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The Sample Editor
Working with hitpoints and slices
Hitpoint detection is a special feature of the Sample Edi-
tor. It detects attack transients in an audio file and then
adds a type of marker, i.e. a “hitpoint”, at each transient.
These hitpoints allow you to create “slices”, where each
slice ideally represents each individual sound or “beat” in
a loop (drum or other rhythmic loops work best with this
feature). When you have successfully sliced the audio file,
you can do a number of useful things with it:
• Change the tempo without affecting the pitch.
• Replace individual sounds in a drum loop.
• Edit the actual playing in the drum loop without affecting the
basic feel.
• Extract sounds from loops.
You can further edit these slices in the Audio Part Editor.
For example you can:
• Remove or mute slices.
• Change the loop by reordering or replacing slices.
• Apply processing to individual slices.
• Create new files from individual slices using the “Bounce Se-
lection” function on the Audio menu.
• Edit slice envelopes.
Ö The term “loop” is used throughout this section. Loop
in this context usually means an audio file with a musical
time base, i.e. the length of the loop represents a certain
number of bars and beats at a certain tempo. Playing the
loop back at the right tempo in a cycle set to the correct
length will produce a continuous loop without gaps.
Using hitpoints
The main functionality of using hitpoints to slice up a loop is
to make a loop fit the tempo of a song, or alternatively to
create a situation that allows the song tempo to be changed
while retaining the timing of a rhythmic audio loop, just like
when using MIDI files.
Which audio files can be used?
Here are some guidelines as to what type of audio files are
suited for slicing using hitpoints:
• Each individual sound in the loop should have a notice-
able attack.
Slow attacks, legato playing, etc. may not produce the desired result.
• Poorly recorded audio might be difficult to slice correctly.
In these cases, try to normalize the files or to remove DC Offset.
• There may be problems with sounds drowned in smear-
ing effects, like short delays.
Calculating hitpoints and slicing a loop
Before proceeding, find a suitable loop using the criteria
above. Proceed as follows:
1. Open the event or clip for editing in the Sample Editor.
You can do this by double-clicking an event on an audio track in the
Project window or a clip in the Pool. In this example, we assume you
work with an event on a track.
2. Open the Hitpoints tab in the Sample Editor Inspector
and select an option from the Use pop-up.
The Use pop-up menu on the Hitpoints tab affects which hitpoints are
shown and is a useful tool for removing unwanted hitpoints.
It contains the following options:
3. Move the Sensitivity slider to the right to add hitpoints
or to the left to remove unwanted hitpoints until one indi-
vidual sound is played between each hitpoint.
If your main reason for slicing the loop is to change the tempo, you gener-
ally need as many slices as you can get, but never more than one per indi-
vidual “hit” in the loop.
In the next step, the loop will be adapted to the project
tempo set in Cubase AI.
!
When a selection range is defined, hitpoints will only
be detected within this range.
!
Hitpoints will only be displayed in the waveform if the
Hitpoints tab is open.
Option Description
All All hitpoints are shown (taking the Sensitivity slider into ac-
count).
1/4, 1/8,
1/16, 1/32
Only hitpoints that are close to the selected note value posi-
tions within the loop are shown (e.g. close to exact sixteenth
note positions). Again, the Sensitivity slider is taken into ac-
count.
Metric Bias This is like the “All” mode, but all hitpoints that are close to
even meter divisions (1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc.) get a “sensitivity
boost” – they are visible at lower sensitivity settings. This is
useful if you are working with dense or cluttered material with
a lot of hitpoints, but you know that the material is based on a
strict meter. By selecting Metric Bias it will be easier to find
the hitpoints close to the meter position (although most other
hitpoints are also available, at higher sensitivity settings).