Compressing Note Data with the Transform Tool In PreSonus Studio One

Certain virtual instruments will respond to different velocity’s in different ways. In some cases it’s fairly easy to adjust the velocity curve (sensitivity) so that the VI will respond to the incoming MIDI (Note Data) depending on how the user desires, but it’s also possible to alter the actual Note Data of an entire performance. In some cases, with deeply sampled instruments - this (IMHO) is preferable to tweaking the sensitivity within the VI.

In this video, I demonstrate how the Transform Tool Can be used to "compress" or alter the dynamic range of Note Data (MIDI) parameters 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 Quickly Deactivate Multiple Instances of Melodyne In PreSonus Studio One

When working with vocal’s I will often do a quick tune with Melodyne, Revoice Pro and/or Autotune - just so I can hear the vocals tuned in context with the track. This is usually followed by a re-do or a final pass to get them sitting just right.

Most of the time, if I’ve recorded vocals, I will also be the one tuning the final vocals, but in some cases, the raw vocal files (regions) go out to another engineer.

In these cases, it’s obviously necessary to bypass or deactivate Melodyne before exporting the raw vocal tracks.

In this video, I demonstrate a shortcut that can be used to quickly bypass (Deactivate) multiple Event FX instances of Melodyne while working in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

2 Ways To Automate The Pitch of Different Lanes In Drum Patterns

In this video, I demonstrate 2 different methods that can be used for automating the pitch of different elements when working with Pattern's in PreSonus Studio One. A great example of this would be automating Hi-Hat Rolls to be pitched up/down in different sections of a song.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Exporting Multiple File Formats Using The PreSonus Audio Batch Converter

Dealing with multiple different File Formats with respect to deliverables is pretty much a given - especially if you’re dealing with Music that’s created for Television, Film, and Web. Based on my experience, different Music Production houses may request different formats, (ie: Wav or Aiff) and despite there being better options available - MP3’s are still widely used for Preview File’s.

Although this is a pretty simple task, if you’re just dealing with a basic stereo Mixdown - it can quickly become cumbersome when dealing with Multiple Mix Versions, and / or Stems of all of those multiple mixes.

For me, this task used to include 3 separate sets of exports for a lot of the work that I do when Mixing Music that’s meant to go to Music Production houses. So just imagine - sometimes I would be exporting a Stereo Mix, with up to 5 or 6 variations (edits), then Stems for each of those Mixes! Then it was basically a case of “Rinse & Repeat” for the Aiff Versions, and the MP3 Versions! Definitely NOT fun.

These days, though - I have a much quicker workflow!

In this video, I demonstrate how I typically use the Audio Batch Converter to Render multiple sets of files in different deliverable formats for jobs that require me to do so.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Store and Recall Patterns In PreSonus Studio One

In a previous post, we took a look at Working With Pattern Parts In PreSonus Studio One. If you haven’t checked that out yet - you can find it here. But one thing that I mentioned was that after you’ve created some Patterns with variations - it might be nice to be able to recall them so that they can be imported into new productions.

Although it’s nice to have original sounding Drum Patterns in Songs - Simple Groove’s with a basic Kick / Snare / Hi-Hat Pattern can really help speed up the writing process when time is tight… This is where saving either Pattern FIle Preset’s or Pattern File Musicloops can come in real handy. 🙂

In this video, I demonstrate 2 different methods that can be used for storing, and recalling Pattern's in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Working With Pattern Parts In PreSonus Studio One

Prior to working with Studio One, I must admit that my experience with Step Sequencer’s was pretty minimal. I understood the basic principals, and had worked with both hardware, and software tools - but never really hit the point where I adopted it into my everyday workflow for drums.

Truthfully - at one point I preferred laying in Samples on a grid, and moving them around, as needed whilst adjusting their volume to mimic different velocity layers. In fact, I would probably say that it wasn’t until I started using Studio One, that I really began to embrace MIDI based workflows for my drums.

Fast forward to Studio One Version 4 - and we got Pattern’s. The interesting thing is that I transitioned into actually preferring to use Patterns (about 90% of the time) when using Impact XT.

That being said, I always thought that there were a few missing features with the V1.0 implementation of Pattern Parts in Studio One. And for the most part, I would usually always end up converting them to Instrument Parts, for any final tweaks.. But that was taken care of in one of the more recent updates to Studio One.

In this video, I demonstrate some of the new feature's that were added to Pattern's as well as some miscellaneous workflow tips that can come in handy - with the Pattern Part's in general.

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

3 Automation Tips For Working In PreSonus Studio One

Automation can really help a production come to life. That being said, there's nothing more frustrating than having an idea, and not knowing how to quickly tweak the automation to achieve your end goal. In this video, I demonstrate my top 3 tips for working with Automation in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

3 Different Ways Using "Invert Selection" Can Supercharge Your Editing In PreSonus Studio One

Regardless of whether I’m working with Audio Events, or Editing MIDI (Note Data) - Any features that can help streamline the editing process (Big or Small) are welcomed.

In this video, I demonstrate 3 of the most common ways that I tend to use the "Invert Selection" command in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How to Assign Alternate Key Commands In PreSonus Studio One

In this video, I demonstrate how to assign an alternate set of Key Commands In PreSonus Studio One. It may not be immediately obvious but this can be incredibly useful when working with Mobile Setups. ie: When you don't have the luxury of a full sized keyboard with a Numeric Keypad - yet still need to access to firing off an essential Key Command on a Laptop.

**Special thanks goes out to Don Baarns for showing this trick to me a few years back!!

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

Cheers, Marcus

How to get a Large Floating Time Display Window In PreSonus Studio One

Having the ability to view a Large Time Display, whether in Bars / Beats, SMPTE, or Mins / Seconds - can be useful at times.. In this video, I demonstrate how to get your Main Time Display to “pop up” as a Large Floating Floating window in PreSonus Studio One 4.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How to Create a Cue Mix In PreSonus Studio One 4

In a previous video, we took a look at why it's a good idea to create custom Cue Mixes for artists when working in PreSonus Studio One. In this video - In this video - I thought it would be a good idea to show how one would go about setting one up with their interface of choice. :)

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Get Your Studio One Song to Start with a Negative Bar Offset

Here’s a simple, but useful tip :)

In some cases it can be useful to have your Studio One Song start at a negative Bar - thus allowing some pre-roll for count off's or pick up's. In this video - I demonstrate how to go about setting this up!

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

Cheers, Marcus

Sample One XT Hack - How to Trigger Perfect 2nd Cycle Loops In PreSonus Studio One

Triggering Loops (with Ambient FX) as MIDI is one thing - but working with Audio Versions of the same Loop can be a completely different story.. In this video, I demonstrate a workflow that can be used to help trigger relatively seamless Loops that focus on repeating the "2nd Cycle Pass" of an Audio File, using Sample One XT.

**Note - This workflow also applies to Presence XT, providing you've purchases the Presence XT Editor Add On in the PreSonus Shop.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Set The EXACT Song BPM for ANY Loop In PreSonus Studio One (Scale Tempo)

Working with Loops has become a staple in Modern Music Production. Whether it’s Harmonic / Melodic Loops being processed, and edited to tase, or Rhythmic Loops helping build the foundation of a track - Knowing the basic BPM of a Loop makes the editing process much easier.

Although most DAW’s allow users to snap the edge boundaries of Audio Regions to a Grid (Applying Time Compression & Expansion) In some cases, the desire may be to bring in a loop, and have your DAW timeline conform to the specific BPM of the Imported File (vs your DAW’s BPM) - so that one may continue to build a whole production around the Loop, at it’s original Tempo.

So, as one can imagine - Not all Loops are created with an exact BPM that can be rounded off to an even number ie: 110 BPM, or 95 BPM. This is where having the ability to quickly (and effortlessly) figure out the appropriate BPM of an imported Loop is a life saver.

In this video I demonstrate how to use the 'Scale Tempo' feature in PreSonus Studio One (Version 4.1.1 and above) to set the perfect Song BPM for ANY Loop.

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

Cheers, Marcus

My New Collaborative Workflow for 2020 - PreSonus Studio One

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so this will be my first official post of 2020! First off, let me start off by saying that I wish you ALL the best for a productive and prosperous year. And - I’ve got a ton of useful content planned.

Secondly, I will say this: Make sure you back up your system regularly! And also make sure that you’re backing up your recent projects (sessions) to external drives. :) I’ve had quite a few issues with my current system over the last 4-5 weeks, so much so that it was time to move onto a new one. (More on this later)

But now that I’ve got things temporarily sorted out again - Let’s talk about Collaboration…

It’s not uncommon these days for multiple people to be working on a single project. It’s also not uncommon for each of these individuals to have their own home-based setup where they can work. This leads to sharing sessions.

Now for the most part, I don’t usually share the “Master” Sessions over dropbox, but rather a streamlined version of the session that’s created especially for the artists doing additional overdubs / production. So for a singer, this could be something as simple as a rendered stereo Instrumental Mixdown - or in cases where more flexibility is required - Varying degrees of Stems. From here, I make regular use of the “Import Song Data” functions within Studio One to easily bring over additional elements from my “Master” Song.

But one area that I’ve never really paid attention to (which I should) has been file size. Not everyone has unlimited cloud storage, and space on their systems - This is actually something that came up recently, and I thought it may be useful to some of you who are reading this article.

So needless to say, I've recently made some changes to my workflow that I use when collaborating with other Studio One User's via Dropbox. (Also applies to other cloud based sharing options). In this video, I demonstrate the basic's as well as give an explanation as to why I've made changes to how I approach "sharing" sessions.

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

Cheers, Marcus

WHY You Should Consider Setting Up Custom Cue Mixes When Tracking

I recently had a live off the floor session, where I was tracking Percussion / Drums and Guitar in order to get the best possible “Lock” in terms of Groove from the artists. Quite often I try to treat these types of sessions as if though the takes we capture, could potentially be the takes that end up on the record. Because In MANY cases - they are.

One interesting thing happened during that session - was both the Percussionist and Guitarist made mention of the fact that they were both really appreciative with the fact that I ‘even bothered’ to offer each of them a custom Cue Mix. In all honesty, I found it a little odd - because from my personal experience, giving a really decent Headphone Mix to an artist as he/she is tracking has got to be one of the easiest ways a tracking Engineer can improve the odds of them capturing some magic.

That being said, it’s an easy thing to say - but slightly harder to grasp without actually “hearing” exactly what I’m referring to. Also, this article / video isn’t really about HOW as much as it is about WHY! With this in mind, this will be the first of many new articles and video’s that will go further into exploring these types of concepts. 🙂 Watch this space…

But if you are interested in the HOW - A simple youtube search should kick back some video’s from multiple fellow content creators, and I myself have a video I did when I was with Studio One Expert, that covers everything you’d need to know about Setting Up a Cue Mix in PreSonus Studio One.

In this first video of a new series I'm launching, (Why vs How) we take a look at WHY, as a Tracking Engineer - You should consider creating custom Cue Mixes / Headphone Mixes for artists while tracking in PreSonus Studio One.

My Production Workflow - Cleaning Up a Tracking Session and Preparing For Overdubs

Last week I shared some tips and work-flow concepts with respect to the Pre-Production phase of working on a project in Studio One. Sidenote: This is something that (providing I have clearance from the artist) I’d like to do a lot more of in the coming months.

If you haven’t had a chance to catch that article / video yet - You can find it here.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to have received a lot of positive feedback - and thought to myself, what better way to pick up from where we left off, then to continue along the same course for this week.

But this time, pealing back an additional layer of the production process - with the basic tracking session(s) having been completed, and literally opening up up a Song and once again, working in real-time - explaining my decision’s and work-flow as I go.

In this video, I demonstrate the basic steps I take after a tracking session in PreSonus Studio One - including, session clean-up, editing, pre-mixing, optimizing phase on multi-track Drums, and more.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Pre-Production Workflow Tips In PreSonus Studio One

The Pre-Production Process

Although this phase of the Production Process isn’t the most exciting, It can be VERY useful depending on the genre. I will say this though - if I’m writing & producing ‘on the fly’ with (or without) an artist, than I don’t tend to separate this step from Producing. It tends to be one fluid process as I work. Creating Arranger Sections, dropping in Markers, adjusting BPM, all as I’m working..

That being said, this isn’t usually the case if I’m hired to produce a Record, EP, or Single. In those cases, the basic idea’s of the song, and rough chord progressions, arrangements and Hooks are usually already determined. The client / artist would send me the above (in varying degrees of quality / completion) and I would then need to set this up in my DAW to get started on the project. This is really where good Pre-Production comes into play for me.

What is Pre-Production?

Well, simply put, I like to think of Pre-Production as being organized before the main tracking / writing sessions take place when developing a song or musical idea with an artist.

Although nothing is yet “set in stone”, for me personally - at a basic level, this would involve having a basic BPM, maybe some Markers, Key Signature, Time Signatures, and some basic arrangements in place. Essentially, I want to make sure that I’m familiar with the material and the different sections of the arrangement, so that I can run a tracking / writing session. However, this happens to be one area that Studio One really outshines the competition - because it’s actually capable of doing SO much more - and I personally love the way Studio One’s tool aid in the above process.

In this video I demonstrate my basic workflow that I use when doing my Pre-Production Sessions to prep for tracking / writing in PreSonus Studio One - Covering everything from working with scratch tracks, Arranging, to utilizing the Chord track in PreSonus Studio.

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

Cheers, Marcus

How to Create Lead Sheets in Minutes - Using Studio One with Notion

The concept of generating Lead Sheets (Sheet Music) from a production can be a daunting task, especially if this is something that may be out of one’s comfort zone. And although it doesn’t happen often, you may very well find yourself in the circumstance where you need to convert your DAW session into Sheet Music that can be read by musicians for either a tracking session, or live performance.

Thankfully this is rather easy to do in Studio One with a valid Notion Licence.

In this video I demonstrate how seamless and easy it is to generate Lead Sheets from a Studio One Song - using the "Send to Notion" option in PreSonus Studio One. **Requires a valid Notion Software Licence**

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

Cheers, Marcus