Macro Organizer Improvements in Studio One 6.2

In this video, I take a look at creating a Macro that utilizes a useful new Key Command that was added in Studio One version 6.2. In addition - I also take a look at some of the improvements that we see with the Macro Organizer workflow in Studio One 6.2.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

How to Edit the Macro Controls Mappings In PreSonus Studio One

In this video, I take a deep dive into the Macro Controls Mapping section of the Channel Editor in PreSonus Studio One 5. More specifically, how to customize and edit the controls to suit your needs. Macro Controls have been around for quite some time in Studio One - but if you haven't fully explored them, then this video is for you.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

My Top Macro For Lightning Fast Fades In PreSonus Studio One

In this video, I demonstrate one of my top used Editing Macro's when working in PreSonus Studio One. For anyone creating fade's and editing at light speed in Studio One - I've found this Macro to be a huge time-saver, that allows me to work almost as fast as I can move my mouse, and think of an edit.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Faderport Tips For Power Users - Studio One Native Mode

Adding a Faderport 16 to my setup, was by far one of the best decision’s I’ve ever made. Not only did it re-ignite my passion for mixing - it also opened up a new world of possibilities for how I go about mixing a track with respect to my workflow.

Now, I’m not going to lie - At first, I was a little clumsy, as I hadn’t used a control surface for mixing since my DIGI 002 Days.. But after I began to force myself to use the Faderport more and more, it eventually became second nature - and although it sounds cliche, I really wouldn’t want to mix without it..

Add my Softube Console 1 into the equation, and it’s a match made in heaven (but that’s for another day)

In this video, I demonstrate two Faderport Features, (that to the best of my knowledge, are undocumented) as well as numerous Workflow Tips for Faderport 8 & Faderport 16 Users.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Workflow Tip - Manual Drum Editing Using Fill Gaps In PreSonus Studio One

For anyone who has ever done any manual editing inside a DAW - they’ll understand how useful “back-filling” gaps (where audio has been split) can be.

This is especially true when working with sources like multi-track drums, and / or percussion tracks where manual editing or a slicing workflow is preferred over time compression / expansion style quantizing.

In this video I demonstrate how the Fill Gaps command can be used when Manual Editing in PreSonus Studio One. An extremely useful command when editing sources like multi-track drums.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Using The Macro Controls In PreSonus Studio One

Have you ever clicked the Channel Editor icon in Studio One, and wondered what it’s all about? If you have, you’ll note that it opens up a floating window with a Console Fader on the left, in addition to 8 Knobs and Buttons. (X/Y Axis below).

I will be the first to admit that I slept on this feature for a while, but it really only wasn’t until somewhat recently (within the last year or 2) that I started using this feature.

In this video I demonstrate the basics on how to go about mapping out and using the Macro Controls (The Knobs and Buttons) in the Channel Editor in PreSonus Studio One.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

How To Render Multiple Event FX In PreSonus Studio One

I love using Event FX in Studio One. Whether it’s a simple EQ change that needs to be applied across just one phrase - or working with tools such as Melodyne, Revoice Pro, and VocAlign - Event FX give user’s a way to quickly apply processing to specific Audio Events as needed.

That being said, I think there’s still something to be said about committing to a decision and rendering specific processing once you are happy. This of course leads me back to why I love Event FX so much, because a user is able to “restore” just as easy as Render.

But have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had multiple Audio Events - say, a vocal track for example, and you wanted to select ALL the Audio Events on the track, and Render ALL of the Event FX at the same time?

In this video I demonstrate a few different methods that can be used to Render Event FX across multiple Audio Events in PreSonus Studio One.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Exploring The Music Creation Macro Toolbar In Studio One 4.5 - Chord Up and Chord Down

At the time that I am writing this article, we have just seen a major update to Studio One (being Version 4.5) As I am primarily an “Audio Guy” - I tend to take a bit of time to fully explore new MIDI related features in Studio One. But one thing is for certain, is that I always find that with each update (especially the bigger one’s) I always find a handful of features that seem to resonate with the way I like to work.

One thing to point out is that we now have 2 new Macro Toolbar’s that specially have to do with working with MIDI. They are Music Editing, and Music Creation.

Needless to say, I've been exploring the both of them, and in the above video, I demonstrate the Chord Up & Chord Down Macro Button's. More specifically, what they do, and when you might consider using them.

Also worth noting that I plan to do some content on specific features in both of these Toolbar’s that I find useful, with respect to how they can be incorporated into one’s workflow. But in the meantime, Here are a few other Video’s from my good friend Lukas that showcase some of the New MIDI Macro’s in action.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One 4 Quick Tip - Using Invert Selection & Select Lowest Notes To Speed Up Editing

The New Select Notes Options In Studio One 4

Continuing on from some of the other video’s we’ve covered. I wanted to re-visit some of the new “Select Notes” options that were recently added in Studio One Version 4. More specifically, using the “Select Lowest Notes” built in Macro button in the Musical Editor.

But in addition to that, I also wanted to touch upon another function that’s pretty well hidden in Studio One - that function being Invert Selection.

Using Invert Selection

For any one who has ever used Photoshop or any other related programs, you will most likely be accustomed to seeing and/or using the invert selection function. Essentially this does exactly what you would expect. It inverts the selection, providing a short cut for many various editing functions from that point.

Now I think it’s important to point out that in Studio One, this can be used on either Audio Events and instrument parts, OR on the actual Note Data (the MIDI Notes) that reside within an instrument part. This in itself can come in really handy when working with editing MIDI in Studio One.

Using Both Of The Above Together

In this Studio One 4 Quick Tip video, I demonstrate how to go about using the Invert Selection option when editing MIDI to quickly create a Bass part in a song. In addition, I also take a look at how it can be used in tandem with some of the new Note Selection Musical Editing Functions in Studio One 4.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Exploring The New 'Select Notes' Options In Studio One 4 - Select Off-Beats

The New Select Notes Options In Studio One 4

I was speaking to a friend / colleague a while back regarding some of the new features in Studio One 4, and he happened to mention being somewhat shocked that one of his favourite new features (The New Select Notes options) has not had a bigger spotlight.

I had seen the new options & spent a bit of time exploring some of them, but admittedly had not dug that deep into the menu. It was more of a: "Oh hey cool... I should check these out in more detail at some point".

Fast forward a couple months, and knowing that sometimes these improvements that get added may slip through the cracks, I decided to have a 2nd look. More specifically - a look at some of the built in Macros that PreSonus had included for users as one-click Macro button's for a specific task.

Useful Functions - 1 Click Away

I must admit, I'm glad I did. There are some really useful Macros that have been included. I think it's worth pointing out that having come from Pro Tools, I am very accustomed to working with and using keyboard shortcuts in my daily workflow. In addition, my usual approach is to build a Macro I need, then map it out to a key-command. To take that a step further, I have also never really bothered to take a really detailed look at the included Macro Buttons.

In general, let's just say that I prefer to use the mouse as little as possible. But having said that - I can definitely see the appeal of having some of these buttons one click away, and I think I may start to add buttons for all my future MIDI Macros! It's pretty convenient having them in the Music Editor, and it doesn't take up that much space. This also saves me from the scenario of running out of key-command combinations that don't require me to do finger acrobatics just to pull them off!

In this video I demonstrate how to use some of the new "Select Notes" options in Studio One 4. Although this video is focused on the (included) "Select Off-Beats" Macro, we also take a look at some other options as well as a few tips when working with Select Notes Macro's in general.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Quick Tip - Gain Staging Virtual Instruments In Studio One 4 Using Macros

The Trouble With Most Virtual Instruments (In My Opinion)

I find that in general, most of the Virtual Instruments that I use (regardless of whether they are soft synths, or sampler type instruments) tend to come in very hot. When I say hot, I mean some of them are literally either clipping or a step away from clipping.

As a side-note, I have created some custom virtual instruments myself, and I opted to "split the difference" and made sure that the levels were nowhere near zero (dbfs) but more along the lines of around -12 or so when played at higher velocities. I personally think that this is a happy medium.

Now as to why VI's output at such a hot level, well to be honest, that's another topic altogether. I've heard some arguments from people 'in the know' that it has to do with noise floor levels when playing back the samples at different sample rates, etc. But in the end, it's an issue that I deal with - and found a way to combat it when working in Studio One that I thought might be useful to some of you.

My Solution To The Problem

I think it's worth mentioning that I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel here, I know lots of people are most likely using a gain plug-in of some sort to tackle the above issue, but what this quick tip is all about is simply automating that process. Which of course just happens to be something that Studio One handles really well via the use of Macros.

In this video I demonstrate how to create a Macro in Studio One 4 that will automatically help gain stage your virtual instruments when needed. In addition, I also outline some other workflow benefits to using a Macro vs manually adjusting the global output volume on VI's.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

Tutorial - Beat Detective Style Multitrack Drum Editing In Studio One 4 [Updated for Version 3.3+]

Drum Editing - Slicing vs Time Compression & Expansion

Without getting into too much detail, I find that there are usually 2 different school's of thought when it comes to editing Multitrack Drums in a DAW. Full disclosure here - yes I'm generalizing, but for those who have been doing this for the last decade or more, I find that they usually rely solely on a slicing method of working. Whereas some of the newer generation couldn't be bothered.

Now first off, let me just get this out of the way - USE WHICH EVER METHOD YOU PREFER! If it works for you then that's great. But while I'm on the topic, let me also say that I personally will always use a slicing method whenever I can on the right sources. ie: percussive / rhythmic elements. To me, there is nothing that beats it despite how good the current time-stretching algorithms may be.

Drum Editing In Pro Tools Using Beat Detective - What's All The Fuss About?

If you are serious about audio engineering and have ever tracked or edited live drums, I'm almost certain that you would have at least heard of this style of editing. Just to be clear - for some of you, you may not have any interest in using slicing (and that's perfectly fine). But for those who (like me) came from Pro Tools, my guess is that the way in which you have become accustomed to working when editing multitrack drums, involved using Beat Detective.

Now for those who have no idea what Beat Detective is, it's essentially a way of working in which audio events (regions) are cut exactly at the initial transient point of say a kick or snare hit for example, and then the beginning of each audio event (representing the start of the transient) is quantized to a grid value. Example: 16th notes. This will obviously result in a vast amount of audio events that are all cut up and shuffled around on your time-line.

Furthermore, any gaps that remain, are then back-filled, and any overlaps that occur would be obviously canceled out. The last step is adding appropriate crossfades between all the adjacent audio events, and double checking your edits - and when done right it's pretty much seamless.

However one aspect that I haven't yet mentioned, is that although the entire process sounds quite daunting and time consuming - Beat Detective in general involves an automated workflow that handles all of these tasks with ease in a few different steps. But here's the thing that I think not a lot of people realize - As of Version 3.3, SO DOES STUDIO ONE!!

Studio One's Take On Automating The Above Process

When I made the move over to Studio One, the one area that I just kept having to hop over to Pro Tools for was drum editing. At that time, Studio One had a few, well.. let's just call them 'quirks' with the way it handled slicing multitrack drums. Long story short, I got frustrated and worked out a workflow that could be used to "mimic" all the steps needed to achieve what I wanted to do without having to export audio events to be edited in Pro Tools & re-imported.

Long story short, my good friends at PreSonus got wind of the video that I had done, and took it upon themselves to basically re-vamp their entire process. About 5 months or so later when Studio One 3.3 was released, (in my humble opinion) it finally worked as it should. The one cool thing though is that Studio One actually does all of the above in 1 single step!

There are a few differences here and there of course, and I would ALWAYS advise double checking your edits before committing. But in general, it's my opinion that it's right on par with Beat Detective in terms of efficiency when used correctly. 

So if you've made it this far through this article, my guess is that this is something you may be interested in. Furthermore, I would encourage anyone editing multitrack drums to at least have a look at this workflow regardless of whether they've ever used Beat Detective or not.

A Quick Note On The Video Above

Yes, the video is long - BUT! My goal here was not only to show how to set everything up and use it in what I consider to be the most efficient way. But also to show how to do manual editing after the fact, to get the timing of your tracks sounding exactly how you need them to without fussing about.

In this video, I demonstrate how to go about using a 'Beat Detective Style' Drum slicing work-flow when editing/quantizing Multitrack Drums in Studio One 4. Although Studio One Version 4 was used, this video is applicable to anyone using Studio One version 3.3 and above.

And as always, if you enjoy this content, please - Share, Subscribe, and hit that like button. :)

Cheers, Marcus

How To Import a Mixing Template Into a Studio One Version 3 Song Using Macros

New Features In Studio One Version 4

As many of you know, Studio One Version 4 was recently launched towards the end of May, and along with it, came many highly user-requested features. One of them being Import Song Data. Without getting into too much detail - Import Song Data is an incredibly powerful feature that allows users to choose specific information from external Studio One Songs, and bring it into their existing song. One area where this work-flow really shines is with respect to importing a Mixing Template into your existing song.

What About Users Still On Version 3?

Although this is fantastic news for those who have made the move over to Version 4, not everyone has made the switch. So what does this mean for all the people still trucking along with their trusty Version 3 setup's? Well - have no fear, because there's actually a work-around that can be used for importing a basic Mixing Template by creating a relatively simple Macro.

In this video, I demonstrate a way that users can import a Mixing Template into their Studio One Version 3 songs using a Macro work-around. It's not perfect, but certainly gets the job done for basic Mixing Templates including Bus Channels, FX Channels, track names, plug-ins, and complete FX chains..

**Note - In order to achieve the above workflow - you must be using the most recent build on Studio One Version 3. (3.5.6)