have VST 5.1/32 Score and have never seen anything with that name in my list of effects.
Once again, thanks