# Cubase -> your audio editing / recording workflow?



## Thomas Kallweit (Apr 27, 2020)

Hm,

just wanted to go more into recording live audio in Cubase and editing it.
Now I discovered some stumbling blocks for my workflow (coming from FL Studio).

I also did some search on the cubase forums.

1.
There is no way in the Sample Editor to slice / crop / split audio from cursor, right?
That seems to be a bit odd, as it is an editor (and there would be more space for it when open in an extra window than in the project window, with all the different tracks). So I guess the only / best way is to cut from the project window?
What's your workflow?

2. Is there (no) easy way to setup an external audio editor (like in FL)? Obviously not so it seems. In FL Studio you could set this up in the preferences and - dang, it works via double clicking the selected wav file. What may be the best workaround here?

3. Recording audio with one routed channelstrip plus send fx.

So eg. I record a guitar or a vocal to one track (with a virtual amp and/or other fx active before).
That works cool.
But: When I want (with the same routing and amp as insert) to record a new take. The older one get's muted - but I want to hear both. So this seems to be the way cubase handles this. But it's not what I want. I dragged the first recorded wave file to another track - then it was not muted. But that seems to be cumbersome having to do that every time.

Is there a way to tell cubase to set up the recorded audio automatically to a new track?

So forgive me... as I said coming from FL Studio there it was very easy to rerecord again and everything recorded before was not muted at all.



I read that macros would be the way to go, but I did not dive into that area right now.

PS. The MIDI is all great for me in Cubase

Would be interesting to get to know how others handle this.


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## Thomas Kallweit (Apr 29, 2020)

Ah, no answers at all.
Then I guess this is the answer.

So everybody is happy and no easier way of doing it.
What a pity. But every DAW has its flaw(s) I think.

Maybe most of the guys here use midi in the maintime I suppose.
Then live-recording and editing afterwards is not so common here it seems?

Ook.


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## Pongo (May 15, 2020)

Hi Thomas,

There is help! (But it takes some effort to get into it)

Here are my humble thoughts. You probably understand that there are sometimes lots of obstacles to overcome when switching DAWs.

Opening discussions about the merits of one DAW over the other is simply counter productive and maybe that's why there was no feedback to your absolutely understandable questions, which I am sure many users encounter too.


My workflow:

1. For most of the time, I don't even use the sample editor. The *range tool* is my friend. Cubase is the only DAW that allows non-destructive audio editing. This is rediculously underrated but means adapting to a slightly different workflow from the common "destructive" method.

Invest some time playing with and understanding the power of the range tool first and see if that kind of does what you're looking for. It took me some time to understand this, for example:

Take an audio event, select a range and just move it to some empty space. Now use CTRL+ALT and left click, hold and drag left or right. I use this to "chop" stuff up really quickly. Remember, the "blocks" in the sequencer window are not the "real audiofile" - it is just a box that contains some information about the real audio file (which is never touched, non-destructive).

Alternatively, check out changing the audio event into a part and see what the part editor has to offer(in the menu: Audio/Events to Part). It is still non-destructive, but a part is something else than an event. (more manual reading involved, unfortunately)

The *tl;dr*: This will give you all the flexibility of editing audio like midi clips and the "tools" you might miss in the first place. For example: Turn an audio event into a part, double click to open the editor, select the split tool and hold down alt while clicking somewhere on the waveform. This will split the waveform up into multiple parts depending on the length from the beginning and where you clicked.

This is really powerful, and I use it for midi many, many times a day! Make sure you have the split tool selected, otherwise the modifier ALT will temporarily turn the cursor into the split tool and only cut once, which is also very handy.


2. Not really, no - and you have to trust me, you won't really need it. The integration with Wavelab is pretty seamless but complete overkill for your daily Crop, Snip, Move, Chop, Trim needs. Simply do it in the sequencer window - but the concept is weird, as I mentioned in 1.

I suggest you take an audio track, use the range tool, move the selection somewhere else and if you want to crop the beginning or end of that range, hold CTRL+ALT while dragging left and right on the contents of the event.


3. The answer to that slightly depends on what version of Cubase you're using (Elements, Artist or Pro). The terminology you are using is also a bit confusing. Because, if you are recording a new take, I'd expect the software to behave exactly as you described it. (Lanes, comping etc...)

But that again is a question of your preferred workflow that can easily be fixed.

My "quick" workaround suggestion to your guitar recording question is that you create a new macro that has the function: Duplicate Selected Tracks without Data (under the entry "Macro" in the Commands list) and then assign a keyboard shortcut to it.

After recording "one take" as you described, it will open a new track with all the settings, plugins, etc, just without the audio events. and you can record a second take and still hear the first one.

Macros are really powerful things. And wait until you discover the logical editor... gosh, there is so much stuff "under the hood" in Cubase.

Hope, I could "help" a little bit. Don't give up - Cubase is worth it.


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## labornvain (May 16, 2020)

If you want to do a new take, and still hear the previous take, it's really simple. Record your first take. Then, right click on that track, and select duplicate.

The duplicate track will retain all the settings and also contain the audio material from your first take, of course. So just delete the audio. Then you can record your second take while hearing the first one.

It takes about five seconds.


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## Thomas Kallweit (May 17, 2020)

Hey Pongo,


thanks a lots for taking your time for the reply and all those useful hints.

Ok, it was really just to find the most efficent way to work with Cubase and audio.
So it's really helpful that you described en detail how you deal with the points made.

I knew the range tool but did not use it much so far. Will try it this way. And it is indeed good that there is the possibilty to work non-destructive. 

I just have been used editing at times recorded audio immediately after recording even in a destructive way to cut out the bad. But ok - good to know how a workflow can be. 
What I like in Cubase is the glue tool, so I think all sliced audio can be recombined the way it pleases (FL does not have that)

Btw. I'm using Pro here.
The idea with the macro is probably what I needed to know and missed so far (just checked some of the macros, but not all and in depth). What I wanted was simply having the setup with a certain input routing ready and replicatable for more recording more takes in short times. 
Eg. in FL Studio there is loop recording (which Cubase also has I think) and when a section is selected and you record you can overdub immediately to what you recorded and hear all takes adding up (like a loopstation). Anyways - instant looping was not the main thing here, but being able to record instantly and hear what was recorded before. And because of this automating the process with adding a new lane will be the way then I guess.

So thank you kind again for your explanations and instructions.


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## Thomas Kallweit (May 17, 2020)

Hi labornvain,

thanks a lot for your answer. 

And good to know another way how to handle this - I just wondered if it could be possible inside a track with more lanes - I really like the idea of track lanes, which was one of the reasons I changed to Cubase.
So I guess I will try that out and probably - when I record more often again the flow will come. 

And yes, it's not that much to setup, it just can be irritating, when you realize that you were quite fast with the other DAW (which I know very well, having used it 18 years or so) and something works different - each software has it's own design specifications.


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## Pongo (May 18, 2020)

Thomas,

Have you come across the Tutorial Videos on the Cubase Youtube Channel? In particular the Greg Ondo ones are an astonishing resource that helped me numerous times! I highly recommend checking them out! 

Cubase' Youtube Channel with Greg Ondo's How-To's

(That is a lot of apostrophes! Hope I placed them all in the right place! )


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## Thomas Kallweit (May 18, 2020)

Thanks again, Pongo

and yes I already watched some of them and will probably again - useful stuff indeed.


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## Truthtrader (May 21, 2020)

Die hard cubase user here, i love it, been using since sx versions and i still think that as a full package for anything audio you cant beat it, from the quality of the stock plugins to the user interface (not the look) but they way you interact, like right click hold for tool selection is epic, sounds stupid to a normie, but for someone who has edited huge audio files it is a killer feature.

but here is the but.......

I had a weird project that paid really good money and i took it thinking (i dont really know how to but ill figure it out) (dont tell the client) 

basically i couldn't do what i wanted to in cubase, which is the first time thats ever happened to me.

So i had a look at reaper....

there were a lot of tears and late nights, but here are my thoughts:

Reaper as a package is shit, shit plugins shit interface pretty much audacity untill you start diving in.

Basically i built a solution for the project and it was incredible, i needed to do x i made the program do it, i needed to do y i found a script that does that.

then you can save this complex processes as shortcuts. Ok cubase has macros and the LE, but this is different league.

Ok but honestly if you not going to put the tears or time, its a waste of time, but if you are willing to put in the effort you will build a system that is so synergetic that you going to feel like iron man. the maschine is part of you.

anyways, still love cubase hahaha.....


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