Hidden Gems In Studio One 4.5

New Feature’s and improvement's on existing feature's are always appreciated in an update - but sometimes it’s the little miscellaneous improvements that "squeeze through the cracks" that can really make a huge difference in one’s workflow.

In this video, I take a look at a few of the “not so obvious” features that were added in PreSonus Studio One Version 4.5.

Global Automation View vs Track Based Automation View In PreSonus Studio One

If you’ve migrated over from a different DAW such as Pro Tools or Logic Pro - there’s a good chanced you may be accustomed to working with Automation in a certain way. The great news is that Studio One is really flexible in terms of how it allows users to view (and edit) their automation.

In addition to creating weekly content here on this site, and working my day job as a Producer, Mixer, Engineer - I also do some training clinics for Studio One from time to time.

In the audience is usually a mix of people who have used either Pro Tools or Logic Pro - and each “group” of people will always ask me to explain how Studio One handles Automation views in general. So I thought this might make a good video.

In this video I demonstrate the basic differences and approaches for using a Global Automation View vs a Track based Automation view when working in PreSonus Studio One.

How To Fix The Phase of Multi Mic Performances Using Editing In PreSonus Studio One

Using Multiple Microphones on sources is a great way to thicken up and contour the sound of a recording. That being said, it also has the potential to introduce some un-welcomed issues if not done properly.

Generally speaking, when I’m using Multi Mic setups to record a source, I’m paying careful attention to the phase relationship between both microphones and the source. Flipping (or inverting) the polarity on one of the channels is a great way to check this.

Example: When using a Top Microphone & Bottom Microphone on a snare drum - in order for the phase relationship to be correct - the bottom mic would need to have its polarity inverted . Failure to do so may result in a a thin, weird sound - that loses all it’s bottom end.

But not every case is this cut & dry. For instance in the case of using multiple microphones on an Acoustic Guitar track - it’s not really a case of using a Top & Bottom Mic, where one of them will be 180 degrees out of phase with the other. Having said that - inverting the phase of one of the channels may still very well provide telling results. But furthermore, it may be a case where the phase is “close” but not perfect.

In these cases, I usually try to aim to get things as close as possible while tracking, and if I feel there is a need for further refinements - I will turn to good old trusty manual editing in my DAW.

BUT before I go, one thing I wanted to add (that I really should have mentioned in the video), is that if you can visually see that the waveforms are completely out of phase with each other - you’d definitely want to make sure to invert the phase using a plug-in such as Mix Tool in Studio One. And it might even be worth rendering this into the file using Event FX - so that visually the Waveform updates. The way to see this visually would be that the Waveform would be going down (from the Centre) as opposed to going up from the centre.

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Note that the Waveforms (although not identical) are similar in terms of their positive and negative direction that they are both flowing.

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Note that the Waveforms are heading in exact opposite directions - and hence 180 degrees out of phase with each other.

In this video I demonstrate some basic concepts on how to fix the phase of multi mic performances using basic editing when working In PreSonus Studio One. And to be clear - this is assuming that the Audio files are both generally ‘in phase’ to begin with.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - Removing Plug-Ins & Sends By Click + Dragging

Today’s video is a super simple tip! If you've ever wanted a quick and easy way to remove plug-ins and sends from your Studio One Song (besides Right Clicking and choosing "Remove") - then this video might be of use.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - Using 'Create Ranges On Tracks' To Simplify Automation

Any time I'm doing Studio One training clinics or seminars - I always get stopped by someone whenever I use one particular shortcut in Studio One. So I figured it would be worth covering this feature in detail. In this video I demonstrate the 'Select Ranges On Tracks' function in PreSonus Studio One. More specifically what it does, and how it can be used to simplify editing automation when working.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Working With VCA's In PreSonus Studio One - Part 2 - VCA Automation Demystified

One of the biggest feature requests in Studio One (especially from former Pro Tools users) was VCA Faders. Having said that - Studio One added VCA's in Version 3.

I find that it’s kind of tough to explain to people exactly why mixing with VCA’s is such a killer way to work. The usual responses are something along the lines of “Well how is that different then creating a group?” or “Isn’t that that same as creating a BUS Channel for selected tracks?”

My answer is always the same. Once you fully understand (and start using) VCA’s - it’s hard to imagine NOT having them. So with that being said, I wanted to do a 2 part series that would (hopefully) get people accustomed to using VCA’s and explain some of the advantages in terms of incorporating them into one’s workflow.

Before I go any further - If you haven’t already seen the first video - You can watch Part 1 by clicking here.

In this 2nd video of a 2 part series, I demonstrate how to work with VCA's with respect to automation. More specifically, how to render VCA Automation into source tracks - as well as how to merge VCA Automation (static offsets) when needed.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Working With VCA's In PreSonus Studio One - Part 1 - VCA Basics and Setup

One of the biggest feature requests in Studio One (especially from former Pro Tools users) was VCA Faders. Having said that - Studio One added VCA's in Version 3.

I find that it’s kind of tough to explain to people exactly why mixing with VCA’s is such a killer way to work. The usual responses are something along the lines of “Well how is that different then creating a group?” or “Isn’t that that same as creating a BUS Channel for selected tracks?”

My answer is always the same. Once you fully understand (and start using) VCA’s - it’s hard to imagine NOT having them. So with that being said, I wanted to do a 2 part series that would (hopefully) get people accustomed to using VCA’s and explain some of the advantages in terms of incorporating them into one’s workflow.

In this 1st video of a 2 part series, I demonstrate the basics of VCA's - more specifically how to set them up, what they do, and why they're so incredibly useful.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - How To Edit Adjacent MIDI Notes (Legato Phrases)

Not every tip needs a long explanation. :) This one is both extremely simple AND extremely useful. Have you ever found yourself in the situation where you needed to move the ending of one MIDI note and the beginning of another that were “butted up” against each other?

In this video I demonstrate how to edit adjacent MIDI Notes (AKA Legato phrases) in PreSonus Studio One - essentially allowing a user to move the beginning and ending position of 2 MIDI notes at the same time.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Export Raw Audio Files (Regions) In PreSonus Studio One

If you’re collaborating with other engineer’s, producer’s, songwriter’s, or studio’s - then there’s a good chance that you’ve been asked to deliver “RAW Audio Files” (aka regions) before. If you haven’t - then my guess is that you will be eventually. :)

First off, let’s take a moment to talk about what this term means.. Well, essentially we can think of Raw Audio Files, as the actual files that are created when recording to your hard drive. Another term for RAW files could also be “un-processed” but in my personal experience, the term RAW is used more often. In fact If I had to narrow it down even further, I’d say “Raw Audio Files / Regions Consolidated from Bar 1” is the phrase I’ve heard the most.

Regardless of whether you are recording a vocal, a kick drum, or an acoustic guitar - whatever source is being recorded through the preamp (after it has passed through the A > D Converters) INTO your DAW would be the raw audio. It’s also important to note that the actual gain that the files have been recorded at will have been determined by your preamp’s gain settings, and the level at which you recorded them. So any fader levels and panning done within the console / mixer of your DAW - would not have any bearing on the levels of the files.

There are certain cases where having access to the RAW audio files (vs exported stems) may be preferable, but without getting into too much detail, the main reason would be to have maximum flexibility/control in terms of mixing or producing. Case in point, you’ve done some vocal tracking, and someone has requested that you deliver RAW tracks so that he or she may continue to work on the song, and have full control over any processing that may be added.

“Translation - Don’t do any mixing, I’ll handle that on my end… Just record the tracks as best as you can, and send them to me..”

One last thing to point out, is that I think it’s also important to note that in most cases - even when delivering RAW Audio files, it’s pretty common practice to do some basic house keeping, such as deleting unwanted sections of audio in between phrases, and adding basic fade in’s & fade out’s. But the end goal is to usually render a new contiguous audio file that starts at “Bar 1” with no additional processing.

In this video I demonstrate how to export Raw Audio tracks (Regions) in PreSonus Studio One 4 using a Drag & Drop workflow from the Arrange Window to the Browser.

Although this video was done using Version 4, the same concepts can be applied to previous version of Studio One.

How To Embed Chord Track Metadata Into Audioloops In PreSonus Studio One 4

Since it’s introduction in Studio One Version 4 - I’ve been trying my best to make use of the Chord Track wherever I can. Although I must admit that with the exception of using “Import Song Data” features, (chord track information on Audio Events will come in when using Import Song Data) this is usually on a song by song basis. ie: I use it in certain songs as a production tool - but it’s not yet 100% engrained into my workflow. I also haven’t seen any Soundset’s that make use of this feature - (yet).

Then one day it dawned on me - “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could export all my Audioloops with the Chord Track metadata already having been detected… There MUST be a way to do this!”

This would save me the step of having to detect chords (and verify they’re all correct in the Editor) if I wanted to use the chord track in my production workflow. Also, depending on how I have the tracks in my Studio One Song setup, those Audioloops could potentially “auto-conform” to my Chord Track (in my source Song) when dragged in. ie: if I had some blank tracks setup in a template for dragging in Audioloops - and they were set to follow the Chord Track.

furthermore, my guess is that we will eventually be able to audition Audioloops in the Studio One Browser against our Chord Track in our Studio One Song. IMHO - This seems like the next logical step to take. That being said, I’m simply hypothesizing here, so don’t quote me on this.. (Although it would be pretty cool).

However if that DOES end up happening, I thought to myself - wouldn’t it be nice to “future proof” all my Audioloops I’ve been creating by embedding the Chord Track data into them before exporting. In addition, this could also prove to be useful in the meantime for my own productions. But all of that depends on whether or not this is even possible!

Well the short answer is, Yes - it is..

In this video I demonstrate how to export Audioloops with Embedded Chord Track Metadata In PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - Using 'Define Tempo' To Timestretch Audio Events In Studio One

I always love finding a new feature that I didn’t know existed in Studio One.. And it just so happens that this happened to me a couple of weeks ago - and I wanted to share. :)

For anyone who has ever worked with Audio Loops in Studio One, be it Wav Files, MP3 Files, or AIFF - You’ll know that there are a bunch of different options we have at our disposal with respect to tempo - but a really simple way to “snap” an audio loop to your songs Tempo (when it’s BPM is undefined) is to simply use the alt / option modifier when clicking + dragging - and snapping an Audio Events edge to a Bar Boundary.

This works as expected for most cases, but one thing to note is that although it does snap the loop to work within your current song - there is still no File Tempo metadata information in the Audio Event. The simple solution for this is to do a quick bounce and create a new file. The new file takes on your Studio One Song’s BPM and all is well in the world again… So if you do end up making any changes to the BPM - your loop will play back at the proper BPM as long as the track is set to Timestretch in the inspector.

But did you know that Studio One has 2 completely different approaches that a user can utilize to Timestretch Audio Files? Well - to be completely honest, I’ve been on Studio One since ~2014/2015 and I had no idea until a couple weeks ago…

In this video, I demonstrate how to stretch Audio Files (Loops) using 'Define Tempo' vs the traditional 'Stretch Event' approach. Whats the difference? Well, Define Tempo is a unique approach that can be used when timestretching Audio Events - which (in some cases) may be preferable to use vs basic timestretching.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - When and Why To Enable 'Automatically Add Envelopes For All Touched Parameters'

Editing automation is an essential part of modern music production. But lets face it - it can sometimes be a bit of a pain. I think in general there are usually 2 school’s of thought. Those who prefer to ‘mouse in’ their automation, and those who would rather take a more tactile approach and ‘perform’ an automation pass - either by using the mouse, (clicking and dragging parameters in real time) or a controller.

To be completely honest, I use both methods. If i’m just needing to automate a simple filter sweep, I might opt to quickly draw it in. BUT - in the case where I feel the need to have more control, manually grabbing faders, and performing my automation moves is a great way to achieve that.

But there’s one thing that can be frustrating during this process. That being the need to first “add” an envelope for the parameter I need to automate. Once an envelope has been added, it’s simply a matter of choosing the automation mode, and performing a pass. But if you’re wanting to automate multiple parameters at the same time, you would first have to “add them”.

The great news is that there is a preference in Studio One that takes care of this issue all together - and all you need to do is simply enable it!

In this video I demonstrate the 'Automatically Add Envelopes For All Touched Parameters' automation preference in PreSonus Studio One. More specifically when (and why) to use it - and how it interacts when writing plug-in automation.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Properly Export One-Shots and SFX Samples In PreSonus Studio One

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you're trying to import One-Shot samples into your time-line - that they end up time-stretching to your song's BPM? In reality, when dealing with One-Shots, this isn't really what we want.

Regardless of whether you’re using drum samples or SFX samples, the whole idea of using One-Shot samples is that if it’s a kick drum, or a snare hit, or hi-hat - the duration does not really matter.. If we’re talking Loops - then sure, but simple One-Shot samples (IMHO) shouldn’t need to be time-stretched. In fact it’s my preference that they aren’t.

This becomes even more evident when there’s drastic differences in Tempos. So let’s say that you import a sample that has an embedded BPM of 120 (the usual default) into an 75 BPM song. If a user has the “Stretch Audio Files To Song Tempo” preference enabled, (which most user’s do) Studio One will automatically time-stretch the sample to play back at 75 vs 120. This amount of time-stretching can really degrade a sample.

So the obvious thing to do here, is open the inspector and delete the tempo field of the audio event - and all is well. The file will play back with no processing and no extra artifacts. But wouldn’t it be easier if we could just avoid the issue all together?

Well, if you’re into creating and exporting your own samples, there’s a way we can handle this when working in Studio One.

In this video I demonstrate a workflow that can be used to remove Tempo Metadata when using a drag & drop workflow to export One-Shot Audio Files via the Studio One browser.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Track Based Automation vs Part Based Automation In PreSonus Studio One

Automating your instrument tracks is a fantastic way to add movement and interest to your productions. In fact, sometimes a simple tweak such as a basic filter sweep can literally add a night & day difference to a song!

That being said, it’s also important to have a solid understanding of the different ways in which you can apply automation. Case in point; Studio One allows users to go about this in a couple different ways.. One of them is a pretty standard approach that most DAW user’s would be familiar with - while the other is (imho) a little more modern, (and perhaps preferable in certain circumstances).

In this video I demonstrate the main differences between Track Based Automation vs Part Based Automation (a.k.a. Region/Event Based Automation) when working with Instrument tracks in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - When and Why To Use 'Collapse All Tracks' In PreSonus Studio One

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been doing my best to put together a series of videos that can be helpful for organizing your Arrange Window when working in Studio One. As many of you may have noticed, I tend to jump around quite a bit with my views - by doing things such as zooming in and out (both vertically and horizontally), as well as expanding and collapsing folder tracks as needed.

There are quite a few different way in which Studio One allows user’s to customize their views, and for this I am grateful. Furthermore, I tend to take full advantage of any view I need in order to accomplish the task at hand. But as soon as I’m complete - I tend to want to quickly return back to my “Zoom Overview” view - with all my automation envelopes hidden, and my folders collapsed.

This is where the Collapse All Tracks Command comes in super handy. :)

In this video I demonstrate the Collapse All Tracks Menu Command In Studio One. More specifically, why it's useful - and when to use it.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One 4 - Two Chord Track Tips You May Not Know

The Chord Track in Studio One Version 4 has really changed the way in which it’s possible to work in a DAW. I know that it has opened up many new creative possibilities in my own personal workflow, which were simply not achievable before.

That being said, it does take a bit of getting used to, because it’s not just a set of Markers for adding Chord Data, but rather a Dynamic tool that can non-destructively change your entire song with a single click.

If you’re interested in learning more about The Chord Track, here are 3 different tutorials that I’ve done in the past covering some of the creative possibilities:

1. Producing With The Chord Track In Studio One 4 - Working With Instrument Tracks

2. Tip - How To Render Chord Track Changes Into Instrument Parts (MIDI Events) In Studio One 4

3. How To Create Instant 808 Bass Lines Using The Chord Track In Studio One 4

Now If you’ve spent any time using The Chord Track - one of the areas that may be familiar, is using both Instrument Parts & Audio Events to “extract” or “detect” chord information - which can then be added to the main Global Chord Track. It’s also worth pointing out that once you have this information, it can be applied in various different ways to Audio Tracks & Instrument Tracks alike.

But did you know that there are some simple shortcuts that can be used to help speed up the process?

In this video I demonstrate a couple miscellaneous tips that can be used when working with The Chord Track in Studio One Version 4 with both Audio Events, and Instrument Parts (MIDI Events).

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One Quick Tip - Using Folder Tracks And Console View Options To Streamline Your Workflow

In last weeks video we had a look at how to enable a preference within Studio One that would essentially “auto create” an Automation Track (in the Arrange Window) for Fx Channels, Bus Channels, and VCA Channels.

If you recall, I made mention of the fact that this is my personal preference to have happen by default. But that being said, I also mentioned that some people may argue that depending on the number of Automation Tracks being created - it may begin to clutter up your Arrange Window.

In this weeks video, I wanted to demonstrate a tip that can help combat that, and essentially gives the user the best of both worlds. The Automation Tracks can reside in your Arrange Window for easy editing - but with the added benefit of being organized in a simple yet effective way. Furthermore, by adjusting a few different preferences in the Console View Options - Studio One allows user’s to customize it’s behaviour to suit their needs based on personal preference.

In this video I demonstrate how to utilize Folder Tracks a Various Console View Options to help maintain a neat & tidy Arrange Window when working in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Get Arrange Tracks For Bus Channels - FX Channels and VCA Channels In PreSonus Studio One

I personally don’t make any efforts to conceal the fact that I am a former Pro Tools user of many years. In fact, as I’m sure you may have noticed - a lot of my content is created with the intent of showing other former Pro Tools users the “Studio One Equivalent” way of handling specific tasks that they may have been used to doing in Pro Tools.

That being said, when I first made the move to Studio One - one thing that I found really confusing was the fact that if I created a Bus Channel (Subgroup) or an FX Channel - it was not visible in my Arrange Window (by default). There were steps that could be taken to make it show up, but it didn’t happen by default (as would have been my preference). But this was was quite a while back, and as of one of the updates that we got in Version 3 - a preference was added to mitigate the issue.

Now before you start ambushing me with comments like “why would it show up - Its not a track?” Let me just say - YES, I’m fully aware of that. :) Im also fully aware that Studio One is not the only DAW that functions this way. For example: I know that this is also the default behaviour of Logic Pro.

But what I will say is that when you are used to working a certain way (with a 1:1 parity between your Arrange Window & Console) for 15+ years, it’s tough to adapt to not having arrange tracks for all of the Channel’s in your Console. This becomes especially evident if you prefer to work primarily in the arrange window - with the inspector open for basic mixing requirements.

I will also say that 9 times out of 10, if I create a Bus Channel, FX Channel, or VCA Channel - chances are that I have the intentions of automating it’s parameters, be it volume, or plug-in settings. So I’d prefer it’s available by default to do so.

So having said all of the above, if this is something you would prefer - In this video I demonstrate how to set Studio One's preferences so that an Automation Track is automatically created for Bus Channels, FX Channels, & VCA Channels when using PreSonus Studio One.

For those coming from other DAW's such as Pro Tools, this may be preferable to the default behaviour.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Studio One 4 Quick Tip - Using The Automation "Reduction Level" Setting To Smooth Out Automation

Working With Automation

I find in general that there are usually 2 school’s of thought when it comes to automation, or more specifically - when it comes to recording / writing automation. Those who like to draw everything in perfectly, and those who prefer to record it in using a controller, or at the very least using a mouse.

I myself, am comfortable doing either method, but usually prefer to get some sort of hands on control whenever possible.

But have you ever felt like the result of your record pass isn’t quite what you performed?

Too Many Nodes - or Not Enough?

If you are part of the camp that likes to record in your automation manually using a controller of some sort, I’m almost certain that at some point you may have found yourself in either one of these 2 situations:

1. The automation has too many unnecessary nodes (breakpoints)

2. The automation doesn’t reflect the exact performance that was recorded! ie: It doesn’t have enough.

As most of you know - I come from a Pro Tools background, and in Pro Tools, we had a preference that allowed us to deal with this scenario that gave the user the option to “thin out” the automation at varying levels after each pass.

In case you weren’t aware - this is actually something that was recently added to Studio One in one of the final updates to Studio One Version 3’s life cycle.

In this video I demonstrate the recently added "Reduction Level" setting in PreSonus Studio One's Automation preferences. More specifically, what it's meant for - and when (and why) to use it.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Quick Tip - How To Multi-Select Impact XT Pads In Studio One 4.1.1 & Above

I’m a big fan of keeping things simple these days, and hence I find myself turning to the stock plug-ins and instruments that are included with Studio One on a daily basis. So needless to say Impact XT has replaced my use of Battery in about 99% of the cases when I’m looking to trigger a basic kit with drum samples.

BUT!!

I must admit that in one thing that’s always bugged me about using Impact / Impact XT in the past was not being able to select multiple pads and change their outputs together. Not to mention other parameters as well - but mostly, changing the outputs!

Well, in case you happened to miss it, there was one line in the release notes of Studio One 4.1.1 that definitely caught my attention:

[Impact XT] Multiselect for pads (Shift or CMD)

In this Studio One Quick Tip video I demonstrate how to select multiple pads in Impact XT in Studio One Version 4.1.1 & above. This can be extremely useful when adjusting the outputs of multiple pads at once (in addition to other parameters).

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

Cheers, Marcus