Recording - June 2014 - 20

...where we bring you follow-up articles
with application hints and upgrade news
about gear already reviewed in Recording

&
Steinberg Cubase 7.5
New tools for creativity, new features for
speed... and the return of an old flame
by Paul Vnuk Jr.

It has been just about a year (our June 2013 issue) since I had the
pleasure of introducing our readers to Cubase 7, with its new Mix
Console, MIDI Chord Assistant, VariAudio 2.0 and more. Now it's
time to look at the latest incarnation, Cubase 7.5.
Steinberg started the x.5 releases a few years back with version
6.5. While these tend not to be major structural overhauls and remodels as we see with whole-number versions like 6 and 7, they do fix
bugs, enhance already existing features, and often introduce new VST
effects and VSTi software instruments. The best part is, just like the 6.5
upgrade a few years back, moving from 7.0 to 7.5 is a mere $50.
So what does $50 buy in this newest upgrade? A whole lot!
Cubase 7.5 introduces some new features, including at least one that
users have been asking for for quite a while. Version 7.5 also
includes bug fixes and adds a healthy collection of VST instruments
and effects as well-including the return of an old Steinberg favorite.
For a full list of all that's new and what bugs are fixed in 7.5, check
out the version history PDF, which is available from Steinberg at
http://tinyurl.com/Cubase75RevHistory.
And now, let's jump in...
Track Versions
The biggest news for many users in Cubase 7.5, especially expatriate Pro Tools users, is the introduction of Track Versions. Not sure what
that means? Think Pro Tools Playlists and you are on the (excuse the
pun) right track! In simple terms, Track Versions is a new way of recording and organizing multiple versions of a take on the same track. It's
available for instrument, MIDI, chord, tempo, and signature tracks.
Here's an example. Let's say you just captured an electric guitar
take and you really like it, but at the same time you wonder what the
song would sound like if the guitar had a bit more overdrive, or if the
guitarist switched from a Strat to a Les Paul. In the past, you would
mute the current track, insert a new track, arm it, and record another pass, right?
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RECORDING June 2014

With Track Versions, you simply hover over the track
name and select New Version. Your old take disappears
(don't worry-it's still there!) and you record again. Want
the old take back? Just hover over the track name again,
and now you can toggle between any and all alternate
versions.

The big plus is that this all takes place on the same track,
keeping your session much better organized. It works with
whole tracks or just punch-ins, and you can even make new
Track Versions out of copies of existing tracks so you can
try different edits of the same material. Groups of tracks
can also be grouped together with common ID tags, so you
can switch between multi-tracked drum takes, string sections, or even when tracking a whole band or group of
musicians at the same time.
But isn't this similar to Cubase's lane function? The
answer is "Yes but not really." Both ways allow you to work
with different takes on the same track, but lanes are made
for editing and comping a track of similar takes together
into a master take, while Track Versions (which also contain
their own lanes) allow you to work with differing musical
stylings and overall ideas that are never really meant to be
spliced together.
Back to the guitarist example... say you are tracking a
song and you are 95% happy with a guitar take, but at the
last minute inspiration strikes and the guitarist wants to play
it again with a different chord voicing, or as above with different overdrive settings on his pedal. In the old days you
would create a whole new track, mute the previous one,
and track this second version.
This may be great if it happens once in the song and you
have one extra guitar take, but what if his cabinet is miked
with two mics, plus maybe a third distant room mic? Now
you have six tracks overall to juggle. What if during that take
the player has another idea? What if the bass player does
the same thing? Pretty soon you have a session with scads of
tracks to wade through and weed out come mixdown.
With Track Versions, all these takes and retries are neatly organized and out of the way until you choose the ones

http://www.tinyurl.com/Cubase75RevHistory

Recording - June 2014

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