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.

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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.

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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.

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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. :)

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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

The Return of Record Level Input Metering In Studio One 4.5.3 and Above

In general, I like to keep things simple with respect to my monitoring. So since getting the PreSonus Quantum, due it’s extremely low latency and stable performance - all of my monitoring is done via Software Monitoring inside Studio One (utilizing Studio One’s Native Low Latency ‘Green Z’ Monitoring).

However for those using other 3rd party interfaces, such as a Universal Audio Apollo system, Studio One offers the ability to disable software monitoring all together. The main reason for this being that another application (UA’s Console, for example) “takes over” the task of providing a low latency monitoring mix for tracks that are Record Enabled in Studio One.

Although as many people have reported, there has been a longstanding issue where the Record Level Meter’s in Studio One essentially disappear the minute the transport kicks into Record Mode.

Well, I’m happy to report that as of the Version 4.5.3 update - this is no longer the case… 🙂

In this video I demonstrate a welcomed Bug Fix in Studio One - being that as of Version 4.5.3, the Recording Level "Input Meters" for Record Enabled tracks - now work as expected.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Muteomatic - A Must Have Free Plug-In For Anyone Tracking In PreSonus Studio One

One thing is for certain, communication is KEY when it comes to the recording process - More specifically, being able to communicate with an artist as he/she is recording. If you’re working in a home studio, or small environment, this may be quite simple. ie: It might be as easy as having a conversation within ear shot of eachother. But the minute, you introduce any degree of separation, closed back headphones, or a Control Room / Live Room scenario - you need to set up a Talkback Mic.

The concept is simple - A Microphone that’s patched into the artists headphone Mix that allows them to hear you. Conversely, depending on the type of signal you are recording, this may also mean a additional Microphone set up for the artist / Band that’s used to clearly pickup any communication that’s happening in the live room.

Quite often, when working with Talkback Mic’s, it’s preferable that they’re not always “open” or active. For example, If a vocalist is about to cut some intimate vocals, the last thing they most likely want to hear is the engineer shuffling around in a squeaky chair or sipping on a Coffee. Also it can be awkward to have a conversation with a Large Plate Reverb and Ping Pong delay firing away over a conversation.

So, for this reason, we have the ability to toggle a talkback switch, and mute FX returns as needed. But wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about any of those tasks?
Well, thankfully - we don’t - thanks to the FREE Muteomatic by SoundRadix.

In this video, I demonstrate one on my favourite FREE plug-ins - Muteomatic by SoundRadix, in use in PreSonus Studio One. An incredibly useful utility plug-in that aims to simplify / automate the "Talkback Mic" workflow when tracking in a modern day DAW.

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

Cheers, Marcus

3 Tips For Working With Layers In PreSonus Studio One

Amongst the many comforts afforded by working in a modern day DAW - the ability to work with multiple “Layers” with a given track is definitely one of the top features in my opinion. They may go by a different name from DAW to DAW, but in the end, the concept is pretty simple. One track can contain multiple Layers that can be utilized for anything from lightning fast comping, to archiving un-edited versions of performances.

That being said, there’s also a few other areas in terms of workflow, that can really benefit from incorporating Layers as well.

In this video I demonstrate 3 simple tips that can be used when working with Layers in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Workflow Tip - Transferring Your Studio One Song To Pro Tools - In Minutes

In addition to running my Music Production business, and creating content, I also do some work on behalf of PreSonus as a freelance Studio One clinician. Whenever I do any seminars, there are always a handful of Pro Tools users in the audience. And to be honest, the response I usually get is always the same. I’m paraphrasing here, but it goes a little something like this:

“I would love to use Studio One - and I do use it for my own production, but for certain projects, I have to work in Pro Tools - or at the very least, deliver a Pro Tools session. For this reason, I don’t use Studio One as much as I would like to.”

To which my reply is - In my humble opinion, Studio One has the best AAF Export workflow (with Pro Tools) that I have personally ever seen in a DAW. Meaning that I can get my whole entire Studio One Song - Over to Pro Tools, in minutes, no matter how complex it is, and whether I’m using Virtual Instruments or need to “Freeze” or “render” FX Plug-ins (such as Software Amp Simulators). It’s a really elegant solution.

Before I go any further, let’s address a few things quickly:

1. AAF is NOT a perfect translation - there is always something that needs to be taken into account.. This could be that it splits up stereo files to dual mono, or maybe the panning doesn’t always come across, or that it changes equal power Fades to linear. One BIG area for me, is that most AAF’s do not properly translate clip/region/event based gain - So your whole entire Gain staging could be off. This is just the way it is. And it has always been like this since I first starting using AAF’s. But In some cases, certain programs may handle one thing really nicely - but then they fail in other areas. But in all my time, I have never seen another DAW that can “hand off” an AAF to Pro Tools, and when it gets put back together - it’s not a complete disaster.

2. This is NOT about “DAW WARS” - I use Studio One because (for me) it’s the perfect fit, and I can work faster than I ever could in Pro Tools even when my Pro Tools chops were razor sharp. This is about a relatively painless workflow that can be used to get your Studio One Song over to Pro Tools when you need to! It’s also worth mentioning that I have done this (on the spot) in the middle of a session on more than one occasion when the situation called for it. ie: I was not able to track with my own interface, or computer, and had to use the Studio’s Computer / Pro Tools setup.

3. You don’t always need to deliver an AAF! - In fact, it may not be the best option. Before I create an AAF export, My first thought would probably be to Export Stems. This is a fantastic way to work, that’s used extensively in the industry. It’s super easy in Studio One, and there are also tons of different options in terms of exporting exactly what you need to deliver. If stems weren’t a good fit, then my next immediate thought would be to Export Raw Audio Files/Regions. In some cases, this may in fact be preferable. For example, If you were hired to deliver basic files, that are going to be mixed by someone else in another DAW all together. “Raw” audio Files consolidated to Bar 1 are great. BUT - When a song is in it’s production phase, where all the options are still on the table, and edits are not yet set in stone - nothing beats the flexibility of an AAF.

If this is something that seems like a familiar scenario, or you are someone that’s dabbling in Studio One, but still needs to deliver a Pro Tools session for your productions - then I hope this article / video helps!!

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

Cheers, Marcus

How To Use the IR Maker In PreSonus Studio One

If you’ve ever searched through the different categories of plug-ins within Studio One, there’s a good chance you may have come across the IR Maker. The “IR Maker” is a Native FX plug-in developed by PreSonus that essentially allows Studio One users to capture their own custom Impulse Responses for both Open Air, and Ampire.

Although it sounds a bit confusing - The concept of an IR (Impulse Response) is actually quite simple. You record the sonic finger print a piece of hardware. ie- the way that hardware reacts to a sound…

Whether it’s a Reverb preset from an external effects processor, or a Guitar Cab - by passing a “sweep” (frequency based) through the hardware, and recording the resulting file, we can essentially recall that “sound” for use in future productions. Without the need for having the hardware connected.

In this video, I demonstrate how to properly set up and use the IR Maker utility plug-in that ships with PreSonus Studio One, to record an Impulse Response of a Reverb in an External Hardware Effects Processor.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Adding Tags To Your Custom Sound Set In PreSonus Studio One

In last weeks article - we took a deep dive into the world of creating Sound Sets in PreSonus Studio One. If this is something that interests you, and you haven’t check out the 2 part video series yet. You can find it by clicking here.

Although we covered a lot - there is one small area that I forgot to speak about, and that is with respect to adding tags or “tagging” your content.

Why use tags you ask? well, it’s actually pretty simply. Tagging your content, whether it’s presets, one-shots, Audio loops, or Musicloops gives the end user a way of seeing your content pop in in their search results.

Don’t get me wrong, nothing beats a properly named file, for basic browsing when it comes to trying to determine what something sounds like, but tags can offer a further level of refinement when it comes to searching.

Just imagine trying to fine an electronic, aggressive, wet, snare, one shot, suitable for the rock genre based on filename alone!

Picking up from where we left off last week - In this video I demonstrate how to add Tags to your custom Sound Sets made by using the Sound Set Builder in PreSonus Studio One.

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

Cheers, Marcus

Working With The Sound Set Builder In PreSonus Studio One - Video Series

First off, let me say this.. I have wanted to do this particular video series for a long time now. At least 1 year or more. BUT - this particular topic can become really complex, because Studio One offers so many different options in terms of the way we can store and recall presets and content.

That being said, I made a point to slowly cover all of these different formats in my weekly content, so that when the time came (today is the day) I could finally do a video series on the mystical Sound Set Builder in PreSonus Studio One.

I wanted to split this up, into a 2 Part series, with the 1st video being more of an overview on how to install the Soundset Builder, some general tips on folder structure / organization, and the basic “rules” to follow. We will also deal with some simple points, such as creating a basic Impact XT Kit - from One-Shots located in the Soundset Folder structure, and also generating a Musicloop (in the form of a Pattern with 2 variations) that was created with our custom Impact XT Preset.

The 2nd video will dive a little dive a little deeper - focusing on how to deal with Packing (Exporting) Soundx files, when working with Presence XT instruments & the Presence XT Editor Add-On, and how to use the Soundx File to create Presets of your Presence XT Instruments. And lastly, we will talk about how to finalize and “Pack” your Soundset, so that it can be tested & shared with colleagues or the PreSonus Studio One User Community.

One thing that I realized that I forgot to cover, is how to use the “Tagging” system when working with the Soundset Builder, and more specifically how it works and what it does, so this is something that I’m going to cover next week, and I will insert that video on this landing page, so that there will be ONE URL that covers literally everything you need to know.

Lastly - Here is a list of some companion Videos / articles that might come in handy - because as was stated in the video - Soundset’s can contain multiple file formats (some that are unique to Studio One). So if you REALLY want to take advantage, it’s worth knowing all the different way in which we can create content:

• Exporting Stems (this is useful for Construction Kits)

• Audioloops

• Instrument + Fx Presets

• Musicloops

• Working with One-Shots

• Presence XT Editor Add On (Overview)

• Presence XT - Adding Keyswitches

• Working With Soundx/Sampler/Multisample Files

• Batch Processing Files Using The Audio Batch Converter

• The Splitter (useful for creating unique FX Chains that can be recalled with Instrument + FX Presets)

• Macro Controls (recalled with Instrument + FX Presets)

• Impact XT Layer Modes Part 1 - Velocity - Round Robin and Random

• Impact XT Layer Modes Part 2 - Stack Mode and Edit Sample Offsets

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably interested in checking out the videos, which you will find below:

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

Cheers, Marcus