- 1). Buy a midi keyboard. Once Cubase is installed, you can just draw data to build compositions, but this is time-consuming and not very conducive to the creative process. Pick up a USB-powered "plug and play" midi keyboard relatively cheaply online or from your local music store.
- 2). Plug the midi keyboard into a USB port. Once Cubase starts, it should recognize it automatically.
- 3). Launch Cubase. Click on the Cubase icon to start the program.
- 4). Select an audio driver. Click on "Devices" in the bar at the top of the window and select "Device Setup." Select the driver from the drop-down menu in the "VST Audio Bay," which gives the lowest latency. Latency refers to the time it takes from a midi key being pressed to the audio being played back. The drivers available will differ depending upon the specification of the computer used.
- 5). Open a new project. Before spending too much time messing around, it's good to familiarize yourself with the process of building up a basic track. Click on "File" and select "New Project". This will open up the "Templates" menu.
- 6). Select "Empty" from the templates menu, choose the folder where you want to save your first composition and click on "OK."
- 7). Add your first midi track. You now have a blank project open in front of you. Right-click in the second blank column next to the sequencer lane and select "Add Midi Track."
- 8). Load some drums. Above the midi lane you have just created is a bar showing the time passage of your new project in beats and bars. At the beginning of this is a small white triangle. Click on this and drag the inverted white triangle which appears over to the "2" highlighting the first bar of your composition. Click on "Devices" again and select "VST Instruments". Cubase SX3 comes loaded with a limited number of virtual instruments that can be accessed here. Right-click on the empty black space next to the "1" and select "Drums" and then "LM7" from the drop-down menus.
- 9). Arm your midi track. Click on the midi track to highlight it. In the far-left column, select your keyboard from the midi "in" drop-down menu and "LM-7" from your "out" menu. Then set the "map" menu a little farther down the column to "GM map," which will allow you to program beats directly into your sequencer. Click on the pencil icon at the top of the project window and draw a box from "1" to "2" in your first midi lane.
- 10
Lay down some beats. Click on the loop button in the middle of the transport bar and press "Play," select the arrow icon at the top of your project window and click on the box you created in your midi lane to maximize it. You now either draw beats in with your mouse or press record and play them in with your keyboard. - 11
Add a bass line. Create another midi lane, select "vb-1" from the "VST Instruments" in the "Device" menu and arm your second midi lane as before with the "LM-7" without adding a drum map. Press record and play in a one-bar bass line. - 12
Experiment. Move the white triangle at "2" to "5," highlight your loop, press the "Alt" key, click on the loop to duplicate it, and then drag and drop the duplication next to the original. Do this another two times to create a four-bar loop of your basic composition. You can now experiment by changing your bass line, adding more drums or recording a melody in a new midi lane armed with a different VST instrument from the "Devices" menu.
SHARE
