Things You'll Need:
- Cubase VST
- A PC or Mac with a CPU fast enough to record with.
- Enough RAM Memory to play back tracks simultaneously.
- A Sound Card with Midi inputs
- Mixer w/ phantom power able to record vocals and turn them into a digital signal.
- Condensor Microphone
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Step 1
Have you ever been recording a song and you find that the vocal tracks are perfect except a few mic noises or high points on the track that causes distortion. Dynamic events are great for effects such as fades or panning, where you want to hear the effect but don't want to edit the actual audio file. The majority of application options for dyanamic events are fairly clear-cut. They're great for stuff like non-destructive fade in/outs or muting mic nouses during pauses.
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Step 2
There is however a nifty application for dyanamic volume events that is not apparent at first glance. It comes in handy if you don't own a special compressor plug-in.
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Step 3
A typical characteristic of uncompressed signals is that they often have just a few loud signal peaks that push at the threshold of the maximum allowable dynamic range. A compressor irons out precisely these peaks so that you end up with a smooth signal, in other words, a signal with less drastic level deviations. This lets you tweak the entire signal so that it sounds tighter and punchier.
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Step 4
Local ViewYou can emulate this type of compression via dynamic volume events:
Double-click on the vocal segment to open the Lane Editor. Select the item Dynamic Events from the local View menu, then the item Volume from the menu in the middle, and under S (Snap), the entry Off so that you can move the dots freely. -
Step 5
Select the pencil via the right mouse button. Press and hold the Alt key and click on the Volume line located under the waveshape to draw new dots. Release the Alt key. You can now re-position the dots to shape a control curve.
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Step 6
Example of Wave FileUse the waveshape display to locate the words that are too loud, and lower the volume with the help of the control curve.
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Step 7
Ensure that you set the dots to positions where the signal pauses. If the steps are audible, use short lines drawn at angles instead.
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Step 8
Listen closely to the results and reposition the dots so the reduction in levels sounds unobtrusive.
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Step 9
Depending on latency, there is a delay between the visual display of the waveshape and audio output. This of course changes the relationship to control data such as dynamic events. If the delay is prominent, you can't rely fully on the waveshape, you'll have to do it by ear, i.e. listen closely and reposition the dots until the results sound good.
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Step 10
This method does take some time, effort and paitence to come up with the ideal settings. Some audio engineers insist that the manual or automated fader manipulations that this process emulates is the only way to go. The results often sound more dynamic and natural than a comparable compressor-treated passage would-provided of course you do it right.
