Cubase SX3 Tutorial - Play Order Track
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The Play-Order Track in Cubase SX3 is one of those simple tools that just totally enhances the song-making process in Cubase.
With it, you'll likely find new hidden ideas and song-arrangements you didn't know were there, but more importantly, you can throw sections of song around the timeline with total ease... bliss!
Cubase SX 3 Play Order Track
The Play Order Track in Cubase SX3 is useful for more than its obvious tasks, ie... quickly and easily testing different arrangement scenarios, it can also mean that you can keep your various ideas totally seperate on the timeline. (Warning: Might not be totally practical for all scenarios).
Dunno about you but one of my "dreaded-tasks" when making music on the computer is being faced with the decision that a section of music must be extracted and plonked elsewhere in the tune's timeline.
Although Cubase has some tools to make this task easier, it's still a delicate (and sometimes risky) chore; ensuring audio and MIDI parts are cut in exactly the right place; maintaining the continuity of any effects, blah blah... It can take hours to do perfectly and even then, you might decide the change doesn't even work!
(Observation: Try zooming-in fully to where audio and MIDI parts join each other... You might be surprised!).
You're Sectioned!
The Play Order Track means that you could, for example, have a 10-bar space-seperation between each song-section (or different loops-in-construction) and have the Play Order Track seamlessly play all the sections/loops in the order you specify. Once happy, then join the parts up to form a continuous sequence... wicked!
Create a Play Order Track in Cubase SX 3
- Right-click anywhere in your project window » Add Track » Play Order
- Select Play Order Track at the top-left of project window
- With Drawing tool, drag in Play Order Track lane to draw the width of a song-section
- Repeat for other song-sections or loops
Using Play Order in Cubase SX3
Change which sections play when, and how many times!
- Select the Play Order Track then, click the "e" icon
- Your painted song-sections appear in the right pane
- Double-click one to add it to the Play Order list (left pane)
Tip: Right-click » 'Append Selected in Play Order', inserts the selected section above the arrow position in far-left column - Can be useful to know for subsequent insertions!
To change the play order just drag 'n' release the corresponding row (up/down) in left pane to its new position.
Repeats: Click in this column and type in a number to instruct Cubase to repeat the selected section x number of times
Spanked!
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