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Table Of Contents
Parts and Events
Audio Handling
107
Audio Handling
When you work with audio files, it is crucial to understand how audio is handled in
Cubase.
When you edit or process audio in the Project window, you always work with an
audio clip that is automatically created on import or during recording. This audio clip
refers to an audio file on the hard disk that itself remains untouched. This means,
that audio editing and processing is “non-destructive”, in the sense that you can
always undo changes or revert to the original versions.
Audio Clips
An audio clip does not necessarily refer to just one original audio file!
If you apply some processing to a specific section of an audio clip, for example, this
will create a new audio file containing only this section. The processing will then be
applied to the new audio file only, leaving the original audio file unchanged. Finally,
the audio clip is automatically adjusted, so that it refers both to the original file and
to the new, processed file. During playback, the program will switch between the
original file and the processed file at the correct positions. You will hear this as a
single recording, with processing applied to one section only. This feature makes it
possible to undo processing at a later stage, and to apply different processing to
different audio clips that refer to the same original file.
Audio Events
An audio event is the object that you place on a time position in Cubase.
If you make copies of an audio event and move them to different positions in the
project, they will still all refer to the same audio clip. Furthermore, each audio event
has an Offset value and a Length value. These determine at which positions in the clip
the event will start and end, i.
e. which section of the audio clip will be played back by
the audio event. For example, if you resize the audio event, you will just change its start
and/or end position in the audio clip – the clip itself will not be affected.
Audio Regions
An audio region is a section within a clip with a length value, a start time, and a snap point.
Audio regions are shown in the Pool and are best created and edited in the Sample Editor.
NOTE
If you want to use one audio file in different contexts, or if you want to create several
loops from one audio file, convert the corresponding regions of the audio clip to
events and bounce them into separate audio files. This is necessary since different
events that refer to the same clip access the same clip information.