Studio One Pro 7 Reference Manual EN2
Studio One Pro 7 Reference Manual EN2
V7.0
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 1
Introduction 1
Installation and Activation 2
Installation 2
Activation 3
Content Installation 7
Setup 12
System Requirements 12
Set Up Your Audio Device 12
Audio Device Input/Output Setup 16
Set Up Your MIDI Devices 19
Managing Your Content 23
Creating a New Song 25
Working with PreSonus Notion Software 28
Custom Colors 31
Customization 33
Recovery Options 35
General Options 37
Additional Options 38
Advanced Options 38
Fundamentals 43
Nondestructive Editing and Undo/Redo 43
Retrospective Recording 43
High-Precision Mix Engine 44
Documents 45
Automatic Delay Compensation 46
Audio Dropout Protection 46
MIDI—and beyond MIDI. 46
Drag-and-Drop 46
Transport Controls 46
Key Commands 47
Studio One Pro Help and Information 49
Smart Templates 50
Song Information and Track Notes 53
Flexible Parameter Control 54
Control Link 54
PreSonus Hardware Integration 54
View Options 55
Performance Monitor 58
Note Repeat 59
Video Player 60
Pages 62
Start 62
Smart Templates 64
Songs, Projects, and Shows Tabs 65
Song 67
Show 70
Project 71
Quick Switch 71
Recording 72
Audio Tracks 72
Instrument Tracks 76
Activating Recording 81
Metronome Control 82
Loop Recording on Audio Tracks 84
Table of Contents 1
Instrument Track Recording Modes 85
Step Record 87
Track Layers 88
Audio Recording Format 88
Creating a Good Monitor Mix 88
Cue Mixes and Low-Latency Monitoring 89
Print Effects While Recording 91
Editing 93
Events 93
Arrange View Mouse Tools 99
Clips and Clip Gain Envelopes 104
The Grid 109
Common Editing Actions 110
Lock Tracks or Events 117
Convert a Part into a Pattern 118
Audioloops and Musicloops 119
Edit Groups 120
Timestretching 122
Comping 124
Transient Detection and Editing 127
Track Transform 130
Track and Event Inspectors 132
Track Presets 138
Edit View Event Editing 138
Note Editor 141
Sound Variations 157
Stem Separation 170
Action Menu 172
Patterns 174
Pitch Correction with Melodyne Integration 183
Undo History 185
Navigating with Zoom 185
Macro Toolbar 187
Editing Suggestions 194
The Score Editor 195
Score Editor Overview 195
Score Editor Toolbar 196
Note Editor Inspector (Score View) 199
Editing the Score Using Standard Staff Types 204
Editing Scores in Drum Notation 208
Editing Scores with Tablature and Standard + TAB Staff Types 209
Lyrics in the Score View 211
The Browser 213
Browser Tabs and Search 213
Searching for Files in The Browser 214
Detach the Browser 215
Thumbnail View 215
The Navigation Bar 217
Instruments and Audio Effects 219
Browsing for Instruments 219
The Loops Tab 226
Files Tab 227
Cloud Tab 233
Shop Tab 236
The Pool 236
Navigate the Pool 237
Browsing Song, Project, and Show Content 238
Sound Set Builder 239
Arranging 251
Table of Contents 2
Arranger Options 251
Quickly Duplicating Events 252
Duplicating Tracks 253
Global Tracks 253
Arranger Track 255
Chord Track 258
Signature Track 268
Tempo Track 270
Lyrics Track 272
Lyrics Lanes 276
Scratch Pad 278
Bouncing 279
Mixdown Selection 281
Adding Time to the Arrangement 281
Deleting Time from the Arrangement 281
Folder Tracks 281
Track List 283
Track and Channel Icons 284
The Launcher 285
Mixing 294
The Console 294
Console Navigation Column 299
Effects Signal Routing 308
Fader Flip 317
Channel Editor and Overview 318
Channel Overview 319
Groups 324
Scenes 327
VCA Channels 329
The Listen Bus 332
Metering 334
Automatic Plug-In Delay Compensation 336
Manual Audio Track Delay 336
Using the Marker Track 336
Looping During Mixing 338
Mixing Down 339
Mixing Suggestions 347
Spatial Audio 350
Spatial Audio Formats 350
Requirements for Working in Spatial Audio 351
Creating a new Song in Spatial Audio 351
Mixing in Spatial Audio 356
The Dolby Atmos Renderer 362
Exporting and Importing Dolby Atmos Master Files 365
The Show Page 367
A Tour of the Show Page 367
Show Management 368
Create a New Show 368
Add an Open Song to a Show 369
Add Content to the Show 369
Show Setup 369
The Setlist 370
Players and Patches 373
The Show Page Toolbar 378
The Show Timeline 378
Show Controls 383
Performance View 387
Automation 395
What is Automation? 395
Table of Contents 3
Automation Types 395
Editing Automation Envelopes 397
Automation Modes 401
Instrument Part Automation 402
Control Link 404
What is Control Link? 404
Set Up Your External Devices 404
Map Your Keyboard 404
Control Linking 406
Global and Focus Mapping 407
Automation with Hardware Controllers 408
Mackie Control Support 409
Mastering 414
Creating a New Project 414
Audio Import 415
Project Page Tools 415
Adding Tracks 417
Track Sequencing 420
Editing Tracks 420
The Listen Bus 423
Using Insert Effects 424
Master Device Rack 425
Automation in the Project Page 425
Metering 426
Publishing Your Project 429
Song and Project Integration 434
Built-In Effects 436
Effect Micro Views 436
Analysis and Tools 437
Delay 446
Distortion 451
Dynamics 461
Pro EQ3 467
Mix Engine FX 469
Getting more Mix Engine FX 474
Mastering 475
Mixing 477
Modulation 486
Reverb 494
Pipeline 498
Built-in Virtual Instruments 501
Presence 501
Presence Editor 511
Impact 519
SampleOne 528
Mai Tai 540
Mojito 551
Multi Instruments 552
CV Instrument 556
Note FX 559
Collaboration 564
What you can do with Studio One Pro's Collaboration Tools 564
Who can use Studio One Pro's Collaboration Tools 564
Collaboration Workflow 564
Collaborating with Others 565
Sending and Receiving Documents 569
Workspaces in Studio One Pro+ 572
Video Playback and Sync 577
Video Player Interface 577
Table of Contents 4
Video Track 577
Import Video 579
Sync to Video 580
Bar and Time Offset 581
Exporting Video Files 582
Saving, Import and Export 584
Saving Options 584
Import Song Data 586
Export Stems from your Song 587
Exporting Audio and MIDI Files 588
Audio Batch Converter 589
AAF Import and Export 594
Importing Project Files from Other Applications 595
Export to Zip 595
Index 597
Table of Contents 5
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing PreSonus™ Studio One Pro™ software, and welcome to the Studio One Pro Reference Manual.
Studio One Pro 7 is a groundbreaking music-creation and production application for macOS® and Windows® that makes audio record-
ing, MIDI sequencing, and audio mastering easy and fun—the way it should be. From tracking to mixing to mastering and distribution,
this is a creative environment built for intuitive use, speed, and efficiency, yet robust enough for the most complex productions. Version 7
adds a wide range of new features, improvements, and advanced technologies.
This manual is a great place to start learning about Studio One Pro, and it also provides an in-depth reference for experienced and new
audio-software users alike.
PreSonus is committed to constant product improvement, and we value your suggestions highly. We believe the best way to achieve our
goal of constant improvement is by listening to the real experts: our valued customers. We appreciate the support you have shown us
through the purchase of this software.
Introduction 1
Installation and Activation
This section takes you through the Studio One Pro installation and activation process.
Installation
The process for registering, installing, and authorizing your copy of Studio One Pro will differ, depending on the method you used to
acquire it.
l Retail Purchase: If you bought Studio One Pro in a retail box and only received a Product Key in the box, you'll register the key
and then download Studio One Pro, and then activate it online upon first launching the product.
l Direct Purchase from the PreSonus website: If you bought the software directly from PreSonus online, installation and activ-
ation happen entirely online and the purchased software is automatically added to your user account.
l Retail or Direct Purchase of USB Flash Drive: If you're installing Studio One Pro from the USB flash drive which comes with
select retail versions and is also available as an additional accessory purchase from PreSonus, your activation will happen
online using the Product Key after launching the product for the first time.
l If you purchased Studio One Pro by any of these three first methods, see Register and Download Studio One Pro for further
details on registration and downloading your new software.
l PreSonus Audio Interface or Audio Mixer Purchase: If you bought an AudioBox interface, these come with a bundle version
of Studio One Pro. Registering the hardware in your My.Presonus account automatically gives you access to Studio One Pro
and a corresponding Product Key. When you launch Studio One Pro for the first time, you can authorize the software using the
provided Product Key.
l If you came about acquiring Studio One Pro by purchasing a PreSonus hardware product and wish to claim your Studio One Pro
license, see Register and Download Studio One Pro Bundled with PreSonus Hardware for more information.
Activation
Studio One Pro must be activated for use on your computer. Once installation is complete, launch Studio One Pro. The License Agree-
ment appears:
Click [I Accept] to accept the agreement. The PreSonus Login window is then displayed:
Activation 3
If you already have a user account, enter your email address and password, and press [Login] to log into your account.
If you need to create an account and your computer is connected to the internet, click on [Create My.PreSonus Account]:
Activation 4
Fill in your desired user-account details, and click [Create PreSonus Account].
Online Activation
If the computer on which Studio One Pro has been installed is connected to the Internet, select the [Activate my purchased version of Stu-
dio One Pro] option. Click the drop-down button next to the Product Key field, and choose Show my Existing Product Keys from the
menu. Your registered Studio One Pro license (or licenses) are shown. Choose the license you wish to use, and click the [Activate] but-
ton to finish the activation process.
Activation 5
If you purchased a Studio One Pro+ membership that is currently active, Studio One Pro will be activated automatically at launch if your
computer is connected to the Internet. In this case, the “Activate with Studio One Pro+ ” option remains active. In order to run a Studio
One Pro+ license, your computer must have an active Internet connection at least once within thirty days.
To check the current status of your Studio One Pro+ license, check the “About Studio One Pro” window.
Offline Activation
If the computer on which Studio One Pro has been installed is not connected to the Internet, click [Activate Offline] in the Studio One Pro
Activation window, and make note of the Activation Code shown in the instructions. Offline Activation lets you activate your copy of Stu-
dio One Pro using a separate, internet-connected computer. To activate Studio One Pro in this way, you will need a USB flash drive (or
other portable data storage device), a written copy of your Product Key, and your Activation Code.
Activation 6
1. Head to a computer with an Internet connection, visit http://my.presonus.com, and log in to your account. Click the [Register a
Product] button, choose Software or Extensions from the Choose Product Type menu, and enter your Product Key, as printed
on the Studio One Pro package or provided via email. Click on [Register], and you are taken to your Software list.
2. Click the [View More Details] button for the version of Studio One Pro in your Software list, and then click [Offline Activation] on
the next page.
3. Click [Activate Software], and enter the Activation Code provided by Studio One Pro. You may also enter a computer name to
help you keep track of your five allowed activations.
4. Click [Offline Activation] again, and then click [Download License] to download your User License file. Save this file to some sort
of external media (such as a flash drive or CD-R), and then copy the file to the computer on which Studio One Pro is installed.
5. In Studio One Pro, navigate to the Studio One/Studio One Activation dialog again, click [Activate Online], then click [Select
License File] to load your user license file, activating Studio One Pro.
Content Installation
The Installation Menu allows you to search for, filter, and install the specific Studio One Pro content that you’re interested in.
Content Installation 7
Studio One Pro comes with many audio loops and instruments that are organized into Sound Sets, as well as demo songs and tutorial
videos. To install the Sound Sets and demo/tutorial material, launch Studio One Pro and open the Studio One/Studio One Installation
menu item.
Note: It is important that you download the sound sets bundled with any virtual instruments that you have downloaded. Some of the vir-
tual instruments included in Studio One Pro require the sample set download for sounds and presets to work as intended within the vir-
tual instrument.
Content Installation 8
Once the installation downloads begin, you can view the download progress from the Installation Window. After the installation is ini-
tiated, you have the option to pause individual items by checking the tick boxes next to whichever item you’d prefer, “pause all” items,
“resume all” of the downloads, and “cancel all” of the downloads.
After installation, you can find all of the installed content in the Browser, which is on the Song page. Demos and tutorials can be accessed
from the Start page. Instrument presets are listed under the related instrument in the Instruments tab of the Browser, as well as the pre-
set browser in the plug-in window.
Melodyne
We have partnered with Celemony to bring you access to their Grammy-winning Melodyne, a useful timing and pitch correction and
manipulation tool that integrates closely with Studio One Pro. Studio One Pro comes with a full Celemony Melodyne Essential 5 license.
Content Installation 9
Installing Melodyne
In Studio One Pro, navigate to Studio One/Studio One Installation. Check the box next to the version of Melodyne that is listed to select it.
Once selected, you can click [Install] to install Melodyne.
Studio One Pro comes with a full license for Melodyne Essential 5. Click the [Claim Product Key] button next to the Melodyne listing to
claim your Melodyne product key. The key is displayed, and you can click the [Copy] button to copy it to the clipboard.
If you’re able to successfully re-install or repair a plug-in that Studio One Pro’s plug-in scanner has blocked, you can reset the blocklist at
any time by navigating to: Studio One/Options/Locations/VST Plug-ins and clicking “Reset Blocklist.” Here, you’ll also find a tickbox to
turn “Scan at startup” on or off.
Content Installation 10
While turning “Scan at startup” off can decrease Studio One Pro’s startup time, it also means that Studio One Pro won't know when an
existing plug-in has been updated or a new plug-in has been installed. So if you find that Studio One Pro isn’t seeing a new plug-in you’ve
recently installed, make sure Scan at startup is checked or the plug-in won't be available.
Content Installation 11
Setup
This chapter contains information about Studio One Pro system requirements, hardware device setup, and software setup. A thorough
knowledge of this information is helpful before attempting to work in Studio One Pro.
System Requirements
The following are the system requirements to run Studio One Pro.
Windows systems
l Windows 10 22H2
l Windows 11 22H2 or higher (64-bit only)
l Intel® Core™ i3/AMD A10 processor or better
Setup 12
Then follow these steps to configure your audio device for use in Studio One Pro:
1. Navigate to Studio One/Options/Audio Setup/Audio Device (macOS: Preferences/Audio Setup/Audio Device) to open the Audio
Device settings window.
2. Select your audio device:
l macOS: Select your chosen playback (output) device from the Playback Device menu. Select your chosen recording
(input) device from the Recording Device menu.
l Windows: Select your device for audio input and output from the Audio Device menu.
3. Some devices offer a selection of configuration options. If your connected device has those controls, you can click on the [Con-
trol Panel] button next to the device selection drop-down menu and make your changes within the device’s control panel. If your
device does not offer these options, the Control Panel button is grayed out.
4. Set Device Block Size to fit your needs. Lower settings minimize latency, which is useful when tracking. Higher settings bring
more latency, but give you additional processing power for effects and instrument plug-ins. Generally, you want to pick the low-
est block size that still lets your system perform correctly. If you require higher performance but want to keep latency low, you
can increase the level of Dropout Protection and employ Low-Latency Monitoring, as described here.
5. When the aforementioned settings are selected, your system’s current total input and output latency, sample rate, and bit depth
are reported below the Audio Setup menus.
6. Release Audio Device in Background (Windows only) is disabled by default. When engaged, the current audio device is made
available to other applications when Studio One Pro is minimized.
Monitoring Latencies
The Monitoring Latencies display shows you the latency values for audio inputs (round-trip, from input to output) and virtual instruments,
based on the current Device Block Size and Dropout Protection settings. The "Standard" column shows the latency for the current set-
tings if you choose not to use Low-Latency Monitoring, while the "Low Latency" column shows values for the Native Low-Latency Mon-
itoring system.
Necessary Condi-
Type Z-Mix Monitoring Insert FX Send FX
tions
Standard Software Disabled Large Device Block Standard All function All function
Monitoring Size, low Process latency
Block Size (Dropout
Protection)
Native Low-Latency Enabled Process Block Size Native low- Plug-ins with All function
Monitoring (Dropout Protection) latency 3ms or less
must exceed Device of latency
Block Size function nor-
mally, all oth-
ers are
disabled
Virtual Instrument Enabled Process Block Size Native low- Plug-ins with All function
Low-Latency Mon- (Dropout Protection) latency 3ms or less
itoring must exceed Device of latency
Block Size function nor-
mally, all oth-
ers are
disabled
Hardware Low- Enabled "Use software low- Hardware low- No Insert FX All function
Latency Monitoring latency monitoring latency function
instead of hardware
monitoring" option
must be disabled
Supported Devices
Studio One Pro supports most audio devices, including those that run on ASIO or WASAPI (Windows) or Core Audio (macOS) drivers.
When using a WASAPI audio device in Windows, note that WASAPI offers Exclusive and Shared modes of operation. Shared mode is
the default setting. In Exclusive mode lower latency can be achieved, but other applications (such as Windows Media Player) cannot use
the audio device at the same time. On your Windows computer, navigate to Windows Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Sound to con-
figure the options for your WASAPI device.
Performance Monitor
When setting up your audio device (specifically when determining appropriate Internal or Device Block Size, or selecting Single or
Double Process Precision), you should take into account the related performance demands on your computer.
Open the Performance Monitor by selecting it from the View menu, or by clicking on the [Performance] button in the Transport. This mon-
itor displays the current relative overall CPU and disk performance, as well as the performance of instruments and automation.
When these meters approach or reach the top of their range, you may need to consider altering your audio device settings (or changing
the Song, Project or Show) to avoid audible clicks and pops or possible instability. For instance, it is common to lower the Device and/or
Internal Block Size while recording to keep monitoring latency low but then to increase Block Size while mixing to provide as much CPU
headroom as possible for effects processing.
If any playback issues are encountered with third-party virtual instrument or effect plug-ins that have their own multiprocessor support
implementation (e.g., NI Kontakt, FL Studio), it is recommended that this support be disabled in the plug-ins. In this case, Studio One Pro
manages all processor scheduling.
The configuration of the Audio I/O Setup is done within each Song, so that it is possible for each Song to have a separate I/O setup. As
discussed below in Default Device I/O Setup, a default I/O setup can be created so that each new Song defaults to a particular I/O setup
if you desire.
In the Audio I/O Setup menu there are two tabs: one for input configuration and one for output configuration. In each tab a Matrix Routing
view shows the current configuration, with the vertical columns indicating hardware audio device channels (hardware I/O) and the hori-
zontal rows indicating created software I/O channels. Software I/O channels function as the input sources and output destinations avail-
able to individual Tracks in Studio One Pro.
Audition Channel
The Preview Player in the Browser and in the Import File menu uses the Audition channel for audio playback. Any stereo Output Channel
can be used as the Audition channel, allowing you to audition sounds from an output other than your main output.
To set up your Keyboard, navigate to Studio One/Options/External Devices (macOS: Preferences/External Devices) and follow these
steps:
1. In the Studio One/Options/External Devices menu (macOS: Preferences/External Devices), click on the [Add...] button.
2. Choose your device from the predefined device list or set this to New Keyboard if you do not see your device in the list.
l If set to New Keyboard, you may wish to type in a Manufacturer Name and a Device Name in the appropriate fields. This
makes identifying your Keyboard easier.
3. Specify which MIDI channels to use to communicate with this Keyboard. All MIDI channels are selected by default.
l If you are unsure of the appropriate MIDI channels to use, just leave this at the default setting.
4. Engage Split Channels if you would like to create a separate Instrument Track input for each MIDI channel from the Keyboard.
5. Specify the device to which the Keyboard is sending and the device from which it is receiving via Studio One Pro. Select your
device driver name from the drop-down menu for both Receive From and Send To.
6. You can choose to use this Keyboard as your Default Virtual Instrument Input by checking the appropriate box. If you are using
only one Keyboard with Studio One Pro, you should check this box.
To set up your Instrument, navigate to Studio One/Options/External Devices (macOS: Preferences/External Devices) and follow these
steps:
1. In the Studio One/Options/External Devices menu, click on the [Add...] button.
2. In the left-hand browser, choose your device from the predefined device list. Set this to New Instrument if you do not see your
device in the list. If set to New Instrument, you may wish to type in a Manufacturer Name and a Device Name in the appropriate
fields. This makes identifying your New Instrument easier.
3. Specify which MIDI channels to use to communicate with this Instrument. MIDI Channel 1 is selected by default. If you are
unsure of the appropriate MIDI channels to use, just leave this at the default setting.
To customize this placement, click on Placement in the Studio One/Options/External Devices menu after adding your surfaces. All
ungrouped surfaces appear under the Ungrouped tab. To place a surface in a group, select a Group tab, then click-and-drag the surface
from the Ungrouped area to the selected group area. To adjust the order of the grouped surfaces, click-and-drag them left or right. Chan-
nels in the Console appear in order across the surfaces from left to right.
Up to four Groups can be created, to allow for mirroring of Channels across multiple surfaces. This is helpful if you have more than one
location in the studio where you wish to use control surfaces (e.g., an A room and B room or a control room and live room).
Only supported and predefined Control Surfaces appear in the Placement window. User-defined devices do not appear in this window.
With the device added, to use your keyboard as a MIDI Keyboard, open the interface for the QWERTY Keyboard device by double-click-
ing on it in the External panel of the Console. Any record-enabled Instrument Track then receives input from the QWERTY Keyboard, as
shown in the QWERTY Keyboard device interface. Your keyboard only transmits data to Instrument Tracks while the QWERTY Key-
board device interface is open.
Reconnect Devices
In most applications, when MIDI devices become disconnected while the application is running, you usually have to restart the applic-
ation, and the software may crash. In contrast, if an external MIDI device becomes disconnected while Studio One Pro is running with a
Song or, Project or Show open, the device can be reconnected without restarting Studio One Pro.
If this occurs, navigate to Studio One/Options/External Devices (macOS: Preferences/External Devices) and click on Reconnect at the
bottom of the menu. Then, reconnect your devices and click OK. The devices should now work normally in Studio One Pro.
If an external device is not present when Studio One Pro is started—for instance, if you’re traveling and don’t have some of your gear
with you— the application still runs normally. You should see a warning message that makes you aware of the situation. If your setup fre-
quently changes, you may wish to turn off this warning message by disengaging the Notify Me If Devices Are Unavailable When Studio
One Pro Starts option.
Later, when you start Studio One Pro with the device connected to your computer, Studio One Pro recognizes the device automatically,
and it can be used exactly as before with no further setup required.
User Data
Any content you create using Studio One Pro is automatically stored in the location you specify. This includes Songs, Projects, Shows,
Effects Presets, and all of the files these categories contain. All of your creative output can be logically organized and kept in a single
place, which makes future location and backup a breeze.
When creating a new Song, Project, or Show, the User Data folder is the default save location. While we recommend using this location,
you can specify any save location when a new one is created.
l Engage the Enable Autosave option to automatically save any open document at a specified interval of time.
l Engage the Use cached plug-in data on save option to make sure that any changes that have been made to the plug-in para-
meters are saved when the Song is saved.
l Engage the Ask to Copy External Files when Saving Song feature to be given the option to consolidate any outside files to
the central data folder when saving a Song.
File Types
All supported file extensions are listed in the Studio One/Options/Locations/File Types (macOS: Preferences/Locations/File Types)
menu. Only these supported file types are displayed in the Browser.
It is possible to add file extensions to this list by clicking on the [Add...] button. In the pop-up menu, you can choose an icon, enter the file
extension, and provide a description for the file type. Select a user-added extension from the list and click on Remove to remove it.
Sound Sets
Preconfigured packages of loops and samples are bundled with Studio One Pro. The Browser’s Sound Sets folder makes finding this
content quick and easy. These packages also contain information about each content vendor, which is displayed in the Browser when a
package is selected. Click on the Visit Website link in the Browser for more information about the vendor and the content they supply.
Instrument Library
Studio One Pro includes a native virtual instrument called Presence that utilizes a cross-platform sample library format, as well as stand-
ard libraries in Giga, EXS, Kontakt (version 4 and below), and Sound Font (SF2) formats. Using the Instrument Library function, you can
tell Studio One Pro where your sound sets are located, giving you access to them as presets in Presence.
To add sound library file locations to your Instrument Library, in the Studio One/Options/Locations/Instrument Library (macOS: Prefer-
ences/Locations/Instrument Library) menu, click on the [Add...] button and specify a file location, then click OK. You can specify as many
locations as you need.
For more information on the Presence built-in virtual instrument, refer to the Presence section.
VST Plug-ins
When Studio One Pro starts for the first time, most of your plug-ins are located automatically and are ready to use immediately. If Studio
One Pro fails to find certain plug-ins, adding them is easy.
To add any missing VST plug-ins, navigate to the Studio One/Options/Locations/VST Plug-ins (macOS: Preferences/Locations/VST
Plug-ins) menu and click on the [Add...] button, then specify a location and click OK. You can also drag-and-drop any folder from the
Explorer/Finder into the Locations list. Studio One Pro then scans these locations at startup, including searching for new plug-ins you’ve
added. You can always add more locations if needed.
AU and VST 3 have their own pre-set file path in the OS, and for this reason, they are not included in alternative path options.
Failed Plug-ins
If any plug-in fails to start correctly when scanned at startup, a notice appears next to its name in the startup message list, and a warning
message is shown. If the plug-in continues to fail at startup—for instance, if it is not authorized correctly or a required iLok key is not
present—Studio One Pro puts the plug-in in a blocklist and ignores it at startup from that point on.
To reset this blocklist and force Studio One Pro to scan missing plug-ins again at startup, navigate to Studio One/Options/Locations/VST
Plug-ins (macOS: Preferences/Locations/VST Plug-ins) and click on [Reset Blocklist]. The next time you start Studio One Pro, the pre-
viously blocklisted plug-ins are scanned again. If the issues that caused the plug-ins to fail the scan have been resolved, the plug-ins are
made available.
To backup your settings to Studio One Pro+, select Backup and Restore from the Studio One Pro menu. In the Backup and Restore win-
dow, click the [Backup Now] button to initiate the backup process. Backups already saved to Studio One Pro+ will be listed in the Restore
section of the window.
To Restore any or all settings from a cloud backup to the current computer, first select a backup from the list, then check which parts of
the backup to restore in the Restore Options list. These include program settings, plug-in thumbnails, I/O configurations, presets, tem-
plates and macros. Any options unchecked will remain unchanged. With a backup and options selected, click the [Restore] button to ini-
tiate the download and restore process.
When restoring a backup that originates from another system and contains Sound Set paths that cannot be resolved on the current sys-
tem, the path is reset to default.
Song Location
New Songs and all related data are saved to your User Data location, set in Studio One/Options/Locations/User Data (macOS: Prefer-
ences/Locations/User Data). If you like, you can choose a different file location by clicking on the [...] button in the New Document dialog,
and browsing to your chosen location.
When creating a new Song, Studio One Pro will remember the last folder you used for a new Song and assume you would like to save
your work in the same location. If you would like to restore to the default location, right-click the file path and choose “Reset Folder” from
the drop-down menu.
Sample Rate
“Sample rate” refers to the rate at which incoming analog audio is sampled per second during conversion to a digital signal. The most
common setting is the standard sample rate for audio CDs: 44.1 kHz, meaning 44,100 samples per second. Studio One Pro supports
sample rates up to 768 kHz.
Resolution
“Resolution” refers to the bit depth of digital audio, which is related to the audio’s dynamic range. Standard CD audio has a 16-bit res-
olution, which results in roughly 96 dB of dynamic range. Thus, with “CD-quality” audio, the difference between the quietest and loudest
sounds possible is 96 dB. The most common resolution setting in professional recording is 24-bit, which produces a dynamic range of
approximately 144 dB.
Studio One Pro can record audio with 16, 24, 32, or 64-bit (floating point) resolution. Which resolution to use is a matter of preference. If
you are unfamiliar with these concepts, try experimenting with recording at each resolution and comparing your results.
Timebase
The timebase of your New Song determines the way the timeline is represented. The timebase selection can be changed at any time.
You have the option of the following:
l Seconds The timeline division is an expression of hours : minutes : seconds : milliseconds.
l Samples The timeline division is an expression of samples.
l Bars The timeline division is an expression of musical bars and beats.
l Frames The timeline division is an expression of frames.
Song Length
Here you can specify a length for your new Song, or go with the default setting of five minutes. If you wish to change the length of a Song
once in progress, you can move the Song End marker to the desired end point, as detailed in the Song Start and End Markers section.
You can also change the length of the currently open Song by opening the Song/Song Setup dialog and setting the Song End parameter
to your desired end point.
Tempo
Here you can specify a starting tempo for your Song, or go with the default setting of 120 BPM.
Key Signature
Use this field to specify a global key signature for your Song. If no selection is made, a key signature is not assigned. A Song can change
key signatures as many times as needed. To learn more, see the Signature Track chapter.
File Import
If you have any audio and/or video files you would like to import to your new Song, drag and drop them to this field. Each will receive its
own Track when the Song is created, with video being placed appropriately in the Video Track. If multiple videos are imported, they will
be placed one after another horizontally with no overlap.
Apply Customization
Choose a Customization Preset from this list, if desired. Customization Presets allow you to show/hide specific Studio One Pro features
to optimize your tool set and are covered in greater detail here.
In Studio One Pro, when you have a Song open that you wish to send to Notion, navigate to Song/Send to Notion to bring up the "Send to
Notion" window. In this window, you have the following choices:
l Computer Selector: This lets you choose to send data to an instance of Notion running on your own computer ("This Com-
puter"), or to a Notion instance on another computer or device on your network. If any computers currently running Notion are on
your network, they are listed in this drop-down menu for access.
l Send Note Data of Entire Song: This option sends the note data for all Instrument Tracks in the current Song to the chosen
instance of Notion. A new Score is created in Notion, with instrument parts that mirror the Instrument Tracks in your Studio One
Pro Song.
l Send Note Data of Selected Tracks: This option works similarly to the option above, but only sends note data from the cur-
rently selected Instrument Tracks in Studio One Pro.
l Send Audio Mixdown (exclusive to Notion 6 desktop): This option mixes your Song down to a stereo wav file, and sends
the file to Notion, where it attaches the audio file to a new Score.
l Create lead sheet: If you have chords in your Chord Track, you can check the box in the dialog to apply lead sheet formatting to
imported note data.
l Merge into open document: Select this option whether to merge into an existing document (overwriting a previous transfer) or
to create a new document.
You can also send audio files to Notion 6 desktop from the Browser in Studio One Pro. To do so, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the audio file, choose
"Send to Notion" from the pop-up menu, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the action. This option is available for 16-
bit/44.1 kHz WAV files only.
Note that upon sending data to Notion, Studio One Pro also sends tempo map information, ensuring that tempo and time signature
changes remain in sync between the two applications.
In Notion, if you have a Score open that you wish to send as score, MIDI or rendered audio to Studio One Pro, navigate to File/Send to
Studio One... to open the "Send to Studio One" window. In this window, you have the following choices:
l Computer Selector: This lets you choose to send score, MIDI & audio to an instance of Studio One Pro running on your own
computer ("This Computer"), or to a Studio One Pro instance on another computer on your network. If any computers currently
running Studio One Pro are on your network, they are listed in this drop-down menu for access.
l Send Audio: This option renders audio files from each instrument part in your Notion Score (using internal sounds or 3rd-party
instruments, as appropriate). It then creates a new Song in your chosen instance of Studio One Pro, and creates Audio Tracks
within it, containing the rendered audio for each part in Notion.
l SendScore: This option transfers the score information to Studio One Pro where you can now assign sounds.
l Send MIDI: This option creates a new Song in Studio One Pro and creates Instrument Parts within it, each containing the note
data from the corresponding instrument parts in your Notion Score. If VST instruments are used in your Notion score, instrument
and preset information is also sent to Studio One Pro, to keep your sounds consistent across both platforms.
l Merge into open document: Select this option whether to merge into an existing song (overwriting a previous transfer) or to
create a new document.
Note that upon sending MIDI and/or audio to Studio One Pro, Notion also sends tempo map information, ensuring that tempo and time
signature changes remain in sync between the two applications.
Updating Audio and MIDI Between Studio One Pro and Notion
If you've already transferred notes or audio between Studio One Pro and Notion, and something is changed in either program, feel free to
follow the sending procedure again using the merge function. Repeating the sending procedure from the application in which the change
was made to the other application updates all previously sent notes and audio files to match the new information.
Sending a song from Studio One Pro to Notion also sends Lyrics in your Lyrics Lanes, but not Global Lyrics Track content. When sending
a Notion project to Studio One Pro, lyrics can be fully edited in Studio One Pro.
Custom Colors
Studio One Pro allows for custom colorization of Tracks, Channels, Players, and more, all via a robust and intuitive Color Selector. To
open the Color Selector:
Song Page
l Track: Click the leftmost tab of a Track header.
l Channel: Click and hold on any Channel name at the bottom of the Console.
l Event: Right-click the Event and click on the colored bar in the pop-up menu.
Custom Colors 31
Show Page
l Player: Click the leftmost tab of a Player.
l Setlist Item: Click the leftmost tab of a Setlist Item.
Project Page
l Track: Click the color field on the far left of a Track in the Track List.
Applying a color to a Track will color all Events on that Track, excluding Events that have been colored manually.
The Color Selector’s default view lets you choose any of the below 128 colors by a quick left-click.
Clicking the drop-down arrow at the bottom of the Color Selector opens the Advanced Color Selector.
The Advanced Color Selector contains the following features:
l +/-: Add or remove new color swatches to the Color Selector.
l Store/Load Preset: Store and Load Color Selector Presets. These presets contain select sets of swatches. Several custom
themes are included; you may also create and save your own.
l Reset: Resets the Color Picker Preset to the last loaded Preset.
l Hex Value: The selected color’s hex value is rendered here. You can copy out of this field to match a color in another applic-
ation, or enter your desired color’s hex value here to choose a color by hand.
l HSL: Click the HSL button to choose a color by the HSL model of Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. Hue is determined by the rota-
Custom Colors 32
tion of the triangle’s point marked on the color circle; Saturation and Lightness are determined by the placement of the pip inside
the triangle itself. HSL values can also be entered directly into their fields.
l RGB: Click this button to Choose a color by the additive RGB color model using the primary colors of light: Red, Green, and
Blue. Move the pips along the sliders to blend Red, Green, and Blue to create your desired color. RGB values can also be
entered directly into their fields.
Edits to Studio One Pro’s overall color scheme are managed in Studio One/Options/General/Appearance.
Customization
Customization allows you to selectively toggle the visibility of specific Studio One Pro features from its user interface to create a stream-
lined Studio One Pro experience best-suited to your work.
While Studio One Pro’s robust feature set allows you to do nearly anything you could want with music and sound, not every task requires
every feature. Both new and experienced users can work more efficiently when presented with a streamlined, non-distracting toolset.
Customization 33
Studio One Pro’s default toolbar
Customization Settings can be edited and recalled from the View/Customization menu.
To create a new Customization Setting via the Customization Editor, navigate to View/Customization/Edit Customization.
To recall an existing Customization Setting, choose it from the list.
Note that Customization is only available for the Song Page.
You can also open the Customization Editor by right-clicking on an area you wish to customize (Toolbar, Inspector, Transport, or
Browser) and selecting "Customize…" from the context menu.
The four tabs across the top of the Customization Edit Window allow you to select which area of Studio One Pro you wish to customize.
Check or un-check the tickboxes to toggle the visibility of the desired features. Any change made immediately is stored in user Settings.
If a factory Setting was selected, a new user Setting is generated based on the factory Setting name.
Customization 34
l Toolbar: The toolbar at the top of Studio One Pro’s Arrange Window.
l Inspector: The Track Inspector located on the left of the Arrange Window.
l Transport: The Transport interface at the bottom of Studio One Pro.
l Browser: The Browser on the right of Studio One Pro.
Once you’ve created a Customization Setting, you can save it for later use or to create a starting point for a new Setting. Use the drop-
down menu at the top of the Customization Edit Window and select "Store..." From here, you can also Rename and Delete existing Set-
tings.
Choose "Delete User Customization" to restore all Customization Settings to their factory defaults. Note that this will remove any Set-
tings you have created yourself!
The Appearance (color) preferences are available in the General Options menu.
Recovery Options
While we pride ourselves in building Studio One Pro in a manner that provides the best possible stability for all users, sometimes plug-
ins—particularly older ones—can introduce conflicts that may result in an unfortunate crash. That’s also why we have auto-save.
In the event that you encounter a crash, you’ll be presented with this Safety Options dialog box:
With it, you can choose to select or deselect startup activations of Plug-ins by type in an effort to troubleshoot what might be causing your
crash. This will help you isolate problematic plug-ins; removing them from your workflow can ensure that they won’t cause a crash again.
Recovery Options 35
You can also force loading of the Safety Options dialog box by pressing and holding [Shift] during Studio One Pro’s startup.
Additionally, in the event that you encounter a hard freeze that requires a force quit command to close Studio One Pro, the Safety
Options dialog box will also appear the next time you launch Studio One Pro.
Diagnostics Reporting
In the event that you’d like assistance with a Studio One Pro issue from PreSonus Support, one of the best things you can do is click the
Create Diagnostics Report button on the bottom left of the Recovery Options dialog. This will compile a report for you to attach to a sup-
port ticket, giving your support agent the best information to assist with your issue as efficiently as possible.
Your report will be created as a .Zip file that you can attach to the support ticket when you create it at my.presonus.com. Depending on
the options selected, the .Zip will contain:
l Information about crashed and unexpected behavior
l Operating system and hardware information
l A list of installed plug-ins
l Application log files
You can also access Diagnostics Reporting from the Help drop-down menu at any time.
Recovery Options 36
Document Profiling
l Choosing Profile Document Loading will open the document with safety options and provide insights into plug-in load times.
l Choosing Profile Document Saving will provide similar insights related to the document’s save.
General Options
The following options give you a variety of controls over how Studio One Pro looks and operates. Click on each tab in the Studio One/Op-
tions/General (macOS: Preferences/General) menu to access these options.
General
l Language: Choose your language from the list.
l When Studio One starts From this list, choose the default action you would like to happen during each startup:
l Do Nothing: No Song, Project or Show opens by default.
l Open Last Song/Project/Show: The most recent Song, Project or Show opens.
l Open Default Song/Project/Show: The default Song, Project or Show opens. To set the Song, Project or Show to
open by default, set up the desired item and save it, with the name “default,” to the appropriate folder located at the cur-
rent User Data location set in Options/Locations.
l Create a New Song: A new Song is created and opened.
l Check for Updates: Check for software updates on startup.
l Enable graphics hardware acceleration (macOS only): This setting is enabled by default. We do not recommend disabling
this mode unless it is necessary to improve downward compatibility between Studio One Pro and third-party plug-ins.
l Enable High-DPI Mode (Windows only): This setting is enabled by default. We do not recommend disabling this mode.
Enabled improves the look and feel of Studio One Pro on high-DPI monitors when running on Windows.
Note: When running Windows with a high-DPI display, you may find that certain older plug-ins appear quite small on screen, as they
have not been updated for use with high-resolution displays. To change this for individual plug-ins, open the plug-in settings menu in the
plug-in editor tab and enable the Enable System DPI Scaling option (requires Windows 10 version 1803 or higher). Scaled-up plug-in
interfaces will appear blurry when blown up to size, which is expected. Certain plug-ins may not be compatible with this option. Avoid
using this option on plug-ins that offer their own scaling options.
General Options 37
Appearance
Set the color balance for the user interface in Studio One Pro with separate controls for Background and Arrangement elements.
Independent settings for Plug-Ins and the Score View let you choose between Dark and Light viewing modes. Note that these options
only affect certain Studio One Pro plugins, not third-party plugins. They also do not affect Studio One Pro plugins with a custom interface
(Ampire, Fat Channel, Analog Delay, etc.). The “Colored” option links the Studio One Pro plugin color to the Background and Arrange-
ment settings.
Your settings can be stored as Presets and shared with other users or archived for personal use. Dozens of presets are provided so you
can customize the appearance of Studio One Pro quickly. Press [Reset] to set the color balance and viewing modes back to factory the
settings.
Keyboard Shortcuts
This panel lets you assign and change keyboard shortcuts for features and functions in Studio One Pro. For more information, see Key
Commands.
Network
Toggle the "Allow remote control apps to discover this DAW" option on to let compatible networked controllers connect to Studio One
Pro.
Touch Input
Here, you can enable multi-touch operation (if you have a compatible display attached to your system), as well as specify which monitor
is to be used for touch input. To specify the current monitor, click the [This] button.
Additional Options
If you'd like information about the other tabs within the Options dialog window, check out the topics cross-referenced below:
l Locations: Managing Your Content
l Audio Setup: Set Up Your Audio Device
l External Devices: Set Up Your MIDI Devices
l Advanced: Advanced Options
Advanced Options
Studio One Pro offers the following ways to customize your workflow. Click on each tab in the Studio One Pro/Options/Advanced
(macOS: Preferences/Advanced) menu to access these options.
Many of the following options that pertain to editing in Arrange view can be accessed and toggled on or off by clicking the Options button
in the Arrange view toolbar.
Editing
Click on the Editing tab to access the following options:
l Enable Crosshair Cursor for Tools: This option is engaged by default. It enables a large, white, vertical-and-horizontal
crosshair in the Arrange view that aids in displaying the exact position of the various mouse tools.
l Locate When Clicked in Empty Space: This option is disengaged by default. When engaged, it allows the timeline cursor to
be located based on clicking in empty space or clicking where there are no Events.
l Expand Layers After Recording Takes: This is engaged by default. When this and the Record Takes To Layers options are
both engaged, the layers of each recording take are shown as soon as recording stops. If you prefer for this not to happen, dis-
engage this feature.
l Track/Channel names follow active Layer: This option is disengaged by default. When engaged, the name of the active
Layer is displayed instead of the track name in the Track Header and corresponding Channel.
l Apply Folder Track Color to Content: This option is disengaged by default. When engaged, it causes all content contained in
a Folder Track to be color-coded with the same color you choose for the Folder Track.
l Colorize Track Controls: This option is disengaged by default, and in that state, the color you choose for each Track is shown
in a small area in its controls in Arrange view. When Colorize Track Controls is engaged, it causes the whole control area of
each Track to be color-coded with assigned color, for better visibility.
Additional Options 38
l Auto-colorize Tracks and Layers: This option is engaged by default. This option applies to importing files, when tracks are cre-
ated without using the “Add Tracks” dialog.
l Show Channel Numbers in Tracks: This option is disengaged by default. Some Tracks do not have corresponding Channels
in the Console (and vice versa). Because of this, Tracks and Channels are assigned numbers separately to avoid gaps in Track
or Channel numbering. This means that in some cases, a Track and its corresponding Channel may be numbered differently. If
this bothers you, enable the Show Channel Numbers in Tracks option to mark each Track with its corresponding Channel num-
ber, avoiding this mismatch.
l No Overlap When Editing Events: This option is disengaged by default. When engaged, moving or pasting an Event over
another Event deletes whatever is buried beneath, so there is no overlapping data (only the audio crossfades are preserved). If
the range being copied includes data outside an Event, the range selection is treated as if it were part of the Event. So when the
range selection is pasted, it overwrites the identical range at the destination.
Note that the "No overlap" setting only works for note data if "Cut long notes at part end" is enabled at
Studio One/Options/Advanced/MIDI (macOS: Preferences/Advanced/MIDI).
l Show Event Names: This shows the name labels inside each Event in the Arrangement view. This is purely an aesthetic dif-
ference and does not change any functions.
l Show Envelopes on Instrument Parts: This overlays a graphic representation of controller activity (volume, sustain, etc.).
This does not change any functions. Disengage this to display only the notes.
l Show Chords on Events: This adds an overlay to Audio Events in the Arrangement showing detected chords. This requires
the track height to be set to Small or higher.
l Draw Events Translucent: This option is disengaged by default. It enables the Timeline grid in the Arrange and Edit view to be
seen in the background, through Events. Seeing the grid may help with various editing tasks.
Automation
Click on the Automation tab to access the following options:
l Automation Follows Events: This is engaged by default. This means that automation envelopes lock to Events so that moving
an Event with automation “under” it also moves the automation.
l Disable Events Under Automation Envelopes: This is also engaged by default. This makes Events unavailable to the mouse
tools while viewing an automation envelope, which helps prevent you from unintentionally editing underlying Events while edit-
ing automation.
l Automatically Create Automation Tracks for Channels: This is disabled by default. Engaging this option automatically adds
an automation Track for every new FX Channel, Bus, or VCA Channel that you create in the Console. This helps to retain parity
between the structure of Tracks in Arrange view, versus Channels in the Console.
l Automatically Add Envelopes for all Touched Parameters: This is enabled by default. Engaging this option adds an auto-
mation envelope for any automation-friendly parameter when you touch its control.
l Reduction Level: This option allows you to control the density of new automation data as it is written. This helps reduce the
CPU load during playback. Since Note Data Reduction also applies to MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) data, some MIDI
recording may sound different with reduced data. To avoid this issue, make sure the Reduction Level is set to 0%. Note that this
setting has no effect on existing automation envelopes.
l The Default Envelopes for new Audio Tracks selectors let you specify which types of automation envelopes are created for
each new track by default. You can enable or disable Volume, Pan, and Mute.
Audio
Click on the Audio tab to access the following options:
l Enable "Play Overlaps" for New Audio Tracks: This is disengaged by default. When engaged, the "Play Overlaps" feature
will be enabled automatically for every audio track you create. For more information, see the Track Inspector section of the
Editing chapter.
l Enable "Layers Follow Events for New Tracks": This is engaged by default. New Tracks will default to having the audio on
underlying Layers follow the related Event above when moved along the timeline. When disabled, moving an Event with one or
more Layers beneath it detaches that Event from the layers below, making it a permanent part of the primary Layer. This feature
can also be enabled/disabled on a per-Track basis via the Inspector.
l Use Cache for Timestretched Audio Files: This is engaged by default. It is described in depth in the Using Timestretch
Cache section of the Editing chapter.
l Record Tempo Information to Audio Files: This is engaged by default. When engaged, this option enables tempo tagging for
any audio file recorded in Studio One Pro. The Song tempo at the time position of the recording is saved with the file, so that
automatic timestretching can be accomplished. If another application has issues reading audio files from Studio One Pro, try dis-
abling this option.
Advanced Options 39
l Use Dithering for Playback and Audio File Export: This is engaged by default, and means that PreSonus’ triangular dither-
ing is applied when the audio signal’s bit depth is reduced from a higher bit depth by a device or during file export. Turn this off if
you would like to use a third-party dithering solution, such as a limiter Insert effect on the Main Output that has built-in dithering
with characteristics you prefer.
l Use Realtime Processing to Update Mastering Files: This option ensures that real-time processing is used when the mas-
tering file for a given Song is automatically updated. This is necessary when Songs utilize certain devices, such as External
Instruments, that require a real-time mixdown in order to be included in the mix.
l Pre-record Audio Input: This option creates a buffer of a length you can specify, which records continuously, even when the
transport is stopped. This saves the audio you create before recording begins. Once recording concludes, the number of
seconds of audio you've specified are available before the point at which recording started.
l The recorded data is collected in the Input Channels as long as physical inputs are connected. After recording with Pre-
Record enabled, you can reveal the pre-recorded data by pulling the Event-start handle to the left.
l If recording restarts on the same Track, the Pre-Record data is limited to the last recording’s end, so that data is not
repeated and a seamless join between the two recordings is possible.
l Record Offset: This allows you to input a value, in samples, by which any recorded audio should be offset in the arrangement,
thereby compensating for device/driver latency.
l Ignore Audio Device Timestamps (Windows only): Studio One Pro uses the system clock by default because some ASIO
drivers have incorrect timestamps. This setting can be disengaged, but if you experience erratic behavior such as a jumping
playback cursor, re-enable this setting.
MIDI
Click on the MIDI tab to access the following options:
l Timecode Follows Loop: This option is engaged by default and allows MIDI Timecode to remain in sync when Loop is active in
a Song, Project or Show. With this disengaged, MIDI Timecode continues to run linearly (counting up) while Studio One Pro's
transport is looping.
l Reveal Precount Notes: This option is disengaged by default. Engage this option to retain any MIDI notes played during the
count-in when Precount is enabled. This can be helpful when playing in parts that start just before the downbeat.
l Chase Long Notes: This is engaged by default. When engaged, if playback starts after a note start, the note is played as
though its start time were at the position at which playback started. For instance, if a synth pad note starts at bar 1 and lasts
through bar 8, and playback is started at bar 4, the note plays from bar 4 as it would normally from bar 1. With this option dis-
engaged, in the above example, the note would not play at all.
l Cut Long Notes at Part End: This option is not engaged by default. When engaged, this means that notes are cut at the end of
a Part where it would otherwise extend beyond the Part end. This effectively places the note-off at the Part End.
l Enable Retrospective Recording: This is engaged by default. When engaged, all incoming MIDI data is captured for each
Track, even when not recording. This buffer can be recalled and placed at the desired location in the Song.
l Record Offset: This option allows you to input a value, in milliseconds, by which any recorded musical performance should be
offset in the arrangement, thereby compensating for device/driver latency.
Console
Click on the Console tab to access the following options:
l Enable Undo: Enable this option to allow undo for changes in the Console, such as fader moves and channel mutes.
l Colorize Channel Strips: Enable this option to apply channel color coding to full channel strips in the Console. Normally the
color only shows on the channel labels. This sort of enhanced visual reference can be helpful when trying to navigate large
Songs.
l Colorize Plug-in Header: Enable this option to apply channel color coding to the open editor window of a plug-in. This is handy
when the same plug-in is being used for several Console Channels (the PreSonus Compressor, for example).
l Auto-expand Selected Channel: When enabled, this option makes it easier to view expanded Channels in the Console one at
a time. Double-click the first Channel to expand it, and when the next Channel is selected, two things happen: The currently
selected channel auto-expands, and the previously selected channel collapses. If you hold [Alt]/[Option] and click the second
Channel, the previous Channel does not collapse.
l Automatically create buses for multi-out instruments: If this option is enabled, an Instrument Bus is created automatically
when instruments like Impact are inserted to a song. This option is enabled by default.
l Fader Mode: This sets the mouse behavior for channel faders in the Console. Choose Touch to require clicking on the fader
handle itself before dragging it to the desired position. Choose Jump to allow clicking anywhere on the travel of the fader to set
its position.
Advanced Options 40
l Plug-In Menu: This changes the style of the local Plug-In menus everywhere in the Console, the Inspector and the Channel
Editor. Choose Basic for a simplified list of Plug-Ins sorted by folder (including custom user folders). Choose Advanced for an
expanded browser-style view with search and sort options (similar to the Plug-Ins tab of the Browser). Changing this option
changes the appearance of all local Plug-In menus throughout the Console.
l Audio Input follows Selection:Enable this option to automatically engage Record and Monitor mode for any Audio Track you
select.
l Instrument Input follows Selection: Enable this option to automatically engage Record and Monitor mode for any Instrument
Track you select.
l Solo Follows Selection: With this option enabled, once a track is soloed, selecting a different track causes the newly selected
track to be soloed. When this option is disabled, tracks stay soloed until solo is disengaged.
l Channel Editor follows Selection: This option is engaged by default and causes currently viewable channel devices, such as
virtual effects or instruments, to automatically switch when a Channel is selected. This ensures you are only viewing the devices
related to the selected Channel.
l If you would like Audio or Instrument Track monitoring to be enabled automatically when recording is enabled on a Track,
engage the Audio Track Monitoring Follows Record and Instrument Track Monitoring Follows Record options.
l Audio Track Monitoring Mutes Playback (Tape Style): This option mutes playback of any pre-existing audio on Audio
Tracks that have monitoring enabled.
l Cue Mix Mute Follows Channel: Enable this option to mute all other tracks within a Cue Mix when a channel in that mix is
soloed. Disable this option to cause other channels in the Cue Mix to continue playing when a channel within that mix is soloed.
l Note: When this option is disabled, Cue Mix sends are not available in busses and FX channels. In this state, Cue Mix
sends on channels are routed directly to the Cue Mix output
Synchronization
Click on the Synchronization tab to access the following options:
l Sync to External Devices: Click this box to make Studio One Pro follow incoming MIDI Time Code (MTC). Note that some
MIDI devices only transmit MIDI clock data, not MTC. Studio One Pro requires a greater degree of accuracy than a simple
MIDI clock can provide. For conversion from SMPTE, an outboard synchronizer is required. For additional accuracy, using an
external word clock (master) is recommended.
l MIDI Time Code: Select the device that will receive MIDI Time Code (MTC). The gray field to the right of the device name indic-
ates the current status of MTC transmission.
l MIDI Machine Control: Select the device that will receive MIDI Machine Control (MMC).
Ableton Link
Ableton Link synchronizes musical beat, tempo, and phase across multiple applications running on one or more devices. When running
Studio One Pro and one or more other Ableton Link peers in the local network, all peers can play in sync and optionally start/stop at the
same time. When starting playback from a Link peer’s device (not Studio One Pro), tempo in Studio One Pro is synchronized to other
peers, and the tempo track is disabled.
Activate Ableton Link Click this box to activate Ableton Link.
Synchronize Start/Stop Click this box to synchronize start or stop transport with other peers who also have the feature enabled.
Start/stop state changes only follow user actions.
Once synchronized, there will be a blue circle spinning around the On/Off button within the Transport Controls:
Services
Studio One Pro gives you the ability to selectively enable and disable particular services, or modules, that enable specific features. This
may be helpful when troubleshooting. For instance, if an ARA plug-in seems to be causing a problem, you can disable the ARA service to
see if that resolves the issue. This kind of troubleshooting enables the technical-support team to quickly locate and resolve specific
issues with your computer system and to identify any previously unknown problems in the program.
Advanced Options 41
All services are enabled by default. To disable any service, click on the Services tab in the Studio One/Options/Advanced menu
(macOS: Preferences/Advanced) and click on the confirmation button, paying special attention to the disclaimer message. Then click on
any service in the list and click on the Disable button to disable that service. You must restart Studio One Pro for these changes to take
effect.
If a service has been disabled, follow the instructions above, and click on the Enable button for the service in order to re-enable it. Again,
Studio One Pro needs to be restarted for any of these changes to take effect.
Video
Click on the Video tab to access the following options:
l Set song frame rate to video frame rate when importing video file is an especially helpful option when you want to com-
pose a soundtrack while viewing the video.
l Automatically create audio track for sound from video gives you the option to edit the video audio like any other audio
event in the arranger window. Otherwise, the video’s audio file is restricted within the Audio Sub-Track.
Advanced Options 42
Fundamentals
The following chapter presents important, fundamental design aspects of Studio One Pro. Familiarity with these aspects of Studio One
Pro helps to ensure that your experience is as enjoyable and creatively stimulating as possible.
But first, take a moment with Gregor to learn a bit about a core Studio One Pro design philosophy - drag and drop!
Retrospective Recording
We've all had this experience as musicians: Sometimes, we perform our best takes or have a phenomenal idea and then realize we
weren't actually recording. With Retrospective Recording, you will never miss another great song idea again!
Retrospective Recording captures every note you play on your MIDI keyboard or controller... even without hitting Record. Even when the
transport is stopped! It works invisibly in the background on a track-by-track basis. Controller activity is captured as well. The moment
something brilliant happens, all you have to do is press [Shift]+[NumPad*] and the last performance will turn into an Instrument Part on
the respective Track.
Fundamentals 43
Note that the command "Recall Retrospective Recording" can be assigned to a different keyboard shortcut if you like. To learn more, see
Mapping Custom Key Commands .
Undo
If something unexpected happens when the events are recalled, such as the playback cursor is in the wrong position, the recall com-
mand can be undone (and redone) just like any other command.
Here's another example. Let's say the record mode was not correct when the events were recalled; you recalled the buffer when the
record mode set to Replace, but you wanted it set to Record Mix. The undo functionality removes the events from the Track again and
places them back in the buffer. Now you can change the recording option and recall them again using the new setting. Remember, if the
buffer receives any new event after 'undo' the buffer is deleted.
Documents
Studio One Pro can create and work with three types of documents: Songs, Shows, and Projects. Each Page of Studio One Pro is ded-
icated to one of these document types:
l Songs are for music and audio creation and production. Recording, editing, arranging, and mixing all take place here. Non-
musical work like podcasts and dialogue editing can be done in the Song page as well.
l Shows are for live performances and rehearsals, letting you use Studio One Pro as a performance tool. Shows provide func-
tionality for Backing Tracks, Instrument Players, Setlists, and Performance View.
l Projects are for mastering and releasing a collection of Songs. Projects allow for track sequencing, advanced metering, online
publishing, CD burning, and more.
Songs, Shows, and Projects are all created from the New Document menu, which allows you to create a new document from scratch or
select one of several Smart Templates. Smart Templates optimize Studio One Pro’s configuration for a specific tasks like beat pro-
duction, live performance, rehearsal, and more, while also offering helpful step-by-step guides.
Songs, Shows, and Projects are interactive with one another. Songs can be sent to both Shows and Projects using the Song/Add to
Show or Song/Add to Project commands from the drop-down menu. Songs that have been changed after being loaded into Projects can
be updated via the “Update Mastering File” command.
Documents 45
From here, you can create a new Song, Show, or Project, in a few different ways. You can use an empty template, a guided Smart Tem-
plate that optimizes Studio One Pro to your intended task, or a custom User template of your own creation.
More detailed instructions can be found in specific topics as follows:
l Creating a New Song
l Show Management
l Creating a New Project
l Smart Templates
Drag-and-Drop
Many functions in Studio One Pro have integrated drag-and-drop support. This means that objects can be clicked on and then dragged to
various locations, and over other objects, in order to accomplish certain tasks. For example, you can find an audio effect in the Browser,
and then click-and-drag it directly onto a Track to insert the effect onto that Track. You can then click-and-drag that effect onto another
Track to copy that effect and its settings to a new Track.
You can drag a virtual instrument from the Browser and drop it into blank space in the Arrange view to create a new Instrument Track with
that virtual instrument. You can also drop the virtual instrument on top of an Instrument Track to replace the existing virtual instrument.
If, while in mid-drag, you decide you no longer want to drag the object in question, press [Esc] on the keyboard to cancel the drag action.
These, and many other drag-and-drop features, allow you to work very quickly, without having to stop for menu navigation or other dis-
tracting processes.
Transport Controls
The Transport Controls are a central set of buttons that give you control over playback, navigation, and recording in Studio One Pro.
Transport Controls are present in the Song, Project and Show pages.
Key Commands
Many operations in Studio One Pro have associated key commands, or keyboard shortcuts, that can be used in lieu of navigating menus
with the mouse. Some key commands use modifier keys, and some modifier keys differ depending on the operating system.
In this manual, key commands with modifier keys are shown with the Windows modifier key first, as follows: [Win modifier key]/[Mac mod-
ifier key]+[key]. For example: [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[C] means “press [Ctrl]+C in Windows, or press [Cmd]+C in macOS.”
Where there is no difference between the Windows and Mac version of a key command, only one key command is displayed. Example:
[F3].
In several instances, options are located in the Studio One menu for Windows users and in the Preferences menu for macOS users. In
these cases, the Windows location is given first, and the Mac location follows in [brackets].
Some key commands open a window that helps locate or recall a specific item by typing a portion of its name or the item number. When
several items begin with similar letters, the up and down arrow keys can be used to scroll through the results. Examples:
l [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[C] to locate a Console Channel
l [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[T] to locate a Track
l [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[S] to recall a Scene
A complete list of key commands is always available via Help/Keyboard Shortcuts, which renders an HTML document and opens it in
your browser with the currently configured key commands.
Find Command
You can also use the “Find Command” feature to search for any command by name and quickly learn its keyboard shortcut. Pressing
[Ctrl]+[K] and type in the name of the Command you’re interested in or a related keyword like Track, Event, etc.
Key Commands 47
The key commands used for each DAW can be viewed in the Key Command menu and can be exported in several file types for external
viewing.
Key Commands 48
l Export as Text: Select this to export your Studio One Pro Keyboard Mapping Scheme as a text file so that you can cre-
ate a reference guide to your custom mappings.
A complete list of key commands can be viewed via Help/Keyboard Shortcuts, which renders an HTML document that shows the cur-
rently configured key commands and opens the document in your browser.
Info View
The Info View panel, accessed via the Question Mark icon in the top toolbar on the Song , Project and Show pages, displays all possible
actions for the selected mouse tool, as well as showing the possible modifiers and their related actions. Various controls in the Studio
One Pro interface and included plug-ins also display information in the Info View when you hover the mouse pointer over them. From Info
View, you can press F1 on your keyboard to jump directly to related sections of the Studio One Pro reference manual.
Tooltips
Many controls, tools, and windows in Studio One Pro have associated tooltips that display when you hover your mouse pointer over the
control. These short descriptions can help you quickly orient yourself to the functions available in Studio One Pro.
View Options
Studio One Pro’s core design philosophy is about helping you create while remaining unobtrusive. As such, we’ve made its View settings
highly configurable so that you aren’t distracted by elements you choose not to use, and only see them when you want to. Check the
View drop-down menu for a full list of options. From there, you can even store and recall favored Zoom settings, Reset Window Pos-
itions, and more. Activate Fullscreen at any time from this menu, or by pressing [Shift-F].
PreSonus.com
Our website, http://presonus.com, contains a wealth of information about Studio One Pro and how best to use it. You can also get
information and answers from fellow users at our forums at http://forums.presonus.com/
Play Now
Choose this Smart Template to connect a guitar or MIDI controller and make some music right away.
l Drums: Creates a new Song for use with a MIDI drum kit, this Smart Template loads an instance of Impact for your drum
sounds.
l Guitar: Creates a new Song for use with an electric guitar, this Smart Template loads an instance of Ampire for creating your gui-
tar tone.
l Piano: Creates a new Song for use with a MIDI keyboard controller, this Smart Template loads an instance of Presence with a
lush piano sound.
l Synth: Creates a new Song for use with a MIDI keyboard controller, this Smart Template loads an instance of Mai Tai with a
classic synthesizer sound.
Record Now
Record audio on single or multiple tracks and capture your ideas.
Smart Templates 50
l Full Band: Creates a new Song with Tracks set up for lead vocals, two guitars, bass, keyboards, and multi-track drums in a
bussed Folder Track. There are separate FX Channels (with Sends applied) for Drum Room and Vocal Reverb; Ampire and Fat
Channel effects are applied to the appropriate Track Inserts.
l Guitar and Vocal: Creates a new Song with Tracks set up for two vocals, one guitar, and an instance of Impact for virtual
drums. There are separate FX Channels (with Sends applied) for Drum Room and Vocal Reverb; Ampire, De-Esser, and Fat
Channel effects are applied to the appropriate Track Inserts.
l Single Track: Creates a new Song with just a single empty Track and Input Channels visible.
Mix in Surround
Create a Song in multichannel or binaural format, including Dolby Atmos.
l Dolby Atmos: Choose this to create a Song in the Dolby Atmos configuration. Choose from the following sub-options:
l Bed Format: Choose the configuration of your traditionally-panned elements.
l Monitoring Format: Choose your speaker configuration. Choose the configuration that best matches the speaker
array in your studio.
l Sample Rate: Choose from 48 kHz or 96 kHz.
l Surround: Choose this to create a Song in Surround. You’ll be presented with the following options:
l Output Format: Choose the configuration that best matches the manner in which you want your music to be listened
to. You’ll need a matching speaker configuration in your studio.
l Sample Rate: Choose from 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz.
Produce Beats
Start building a beat from scratch with Patterns using virtual instruments for drums, bass, and chords.
Produce Beats creates a new Song with an instance of Impact, two instances of Mai Tai, an instance of Impact for drums, and twi
instances of Mai Tai - one for bass and another for chords and arpeggios. Impact and Mai Tai’s Note Events are set up as Patterns for
intuitive, beat-driven workflow suitable for hip-hop and EDM.
Create Content
Record and produce online content such as audiobooks, voice-over, and podcasts - with or without video.
Create Content Creates a new Song with three tracks: Music/FX, Voiceover 1, and Voiceover 2. Video Track is enabled and appropriate
dialogue processing is applied to the Voiceover Channel Inserts — plus a Room reverb FX Channel and Sends. Imported video and
music will be placed appropriately into Video Track and the Music/FX Track. If multiple videos are imported, they will be placed one after
the other.
Import Files
Import files by dragging them on the dropzone and start mixing. You can import various filetypes in whatever combination you like, includ-
ing but not limited to: audio files, MIDI files, AAF, Cubase Track Archives, and more.
Audio Interfaces
Record audio straight from all available inputs of your favorite PreSonus or Fender devices. Interface models are sorted within the “Inter-
face template” dropdown menu. If you own a PreSonus or Fender audio interface, choose it from this list to create a new Song with all of
the inputs and outputs mapped appropriately for the chosen interface. To access Fender Device templates, select the Fender tab next to
the PreSonus tab.
Demos
Choose a Studio One Pro Demo song to listen to, explore, reverse-engineer, and learn from!
Smart Templates 51
Tutorials
Most Smart Templates, including Play Now, Record Now, Produce Beats, and Create Content include guided step-by-step Tutorials to
help you through Studio One Pro fundamentals like Track arming, instrument/controller setup, and more.
Tutorials are started automatically if a Smart Template containing a Tutorial is launched. Some tutorial slides will dim the screen to draw
your attention to certain areas of focus. Navigate the Tutorials by clicking the navigation buttons or the arrow keys. Press [ESC] to exit a
Tutorial.
Apply Customization
Smart Templates leverage Studio One Pro’s Customization feature, which enables or disables features to create optimized workspaces
for specific tasks. (A user working strictly in audio recording would not require loops or Patterns, for example.) Use this option to
enable/disable Customization changes.
Customization
Smart Templates 52
Song Information and Track Notes
As you record, mix, or master, you may need to take notes of something pertaining to the song or track you are working on. Studio One
Pro makes this easy with the Song Information window.
One way to access the Song Information window is by clicking onto the Song tab from the menu bar. At the bottom of the drop-down
menu, click Song Information.
The Song Information window will appear, which includes a tab detailing general information about the track, the Song Notes tab, and the
Track Notes tab.
l The Info tab includes Meta Information related to the song, including the artist name, album name, songwriter credits, year of
release, and other important information.
l The Song Notes tab may be a good spot to draft promotional copy, make notes about the collaboration process, or provide
more information about the song’s origin or original inspiration(s).
l The Track Notes tab is a great space for collaborators to detail track revisions, give directions, or leave feedback. Alternatively,
you may find it useful to leave notes for yourself between mixing sessions.
Clicking on any of the information within the Info tab will pull up the corresponding Song Setup window where you can edit the Meta
Information. You can also access this window by clicking onto the Song tab from the menu bar. From the drop-down menu, click Song
Setup. Alternatively, the preset quick command to open Meta Information is [Ctrl]/[Cmd]-[.].
To navigate directly to the Track Notes, right click onto any of the tracks within the Mix Console. From this drop-down menu, click Edit
Note. Notes can also be edited by clicking on the notepad icon ("Edit Note") in the Inspector channel.
You can easily add track and channel notes into Arrangement or Mix Console areas by customizing the display options. To do this, click
onto the wrench icon (“Options”) in either area. From the option drop-down menus, Track and Channel Notes can be enabled. When
enabled, each Track or Channel will have its own notepad where you can enter text.
Control Link
Controlling DAW software with hardware MIDI controllers can sometimes be a complex task. To make things simpler, Studio One Pro
provides the Control Link system, a clear and easy MIDI mapping protocol. With minimal configuration, you can achieve effective control
over your software and external equipment.
For more on the Control Link System, refer to the Control Link chapter.
View Options
View Menu
Studio One Pro’s core design philosophy is about helping you create while remaining unobtrusive. As such, we’ve made its View settings
highly configurable, so that you aren’t distracted by elements you choose not to use, and only see them when you want to.
Check the View drop-down menu for a full list of options. From here, you can even store and recall favored Zoom settings, Reset Window
Positions, and more. Additionally, views can be accessed via Studio One Pro’s configurable Keyboard Shortcuts, which many power
users find to be the fastest, most efficient method of using Studio One Pro.
Basic Studio One Pro views like Pages, the Editor, the Console, etc. are located in the top two sections of this menu, and each are
covered in detail in their respective sections of this manual.
View Options 55
The third section of this menu pertains to Studio One Pro’s Browser. Here you’ll find your Instruments, Effects, Loops, and more. The
Browser also has it's own topic.
The fourth section of this menu offers several Views useful to specific use cases:
Record Panel
The Record Panel offers control over several modes for recording to an Instrument Track, including Replace and Overdub, Record takes
to Layers, Input Quantize, and more. The Record Panel is covered in greater detail here.
Time Display
The floating, resizable Time Display View gives you an at-a-glance look at the current playback position of your Song. Supported units
include Seconds, Bars, Samples, and Frames, and can be configured by using the smaller Time Display to the left of the Transport Bar at
the bottom of Studio One Pro.
The floating, resizable Remaining Record Time View gives you a look at how much recording time is available, based on your current
track count, sampling rate, and available disk space.
Kindly note that “Remaining Record Time” is not a countdown to the expiration of your Studio One Pro+ membership.
Chord Display
The floating, resizable Chord Display View presents several options for viewing Chords. Useful for easy sight-reading while practicing
your instrument of choice... particularly when used in conjunction with loop points!
This window has three options:
View Options 56
l Chord Track: Displays the chord from the Chord Track at the current playback position, as well as the next upcoming Chord (in
blue).
l Input Chord: Displays the chord currently being played on an external keyboard.
l Editor: Mirrors the current/selected Chord display in the Note Editor inspector. When multiple tracks are visible in the editor,
all of them contribute to the chord displayed. When no instrument editor is open, it displays the chord of a currently selected
instrument track at the current playback point.
Chord Track is covered in greater detail here.
MIDI Monitor
MIDI Monitor grants you filterable visibility to all MIDI data entering or leaving Studio One Pro. It’s very useful for mapping external con-
trollers and instruments, as well as for troubleshooting devices that are not sending or receiving MIDI data as expected.
Mapping a controller with the help of MIDI Monitor is covered in greater detail here.
View Options 57
Performance Monitor
The Performance Monitor displays the current total CPU and disk usage, as well as specific usage data for Insert effects and Instru-
ments. This is useful for determining which demanding Instrument Tracks may be worth rendering to Audio Events, for example. You’ve
also got control over Dropout Protection settings and Plug-in Nap from the Performance Monitor.
Performance Monitor is covered in greater detail in the Metering and Audio Device Setup topics.
Dropout Protection
Dropout Protection allows you to select the right balance between processing power and latency for your current workflow. Generally
speaking, low latency is preferred for live tracking, so choose a lower setting for such applications; and higher buffer settings are prefer-
able for working with many virtual instruments simultaneously. Dropout Protection is covered in greater detail here.
Plug-in Nap
Plug-in Nap improves overall CPU performance and reduces the risk of audio dropouts by temporarily pausing the processing of plug-ins
that don’t pass audio at the current playback point. The status of each plug-in can be seen in the Performance Monitor (look for the cres-
cent icon in the in CPU display). Plug-ins of your choice can be selectively excepted from Plug-in Nap—handy for isolating any plug-ins
that are giving you trouble. Click the tickboxes on the right of Performance Monitor to select the desired plug-ins; note that this option dis-
ables Plug-in Nap’s influence on the plug-in and does not disable the plug-in itself.
Note that the maximum number of simultaneously processed plug-ins will still be limited by the available CPU power. Plug-in Nap is also
available in the Audio Setup menu.
If you are experiencing issues with some of your plug-ins and want to disable them altogether, you can do this from the Plug-in Manager.
Plug-in Nap can also be selectively enabled/disabled on a per Plug-in from the Plug-in Editor drop-down menu, the Rack Slot Menu in the
Console, or from the right-click contextual menu in the Browser.
Performance Monitor 58
Plug-in Manager
Plug-in Manager allows you to search, view, sort, remove, block, and show/hide your plug-ins from a single window. You can also check
your plug-in versions here. You can also reset the Blocklist for any plug-ins that failed Studio One Pro’s plug-in scan, and you can even
manually add a plug-in to the Blocklist by dragging and dropping it from Studio One Pro’s Browser. Right-clicking on any plug-in will allow
you to open it in your OS’s Finder/Browser.
Click “Update Plug-in List” to refresh the list for any new plug-ins you may have installed while Studio One Pro is open.
The Statistics Tab provides useful information concerning frequency of plug-in use, and each plug-ins affect on load times, save times,
and average preset size.
Plug-in Manager is discussed in greater detail here.
Note Repeat
Note Repeat is a tool that allows you to produce several selectably quantized notes from a single key press of your MIDI controller.
Note Repeat 59
Note Repeat is highly configurable, and can be controlled extensively using MIDI, which unlocks a wealth of real-time creative options.
Not to be confused with Repeater.
Note Repeat is covered in greater detail here.
Video Player
Video Player allows you to play a video in sync with Studio One Pro. Ideal for scoring video/film productions. You can even extract audio
from your imported video clip to mix.
Video Player is covered in greater detail in its own topic here.
Additional Views:
l Info View: Use this View to display a context-sensitive window at the top of Studio One Pro that contains useful feature descrip-
tions as well as tips for using the modifier keys (Shift, Control, etc.)
l Audio Bend: Use this View to display the Audio Bend menu at the top of Studio One Pro.
l Strip Silence: Use this View to display the Strip Silence menu at the top of Studio One Pro.
l Quantize: Use this View to display the Quantize menu at the top of Studio One Pro.
l Macros: Use these Views to display your Macros in several places: the Arrangement Window, Note Editor, or Audio Editor.
Read more about powerful Macros here!
l Chord Selector: Use this option to toggle visibility of the Chord Selector.
Windows:
l Toggle Floating Windows: Use this option to toggle visibility of floating windows like your plug-ins.
l Toggle Optional Views: Use this option to toggle optional views like the Browser, Console, or Edit Windows on and off.
l Toggle Detached Console: Use this option to detach the console and relocate it wherever you like. Useful if you use multiple
monitors.
l Toggle Detached Editor: Use this option to toggle detachment of the Editor Window.
l Fullscreen: Use this option to run Studio One Pro in Fullscreen mode [Shift+F].
l Reset Window Positions: Use this option to reset all windows to their default positions. Useful for when complex projects get a
Video Player 60
little too busy, or when a document was saved on a different computer with a larger monitor setup and windows are positioned
outside of the visible range. This will fix the problem.
Zoom:
l Zoom In/Out: Use these options to Zoom the Edit Window in or out horizontally.
l Zoom In/Out: Use these options to Zoom the Edit Window in or out vertically.
l Zoom to Loop: Use this option to maximize the Zoom on your Loop points.
l Zoom to Selection: Use this option to Zoom the currently-selected Events to maximum vertically.
l Zoom to Selection Horizontally: Use this option to Zoom the currently-selected Events to maximum vertically.
l Zoom Full: Use this option to fit the entire contents of the Edit window.
l Undo / Redo Zoom: Use these options as dedicated Undo/Redo for your Zoom settings.
l Toggle Zoom: Use this option to alternate between your last two Zoom settings.
l Store Zoom State: Use this option to save your favored Zoom state for later use.
l Restore Zoom State: Use this option to recall your favored Zoom state.
Visibility
Undo Visibility Change and Redo Visibility Change: Visibility changes are not tracked by Studio One Pro’s normal Undo/Redo func-
tionality, so a separate set of dedicated visibility undo/redo options are available.
Video Player 61
Pages
The functions in Studio One Pro are organized into four main pages: Start, Song, Project, and Show. Each page is designed to help you
accomplish a specific set of tasks, and each page is accessible at all times.
In this chapter, we discuss the general layout of the user interface for each page.
Start
When Studio One Pro is launched, the Start page is displayed:
This page is the central location for document management and device configuration controls, as well as your artist profile, a news feed,
and links to demos and tutorials. The following section provides a brief description of the Start page.
Navigation Icons
At the top left of the Start Page, you’ll find four icons:
l Audio Batch Converter: Click here to open the Audio Batch Converter. Use it to merge mono files into stereo, apply insert
effects or fades on multiple audio files at once, batch-convert sample rates, and much more. Note that the Audio Batch Con-
verter is an add-on available to Studio One Pro+ members and must first be downloaded and installed to access.
l Soundcloud Client: Click here to open the SoundCloud client window.
l TuneCore Client: Click here to open the TuneCore client window.
l Macro Organizer: Click here to explore your Macros, create new ones, and edit existing ones. For more information about the
Macro Organizer, check out the Macro Toolbar page.
At the top right of the Start Page you’ll find three icons:
Pages 62
l User Profile and Notifications: Click to sign in/out of your user profile or edit it (opens My.PreSonus in your browser) Here,
you’ll also find notifications regarding updates to your shared Workspaces in Studio One Pro+ .
l Transfers: Click to open the Transfers dialogue box to check the status of uploads and downloads.
l Home: Click this to return to the Start Page from any other Page.
l Quick Switch: Click this to open a drop-down menu of all open documents.
Notification Center
If there are new updates to any of your shared Studio One Pro+ workspaces, you’ll be reminded via a notification badge on your User Pro-
file picture. Click it to receive a list of the latest news.
Here, you’ll be notified of updates to your Studio One Pro+ Collaborations, including collaboration invites, new/departed collaborators,
changed files, synchronization updates, workspace messages, and more.
Many Notifications are directly actionable from the Notification Center. Clickable links in Notifications allow you to navigate directly to the
related Workspace, User Profile, support ticket, comment, etc. with a single click.
In the event that you are notified of a newly-synced Folder, you can download the updated media directly from the Notification by clicking
the “Receive” button.
l Accept: Click to accept an invitation from a new collaborator.
l Join: Click to join a Workspace invitation (after accepting)
l Reject: Click to reject an invitation from an unwanted collaborator.
l Receive: Click to download updates from a collaborator in a shared Workspace.
l Show: Click to open the Start Page and highlight the corresponding document.
Start 63
l Open: Click to open the corresponding document.
l Retry: indicates a failed or incomplete synchronization. Click to try the sync again.
Once read, Notifications can be deleted individually via the X icon on the top right of each notification, or Click “Clear all” to delete them
all. The read status and deletion of notifications is synchronized with the server so that the notifications are also read/removed on my.-
presonus.com, and on any Internet-connected computers you are running Studio One Pro on.
Tasks
In the center left of the Start page there are three options.
l New: Create a new document from a Smart Template: a Song, Show, or Project.
l A Song is where you can record, edit, arrange, and mix audio and note data.
l A Show is where you can perform live, using Studio One Pro for backing tracks and more.
l A Project is where multiple Songs or audio files can be arranged and mixed on a single timeline for mastering pur-
poses.
l Open… Open an existing document.
l Join… Open the Join menu, where you can Join any Collaborations you’ve accepted an invitation to.
New Document
When creating a new Song, Show, or Project, you’ll be presented with the New document dialogue. Record and Mix, Master and
Release, and Rehearse and Perform each open a blank Song, Project, or Show, respectively, for you to begin working.
Smart Templates
Smart Templates create a new document optimized for the type of work you want to do. For example, the “Create Content” Template cre-
ates a new Song file with a Video Track; two tracks for voiceover; a stereo track for Music/FX; and processing effects appropriate for pod-
casting already placed in the Console Channels. It also provides a step-by step guide.
You can create your own Templates using the File >> Save as Template command in your document. These Templates will appear in the
User tab of the New Document dialogue.
Smart Templates 64
Recent Files Tab
The Recent Files list includes links to the most recently accessed documents. Click on any of these links to quickly open the associated
file. Floating the mouse to the left of any listed document reveals a Pin icon that, when clicked, pins that document to the Recent Files list
until it is unpinned.
To open an auto-saved version of a document, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the name of the document and choose the desired revision from the
pop-up list. This right-click menu also offers the ability to display the selected document in the Windows Explorer or the macOS Finder.
This menu also includes critical information about a file, including its sample rate, BPM, and more.
You can also choose “Open with Options” from this menu to load a Song without Native Plug-ins, third-party plug-ins, or ARA support—
useful for troubleshooting Song files that may not be opening properly for you.
Setup
This area displays your currently selected audio device and contains links to configure your audio device, configure external devices,
check for updates, and view information about Studio One Pro.
Artist Profiles
Here you can specify certain meta-information that is used to tag your Songs, including an image, artist name, genre, and artist Web
URL. To add an image to the artist information, click the [...] button to choose a file, or drag-and-drop an image onto the image icon from
any location on your computer. To remove the current image, click the button marked X.
In addition to enabling you to personalize Studio One Pro, this feature saves you the effort of filling in meta-information for every Song.
For producers and mix engineers working with multiple clients, you also have the option to create as many Artist Profiles as you like,
ensuring that their songs are tagged with all of the correct information. Click the icon on the bottom right of the Artist Profile section to cre-
ate a new Artist Profile, or switch to or remove an existing one.
The Artist name and photo included in Artist Profiles will be written into metadata of exported files.
Once you’ve set up an account, the SoundCloud dashboard lets you have direct interaction with your fans and customers, as well as
view various statistics, such as play and download numbers, and the number of followers you have.
News Feed
The Studio One Pro news feed comes directly from PreSonus. This news feed contains helpful information related to Studio One Pro and
updates automatically if your computer is connected to the Internet.
Song
When a new Song is created or an existing Song is opened, you are taken to the Song page. This page contains all of the necessary
tools to record, edit, arrange, and mix multitrack audio and instrument data.
Song 67
Song Page Workflow
The Song page is a complete multitrack production environment with a single-window interface. On this page any number of audio and
instrument Tracks can be recorded, edited, and arranged. Any number of audio effects, virtual instruments, and external effects and
instruments can be used, and most parameters can be automated using Track or Part automation.
An integrated Browser makes it fast and easy to find and import audio and note data files, VST/AU audio effects, and VST/AU virtual
instruments and applications. Audio files can be imported and automatically timestretched to fit the current tempo. Virtual instruments
can be dragged from the Browser directly into the Song for instant setup of all parameters, allowing a fast workflow when inspiration hits.
When the final touches have been made and the Song is ready for a mastering pass or a live performance, it can be added to a Project or
a Show with a single command.
Global Controls
All of the tracks within the arranger can be controlled at once using the Global tracks located below the track lanes:
Song 68
l Global Mute To unmute all muted tracks at once, click onto Global Mute. Clicking it again will mute the previously muted tracks.
l Global Solo To easily disable the solo status of tracks at once, click onto Global Solo. Clicking it again will solo the previously
solo tracks.
l Active All Inserts If you wish to temporarily deactivate all Inserts across all Channels in your song, press the Activate All Inserts
button at the bottom-left of the Arrange view. Press the button again to return all Inserts to their most recent activation state—
inserts that were deactivated before clicking Activate All Inserts will remain deactivated. For more information, see Effects Sig-
nal Routing.
Alternatively, using the Vertical Zoom slider ( ), you can adjust the size of tracks manually by clicking and dragging the slider with
your cursor:
Song 69
All audio event data displays (on tracks, in cells, in audio editor) will show consolidated “mono” waveforms if the height of the event is
below a certain limit (track size “normal” and below). This limit is the same for all multichannel audio files (stereo and surround).
Show
When a new Show is created or an existing Show is opened, you are taken to the Show page.
The Show page provides an independent yet fully integrated live performance environment for performing artists, bands, and live sound
engineers. It combines Setlist management with playback of backing tracks, playing virtual instruments, and processing real instrument
audio signals through virtual FX racks – all from a single, intuitive interface that can easily receive content directly from any track on the
Studio One Pro Song page.
The Show page also offers two customizable views – one for editing and one for performing. The dedicated Performance View with cus-
tomizable Macro Controls works hand in hand with hardware controllers such as the PreSonus FaderPort and ATOM series to create a
streamlined software/hardware user interface that hides any information not needed in the actual live performance.
Show 70
While presenting information in a new way, the Show page still follows the established Studio One Pro workflow with intuitive drag-and-
drop operation and convenient, easy-to-use local context menus to present available commands and options. It shares the familiar
Browser, Console, External Devices and Instruments panels, as well as many functions already introduced on the Song page. Cus-
tomizable keyboard shortcuts with dedicated Show page commands allow for even further customization, for example when using the
Studio One Pro Remote app (iOS/Windows/Android).
It's simple to get your Songs ready to perform using the Show page. For details, see the Show Page chapter.
Project
When you create or open a Project in Studio One Pro, you are taken to the Project page. This area contains the tools you need to master
and publish audio.
Quick Switch
In Studio One Pro, you can have multiple Songs, Projects or Shows open simultaneously and can switch between them quickly. The fast-
est way to switch between any open Song, Project or Show, as well as the Start page, is to press [Ctrl]+[Tab] and continue to hold [Ctrl]
on the keyboard. This displays a pop-up list of all open documents.
While holding [Ctrl], press [Tab] to cycle through the open documents. Release [Ctrl] when the desired document is selected. Now, you
can view that document.
Project 71
Recording
The following chapter discusses aspects of recording in Studio One Pro, including Audio and Instrument Tracks, recording modes and
formats, and recording tips.
Audio Tracks
Before recording can take place, you need at least one Track on which to record. Studio One Pro has two types of Tracks for basic record-
ing: the Audio Track and the Instrument Track. Audio is recorded to Audio Tracks, while musical performance data is recorded to Instru-
ment Tracks.
Recording 72
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click in blank space in the Track Column and select Add Tracks For All Inputs to quickly add a Track for every configured
input in Audio I/O Setup.
Alternatively, you can [Right]/[Ctrl]-click in any blank space in the Track Column of the Arrange view and select Add Audio Track (Mono)
or Add Audio Track (Stereo) to quickly add an audio Track.
To remove an Audio Track, select the desired Audio Track (with no Audio Events selected) and and press [Delete], or select the desired
Instrument Track and press [Shift-T].
Input/Output Selection
An Audio Track’s I/O channel(s) can be selected from three places: the Track Column, the Console, and the Track Inspector.
To select an Input Channel from the Track Column:
l If needed, expand the Track's control area to expose the input selector.
l Click the Input Selector immediately below the horizontal Track fader to choose from any configured Input Channel.
To select an Input or Output Channel from the Console:
l Open the Console by clicking the [Mix] button, or press [F3] on the keyboard.
l Click the selectors above each Track’s Fader and Pan controls to choose an Input and/or Output Channel. The Input Channel
selector is on top, with the Output Channel selector beneath.
To Select an Input or Output Channel from the Inspector:
l Open the Inspector window by clicking on the [I] button above the Track Column or pressing [F4] on the keyboard.
l In the Channel area of the Inspector window, you can find the currently selected Track’s Channel Mode toggle (mono or stereo)
and Input and Output Channel selectors.
l Click on the Input or Output Channel selector to choose a Channel.
Stereo Tracks can select from both mono and stereo Input Channels, while Mono Tracks can only select from mono Input Channels.
A Track’s Channel Format (mono or stereo) can be switched with a single click of the single-circle (mono) or double-circle (stereo) icon.
You can toggle many Tracks’ Channel Format simultaneously by selecting multiple Tracks before clicking this icon.
Multichannel surround formats are available from the drop-down menu to the right of the Channel Format icon.
Tempo Mode
The Tempo mode, found in the Inspector, affects the way in which Audio Events are handled on any audio Track.
Audio Tracks 73
There are three Tempo modes:
l Don’t Follow: Audio Events on the selected Track are not affected by Song tempo.
l Follow: The start position of Audio Events on the selected Track is adjusted with tempo changes, so the Events stay in sync
with their Bars (bars and beats) position. The length of the Event is not affected.
l Timestretch: Assuming that the Song file contains tempo information, tempo changes cause Audio Events on the selected
Track to be dynamically stretched so that the Events’ start and end times stay in sync with their Bars (bars and beats) positions.
The length and internal timing of the Event is affected in the stretching process but the pitch of the audio remains unaffected.
If the Stretch Audio Files to Tempo option is selected when creating a new Song, Timestretch is set as the default tempo mode for all new
Audio Tracks.
Re-Recording
Instrument Output and Bus channels can be selected as the input to any stereo Audio Track. These Channels are grouped in branches in
the input selection menu for the Audio Track.
Audio Tracks 74
This is very useful in a number of situations in which you would like to “print” the live output of one of those Channel types (live virtual
instrument recording to audio, hybrid analog mixing, etc.).
Alternatively, if you press and hold [Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard, and then click on Record Enable, you both record-enable the related
Track and disarm record-enable for all other Tracks.
You can find the Audio Input Follows Selection in the Studio One/Options/Advanced/Console options list (macOS: Prefer-
ences/Advanced/Console). Engaging this automatically record-enables the last Track selected in the Arrange view. Monitor-enable is, by
default, automatically engaged when Record Enable is engaged.
When an Audio Track is record-enabled, a clip indicator appears at the top of the input-level meter for that Track in the Arrange view. If
clipping occurs at the input, the clip indicator turns on. When clipping occurs, you should adjust the input gain/level on your audio inter-
face, as once the distorted signal is recorded, it cannot be fixed.
Once an Audio Track is record-enabled, you are ready to record. Refer to Activating Recording for more on this topic.
Software Monitoring
To monitor (listen to) live audio input on an Audio Track, click on the Monitor enable button once. This button should turn blue, and you
should begin to hear your live audio input and see its input level on the Track meter. You can also hold [Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard and
then click on the Monitor enable button to simultaneously engage monitoring on a Track and disengage monitoring on all other Tracks.
It may be helpful to picture the signal path to understand exactly what is happening. For example, if you are listening to a guitar plugged
into channel 1 on your audio interface, then Studio One Pro receives the guitar input on Hardware Input 1.
In Audio I/O Setup, you will have created a mono Input Channel with Hardware Input 1 as its source. Your Audio Track has that Input
Channel selected as its input. The Output of your Audio Track is likely to be the Main Output, which is a stereo Output Channel. The Out-
Audio Tracks 75
put Channel sends to a designated stereo pair of outputs on your hardware audio interface, which presumably are connected to your
monitor speakers or headphones.
When monitoring live audio input from a microphone, avoid listening with speakers that are in close proximity to the microphone. Other-
wise, you might create a feedback loop that could quickly generate dangerously loud audio levels, possibly harming your ears and your
speakers.
Hardware Monitoring
Some audio interfaces feature the ability to monitor the hardware inputs and outputs directly, as opposed to monitoring through software.
This is referred to as “hardware monitoring” or “zero-latency monitoring.” When using this type of interface, we recommend that you mon-
itor live audio input via the hardware, rather than through the software. This can help you to avoid common problems that result from soft-
ware latency, such as hearing a delay when you record vocals, or recording off-beat.
Instrument Tracks
Instrument Tracks are where performance data is recorded, drawn, and edited. This data usually comes from a Keyboard, which is used
to play a virtual instrument or hardware sound module. Performance data is not audio; the virtual instrument or sound module is the audio
source.
In Studio One Pro, MIDI controllers are referred to as Keyboards. If you have not set up a Keyboard, refer to the Set Up Your MIDI
Devices section of the Setup chapter.
Instrument Tracks 76
The following options are available in this menu:
l Name: Click here and type in a name for the new Track.
l Count: Choose the number of Tracks you would like to create.
l Type: Choose Instrument.
l Color: Choose a color.
l Auto-Color: Check this box if you would like your Tracks auto-colored.
l Input: Assign a MIDI input Device to the new Track(s). Choose All Inputs | Any to accept input from any connected MIDI Device.
l When creating multiple Tracks, you can engage the Ascending option to assign inputs to each Track in ascending order
of device and MIDI channel.
l Output: Assign an Instrument to the new Track(s). To create a new instance of a software instrument for each new Track,
choose New Instrument and select an instrument from the provided list. To assign the new Tracks to a hardware instrument or to
a software instrument already in use in the Song, choose Existing Instrument, and select from the provided list.
l When creating multiple Tracks, you can engage the Ascending option to assign Outputs to each Track in ascending
order of Instrument and MIDI channel.
Once these options are configured, click OK, and the Tracks appear in the Arrange view, below the currently selected Track. It is import-
ant to note that Instrument Tracks do not appear directly in the Console, as they do not output audio. The virtual instruments generate
sound and are represented in the Console by Instrument Channels.
Alternatively, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click in a blank space in the Track Column of the Arrange view and select Add Instrument Track from the pop-
up menu to quickly add an Instrument Track.
Instrument Tracks 77
l Open the Inspector window by clicking on the [I] button above the Track Column or by pressing [F4] on the keyboard.
l Click the Input or Output selector to select from any configured Keyboard input or to trigger any previously set up virtual or
external instrument.
Press [F11] to open the instrument editor for the selected Instrument Track.
Note that it is possible to select All Inputs as the input for Instrument Tracks, which combines the input of all defined keyboard devices. If
Default Instrument Input is not checked for any Keyboard device, new Instrument Tracks automatically use All Inputs.
This item is always in the inputs list, even if no keyboard device is defined. However, for any MIDI input to be received on an Instrument
Track, your MIDI input device (Keyboard Controller, etc.) must first be set up in the External Devices menu as a Keyboard.
Instrument Tracks 78
To activate the other possible virtual instrument Output Channels in the Console:
l Open the Console by pressing [F3] on the keyboard, then open the Instruments panel (open by default) by clicking the [Instr.]
button to the far left of the Console.
l Click once on the virtual instrument in the Instruments panel, and the Output Channel activation menu expands.
l Click on the checkbox next to any output to activate that output for the virtual instrument.
l Each active virtual instrument output has a dedicated Audio Channel in the Console, as well as a level meter preview inside the
Output Channel activation menu.
You can also activate virtual instrument outputs in the plug-in window. Any virtual instrument plug-in that offers multiple Output Channels
has an Outputs button near the top of the plug-in window. Click on this button to view and activate the available outputs.
Also, note that monitor-enable is, by default, automatically engaged when Record Enable is engaged. This behavior can be configured in
the Studio One/Options/Advanced/Devices menu (macOS: Preferences/Advanced/Devices). If note data arrives from the Track’s selec-
ted Keyboard, the Instrument Track’s meter moves up and down, corresponding to that input.
Once an Instrument Track is record-enabled, you are ready to record musical performance data to that Track. Refer to Activating
Recording for more on this topic.
Instrument Tracks 79
Monitoring an Instrument Track
Instrument Tracks record and output musical performance data, not audio. The virtual or external instrument to which the Instrument
Track is routed generates the audio. The following describes how virtual and external instrument audio output is monitored.
Rendering Note FX
If you wish to make the effects of Note FX processing permanent (part of the note data, rather than a real-time process), select the Track
and navigate to Event/Render Instrument Tracks, or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the desired Part in Arrange view and choose Instrument
Parts/Render Instrument Tracks from the pop-up menu.
This also makes permanent any transposition or velocity changes you've made within the Inspector view for the track.
Instrument Tracks 80
Activating Recording
Once you have the desired Tracks created, setup, and record-enabled, the next step is to record. The following illustrates several ways
to activate recording, each associated with a different purpose.
Manually
Manually activating recording is the most basic way to record. Recording starts at the current playback-cursor position and continues
until you manually stop recording. To manually activate recording, click on the Record button in the Transport or press [NumPad *] on the
keyboard.
The Record button in the Transport turns red, the playback cursor starts to scroll from left to right, and new Events are recorded to any
record-enabled Tracks. Recording continues until you manually stop it.
Auto Punch
It is sometimes useful to automate the point at which recording begins and ends. For example, if you wish to record over a specific
phrase of a vocal part, but not before or after that phrase, you can automatically begin and end recording at specified points. This pro-
cess is commonly referred to as “punching in and out,” and the resulting new Audio Event is referred to as the “punch-in.” The Auto-
punch button is located under the Preroll button:
Activating Recording 81
In Studio One Pro, punching in/out is achieved with the Auto Punch feature. Follow these steps to engage Auto Punch:
1. Set the Left Locator in the Timeline Ruler of the Arrange view at the position you wish to punch in—that is, where recording
should begin.
2. Set the Right Locator in the Timeline Ruler of the Arrange view at the position you wish to punch out, that is, where recording
should stop.
3. Click on the Auto Punch button in the Transport, or press [I] (the letter ‘i’) on the keyboard.
4. With Tracks record-enabled, begin recording at any point before the Left Locator position.
5. Playback begins and recording automatically activates at the Left Locator position. The Record button in the Transport turns red,
the playback cursor continues to scroll from left to right, and new Events begin recording to any record-enabled Tracks.
6. Recording automatically stops at the Right Locator position. However, playback continues beyond the Right Locator position
until you manually stop it by pressing [Space Bar] on the keyboard or by clicking Stop in the Transport.
If you use the Auto-Punch feature in Studio One Pro to record your punch-ins, or if you punch in manually, the newly recorded audio is
automatically crossfaded at its edges with the existing Audio Event, so the transition between the old and new audio is not audible. The
crossfade time is very small and not audible; however, you can edit the crossfade manually.
Metronome Control
A metronome makes audible clicks or other sounds that correspond to beats at a selectable tempo, providing the musicians with a tempo
reference while recording. This is especially useful when recording drums or other rhythm-intensive tracks, as the editing and arranging
processes are made much easier when the recorded audio lines up with musical bars and beats.
In Studio One Pro, the metronome can be engaged and disengaged both globally and for each hardware output in the Console, including
the Main Out and any Sub Outs.
Click on the Metronome button, or press [C] on the keyboard, to globally engage and disengage the metronome. The metronome is glob-
ally disengaged by default.
The Output Channels in the Console also feature Metronome buttons and level controls above the volume fader. These controls allow
you to choose, for each output, whether or not the metronome is heard, and its level.
Metronome Setup
Click the Metronome Setup button (next to the Metronome button in the Transport) to access the Metronome Setup menu. In this menu,
you can configure sounds and behavior for the metronome, as well as Precount and Preroll.
Metronome Control 82
Here, you can choose an individual sample and volume level for Beats, Accents, and Offbeats. Accents play on the downbeat, or first
beat, of each new bar. Offbeats play in the space between each Beat. You can choose from seventeen default samples for each, includ-
ing Click, Clave, Rim Shot, and Tambourine. By default, the Accent Level setting is higher than the Beat Level setting, as most musicians
like to have the downbeat of each bar emphasized to help keep time.
Metronome Presets
Once you have configured the Metronome, you can save the current setup as a preset by clicking the [Store] button. These presets can
be recalled at any time by clicking the [Load] button.
Repeat Accent
This setting repeats the Accent sound when using a time signature with more than one accent per bar, such as 12/8. You can try this out
by doing the following:
1. Open the Metronome settings, and chose a sound for the Accent that is different from both the Beat and the Offbeat.
2. Leave the Repeat Accent checkbox empty.
3. Make sure the Click in Play option is active, so that you can hear the Metronome during playback.
4. Set the time signature to 12/8, and either click the Play button or press the Space Bar.
You’ll notice the Accent is only heard every 12 beats. However, if you go through steps 3 and 4 with the Repeat Accent function switched
on, the Accent is heard every 3 beats.
Metronome Control 83
With Click Only in Precount engaged, the metronome provides a traditional count-in during the Precount bars and is not heard beyond
those bars.
Click in Play
The Click in Play option in the Metronome setup menu allows you to enable/disable the Metronome during playback, as opposed to while
recording. Disabling Click in Play allows you to leave the Metronome engaged in the Transport at all times, so that if you are recording,
you hear a click, but if you are playing back, you do not hear the click. Click in Play is engaged by default; click on the Click in Play check-
box to disengage the Metronome during playback.
Render Metronome
You can create an Audio Track of the Metronome by clicking the [Render] button located in the upper-right corner of the Metronome
Setup window, and choosing one of the Render range options. These options allow you to create a click track that is either the full length
of your Song, or just the length of a looped range within it, such as 4, 8, or 16 bars.
By default, the last recorded Take is selected. To select any other take, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the Audio Event to expose a list of Takes.
Click on any numbered Take to select it. Takes are edited as a single Audio Event, so sizing or splicing any Take splices all of the Takes
contained in the Audio Event.
It is possible to splice an Audio Event that contains multiple Takes, then select a different Take for each splice of the original Event. For
example, if you recorded three Takes for a vocal verse, you could split that Audio Event in between each vocal phrase, and then, for each
phrase, select the best of the three Takes.
Unpack Takes
When two or more Takes exist for an Audio Event, it is possible to unpack the individual takes to separate Events on new Tracks, new
Layers, or existing Layers. To do this, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the Event and click on Unpack Takes in the contextual menu.
Takes to Layers
Engage the Record Takes to Layers option to move the contents of each Take created while recording in loop mode to its own Layer
below the current Track. If you engage this option while Record Takes is enabled, the notes from each run-through of the loop are
moved to their own new Layer. Engaged while Record Mix is enabled, a new Layer is created each time recording is started and
stopped, containing all notes from the entirety of the most recent recording pass.
Input Quantize
Engage Input Quantize to snap recorded notes to the rhythmic value set by the Quantize parameter. When recording parts that are
destined to be heavily quantized (such as synth arpeggios or drum-machine-style beats), this saves you the step of later Quantizing the
contents of your loop.
Note Repeat
With Note Repeat active, any notes played retrigger according to the current Rate setting. This can be set to QT (to follow the current
quantize value) or to any specific rythmic value.
For example, when Rate is set to 1/16, held notes create a series of 16th notes at those note values. This can come in handy when
recording drum fills or rhythmic synth parts. Note that this mode cannot be combined with the Note Erase mode.
If your MIDI keyboard or controller supports aftertouch, you can vary the velocity of repeated notes by applying pressure to the keys or
pads when the Aftertouch feature is enabled. The higher the pressure, the greater the velocity of the recorded notes.
To reach the options window for Note Repeat, click on the wrench-shaped icon in the Note Repeat section of the Record Panel. You can
also open this window by enabling Key Remote mode.
l Active: When enabled, Note Repeat is turned on.
l Rate: Sets the rhythmic rate of Note Repeat.
l Gate: Sets the length of each note.
l Quantize: When enabled, all repeated notes snap to the main Song grid, even if a note is played off-beat. Disable this option to
allow free play of note repeat without rhythmic correction.
l Aftertouch: When enabled, key or poly pressure can be used to control note velocity as a note is held.
l Single Mode: When enabled, a range of keys on your MIDI controller play one note at different rates. By default, this note is the
last note played before this mode was enabled.
Note Erase
If Note Erase is selected in the Record panel, any notes played during the current recording pass erase existing notes of the same note
value. For instance, if you start recording a drum pattern, and the kick pattern is on C1 and has an extra eighth-note hit on beat four, you
could switch to Note Erase while recording and play C1 on beat 4 for one eighth-note, and that would erase the previously recorded note.
It is only possible to engage this mode if Record Mix is engaged and Note Repeat is disengaged; engaging Record Takes or Note Repeat
disables this mode.
Step Record
Step Recording is a special, note-by-note method of recording musical note data. Rather than playing in real time, or drawing in notes
with the Paint tool, you can simply specify a rhythmic value and press keys on your MIDI controller to enter notes and chords with ease
and precision.
Step Record 87
5. Play a note on a connected MIDI controller to create a note with the specified length at the cursor location. When you release the
note, the cursor moves ahead according to the Step Length setting, and you're ready to enter the next note. If you wish to enter a
chord, simply play and hold the notes that make up the chord, then release.
6. When you're finished, press [Enable] again, to exit Step Record mode.
Track Layers
In Studio One Pro, both audio and instrument Tracks have optional layers that can be used to record multiple different ideas to a single
Track. For instance, you might want to compare one set of lyrics for a vocal Track to another set of lyrics. In this case, you could record
two different performances to two separate layers on a single Track and quickly switch between the two without needing a second Track.
To create a new layer on any Track, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Track's control area in the Arrange view, and choose Add Layer from the Lay-
ers menu. Another way is to open the Inspector by pressing [F4] on the keyboard, then selecting Add Layer from the Layer selection box.
The new layer is effectively like having a whole new Track without duplicating Inserts, Sends, and I/O setup. You can also duplicate lay-
ers by selecting Duplicate Layer from the Layer selection box, which enables you to try out and compare two different edits of the same
Events on two layers.
To remove a Track Layer, [Left]-click to select the Layer at the Track header (not on the Layer Event itself) and then [Right]/[Ctrl]-click
and choose Remove Layer from the contextual menu. You can also group-select several layers via [Shift+Left]-click, and choose
Remove Selected Layers from the contextual menu to delete several layers at a time.
Note that you cannot group select (or group Remove) multiple layers across multiple Tracks. One track at a time.
l
Click the Expand Layers button on the left side of the Track control area ( ), then click one of the Activate Layer buttons to
make that layer the active layer for the Track. This swaps the two layers and keeps the previous Track contents as an alternate
layer.
l Press [F4] to open the Inspector, click the Layers field, and select the desired layer from the pop-up menu.
Layers are also used in the comping system of Studio One Pro, as described in the Comping section of the Editing chapter of this
manual.
Track Layers 88
on the audio Track to which you are recording, you could add a Send to an FX Channel with a reverb. You could then route the FX Chan-
nel Output to a Sub Out Channel and back to your audio interface, where it can be mixed with the zero-latency dry signal.
When adding time-based effects, such as reverb or delay, you generally don’t have to be concerned about plug-in delay and latency that
could result from using software plug-ins on a live input source. A few milliseconds of processing delay on a reverb will probably not be
audible.
Now that you have created a Cue Mix output, you can see special Send objects (called Cue Mix objects) in the Channels of the Console.
In the Small Console view, Cue Mix objects appear in the right column when a Channel is expanded. In the Large Console view, Cue Mix
objects appear below the Send Device Rack on each applicable Channel.
Double-clicking the Cue Mix object will bring up a larger pop-up interface for fine adjustments.
Events
All audio and note data that exists within the timeline of your Song are visually represented by Events. Events that contain audio are
called Audio Events and can only be located on Audio Tracks. Audio Events are distinct in that they display audio waveforms. Audio
Parts are Events that contain multiple Audio Events.
Events that contain note data are called Instrument Parts and can only be located on Instrument Tracks. Instrument Parts are distinct in
that they display musical performance information.
Audio Events and Instrument Parts are referred to collectively as Events in this manual. Event editing can take place both in the Arrange
view and the Edit view. Audio Events and Instrument Parts can be edited in similar ways, but each has special considerations.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking on any Event displays the Event contextual menu, which contains all related Editing actions, logically grouped. At
the top of the contextual menu, you can find the Event Name, which can be edited by double-clicking on it and entering a new name. You
can rename all Events on a Track by renaming the Track and holding [Shift] while pressing [Enter] after typing in the new name. You can
also change the Event color by clicking on the color bar next to its name and selecting a color or scrolling through the colors with the
mouse wheel.
Common editing actions are listed under the Event name, as well as a Recent Items list that contains the five most-recently used actions.
In this way, you have instant access to the editing actions you most likely want to use.
Note that the available actions listed in the Event contextual menu depend on whether you are working with an Audio Event or an Instru-
ment Part, and the actions may vary slightly depending on your version of Studio One Pro.
Editing 93
l Snap to Grid This option is engaged by default, allowing tool and Event snapping to the grid.
l Snap Event End This option enables snapping on both the start and end of the moved Event. (When disabled, only the event
start snaps.)
l Relative Grid This option maintains the time relationship relative to the grid for any Event, so that when the Event is moved, the
snap position maintains the original position relative to the grid, instead of snapping directly to the grid.
Spot
The Spot command, found in the right-click contextual menu of Events and Parts, allows you to precisely relocate Events and Parts via
numeric entry. While Studio One Pro prides itself on drag-and-drop, there are times when this level of control and precision are advant-
ageous; particularly when syncing audio events to video.
The timebase for a Spot operation is selectable from Samples, Seconds, Bars, or Frames, regardless of the Timebase configuration of
your Song. Click on any numerical field in the Start, Sync Point, or End fields to enter values by hand, or click-and-drag on the numerical
fields to edit with the mouse.
Spot works on Instrument Parts, Pattern Parts, and Audio Events. When applying Spot to several Parts or Events at once, note that their
positional relationship to one another will be maintained. If adjusting the Start point, the start point of the earliest-beginning Event will be
used. If adjusting the End point, the end point of the latest-ending Event will be used.
Events 94
Imported files that contain timestamp information can be restored to their original position by clicking the icon to the right of the “Original
Position” field.
You can also apply a Spot command on import when dragging to the Arrangement window and holding [Opt+Shift] on Mac or [Alt-Shift]
on Windows.
Stretching Parts
Any Instrument Part or Audio Event can be stretched to fit a desired space in the Arranger.
Instrument Parts
Hold ALT while clicking and dragging from the left or right edge of an Instrument Part to stretch the Part. Note that any Automation points
within the Part will also be stretched in kind. This can be disabled by de-selecting “Select Part Automation with Notes” in the Note
Editor toolbar.
Audio Events
Hold ALT while clicking and dragging from the left or right edge of an Audio Event to stretch the event. Stretching of Audio Events is more
complex than Instrument Parts, and is covered in greater detail in Timestretching.
Sync Points
A Sync Point is a marker within an Audio, Video, or Instrument Event (including Patterns) used as a reference position for Studio One
Pro’s Snap functionality. Ordinarily, Events will snap to position based on the start or endpoints of the Events themselves. Sync Points
allow you to set this Snap position wherever you would like in an Event rather than relying on its endpoints.
This is useful for some Audio Events that may benefit from being snapped to a peak or transient that is not located at an event endpoint.
Examples could include percussion loops with a transient in the middle of the loop; EDM riser samples that need to be snapped near their
endpoint but not precisely at it; etc.
Sync Points’ snap behavior is determined by the option chosen in the Snap drop-down menu in the Toolbar (Bar, Quantize, Relative
Grid, etc.).
Sync Points can also be used to snap two Events to each other using their Sync Points; "Snap To Events" must to be enabled in the Snap
options.
Sync Points are non-destructive and flexible, meaning a Sync Point’s position is maintained if an Event is Reversed or Bounced!
Events 95
A riser sample with its Sync Point set at its point of maximum energy with a reverb tail falling to the right of the Sync Point. Notice how the
Sync point snaps to bar 200 while the start and end points of the event do not snap to the grid.
To move a Sync Point, click and drag the small yellow diamond icon to the desired sync position within the Event. When zoomed out,
Sync Points will automatically snap to transients when moving. Zoom in to bypass this behavior. This behavior can be bypassed by dis-
abling Snap [N], or by holding shift while moving the Sync Point.
Use the “Toggle Sync Point” command to disable/enable Sync Points on the currently-selected Event.
Sync Points also influence the behavior of the “Cursor Follows Edit Position” option. The cursor will snap to the Sync Point of an Event
rather than its start point.
Event Icons
There are various Event Icons that you will likely encounter while using Studio One Pro, and in some cases, the icons can serve multiple
functions. These icons appear at the bottom left corner of Events.
The following section describes what each icon represents.
When the Gear Wheel Icon appears, this can mean one of three things:
l Time stretching has been enabled.
l The clip has a different sample rate than the rate your song is set to.
l You have changed the transpose or tune value of the clip.
If you would like to ensure the clip is set at the same sample rate as your song, follow these steps:
1. To check the song’s sample rate, navigate to Song/Song Setup or press [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[.] on the keyboard to open the Song Setup
window.
2. Within the Song Setup window, confirm the song’s sample rate.
3. To check the Event’s sample rate, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click onto your Event, and from the drop-down menu, click onto the “Select in
Pool” option.
4. The clip details will be displayed at the bottom of the Pool page.
5. If the sample rates are different, you can edit the sample rate of the clip from here to match the sample rate of the song. [Right]/
[Ctrl]-click onto the clip and choose the “Convert Files” option from the drop-down menu.
6. From this window, you can easily edit the chosen clip’s file format, resolution, and sample rate.
Events 96
Mute Icon
The Mute Icon simply indicates when an Event has been muted. To toggle the mute function, you can either use the mute tool in the tool
bar or use the key commands [M] to mute or [shift]+[M] to unmute.
The Time Lock icon appears on an Event when the Time Lock feature has been enabled. Time Lock keeps the Event from being moved
to a different time position within the Track.
Similarly, the Edit Lock icon appears when the Edit Lock feature has been enabled. Edit Lock prevents the contents of the Event from
being altered in any way. To toggle the Time or Edit Locks, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click onto the Event you would like to lock and click onto the Time
Lock or Edit Lock checkboxes from the Event contextual menu.
When you use both features at the same time, a padlock icon will appear on the Event:
Events 97
For more information about the Time or Edit Lock feature, check out theLock Tracks or Events page.
Event FX Icon
In Studio One Pro, you can apply an effect on a single Event rather than the entire track. To do this, you can simply drag an effect from
the Browser section, hold down [Alt]/[Option], and drop it onto the chosen Event.
Note that when you are working with ARA (Audio Random Access) effects, like Melodyne or VocAlign, the same icon will appear, as they
are essentially Event effects. Adding a second ARA to an Event will replace the previous effect with the second.
For more information about applying effects to individual Events, check out the Track and Event Inspectors page.
Chain Icon
The Chain Icon represents Audio Events that have been consolidated into a nestled unit. To merge Events, select the Audio Events that
you would like to consolidate and click the key command [G].
Ghost Icon
When you duplicate merged Events, the Ghost Icon appears next to the Chain Icon. Duplication not only creates an identical Event. Any
changes made to the original merged Event will also be made to the duplicated Events. In this way, you can easily modify duplicated
snare hits or guitar parts placed throughout your song at once.
To duplicate your merged Event, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click onto the Event you would like to duplicate and click onto the “Duplicate Shared”
option from the Event contextual menu or use the key command [Shift]+[D].
Events 98
Folder Icon
When you see the Folder Icon on an Event, that means it belongs to a folder with other Events. Creating Folders can be helpful when you
would like to group similar Events together, like drums or vocal harmonies. Placing these Events into folders can make the Arranger Win-
dow much easier to navigate.
To create a Folder, select the tracks you would like to place into one folder, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click, and select the option “Pack Folder” from
the drop-down menu.
Layer Icon
This icon will appear on your Event if you have recorded several layers (or “takes”) of the Event. Alternatively, this icon can mean you
have several pattern variations to choose from.
If you have various takes to choose from and would like to expand the Event to see all of the takes, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click, select the option
“Unpack Takes” from the drop-down menu, and choose to unpack the takes to tracks, new layers, or to existing layers. For more inform-
ation about recording and editing takes, check out the Comping page.
If you’ve created several variations of a drum pattern, you change the variation from the pattern editor or click onto the Layer/Pattern Icon
and click onto the variation you wish. For more information about creating patterns and pattern sequencing in Studio One Pro, check out
the Patterns page.
In the Arrange view, the following mouse tools and related functions are available from left to right in the toolbar.
Arrow Tool
This tool is selected by default. Click on the Arrow tool button or press [1] on the keyboard to select the Arrow tool. The Arrow tool can be
used for the following purposes:
Move an Event
To move an Event using the Arrow tool, click anywhere on the Event and drag left, right, up, or down. Dragging the Event left or right
moves the Event backward and forward in time, relative to the current Timebase and Timeline zoom. When dragging an Event left or right
beyond the viewable arrangement, hold [Space Bar] on the keyboard to speed up the scrolling.
Dragging the Event up or down moves the Event to another existing Track of the same type. If the Event is dragged to a position where
no Track currently exists, Studio One Pro creates a new Track of the same type.
When dragging an Event from one Track to another (up or down), the position of the Event is constrained within an automatic snapping
range to make it easy to keep the Event at the same time position. To defeat this snapping, hold Shift while dragging the Event up or
down.
Size an Event
Events can be thought of as windows into audio files and musical performances, where what you see is what you hear. Sizing is a fun-
damental technique wherein Events are made shorter or longer, so that only a portion of the audio or note data they contain is seen and
heard. To size any Event using the Arrow tool, float the mouse to the left or right edge of the Event to reveal the Sizing tool. When this tool
appears, click-and-drag left or right to size the Event. Events can be sized and resized nondestructively any number of times.
Two adjacent Events can be sized simultaneously so that no gap is created between them. To do this, float the Arrow tool to the bottom
of where the two Events meet in the Timeline, where you can see the sizing icon with both left and right arrows illuminated, and then
click-and-drag left or right.
Holding [Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard and then sizing an Event from the right edge results in the Event being freely timestretched. Refer
to the Timestretching section of this chapter for more information.
To create a fade-in or fade-out, click-and-drag left or right on the Fade Flag in the upper left or right corner of an Audio Event. By default,
a linear fade is created over the length you have moved the Fade Flag. Fade times, as well as Event gain, can also be edited in the
Inspector for any selected Event.
To change the curve of the fade, click on the Fade Curve box in the middle of the fade curve and drag up or down. The fade curve determ-
ines how quickly or slowly the fade occurs and changes over time. If you press and hold [Shift] while editing the fade length or the curve,
you can edit both at once. Dragging up or down edits the curve, and dragging left or right changes the length.
It is also possible to drag a complete crossfade left or right, or up or down, in order to change the location and characteristics of the fade.
Float the mouse to the center of the crossfade until the Hand icon appears, then click and drag to adjust. Dragging left or right adjusts the
location of the fade, extending or shortening the crossfaded Events. Dragging up or down alters the shape of the crossfade.
To adjust the overall volume level of an Audio Event, click on the volume box in the center of the volume envelope and drag up or down.
As you adjust the volume envelope, the audio waveform is redrawn to approximate the effect of the adjustment.
Select a Range
Like the Range tool, you can use the Arrow tool to select a range, or area, within Tracks and their contents, without switching tools. Do
this by hovering the Arrow tool in the upper half of a track. The cursor changes to a crosshair shape. Click-and-drag to select your chosen
range.
You can enable or disable this feature by clicking the Link button to the left of the Arrow tool in the toolbar.
Alternative Tool
The Alternative Tool feature allows you to quickly access an alternate tool of your choice when using the Arrow tool by holding [Ctrl]/
[Cmd]. The Range, Split, Eraser, Paint, Mute, Bend, and Listen tools can all be used in this way.
You can choose your Alternative Tool from the drop-down menu beneath the Arrow Tool, or by repeatedly pressing the [1] key on your
keyboard to cycle through the options. The currently-active Alternative Tool is highlighted with a blue underline in the Tools list.
Split Tool
Using the Split tool, single Events can be split into multiple Events. Click on the Split Tool button, or press [number 3] on the keyboard to
select the Split tool.
With the Split tool selected, a vertical and horizontal line is drawn near the current mouse-cursor position. The vertical line indicates the
exact time position of the Split tool, while the horizontal line underscores the Track on which the Event to be split resides. The Split tool is
directly affected by the current Snap settings.
Click on any Event with the Split tool to split the Event at that position. By splitting a single Event, you create two Events that can be
edited independently. If multiple Events are selected across multiple Tracks, the Split tool affects all of the selected Events in the same
way.
It is also possible to split selected Events at the timeline cursor, without using the Split tool, by pressing [Alt]+[X] on the keyboard. If you
have a range of time selected, pressing [Alt]+[X] will split the selected content into a new Event.
To temporarily switch to the Arrow tool while the Split tool is selected, hold [Alt].
Eraser Tool
The Eraser tool is used to delete Events. Click on the Eraser Tool button or press [number 4] on the keyboard to select the Eraser tool. To
delete any Event using the Eraser tool, simply click on the Event. If multiple Events are currently selected, clicking one of the Events with
the Erase tool erases all selected Events.
You can click and drag across multiple Events with the Eraser tool, erasing each Event you touch.
To temporarily switch to the Arrow tool while the Eraser tool is selected, hold [Alt].
Paint Tool
In the Arrange view, the Paint tool can be used in two ways: to create an empty Instrument Part on an Instrument Track, or to create a
complex Gain Envelope for an Audio Event. Click the Paint Tool button or press [number 5] on the keyboard to select the Paint tool.
Mute Tool
In the Arrange view, the Mute tool is used to mute Audio Events, Audio Parts, and Instrument Parts. Click on the Mute Tool button or
press [number 6] on the keyboard to select the Mute tool. To mute or unmute any Audio Event or Instrument Part, simply click on it with
the Mute tool. When an Event or Part is muted, it appears grayed out, and an “m” icon appears in the lower left corner of the Event or
Part.
Click and drag the Mute tool to select multiple Events to mute. If multiple Events are already selected, clicking one of them with the Mute
tool mutes all selected Events.
To temporarily switch to the Arrow tool while the Mute tool is selected, hold [Alt].
Listen Tool
In the Arrange view, click and hold on any Track to instantly solo the Track and start playback from the position you clicked. Playback con-
tinues as long as the mouse click is held. When the mouse click is released, playback is stopped, and the related Track is un-soloed.
For more information about the paint tool, see the Editing Automation Envelopes page.
About Clips
In Studio One Pro, a "Clip" is a representation of an audio file that is used in a Song. The audio file itself is typically stored in the Song's
Media folder; though, it can be stored in another location, in which case it's called an "external file."
The reason we use Clips in Studio One Pro is because they also contain metadata describing the processing of the audio file they rep-
resent—its Gain Envelopes, bend markers, Melodyne edit state, chord data, and more. This allows the Clip’s metadata and attributes to
be used in different ways on different Audio Events without the need for bouncing (duplicating) the actual audio file. This lets you get
many different sounds through different processing of the same audio file while keeping your Song folder size under control .
Audio you record or import (depending on the preference setting for "Ask to copy external files when saving Song") are represented as
Clips in the Browser’s Pool, while the actual audio files are stored in your Song’s Media folder. Either can be explored in the Pool tab of
the Browser. You can add Clips to a Track from the Pool via drag and drop.
Clips make nondestructive editing of your sounds possible because most edits made to Audio Events in Studio One Pro are actually
affecting the Clip’s metadata, and not the audio file itself.
Edits made to a single Clip will ordinarily affect every instance of the clip in a Song. This can prove undesirable in some cases—and can
be avoided by using...
Clip Versions
A Clip Version is a completely separate copy of a Clip with its own, independent metadata that can be manipulated independently of that
of its parent audio file. Clip Versions will allow you to apply different Melodyne or Gain Envelope edits to different instances of the same
audio. This means you can make multiple Clip Versions of the same Audio Event with no need to use up hard drive space with extra cop-
ies of the same audio file!
An example use case involves Melodyne and the Chord Track. If you would like to use Melodyne to have an audio loop follow chords on
the Chord Track, each instance of the loop will require different Melodyne edits to manipulate the playback depending on the chord
changes on the Chord Track. Clip Versions solve this issue by letting you create multiple Clips with different pitch corrections from Melo-
dyne.
You could also use Clip Versions to create several different instances of a single drum loop that each contain different Gain Envelopes.
This allows you to create evolving rhythmic patterns over the course of a song without the need for repeated bounces.
The Grid
The Arrangement grid is comprised of the ticks in the timeline and the vertical lines extending from those ticks through the background of
the Arrangement. This grid uses the Timebase setting as the basis for its display. The Timebase settings are Seconds, Samples, Bars,
and Frames, and they determine the behavior of Event and tool snapping. The Timebase can be changed at any time, without directly
affecting the arrangement.
Perhaps the most common Timebase setting is Bars, which display time in a musical format of bars and beats. With this Timebase set-
ting, the grid is determined by the settings in the Quantize panel.
Quantize Panel
The Quantize panel can be opened from the toolbar by clicking on the Quantize Panel button, or by selecting Quantize from the View/Ad-
ditional Views menu. The Quantize panel can be detached and freely placed on the screen. In this panel, you can edit all settings related
to the Quantize grid that are displayed in the Arrangement. From left to right in the panel, you can see areas for Grid or Groove mode;
note-value selection; note grouping and Swing amount; Start, End, Velocity, and Range percentages; and preset management.
The Quantize panel can be opened from the toolbar by clicking on the Quantize Panel button, or by selecting Quantize from the View/Ad-
ditional Views menu. The Quantize panel can be detached and freely placed on the screen. In this panel, you can edit all settings related
to the Quantize grid that are displayed in the Arrangement. From left to right in the panel, you can see areas for Grid or Groove mode;
note-value selection; note grouping and Swing amount; Start, End, Velocity, and Range percentages; and preset management.
Note that independent Quantize panels are also available for the Note Editor and the Audio Editor. This enables you to define the
rhythmic character of each aspect of the Song and perform those edits quickly without having to adjust the settings each time. You can
show or hide the Quantize panels for each of those by clicking the appropriate Quantize panel button. You can also close the Quantize
panel for the currently selected view by navigating to View/Additional Views/Quantize.
Rhythmic Values
With Grid mode selected, you can choose a note value between whole notes and 64th notes, and the following musical note groupings:
Straight (with a Swing percentage setting), Triplet (3 notes in the space of 2), Quintuplet (5 notes in the space of 4), or Septuplet (7 notes
in the space of 8). These settings also determine the look and behavior of the grid in the Arrange view. For information on the Groove
mode of the Quantize panel, refer to the Groove Extraction and Quantize section.
Swing
Swing is a rhythmic style you can apply, in which off-beats are moved forward in time relative to on-beat notes, creating a relaxed,
bouncy feel. This offset is calculated based on the currently selected Quantize value. For example, at 100% Swing, with 16th-note quant-
ize selected, a pattern of 16th notes play at a 2:1 ratio; On-beat notes play on beat, and offbeats play as though they were the final 16th-
note triplet in a group of three. You can set the amount of swing between 0% (straight timing) and 100% (fully swung).
Quantize Range
The Range percentage sets the relative range from grid lines within which notes, Events, or transients are quantized. Notes, Events, or
transients beyond this relative range are not quantized. As there is no display indicating the Range, quantizing several times while adjust-
ing this setting may lead to the best results.
The presets area of the Quantize panel allows you to quickly switch between up to five Quantize panel settings, so that working with mul-
tiple complex quantization setups is very easy. You can also store and recall Quantize panel settings, just as you would store an effect or
instrument preset.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click onto the Global Transpose control in the Transport Bar to open its contextual menu. The option to “Freeze Global
Transposition” will reset the Global Transpose to 0 (original pitch).
Nudge
Nudging is an alternative to moving Events and notes across the timeline with the mouse. To Nudge any Event or note, select it and do
one of the following:
l Nudge Press [Alt]+[Right Arrow] on the keyboard to move the Event or note forward in time by the current snap value in the
Arrangement or Editor. With Snap disabled, nudging adjusts in milliseconds.
l Nudge Back Press [Alt]+[Left Arrow] on the keyboard to move the Event or note backward in time.
Duplicate
The Duplicate action essentially combines the Copy and Paste actions and intelligently places the pasted selection based on the musical
timing of the selection in the Song. Choose Duplicate in the Edit menu or press [D] on the keyboard to duplicate the current selection. The
duplicated Event is always placed after the original Event, and it is automatically selected once duplicated. As with the other editing
actions, Duplicate can apply to any number of currently selected Events.
A good use of the Duplicate command is to quickly create copies of a loop across a region in a Song by selecting an Event and
repeatedly pressing [D] on the keyboard. Another interesting use involves selecting very short regions within a loop, using the Range
tool, and duplicating them several times, consecutively, in order to create a stutter effect that is popular in electronic music.
If you would like to duplicate an Event and push existing material to the right across the timeline to make room for the duplicated Event,
press [Alt]+[D] on the keyboard to use the Duplicate and Insert command.
Duplicate Shared
When you duplicate an Event normally, each duplicate is treated as a separate Event, and edits made to one duplicate are not reflected
in the other copies. If you want to duplicate an Instrument Part and link the content of the duplicates to that of the original Part, select the
Part and choose Duplicate Shared from the Edit menu, or press [Shift] + [D] on the keyboard. A ghost icon appears on the original Part
and any Shared duplicates, to alert you that those copies are now Shared. Any edits made to the original Part or a Shared copy are
applied to all instances of that Part.
If you later decide you wish to edit one of the Shared copies of a Part individually, select it and choose Separate Shared Copies from the
Event menu. The ghost icon disappears from that Part to alert you that the copy is no longer Shared, and can be edited without affecting
the other copies.
Strip Silence
It is quite common that, as the result of continuous recording, some Audio Events may have gaps of silence or relatively low levels
between performances. It may be helpful in these cases to remove the gaps and only keep the desired sections of the recorded Event.
Studio One Pro's Strip Silence function, controlled from the Strip Silence panel, is designed to handle this task.
Open the Strip Silence panel by clicking on the Strip Silence button in the toolbar, or select Strip Silence from the View/Additional Views
menu. Select the Audio Events from which you wish to strip silence, make the desired settings, and then click on [Apply]. Click on the
[Default] button to return all settings in the panel to their defaults.
The result of the Strip Silence process is similar to using a gate processor to only allow the desired signal to be heard, except that the
Event is edited.
When the small light indicator next to the [Apply] button is lit, this means that changing the Detection or Event options and then clicking
Apply automatically undos the previous operation, making it easier to find the right settings by viewing the result of the Strip Silence pro-
cess, then tweaking the settings if needed without having to undo manually. Any change in selection (or other editing operation) ends this
automatic state, and the indicator is no longer lit.
The following describes each setting:
Detection This determines how Studio One Pro identifies silence in the areas you wish to process.
l Material The first three options set the Open and Close Threshold for the gate algorithm automatically.
l Lots of Silence Choose this for material that contains lots of silence and single hits—for instance, a clean, typical
single-drum recording (hat, kick).
l Little Silence Choose this for material that has some action going on but still has some silence—for instance, minimal
techno/single drum loops, ride, or snare tracks.
Audio Parts
It is often convenient to merge multiple separate Events into a single object in order to move them all together or simply to clean up the
Arrangement. This is accomplished with Audio Parts.
To create an Audio Part, select the Audio Events and then press [G] on the keyboard. This makes the separate Events appear and func-
tion as a single Event in the arrangement while also appearing and functioning as separate Events in the Editor. It is then much simpler
to, for instance, duplicate a chorus in the arrangement and retain access to the individual Events for editing crossfades and other details.
Note that Audio Parts support shared, or ghost, copies, with the exception of any Event FX which are strictly per Event instance.
Crossfade
Crossfades are useful for blending one Audio Event into another seamlessly.
Select two or more overlapping Events using the Arrow tool and press [x] to quickly apply a linear crossfade to the overlapping portions.
You can also use the Range tool to specify a crossfade’s start and end points; press [x] to apply the crossfade after selecting your Range.
When possible, gaps between Events will be automatically closed when a crossfade is applied.
Editing a Crossfade
Click and drag the control node in the center of the crossfade and drag the mouse up or down to create exponential crossfades.
Editing Options
The following options are related to Editing workflow.
Transport Options
Ripple Edit
In normal operation, if you delete a Part (or a section of a Part) from the timeline, all other Parts on the timeline remain in position,
and a space is left where the deleted Part was. If you'd like the Parts ahead of the deleted region to move backward to fill that space, say,
when editing spoken word content where gaps are undesirable, enable Ripple Edit mode. To do so, press the Ripple Edit button in the
toolbar
Apart from automatically filling in gaps when cutting or deleting content, Ripple Edit also introduces a sort of "displacement" behavior
when editing. If you copy a Part and paste it in the middle of another, instead of replacing (or overlapping) that section of the target Part,
the target Part is split at the edit point, and moved forward in the timeline, to make space for the pasted Part. If you move a Part to the
start point of another Part, instead of replacing or overlapping the content below, the two Parts simply switch places.
Similarly, if you trim the end of a part to change its length, the Parts downstream move to maintain their relative position to the end of the
trimmed Part. This behavior extends to other editing operations, such as Crop to Content and Nudge/Nudge Back.
Once an Event is looped, the loop tool is accessible from all the Events height.
Note: if you do not see the loop tool appear over the bottom right corner of your Event, adjust the track height to a larger size.
Simply click and drag the event along the time grid. To avoid timing issues, it is important to loop events that are placed evenly within the
time grid.
The event loop range can also be adjusted by dragging the loop handles within the events left or right:
Dragging the loop handle while holding Opt/Alt will adjust the loop start position of each looped event, while dragging the loop handle
without holding the modifier key will adjust the loop’s end position.
Instrument Parts that have been looped this way can still be treated as a single Events (as described in the Duplicate Shared section),
which makes shared editing easy. Any edits made to the original event will carry over to the looped Events. Single loop sections can be
moved and removed by setting a range via option + click on certain sections.
When the “Loop” state is disabled, all of the previously duplicated events will be removed at once. You can disable the loop state by
unchecking the Loop option within the event context menu:
Track Lock
The Lock Track option is available for Audio Tracks, Instrument Tracks, Automation Tracks, and Folder Tracks. To lock a Track, locate its
name in the Track List, use [Right]/[Ctrl]-click, and select Lock Track from the menu. Use the same action to unlock the Track by select-
ing Unlock Track from the menu.
Locking a Track prevents the addition or deletion of any of the Events it contains. It also will not allow any new Events to be recorded or
pasted into the Track. A locked Track cannot be removed from the Song. It also cannot be used by the Arranger Track.
Event Lock
To lock an Event, locate the desired Event and use [Right]/[Ctrl]-click to open the menu. At the very top, under the Transpose and Velo-
city fields, are two options:
After editing the Pattern as described in the Patterns section, you can convert it back into a Part using the same method: [Right]/[Ctrl]-
click the Pattern in the timeline and select Convert Pattern to Part, or select the operation from the Event menu.
Audioloops
Audioloops are essentially Audio Parts tagged with a tempo and Song key signature; rendered with lossless compression. To create an
Audioloop, drag any Audio Part to the File Browser. You can then see the Audioloop listed, along with a drop-down arrow in the Browser
that, when clicked, reveals the Slices that the Audioloop contains.
Audioloops allow fast creation of flexible Audioloop from any source. For instance, you might take part of a drum recording you just made
and turn it into a loop by doing the following:
l Export a stem for the drum bus for the desired range to a new stereo Track.
l Detect transients on the new Track and then apply the Slice action, with the Merge option checked in the Audio Bend panel.
Musicloops
A Musicloop consists of everything required to recreate a musical performance, including the virtual instrument preset, multichannel FX
chain presets for the virtual instrument outputs, the music-performance file, Song key signature, and an Audioloop. Musicloops can be
dragged in from the Browser, just like a MIDI file, but they are much more powerful in that they can re-create the exact setup used to
make the original performance.
To create a Musicloop, drag any Instrument Part into the Browser. You can see a pop-up display indicating whether you are exporting a
Musicloop or a MIDI file. By default, Musicloop is selected. To change this selection, press [Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard. Once exported,
you can see the .musicloop file in the Browser.
You can now drag this Musicloop into any Song to instantly re-create that performance, including creating the Instrument Track, loading
the virtual instrument, and loading any effects on the virtual instrument outputs. A Musicloop can be previewed in the Browser, just like
audio; the Browser plays the rendered audio file.
To see the contents of the Musicloop, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the Musicloop and choose Show Package Contents. You can now see a drop-
down arrow that, when clicked, reveals the elements described above. Each element can be dragged in separately; for instance, if you
just wanted to load the instrument preset from the Musicloop. Another nice benefit of Musicloops is that the rendered audio can be used
even if the instrument and effects used to create the Musicloop are not installed.
Note that when creating Musicloops, the related channel volume, pan, send, and busing details are not a part of the rendered audio or
stored preset.
Musicloops are an excellent way to store a personal library of original material very easily and to share that material with others without
worrying about what instruments or effects they have.
Also note that you will also need to set your Song key signature before exporting your Musicloops or Audioloops to have the Song key sig-
nature included in the loop. Learn more about Key Signature here.
Edit Groups
It can be useful to group multiple Tracks together so that any edits done to an Event on one Track in the Group are automatically done to
all Events for each Track in the Group. For instance, you may wish to group all of your drum Tracks together so that when the Events are
cut and moved, the relative timing between the Tracks remains intact.
Manual Timestretching
With manual timestretching, you can stretch an Audio Event independently of the Song tempo or audio file tempo.
To manually stretch an Audio Event with the Arrow tool, float the mouse cursor to the left or right edge of the target Audio Event and hold
[Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard. The Timestretch tool appears, allowing you to click on the edge of the Event and drag left or right to
timestretch the Event, making it shorter or longer. In this case the length of the Event changes, using the Speedup factor, but the pitch of
the audio remains the same. Only the Event that you selected for timestretching is affected.
Speedup factor is a timestretching function for making an audio clip shorter or longer while maintaining its pitch. This is used to stretch
Audio Events when you do not wish to define a tempo for the original audio clip, which would affect all Events associated with that clip.
The Speedup factor value changes during manual timestretching, and it also can be entered manually in the Event Inspector. Values
greater than 1 decrease the length of the clip, while values less than 1 make the clip longer.
Note that manual timestretching can not be used on an Audio Event containing a sliced loop.
Automatic Timestretching
Automatic timestretching is based on the relationship between the Song tempo and the audio file’s tempo.
Each Audio Track has a Tempo mode that controls the behavior of the Events on the Track, based on the Song tempo. The Tempo mode
can be selected in the Track Inspector. The following modes are available:
l Don’t Follow Events on this Track are independent of the Song tempo. They are never moved or stretched automatically.
l Follow The start positions of Events on this Track are tied to the musical grid. Thus, the Events move when the Song tempo
changes but they are not stretched.
l Timestretch Event start positions follow the Song tempo, as in Follow mode. In addition, the Events are stretched to fit the Song
tempo.
Timestretching 122
If the original tempo for an Audio Event is unknown, the Arrow tool Timestretch function can be used to manually fit the Audio Event to a
specific length of time (bars and beats, etc). To do this, set the Tempo mode of the Track to “Timestretch.” Float the mouse cursor to the
edge of the target Audio Event and hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard. The Define Tempo tool appears, allowing you to click
on the edge of the Event and drag left or right to stretch it. In this case, the tempo for the original clip is set based on the musical length to
which the Event is stretched, and all Events in the Song that use this original clip are updated.
If the original tempo for an Audio Event is known but is not encoded in the original file that the Event references, you can easily set the file
tempo for the Event in the Inspector. Click in the File Tempo box, type in a new value and press [Enter] on the keyboard to enter a new
file tempo. If the corresponding Audio Track’s Tempo mode is set to Timestretch, entering a new value in File Tempo stretches all Events
in the Song that use this original clip, based on the entered tempo value.
Tap Tempo
You can use the Tap Tempo function to set the current Song tempo to the tempo that you hear in your Audio Events. To do this,
repeatedly click on the word “Tempo” in the Transport, clicking once on every beat you hear. Studio One Pro determines the Audio Event
tempo based on the timing of your clicks and sets the tempo for the Song accordingly. Be sure that the Tempo mode for the Audio Track
is set to Don’t Follow; otherwise, the Events are stretched or moved while you are using the Tap Tempo function, making it impossible to
find a consistent tempo.
Timestretching 123
Default Tempo Mode for New Tracks
When creating a New Song, notice that the New Song setup menu includes a Stretch Audio Files to Song Tempo checkbox. With this
option engaged, any new Track that is created in this Song has the Tempo mode set to Timestretch, and the software automatically
attempts to stretch audio files to the current Song tempo when they are imported into the Song. Otherwise, the default Tempo mode for
new Tracks is Follow.
Comping
Comping is the process of piecing together multiple performances into a single, continuous performance. For instance, you might record
the vocals for a verse a number of times, then edit the best parts of each pass into a single, hybrid performance that, ideally, sounds as
though it was performed in one pass. Comping and related information are covered in the following sections.
To hide or show layers, click the Expand Layers button on a Track (which looks like this ), or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the Track, and then
choose Expand Layers from the pop-up menu.
If no layers are available, the layer controls stay at the bottom of the Track control area. When there is least one layer and the Track con-
trols are zoomed horizontally to a certain level, the layer controls move from the bottom of the track to the top beside the track name.
Layers have their own Track controls, including Solo, Activate, Duplicate, and Remove. Click the layer’s Solo button to solo the layer on
the Track. Clicking the Activate button places that layer on the Track, and the current contents of the Track take the place of that layer on
a new layer located under the Track. Duplicate creates a duplicate of the layer on a new layer. Click Remove to remove the layer from the
Track.
If you would like layers to follow the Track Event in the arrangement—for instance, when moved or duplicated—engage the Layers Fol-
low Events option in the Inspector for the Track.
Comping 124
Track.
l In the Inspector, click the Layers field and select the desired layer from the pop-up menu.
Auditioning Takes
When comping, it is helpful to be able to quickly audition the various takes to determine the desired parts of each take. The Listen tool is
well suited to auditioning takes on layers. When floating the mouse over any layer, click anywhere on any layer to hear it instantly, start-
ing from where you clicked. Alternatively, if you've selected a range on any layer with the Arrow tool, hold [Shift] and click on the selected
range within that layer. This solos the layer and automatically loops the selection for playback. If you hold [Shift] and click on part of the
layer that's not selected, the entire layer will loop, starting at the beginning of the layer.
It is also possible to solo entire layers to quickly switch between takes, as only one layer of a Track may be soloed at a time. To do this,
click on the Solo button on any layer, or select the layer and press [S] on the keyboard. Note that Track Solo is independent of this, so
you can solo the Track or not, depending on whether you would like to hear the performances you are comping in the context of the other
Tracks in your Song.
Comping 125
Layer Editing
Many of Studio One Pro’s familiar audio editing tools can also be used on Layers, including the Range, Eraser, Paint, Mute, and Bend
tools.
Note that the Bend Tool can affect several Layers simultaneously if you used the “Record Takes to Layers” option with a Loop.
Sections of Layers can be deleted using the Range Tool in conjunction with the Eraser tool or the Delete key. Note that you’ll want to use
the Range Tool to select this Range, and not the Arrow tool - selecting with the Arrow tool and deleting will delete a section from your
Comped Audio Event, not your Layer.
Layers can be moved horizontally and vertically by holding [CTRL/CMD] while clicking and dragging from the center of the Layer Event,
and can be trimmed by holding [CTRL/CMD] while clicking and dragging from a Layer Event’s borders.
Layer Naming
By default, layers in a Track are given names in ascending order from top to bottom— Layer 1, Layer 2, and so on. Even if you re-order
layers within the stack, their original names stay the same, to avoid confusion. You can rename a whole layer by double-clicking its
name. You can rename content within a layer by [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking the content, and double-clicking the name shown in the pop-up
menu. As layer content is added to the main track, you'll see that those Events are named with the track name and layer name, or layer
number, if you have not assigned a custom name.
You can choose to re-name your Tracks and corresponding Channels automatically to that of the active Layer by choosing Enable ‘Lay-
ers Follow Events for New Tracks’ in the Advanced Options menu. Changing the active Layer with this feature enabled will again
change the displayed Track name.
Color-Coding Layers
Much like you can with Audio and Instrument Tracks, you can assign colors to layers within a track. This can be helpful when establishing
a color code for take quality, or simply to give more clarity to which layer is used in a given section of the main track. To set the color for a
layer, click the color picker, next to the layer's solo button, and choose a color from the pop-up selector.
What Next?
After comping on an Audio Track, it is common to consolidate, or bounce, separate Audio Events into a single, continuous Event. You
can do this quickly by selecting the Audio Events on the Track and pressing [Ctrl]+[B] on the keyboard. This renders a new audio file and
Event, and places it on the Track at the correct position.
Comping 126
A more flexible way is to merge the separate Audio Events into an Audio Part by selecting the Audio Events and then pressing [G] on the
keyboard. Any comping performed under the range of the Audio part results in the comps being copied directly into the Audio part.
Detect Transients
To detect transients in any audio in an arrangement, select an Audio Event and open the Bend panel from the top toolbar, then choose
Analyze from the Detection area. Alternatively, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on an Audio Event and choose Detect Transients from the Audio/Audio
Bend contextual menu. You can also open the Bend panel by clicking Audio Bend in the View/Additional Views menu.
The original audio clip that the Event uses is then analyzed, as indicated in the lower left of the Event with a “percentage complete” dis-
play. After detection, the Event becomes slightly translucent, and blue Bend Markers—vertical lines the height of the Event—are placed
at every transient.
Two modes can be used for transient detection: Standard and Sensitive. These modes are accessed in the Bend panel.
If you intend to quantize or slice the Audio Event, you don’t need to detect transients first; you can go straight to the Action area of the
Audio Bend panel. Any applied action detects transients.
Tab to Transient
It is possible to tab to transients in both the Arrange view and Audio Editor by pressing [Tab] on the keyboard, even if transients have not
yet been detected for the Event. This moves the playback cursor to the next transient in the Event. The following keyboard shortcuts are
also available when working with Tab to Transient:
l [Ctrl/Cmd] + [Backspace] Moves the cursor to the previous transient.
l [Shift] + [Tab] Creates or expands a range selection between transients.
l [Shift] + [Ctrl/Cmd] + [Backspace] Shortens the range selection.
Like many other editing operations, when moving a Bend marker with Snap enabled, the marker snaps to the nearest interval dictated by
the current Snap setting. Hold [Shift] while moving a marker to temporarily disable Snap for finer control, or to enable snapping if it's cur-
rently disabled.
If you wish to relocate a Bend marker (without timestretching the surrounding audio), hold [Alt] and click-and-drag the Bend marker to the
desired position.
Note that for audio to be stretched or compressed by manipulating a Bend Marker, at least one other Bend Marker should exist to the left
or right of the one being manipulated, to be used as the basis for stretching or compressing. If no other Bend Marker exists, the beginning
and end of the audio clip for the Event are used. For instance, if you want to change the rhythmic phrasing of a word in a vocal part, add a
Bend Marker to the left and right of the word you want to alter before attempting to move the word itself.
Multiple Bend Markers can be selected for simultaneous editing with the Bend tool by holding [Shift] and clicking on the desired markers,
or selecting a group of markers while holding [Alt].
You can reset a Bend Marker to its original position by [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking on it and selecting Reset Bend Marker. Multiple selected
Bend Markers can be reset at once, making it possible to easily restore the original timing if editing produced undesirable results.
Quantize Audio
It is very simple to quantize audio in Studio One Pro. Select the Audio Event, then press [Q] on the keyboard to quantize. Transients are
detected for the selected Event, the audio instantly snaps to the current quantize grid, the Bend Markers indicate they have been moved
left or right, and the waveforms are appropriately colored as described in the Editing Bend Markers section.
The same quantize commands are available for transient-detected audio as for Instrument Parts. [Q] quantizes the selected Events, [Alt]/
[Option]+[Q] quantizes at 50% strength, and [Shift]+[Q] restores the original timing.
Note that the Quantize panel for the Audio Editor is independent from the Note Editor and the Arrangement. This enables you to perfect
the rhythmic character of each aspect of the Song and perform those edits quickly without having to adjust the settings each time. You
can show or hide the Quantize panel for the Audio Editor by clicking its Quantize panel button. You can also close the Quantize panel for
the currently selected view by navigating to View/Additional Views/Quantize.
Elastique Pro
Studio One Pro uses the Elastique Pro time-stretching engine from Zplane, for high-quality time-stretching. When quantizing an Audio
Event, Elastique Pro is used to stretch each region of audio between the Bend Markers.
Similarly, you could drag an Instrument Part into the Groove panel to extract the groove and then quantize audio to that groove. When
you extract the groove from an Audio Event or Instrument Part, the grid in the arrangement is then based on that groove, and anything in
the arrangement can be quantized to that grid.
This is extremely useful for cleaning up multi-instrument performances, and it’s equally useful for creative purposes, such as extracting a
great groove from a funk loop and applying it to a straight-eighth drum loop.
You can also drag the groove itself to an Instrument Track, which renders the groove as a series of notes, one for each hit in the groove,
even tweaking note velocity according to the relative level of the hits. This allows you to instantly build a virtual instrument bass part, for
instance, that exactly match a drum performance. Just drag the drum performance into the Groove area, then drag it out to the bass
Track, and change the notes to the pattern you want.
Or, you might prefer to drag in an audio Event, drag it to an Instrument Track to tweak the groove musically, then drag that Instrument
Part in, and quantize the original audio Event to that. The possibilities are endless!
Track Transform
Track Inspector
Click on your Audio Track of choice to give access to the following parameters in the Track Inspector:
l Tempo (Mode) Lets you choose how playback of the current Track relates to Song tempo. For more details, see the Automatic
Timestretching section.
l Timestretch (Mode) Lets you choose the optimal timestretching algorithm for the Track. For more details, see the Timestretch-
ing Material Modes section.
l Group Lets you assign the current Track to an existing Track Group. For more information, see the Groups section.
l Layers Lets you Add, Duplicate, Rename, or Remove a layer from the Track, as well as set which layer is currently chosen for
playback. For more information, see the Track Layers section.
l Layers Follow Events Enable this parameter to make audio on underlying layers follow the related Event above when you
move it along the timeline. When this parameter is disabled, moving an Event with one or more Layers beneath it detaches that
Event from the layers below, making it a permanent part of the primary Layer.
Click on the Instrument Track of your choice to access the following parameters in the Track Inspector:
l Timebase Lets you set the Timebase format for the current Track, in Beats or Seconds. Set to Beats, the Events on the Track
change their position in time and speed to follow tempo changes in the Song. Set to Seconds, Events stay in place and maintain
their playback speed until you change them intentionally. This can be useful, for example, in film audio, in which certain sounds
must remain at certain absolute positions in time, to maintain synchronization with the visuals.
l Group Lets you assign the current Track to an existing Track Group. For more information, see the Groups section.
l Layers Lets you Add, Duplicate, Rename, or Remove a layer from the Track, as well as set which layer is currently chosen for
playback. For more information, see the Track Layers section.
l Layers Follow Events Enable this parameter to make instrument data on underlying layers follow the related Event above
when you move it along the timeline. When this parameter is disabled, moving an Event with one or more Layers beneath it
detaches that Event from the layers below, making it a permanent part of the primary Layer.
Event Inspector
Click on the Audio Event of your choice to access the following parameters in the Event Inspector.
l Event FX This lets you assign effects to individual Audio Events, rather than to a Track as a whole. For more information, see
the Event Effects section.
l Start and End Lets you specify the start and end times for the current Event.
l File Tempo If you know the tempo of the audio file associated with the current Event, you can specify it here. This gives Studio
One Pro a tempo reference to work from when timestretching an Event to match Song Tempo. Studio One Pro can also try to
deduce the tempo of a file if the BPM is not known—more info on that below.
l Speedup Lets you speed up or slow down the tempo of the current Event, independent of other tempo settings. For more inform-
ation, see the Manual Timestretching section.
l Transpose Lets you shift the pitch of the current Event up or down, in a range of -24 to +24 semitones.
l Tune Lets you fine-tune the pitch of the current Event up or down, in a range of -100 to +100 cents.
l Normalize Lets you boost the volume of the current Event, so that the highest peak in the audio reaches 0 dBFS. You can also
Normalize an Event by selecting the Event and pressing [Alt-N] / [Cmd-N].
l Gain Lets you adjust the overall level of the current Event, in a range of -40 to +24 dB.
l Fade-In Lets you specify the length of the fade at the beginning of the current Event. At a setting of 0 ms, no fade is applied.
l Fade-Out Lets you specify the length of the fade at the end of the current Event. At a setting of 0 ms, no fade is applied.
l Bend Marker Engage this to view the Bend Markers for the selected Audio Event.
l Threshold This field is only active when Bend Markers are visible. Use it to adjust the threshold for placing Bend Markers in the
Audio Event. The range is 0-100%, with a default value of 80%.
l Gain Envelope Two options are provided: the Bypass button disables the Gain Envelope without resetting it, and the check box
lets you show or hide the Gain Envelope.
l Time Lock Select this option to keep the Event from being moved to a different time position within the Track. See Lock Tracks
or Events for more information.
If the BPM is not contained in the Event’s header or filename, Studio One Pro will instead attempt to deduce the tempo of the Event
based on both the file’s length and an assumption of an evenly-subdividable number of bars. Tempo Approval on Import is not available
on Events that contain more than one tempo.
Event Effects
It is possible to insert effects directly on an Audio Event in the arrangement, as opposed to inserting effects on the entire Audio Channel
for the related Track, thereby affecting all Events on the Track. Event Effects are commonly used to add variety to the arrangement or to
To insert an effect on an Event, select the Event and open the Inspector by pressing [F4] on the keyboard. In the Event Inspector area of
the Inspector, you can see an Event FX tab with an [Enable] button. Click on Enable, and an Insert Device Rack opens.
Insert effects or FX Chains here, as you normally would, and the Event is processed accordingly, in real time, during playback. The res-
ulting sound is exactly as if you had inserted the effect on the Track: You can hear all other Tracks play and can make effects parameter
changes while hearing the results in context with the rest of the mix.
You can also add Event Effects by right-clicking an Event and choosing Event FX >> Add Effect… from the contextual menu, where you
will also find a list of the Effects currently applied to the selected Event.
As Event Effects may alter the relative volume of an Event, thereby skewing existing volume fade envelopes, an option has been
provided to process volume envelopes after Event Effects. Click on the Tail check box, in the area above the Insert Device Rack, to
enable this option.
Add Effects to Multiple Events
You can add Effects by dragging them from the Browser onto all selected Events, or by group-selecting several Events and assigning
Event FX via the right-click contextual menu described above.
Render Event Effects
Once the intended sound is achieved via an Event Effect, it is likely a good idea to render the audio in order to conserve CPU resources.
Studio One Pro provides a very flexible way to do this that allows you to revert to real-time processing at any time in order to make
changes.
To render any Audio Event with inserted Event Effects, click on Render above the Event FX Insert Device Rack. The Insert Device Rack
collapses, a new Audio Event with the rendered audio replaces the original Event in the arrangement, and the [Render] button is labeled
[Restore]. At any time, click on Restore to replace the rendered Event with the original and restore any inserted effects to their pre-
rendered states.
When rendering Event FX, note that the Tail setting above the Insert Device Rack allows you to specify a length to render beyond the end
of the Audio Event. This is critical to properly capturing reverb tails, delay lines, and other similar audio tails caused by inserted effects.
When a Tail value is given, a volume fade is applied across the entire length of that tail on the rendered Event after rendering to ensure
smooth-sounding results. This fade envelope can then be modified, as usual.
Rendering Event FX creates bounced audio files that are placed into the Pool for the current Song.
Track Presets allow you to save and recall frequently-used Track and Channel configurations so you don’t need to re-create their inputs,
settings, and routing every time you create a new Track for the same purpose.
For example, let’s say you prefer to process and route your background vocal tracks with a particular reverb; a certain set of inputs; and
you want all of these background vocal tracks to follow the Chord Track and utiilze the “Lead” Tune Mode and be placed in a Folder Track
along with a Bus called “BGV.”
Thanks to Track Presets, you only need to set all of that up once — and you can store and recall the “Background Vocal” configuration for
use in future Songs.
l To store a Track Preset, right-click on the track header and choose "Store Track Preset" from the contextual menu. When run-
ning a Store Track Preset operation, you can also file your Track Presets within subfolders. Alternatively, you can drag a Track
or Folder Track from its Track Header and drop it in the Browser to quickly store a Preset.
l To load a Track Preset, right-click on the track header and choose Load Track Preset from the contextual menu. Alternatively,
you can also apply a Track Preset to a Channel by right-clicking the Channel and choosing Apply Track Preset.
Alternatively, Track Presets can be applied from the Browser via Drag and Drop. By default, Track Presets are stored in Studio One
Pro/Presets/User Presets/Track Presets.
If you’d like to drag and drop multiple Track Presets at once, simply press [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+click onto the presets you’d like from the Browser
and drag the selected presets into the arrangement.
Track Presets can be used to store and recall all aspects of a Track: names, instruments, routing, pan, levels, and any variables that can
be set in the Inspector.
l Note: Track Presets do not store Note Events, Audio Clips, Event FX, or Automation.
Track Presets also work with folder tracks, meaning an entire group of Tracks, including their Bus and FX Channels, can be saved as
a single Track Preset! This can prove very useful for multi-channel drums.
Additionally, loading multiple Track Presets that contain identical FX Channels will create a single instance of the FX Channel to be
shared. This feature helps you avoid creating redundant FX Channels.
Audio Editor
The Audio Editor display operates independently of the Arrange view and has an independent Timebase setting. Most options that
appear in the Editor are the same as in the Arrange view and affect tools and Events in the same way. Note that the Snap and Timebase
settings are not shared between the Arrange view and Editor; they remain independent. A Snap to Event Hotspots option is found in the
Editor Snap dropdown menu; it allows tool and Event snapping to hotspots such as Bend Markers. The dropdown menu also includes a
Snap to Zero Crossings option, which will help avoid an unnatural click at the beginning of the audio data when the Event is moved or
split.
The displayed level scale to the left of the waveform lane in the Audio Editor can be adjusted by clicking on it and dragging left or right.
This effectively zooms the waveform amplitude, which may be useful when editing audio with relatively low levels. [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking in
this area allows the selection of a percentage- or dB-based scale. You can also adjust this zoom level by manipulating the Data Zoom
parameter, found to the right of the Time Zoom slider control.
Tools
Most of the tools in the Arrange view are available in the Audio Editor and function there exactly as they do in the Arrange view (the Paint
tool is the only tool not available in the Audio Editor).
Note Editor
Instrument Parts contain notes, which represent musical performance data and are a type of Event. Notes can be moved, cut, copied,
pasted, duplicated, and drawn using mouse tools, key commands, and certain Event menu commands. Multiple notes can be selected
and edited together, as with other Events.
For quick editing of all notes in a Part or on the Track, use [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[A] to select all of the notes in the focused Part in the Note Editor
or [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Shift]+[A] to select all notes in all Parts on the Track. You can also access the full set of selection actions by navigating to
the Select section of the Edit menu.
The View buttons on the left side of the Note Editor toolbar providethree different ways of viewing, entering, and editing note data: Piano
view, Drum view, and Score view.
Freeze Quantize
It is sometimes very helpful to make note quantization permanent so you can quantize again based on the current quantized positions,
rather than the original note positions. To do this, select the notes and select Freeze Quantize from the Musical Functions menu. You
cannot Restore Timing for these notes, as the newly quantized positions effectively become the original positions.
Humanize
Strictly quantizing every note so that rhythms are perfectly precise can cause notes to sound lifeless and mechanical. The Humanize
function alters note start and end times and velocity within a very small threshold, based on rules modeled on common human per-
formance patterns. This provides just enough variation to make a performance sound more like a human played the parts.
To use this function, select any notes and then choose Humanize from the Event/Musical Functions menu. Note that the exact results
cannot be directly controlled. You can also choose to Humanize Less, which alters the notes in a similar fashion as Humanize but based
on rules designed to result in less-humanized performance patterns.
Note Editor
Instrument Parts contain notes, which represent musical performance data and are a type of Event. Notes can be moved, cut, copied,
pasted, duplicated, and drawn using mouse tools, key commands, and certain Event menu commands. Multiple notes can be selected
and edited together, as with other Events.
For quick editing of all notes in a Part or on the Track, use [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[A] to select all of the notes in the focused Part in the Note Editor
or [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Shift]+[A] to select all notes in all Parts on the Track. You can also access the full set of selection actions by navigating to
the Select section of the Edit menu.
The View buttons on the left side of the Note Editor toolbar provide three different ways of viewing, entering, and editing note data: Piano
view, Drum view, and Score view.
Arrow Tools
Studio One Pro offers two Arrow tools for editing Note Events: Extended and Basic. Choose the one you’d like to use by clicking on the
Arrow tool icon or by pressing [1] with the Note Editor open to toggle between the two.
The Extended Arrow tool in the Note Editor is used with notes in essentially the same way as the Arrow tool in the Arrange view is used
with Events. Multiple notes can be selected and edited together in the same way as Events.
At high zoom factors, the Extended Arrow tool leverages context-sensitive functionality to enact different tasks, depending on which area
of a Note Event you move your cursor over. This allows you to perform various critical tasks without the need to switch tools:
l Edit Velocity: Click and Drag vertically from the upper area of a Note Event to raise and lower Velocity
l Mute: [Alt/Option+Click] in the upper area of a Note Event to Mute
l Cut: Click at the lower area of the Note Event to split it
l Cut Deep: [Alt/Option+Click] at the lower area of a stack of Note Events in the same location (of the same pitch) to split them all
l Glue: Click at the lower area between two adjacent Note Events with the same pitch to group them
The Basic Arrow tool can be used to move Note Events or trim them by clicking and dragging their endpoints, disabling the above-listed
features of the Extended Arrow Tool.
Moving Notes
To move a note using the Arrow tool, click anywhere on the note and drag left, right, up, or down. Dragging the note left or right moves it
backward and forward in time, relative to the current Edit view timebase and timeline zoom. Dragging the note up or down transposes
(changes the pitch of) the note. In Piano view, the transposition interval can be determined by using the vertical keyboard display to the
left of the Note Editor.
Creating Notes
To create a note using the Arrow tool, double-click in any empty space in the Edit view. A note is created at the location you've specified,
its length determined by the currently selected Quantize value. Double-click a note with the Arrow tool to delete it.
Duplicating Notes
To duplicate selected notes using the Arrow tool, hold [Alt]/[Option] on the keyboard, click on the selection, and drag left or right. Release
the mouse button when the desired position is reached, and the selection is duplicated to this position.
Strums
A group-selection of Note Events can quickly be arranged into a Strum. With a group of Note Events selected, begin by clicking and drag-
ging from the middle of one of the group’s Note Events, and then hold [CMD]+[OPT] / [CTRL]+[ALT] to create a Strum. This can be done
from any Note Event in the Group.
Note that Strums are affected by Snap settings. For a more humanistic sound, you may opt to turn off Snap (N) while creating Strums.
Various strums.
Split Tool
In Piano view, the Split tool allows you to split notes so that they become two separate notes. Clicking on any note directly splits the note
at that position, while selecting multiple notes and then splitting, splits all selected notes. Holding [Alt] when clicking with this tool per-
forms a split of any selected notes, as well as a split of the part itself, so that one part becomes two.
To switch temporarily to the Arrow tool while the Split tool is selected, hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd].
Split at Grid
It is possible in the Piano and Drum views to split a single note into multiple notes based on the current Quantize setting. Select any num-
ber of notes and choose Split at Grid from the Musical Functions menu. Notes are split based on their position relative to the bar line, with
splitting occurring only up to the next bar line after the note start time.
The Split at Grid function can also be applied to whole Instrument Parts and Audio Events.
The Paint tool in the Note Editor is used to draw notes in an Instrument Part. To draw a note, click at the desired position. The default
length for new notes can be set in the Note Editor Inspector to the right of the keyboard interface. Click the note again to delete it.
To momentarily select the Arrow tool while using the Paint tool, hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] on the keyboard.
If you want to edit velocity for many notes at once, you'll find the Transform Tool very useful. Similar to the way the Transform Tool in
Arrange view is used for scaling and shaping automation curves, the Transform tool in the Note Editor lets you scale and shape note
velocity data.
To use the Transform Tool, click the triangle at the edge of the Paint tool in the Note Editor, and choose "Transform Tool" from the pop-up
list. With this tool, select a range of velocity values in the Velocity display below your chosen notes. The selected values can then be
scaled smoothly up or down by dragging the handles at the top or bottom of the selection.
You can also drag the handles at the corners of the Transform selection, to scale the selected velocities with a sloping action, as shown
above. This makes it easy to create smooth changes in velocity across a range of notes.
Eraser Tool
The Eraser tool in the Note Editor is used to delete notes. With the Eraser tool selected, click directly on any note to delete it. When mul-
tiple notes are selected, clicking any one of them with the Eraser tool deletes all selected notes. Click and drag with the Eraser tool (start-
ing in empty space) to delete all notes you touch.
You can temporarily switch to the Arrow tool while the Eraser tool is selected by holding [Ctrl]/[Cmd].
Mute Tool
Listen Tool
The Listen tool is a quick way to audition a section of a Track while editing. With the Listen tool selected, click and hold inside the Editor
window to solo the Track and start playback from that position. Playback continues until the cursor is released; then, playback stops and
the Track is no longer soloed.
Step Record
Step Recording is a special, note-by-note method of recording musical note data. Rather than playing in real time, or drawing in notes
with the Paint tool, you can simply specify a rhythmic value and press keys on your MIDI controller to enter notes and chords with ease
and precision.
For more information about Step Record functions, check out the Step Record chapter.
The Scale function can only be enabled in Piano view. After clicking on the Scale Editor icon in the toolbar, the Scale Editor will appear
below it. Select a scale by choosing the starting note and the musical scale in the respective dropdown menus.
The notes contained in the selected scale are marked on the Note Editor's vertical keyboard display, as well as in the single-octave key-
board display in the Note Editor toolbar.
After a scale has loaded, you’ll notice that the notes within that scale have a thin blue line along the bottom of the key. Root notes will
have two blue lines on the key–one at the top of the key, and one at the bottom.
button [ ] and the Note Editor’s one octave piano roll display:
1. Start by choosing one of Studio One Pro’s preset scales from the scale dropdown list.
2. To change a note within the keyboard display, click the key to enable/disable the note. The thin blue line will disappear when it’s
been disabled and reappear when it’s been enabled.
l The root key is always in scale and cannot be toggled off. Use Alt (Option) + Click to change the root key. Note that
changing the root key also shifts the “in scale” keys accordingly so that the scale type remains intact (for example,
Once a new preset is stored, you can find it at the bottom of the Scale dropdown menu:
Your scale presets will also be stored locally within your computer files. To access this via the browser, follow this path: Files > Studio
One Pro > Presets > User Presets > Musical Scales.
Note: If you want existing notes to conform to a scale you have just selected, first select the notes, then select Apply Scale from the
Action menu in the Note Editor toolbar. This can be done in Piano view or Drum view, and the change is applied instantly in Score view.
Snap to Scale
Clicking onto the Snap to Scale button will change the Note Editor background so the notes of the currently-selected scale are high-
lighted:
The pitch visibility options next to the scale editor provide more options to simplify the Note Editor background. You have the choice
between seeing the entire piano roll from the Note Editor displayed or folding the piano roll:
l All: The entire piano roll will be visible. This is the default view.
l In Scale: Only the notes within the scale you’ve chosen will be visible. In this “In Scale” view, the piano keys are replaced with
step keys labeled with the interval step of each note within your chosen Scale:
l Used: Only the notes you’ve recorded will be visible. In this view, rather than a piano view or scale step, the used notes will be
labeled on the left with their octave position:
Quantize
The Quantize panel can be opened from the toolbar by clicking on the Quantize Panel button. The Quantize panel can be detached and
freely placed on the screen. In this panel, you can edit all settings related to the Quantize grid that are displayed in the Arrangement.
For more information about the Quantize panel, check out The Grid topic.
The Macro Toolbar is a special control panel that lets you customize your workflow in powerful ways, giving you easy access to often-
used functions and custom command combinations. You can add and change command groups and buttons freely to fit your needs with
the Macro Organizer.
For more information about customizing the macro toolbar and how to make the most out of the toolbar, check out the Macro Toolbar
topic.
Action Bar
When editing in the Note Editor, several editing commands are likely to be used often. We have
placed these commands in a menu that allows quick access, located to the right of the Quantize
and Macro icons in the main toolbar of the Note Editor. Please see Action Menu to learn more
about the action options.
Note Color
Clicking the Note Color drop-down menu in the Note Editor presents a menu of several options for Note Color:
AQ
When Auto Quantize is enabled, any selected notes will quantize and snap to the grid according to the quantize value
you select.
Auto Zoom allows Studio One Pro to automatically apply an optimal Zoom to fit all content of the corresponding view
in real-time. Auto Zoom can dramatically speed up your workflow! It’s available in the Arranger, Audio Editor, and the
Piano View and Note View of the Note Editor. For more information about zooming within Studio One Pro, check out
the Navigating with Zoom chapter.
The Note Editor also has its own Track List, opened via the Track List icon in the upper left corner of the Note Editor's Inspector panel.
You can show or hide Tracks in this List via the Show/Hide button to the left of the Track name, and can independently set each Track to
Edit Active via the pencil-shaped Edit button to the far right of the Track name. If a Track is shown and Edit Active is not engaged, the
Track’s notes are not selectable. This allows it to be viewed as a reference, and keeps it safe from an accidental alteration.
When multiple Parts are displayed, the notes for each Part are colored with their Track colors and audition normally through their Tracks.
Selected notes are displayed in white.
Also, when multiple Parts are displayed it is possible to transfer notes from one Part to another using the [Right]/[Ctrl]-click contextual
menu item Transfer Notes. This removes the selected notes from the original Part, indicated with a checkmark in the Transfer Notes list,
to the selected Part.
It is possible to preserve the Track List selection so it remains the same even if you switch to another Track in the Arrange view. To do
this, click the Lock Track List icon next to the Track List button. Note that the Piano and Drum views share a Track List selection and the
Score view has its own, which can be locked independently.
To bring a different Track into focus for editing when multiple Parts are displayed, click the Track name at the top of the Note Editor
Inspector and select the desired Track.
Drum Editor
Standard piano-roll-style note editing is ideal for melodic and harmonic content, in which notes tend to have differing lengths. Drum pro-
gramming and editing present a different challenge. Percussive sounds often contain their own amplitude envelope that ends at a pre-
determined time, which makes the start of each note the most important part. For added clarity when working on this sort of content,
Studio One Pro features a dedicated Drum view that shows your drum notes as "triggers," marking the start of each note.
In the Drum Editor you can add, remove, and manipulate notes just as you normally can, with some useful differences. The Note Editor
Inspector on the left side is basically the same as in Piano view, only without the features that don't apply to Drum view. Likewise, the
tools within the Note Editor toolbar apply to the Drum view just as they do for the Piano view. The differences and additions within the
Drum view are detailed below.
To use this function, click the [Action] button in the Note Editor, and choose Select Notes. In the window that appears, you can choose
from the following actions:
l Select Use this mode to select notes that fall within the chosen range of parameters.
l Deselect Use this mode to deselect notes that fall within the chosen range of parameters, if those notes are currently selected. If
no notes are selected, using this mode selects any notes that fall outside the chosen range of parameters.
After selecting one of those modes, choose one of the following operations:
l Highest notes Select the highest notes that exist at any given time in the Part.
l Lowest notes Select the lowest notes that exist at any given time in the Part.
l Range... Select the notes that fall within a range of Pitch, Velocity, or Note Length. Select the criteria you want to focus on,
then set the range of selection with the sliders.
l At interval... Select notes based on intervals according to position on the beat grid, or numeric relationships between notes:
l Beat Choose this mode to select notes according to their relationship to the grid:
l Beat grid Sets the rhythmic value at which note selection is calculated.
l Selection interval Sets the number of beats (the value of which is set with Beat Grid) between note selections.
l Start offset Sets the number of beats to skip before making the first set of note selections.
l Selection tolerance Sets the amount of "slope" allowed in calculating note selections, to allow for selecting
notes that do not conform exactly to the grid.
l Event count Choose this mode to select notes based on their numerical relationships:
l Select at every n-th position Sets the numeric spacing between note selections. For example, a setting of 2
selects notes at every second note. This does not necessarily relate to the grid. If there is a space in the notes,
the count between selections continues when the next notes start.
l Start selection at n-th position Sets the number of note occurrences to skip before making the first set of
note selections.
l Selection tolerance Sets the amount of "slope" allowed in calculating note selections, to allow for selecting
notes that do not conform exactly to the grid.
After clicking this icon, the in-place editor will appear to the right of the Editor grid. To have access to all of the available parameters at
once, you must adjust the width and length of the Editor until it is large enough to display each feature:
If you would like to take up less space while using the in-place editor, you can reduce the size of the Editor and toggle between Pad Con-
trols and Drum Pad views.
Click the Pad Controls button to view to the waveform editor and pad parameters:
To open Impact in a separate window, click onto the “Instrument Editor” button located at the top right corner of the In-Place Editor.
Note: For this feature to work as intended, you must select Impact as the output virtual instrument on a new instrument track.
Sound Variations
Studio One Pro’s Note Editor offers a quick and easy way for you to enter Sound Variations via a right-click contextual menu.
Stay mindful that Sound Variations display in the Automation Lane, not the Note Editor.
1. Create an Instrument Track and load “Nylon Guitar Full” from the Presence core library.
2. Add a few notes via the Paint tool, or drag and drop a MIDI file to this new track.
3. Open the Note Editor [F2] if it’s not already open.
4. Click the Show/hide Automation Lanes button ( ), and then click the Sound Variation Parameter tab at the top of the lane.
This tab is available in the Piano and Drum views, and will display below the Note Editor.
5. [Right-click] a Note Event in the Note Editor and mouse over “Apply Sound Variation” from the contextual pop-up menu. You’ll
receive a submenu of Variations to choose from. Click “Open” for an open-string sound.
6. [Right-click] another Note Event. From the contextual pop-up menu, choose “Hammer-on.”
7. Press the spacebar or [Left-Click] the Play button to play your track. You should hear that any Note Events played coincident
with the “Open” Sound Variation will sound normal, while Notes played coincident with the “Hammer-On” Key Switch will sound
hammered-on.
8. Experiment! Assign different Sound Variations across your Song, if you like, and listen back. It’s quite addictive.
From the right-click contextual menu, you can also select from an efficient list of up to ten recently-used Sound Variations under “Used.”
This can dramatically speed up your work-flow when using vast sound libraries and grants you quick access to your favorite Variations.
Assigning Sound Variations using the Paint Tool inside the Sound Variations Automation Lane
To view and edit Sound Variations in an Automation Lane, we’ll use the same “Nylon Guitar-Full” Track from the previous example.
Although used in conjunction with Note Events, Sound Variations exist independently of Note Events—hence their home in the Auto-
mation Lane. If you would like to ensure that your Sound Variations stay connected to coincident Note Events when copying or moving
notes, you simply need to enable "Select Part Automation with Notes” via the right-click contextual menu or this icon above the Edit Win-
dow:
Sound Variation entries in the Automation Lane remain in effect until another Sound Variation is entered; its colored bar stretches until
the next Sound Variation Event.
To change a Sound Variation you have already placed:
1. Select the Sound Variation you want to change in the Automation Lane
2. [Left-Click] and hold to display a contextual pop-up menu.
3. Select the desired Sound Variation from the menu.
The Sound Variations Editor is your home for defining, mapping, and organizing your Sound Variations, as well as storing and recalling
their presets. Using this interface, you’ll be able to import and create complex articulation controls suitable for use with robust orchestral
virtual instruments.
It can be helpful to think of the Sound Variations Editor as an interpreter between your Song’s Note Events and the virtual instrument it is
working with. The input it receives comes from note information or other control signals; the output it sends is passed on to the virtual
instrument assigned to its respective Track.
Above, we see the Sound Variations Editor loaded with the aforementioned “Nylon Guitar-Full” Presence Preset. Let’s take a look at the
options presented.
The Sound Variations List at the left of the interface displays all Sound Variations for the currently selected Track. Clicking on any of
these to select them also sends an activation sequence command to the connected Virtual Instrument.
The Drop-Down menu at the top of the interface controls the Global settings for Sound Variations on the currently selected Track. Its
options include:
l Enable Key Switches Choose this option to use the input Key Switches defined in the current map. Pitches tagged as Key
Switches will ignore transposition and Note FX and Key Switch triggers will be sent to the Instrument.
It's similar to setting the Sound Variations Editor to "Use Activation Sequence," but has the advantage of showing the marked
keys with colors. Also, it could be used as a starting point if you would ever want to start over with a custom (re)mapping.
This option is only available with Studio One Pro’s included instruments and third-party VST instruments that support Studio
One Pro’s Dynamic Mapping (more info on Dynamic Mapping farther below).
l Assign Key Switches Chromatic Use this option to assign Key Switch Note values ascending chromatically. Choose from a
list of four value ranges starting at C -2.
l Assign Key Switches White Keys Use this option to assign Key Switch Note values ascending value using only the white
keys. Choose from a list of four value ranges starting at C -2.
l Shift Key Switches Use this option to nudge all of your Key Switches note values en masse, either by ±1 octave or ±1 note.
l Clear All Key Switches Use this option to remove all Key Switch note values from the Input column in the Sound Variations list
as well as from the Note Editor.
The Musical Symbols Lane can be used to apply both Articulations and Directions to your Note Events.
Articulations: Using the Arrow tool, [left-click] in the Articulations lane to select all of its coincident Note Events. Click again to bring up a
list of articulation options to apply to these notes. Click a third time to choose the Articulation from this list that you would like to apply to
these notes.
You can apply multiple articulations simultaneously.
Directions: Using the Paint tool, [left-click] anywhere in the Musical Symbols lane to be presented with a list of Directions. Much like
Musical Symbols, pick the one that you’d like to use with another left click.
Alternatively, you can [right-click] in the Musical Symbols Lane and choose “insert at cursor” to apply a Direction at the cursor point.
Note that, generally speaking, Articulations are intended for use as temporary, expressive changes in performance technique like a trem-
olo or glissando. Directions are typically less momentary in nature, like a pianissimo directing a performer to play quietly over several
bars.
l Articulations = note-based.
l Directions = range-based.
Let’s take a look at an example Activation Sequence using Vienna Symphonic Library’s Big Bang Orchestra. In order to trigger the Sound
Variation “Soft low Brass,” several keystrokes must be entered on a MIDI controller in sequence.
The sequence is:
A -1 | C# 0 | G 0 | C6
... all using Note On + Off input event types.
As we can see from the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra interface, each of these commands in sequence is effectively stepping us through
categories and sub-categories of articulations:
l Instruments (Senza Piccolo and Con Piccolo variations )
l Articulation (Long Notes and Short Notes variations)
l Marcato (Marcato and Non-Marcato variations)
l Type (Various articulations)
This is comparable to navigating deeper into a filing structure on your computer to search for the file you want. In fact, if you were to col-
lapse several of the folders that organize the default Sound Variations for Big Bang Orchestra, you will find a literal folder structure:
With this configuration, each MIDI keystroke in the Activation Sequence steps through this hierarchy to get you one step closer to the
articulation that you’re looking for. Of course, if you’re producing, you can use “Apply Sound Variations” via the right-click contextual
menu; using Activation Sequences directly from your MIDI keyboard is well-suited to real-time performances.
Dynamic Mapping
Complex instruments require sophisticated mapping of Sound Variations that can be very time-consuming to create. Fortunately for you,
we’ve partnered with some of the best orchestral library developers in the world, and given them the tools they need to expose their cur-
rent mapping to Studio One Pro—so manual mapping is no longer needed! So, when you load a preset from a qualifying instrument that
supports Dynamic Mapping into a Studio One Pro Song, the available articulations and their activation sequence is automatically impor-
ted into the Sound Variations editor.
Here’s an example of a fully-mapped Sound Variation from Vienna Symphonic Library. It’s too big to even fit in the Editor!
Stem Separation
Studio One Pro’s Stem Separation is an extension capable of separating any stereo or mono track into four separate stem tracks, isol-
ating vocals, bass, drums, and “other” (other instrumentation).
Stem separation can be triggered by using the shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+U or right clicking onto the chosen event. From its context menu, select
the “Separate Stems” option (located: Audio > Audio Processing > Separate Stems):
The dialog allows you to select the stems you’d like to separate. The option “Consolidate” allows you to merge the selected stems into a
new track. The consolidate option could prove helpful if you would like to remove certain stems, but maintain everything else as a single
Event.
Note: The last used settings in the dialog are stored for the next time.
After making your selection and clicking “okay,” a progress window will appear. Depending on the length of the source material, the pro-
cess of track analysis and stem separation may take a few minutes.
Action Menu
When editing in the Note Editor, several editing commands are likely to be used often. We have placed these commands in a menu that
allows quick access, located to the right of the Quantize and Macro icons in the main tool bar of the Note Editor. Click the [Action] button
to reveal a drop-down menu of commands with which you can edit any selected notes in the Note Editor.
The Actions are arranged in groups of related features: Global, Pitch, Velocity, Quantize, Time, Mute, and Process actions. We'll
describe some of the Actions in this section.
Apply Scale
If an existing musical passage is in a major key but you'd like to hear how it sounds in a minor key, the Apply Scale action will do that for
you. After selecting a group of notes in the Editor, select the desired Scale on the left side of the window. Then open the Action menu and
Quantize Notes
In addition to the global quantization functions revealed by clicking the Quantize button, the Action menu lets you apply a very specific set
of quantization parameters to a group of selected notes. You can define the resolution of the Quantize grid, select a Quantize type such
as Triplet or Quintuplet, adjust the Swing, Strength and Range parameters, and then select whether you want to quantize the note starts
and/or note ends.
Distribute Notes
Any selection of note events can be equally distributed at a variable percentage. The Amount parameter defines the strength of the
action.
Mirror Notes
This note action will mirror notes horizontally, vertically, or both. You can choose which note will be the focal point of the mirror action:
first, middle, last, or any custom note within a range of 10 octaves. This can be a useful compositional tool, providing a quick way to invert
or reverse a melody.
Randomize Notes
This powerful creative tool allows you to add some randomness to your music by applying a variable amount of pitch, velocity, or note
length randomization, as well as any combination of those factors. You can use the original pitch range, define a custom pitch range, or
constrain the results to use the original pitches only. You can also select a new Scale first and have the randomize apply that Scale to the
results.
Patterns
Instrument Parts are just the thing for long, evolving passages, recordings of live playing, and other, more linear musical uses. DAW-
style sequencing allows for a level of bar-by-bar flexibility that the step sequencers and drum machines of the past can hardly match.
However, sometimes it can be helpful to return to those older workflows, as evidenced by the recent resurgence of hardware sequen-
cers.
Pattern-based sequencing treats musical phrases as individual elements, to be switched and swapped at will, looped and finessed.
Enabling this kind of freewheeling arrangement and musical state of play is the role of Patterns, a type of musical part you can create in
Studio One Pro.
Patterns have two modes of operation: One is designed for melodic and harmonic parts, showing available notes on a grid, cor-
responding to the related keyboard notes. The other is for drums and other percussive parts, and it offers automatic note/instrument nam-
ing when used with Impact, along with variable phrase lengths and note resolution for each note row.
You can enter notes into a pattern by hand with the pencil tool, or by using the Step Record mode, a note at a time with your
MIDI controller of choice (including your QWERTY keyboard). There's also an option to convert an Instrument Part into a Pattern (and
vice-versa), which makes pattern creation a breeze.
Patterns aren't just static blocks of note data, either. You can create endless variations which are stored within the Pattern. This lets you
start with an idea and create iterations that you can easily switch between as you lay out your arrangement, bringing life to your
sequences over time. Repeats and trigger probability can be applied per step, opening further avenues of expression.
Patterns can coexist on the same Instrument Track with standard Instrument Parts (even sitting right on top of them, if desired). This
makes Patterns perfect for peppering your more traditional sequences with fills, turnarounds, and other flourishes.
Creating Patterns
There are two ways to create a Pattern: Convert an existing Part into a Pattern, or create an empty Pattern and fill it.
To convert an existing Part into a Pattern, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the desired Part and select Convert Part to Pattern from the Instrument
Parts menu. This operation is also found in the Event menu. Studio One Pro determines whether the Pattern should use Melodic Mode or
Drum Mode based on the Instrument, and the Part becomes a Pattern at that spot in the timeline. The maximum Pattern length is 64
Steps, so anything beyond that is truncated during the conversion.
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After editing the Pattern as described below, you can convert it back into a Part using the same method: [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Pattern in
the timeline and select Convert Pattern to Part, or select the operation from the Event menu.
To create an empty Pattern, select an Instrument Track, and navigate to Event/Insert Pattern or press [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Shift]+[P] on the
keyboard. An empty Pattern is created on the selected track.
To begin working with the new Pattern, click to select it. You can then view it in the Note Editor pane.
If you plan to use this pattern to create melodic or harmonic content, select Melodic Mode by clicking the keyboard-shaped button shown
above. For drums or other rhythmic parts, click the drum pad-shaped button.
When you first create a Pattern its default state is 16 Steps in length, with 1/16th-note Resolution. This and other details can be easily
changed using the parameters above the Pattern Editor window:
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l Steps: Sets the length of the Pattern, in steps. Each step is as long as the note value specified in the Resolution selector. Click
the triangle to open a menu of preset lengths. To enter a custom length, click the step number and type in the desired value
between 2 and 64 Steps.
l Resolution: Sets the note value of each step in the Pattern. Defaults to 1/16th-notes, with a range between 1/2-notes and
1/64th-notes, with triplet ("T") and dotted ("D") variants of each.
l Swing: Sets the rhythmic relationship of each pair of steps. Defaults to 0%, with each note falling on even divisions. As you
increase the percentage, the second step of each pair (2, 4, 6, and so on) is moved closer to the note to its right.
l Gate: Sets the length of each note. Defaults to 100%, with each note filling the entirety of its note value. As you decrease the
value, each note becomes shorter and shorter. Values higher than 100% lengthen each note, with a maximum value of 200%.
Note that changing the Gate value of a tied note only affects the duration of the final tied step. For example, a Gate value of
200% applied to two tied 16th-notes results in a 1/16th note tied to an 1/8th note. Conversely, for this example a Gate value of
50% results in a 1/16th note tied to a 1/32nd note.
l Accent: Sets the amount of emphasis placed on Accented notes. Defaults to 30%. As values increase, the effects of Accent
increase.
Entering Notes
One easy way to begin fleshing out a pattern is to use the Pencil Tool. Click on a place in the grid to add a note. Click a note again to
erase it. Hold [Shift] while erasing to erase notes on multiple lanes or pitches. You can also click and drag across a row to add multiple
notes in Drum Mode or set the note length in melodic mode in one gesture. Hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] to enter or toggle the accent.
Step Recording
Another way to add notes to a pattern is Step Recording. When you press the Step Record button, shown above on the left, you enter
Step Recording mode. To choose where in the Pattern to begin entering notes, click the step number above the desired column in the
grid. Play a note on a connected MIDI controller, and it is entered into the Pattern. You can play other notes while the first note is held to
enter multiple notes on a single step. When you let go of the notes, the Pattern advances to the next step, and you can enter the next
note or Chord.
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6. Press Play (or use the space bar) to start the Transport
7. Play notes on your controller as the Pattern loops.
This method can also be used to record notes into a pattern variation in real time.
When editing a Pattern, if you'd like to edit another pattern that precedes or follows it on the timeline, click one of the Edit Previous Pat-
tern / Edit Next Pattern buttons (pictured above) to switch between them.
When you [Right]/[Ctrl]-click in the Pattern Editor a list of editing operations is shown in a pop-up menu. The size of the list is different for
Melodic Mode and Drum Mode.
Melodic Mode: These pattern-level operations are also available in Drum mode.
l Copy Copies the entire contents of the current Pattern so that it can be pasted into another Pattern, or into another Variation
within the same pattern.
l Paste Applies the note data in the clipboard to the currently selected Pattern.
l Duplicate Copies notes from the first half of a Pattern and pastes them onto the second half, but only if there are no notes there
already. To visualize this, enter a note on step 1 of an empty Pattern and Duplicate (use [D] as a shortcut). Step 1 is duplicated
to step 5. Add a note to step 7 and press [D] again: steps 1, 5, and 7 appear at steps 9, 13, and 15. This is an easy way to pop-
ulate a pattern with repeating Chords or hi-hat notes, for example.
l Clear Pattern Removes all notes from the Pattern.
l Double Resolution Doubles the resolution of the Pattern. This increases the number of steps that exist in the space of a 1/4-
note, resulting in a decrease in the note value of each step. For example, if the default resolution of 1/16 is doubled, the note
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value of each step becomes 1/32. Note that the Pattern now runs twice as fast relative to tempo. Studio One Procompensates
by doubling the number of steps in the Pattern, up to the maximum of 64 steps.
l Half Resolution Reduces the Pattern resolution by half. This decreases the number of steps that exist in the space of a 1/4-
note, resulting in an increase in the note value of each step. For example, if the default resolution of 1/16 is cut in half, the note
value of each step becomes 1/8. Note that the Pattern now runs half as fast relative to tempo. Studio One Pro compensates by
reducing the number of steps in the Pattern by half.
Drum Mode: Listed below are the Selected Lane operations. The Pattern operations are the same ones listed above.
l Copy LaneCopies the note information in the currently selected lane. To apply it to another lane, select the lane, then [Right]/
[Ctrl]-click and choose Paste.
l Paste Applies the note data in the clipboard to the currently selected lane.
l Duplicate Steps Copies the contents of the selected lane and pastes them into place in the next available open space.
l Fill Lane Adds notes to every available step in the currently selected lane.
l Clear Lane Removes all notes from the selected lane. [Delete] or [Backspace] can also be used; just be sure you've selected
the lane first.
l Set Every 2nd Step / 4th Step Adds notes to every 2nd or 4th step in the currently selected lane, per the selected operation.
This replaces any existing steps. Notes can be added or erased as needed. Use the Shift Lane feature to move the new steps to
the offbeat if you like.
l Shift Lane Shifts the notes of the currently selected lane to the right by one step. This is a great way to discover unexpected
rhythms! Do this enough times and the notes re-appear on the left side. Note that tied notes only re-appear once the entire note
value has shifted beyond the end of the Pattern.
l Double Lane Resolution Doubles the resolution of the lane. This increases the number of steps that exist in the space of a 1/4-
note, resulting in a decrease in the note value of each step. For example, if the default resolution of 1/16 is doubled, the note
value of each step becomes 1/32. Note that a lane now runs twice as fast relative to the other lanes.
l Half Lane Resolution Reduces the lane resolution by half. This decreases the number of steps that exist in the space of a 1/4-
note, resulting in an increase in the note value of each step. For example, if the default resolution of 1/16 is cut in half, the note
value of each step becomes 1/8. Note that the lane now runs half as fast relative to the other lanes.
The tool bar above the Pattern Editor window has shortcut buttons for many of the Drum Mode operations previously described (Set
Every 4th Step, Set Every 2nd Step, Fill Lane, Clear Lane, and Shift Lane). These add even more options to enhance your workflow.
They look like this:
The drum list expands to reveal functions that can only be accessed here. Click a name field and you can name or rename any drum.
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To the left of the name fields are three tiny areas that make a big difference:
The gray parallel lines on the left are handles that allow you to click-drag the lanes into any order.
The dots to the right of the lane handles enable and disable the lanes. A disabled lane is hidden when you leave Edit mode.
The vertical bars allow you to select a color for the selected lane.
Once the drums are arranged the way you want, you can save and name your new Drum Map. To do so, click the Pitch Names icon on
the left side of the Drum Map selection window. Seven options are presented:
l Hide Unused If you only want to see the drums currently used by the Pattern, select this option.
l Show Default This selects the Drum Map you have stored as the Default Preset.
l Show All This option reveals the drums the pattern isn't using, as well as the entire MIDI Note range.
l Reset Order If you've reordered the lanes and want them to be placed according to their MIDI note number, select this option.
l Remove All This will reset the lane order, clear all name fields, disable every lane, and reset the color selections.
l Store Preset... Use this to save the current Drum Map for later recall. Give it a name, click OK, and it will appear in the Drum
Map selection menu.
l Store as Default Preset If there's a Drum Map you like to use as a starting point for other Drum Maps, use this option to des-
ignate it as the Default Preset. This creates a duplicate of the current Drum Map, gives it the name "default", and places it at the
top of the Drum Map selection menu.
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The Drum Map selection menu is available both outside and inside Drum Map Edit mode. Simply click the name of the current Drum Map
to see the list and select a new Drum Map, as shown below.
The Pitch Names icon shows a smaller list of options outside of Drum Map Edit mode. They're identical to the first three options that are
shown inside Drum Map Edit mode: Hide Unused, Show Default, and Show All. Please refer to the earlier section to learn what they do.
In Drum Mode you have the option to mute or solo each note individually, using the [M] and [S] buttons on each lane. You can also set a
separate Pattern length and note resolution for each lane. This allows for intricate polyrhythms and a greater sense of movement over
time.
l To change the pattern length for a specific lane, click the current value and enter the value of your choice.
l To change note resolution, click the current value and choose a new value from the pop-up menu.
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Melodic Mode Lane Options
In Melodic Mode, you have similar lane options. Here, you can set a separate Pattern length and note resolution for each lane as well.
l To change the pattern length for a specific lane, click the current value and enter the value of your choice.
l To change note resolution, click the current value and choose a new value from the pop-up menu.
Pattern Inspector
If you open the Inspector while editing a Pattern, you see special options and commands that apply to working with Patterns:
l Audition Notes Enabling this option causes the notes you enter into your Pattern to play through the connected instrument as
you add them, making it easier to tell whether you're on the right note or instrument.
l Editor Follows Cursor Enabling this option causes the Pattern Editor to show whatever pattern is currently being played on the
current Track, as the transport travels along the timeline.
Variations
Each Pattern can hold an unlimited number of Variations. These can contain different note data, and have differing Step lengths and note
resolutions. This provides you the opportunity to try a great many permutations of a Pattern without worrying about disrupting the others.
To add an empty Variation to a pattern, press the plus-symbol button in the Pattern Inspector. To delete a Variation, select it and press
the minus-symbol button in the Inspector. To rename a Variation, click its name and enter the name of your choice. Click-and-drag Vari-
ations to change their order.
Patterns 181
At some point, you may want to duplicate a Variation to preserve its current state while editing its clone. To do this, select the Variation to
duplicate and press the Duplicate button (which looks like this: ).
To substitute one of a Pattern's Variations for the version currently sitting on the timeline, select the Pattern and double-click a Variation
in the Inspector, or click the drop-down menu next to the Variation name at the top of the Pattern Editor.
The more rigid step-based nature of Patterns (as opposed to the more free-flowing note placement of Instrument Tracks) enables some
useful creative features. The per-step automation of parameter values is one of them.
In the bottom-left corner of the Pattern Editor there's a small button that looks like a couple of jagged mountain peaks ( ). Click that to
show / hide the Automation Lanes. Along the top of this Automation window are the Velocity, Repeat, Delay, and Probability buttons (and
a mysterious button marked "...").
l Velocity Click this button to allow setting of velocity for the notes in the selected lane (in Drum Mode) or for all notes on a given
step (in Melodic Mode). Click and drag in the Velocity lane to set the value.
l Repeat Clicking this button lets you specify the number of repeats to apply to each note in the selected lane (in Drum Mode) or
to all notes on a given step (in Melodic Mode). All repeats on a note are spaced equidistantly within the span of the note res-
olution of the Pattern. So, for example, a value of 4 repeats on a note in a pattern with 1/16th-note resolution results in four
1/64th-notes being played.
l Delay This is a great way to humanize a Pattern: Click the Delay button and select a value between +/- 50% for one or more
Steps. Positive values make the Step happen later; negative values make it happen sooner. One caveat: it isn't possible to use a
negative delay on the first step; notes before the start point of the Pattern will not play.
l Probability Clicking this button lets you specify the percentage of probability that each note in the selected lane will play
(in Drum Mode) or that all notes on a given step will play (in Melodic Mode). Lower settings cause notes to be canceled in
greater numbers, creating interesting variations as the Pattern plays.
Step Automation
Pressing the "..." button lets you access any available automation parameter on a step-wise basis, in the same way you can specify note
Velocity throughout a Pattern. In the pop-up window that appears, select the parameters you wish to edit from the column on the right,
and press the [<< Add] button to add it to the available Step Automation parameters. If you wish to remove a parameter, select it in the
left column, and click the [Remove >>] button.
The parameters you add to the Step Automation system appear as additional buttons alongside the Velocity, Repeat, Delay, and Prob-
ability buttons. Click a parameter to access its settings over the steps of the Pattern.
After selecting the desired automation parameter, note the blue columns along the bottom of the Automation Lane. Each of these rep-
resents a step that can be automated for the selected parameter. You can adjust the columns individually or drag the cursor across the
row and edit many of them in a single gesture. Then select another automation parameter and repeat the process until the Pattern is
exactly the way you want it.
Patterns 182
Pattern Management
Patterns are automatically saved with the Song in which they are created. But if you'd like to use a Pattern and its Variations in other
songs, there are two ways to do that.
Open the Pattern Inspector to reveal the Store Pattern Preset / Load Pattern Preset buttons. To store the Pattern, click the Store button.
The window that opens lets you name the Pattern, describe it, and either select a Subfolder or create a new one by typing a name into
that field.
To load a different Pattern into the current song, click the Load button. A drop-down menu reveals the folder names. Open a folder, select
the desired Pattern, and it appears in the Pattern Editor window.
Detection Algorithms
Melodyne offers a selection of detection algorithms to choose from. These let you optimize the detection process to suit the material
you're working with. Melodic mode is best for monophonic melody lines (such as vocals). Percussive mode is best for non-pitched, per-
cussive signals.
Melodyne Essential 5, bundled with Studio One Pro, also offers Universal mode, which lets you perform pitch and rhythm manipulations
on polyphonic material (such as guitar or keyboard parts, or whole mixed songs).
You can choose detection modes in the Algorithm menu within the Melodyne editing window.
For more information on the detection algorithms in Melodyne, visit the Celemony Help Center.
Undo History
The Undo History menu, accessed under Edit/History, enables you to view and step through virtually every editing or mixing function that
has occurred since a document was opened. Simply click on any edit in the list to instantly roll the document back to the point where that
edit was made.
Note that the history is cleared when a document is closed but remains intact when the document is saved and kept open.
Toggle Zoom
You can quickly toggle between two zoom states with the Toggle Zoom command [Z]. This command swaps the current zoom state with
a stored zoom setting. The current state is stored, and the state in memory is restored. Pressing [Z] again takes you back to the original
state.
The Store Zoom State command [Shift]+[Z] only stores the current state and does not switch states. This can be used to set an anchor
zoom position that you want to recall later with the Toggle Zoom command [Z].
Auto Zoom
Auto Zoom allows Studio One Pro to automatically apply an optimal Zoom to fit all content of the corresponding view in real-time. Auto
Zoom can dramatically speed up your workflow! It’s available in the Arranger, Audio Editor, and the Piano View and Note View of the
Note Editor.
Any manual window resizing operation that affects a View using Auto Zoom (like resizing the Browser) will dynamically re-zoom the View
in real-time. Adding, duplicating, or deleting Note or Audio Events can also trigger Auto Zoom.
Note that using a manual Zoom command, like a keyboard shortcut or mouse controls, will disable Auto Zoom. Also, Synchronize Editor
to Arrangement and Auto Zoom can't be enabled at the same time.
Right-click the Auto Zoom button to choose from the following options:
Vertical Auto Zoom will dynamically zoom vertically as Events are added or removed, keeping all Events visible simultaneously. Avail-
able in Arranger and Note Editor. Manually resizing the Console vertically will dynamically re-zoom the Arranger in real-time.
Horizontal Auto Zoom will dynamically zoom horizontally to fit all Events, Parts, and even your Loop (when enabled.) Stretching or
duplicating Events or Parts will also trigger the auto-zoom so everything fits. Available in Arranger, Note Editor, and Audio Editor
Auto Zoom Full will perform both Horizontal and Vertical Auto Zoom at the same time Available in Arranger and Note Editor.
You can create Macros, which string together multiple commands to form a single action. For instance, you might want a quick way to
select multiple events across multiple tracks within the loop range and merge them to form single continuous events. This would normally
involve a number of separate actions, either with the mouse or keyboard, but creating a Macro for this reduces the process to a single
action.
Independent Macro Toolbars are available for the Arrangement, Note Editor, and Audio Editor views. You can show or hide the Macro
Toolbar for any of the views by clicking the appropriate Macros button or by navigating to View/Additional Views/Macros.
Overview
When you open a Song in Studio One Pro, the Macro Toolbar button is shown next to the Audio Bend, Strip Silence, and Quantize panel
buttons in the top toolbar. Click this button to expand the Macro Toolbar panel, which is docked to the top panel by default. However, it
can be detached like the other panels by clicking on the detach button to the far right of the panel. When detached, [Right]/[Control]+click
in the panel to adjust for vertical or horizontal orientation.
Several items are in the Toolbar by default for demonstration purposes. Note that any button can be moved or removed, as well as any
entire group of buttons. This toolbar is completely customizable.
To see how Macros are put together, click the gear icon next to the Page name and select Macro Organizer. You can also navigate to Stu-
dio One/Macro Organizer.
From here, you can explore your Macros, create new ones, and edit existing ones. Use the search bar to quickly find the desired Macro
or browse from the list. Click on any of the list headings to sort the Macro list by the desired category.
Select "Select Parts in Between Selection" from the list and then click the Edit button.
Arguments
Note that some commands have Arguments associated with them, such as Track|Expand Layers. Commands with Arguments show an
Argument descriptor next to the command in the command list. Arguments provide a specific behavior for commands where multiple
behaviors are possible.
With the Track|Expand Layers command, the Argument 'Expand' should be set to 0 or 1. Setting the Argument to 0 disengages the
Expand Layers option, whereas setting it to 1 engages the option.
Some commands can have multiple arguments. For instance, Edit Volume has 'Level' and 'Relative' as separate arguments, where
'Level' is a dB value and 'Relative' can be "0" or "1" to either set the event volume to the absolute dB value or to add/subtract it from the
current level.
Duplicate a Macro
There's a quick way to duplicate a Macro. This can be useful if you want to keep an existing Macro the way it is, but also need another
that has a few modifications.
To do this, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the button and select Duplicate Macro from the menu. A new Macro button will appear next to the first
one, ready to be edited and named. Note that the Macro buttons for built-in commands do not offer the Duplicate Macro menu option.
Alternatively, open the Studio One/Keyboard Shortcuts... window and type "macros" in the search field to quickly show the Macros sec-
tion. Select any Macro from the list and assign a key command by typing into the Enter Key field and clicking on Assign.
Macro Storage
Your individual Macro commands are stored in a single location, reached via the [Show Macros Folder in Explorer/Finder] button at the
bottom of the Macro Organizer window. Each Macro is a unique file in XML format, and it is possible to edit the XML directly if desired.
These files are also portable, so you can share them with other users via the PreSonus Exchange.
Macro Settings
Click the gear icon on the top left of the Macro Toolbar to open the Macro Settings menu.
Editing Suggestions
Time Signatures
The time signature of the Song is automatically part of the Score. Note that time signature changes can be added in the Signature
Track, and appear instantly in the Score.
The Cursor
When you click inside the Score with the Arrow tool, a vertical blue line appears on one staff at that location. During playback, the blue
line becomes a bar that moves across the entire Score. This is the playback cursor. When playback stops, the blue line returns to the
selected staff and indicates the current position.
Zoom
In Score view the Time Zoom control zooms both vertically and horizontally. You can also zoom by holding [Ctrl]/[Cmd] and using the
scroll wheel.
Note: Many of the following items are also available in one or more of the contextual menus. [Right]/[Ctrl]-click a selected note for one
menu; [Right]/[Ctrl]-click a group of selected notes for a different menu. Still another menu appears when you [Right]/[Ctrl]-click inside the
Score without any notes selected. See Contextual Menus in the Editing the Score in Notation section for full details.
Voices 1-4
Up to four voices can be notated in a single staff. Multi-voice input enables simultaneously- sounding notes with different durations—for
example, a quarter note can be notated in Voice 1 and two eighth notes in Voice 2.
l Voice 1 (Upper Voice)
By default, all notes you enter are considered to be part of Voice 1.Until you add Voice 2, note stems of Voice 1 will point either
up or down, depending on the degree on a staff.
l Voice 2 (Lower Voice)
Switching to Voice 2 triggers two events: all succeeding notation you enter appears as Voice 2 (stems down). At the same time,
every time you add a Voice 2 note, any Voice 1 note(s) in the same beat that happen to have stems down now have their stems
pointing up.
l Voices 3 and 4
With three- and four-voice parts, the number of voices determine the stem directions.
l If you use four voices, then voice 4 note stems point down and all other voices point up.
l If you use three voices, then voice 3 note stems point down, and voices 1 and 2 point up.
Notehead Symbols
This opens a menu of notehead symbols that you can use with the Note tool:
Autoscroll
When this is button is engaged the Score view window follows the timeline position during playback. Disengage this button to freeze the
Score view window at its current location.
Layout Style
The Layout Style buttons determine how the Score is displayed and printed.
l Continuous Layout displays the Score horizontally with no page breaks, similar to the Arrange view. The Score can't be printed
when this Layout Style is selected. Note also that the Song meta-information is not displayed at the top of the Score (Title, Com-
poser, etc.).
l Full Score Page Layout can display and print multiple Tracks.
l Single Track Page Layout shows the Score for the most recently selected Track.
These three buttons are linked to the Layout Style options in the Layout panel of the Note Editor Inspector. When a Layout Style is selec-
ted in either location, the change is made in both.
Note that the Full Score and Single Track page layouts are not available within a Scratch Pad; only the Continuous mode is available.
Note also that a Scratch Pad cannot be printed.
If Song Meta-Information has been entered at Song/Song Setup/Meta Information, the Title, Album, and Songwriter/Composer for the
Song are shown at the top of the Score (Full Score and Single Track page layouts only). This information can be accessed from Score
view; simply click one of those fields inside the Score to open the Song Setup window. Enter the desired information and click OK to
close the window. The new information now appears at the top of the Score.
Symbols Panel
The buttons in this window are used to select dynamic markings and performance articulations and add them to the Score. As with the
Default Velocity setting, these markings affect the playback of the Track, but the changes are made "behind the scenes"; they are not vis-
ible in Piano or Drum views.
Many of the buttons have arrows that appear in their bottom corners as the cursor hovers over them. These indicate the presence of pull-
down menus that allow you to specify the impact or behavior of the selected icon when it is applied to the Score.
Track Panel
The Track Panel helps you configure the Score quickly and properly for each Track. Its settings only affect Score view for the Track that
is selected in the Inspector, even when more than one Track is visible in the Score. These settings also determine the appearance of the
printed Score, as described below.
l Apply Staff Preset Click the arrow to open a list of preset staves that are grouped in various categories (Strings, Woodwinds,
Drums/Cymbals, Vocal, etc.). Each preset staff automatically selects the appropriate Transposition value and other settings for
the instrument. For example, when the Alto Sax preset is selected, the Transposition becomes Eb since an alto saxophone is an
Eb instrument. The key signature of the Track is also transposed accordingly; e.g., if the song is in G, the Alto Sax staff is dis-
played in the key of E.
l Name This field is automatically filled with the name of the Track. It can be edited here, which also edits it there, and vice versa.
l Abbreviation An abbreviation for the selected Staff Preset is entered automatically, but you can enter a different one if you like.
l Staff Type Six options: Standard (one staff), Tablature, Standard + TAB, Grand Staff, Drumset, and Single Line. The appro-
priate setting is chosen automatically for the selected Staff Preset, but you can override that if you want.
l Show Chords Tick the box to show Chords from the Chord Track in the selected staff. Chords will automatically display the cor-
rect transposition if the staff is for a transposing instrument.
l Tab Type Available only with the Staff Type set to Tablature or Standard + TAB, this field lets you choose from a diverse list of
14 fretted instruments of various string counts and tunings for use with the Tablature editing interface.
l Tab Strings A non-configurable reference for the string tunings of the Tab Type chosen in the preceding menu.
l Tab Strings Displays the default tuning for the instrument selected in the Staff Preset, if it’s a stringed instrument. Click to enter
your own alternate tunings via the keyboard, if desired.
l Circles in TAB Tick to display circles around the fret numbers in the Tablature for half and whole notes.
l Show Stems in TAB Tick to display stems under the fret numbers in Tablature. These will align with the stems of notes dis-
played in the Standard + TAB Staff Type.
l Transposition There are two settings available here:
l Chromatic offset This sets the Transposition root note. The correct setting is chosen automatically for the selected
Staff Preset. For example, a setting of Bb is chosen for a clarinet or a tenor sax, since they are Bb instruments (i.e.,
Layout Panel
The settings of the Layout panel affect what is seen in the Score view and what is printed. The first three settings are separated from the
others because they are always present regardless of which Layout Style is selected.
l Layout Style lets you select the desired layout for the Score, and it also changes the number of available parameters below the
Page Layout divider. It is linked to the toolbar buttons; change one and the change is made in both places.
l Continuous displays the Score horizontally with no page breaks, similar to the Arrange view. The Score can't be prin-
ted when this option is selected, and so the Page Layout settings are hidden. Note also that the Song meta-information
is not displayed at the top of the Score (Title, Composer, etc.).
l Pages can display and print multiple Tracks. The number of Tracks that can fit on a page is determined by which Tracks
are shown or hidden in the Track List and the Page Layout parameters described below.
l Single Track displays and can print the most recently selected Track.
Page Layout
All of the settings below this divider let you specify the final printed output (notation size, etc.), and also determine how the Score is
rendered on your display. They are not available for the Continuous page layout. Note that the Multi-Measure Rests setting is only avail-
able for the Single Track page layout.
l Page Size Click the arrow to open a list of standard printing formats.
l Orientation Select Portrait or Landscape orientation for the Score. This allows for different sizes of monitors, sheets of paper,
etc.
l Margins Depending on the printer and whether the final result will be bound or loose leaf, these settings let you specify how
close to the edge the music can be.
l Notation Size Lets you adjust the size of the notes and other markings in the Score.
l Staff Spacing This sets the amount of space between the staves in a system.
l System Spacing This allows you to specify the amount of empty space between systems (i.e., groups of staves). If only a few
instruments are used on one Song, a larger value can make the Score easier to read. But if the Song uses a full orchestra a
lower value helps fit all the instrument parts on a single page. Use in conjunction with the Notation Size and Staff Spacing set-
tings for optimal viewing.
l Multi-Measure Rests (Single Track only) This consolidates adjacent measures of rests into a single measure, with a number to
indicate how many empty measures should be consolidated into one multi-measure rest. If you want all empty measures to be
shown individually, select None.
l Bar Numbers Use this to specify whether you want to hide the bar numbers (None), have them appear only over the first bar in
each set of staves (Each System), or over every bar (Each Measure).
l Text Size This adjusts the size of the font used for the Song Title, Album, and Songwriter/Composer fields. Select No Titles to
hide that information; the rest of the options display those fields in the size you select: Tiny, Small, Normal, Medium, Large, or X-
Large.
l Font Use this menu to select the text font for viewing and printing the Score. Quite a bit of personalization can be done here, so
your charts are distinctive. You can even use a different font for each Song, if you like.
Staff configuration
Choosing the Initial Clef
Left-click the clef in the Continuous Layout, or the initial clef in the Pages Layout, to view all available starting clefs. You can make clef
changes later on in your Track using the clef tool. There are ten options, including Treble, Bass, C clefs, Octave clefs, and two neutral per-
cussion clefs. Make a choice and the menu will close.
Contextual Menus
Score view has three contextual menus that are accessed inside the Score. Each menu has unique options and ones it shares with the
other menus.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click in an empty area of the staff to view the options of its contextual menu.
l Arrow Tool Use this option to select the Arrow tool.
l Paint Tool Use this option to select the Paint tool.
l Select All Use this option to select all events in a single staff, or to select all events in both staves when the Grand staff is being
used for the selected Track.
l Select All in Staff Use this option to select all events in a single staff when the Grand staff is shown. Click inside the desired
staff first, then select this option from the contextual menu.
l Select All on Tracks This option selects all events in all staves that are visible in the Score.
l Deselect All Use this option to deselect every item that is currently selected.
l Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete These perform the same function as the computer keyboard actions.
l Recent items Choose from a short list of recently-performed commands, good for quickening repetitive tasks.
l Score A submenu of context-senstive score-specific commands:
l Fill with Rests This option places the appropriate rests in any empty sections of the selected measures, including
whole-measure rests, up to the limit set by the time signature. To use it, click-and-drag across the desired areas of the
Score and select this option from the Action menu.
To fill the entire Track with any rests that are needed, click anywhere within the staff and use [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[A] to select
the entire Track, then open the contextual menu and select Fill with Rests. If no events are selected, rests of the proper
duration are placed in every available location to the left of the cursor, including the measure where the cursor is placed.
l Rebuild Score This option re-creates the complete representation of the track in focus from the note events of the parts
on the track. This is particularly useful for drum tracks, in order to automatically assign instrument voices.
l Undo/Redo This option will undo and re-do the most recent action.
After selecting one or more notes, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click to open the contextual menu. The full menu includes the Tuplet options, when appro-
priate; otherwise a smaller menu is shown.
l Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete These perform the same function as the computer keyboard actions.
l Recent items Choose from a short list of recently-performed commands, good for quickening repetitive tasks
l Score A submenu of context-sensitive score-specific commands:
l Double at Interval: Doubles the current selection of notes at a specific interval either above or below the existing notes
using the following modifiers:
l Interval: Use this option to select unison, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or octave.
l Interval quality: Use this option to select Diatonic, Minor, Major, Perfect, Diminished, or Augmented.
l Octave: Use this option to select the Same Octave or one to three octaves above.
l Add Above or Below: Use this option to add intervals above or below the existing notes.
Editing Scores with Tablature and Standard + TAB Staff Types 209
About the Tablature Staff Type
Tablature contains just the essence of a guitar part (for example, rests do not appear on a Tablature staff.) Each line in a Tablature staff
represents a different string on the instrument, with the lowest-sounding string on the bottom. Numbers are placed on the horizontal
“strings” to represent fret positions, with “0” referencing an open string.
When using the Standard + Tab Staff type, the work you do in a Tablature staff immediately updates equivalent notation in the notation
staff, and vice-versa. Note that Rhythmic stems are not shown in Tablature when using this dual view.
1. [Left-click] to choose a note value from the Score Editor Toolbar, such as quarter note.
2. [Left-click] on the desired string to place a note. The string should sound and a text box will appear.
3. Enter the desired fret position in the text box and press Enter. The default fret number is “0,” for an open string.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for additional notes as desired.
Notice that these Tablature marks are now reflected in the associated Instrument Part.
Editing Scores with Tablature and Standard + TAB Staff Types 210
3. Press Enter or click anywhere away from the box.
To assign Lyrics to note values in the Score View, click the Lyr tool from the Symbols palette in the Note Editor Inspector. Click any note
in the Score View to open a lyric entry field associated with the chosen note. Enter lyrics with the keyboard.
Pressing the spacebar or tab key will advance the entry field to the next note. For multi-syllabic words that span several notes, use the
dash (-) key in the middle of your lyric to advance to the next note and render a hyphen between the syllables. Lyric Events pasted from
the clipboard into Score View will be separated word by word in alignment with the existing notes. Syllables, melismas, line breaks, and
paragraphs are all supported.
The display font for Lyrics in Score View can be chosen from the Layout Tab of the Note Editor Inspector.
The Browser works somewhat like Windows Explorer or macOS Finder, in that it allows you to navigate file directories on your computer
in specific ways. Audio and note-data files, as well as virtual instruments and plug-in effects, can be dragged from the Browser directly
into your Song, Project or Show.
This chapter covers each of the Browser tabs, detaching the browser, the search function and all of the other Browser features.
The Home page gives access to every tab, so it enables you to search for content by name across all tabs at once. At the bottom of this
page are two utility buttons: Re-Index Presets and the Plug-In Manager.
It is possible to search within any tab and within any location a tab may contain. Clicking on the Search icon [ ] at the top right of
the Browser opens a search text field and shows the location being searched. Typing text into the search field immediately begins the
search, and only results matching the search text are displayed in the Browser.
Once search results are populated, the found content can be used directly. You can also [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on any search result and
choose Show in Context from the pop-up menu, to gain access to content in the same location.
To toggle the tag view on or off, click onto the Tags ( ) icon next to the search bar.
As you select tags, the remaining tag results narrow so that only relevant tags are shown. In this way, you can quickly locate loops and
other audio files that share instrument, style, or character tags.
At the bottom of the Browser homepage are two utility buttons: Re-Index Presets and the Plug-In Manager.
l Re-Index Presets scans all of the instrument / plug-in presets to detect changes that affect the way they are presented when you
use the Browser search function. For example, use this if a preset has been moved, deleted, or renamed outside of Studio One
Pro.
l Plug-In Manager provides a quick way to access the Plug-In Manager window.
Splice Integration
Studio One Pro features a seamless integration with Splice, lauded as one of the industry's highest quality, royalty-free online sample lib-
raries. Note that you must update to version 7 or later for the integrated support to function in Studio One Pro. Additionally, the cor-
responding Splice extension has to be installed (see Installation and Activation for more information about how to do this from Studio
One Pro).
Splice is always visible from the Home tab from the Browser, even before it is installed. Clicking on this entry, the Installation dialog will
appear where the extension can be installed.
To detach the Browser, click on the Detach button at the top of the Navigation column. Once detached, the window can be resized manu-
ally or maximized to fit the computer monitor. To reattach the Browser to the main interface, click on the Attach button at the top of the
Browser window.
Thumbnail View
The Browser makes it possible to identify items in a list quickly by showing their thumbnail images. For example, the Instruments and
Effects tabs can show a miniature version of the user interfaces for the included plug-in instruments and effects. You could also see an
image of the album cover art provided by an artist on the Cloud tab, or recognize a product immediately by its signature graphics on the
Shop tab.
Note that thumbnail images are not available on the Loops, Files, or Pool tabs.
Tree Mode button ( ) in the upper-right corner of the Browser. Next, click the Show Gallery button ( ) on the right edge of the
navigation bar. To show or hide the Gallery images, click the button again. To return to the Thumbnail view or to access the Plug-In Man-
ager button, click the Toggle Tree Mode button again.
When Thumbnail view is selected, the Navigation bar appears below the Sort By options. It is available on every tab except the Home
tab.
The Navigation bar is visible even when the Thumbnail images are hidden. It helps you know at a glance exactly where you are in a file
tree or a hierarchy of nested folders, and then gives you two ways to jump to the desired folder. Here's a brief summary:
l "Breadcrumbs" navigation Click the folder names to move quickly to a higher level without scrolling.
l Menu navigation Use the separator arrows between each folder name to open a menu of nested folders.
See the following sections for more details. Note: the Navigation bar is not available in Gallery view.
"Breadcrumb" navigation gained that nickname because it provides a "trail" you can follow back to where you started. The path in the
Navigation bar shows which folders were opened on the way down to the one you opened most recently (highest folder > lower folder >
lower folder (etc.) > most recent folder). As shown in the image above, the folders listed in the Navigation bar correspond to those that
are open in the tab page. Click any folder name in the path to jump instantly back to that level.
The Navigation bar has separator arrows between the names of each folder in the path. Click an arrow to reveal a list of the folders that
are available at that level, and then, make a selection from the menu. You'll be taken to the top level of the selected folder, which pre-
vents a lot of scrolling when there are a lot of folders already open.
Instrument Presets
The presets for Studio One Pro’s built-in virtual instruments, as well as those associated with any 3rd-party instruments, can be loaded
into your Song in the same way as an instrument. Drag-and-drop a preset from the Browser to load the instrument into your Song with
that preset pre-loaded. Alternatively, when the instrument is open, you can load any preset for that instrument by simply double-clicking
on the preset in the Browser or by clicking on the preset to select it and then hitting [Return]. If the editing window for an instrument is
open, you can load any preset for that instrument by dragging the preset from the Browser onto the instrument window.
Folders
The Instruments and Effects tabs in the Browser each feature a sorting method called Folders. In this view, plug-ins and their Presets can
be sorted into category-specific folders, making it easy to choose from all available plug-ins that specialize in the function you're seeking
(such as Distortion or Delay effects, or Synth or Sampler instruments). A set of category folders of Instruments and Effects are provided
by default, and some plug-ins are placed into their appropriate folders by default. You can move plug-ins and Presets into whatever
folders make sense to you, and create folders of your own to suit your needs.
l To move a plug-in instrument, effect, or Preset into a folder, drag-and-drop it from the list to the folder of your choice. You
can also move plug-ins from folder to folder in this way.
l To create a new folder, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click in the Browser, and choose [New Folder...] from the resulting pop-up menu. If you
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click on an existing folder, your new folder is created as a sub-folder to the selected folder. If you [Right]/[Ctrl]-click
in the list of plug-ins below the list of folders, your new folder is created as a top-level folder. Enter a name for the new folder, and
click [OK] to create it. To cancel, click [Cancel].
Hiding Plug-ins
To hide an effect or instrument plug-in, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the plug-in in the Browser and choose [Hide] from the resulting pop-up menu.
This removes the plug-in from the Browser list, hiding it from view. You can hide and un-hide plug-ins individually, by Vendor, or by Type
using the Plug-In Manager as described in the next section.
Managing Plug-ins
There are two ways to manage the plug-ins in Studio One Pro. Either locally as part of the Browser, or in a dedicated window with addi-
tional options.
Click on the Loops tab in the Browser or press [F8] on the keyboard to browse through any installed loop content.
Sorting Loops
The Loops tab offers a three-tiered sorting system. At the top of the Loops tab window, you'll see Sort by... followed by three category
selectors.
You can choose to sort by any of the following criteria:
Files Tab
The Files tab gives you access to files and folders throughout your computer's file system, as well as Studio One Pro-specific content loc-
ations.
It is possible to import several file types from the Files tab into your Song, Project or Show, including WAV (BWF and RF64), AIFF, REX,
Apple Loops (CAF only in macOS), Ogg Vorbis, FLAC (16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer), and MP3 audio files, as well as Standard MIDI Files,
and of course Studio One Pro's Audio Loops and Music Loops.
Preview Player playback is independent of the main Song playback; notice the playback-position cursor does not move across the
Arrange view while previewing a file. The Preview Player has its own playback-position indicator that moves left to right to indicate the
current playback position in the selected file. The position indicator can be clicked-and-dragged to navigate through the selected file dur-
ing playback. A volume fader controls the playback level of the Preview Player.
Preview Player playback can be synced to Song playback to allow auditioning of files along with Song playback. Click on the Play at
Song Tempo button, which is engaged by default, to allow the Preview Player to sync to the current Song tempo.
If the currently selected file’s tempo is known, and Play at Song Tempo is engaged while previewing, the file is timestretched on the fly to
match the current Song tempo. To preview while hearing your Song, start Song playback first, and then select a file to preview.
To loop the selected file during preview playback, click on the Preview Player’s Loop button, which is engaged by default. Looping during
preview playback makes it easy to listen to the selected file in the context of your Song.
It is possible to select multiple files in the Browser and drag all of them in at once, making the transfer of recordings done in another DAW
a one-click process. If you would like to insert multiple audio clips, selected in the browser, to the same Track, with one placed after the
other across the timeline, hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] while dragging the audio clips to empty space on a Track. This can be helpful if you want to
quickly drag in multiple variations of similar audio, or for laying out an entire song structure in one move.
For virtual instruments that support audio-file importing using drag-and-drop (such as many drum samplers), you can drag-and-drop
audio files from the Browser directly onto the instruments to load audio files.
You can also [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on any audio file and select Send to New SampleOne to instantly load the file as a sample in the built-in
SampleOne™ virtual instrument. If you do this with an Audio Loop or REX audio file, its slices are automatically mapped across the key-
board (up to 96 slices).
Now, when you start playback with the Preview Player, the MIDI file plays through the virtual instrument to which that Instrument Track is
routed. You can switch Instrument Tracks on the fly to audition a part quickly through many different instruments.
Cloud Tab
The Cloud tab gives you access to sounds, effect and instrument presets, loops and other content available from connected cloud ser-
vices such as thePreSonus Exchange, or your SoundCloud account.
SoundCloud
Your SoundCloud account can be a valuable resource for content to use in Studio One Pro. The SoundCloud browser within the Cloud
tab gives you access to your own self-posted sounds, as well as sounds from artists you follow, songs you've marked as favorites, and
the recent contents of your SoundCloud stream.
Click on the Cloud tab in the browser to see SoundCloud in the list of available cloud services. Click on SoundCloud to see the Favorites,
Following, Stream, and Tracks folders. If you have not yet linked your SoundCloud account to Studio One Pro, click the [Sign in to
SoundCloud] button at the bottom of the Browser. This opens a web browser window allowing you to sign into your SoundCloud account
and allow it to be linked to Studio One Pro.
If a track in your SoundCloud listings is available for free download, a blue arrow is shown next to its waveform icon, and you can drag the
sound directly into your Song, or to the Pool, as described in Importing Audio Files into Your Song and Importing Audio Files to
The Pool. When you do this, a window is displayed showing the download progress. When the download is completed, the sound
appears in the place to which you have dragged it.
If free download is not available for a sound, you can still play the song from within the Studio One Pro Browser as described in Pre-
viewing Audio Files. This is a handy way to find and listen to commercial reference tracks, for mix comparisons with your own Songs.
Note that due to the large array of audio file types and formats available, not all of them enjoy preview or drang & drop compatibility with
the Browser, but we're always adding more! Direct download, however, works with any file type.
Gallery View
If you prefer an icon-driven approach to Browser navigation, you can activate Gallery View by clicking this icon on the top right of the
Browser.
The Pool
When you import an audio file or record on an Audio Track, an Audio Event is created in the Arrange view of the Song, and a rep-
resentation of the original audio file associated with the Event, called a Clip, is placed in the Pool. The Pool contains all audio files that
are, at any point, associated with an Audio Event in your Song.
To open the Pool, first open the Browser by clicking the [Browse] button, then click on the [Pool] button. You also can press [F10] on the
keyboard to open the Pool directly.
File Formats
Studio One Pro Sound Sets can include many file types, including:
l Audio files (WAV (BWF and RF64), AIFF, REX, Apple Loops, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, MP3)
l Standard MIDI Files
l Audioloops
l Musicloops
WAV
Audio files in WAV format can be used where they are not visible to the user, such as within Presence or Impact instruments. Very short
one-shot samples, such as single drum hits can also remain in WAV format, even if they are intended for direct use on audio tracks. Such
short one-shot WAVs should not have an embedded tempo (BPM).
All other audio samples, such as loops and files with tempo-relevant content, need to be converted to the Audioloop format (see next)
before finalizing your Sound Set.
Audioloops
The Audioloop format is exclusive to Studio One Pro. The Audioloop format uses lossless FLAC compression, keeping library sizes and
download times easier to manage.
Audio samples, such as loops and files with tempo-relevant content, must be converted to the Audioloop format before finalizing your
Sound Set. This is the required file format for loops and samples that are intended for use on audio tracks, and visible to the user. Audi-
oloops should always have embedded tempo metadata (BPM). Embedding Chord metadata is also suggested, but not required.
l Note: Short one-shot samples can remain in WAV format, and should not contain embedded tempo metadata (BPM).
After adding Tempo and Chord Metadata to your WAV samples, select them in the Studio One Pro Browser, then right-click and choose
“Convert to Audioloop” from the context menu.
MIDI
MIDI files should be in MIDI format 0 (zero). MIDI format 0 combines all 16 MIDI channels into a single track, keeping their appearance in
the browser neat, and provides a better overall user experience.
Musicloop
Musicloops are also a Studio One Pro exclusive format. It consists of everything required to recreate a musical performance, including
the virtual instrument preset, multichannel FX chain presets and the MIDI music performance, plus an Audioloop version for sound-pre-
view in the browser (or as a substitute if the original instrument is not available).
Musicloops can contain:
6. Once the correct Chord Information is shown on the Audio Part, right-click it and select “Extract to Chord Track.”
7. Select all other loops from the same construction kit that share the same chord progression (including bass and lead parts).
8. Right-click on the Audio Part(s) and select “Apply Chord from Chord Track.”
9. Once done, select all edited loops and drag them back to the Browser. This will write Chord information into each audio file as
Metadata.
TIPS:
l If you drag the edited audio event back to the same browser location, it will not overwrite the original file, but create a new file
and append a number to the end of the file name. To avoid creating duplicates in your Sound Set, delete the original file from the
browser before dragging the edited version back (Deleting files cannot be undone. Be careful!).
l It is recommended to add missing Tempo Metadata (BPM) to your WAV files at the same time as adding Chord Information.
Because embedding both types of Metadata requires dragging the files to the Arrangement Window, it saves time to embed
both Tempo and Chord Information Metadata while the WAV file has already been imported.
6. Changes will be written to the loop when dragging it back into the Studio One Pro browser.
Special Tags
In order to make the content as consistent as possible, please follow these rules:
l To ensure your content is found, assign a minimum of three tags per loop, one for each category (Style, Instrument, Character).
l Feel free to add additional and specific attributes. The more accurate the attributes, the better the search results.
l Loops should always have the Tag “loop.”
l Samples like drum hits should always have the tag “one-shot.”
l Construction Kits should have the Tag “Construction Kit.” This will ensure that related loops are displayed in the Browser in a
consolidated view under “Construction Kits.”
PLEASE NOTE: This tag should only be used with audio loops, and not with one-shot samples or instrument presets.
l “Animated” should be used only for arpeggio-like sounds with lots of movement.
l The tag “full” is reserved for mixes (e.g. drum loop + bass + keys etc).
Deleting Tags
To clear unwanted tags, drag & drop the files containing undesired tags to the
“Clear Tags” field at the bottom of the Tag Palette. This works for files, folders and multi-selections, in the same manner as when adding
tags.
Please note that Sound Sets without or with poor tagging will be rejected by PreSonus QA.
Instrument Presets
To include Instrument Presets (e.g. Impact kits) inside a Sound Set, it is critical to have the final folder structure for your Sound Set in
place before beginning to build your presets.
The samples and files you want to use as part of an Instrument must be added to the instrument from your mounted Sound Set folder.
l WARNING: If you add Samples from elsewhere on your hard-drive - even from the folder used for your Sound Set - if it is not
mounted in Studio One Pro when you begin, your samples will appear to work while you prepare the Sound Set on your own
computer, but will not be found on other systems, causing missing sample errors.
The only way to fix this problem is to start over, making sure to only add samples from a mounted Sound Set folder.
Follow these steps:
1. Make sure the Sound Set folder is mounted.
2. In the Studio One Pro Browser (Files tab > Sound Sets), locate the Sound Set associated with your source file folder, then locate
the folder containing the samples to be used in a preset.
l NOTE: If attempting to unmount results in the error message “The Sound Set [Sound Set Name] is still in use (# files open),”
then an Instrument Preset from your Sound Set is still active. Open the Instrument and click the down arrow in the tab in the
upper left, then select “Remove.”
2. This will display the “Sound Set Properties” dialog. Verify the entered data one final time for accuracy.
l WARNING: Do not change the Identifier at this point, as this will break all tag references and sample references.
3. Click “OK” to build the final .soundset file.
4. A progress bar will appear to show the packing progress.
Arranger Options
Click the Options button (shaped like a wrench) to bring up a menu with options that let you shape the behavior of the Arranger to suit
your needs and organizational style. The following options are available:
Selection Options
l Solo follows Section With this option enabled, once a track is soloed, selecting a different track causes the newly selected
track to be soloed. When this option is disabled, tracks stay soloed until solo is disengaged.
l Instrument Input follows Selection Enable this option to automatically engage Record and Monitor mode for any Instrument
Track you select.
l Audio Input follows Section Enable this option to automatically engage Record and Monitor mode for any Audio Track you
select.
Editing Options
l Enable crosshair cursor for tools Enables a large, white, vertical-and-horizontal crosshair in the Arrange view that aids in dis-
playing the exact position of the various mouse tools.
l Locate when clicked in empty space allows the timeline cursor to be located based on clicking in empty space or clicking
where there are no Events.
l Cursor follows Edit Position With this engaged, the playback-cursor position jumps to the beginning of any Event or group of
events you select, any note being selected or moved, or to the position of any marker being moved.
l Automation follows events Enables automation envelopes to lock to Events so that moving an Event with automation “under”
it also moves the automation.
Arranging 251
l No overlap when editing events When enabled, moving or pasting an Event over another Event deletes whatever is buried
beneath, so there is no overlapping data (only the audio crossfades are preserved). If the range being copied includes data out-
side an Event, the range selection is treated as if it were part of the Event. When the range selection is pasted, it overwrites the
identical range at the destination.
l Note that the "No overlap" setting only works for note data if "Cut long notes at part end" is enabled at Studio One/Op-
tions/Advanced/MIDI (macOS: Preferences/Advanced/MIDI).
Visibility Options
l Colorize track controls causes the whole control area of each Track to be color-coded with assigned colors for better visibility.
l Show channel numbers in tracks Some Tracks do not have corresponding Channels in the Console (and vice versa). This
means that in some cases, a Track and its corresponding Channel may be numbered differently. Enable this option to display
each Track with its corresponding Channel number.
l Show event names Shows the name labels inside each Event in the Arrangement view. This is purely an aesthetic difference
and does not change any functions.
l Show instrument part envelopes Overlays a graphic representation of controller activity (volume, sustain, etc.). This does not
change any functions. Disengage this to display only the notes.
l Show track notes Enable this option to display Track notes on each Track in the Arranger Page. When enabled, you can
double-click the small window and add more information about the Track.
l Show track icons Enable this option to display Track Icons on each Track in the Arranger Page. When you click onto the empty
Track Icon box, a window will appear with many different icon options (Brass, Drums, Guitars, etc.). Including an icon for each
Track can be handy if you’d like to quickly navigate between channels without reading the Track names.
l Show chords on events Adds an overlay to Audio Events in the Arrangement showing detected chords. This requires the track
height to be set to Small or higher.
Audio Options
l Ignore Plug-In Latency Some plug-ins cause latency issues that disrupt the recording process, especially as you’re sequen-
cing external hardware. Enabling this option bypasses your plug-in latency issues so that you have no latency while sequencing.
l To ensure that the plugin delay compensation works as intended, make sure to turn this feature back off after using it.
l Monitoring follows record This option makes it so monitoring is enabled whenever a track is Record armed.
l Monitoring mutes playback (Tape style) Enables a “Tape Style” behavior while recording. Normally, you can only monitor
with the monitor button enabled. Pushing the Record button enables both monitoring and recording at once. When you hit play-
back with this option enabled, monitoring is muted. The monitoring button can also be used during playback to mute the record-
ing and test other recording ideas without recording.
Global Tracks
The Global Track buttons sit in the area above the track controls in the Arrange view. They open dedicated tracks that span the full length
of the Arrangement. Each Global Track provides a unique and essential function, and can help you know at a glance what is happening
during the Song.
Ruler Track
The Ruler Track provides a secondary timeline ruler with a different format, allowing you to view the Song position in two different formats
at the same time. For example: bars/beats and timecode (frames). The options match those of the primary timebase setting:
l Seconds The timeline division is an expression of hours : minutes : seconds : milliseconds.
l Samples The timeline division is an expression of samples.
l Bars The timeline division is an expression of musical bars and beats.
l Frames The timeline division is an expression of frames.
As with the primary timeline, click anywhere on the secondary timeline to locate the playback cursor to that position in the Song. Use
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click to access Timebase settings, Song Markers, Loop settings, and more.
Marker Track
The Marker Track allows you to define section divisions within the Song, as well as the Song start and end points. Click this button to
view its contents, and use the plus and minus buttons to add or delete markers. For more information, see Using the Marker Track.
Arranger Track
This button opens the Arranger Track, which enables you to view and rearrange sections of the Song as if they were individual Events.
For more information, see the Arranger Track section.
Chord Track
Click this button to open the Chord Track, which displays the chord progression for the Song. This can be constructed manually or detec-
ted and extracted from one or more Events. For more information, see the Chord Track section.
Lyrics Track
Click this button to open the Lyrics Track, which displays and allows you to enter and edit lyrical content for your Song.
The Global Lyrics Track is found on both the Song and Show pages. For more information, see the Lyrics Track Note that the Global Lyr-
ics Track is an independent but related entity to the Lyrics Lanes
Signature Track
This button opens the Signature Track, which contains the settings for the Time Signatures and Key Signatures of the Song. It also
allows you to view, add, edit, or remove changes to those items. For more information, see the Signature Track section.
Tempo Track
Click this button to open the Tempo Track, where all tempo settings for the Song can be viewed and adjusted. Tempo changes may also
be added and deleted. There's a full description in the Tempo Track section.
Arranger Track
The Arranger Track is an arrangement tool that lets you work with portions of your entire Song as though they were individual Events,
and rearrange them quickly and easily. This saves you the time and challenge of traditional editing, which can be difficult when dealing
with many Tracks at once.
looks like this: At first, the Arranger Track is empty, showing that no Arranger Track sections have been defined in your Song.
Once you define sections, you can freely move them along the timeline, insert them between other sections, copy/cut and paste, or
delete them.
These actions are performed across all Tracks in your Song that exist in the time covered by the section, including all Events, Parts, Mark-
ers, tempo changes, and automation data.
Timebase Button
Notice the Timebase button to the right of the Arranger Track in the Track column. The musical-note icon on the Timebase button indic-
ates that Arranger Track sections will adhere to their position based on bars and beats, so if the tempo changes, the sections move for-
ward or backward in time in relation to their musical position.
If you click on the Timebase button, it switches to a clock icon, indicating that the sections will adhere to their absolute position in time. If
the tempo changes, the sections do not move, as they are locked to an absolute time position in the timeline.
Want to modulate that final chorus for a little extra push of energy, or rethink the harmonic structure of a composition in progress? The
Chord Track lets you try these sorts of changes on a whim.
While the Chord Track is capable of very powerful effects, it does have its limits, primarily in that audio cannot be pitch-shifted without
some level of artifacts added. We recommend that once you're done experimenting and "prototyping" your song, you re-record any audio
parts to fit the new chord progression, especially if they are critical parts.
To show or hide the Chord Track, click this button above the Arrange view: To toggle the effect of the Chord Track on or off for all
affected Tracks, click the [Follow: On/Off] button
First, set a key signature for the song to ensure proper chord display in the Chord Track. The simplest way to do this is to click the [Key]
button in the Transport and select the key of your choice from the pop-up selector that appears.
It is also possible to derive the key signature automatically. There are two methods:
l From an Instrument Part Select the Part, then [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Part and navigate to Instrument Parts/Detect Key Sig-
natures in the pop-up menu that appears.
l From an Audio Event [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Audio Event, navigate to Audio/Chords, and select Extract Key Signatures from
Event. When the Editor is open this is available in the Action/Chords menu. Note that the Audio must have its Chords detected
via Melodyne first.
A Song can change key signatures one or more times. See the Signature Track section to learn more about this.
To add chords manually, select the Paint tool (or hold [Ctrl] to select it temporarily) and click inside the Chord Track. You can also add a
chord by double-clicking in the Chord Track with the Arrow tool.
Each new chord section you add is one bar long by default, or the length of the current selection in the timeline. You can change the
length of a chord by clicking one of its ends and dragging it to the desired length. If adding chords with the Paint tool, you can also click-
and-drag in the Chord Track to create longer chords.
Once you've added a chord, you can change it to a different chord or variation in a variety of ways. Try double-clicking a chord to open
the Chord Selector. This window lets you choose from all of the main chord types and extensions. Keep in mind that the Chord Track can-
not add notes to chords played in affected Parts. It can only shift the notes that exist. If you want to select a chord with 7, 9, 11 or other
extensions, you will only hear those notes if the chords in your Parts contain four or more notes.
If you enable the Instrument Input option by clicking this button you can play a chord on any connected MIDI keyboard to change
the selected chord. The Chord Selector then shows you the name of the chord you've played, and the current chord changes to match.
With Instrument Input enabled, you also can select one or more chords in the Chord Track and play any chord shape on a MIDI keyboard
to change all selected chords.
Next to the Instrument Input button is the Audition Chords button. When enabled, each chord you select will be played for you. This is a
great way to audition different chords to hear how they sound. A Gmaj7sus4 chord might be perfect right there.
Here are some other features you may want to try:
l See if adjacent chords work well together by clicking the Chord Track arrows in the upper left corner of the Chord Selector win-
dow.
l Build complex chords quickly by holding [Alt]/[Opt] and clicking more than one of the following Interval buttons: b9, 9|2, #9, 11,
#11, or b13. this will add the tensions/extensions accordingly.
l Build complex chords by holding [Alt]/[Opt] and clicking more than one of the Intervals buttons. If a song calls for a Gm13 add 11,
it's yours.
One simple way to become familiar with the Chord Track is to populate it with the chord structure from one or more Instrument Parts.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click on a Part (or multiple selected Parts) in the timeline, then choose [Extract to Chord Track]. This function analyzes the
musical relationships of the notes in the selected content, and fills the Chord Track with the chords it recognizes.
You can also simply drag selected Instrument Parts (single or multiple, across as many Tracks as you like) onto the Chord Track to
extract their shared chord progressions. This is one easy way to detect chords across a large area of your Song, especially if you're using
different Instrument Tracks (with distinct instruments and sound) in each section.
Some types of note data can cause the Extract to Chord Track algorithm to choose chords inaccurately. If you notice any errors, feel free
to edit or replace chords using the methods described in Entering and Editing Chords Manually.
You can also extract chord information from Audio Parts. To do this, select an Audio Part and navigate to Audio/Detect Chords (or
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Part and navigate to Audio/Detect Chords in the pop-up menu) to analyze the harmonic structure of the Part. Once
completed, you can see the detected chords along the bottom edge of the Part.
The extracted chords are then visible in the Chord track, and can be changed and edited as needed. As with Instrument Parts, some
types of audio information can result in incorrect chord detection. If you notice any errors, feel free to edit or replace chords using the
methods described in Entering and Editing Chords Manually.
Any or all Chord events on the Chord Track can be converted to Note Events in Instrument Tracks by simply dragging the Chord Events
from the Chord Track to an Instrument Track. This will create Note Events with the same duration as the Chord Events that created them.
These are basic chords, where the lowest note will always be the root note of the chord.
These extracted notes can now be edited or processed just like any other Note Events.
While working in the Chord Track, you can open the Chords Inspector (by clicking the "i" button above the timeline). This reveals a wealth
of features and information, including the Instrument Output for the Chord Track and the chord progression of the Song. Working from
top to bottom:
l Instrument Specify the default instrument for the Chord Audition feature by selecting one from the menu. You can use the Pre-
view instrument, any instrument in the Song, or choose an Instrument or Preset from the Browser and drag-and-drop it onto
header of the Chord Track. This will become the new default preset for auditioning chords. Click the small keyboard icon to
open/close the Instrument view.
l Audition Chords This button is linked to the "speaker" button in the Chord Selector window; toggle one and the other will toggle
also.
l Play Track Enable this to hear the Chord Track play along with the Song. This will help confirm whether the chords entered
manually match the Audio Events, for example.
l Octave Select the center octave for the Audition Chords.
l Velocity Click-and-drag or double-click the field to set the velocity at which the Audition Chords will play. The range is from 0 to
100.
l Key Signature This menu is linked to the Key Signature in the Transport, and opens an identical window.
Replacing Chords
Let's say you like a particular chord better than the one you've been using and want to replace it throughout the Song. [Right]/[Ctrl]-click
any one of those chords in the Chord Track to open a menu. You can quickly change the chord root, type, bass note, and intervals here,
along with the following options:
l Chord Color Use this field to select a different color for this Chord wherever it appears in the Song.
l Select all "Dm" Chords Note: D minor is used here as an example, but the actual name will be that of the selected chord. This
field allows you to substitute a new chord for the old one throughout the Song. Select this option and the menu will close, then
use the Chord Selector to select the chord you prefer.
l Transpose Chords Enter the number of chromatic steps by which the selected chord should be transposed throughout the
Song.
l Clear Chord Track This option will delete every chord in the Chord Track.
l Cut, Copy, Delete These are standard functions. A chord can be pasted elsewhere in the Chord Track by selecting a new loc-
ation in the timeline, using [Right]/[Ctrl]-click, and selecting Paste.
l Duplicate This option will place the selected chord in the next measure, overwriting any chord that is already there.
Follow Chords
If you select a Track with the Inspector shown, you'll see its Follow Chords selector. This selector offers the following modes, each with
its own style of operation:
l Off The default mode. The Chord Track has no effect on a Track in this mode.
l Parallel In this mode, chords in the affected Track are shifted in parallel, aligning the root note of the musical content with the
root of the target chord. This maintains chord note relationships in the musical content, which may result in some out-of-key
notes.
l Narrow In this mode, notes in the affected Track are shifted to the nearest note in the current chord in the Chord Track.
l Bass This mode behaves the same as "parallel," but with special rule for the bass note: the source Chord's bass note (or root if it
has no bass note) is mapped to the target bass note or root.
l Scale (Audio Tracks only) In this mode, notes in the affected Track are snapped to the nearest scale note in the target chord.
l Universal (Audio Tracks only) This mode does not require the use of the Detect Chords feature before use. In this mode,
notes in the affected Track are forced to follow the scale notes of the target chord.
Chord Display
The floating, resizable Chord Display View presents several options for viewing Chords. Useful for easy sight-reading while practicing
your instrument of choice... particularly when used in conjunction with loop points!
This window has three options:
l Chord Track displays the chord from the Chord Track at the current playback position, as well as the next upcoming Chord (in
blue.)
l Input Chord displays the chord currently being played on an external keyboard
l Editor mirrors the current/selected Chord display in the Note Editor inspector. When multiple tracks are visible in the editor, all
of them contribute to the chord displayed. When no instrument editor is open, it displays the chord of a currently selected instru-
ment track at the current playback point.
Chord Display can be accessed from the View drop-down menu, or via the contextual menu found by right-clicking on the Chord Track
itself.
Studio One Pro has a dedicated Signature Track which can be used to define the global time signature and key signature for the Song.
You can also use it to change the time signature or key signature for any bar in the Song, as well as edit or remove them.
Click the Signature Track icon above the Arrange view to open the Signature Track. This reveals the time / key signature markers.
Time Signature
The time signature is a convention used in Western music notation to specify how many beats are in each bar and what note value con-
stitutes one beat. The time signature is notated as a fraction, where the numerator (the upper number) equals the number of beats in the
bar, and the denominator (the bottom number) equals the note value for each beat.
By default, the time signature is set to 4/4 for all new Songs. This means there are four quarter-notes per bar. To change the time sig-
nature for your Song, do one of the following:
l Click on the upper or lower number of the time signature in the Transport and select a new value from the pop-up menu.
l Click the Signature Track icon above the Arrange view to open the Signature Track. Then double-click or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the
first time signature on the left and select new values from the pop-up menu.
Metronome behavior is affected by the time signature. The downbeat and other beats determine the sample and level used for the
Accent and Click, respectively.
To edit or remove a time signature, open the Signature Track, click the desired Time Signature marker, then [Right]/[Ctrl]-click to open
the contextual menu and select the option you want.
l Select Edit Time Signature to change the time signature, then enter the desired values in the pop-up menu and click OK.
l Select Remove Time Signature to delete the marker. You can also press the [Delete] key on your keyboard.
Key Signature
The key signature of a Song specifies which notes are part of the scale and which are not (i.e., the accidentals). This affects which notes
can be selected when editing the Score in Score View. It does not affect which notes can be selected in Piano or Drum views.
The key signature is not assigned when a new Song is created. To establish the key signature for your Song, do one of the following:
l Click the [Key] button in the Transport and select the key of your choice from the pop-up selector.
l Click the Signature Track icon above the Arrange view to open the Signature Track. Then [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the first time sig-
nature on the left, select Insert Key Signature from the menu, and then select the desired key from the pop-up selector.
Tempo Track
Many modern recordings sound mechanical, like a machine playing music. This is often because the recording has a single, static
tempo, whereas the tempo in a natural performance tends to drift slightly. Interesting and musical results can be achieved by varying the
tempo in your recordings. Tempo changes do not affect your ability to sync recordings to the tempo, as the click track and all other ele-
ments in Studio One Pro follow the tempo dynamically as it changes.
When Beat-Linear is selected, all bars in your Song are shown with the same length, while the time scale of the timeline shifts to match
your tempo changes. For example, with the timebase set to Seconds, as the tempo changes, the spacing between seconds changes
even as the space between bars remains the same.
When Time-Linear is selected, bars in your song change their visual length to represent the shortening or lengthening effect of tempo
changes. With the timebase set to Seconds, you'll see that the spacing of seconds remains the same, even as the space between bars
changes.
The Time Scale Tool lets you quickly match a section of your tempo map with the tempo of an imported song or other audio file. This
makes manual tempo mapping easier, especially when the imported file contains many shifts in tempo.
To use the Time Scale Tool, first place your audio file so that its first beat (or the first beat of any bar) is aligned with the start of a bar in
your timeline. If there is not yet a tempo change marker at the first beat, create one. This becomes your starting point for the tempo map.
Then, with your cursor in the tempo track, press and hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] to switch to the Time Scale Tool. You'll see the cursor change to
look like the image above. While this tool is shown, click and drag from the start of a defined barline in the timeline (such as four bars
ahead of the previous tempo marker) to the point in the timeline that aligns with that amount of bars in the audio file. Then, let go of the
mouse button.
By doing this dragging motion between those two points with the Time Scale Tool, you adjust the tempo for that section to match that of
the audio file. You can often visually determine the correct place to let go, but if that's not possible, you can use the Listen tool before-
hand to find the right spot in your audio file.
By default, a new tempo marker is automatically inserted when you let go of the mouse button after using the Time Scale Tool. This lets
you simply move on to the next set of bars you want to match with and use the Time Scale Tool again. If you'd rather not insert a marker
when you release the mouse button, hold [Alt]/[Opt] along with [Ctrl]/[Cmd].
Lyrics Track
Studio One Pro’s Global Lyrics Track allows you to enter and edit Lyrics via a dedicated Track in the Song Page. These Lyrics can be
optionally rendered in the Lyrics Display, which will highlight the current lyrics in time with your music.
Lyrics can be entered and edited either directly on the Lyrics Track itself, or via the Lyrics Display interface, as detailed below.
Open the Lyrics Track by choosing the [L] icon from the Global Track List.
To enter Lyrics directly into the Lyrics Track, double-click in the desired location and begin typing.
l Press [Spacebar] to advance to the next word.
l Press [Return/Enter] to start a new line (visible in Lyrics Display) and advance to the next bar.
l Press [TAB] to advance to the next Lyrics entry point without starting a new line.
l Press [Alt+Return/Enter] to align the currently-selected Lyric Event with the Play Cursor and select the next Lyric Event. This
can be used during playback to quickly align Lyrics Events to your music.
You can also paste copied text directly into the Global Lyrics Track from your clipboard. Press [CMD/CTRL+V] to paste into either the Lyr-
ics Track or Lyrics Display. Lyric Events pasted will be separated line by line.
Lyrics Editing
Once entered, Lyrics can be edited similarly to Note Events. They can be dragged and dropped, copy/pasted, group-selected, and duplic-
ated. Lyric Events follow the global quantize and snap settings when moving Events.
Lyrics Import
Lyrics in .TXT, .MID or .MIDI format can also be imported directly from the Browser. Simply drag and drop your file from the Browser to
the Lyrics Track.
Timebase
l
A beat-based Timebase ( )indicates that Lyrics will adhere to their position based on bars and beats, so if the tempo
changes, the Lyrics move forward or backward in time in relation to their musical position.
l
A second-based Timebase ( ) indicates that the Lyrics will adhere to their absolute position in time. If the tempo changes,
the Lyrics do not move, as they are locked to an absolute time position in the timeline.
Lyrics Options
Right-click a Lyric to view the Lyric Options menu:
l New Line: This Lyric will start a new line in Lyrics Display.
l New Paragraph: This Lyric will start a new Paragraph in Lyrics Display.
l Cut, Copy, Delete, and Duplicate: function identically to their counterpart commands for Note Events.
To open Lyrics Display, Navigate to View >> Lyrics Display or click the icon in the header of the Lyrics Track.
Lyrics displayed here are highlighted in-time with your Song on playback; the View will autoscroll to keep the current Lyrics in the center
of the display.
From the Lyrics Display settings, the font size, color and alignment are freely customizable, as well as the read-ahead timer, measured in
quarter notes. You can also enlarge the size of current text by selecting the “Enlarge current text” option. Click onto the boxes next to the
previous, current or next text options to customize the text display colors.
Lyrics Display is available in the Song Page and The Show Timeline.
l
Edit Mode: Click the pencil icon ( ) to toggle Edit Mode in Lyrics Display . When activated, you can click in the Lyrics Dis-
play window and begin typing to enter your Lyrics.
l Show Ruler Click the ruler icon to toggle the visibility of the Lyric Track ruler, useful for determining musically-relevant
timing for your Lyrics.
l Grid Options Click the drop-down menu to choose the Grid spacing for your Lyrics. This determines the space entered
between your lyrics when pressing the spacebar or hyphen key during lyrics entry.
l
Setup: Click the wrench icon ( ) to open this menu to choose from several Lyrics Display options:
l Ahead (in quarters) sets the time offset for the Lyrics highlight in quarter-note values.
l Alignment lets you center- or left-align the Lyrics displayed.
Click the pencil icon ( ) to toggle Edit Mode in Lyrics Display . When activated, you can click in the Lyrics Display window and begin
typing to enter your Lyrics.
When editing text in the Lyrics Editor, the following keyboard/mouse commands are available:
l [Arrow keys] to navigate the caret.
l [Shift + Arrow keys] to make a selection.
l [Option / Alt + left / right] to jump between words.
l Home to jump to the start of a line.
l End to jump to the end of a line.
l Double-click to select a word.
l Triple-click to select a line.
l Backspace at the beginning of a word or syllable moves the word or syllable backwards on the time grid by the selected grid
value.
l If the event is on the same position as the previous event after moving it, it is merged with the previous event.
l Space at the beginning of a word or syllable moves the word or syllable forward on the time grid by the selected grid
value.
l If the caret was not at the beginning of a word or syllable, the word or syllable is split into two words.
l [-] at the beginning of a syllable moves the syllable forward on the time grid by the selected grid value.
l If the caret was not at the beginning of a syllable, the word or syllable is split into two syllables.
Lyrics Lanes
Lyrics Lanes differ from the Global Lyrics Track in that Lyrics Lanes are instrument-specific. They are accessed in the Lanes section of
the Note Editor for any Instrument Track, and can be edited in both the Piano View and Notation View. Every Instrument Track can have
its own Lyrics Lane with different Lyrics!
l
In the Note Editor, click on the Show/Hide Automation Lanes icon. ( )
l Click on “Lyrics” to select the Lyrics Tab.
You’ll notice an empty Lyrics Event for each Note Event; think of these as Lyric containers. This is where you’ll enter your Lyrics.
Double-click a Lyrics Event and begin typing your lyrics. Type naturally, just as using a word processor - the spacebar will jump your pos-
ition from one Note Event to the next. Double-click in an empty space of the Lyrics Lane to enter a Lyric Event independent from a Note
Event.
l [spacebar] automatically moves the cursor to the next edit position.
l [-] splits a word into syllables. (This dash will not render in the Lyrics Display window)
l [_] extends a word across multiple notes (melisma)
You can also paste copied text directly into a Lyrics Lane from your clipboard. With the Edit Window in focus and the Lyrics Lane open,
press [CMD/CTRL+V] to paste. Lyric Events pasted from the clipboard to a Lyrics Lane will be separated word by word in alignment with
the existing Note Events. Syllables, melismas, line breaks, and paragraphs are all supported.
Lyrics Import
Lyrics in MID or MIDI format can also be imported directly from the Browser. Simply drag and drop your file from the Browser to the Lyrics
Lane. TXT files can be dragged from your OS file system directly to the Lyrics Lane.
Lyrics Display
To render Lyrics from the Lyrics Lane in the Lyrics Display window, choose the desired Instrument Track from the Lyrics Display drop-
down menu.
The Scratch Pad is an editing tool in Studio One Pro. Scratch Pads act as quick storage to hold Events, Parts, Lyrics, and entire Song
sections for later use or re-use, reducing clutter in the Arrange view as you assemble your Song. Scratch Pads look and act much like the
Arrange view timeline, sharing the same editing capabilities and displaying the same set of Tracks.
To create and display a Scratch Pad for you to work with, click the Scratch Pad button, which looks like this: Once a Scratch Pad
exists in the current Song, the Scratch Pad button changes to reflect that fact, and looks like this: You can click the Scratch Pad
button to show or hide the Scratch Pad display.
You can delete or create additional Scratch Pads as needed by clicking the triangle next to the Scratch Pad button and choosing the Add
Scratch Pad or Delete Scratch Pad option from the pop-up menu.
Just one Scratch Pad can be displayed at a time, but you can switch to any other by clicking the triangle next to the Scratch Pad button,
and selecting the Scratch Pad of your choice from the pop-up menu.
To rename a Scratch Pad, double-click its name in the Arranger Track Inspector, and enter the new name into the provided text field.
Bouncing
Bouncing 279
When an Instrument Part is bounced, the Part is muted, since the new Audio Event is taking its place. The Instrument Part is grayed out
to indicate this. To toggle the mute on the Part, select the Part and press [Shift]+[M] on the keyboard.
Any number of Instrument Parts can be selected and bounced to audio at once, even across multiple Instrument Tracks. A new Audio
Track is created for each Instrument Track whose Part is bounced to audio.
If you want to create a single Audio Event, you should first merge various Instrument Parts on an Instrument Track to create a single con-
tinuous Instrument Part. To do this, select the desired Parts and choose Merge Events, or press [G] on the keyboard.
If you drag-and-drop an Audio Part from the arrangement to the File Browser, an Audio Loop is exported. For more information on Audio
Loops, refer to the Editing chapter.
To dissolve an Audio Part so that the separate Audio Events are again accessible in the arrangement, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the Audio
Part and select Audio/Dissolve Audio Part from the contextual menu.
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You can also right/[Ctrl]-click on an Event and chose the function from the Events sub-menu.
Mixdown Selection
Sometimes, it can be useful to mix down Events from multiple Tracks to a new Track within your Song, such as when you want to con-
solidate a group of backing vocals or drum elements to a single Track. To do so, first select the Events you want to mix down, across as
many Tracks as needed. Then choose Mixdown Selection from the Events menu, or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click one of the selected events, and
choose Mixdown Selection from the pop-up menu.
The resulting mixed-down Track is placed after the last selected Track.
Folder Tracks
Keeping the Arrange view organized can be critical to workflow, and Folder Tracks have traditionally helped in this area. Studio One
Pro's Folder Tracks also include Grouping and Busing options, extending improvements to editing and mixing workflow.
Clicking the Group icon on a Folder Track creates a Group with the name of the Folder Track and places all Tracks it contains into the
Group. This is exactly the same as selecting all of the Tracks and grouping them with [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[G]: The Tracks are selected together
in the Console and Arrange views, and the Events on the Tracks are edited together. If the Group icon is engaged on a Folder Track,
clicking it again removes the Group.
If a Track is already in a Group prior to being placed in a Folder Track, and the Folder Track Group is engaged, the Track is placed in the
Folder Track Group when it is placed in the Folder Track. If removed from the Folder Track, a Track retains its Group setting.
Track List
The Arrange view Track list is opened by clicking on the Track List icon in the upper left corner of the Song page. The Track list gives an
overview of all existing Tracks. Each Track has a drop-down arrow that, when clicked, displays related Tracks, Envelopes, and Layers.
Level meters to the far left of Track names indicate levels during playback for every Track. You can click-and-drag the Track icon next to
the Track name to change the Track order. If any Track is in a Group, the Group name is displayed next to it in the Group column of the
Track List.
Tracks can be hidden or shown by clicking the round button to the left of the Track name. Click-and-drag quickly through the round but-
tons to hide or show any number of Tracks. Hiding a Folder Track also hides all of the Tracks it contains. Hidden Tracks are not visible in
the Arrange view, but they remain faintly visible in the Track List.
View only the Tracks you want to see by typing in the Filter field near the bottom of the Track List, placing a comma between search
terms. For example, to view only Tracks named "Piano" and "Organ", you could enter "pia, org" in the Filter field. Clear the Filter field by
clicking the X. Preset filter options are available through the Track Visibility button, described below.
To find a specific Track, use [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[T] to open a dialog box, then type the Channel name or number. This method works
whether the Track List is open or not.
Icons for each Track type are visible at the bottom of the Track List. Click them to hide or show all Tracks of that type.
The Track List can be synced to the Console Channel List, so that any Tracks hidden or shown in the Track List have their related Audio
Channels hidden or shown in the Console, and vice versa. This is done inside the Channel List Options window (see Visibility Options).
The Track Visibility button in the lower right corner (...) opens a menu of useful Track List filters. Options include:
l Show All Tracks
l Show Selected Tracks
l Show Tracks with Events under Cursor
l Show Tracks with Events in Loop Range
Track and Channel Icons offer a quick and convenient way to label your Tracks and Channels with simple Icons. Activate them by open-
ing the options (wrench) menu in the Arrange Window or Console.
Activating Show Channel Icons in the Console Options menu will render the icons in the Console and Inspector. Activating Show Track
Icons in the Arrange Window Options menu will render the Icons in the Arrange Window.
The Launcher
Studio One features a fully-integrated Launcher, which provides a new and exciting approach to writing, arranging, producing and per-
forming music in Studio One.
The Launcher is perfect for those interested in loop-based music creation and production; additionally, the Launcher can prove helpful if
you would like to quickly test new song arrangements without affecting what’s within the Timeline. As a part of the Arrangement and side-
by-side with the Timeline, the Launcher offers a whole set of new workflows, allowing users to move freely between these two envir-
onments.
Before jumping into the Launcher features, a few notes about nomenclature first:
l The Launcher contains Cells, which can hold Audio Events, Instrument Parts, or patterns, depending on which track they’re on.
Just like Events and Parts on the timeline, Cells only contain references to the actual Audio Clips (shown in the Pool).
l Cells are organized into Scenes, which represent vertical stacks (or columns) of Cells. These Cells play simultaneously when
the Scene is played.
l Scenes can be organized into Playlists, which contain any number of Scenes in any order. If Scenes represent sections of a
song, a Playlist could be a complete song.
Alternatively, if you’d like to quickly switch between the two modes, select the button located at the top right of the Launcher:
Note: You can’t use the Launcher and Scratch Pads at the same time. Likewise, you cannot view the Timeline, Launcher and Scratch
Pads at the same time.
Play Focus
Studio One allows you to use the Launcher and the Timeline at the same time. Since both are sharing the same tracks, you can decide
which tracks are playing Launcher Cells, and which are playing what’s on the Timeline. To switch the playback focus, each track has a
Play Focus button (“>”), located between Timeline and Launcher divider:
To create a part or pattern within a cell, simply right-click onto the empty cell and choose “Insert Part” or “Insert Pattern” from the context
menu:
Double-clicking onto the cell’s new part or pattern will open the Editor. From there, you can edit the part or pattern just as you would for a
part or pattern within the arranger timeline.
If you create copies of the same Cell in different Scenes, each Cell has independent Start, Loop Start and Loop End settings, allowing for
some cool tricks based on the same content.
To stop playback, either press Stop on the Transport Bar or click the Scene Stop button located on the top right side of the Launcher
header.
… or Launcher to Timeline
Let’s say you just used the Launcher as a starting point for a new arrangement. Or maybe you created an entire song using Scenes and
Playlists. You can always move things back into a linear Timeline for further editing or mixing. There are several ways you can do this:
l Drag & drop Cells to the Timeline, single or multiple. Drop them anywhere.
l Drag a Scene to the Arranger Track, which adds the Scene as a new Section.
l Open the popup menu next to a Playlist, and select “Insert Playlist into Song…”
To open the Scene Playlist, click onto the Scene Playlist button ( ) located at the top right of the Launcher or click on the “Show Playl-
ist” option in the Launcher context menu located in the toolbar.
If you would like to repeat any of the scenes, enter the number of repetitions next to the scene names (or enter “n” to repeat the Scene
indefinitely, until you click “Continue”):
From the Playlist context menu, you can switch between playlists. Additionally, you have access to these Playlist options:
l Add Playlist… Click this to add a new playlist.
l Duplicate Playlist… Click this to duplicate the selected playlist.
l Rename Playlist… Click this to rename your playlist.
l Clear Playlist Click this to clear the scenes within your playlist.
l Remove Playlist Click this to delete the selected playlist.
l Insert Playlist into Song… Click this to insert the selected playlist into the Arranger (see below for more information).
The Console
Mixing in Studio One Pro is primarily done in the Console. Open the Console by clicking on the [Mix] button or by pressing [F3] on the key-
board.
Each channel of audio in your Song is represented by a Channel in the Console. Audio Tracks in the Arrange view are directly rep-
resented by Audio Channels in the Console, whereas Instrument Tracks have no direct representation in the Console. Instead, Instru-
ment Channels represent the audio output of virtual instruments. There are several other Channel types discussed below, including
Input, Output, Bus, and FX Channels.
It is important to note that the Console opens by default in Large mode, and the following descriptions assume this mode is engaged
unless otherwise noted. For more on this topic, refer to the Alternative Console Layout section of this chapter.
Channel Features
The following features are common to all Channels.
Input/Output
At the top of each Channel is a display of its configured Input and Output, with the Input shown at the top and the Output below it. All
Channels are configured with Main Out as their Output by default.
Audio Channels show the hardware audio input selection. Instrument Channels display the name of the virtual instrument from which
they get their input. Bus and FX Channels display a graphical count of the number of Tracks assigned or sent to them, rather than a dis-
crete display of input channels, as their input source is usually from multiple Channels. Click on the Input area on a Bus or FX Channel to
display a pop-up list of all assigned/sent Tracks. Clicking on a Track in this list selects and expands that Track in the Mix view.
Click on any Input or Output to display and choose from a list of available routing options for any Channel. If several Channels are selec-
ted, they can be assigned instantly to the same Input or Output by making a selection for any one of the selected Channels. It is also pos-
sible to assign all selected Inputs or Outputs in ascending order based on the audio hardware configuration.
Clicking on the Input for an Instrument Channel opens the interface for the source virtual instrument.
Panning options
Right-click the panner to bring up the contextual menu of panning options.
Mixing 294
You can choose from:
l Balance: The default mode which allows you to position the Channel’s signal left to right in the stereo image.
l Dual: A stereo panner that allows for independent left/right panning.
l Binaural: A stereo panner that employs mid/side processing to manipulate the perceived width of stereo signals, from mono to
double the normal width.
Note that Dual and Binaural pans don’t apply to Mono channels.
Double-click the pan interface to pop up a larger panner interface suitable for fine control over your pan adjustments. These pop ups will
display for the currently-selected channel when you press the left/right arrow keys to navigate across the console.
Select “Use Binaural/Dual for New Channels” to set all new Channels to use your desired pan type.
The volume fader can be click-and-dragged vertically to control the output volume for each Channel. Volume and Pan can be edited on
multiple Channels simultaneously when Channels are Grouped. Numerical values may also be entered for pan and volume.
l Click and drag on the middle of the interface to change the joint balance of both panners. (Alternatively, use the mousewheel.)
l Click and drag on an endpoint of the interface to balance a single side at a time.
l Click and drag up or down to widen or narrow the stereo width (alternatively, CTRL+mousewheel).
Note that you are able to drag the stereo width into the negative direction when crossing the zero-width point. This will be indicated by a
red color change in the interface.
l Click and drag the panning interface left or right to adjust balance.
l Click and drag the width control left or right to adjust width. Double-click the width control to enter the width value with the key-
board. Alternatively, mouseover the width control and adjust via the mousewheel.
More advanced stereo panning control can be had by using the Dual Pan and Binaural Pan plug-ins.
Mute/Solo
Solo mode is also known as Solo-in-Place, or SIP. Channels can be muted or soloed by clicking on their Mute and Solo buttons, respect-
ively. You can also press [M] for Mute or [S] for Solo on the keyboard to mute or solo selected Channels. Muting silences the Channel’s
audio from the Console so you won’t hear it. Soloing silences all except the audio for the soloed Channel, so you only hear the soloed
Channel. Any number of Channels can be muted or soloed at one time.
When using the [M] or [S] keys to mute or solo an Instrument Track that has a virtual instrument attached to it, mute or solo is applied to
the note data Track in the Arrangement view, rather than to the audio Track in the Mix view. [M] and [S] have no effect on Bus or FX Chan-
nels (see Solo Safe below).
You can perform a Global Solo Off, which disengages Solo on any Track that has it engaged, by pressing and holding [Ctrl] on the key-
board and then clicking on any Solo button. Performing the [Ctrl]-click again recalls the previous solo settings, returning any previously
soloed channels to the solo state. This can be useful when comparing a group of soloed Tracks to other Tracks in your mix.
Solo Safe
It is possible to place Console Channels in Solo Safe mode. When any Channel in the Console is soloed, all Channels with Solo Safe
engaged are also soloed, and all other Channels are muted. To engage Solo Safe on any Channel, [Shift]-click on its Solo button in the
Console. The Solo button is green when Solo Safe is engaged.
Note that FX Channels have Solo Safe engaged by default because effects may be critical to how soloed Channels sound in the mix.
Metering Mode
Each Channel has a level meter to provide a visual display of audio levels. Several metering modes are available: Peak, Peak/RMS, and
Pre-Fader Metering. To select the metering mode, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click inside the meter of any Channel.
Peak and Peak/RMS modes are described in the Metering section of this manual. They are mutually exclusive. Note that this selection
does not affect the metering mode of the Main Out or Sub Outs. Either mode can use Pre-Fader Metering.
Pre-Fader Metering is not enabled by default. When it is enabled, the level meters show levels independent of fader position. When it is
disabled, the level meters respond to fader position. This is known as Post-Fader Metering. The selection you make will be applied glob-
ally to all Channels, including the Main Out and Sub Outs.
Automation Mode
The Automation mode for each Channel is displayed at the bottom of the Channel. By default, this mode is set to Off. Click on this display
to choose an Automation mode or to add and remove automation parameters.
Name
Channel names are shown at the bottom of each Channel in the Console. Double-click on the name, type a new name, and then press
Enter to change the name of any Channel.
To find a specific Channel, use [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[C] to open a dialog box, then type the Channel name or number. This method works
whether the Console is visible or not.
Channel Types
Input
Input Channels represent the configured hardware audio inputs. They can be mono or stereo, depending on the configuration of the hard-
ware input they represent. Use the Input Channels to accurately meter inputs or to add effects processing to an input.
Audio
Audio Channels are direct representations of Audio Tracks in the Arrange view. Each Audio Track has a corresponding Audio Channel in
the Console, with corresponding Record Enable, Monitor Enable, Solo, and Mute controls.
Instrument
Instrument Tracks in the Arrange view have no directly corresponding Channels. An Instrument Track outputs to a virtual instrument, and
the virtual instrument then creates sound. Thus, virtual instruments output audio to Instrument Channels in the Console. A virtual instru-
ment might have any number of outputs, as described in the Set Up Multiple Virtual Instrument Outputs section of the Recording
chapter, and each has a corresponding Channel in the Console.
Aux
An Aux Channel allows an external audio source to be controlled by the Console without the need for an associated track. The incoming
audio can be processed by the native plug-in effects, and its volume can be controlled through the sample-accurate automation provided
by Studio One Pro. For more information, see Set Up an Aux Channel.
Bus
The audio output of multiple Channels can be routed directly to a single Bus Channel. This lets you create a submix so that the audio
from several Channels can be processed together before being routed to the main output. Although less common, it is also possible to
use Sends to route audio to Bus Channels.
For instance, several drum Tracks might be routed to a Drum Bus, where the audio is compressed and equalized, and then routed to the
main output. That audio could also be routed to an FX Channel, through a Send, to apply a reverb effect, which would be applied to all
audio routed to that FX Channel.
From the source list of your Bus channel, you can select individual channels or click the “Select All” option to select all subordinate chan-
nels routed to the Bus Channel.
Bus Channels can be mono or stereo. Click the Channel Mode button in the Bus Channel to select the desired option.
Output
Output Channels are routed directly to hardware audio outputs and can be stereo or mono, depending on the configured outputs to which
they connect. Every Song has at least one stereo Output Channel, which is named Main Out by default. The Main Out is, by default,
where the entire Console mix of all other Channels is routed. You generally listen to this output when monitoring your mix, as this is the
output from which exported mixdowns are derived.
The Main Out Channel is always locked to the far right end of the Console and cannot be moved. This output features a stereo Peak-
/RMS Meter, as well as K-System Metering. Other configured hardware outputs are represented in the Console by a type of Output
Channel called a Sub Out. Sub Outs appear to the right of the mixer when the Outputs panel is open.
The Main Out and Sub Out Channels feature Metronome controls, allowing independent metronome on/off and level control for each
hardware output. Note that every stereo Output Channel also features a Mono switch to allow for quick summed-mono monitoring, which
is commonly used to check a mix for mono compatibility.
Console Options
Click the Options button (shaped like a wrench) to bring up a menu with options that let you shape the behavior of the Console to suit
your needs and organizational style.
Grouping Options
l Keep FX channels to the right Enable this to cause all FX Channels to be placed together, at the right end of the Console.
This can aid in keeping track of FX Channels in a large-scale Song.
l Keep bus channels to the right Enable this to cause all Bus Channels to be placed together, at the right end of the Console.
This can aid in keeping track of Bus Channels in a large-scale Song.
l Keep VCA channels to the right Enable this to cause all VCA Channels to be placed together, at the right end of the Console.
This can aid in keeping track of VCA Channels in a large-scale Song.
l Preserve order of channels with folder track Enable this to ensure that any Bus Channels that are associated with a Folder
Track remain next to the Folder Track's enclosed Channels when the Keep Bus Channels to the Right option is enabled.
Visibility Options
l Link visibility of Track List and Console Enable this to link the show/hide status of the Track List and the Console. When you
hide an item in the Track List or Console, it is hidden in the other as well.
l Link expansion and visibility of Folder Tracks Enable this to hide Console Channels associated with a Folder Track when
the Folder Track is collapsed in the Arrange view.
l Auto-expand Selected Channel When enabled, this option makes it easier to view expanded Channels in the Console one at
a time. Double-click the first Channel to expand it, and when the next Channel is selected, two things happen: The currently
selected channel auto-expands, and the previously selected channel collapses. If you hold [Alt]/[Option] and click the second
Channel, the previous Channel does not collapse.
l Colorize Channel Strips Enable this option to apply channel color coding to full channel strips in the Console. Normally the
color only shows on the channel labels.
l Colorize Plug-in Header Enable this option to apply channel color coding to the open editor window of a plug-in. This is handy
when the same plug-in is being used for several Console Channels (the PreSonus Compressor, for example).
Channel Components
l Audio device controls This option can be accessed when a suitable PreSonus audio interface is connected. When this is the
case, enabling this option reveals controls on the right side of the Console that are specific to the PreSonus audio interface (e.g.,
Listen Bus
l Enable Listen Bus activates the Listen Bus. It can provide an audio feed to the control room monitors or headphones that is
separate from the Main Out Channel. The Listen Bus is completely independent from the other Solo modes.
l Solo through Listen Bus is independent of the Enable Listen Bus checkbox. After it is engaged, soloed Channels are routed
through the Listen Bus. When it is disengaged, soloed Channels are heard through the Main Out Channel and all other Chan-
nels are muted.
PreSonus hardware that supports this feature includes Studio 192-series interfaces, Quantum, and Quantum 2.
The Console is in Large mode by default. To switch to Small Console mode, click on the Small/Large button ( ) at the top of the
Console Navigation column. Alternatively, you can press [Shift]+[F3] on the keyboard when the Console is open.
Narrow Mode
Both the Small and Large Consoles can be made narrow via the Narrow/Normal button to the far left of the Console ( ). Narrow
mode has been designed to maximize the number of visible Channels from left to right in the Console.
When in Narrow mode, the Small Console Channels change so that a volume-fade handle is overlapped on the level meter, with Mute
and Solo controls above the meter. It remains possible to expand a Channel to reveal its Inserts and Sends by double-clicking in open
space on the Channel.
The Inputs panel is closed by default and can be opened and closed by clicking on the Inputs button in the Console Navigation column (
). The Inputs panel displays Audio Channels in the Console for each configured hardware audio input, as described in the Chan-
nel Types section of this chapter.
External Devices
The External Devices panel is closed by default and can be opened and closed by clicking on the External button in the Navigation
column. The External panel displays a list of configured External Devices, including Keyboards, External Instruments, and Control Sur-
faces.
The configuration for each device can be accessed and edited by clicking on the menu arrow for the device (or [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking any-
where on the device) and selecting one of the following from the menu:
l Edit for control mapping configuration and to set up an Aux Channel (external instruments only).
l Expand/Collapse to show/hide the Aux Channel assignments of a hardware instrument.
l Setup for device configuration (MIDI routing, etc.).
l Reset to reload the device in Studio One Pro.
l Remove to remove the device from the list.
Click on the Add External Device button to add an external device. To quickly access the Edit dialog for a device, double-click its name in
the External panel.
The Instrument Rack is open by default and is closed and opened by clicking on the Show Instrument Rack button in the Navigation
column. The Instruments Rack displays all currently loaded virtual instruments, with each occupying an Instrument Slot. If an Instrument
is not connected to an Instrument Track, it is grayed out.
Instruments that have not been used on any Tracks can be removed from the Instruments Rack list. To do this, click the menu arrow at
the top of the Instruments list and select Remove Unused. There is also an option here to disable/enable all instruments with a single
action.
At the bottom of the Instruments panel are two buttons that allow you to decide how much information is displayed for each Instrument
Slot.
l Compact displays only the virtual instrument, an Activate button to enable or disable the instrument, and an arrow that opens a
pop-up menu (described below).
l Extended widens each Instrument Slot to display additional information for each virtual instrument: a meter that shows its
CPU load, and the name of the Preset the instrument is using.
To manually add Instrument Buses for all instruments in a song, select the Create Buses for All Multi-Out Instruments option from the
dropdown menu of the instrument rack. As this option is enabled by default in the Studio One Pro Console preferences, the option is nor-
mally grayed out within the instrument panel dropdown menu.
Each Instrument Slot pop-up menu offers the following options:
l Edit... Select this option to open the Instrument Editor window. You can also [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the device name and select Edit,
or simply double-click anywhere inside the Instrument Slot.
l Expand/Collapse Expand lets you choose from an instrument's available outputs (if applicable). Select Collapse to hide that
information again.
l Rename... Allows you to rename the instrument, which can be useful when working with multiple instances of the same instru-
ment.
l Bypass This lets you silence the instrument without deactivating it. The instrument remains attached to its Track, which keeps
the instrument from being affected by the Remove Unused feature.
l Favorite Use this to designate a virtual instrument as a Favorite. Then, it can be located easily in the Favorites folder of the
Browser Instruments tab.
l Store Preset... Select this option to save the current settings for any virtual instrument as a Preset. You can enter a Name and
Description for the preset, as well as specify a Subfolder within the preset list to store the preset.
Show Scenes
Scenes let you specify which Channels and Tracks you want to work with during a session. For example, you could create a Scene called
"Drums" and recall it whenever you want to focus on the drum mix for a while. You can save multiple versions of the drum mix with dif-
ferent FX and EQ settings, etc., save each as a Scene, and audition them one after the other to see which one you prefer. Any number of
Scenes can be saved and recalled within each Song.
Scenes can be accessed through the Show Scenes button in the Console Navigation column ( ) or by using [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+
[S] to open a dialog box and typing the Scene name or number. This method is available whether the Scenes list is open or not.
For more details, see the Scenes section.
Show Groups
It is possible to group multiple Channels together so that when one of the faders within the Group is moved, they all move. Their move-
ments are relative to one another, so that the correct dB value relationships are maintained.
Groups are accessed through the Show Groups button in the Console Navigation column ( ). To learn more, see the Groups
section.
Channel List
Click the Channel List button ( ) to view a list of the Channels that can be shown or hidden in the Console. If a Channel is in a
Group, the Group name is displayed next to it in the Group column of the Channel List.
Remote Bank
The Remote button appears when the Channel List is open. The Remote Bank is a special Scene that governs which Channels are
shown and available for manipulation on a connected control surface. Click the Remote button to show this scene, then show/hide tracks
as necessary to set which channels are available for control. To hide the Remote Bank, click Remote again.
Inserts
Inserts are used to apply an effect directly to a single Channel or Bus. Insert effects are literally inserted into the audio signal chain within
the Channel or Bus.
Adding Inserts
The Insert Device Rack contains all Insert effects on a given Channel and is visible in the Console. To add an Insert effect to any Chan-
nel, drag-and-drop an effect from the Browser into the Insert Device Rack of a Channel in the Console or click-and-drag directly to a
Track or Track Lane in the Arrange view.
Editing Inserts
To edit an Insert, double-click on it in the Insert Device Rack, or click on the menu arrow (or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click anywhere on the
Insert) and select Edit from the pop-up menu. This opens the user interface for the Insert effect, where you can edit the effect’s para-
meters.
When audio effects are inserted on the same Channel, all of the plug-ins appear in tabs at the top of the plug-in header GUI. This makes
switching between effects in the same Insert Device Rack and signal path quick and easy.
The user interfaces for effects from third-party manufacturers vary drastically; for more information, please refer to the documentation for
each effect. Studio One Pro’s built-in effects are discussed in depth in the Built-In Effects chapter.
Reordering Inserts
Inserts affect the audio signal path in the top-to-bottom sequential order in which they are inserted. An Insert can be reordered by click-
ing-and-dragging it above, below, or in between other Inserts. It is helpful to experiment with different signal paths to achieve the best
possible sound or a particular effect. Note that Splitters are a special case, and cannot be re-ordered via drag and drop due to the parallel
manner in which they process the signal chain.
Navigating Inserts
By default, only one window displays the user interface for an open Insert effect. This keeps screen clutter and window juggling to a min-
imum. To quickly switch between Insert effects on a single Channel, click on the chosen effect tab at the top of the plug-in header GUI.
Compare
The [Compare] button in the plug-in header GUI allows you to compare the current settings for a plug-in to the settings stored the last
time the Song, Project or Show was saved.
This makes it possible to freely compare potential changes for a plug-in to existing settings, while retaining a quick way back to existing
settings.
If you wish to temporarily deactivate all Inserts across all Channels in your song, press the Activate All Inserts button at the bottom-left of
the Arrange view. Press the button again to return all Inserts to their most recent activation state—inserts that were deactivated before
clicking Activate All Inserts will remain deactivated. Hold any modifier key (Shift, Alt/Opt, or Cmd/Ctrl) while clicking Activate All Inserts to
activate these Inserts alongside the rest. In this way, you can instantly compare the sound of your Song with and without all activated
Insert effects. In addition, any Insert effects or Instruments can be deactivated from the expanded Performance Monitor window using
the check-box next to the Plug-in name.
Removing Inserts
To remove an Insert effect from the Insert Device Rack, do one of the following:
l Click on the menu arrow for the Insert effect in the Insert Device Rack (or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click anywhere on the device) and select
Remove from the pop-up menu.
l Click on the Insert effect in the Insert Device Rack and drag it into the Trash Bin panel of the Console.
All Inserts can be simultaneously removed from an Insert Device Rack by clicking on the menu arrow at the top of the Rack and selecting
Remove All. When any Insert effect is removed, it is placed in the Trash Bin, where it can be restored to its original state and location at
any time.
Mix Engine FX
Mix Engine FX is a plug-in format for Studio One Pro, specializing in processing tasks that affect multiple channels in a song (such as con-
sole emulation). In the case of console emulation, most systems require you to insert a special "channel" plug-in on each channel in the
song, and a "bus" plug-in across any busses. This increases the time it takes to set up a new song, and makes managing the process
complex, as any changes desired for the whole mix often must be carried out across multiple channel and bus plug-ins.
Mix Engine FX centralizes this and other similar processes. You simply drop a compatible plug-in onto the Mix Engine FX slot on the
Master Bus, or any other bus you wish to affect. All Channels that feed that Bus are affected by the Mix Engine FX plug-in at their source
(taking the place of the "channel" plug-in), and all parameters are controlled from the one central plug-in interface (which takes the place
of the "bus" plug-in).
Unlike most solutions that rely on multiple plug-ins working together, Mix Engine FX can be bypassed with just a click, allowing for easy
A/B testing between dry and processed signals across the whole mix. Another advantage to this method is inter-channel processing.
Because Mix Engine FX are "aware" of all channels flowing into them, effects like inter-channel console-style crosstalk are made pos-
sible.
Each Bus can have one Mix Engine FX plug-in inserted at a time.
For more information on Mix Engine FX, see Mix Engine FX.
Hardware Inserts
You can insert external hardware processors into Audio Channels in the Console, using the Pipeline XTplug-in. The Pipeline XT plug-in
can be found in the PreSonus folder of the Effects Browser when sorted by Folder, Vendor, or Category.
The Pipeline XT plug-in routes audio to a hardware processor and then back from that processor through specific inputs and outputs on
your audio interface, while automatically compensating for the round-trip latency incurred in the process. You can insert an instance of
Pipeline XT in any Insert Device Rack.
To learn more about Pipeline, refer to the Pipeline section of this manual.
Configuring Sends
Sends are used to route the audio output (pre- or post-fader) from one Channel to another, such as an FX Channel.
To simultaneously create a new FX Channel and create a Send to that FX Channel from an existing Channel, click-and-drag an effect
from the Browser into the Send Device Rack on a Channel. This creates a Send for the Channel to a new FX Channel with the selected
effect loaded in its Insert Device Rack. This also works with FX Chains.
You can press [F11] to quickly open the FX view for the currently selected Channel, or press [Shift]+[F11] to open the Instrument window
of a selected Instrument Track.
You can also drag an audio effect into a blank space in the Console to create an FX Channel with that effect loaded into its Insert Device
Rack. To route audio from a Channel to an existing FX Channel, click on the Add Send button in the Send Device Rack and choose the
FX Channel from the list.
Dragging an audio effect or FX Chain to the Send slot of a Track lets you create a new FX Channel with the same name as the plug-in or
FX Chain.
You can also create a Send on an FX Channel to route the affected signal to any other Audio, Instrument, Bus, or even another FX Chan-
nel.
Alternatively, you can create an FX Channel by [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking in blank space in the Console, or on any Channel, and selecting Add
FX. This adds an FX Channel to the Console with no Inserts, which can be the destination for any Send.
FX Channels are routed to the Main Out Channel of the Console by default, but can be routed to any other configured hardware outputs
or Bus Channels, as needed.
To quickly view the effects in the Insert Device Rack of a Send’s destination Channel, double-click on the Send. You can then navigate
the Insert Effect menu as usual.
Sidechaining
Certain virtual instruments and effects can accept an input from an audio source that dynamically changes the behavior of the instrument
or effect. This is called “sidechaining,” and it facilitates processes such as keying, ducking, and de-essing. Sidechaining is accomplished
by using a Send to route audio to a special Sidechain input on an Insert on an effect or instrument.
An example of sidechaining is when a gate is triggered by a specific audio signal. In this case, the gate opens and closes dynamically in
response to the audio signal coming in the sidechain, rather than responding to the program signal on the Channel where the gate is
inserted. Several of Studio One Pro’s built-in effects support sidechaining, including the Compressor and Gate. For more information,
refer to the Built-In Effects chapter.
It is possible to send to the Sidechain input of any insert effect, whether or not the sidechain is engaged in the effect.
The sidechain connection can be assigned inside the target instrument or insert effect. Click on the arrow button next to the Sidechain
activation button, then select one or more channels from the popup menu. For the sidechain to work in an effect or instrument, it must be
engaged.
Sidechain-compatible instruments and effects will contain a sidechain menu item. Click the Sidechain button to enable or disable the
Sidechain. The drop-down menu to the right of the Sidechain button allows you to configure the routing to the selected plug-in(s).
FX Chains
Sometimes, a favorite combination of effects can become a staple of your workflow. For instance, you might regularly apply a com-
pressor, EQ, and chorus to your vocal tracks. FX Chains let you save the exact setup of the Inserts on a Channel, so that the entire chain
of effects, including all settings, can be recalled instantly for later re-use.
To create an FX Chain:
1. Configure a Channel with the desired Insert effects and settings.
2. Click on the menu arrow at the top of the Insert Device Rack, next to the Insert label, and select Store FX Chain from the pop-up
menu.
3. Type in a unique name for the FX Chain and click OK or press [Enter] on the keyboard.
FX Chains can be found in the FX Chains folder in the Audio Effects Browser. To insert the FX Chain in the Insert Device Rack of a
Channel, drag any FX Chain from the Browser to the Channel. To replace an effect in the Device Rack, drag the FX Chain on top of the
device to be replaced. Drag the FX chain between plug-ins or to an open spot in the Device Rack to insert it without affecting existing
device assignments.
Click on the menu arrow next to the FX Chain name in the Audio Effects Browser to view and select the individual effects. Both the indi-
vidual effects and each preset can be dragged to the Insert Device Rack of any Channel.
It is also possible to access FX Chains from the Insert Device Rack by clicking on the menu arrow at the top of the Rack and selecting an
FX Chain from the list. This loads the selected FX Chain in the Insert Device Rack.
Busing
Buses can be extremely useful when mixing. You can route Channels directly to buses to help organize a mix into common elements,
such as routing all Drum Tracks directly to a drum bus. Sends are often used to route a channel to multiple buses in order to layer a signal
into various elements of a mix.
To create a new Bus, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click in blank space in the Console, or on any channel, and select Add Bus. You can also select any
number of Channels, then [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on one of the selected Channels and choose Add Bus for Selected Channels to quickly cre-
ate a new Bus and route the selected Channels to that new Bus.
Once you have a Bus with Tracks assigned to it, you can [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Bus and choose Hide Sources to hide all Tracks assigned
to that Bus in the Console. [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Bus again and choose Show Sources to make source Tracks visible again.
Fader Flip
Studio One Pro’s Console allows you to quickly toggle the function of its faders between control of Channel volume to control of Channel
Sends, via Fader Flip. This allows for a quick and familiar way to control the level of individual sends to FX Channels, Bus Channels, Out-
puts, and of course Cue Mixes for headphone/monitoring mixes.
When Flip is activated, The Console’s faders and panning controls change (Flip) to represent the per-channel Send levels and panning
values to the chosen Send target — including Cue Mix buses and Sidechain Inserts. Faders will change to green to indicate Flip is active;
metering will change from displaying Volume to displaying the Send level. Send rack items of the currently-selected Send target will be
highlighted in green as well.
This can make assigning reverb sends and the creation of monitor mixes much faster and more intuitive by giving you control over send
levels with large faders rather than the smaller horizontal adjustments in the Send elements of the default Console view.
Fader Flip is activated by clicking the Flip button on the top left of the Console.
l
Select a Channel, and click the Channel Editor button (which looks like this: in the Track Inspector.
l Click the number of the corresponding Track in the Arrange view.
l Click the Macro Controls or Routing button in an open effects window.
Channel Overview
The Channel Overview Window provides a single, consolidated view of all Channel parameters, including input controls, Inserts, Sends,
and Cue mix sends for the selected Channel. This view can be accessed at any time by clicking the icon from a Channel, and is
also available as a tab in the Channel Editor window, next to the Macro Controls, Routing and Insert FX tabs. Channel Overview can be
pinned anywhere and follows the Channel selection.
For more detailed information on the features detailed below, all available from Channel Overview, we recommend first familiarizing your-
self with The Console as the user interface for controlling Faders, Pans, Sends, etc. are identical in the Channel Overview.
Features of the Channel column (left) include:
l Channel number and name Double-click the name to edit; single-click the area to select Channel color.
l Hardware Input controls If your connected hardware supports software input controls, they will be shown here.
l Channel Input controls Gain and Polarity. Click and drag Gain to adjust; click Polarity to toggle.
l Mute/Solo Click either icon to toggle status.
l Record Arm/Monitor Click either icon to toggle status.
l Input/Output routing. Click either to assign Input source our Output destination.
l Pan mode setting Click the [▼] drop-down menu on the top left to choose from varying pan modes for stereo Tracks.
l Track Notes are displayed here. Double-click to Edit.
l Track Icon Click here to choose or change a Track icon.
l Channel Fader and meter Right-click the meter to choose from several metering options.
l Group assignment Click to bring up a list of groups and re-assign the Channel, if desired.
l Automation Click to open a list of Automation options for the Channel.
Inserts
All of the Channel’s Insert Device Racks are shown here. Channel FX Chains can be chosen, stored, enabled, and disabled from the [▼]
drop-down menu icon on the top right of the Inserts column.
Sends
All of the Channel’s Insert Device Racks are shown here.
Click the [▼] drop-down menu icon on the top right of the Sends column to remove Sends or Effects Signal Routing for all Sends from
the Channel’s pan setting. Alternatively, Sends can have their Channel/Pan lock settings toggled individually from their respective [▼]
drop-down menus.
Sends (including Sidechain Sends), Buses, and FX Channels can be added by clicking the [+] drop-down menu icon.
Cue Mixes
All of the Channel’s Cue Mixes and Low-Latency Monitoring are shown here.
Click the [▼] drop-down menu icon on the top right of the Cue Mix column to lock/unlock Cue Mix panning from the Channel Pan setting
for all Cue Mix Sends. Alternatively, Cue Mix Objects can have their Channel/Pan lock settings toggled individually from their respective
drop-down menus.
Macro Controls
A single Channel in the Console can host multiple plug-in effects, and you can control them all one-by-one simply by switching from one
plug-in window to another. However, in some cases, it is convenient to be able to access controls from multiple plug-ins in a central con-
trol panel. The Macro Controls feature in the Channel Editor gives you a blank canvas upon which to place crucial control parameters
from any of the present effects, giving you quick access to often-needed controls. This becomes even more useful when creating
FX Chain presets that are geared toward specific sounds.
For example, let's say you create an FX Chain called "Chorused Crunch Guitar Delay," that includes the Ampire, Chorus, and Analog
Delay plug-ins. You might assign Macros to the gain controls on Ampire, rate and depth controls on Chorus, and the delay length and
feedback on Analog Delay. In this way, as soon as you load up that FX Chain, the vital parts of its functionality become available in a cent-
ral, single window, even though you're really controlling three plug-ins at once.
There are eight knobs, eight buttons, and two X/Y control pads available for each Channel. You can assign any available plug-in para-
meter (or multiple parameters) to each of these Macro Controls. Each control (and each axis of each X/Y pad) displays the name of the
You can bring up the Macro Controls Mapping view by clicking the small wrench-shaped button in the Macro Controls window. This view
gives you the ability to assign 3rd-party plug-in parameters to Macro Controls, and also provides some useful additional features for work-
ing with Macros.
The Macro Controls Mapping view shows three columns of information. The left column lists all available Macro Controls, and their cur-
rent assignments (if any). The right column shows all effects plug-ins that are currently inserted into the Channel. Expand any plug-in in
the list to show all assignable parameters for that plug-in. The central "Target" column is a place where Macro assignments can be made,
configured, or broken.
You can assign an unlimited number of parameters to the same Macro Control, each with its own range and polarity, to create powerful
“morphing controls”. As more parameters are assigned to a Macro Control, plus signs (+++) are added to the right of the default name in
the Title column. You can rename the Macro Control if you like; just double-click the name in the Title column.
The simplest way to map a parameter to a Macro is to simply drag the parameter from the right column onto the Macro Control of your
choice in the left column, or into the central Target column when a Macro Control is selected. You can also do this by selecting a Macro
Control and a parameter, and clicking the [Add Targets] button. Once assigned, the parameter of your choice is displayed in the Target
column.
To remove an assignment from a Macro Control, select the Macro in the left column, select the assignment you wish to remove in the Tar-
get column, and click the [Remove Targets] button.
This graph traces the response curve from the beginning of the macro control's travel (the draggable point on the left end of the curve) to
the end of its travel (the point on the right end), with a handle in the middle that you can drag to set the shape of the curve. Dragging these
points up and down the control scales on the left and right of the graph lets you set the effective range of motion for that Macro control.
For example, the whole range of a Macro knob could be set to affect just a quarter of a parameter's range, for fine-tuning purposes. You
can also move the right point below the left, reversing the action of the knob, according to whatever scale you wish.
Below the graph are buttons that let you Reset the graph to its default setting, Invert the shape of the curve, or Copy the curve setting and
Paste it onto another parameter.
Note that because Macro buttons are an on-off type of control, they have no curve setting. However clicking in the Trans column next to a
button assignment inverts its response, causing the parameter to be enabled when the Macro button looks disabled, and vice-versa.
Normally, if you add multiple effects to a Channel, they are connected in series; the output of the first effect feeds into the second effect,
which feeds into the third, and so on. If you open the Routing view in the Channel Editor for a Channel with multiple effects, this is what
you'll see.
Each effect in the Routing view is displayed as a module. When they're in series, a line runs through them from top to bottom, signifying
the path of the signal as it runs through the modules. The signal starts at the top, and flows through the effects, to the bottom.
You can click on an effects module to select it. If a selected effect is a built-in plug-in, a selection of the plug-in controls are displayed in
the inspector to the left. You can load patches for the effect from this inspector, as well as set a color for the selected effects module, by
clicking the color picker to the left of the effect's name in the inspector.
Each module in the Routing view has a Bypass button, as well as a drop-down menu that offers the following operations:
l Edit Opens the editor window for the selected plug-in.
l Rename Lets you rename the selected effect.
l Remove Removes the selected effect from the Channel.
The Splitter module lets you split signals, letting you process them through multiple parallel effects paths. These split signals are then
mixed back into a single signal. You can add a Splitter to your effects setup by clicking-and-dragging from the [Splitter] button to your
choice of location in the Routing view.
You can click on a Splitter to select it, and its options are shown in the inspector to the left. The following options are available:
l Splits Lets you specify the number of independent paths to split the signal into.
l Mute Output Click the boxes to mute and unmute individual split paths.
l Levels Lets you set the output level of each split path, from fully off (-∞ dB) to +10 dB. To set the level of a split path, simply
move the corresponding slider, or click its numerical dB display to enter a value with your computer keyboard. Split path levels
can also be adjusted in the Routing view. Click-and-drag the small fader icon on your chosen path to set its output level, or click
in the corresponding numerical display to enter a value in dB.
l Split Mode Select the Splitter mode that suits your needs, from the following choices:
l Normal Splits the signal into two or more identical copies. This is useful for any sort of parallel processing, such as
"New York" compression or vocal multiprocessing.
l Channel Split Splits multichannel signals into pairs of mono signals, for independent processing of left and right chan-
nel information. (E.g. With two splits, this turns a stereo signal into a pair of left/right mono signals. With four splits, you
get two sets of left-right mono signals.
l Frequency Split Splits a signal into isolated bands of frequencies, at the frequencies you specify. With two splits, the
signal is crossed-over into two frequency bands, split at a single frequency. With three splits, there are three bands, split
at two crossover frequencies, and so on. When more than one frequency split is employed, The splits are numbered
from low frequency to high.
Much like you can move effects modules into different places in the signal chain, you can move Splitter modules to the position of your
choice, as well as freely move effects into and out of each split path. To remove a Splitter module, click its triangle to open the pop-up
menu and choose Remove. If you remove a splitter module that has effects inserted within its split signals, those effects are reconnected
in series.
Splitter effects chains are compensated for plug-in delay automatically, retaining the proper time relationship between all split channels.
Groups
As discussed in the Edit Groups section of the Editing chapter, it is possible to group multiple Tracks together so that any edits done to
an Event on one Track in the Group are automatically done to all Events for all Tracks in the Group. These same Edit Groups affect how
their related Channel faders behave in the Console.
Groups 324
Create or Dissolve a Group in the Console
To create a Group in the Console, select the desired Channels and then [Right]/[Ctrl]-click and select Group Selected Tracks from the
pop-up menu. Or you can use the shortcut: Select the Channels and then use [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+G to create a Group. Groups can be nested:
two Channels can be part of a smaller Group and also part of a Group with more Channels.
To dissolve (ungroup) the grouped Channels, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on any Channel in the Group and select Dissolve Group from the pop-up
menu. There's also a shortcut for this: After selecting one the grouped Channels, use [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+Shift+G to dissolve the Group.
When an Audio Channel is in a Group, the Group icon appears inside the Channel above the level meter. Note that the Group icon is not
visible when the Console view is in Narrow mode.
Show Groups
When the Track / Channel List is open you can view the list of Groups by clicking the Show Groups button. You can temporarily suspend
a Group from this list by clicking the dot next to its name. You can also suspend all Groups by clicking the bracketed Groups icon in the
upper left corner of the Group list.
Groups 325
Nested Groups
Channels can be part of a smaller Group and also part of a larger Group that includes those Channels. In this case the Groups have been
nested. Note that in order to make adjustments to the smaller, nested Group, the larger Group must be temporarily suspended.
Group Attributes
You can specify which controls within a Group will be affected by the other Channels. Features that can be included or excluded from a
Group are Editing, Volume, Pan, Mute / Solo, Record / Monitor, Inserts, and Sends. For example, if you want to disable linked panning of
all of the grouped Channels at the same time, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Group name in the list of Groups and disable Pan. The relative stereo
positions of the Channels in the Group are maintained when the Pan control for one of the grouped Channels is moved.
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Groups and Effects
The first time Channels are grouped they keep the individual effects settings and assignments they had. But changes that are made to
the effects of any grouped Channel will cause all of the Channels within the Group to adopt the same changes. Note that this does not
add the new effects to the ones already on the Channels; those will be replaced.
For example, if a new Insert preset is selected for one Channel within a Group, that same preset will be selected for the rest of the Group.
Any changes made to the Sends of a grouped Channel will affect the entire Group also.
If you want to change the effects settings for one of the grouped Channels without affecting the others you can suspend the Group tem-
porarily. You can also specify that the Inserts and the Sends not be affected by other actions within a Group. To ungroup those actions,
disable them in the Group Attributes window.
Scenes
Scenes provide an easy way to save and recall different configurations of Channels and Tracks, as well as different settings. For
example, let's say you want to audition different FX for the drum Channels: you can create a Scene called "Drums", make as many
changes as you like, save those as another Scene, and then go back and forth between them to see which you prefer.
Recalling a Scene shows the desired Channels and Tracks and hides all of the others, which makes it easier to focus on those items.
You can specify which portions of a Scene are recalled, and for which Channels, etc.
Additionally, Automation data is saved and recalled for the corresponding parameters if checked:
l Volume: restores Volume automation
l Pan: restores Pan automation
l Mute: restores Mute automation
l Inserts: restores Plug-in automation of Insert effect parameters
Any number of Scenes can be saved and recalled within each Song. They also can be saved as part of a Song Template.
Scenes 327
Click the Show Scenes button in the Console navigation column to access the Scenes list and Recall Options.
To save the current set of Channels and Tracks as a Scene, click the Plus button at the top of the Scenes window. You can give the
Scene a unique name to help you remember its contents.
To recall a Scene, double-click its name in the Scenes list. Alternatively, use [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[S] to open a dialog box, then type the
Scene name or number. This method works whether the Scenes list is open or not.
Recall options
All of the Track and Console settings are stored when you Add or Update a Scene. But you can use the Recall Options menu to specify
which aspects of a Scene are recalled. For example, if you want to retain the current Volume setting for the Channels when another
Scene is recalled, disable Volume in the Recall Options menu.
l Visibility Disabling this option allows you to compare the settings of two Scenes without changing what is displayed in the
Arrange view and the Console. When it is enabled, the Channels and Tracks are shown/hidden according to the Scene settings.
l Volume This option allows the Volume settings to change when a Scene is recalled. Disable it to prevent these changes.
l Pan This option allows the Pan settings to change when a Scene is recalled. Disable it to prevent these changes.
l Mute This option allows the status of the Mute buttons to change when a Scene is recalled. Disable it to prevent these changes.
l InsertsThis option allows the status, contents, and settings of the Insert effects to change when a Scene is recalled. Disable it to
prevent these changes.
l Sends This option allows the status, contents, and levels of the Send effects to change when a Scene is recalled, including the
Prefader On/Off settings. Disable it to prevent these changes.
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l Cue Mix This option allows the status and levels of the Cue mixes to change when a Scene is recalled. Disable it to prevent
these changes.
l Input Controls This option allows the Input Gain and Polarity of the Input Channels to change when a Scene is recalled. Dis-
able it to prevent these changes. The Recall Input Channels option must also be enabled for the changes to be applied.
l Selected Channels only This option allows you to specify which Channels are modified when a different Scene is recalled. Dis-
able it to allow all Channels to be changed.
l Recall Input Channels Enable this option to recall the settings for the Input Channels (Input Gain and Polarity). The Input Con-
trols option must also be enabled for the changes to be applied.
l Recall Output Channels Enable this option to recall the level settings for the Output Channels, including the Main Out Channel
or the Listen Bus.
Scene management
[Right]/[Ctrl]+[Click] one of the Scenes to reveal a menu with the first four options, or click the down arrow next to the [+] symbol inside
the Scenes menu to view all five.
l Recall Scene This option recalls the selected Scene.
l Rename Scene... Use this option to rename the selected Scene.
l Update Scene This option replaces the settings of the selected Scene with the current settings.
l Remove Scene Use this option to remove the selected Scene from the list of Scenes.
l Remove Scenes To remove two or more Scenes at the same time, hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] + click to select the desired Scenes, or use
[Ctrl]/[Cmd] + [A] to select them all. Then select Remove Scenes from the menu to remove the selected Scenes.
VCA Channels
Once you've written some automation moves for your VCA Channel, you may decide that you want those changes to be permanently
applied to the automation for the Tracks controlled by the VCA. To do so, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the VCA Fader Track in the Edit view, and
choose "Merge VCA Automation" from the pop-up menu. This merges the VCA automation with the extant automation on each affected
Track, and returns the VCA automation lane to its default state, for easy manual control.
Two Metering Mode menus are available: one for the Output Channels and another one for the other Console Channels. Use [Right]/
[Ctrl]-click to access the Metering Mode menu for the desired set of Channels. Note that the Pre-Fader Metering setting is applied glob-
ally to all meters, including the Output Channels. Changing that setting in one menu will change it automatically in the other menu.
The menu for most of the Console Channel Types allows a choice between Peak or Peak/RMS metering modes. The selection will be
applied to all Channels in the Console except the Output Channels.
Peak meters are not available for the Output Channels, which feature Peak/RMS metering with K-System Metering options.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click on any meter to adjust the Peak Hold and Hold Length settings globally for all Channels.
Peak Meters
Peak meters measure the instantaneous audio level from moment to moment at a very fast resolution and display the highest output
level at any instant. These meters help ascertain the relationship between a given audio level and other audio levels in the mix. Many
effects plug-ins feature peak meters at the input and output so that any level attenuation the effect imparts on the audio signal can be
seen.
Peak/RMS Meters
Peak/RMS meters simultaneously show both peak and RMS levels. Whereas a peak meter shows the highest output level at any instant,
an RMS meter shows an average of the peaks and troughs of an audio signal over time. An RMS meter is intended to indicate the per-
ceived loudness of the audio being measured by functioning in a way similar to the human ear and is therefore often used as a true meas-
ure of perceived loudness.
Pre-Fader Metering
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click on any meter to access the menu and enable or disable Pre-Fader Metering. When it is enabled the level meters show
levels independent of fader position. When it is disabled the level meters respond to fader position. This is known as Post-Fader Meter-
ing. The selection you make will be applied globally to all Channels, including the Output Channels.
Metering 334
Main Out Clip Counter
The Main Out Channel features a Clip Counter above its Peak/RMS meter.
The counter turns red when the Main Out signal clips and counts the total number of clips that occur. Use the counter to help prevent clip-
ping the final stereo mix of your Song. The counter resets when clicked or when the Main Out fader is adjusted.
K-System Metering
The Peak/RMS meters in the Output Channels also feature K-System metering options. The K-System is an integrated metering system
tied to monitoring gain, and it is intended to standardize the levels at which sound is mixed and mastered. This metering system features
three different meter scales called K-20, K-14, and K-12. These three scales are meant to be used with different types of audio pro-
duction and have been described by K-System inventor Bob Katz in his Audio Engineering Society technical paper “An Integrated
Approach to Metering, Monitoring, and Leveling Practices.” Katz wrote:
“The K-20 meter is for use with wide-dynamic-range material, e.g., large theater mixes, ‘daring home theater’ mixes, audiophile music,
classical (symphonic) music, hopefully future ‘audiophile’ pop music mixed in 5.1, and so on. The K-14 meter is for the vast majority of
high-fidelity productions for the home, e.g., home theater and pop music (which includes the wide variety of moderately compressed
music, from folk music to hard rock). And the K-12 meter is for productions to be dedicated for broadcast.”
To switch to any K-System meter, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on an Output Channel meter and choose an option from the menu.
When using any of the three K-System scales, the 0 VU mark should be calibrated to 85 dB SPL from your monitors, which you should
measure with an SPL meter. For instance, playing back a -14 dBFS sine wave in Studio One Pro while using the K-14 scale causes the
meter to read 0 VU for both the peak and average levels, and your monitors should be adjusted so that the SPL meter at the listening pos-
ition reads 85 dB SPL.
Performance Monitor
You can open the Performance Monitor window by navigating to View/Performance monitor. This window displays the current total CPU
and disk usage, as well as specific usage data for Insert effects and Instruments. To open the editing window for an Insert or Instrument,
double-click its name. To deactivate an Insert or Instrument (to free up the associated RAM and CPU), click the check-box next to its
name. To activate a deactivated item, click the check-box again, or click the Activate button on the Insert or Instrument slot in the Con-
sole.
You can also activate/de-activate multiple plug-ins quickly by clicking a tickbox and dragging up or down the entire list.
Metering 335
The Cache section shows you the amount of audio data currently in the Audio Cache, with options to show its contents or clean up
unused items in the cache.
Inserting Markers
To insert a new Marker into the Marker Track, with playback running or stopped, click on the Add Marker button or press [Y] on the key-
board. Each new marker is numbered sequentially by default (1, 2, 3…). To insert a named Marker, press [Shift]+[Y], enter a name in the
pop-up window, and click [OK], or press [Enter]. To rename a Marker, double-click on it in the Marker Track, type in a new name, and
then press [Enter] on the keyboard. Note that, for clarity, the Start and End markers cannot be renamed.
Navigating Markers
You can quickly jump the playback cursor between Markers in the Marker Track. Click on the Previous Marker button in the Transport, or
press [Shift]+[B] on the keyboard, to jump to the previous Marker. Click on the Next Marker button in the Transport, or press [Shift]+[N] on
the keyboard, to jump to the next Marker.
Jumping between Markers during playback enables quick comparisons between sections of your Song. To jump to a specific marker,
hold [Ctrl]+[Alt]/[Option]+[M] and enter the Marker number in the Recall Marker window. You can also jump to up to seven different Mark-
ers from the Transport/Goto Marker menu.
Loop Length
To render the Loop Length in the Transport Bar (instead of the Start / End values,) simply click the Bracket icon (]) or right-click the loop
range values and choose Loop Length from the contextual menu.
With Loop Length selected, you are also able to choose the timebase for the Loop Length display. Choose from Seconds, Samples,
Bars, or Frames from the right-click contextual menu.
You can also manually move the Left and Right Locators by clicking and dragging them left or right in the Timeline Ruler. To move the
entire range of the loop along the timeline, click and drag the gray line that connects the Loop start and end locators.
To quickly enable or disable looping, double-click the gray line that connects the Loop start and end locators.
Mixing Down
In most cases, you’ll record multiple Tracks in a Song, but you'll need to mix these Tracks to a stereo format for distribution online, or on
CD or DVD. With Studio One Pro, this simply means saving your mix to a stereo file. For those interested in exporting stems rather than
creating a mixdown, see Export Stems from your Song . The following section will cover how to create a mixdown and the various mix-
down options available to you.
To create a mix of your Song in Studio One Pro, navigate to Song/Export Mixdown or press [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[E] on the keyboard to open the
Export Mixdown menu.
Location
The top section of the Export Mixdown menu is where you can select a location and name for the mix file. Click on the [...] button to
choose a file location. Click on the file name, type in a new name, and press [Enter] to choose a name for the file. Location defaults to the
Mixdown folder for your Song, but once you set a new mixdown location, Studio One Pro uses that location for further mixdowns until the
next time you close the Song. Mixdowns are titled "Mixdown" by default, but once you set a name, that name is used by default for any fur-
ther mixdowns of the current Song.
The Publishing menu lets you choose to send your mixdown to PreSonus Notion software (choose "Send to Notion"), upload it to PreSo-
nus Studio One Pro+, or upload it to a connected SoundCloud account (choose "Upload to SoundCloud"), once the mixdown is com-
pleted. For more information on working with Notion in combination with Studio One Pro, see this section. For more information on
working with SoundCloud, see SoundCloud Support. For more detailed information on uploading to Studio One Pro+ see Studio One
Pro+ Integration.
Formats
Available export formats include:
l Wave
l AIFF
l FLAC (16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer)
l CAF
l M4A
l Ogg Vorbis
l Opus
l MP3
Select the formats for your mix file in the bottom left section of the Export Mixdown menu, choosing the desired attributes for each. Attrib-
ute options will vary by format, but common options include sample rate and resolution. The MP3 and OGG Vorbis formats also offer an
Export Range
l Choose the Between Loop option to only export the range of your Song between the Left and Right Locators.
l Choose Between Song Start/End Marker to export the range of your Song between the Song Start and End Markers, as seen
in the Marker Track.
l Choosing Between Each Marker exports separate audio files for the range between each marker in the Song for each Track,
placing them in folders named after the markers.
l Choosing Between Selected Markers lets you choose a pair of Markers to export the range between. The duration of the range
to be exported is displayed in the Duration field. Note that when Between Each Marker is selected, the Duration field still shows
the full length of the Song, signifying the total length of audio to be exported rather than the length of any one section as dictated
by the Markers.
l Check Overlap and specify a duration if you would like to add an overlap to the exported range so you can create crossfades
between them later on.
Target Loudness
The target loudness and peak level requirements of popular online streaming music services vary significantly. Studio One Pro’s Target
Loudness Options can save you a great deal of time by optimizing your Tracks for the variety of requirements of these services—while
also ensuring that your mixes won’t be altered by the loudness algorithms employed by these services. Instead, you control how your
music will be reproduced. As it should be.
When using Adjust Loudness, your Tracks are analyzed during export, and loudness and true peak are matched to the selected settings.
Please note that if the dynamic range of the exported file is too big, it's possible to not hit the Target Loudness, since there may be a con-
flict between Loudness and Max True Peak. In these cases, Max True Peak always wins.
Simply tick the “Adjust Loudness” checkbox and select the preset for the intended platform of release.
Entering your own Max Loudness and Max True Peak settings will cause the Preset to jump to “Custom,” which will save these settings
for later use. The streaming service Presets like Apple Music and Spotify cannot be edited or saved.
Options
The bottom section of the Export Mixdown menu has several options that affect how the mix file is created:
l Choose an output from which the mix is to be created in the Output selection box. Only the Main Out appears in the list, by
default. If there are any Sub Outs in the Console, they appear in this list as well. Check Import to Track if you would like the mix
imported to a new Track in your Song.
l From the Speaker Format dropdown menu, choose the format you would like to export the mixdown to. You can choose
between Original, Mono, Stereo and Split Mono:
Song Meta-Information
Certain file formats, such as MP3, can contain additional information about the audio which is referred to as "meta-information". In the
Song/Song Setup/Meta Information menu, there are many fields of data that can be filled in for each Song. These fields are used to tag
audio files so that they are labeled correctly for playback in software and various media players. All audio files exported from a Song that
can contain meta-information are tagged with the meta-information supplied here.
At the bottom of the Meta Information menu, you can choose to display the Song’s meta-information when the Song is opened. The
information can also be viewed at any time by selecting Song Information from the Song menu. The Song Information window also con-
tains a Notes tab, in which you can type in any text information about the Song that may be useful later.
The meta-information displayed represents what listeners see in their media players when playing the Song. Displaying this info could
also be helpful in remembering aspects of the Song production later.
Meta-information filled in for any Song is automatically filled in for that Song when it is imported into a mastering Project. For more on
this, refer to the Meta-Information section in the Mastering chapter.
Some of the meta-information entered here also appears at the top of the Full Score and Single Track page layouts in Score view: the
Title of the Song, the Album name, and the Songwriter/Composer. If those items are edited in Score view, they are also changed in the
Song/Song Setup/Meta Information menu. For more information, see The Score Editor chapter.
SoundCloud Support
When you're done mixing down, you can upload your sounds to SoundCloud, a web-based music sharing service, directly from Studio
One Pro. You can also download sounds from SoundCloud (when available) directly into Studio One Pro.
To upload a new mixdown to a connected SoundCloud account as soon as it is created, choose "Upload to SoundCloud" from the Pub-
lishing menu in the Export Mixdown window. The SoundCloud Client opens when the new mixdown is complete. In this dialog, you are
able to upload audio straight to SoundCloud, and set various SoundCloud-specific options as you do so. You can also access the
SoundCloud Client directly by navigating to Studio One Pro/SoundCloud Client.
You can find SoundCloud features in the Cloud tab in the Browser.
You can drag and drop audio from the SoundCloud locations listed here just as you would from any other file location, and audio is down-
loaded (if downloads are allowed for the chosen file) accordingly. You can even preview the audio in the Browser.
For instance, you might have a music partner creating beats for you, and he shares that audio directly with you through SoundCloud. You
would browse to that person's SoundCloud folder, listed under the SoundCloud heading in Cloud, and drag the desired audio into the
arrangement. A special Event is placed in the arrangement, and the Transfers menu opens to indicate the download’s progress. When
the download is complete, the waveform appears for the Event and you can proceed as you normally would with any audio material.
TuneCore Integration
PreSonus has partnered with the popular digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service, TuneCore, making the process of
music distribution as seamless as possible within StudioOne.
l Select “Add to Project” to send a mixdown of your Playlist directly to the Project Page
l Select “Add to Show” to do the same for the Show Page. Keep in mind this is a mixdown of the entire Playlist, not the Playlist
itself with its Cells and Scenes. The Show Page doesn’t have a Launcher. (Although you can use the existing Performance View
to “launch” Arranger Sections. If this is your aim, use “Insert Playlist into Song…”, then send the Song to the Show Page.
To export a Launcher Playlist, you must first enable the playlist from the Launcher playlist panel:
Once the playlist is enabled, the Launcher Playlist option will appear within the Export Range section of the Export window:
Mixing Suggestions
Before Mixing
The production work done before mixing has a great impact on the mixing process. Here are a few guidelines you may find helpful:
l Finish the arrangement of your Song before attempting to mix. The addition, deletion, and rearrangement of parts can change
the relationships between all of the parts in your Song, which affects the mix.
l If any part of your Song is problematic, it is unlikely to work well in a mix. The “fix it in the mix” approach usually leads to a lot of
wasted time, only to achieve poor results. Be sure you are pleased with the individual parts of your Song before attempting to
mix.
l Some parts of your Song might rely on a certain amount of mixing and effects processing to achieve the desired sound and char-
acter in the arrangement. It is very easy to let this type of “mixing” carry over into mixing the entire Song. If you find yourself work-
ing on many Tracks at once, you are probably mixing the Song, rather than a particular part.
l If your Song lacks personality, vibe, or feeling before you start mixing, it is unlikely to gain any of these subjective qualities during
mixdown. In this case, take the time to re-record certain parts, rearrange the Song, or even start over from scratch.
Mixing Workflow
While mixing requires an objective knowledge of many tools, the process is an art form. If you were to ask ten mix engineers to mix the
same Song, each mix would sound different. There are no step-by-step or “mix by numbers” instructions you can follow to achieve good
results. The following broad concepts may help guide you in the mixing process.
Balance
Mixing is largely about balance. The various elements in a mix are balanced with each other so that each element can be clearly heard
and contributes as desired to the overall mix. This entails using the faders to vary levels and equalizing sounds so that there is no “com-
petition” between elements with similar frequency content. There is a limited amount of space in the mix, based on individual energy
levels for each frequency in the audible spectrum and the relationships of the sounds within the stereo field.
A popular view on mixing maintains that auditory perception occurs within a three-dimensional space, wherein the principles of mixing
are highly visual. A number of variables determine how we perceive location, including frequency, phase, reflections, and relative amp-
litude (level).
Therefore, while mixing, various elements can be positioned in the 3-D listening space using faders, equalizers, ambient effects, and pan-
ning to achieve appropriate balance across the entire mix.
Surround
In Studio One Pro, “Surround” refers to multi-channel audio configurations that use traditional, channel-based panning to control the
placement of sounds within a multi-speaker array soundscape. Unlike Stereo or Mono channels with simple left-right panning, Surround
Channels feature a spherical panner for positioning a sound anywhere around a listener. A Song created in Surround will create a gen-
eric multi-channel audio file at its Output and on export.
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos is Dolby’s proprietary spatial audio format, first popularized in audio for cinema. A Song in Dolby Atmos format will feature
the Dolby Atmos Renderer within the Main Out Channel, which handles the final mix encoding.
Dolby Atmos Songs include three important concepts not found in Surround: Bed, Objects, and Metadata.
l A Bed is composed of multiple Channels utilizing traditional Surround Panners, just like the Channels in Surround, and serves
as the foundation of a spatial audio mix. Mono, stereo, and multi-channel sources up to 9.1.6 are mixed into a Bed in the Dolby
Atmos Renderer. The Dolby Atmos bed supports formats up to 7.1.6.
l Objects utilize the Object Panner to position a sound object in 3D space. Dolby Atmos allows for up to 118 Objects to be posi-
tioned in this manner. Objects are limited to mono and stereo sources and must be routed to the Main Output to be processed by
the Dolby Atmos Renderer. Objects cannot be sent to an LFE (Low Frequency Effects) output.
Binaural
A Binaural audio signal renders a spatial audio mix down to a two-channel mix in a way that conveys spatial audio imaging to head-
phones, without the need of a multi-speaker installation. This is accomplished through the Dolby Atmos Renderer that is discussed in
greater detail below.
Spatial Audio is supported in Studio One Pro’s Song Page, not on the Project or Show page.
Song setup
If you’ve created a new song from the Mix in Surround Template, your Song is already configured for Spatial Audio.
You can change the Spatial Audio configuration of a Song at any time by navigating to Song Setup > General > Spatial Audio.
From here you can configure your Spatial Audio Mode, Bed Format, Output Format, and Sample Rate.
Speaker mapping
Once you've created a new Song in Spatial Audio, you’ll need to map your speakers so that each speaker receives its appropriate output
signal from Studio One Pro.
To configure your speaker mapping, go to Song Setup > Audio I/O Setup > Outputs.
Click the field to the right of the Main Out listing to select the Main Output format to choose the option suitable for the intended format of
your Song. The default speaker mapping for your chosen format will populate the Outputs.
Here’s an example of typical speaker mapping for a 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos setup with two headphone outputs. Individual output channels
(such as L, C, R, etc.) can be dragged in this setup menu to route them to the desired audio interface outputs.
Input Mapping
To configure your input mapping, go to Song Setup > Audio I/O Setup > Outputs.
Studio One Pro supports multichannel input formats up to 9.1.6. You can use the drop-down field to the right of an input source to choose
the desired format, then drag the individual input channels ( L, C, R, etc.) to the desired interface inputs.
To easily customize Speaker File Mapping from multichannel Events (3 channels and above), [Right]/[Ctrl]-click onto an Audio Event and
click onto the display next to the “Speakers” option from the drop-down window.
You can also access the Speaker File Mapping window by clicking onto the wrench icon next to the “Speakers” option from the Event
Inspector.
The “Map Audio File Channels” window serves two purposes:
1. Confirm the speaker format: Most channel counts match to one known speaker format, but in some cases, the configuration may
need revision. For instance, "5.1.2” and "7.1" have the same channel count. In these situations, Studio One Pro uses the most
likely format and a “?” is displayed behind the format in the browser and the inspector. The Map Audio File Channels pop-up
editor enables you to define the correct speaker format. Once you press “Confirm,” the “?” beside the speaker configuration
format will disappear.
2. Remap Audio File Channels to Speakers: The mapper also allows you to define how the audio file channels are mapped to each
individual speaker. To remap the Audio File Channels, click and drag your Audio Files on the right side of the window up or down
until they are beside the speakers you wish to map them to.
Note: by default, the items are sorted by speakers. It is also possible to swap sides and sort the items by Audio File Channels. To do this,
click onto the two way arrow icon above the list of Audio File Channels items.
Tracks in Studio One Pro support mono, stereo, and multichannel content up to 9.1.6. You can set a Track Format when creating a new
Track, or change it at any time from the Track Configuration drop-down menu on the Track’s header.
Mono and stereo Tracks are indicated with single-circle or two-cirlce icons, respectively. Mono and Stereo format can be toggled with a
single click of this icon.
All other surround formats are indicated by the established speaker count convention of 5.1.2, 7.0, etc.
Tracks are covered in more detail in the Audio Tracks topic.
Surround Panner
The Surround Panner is responsible for positioning your Channels in a Surround setup or a Dolby Atmos bed. The top half of the panner
displays the horizontal speaker configuration and signal positioning. The bottom half displays the vertical. The human head graphic in the
center represents the position of a person listening to your music. We’ll call it “The Listener.”
Balance View
The Surround Panner’s Balance View provides additional control over Balance Amount and Direction and can be used to shift the com-
bined source signal horizontally in any direction. To access it, right-click the Channel Panner and select Balance View, or click the Bal-
ance button on the top right of the Surround Panner.
Click and drag the blue bubble to move it to the desired position around The Listener. Activate Snap and drag the bubble to the outermost
perimeter of the display to snap it to a single speaker.
Click the Snap button on the top right to auto-snap the Object to the nearest speaker. X,Y, Z, and Size values can all be entered manually
by double-clicking on their respective values.
Third-party Panners
Studio One Pro also supports third-party panner plug-ins. If you’ve got any installed, they will appear in the Channel panner Micro View’s
right-click menu. Please note that some third-party effects may display here that are not suitable for this purpose.
Any time a Send is routed to a surround FX or Bus Channel, the Send Panner is replaced with a Surround Panner. This allows for accur-
ate FX placement of any source. Note that the Channel and Send Panner formats need to match for the “Lock Pan to Channel” option to
work.
A send panner cannot be a Spatial Object panner.
The heart of Dolby Atmos is its renderer. It will be automatically added to its own special slot on the Console’s Main Output Channel if
Dolby Atmos is selected in the Song Setup Menu. All audio and pan information that is routed to the Main Output of the Console is pro-
cessed by the Dolby Atmos Renderer before being passed to your speakers and headphones. Click “Dolby Atmos” in the Main Output
channel to show/hide the renderer.
Each Player is associated with one or more mixer channels. Any number of Players in any combination can be part of a Show. The cur-
rent state of a Player can be saved into a Patch, including a complete snapshot of all instrument, plug-in and mixer settings.
l Macro Controls The Controls view is a powerful controller mapping environment. Any parameter of any Player instrument,
plug-in or mixer channel can be mapped to a set of up to 24 controls (knobs, faders, and/or buttons) in predefined con-
figurations. These controls are then mapped to knobs and buttons on a hardware controller such as the PreSonus FaderPort 8
or -16, the ATOM or ATOM SQ, or any other external MIDI controller.
l Mixer and Browser The Mixer is a streamlined version of the familiar Studio One Pro Console. The familiar Browser provides
access to instruments, effects, audio files and presets of any kind. These can be click-dragged into the Show and placed where
they are needed.
Show Management
Select a Show
To access the Show Page, select a Show from the Start page or the Studio One Pro toolbar. The drop-down menu in the toolbar contains
a list of existing Shows. If none exist yet, there are two ways to create a Show: Select New Show from the File menu, or create a Show
from a current Song.
Audio Import
If you have any audio files to import to your project, drag and drop them to the Drop Zone in the New Document window.
Import Mode
Use the Import Mode drop-down to set your imported audio to render as Setlists or Stems.
l Setlists will import each audio file as a separate Setlist Item.
l Stems will import all audio files into separate Backing Track Players under a single Setlist Item.
Click OK to create your new Show.
Show Templates
Show Templates — once you’ve created some — will be found in the User tab of the New Document window.
Create a Template
If you plan to use a Show setup more than once, it can be helpful to create a template. To do this, first create a new Empty Show. Next,
create and configure the basic Setlist, the Players, and add your favorite virtual instruments, effects, and any other aspects of the Show
that are your go-to solutions. Then select Save as Template in the File menu.
Type in a title and description, choose an icon image (512 x 512 pixels) or drag one onto the image icon, and click OK. Your template is
now one of the User templates available in the New Show window.
Replace a Template
If you'd like to replace an existing Show template with the current settings, navigate to File/Save As Template and select Replace Exist-
ing... at the bottom of the window. The Title, Description, and Icon of the older Template are loaded into the Save As Template window.
Click OK to overwrite this file.
Show Location
New Shows are saved to Studio One Pro/Options/Locations/User Data (macOS: Preferences/Locations/User Data). You can choose a
different folder by clicking on the [...] button in the New Show window and browsing to the preferred location.
Show Setup
Navigate to Studio One Pro/Options/Show Setup (macOS: Preferences/Show Setup) to access the Show Setup information and set-
tings. These include the General settings, Audio Input/Output settings, and the Meta Information for the Show.
The Setlist
The Setlist is where you decide the order for the songs, musical cues, and/or patch performances that make up a Show. Each entry in the
Setlist is called a Setlist Item. They are named automatically as they are added ("Item 1", "Item 2", etc.). You can rename each Setlist
Item, assign it a color, and set it to one of three playback modes (Continue, Stop at End, or Loop). Setlist Items can be reordered with
simple drag & drop.
The view size can be set to Small or Normal for all Setlist Items, using the buttons between the Items and the Setlist Inspector. When set
to Normal, the Item length and BPM are also displayed.
The Setlist Inspector is located at the bottom of the Setlist window. It shows specific information about the selected Item, which can also
be edited here.
You can give each Show a unique identity by adding the name of an Artist and Venue at the top of the Setlist window. It's also possible to
add a logo or some other image below the Venue name. The maximum image size is 1400 x 1400 pixels, and the image you select is
automatically scaled to fit. Alternative versions of a Setlist can be made by saving a new version of a Show (File/Save New Version), just
as you would save alternate versions of Songs or Projects.
Setlist Inspector
The Setlist Inspector shows specific information about the selected Item. You can also change that information here.
l Color can be changed by clicking the color field to the left of the Item name.
l Name can be changed by double-clicking the field and adding text.
l Playback Mode can be set by clicking on the icon or the current Mode name and selecting the desired option.
l Start shows the start time of the Item in hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. An Item can begin at the precise moment
you enter here. When running a Show synced to an External MIDI Device via MTC, the start timecode will be the offset at which
a Setlist Item will start playback. The Pause time is adjusted automatically.
l Length can be entered for an Item. Shorter values end file playback earlier; longer values leave a gap until the next Item. We
recommend using the Pause parameter to create a gap, though (see below).
l Tempo can be entered here. This affects the Metronome click, but it does not affect the length or playback speed of an Item.
l Pause can be used to place a gap between the selected Item and the previous one. The pause can be as little as 0.001 seconds
and as much as 30 minutes. A Pause is recognized instantly in the Overview, since it leaves a gap between Items.
l Time Signature can be entered for informational purposes.
l Key Signature can be set using the familiar pop-up selector; simply click and select the key for the current Item.
Patch Menu
Each Player in the Players column has a drop-down menu with the following options:
l Patch list If you have saved Patches for this Player they appear at the top of the menu. To reselect "None" for the Default Patch,
use the Reset Default Patch option described below.
l Default Patch tells you which Patch is the current default for the Player. The default Patch is automatically applied to all slots in
the Player lane. You can select a different Patch for each Item using the menu for that slot.
l Set (Patch name) as Default Patch sets the current Patch as the default for the Player.
Add a Player
Click the at the top of the Players column to add a Player to the Show. Each Add Player window type has slightly different options, but
they are similar to what you see when adding a Track.
l The options for the Backing Track and Real Instrument Players are similar to the ones you see when Creating an Audio Track:
l Name Click here and type in a name for the new Player.
l Count Choose the number of Players you would like to create.
l Color Choose a color.
l Auto-Color Check this box if you would like your Players auto-colored.
l Preset Choose an FX Chain to be pre-loaded on the Players.
l Input Assign an audio Input to the new Player(s). When creating multiple Players, you can engage the Ascending
option to assign Inputs to each Player in ascending order (Player 1, Input 1, Player 2, Input 2, etc.).
l Output Assign an audio Output to the new Player(s). When creating multiple Players, you can engage the Ascending
option to assign Outputs to each Player in ascending order (Player 1, Output 1, Player 2, Output 2, etc.).
Patches
The current state of a Player can be saved into a Patch, including a complete snapshot of all instrument, plug-in and mixer settings.
There are two ways to save a Patch:
l All views [Right]/[Ctrl]-click and select Save Patch... from the menu.
l
Medium / Large views You can also click to open the Save Patch window.
You can create Patches for Virtual Instrument, Real Instrument, or Backing Track Players by dragging and dropping Instrument Presets,
Effects Presets, or Effects Chains from the Browser to your lane.
l Dragging a single virtual instrument Preset from the Browser to a Patch slot of a Virtual Instrument Player adds the instrument,
selects the Preset, and creates a new Patch with the same name.
l Dragging an Ampire preset from the Browser to a Patch slot of a Real Instrument or Backing Track Player adds the plug-in,
selects the Preset, and creates a new Patch with the same name.
l Dragging a complete FX Chain to a Patch slot of a Real Instrument or Backing Track Player adds all of the plug-ins, and their set-
tings, and creates a new Patch with the same name.
Patch Automation
As stated previously, each slot in a Virtual or Real Instrument Player lane can hold one Patch. Having Read mode enabled for a Player
means that when a Setlist Item is activated, either manually or during playback, the Patches that were assigned to each slot for that
Player lane are recalled. If Patch Automation is disabled (i.e., set to Auto: Off), Patches are not recalled unless they are selected from the
Patch menu or from the Patch List in Performance Mode.
Because an entire instance of a virtual instrument or effect is created for every Preset you place in an Arranger section, transitions from
one Preset to another across Arranger sections will result in non-audible, seamless patch changes.
l Overview Select this button to display the Overview window. This reveals the Setlist Items and their locations on the timeline,
with a lane for every Player in the Show. This is the view where Patches can be assigned to a Player for each Setlist Item.
l Controls This opens the page where you can select the control configuration and assign the Macro Controls you want to use
during the Performance. Details are in the Controls View section.
l Macro This button opens the Macro Toolbar. From the Macro Toolbar, you have easy access to often-used functions and cus-
tom command combinations.
l Snap When Snap is engaged, the current Snap setting is applied as you adjust the Loop range or the size of a Setlist Item.
l Toggle Snap Press [N] to toggle Snap mode on and off.
l Autoscroll This determines if the Overview window follows the playback cursor. Click this button or press the [F] key to toggle
Autoscroll on and off.
l Info View Click the question mark icon to open the Info View bar. It shows which options are available depending on where you
hover the cursor.
l Perform takes you to Performance View. You can also use [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Enter], where “Enter” is the Enter key on an extended
keyboard.
The Overview displays the Setlist Items in vertical columns and the Players in horizontal lanes. The columns and lanes are color-
coded: the columns are outlined by the Item color, and the lanes are filled with the Player color.
Item Columns
The head of a column shows the Item name, its Playback Mode, as well as the time signature and tempo for the Item. Each of these is
described in the Setlist section. Note that the Item name and Playback Mode can be changed here (see context menu section below),
Click-and-drag the right edge of the column head to the left or right to change the Setlist Item length. A small window appears while drag-
ging the right edge to show the Item length.
Note that you can change the size of the Players with the buttons at the bottom of the Players list.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-click the head of an Item column to open a contextual menu. From this window you are able to select the Item color, change
its Playback Mode, or Add, Duplicate, Remove or Disable the Setlist Item. The changes made here are also made in the Setlist.
Player Lanes
The intersection between a column and a lane is called a "slot".
Chord Track
Chord track is available per Setlist item (column) on the Show Page. Chord Track is automatically included with any Song imported to the
Show Page.
To show or hide the Chord Track, click this button ( ) above the Players list.
Chord Track functionality in the Show Page is display-only, intended as a helpful visual chord reference for musicians to follow live in Per-
formance View that displays the current and next Chord. Unlike in the Song Page, the Show Page’s Chord Track will not pitch-manip-
ulate musical information in Backing Track, Real Instrument, or Virtual Instrument Players.
Lyrics Track
Lyrics Track is available for Lyrics editing and display for any Setlist Item on the Show Page. ideal for audience participation. You can
even move the Lyrics Display to a separate monitor to act as an automated teleprompter!
Enter Lyrics directly into the Global Track or via the Lyrics Display , just like in the Song Page.
To show or hide the Lyrics Track, click this button ( ) above the Players list.
Global Lyric Track content is automatically included with any Song imported via the “Add to Show” command on the Song Page. Lyrics
created in the Lyrics Lane of the Note Editor for specific Instrument Tracks are ignored.
The Show Page also supports Lyrics Display, which can be accessed from View > Lyrics.
See the main section on Lyrics Track for more information.
Arranger Track
Arranger track is available per Setlist item (column) on the Show Page. Arranger Track is automatically included with any Song imported
to the Show Page—or you can set up a new Arranger Track from scratch.
Simply [Double-click] on your Arranger Track to create a new Section. Right-clicking a Section will bring up a contextual menu where you
can change a section’s color, loop behavior, and more. For more information on editing the Arranger Track in the Song page, click here.
To show or hide the Arranger Track, click this button, above the Players list.
As in the Song Page, The Show Page’s Arranger Track allows you to create verse/chorus-style arrangements in your Player Events,
while also providing the following functionality:
Patch changes can be assigned coincident with Arranger Track sections. This allows for virtual instrument patch changes to auto-
matically occur, for example, at the transition point from a chorus to an outro. When double-clicking the Arranger Track to create a new
Arranger section, Players will receive a drop-down menu within the slot, aligned to the new Arranger Track section, to select a Patch. You
can also use this option to automate effects Patch changes on Real Instrument Players, or selectively Mute backing tracks. Note that
Patch Automation must be set to “Read” in your Players for these changes to take effect.
The Show Page allows you to trigger Arranger sections manually during performance, jumping your playback to any section of the
Arranger Track with musical timing and without breaking rhythm. This is ideal for improvising new song arrangements on-the-fly during
live performance! If you discover that the chorus of your new song is a hit during your live show, now you can choose to double it live.
Simply double-click an Arranger Track Section to prompt a jump to it. A triangular “pending jump marker” will appear at the head of the
Arranger Track Section to indicate that it is the next to play. The timing of the jump will adhere to the Sync Mode option setting chosen in
the Setlist inspector.
Performance overrides
Additional useful performance override commands are also available during playback. Most of these can be triggered by a user-defined
keyboard shortcut or via Studio One Pro Remote.
l Jump immediately, bypassing sync: [OPTION + Double-click]
l Toggle Section Playback Mode Loop/Continue [User-definable]
l Stop at end of Section [User-definable]
l Stop at end of Bar [User-definable]
Playback Modes allow you to set automated loop points in each Arranger track section. These can be used to repeat individual Arranger
sections indefinitely, or a specified number of times, before playback proceeds to the following section.
Show Controls
The Controls view lets you map the parameters of any Player instrument, plug-in or mixer channel to a set of up to 24 controls (knobs,
faders, and/or buttons), which are available in four predefined configurations. These controls then can be mapped to similar controls on a
hardware controller such as the PreSonus FaderPort 8 or -16, the ATOM or ATOM SQ, or any other external MIDI controller.
Select a Configuration
The four buttons at the top of the Controls view window are used to select a configuration. From left to right the configurations are 8 But-
tons + 8 Knobs + 8 Faders, 16 Knobs, 16 Faders, and 16 Buttons. Select one of these configurations to use it in the current Show.
The arrow opens a window so you can preview the configurations. Up to 16 of the controls you see can be assigned to control multiple
parameters. These customized Macro Controls play a prominent role in the Performance View.
This configuration shows 8 of each type of control (Knobs, Faders, and Buttons). Choose up to 16 of those controls and assign them as
needed. Their individual behaviors can be adjusted in the "Trans." area of the Targets column.
Configuration 2: Knobs
This configuration shows 16 assignable knobs. You can assign them as needed. Their individual response curves can be shaped in the
"Trans." area of the Targets column.
This configuration shows 16 assignable faders. You can assign them as needed. Their individual response curves can be shaped in the
"Trans." area of the Targets column.
Configuration 4: Buttons
This configuration shows 16 assignable buttons. You can assign them as needed to toggle parameters on and off. Their performance
can be inverted by selecting that behavior in the "Trans." area of the Targets column.
Add/Remove Targets
The simplest way to map a parameter to a Macro is to drag the parameter from the right column onto the Macro Control of your choice in
the left column, or into the central Target column when a Macro Control is selected. You can also do this by selecting a Macro Control
and a parameter, and clicking the [Add Targets] button. Alternatively, you can drag the parameter directly onto a Macro Control in the Pre-
view window. However you do it, once the assignment is made, the parameter of your choice is displayed in the Target column.
To remove an assignment from a Macro Control, select the Macro in the left column, select the assignment you wish to remove in the Tar-
get column, and click the [Remove Targets] button.
Transform Window
You can shape the relationship between the movement of a Macro Control and the settings of its assigned parameters quite extensively.
With a Macro Control selected in the left column of the Macro Controls Mapping view, the current mappings for that control are displayed
in the Target column. Next to the name of each parameter is a button that gives you access to the control transform settings.
Control Link
Click the Control Link button to enable or disable the connection to your controller. Click the arrow above the button to open a menu of
available controllers and make a selection. For more details on how to map a hardware controller, see the Control Link chapter.
Performance View
The Setlist
Most Shows revolve around a Setlist, so we made it easy to find by placing it in a drop-down menu on the top left The Setlist Items are lis-
ted from top to bottom.
If your Setlist has multiple Setlist Items, you can select them directly from the list in Performance View. After selecting a Setlist Item from
the Setlist, you can then use the up and down arrows on your computer keyboard to move through the Setlist.
As each Setlist Item is selected, it triggers the Patches on all the Players to change their sounds and mix snapshots. If no backing tracks
are used, this is the way to navigate the Setlist (instead of using the transport controls). You can also select Patches manually. If you
don't want Patches to change automatically at all, just set the Patch Automation of the respective Players to Off. This is done inside the
Players Column in the Show page edit view.
Note that automatic Patch selection is also affected by the "None" and "Mute" settings for each Player in each Setlist Item. For more
information about this, see Patch Selection per Slot.
Transport
The transport provides three buttons: Stop, Play, and Loop/Continue. You can also use the spacebar on your computer keyboard to start
and stop playback.
l Loop/Continue affects playback behavior of the current arranger section.
l Continue will direct the Show to play on to the next section.
l The Loop function will Loop the current Arranger section until Loop/Continue is clicked again or the playback is stopped. This is
a temporary override that will not change your Show’s original settings. Clicking it changes the Sync Mode of the currently play-
ing section for a single section; it returns to the original setting when the next section plays.
Utility Buttons
The two buttons at the bottom right of Performance View are there to help you to manage the unexpected.
l The Mute button mutes all output from all Players.
l Use the All Notes Off button if you get a stuck note on one of your MIDI instruments.
Level Meter
Performance View provides a level meter that stretches vertically almost the entire height of the screen. It shows the combined output of
all Players at any given moment during the show.
The default view for Performance View; it contains all of the knob, fader, and button controls currently mapped to your Player instru-
ments, plug-ins, and console controls.
Performance Controls
The majority of the Controls View is occupied by huge, color-coded controls that are visible from across the stage. You can adjust the
controls with your mouse as needed, but it's much faster with a controller like the PreSonus FaderPort 16 or a controller keyboard.
As in the Show page edit view, you can double-click the name field under a control to rename it. Double-click the value field under a con-
trol to enter a specific value. You can also click-drag knobs or faders to change their values, and you can click inside a fader to jump to a
value. The status of a button can be toggled by a click.
If you’re looking for more information on setting up your Controls, visit Show Controls.
Patches view gives you ready, one-click activation of any of the Patches you’ve set up in the Show Page for both real and virtual instru-
ments via a simple, easy-to-read button interface. Use this View to make live changes to your instrument presets, mute status, and more
during a show. Patches can be used to control your Console settings as well.
Note that the Patch buttons displayed in Patches View are Player-dependent; to change the group of Patches displayed, choose the
desired Player from the drop-down menu on the top right. Then, simply click on the desired Patch to activate.
Note that regardless of which Player you’ve chosen to navigate on the Patches View, you will always find a button here for the handy
Mute setting.
For more on setting up your Show’s Patches, read up on Players and Patches.
Sections View allows you rearrange a Setlist Item live. You may find during a live performance that your audience really likes the new
chorus you wrote. With live arranging via Sections View, you can choose to double that hit chorus on the fly.
The Sections displayed here are populated by a Setlist Item’s Arranger Track—note that any Songs brought into the Show page will have
their Arranger Tracks brought with them.
Single-Click a Section to schedule a jump to it. The Section will receive a jump indicator icon at the far left of its position in the Arranger
Track in anticipation of the jump.
The jump will occur based on the Sync Mode chosen for the Section in the Show Page Edit View: Off, 1 Bar, 2 Bars, 4 Bars, or End (For
more on these Sync Modes, visit Arranger Track).
Don’t forget that if you decide to change a Sync Mode setting while running a Show in Performance View, you can go back to the Show
Page Edit View by clicking the X on the top right or pressing [ESC]. The Show won’t stop, and you can make the necessary changes and
then re-enter Performance View. You can also use the Loop/Continue button.
Once an Arranger section is playing, it will adhere to the rules of its Playback Mode, as set in the Show Page Edit View:
l Continue: Section playback proceeds normally to the next Section.
l Stop at End: Playback stops at section end (be careful with this setting in live performance!)
l Loop: Section loops indefinitely.
l Loop And Continue: Section loops X times before proceeding to the next section. X can be specified in the Show Page Edit
View.
l Skip: Section will play normally when clicked in Sections View, but will be otherwise bypassed. The icon for Sections set to
“Skip” are greyed out in Sections View to reflect this behavior.
Lyrics View makes it easy to display the Lyrics of the currently-playing Setlist Item in teleprompter-style, suitable for reminding your
band/choir of the current song’s lyrics. Lyrics View can be displayed on a separate monitor and in Studio One Pro Remote.
The familiar appearance features available in Lyrics Display are available in Lyrics View as well. From the Lyrics Display settings, the
font size, color and alignment are freely customizable, as well as the read-ahead timer, measured in quarter notes. You can also enlarge
the size of current text by selecting the “Enlarge current text” option. Click onto the boxes next to the previous, current or next text options
to customize the text display colors.
Performance overrides
Additional useful performance override commands are also available during playback. Most of these can be triggered by a user-defined
keyboard shortcut or via Studio One Pro Remote.
l Jump immediately, bypassing sync: [Double-click a Section button]
l Toggle Section Playback Mode Loop/Continue: [User-definable]
l Stop at end of Section: [User-definable]
l Stop at end of Bar: [User-definable]
We’re really excited to see what you come up with using Sections view and live arranging!
What is Automation?
Automation lets you record changes in parameter values; thereafter, Studio One Pro can perform these value changes for you. For
instance, you can record level changes in a Track by capturing your fader movements during playback; from then on, Studio One Pro can
perform the level changes.
Before the advent of automation, mixing was very much a performance. Sometimes it took many pairs of hands on the mixing console to
accomplish all of the fader, mute, solo, and other movements to achieve a mix. Automation makes it possible to record the mixing per-
formance in any way you desire and endlessly tweak every parameter until the desired mix is achieved.
In Studio One Pro, automation is recorded in automation envelopes, which are a series of data points connected by lines that represent
the changing values of the parameter being automated.
Automation Types
Nearly every parameter in Studio One Pro can be automated. Several ways to automate parameters are provided, including Track auto-
mation, Automation Tracks, and Part automation. The following sections describe these automation types.
Track Automation
Track automation allows you to automate any parameter related to an Audio or Instrument Track and the Events it contains. Automation
can be viewed via the Show Automation button at the top of the Track Column in the Arrange view or by [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking on a Track
and selecting Expand Envelopes. Note that for Instrument Tracks (which do not have automation enabled on any parameters by default),
Expand Envelopes does not show automation unless one or more parameters have been enabled for automation.
Note that automation envelopes on Instrument Tracks control the parameters of the virtual instrument to which the Instrument Track is
routed. All other aspects of Instrument Track automation envelopes work in the same way as with Audio Track automation.
To view automation envelopes one at a time, superimposed on top of Events on the Track, Press [A] on the keyboard or click on the
Show Automation button at the top of the Track column in the Arrange view. With this engaged, the Track column of the Arrange view
changes to reveal automation parameters, including an On/Off button, the parameter name for the currently shown Envelope, and auto-
mation mode selection.
Click on the Automation Parameter display, which is labeled “Display: Off” by default, to reveal the available automation envelopes for a
Track (“Display: Off” indicates that the Events on the Track are displayed, instead of an automation envelope). Volume and Pan auto-
mation envelopes are available by default on every Audio Track. Select a parameter from the list to view and edit the automation envel-
ope, or click on Add/Remove to open the Automation dialog for the Track.
Automation 395
Automation Envelopes In Lanes
To view multiple automation envelopes at once, with each in a lane under the Track, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on a Track and select Expand
Envelopes. Alternatively, you can click the drop-down arrows for a Track in the Track List to expose its automation envelopes in the same
way. To hide the automation envelopes, deselect Expand Envelopes in the Track contextual menu.
Automation Tracks
Studio One Pro features a Track type dedicated to automation that only contains automation envelopes. An Automation Track can con-
tain automation envelopes related to any Track and any plug-ins. To add an Automation Track, press [T] on the keyboard to open the
Add Track dialog, and select Automation. Note that at least one envelope on Automation Tracks is always visible, and the envelopes can
be viewed on the Track itself or in lanes, just as with the other Track types.
Arrow Tool
Editing an automation envelope with the Arrow tool lets you add new points to the envelope, move existing points, and select and delete
existing points. Be sure to select the Arrow tool in the Arrange view before attempting the following processes.
Paint Tool
Editing an automation envelope with the Paint tool allows you to draw many automation points with a single move of the mouse, effect-
ively painting an envelope. However, a single click with the Paint tool adds a single point. The paint tool offers various automation editing
options to fit a wide range of applications:
With your cursor over the Paint tool, scroll the mouse wheel to reveal several figure-drawing tools, including Freehand, Line, Parabola,
Square, Triangle, Saw, and Sine waveform tools. With any of these tools selected, click-and-drag on any automation envelope to draw
the desired envelope. When using the waveform tools, you can hold [Alt] to adjust the frequency of the waveform while dragging, or hold
[Ctrl] to vary waveform phase (amplitude and polarity). Hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[Alt] while dragging, to move the currently defined automation
shape left or right along the timeline.
Transform Automation
Range Tool
You can use the Range tool to quickly trim select ranges of automation up or down in value. This can be done in two ways.
If you want to trim a certain range of automation data up or down, select a range of automation with the Range tool. Then, hover the
cursor in the upper half of the selected range, until the cursor changes into the Trim Tool. Click-and-drag up or down to trim the selected
automation.
Duplicating Automation
Automation data can be copied and pasted by selecting a range of Automation curves and pressing [D] to Duplicate, or by pressing
[CTRL+C] to copy and [CTRL+V] to paste. In a paste operation, the data will be pasted on the currently-selected track starting from the
point of the play head. You can copy the automation parameters of an Insert Effect when copying the Effect by holding [Alt/Option] while
dragging the Insert Effect to another track.
Automation Modes
In Studio One Pro, automation modes are specific to devices on each Track. A delay effect on an Audio Track might be in Touch mode,
while the volume, pan, and other effects on that Track are in different modes. This allows a great deal of flexibility.
With Show Automation selected, the current automation mode is visible. To select any mode, click on the Automation Mode window and
select from the list. The following describes the automation modes.
Auto: Off
When Auto: Off is selected in the Automation Mode window, all automation for the current parameter and for all related parameters are
turned off.
For instance, if you are currently viewing the Attack envelope for a compressor inserted on an Audio Track, and you select Auto:Off, all
parameter automation for the compressor is turned off. However, automation envelopes for parameters that do not belong to the com-
pressor can still use a different automation mode.
This is not the same as turning an individual automation envelope on and off, as described in the Turn Automation On/Off section of
this chapter, as that on/off button only affects the currently visible automation envelope.
Read
When you select Read in the Automation Mode window, any existing automation envelopes on the Track for the related device is read,
and these envelopes control their related parameters. Read mode is automatically engaged when you draw a new automation envelope
with the mouse.
l Press [J] on the keyboard to switch to Read Automation Mode manually on the selected Tracks.
Touch
When Touch is selected in the Automation Mode window, automation envelopes can be affected by touch-sensitive, external hardware
controllers, so that new automation is written when a hardware control is touched, and automation is read when the hardware control is
not being touched. This allows the user to manipulate the control at any time in order to write new automation or overwrite existing auto-
mation. Studio One Pro resumes reading automation when the control is released.
l Press [K] on the keyboard to switch to Touch mode manually on the selected Tracks.
Touch mode can be used even if your hardware controller does not have touch sensitivity. In this case, automation is written when you
move the hardware controller, and existing automation is read when you are not moving the hardware controller.
Latch
When Latch is selected in the Automation Mode window, automation is read until a hardware control is manipulated, at which point auto-
mation is written continuously until playback is stopped. When playback is resumed, automation is read until a hardware control is again
touched.
Write
When Write is selected in the Automation Mode window, automation is continuously written based on the current position of external
hardware controllers. Existing automation is not read at any point and is instead overwritten with the new automation.
In the bottom-left corner of the Note Editor there's a small button that looks like a couple of jagged mountain peaks ( ). Click that to
show / hide the Automation Lanes. The Parameter tab along the top of the lane shows the parameter currently displayed in the lane.
minus buttons in the bottom-left corner of the Note Editor window. Click the Show/hide Automation Lanes button ( ) to show / hide all
of the Part Automation lanes at the same time. Any written Part automation is read, regardless of whether it is currently being viewed in
either Part Automation lane.
In order to select all Part Automation associated with a note, first make sure all Part Automation lanes are visible by adding additional
automation lanes and selecting the correct tab to display the automation curves.
This option works with all types of automation, including standard types such as Modulation and Pitch Bend, with the exception of Note
Controllers such as Poly Pressure and MPE. Note Controller automation data is always selected with their associated notes, regardless
of the current state of the “Select Part Automation with Notes” option.
Control Linking
With a Keyboard set up, and its control map created, you are one click away from controlling almost any software parameter using Con-
trol Link. The following describes the various ways to use Control Link.
Parameter Windows
To the far left of the Arrange view toolbar in the Song window, you can see two windows separated by a button. The windows are empty
by default. The left window displays the name, value, and other related information regarding the last-changed software parameter; the
right window displays the MIDI name and value of the last-changed, mapped hardware control.
You also can open Parameter windows in each plug-in window. To do this, click on the Edit Mapping button at the top of the plug-in win-
dow.
Global Mapping
With Global mapping, hardware and software controls maintain a one-to-one relationship, where a single hardware control is linked dir-
ectly to a single software control. Some controls, such as Track fader, pan, and mute, can only be mapped globally. To map a plug-in con-
trol globally, be sure Focus is disengaged in the plug-in window by clicking on the Focus button for the Keyboard you are using, so that it
is no longer highlighted.
Focus Mapping
While only one software control can be manipulated at a time by a single hardware control, a hardware control can be linked to any num-
ber of software controls, based on context, using Focus mapping. For instance, a single hardware knob could control the release of a
Gate plug-in, or the Gain of a distortion plug-in, or any number of other parameters, depending on which plug-in is in Focus.
The process of Focus mapping is identical to Global mapping, with one critical difference. To see this difference, open the interface for
any virtual instrument or effect. By default, all virtual instruments and effects open in Focus mode, and the Focus button in the plug-in win-
dow’s toolbar is highlighted. The Focus button displays the name of the related Keyboard.
Only one plug-in window can be in Focus at any time. Click on the Focus button to enable Focus in any open plug-in window.
When a parameter has been mapped in Focus, the link icon used in the parameter window is different from the icon used when a para-
meter is mapped globally.
Control maps only apply to the plug-in window that is in Focus. For instance, a hardware knob might be linked to a software knob in an
EQ plug-in that is in Focus. When another plug-in is brought into Focus, the hardware knob no longer affects the software knob in the EQ,
and it is possible to link this hardware knob to a different control for the plug-in that is in Focus.
In this way, Focus mapping allows different control maps to be made for each plug-in, using the same hardware controls for each. Each
Focus map is stored with the plug-in, making it usable in any Song. Thus, you can make Focus maps for each of your favorite plug-ins
and never worry about them again. In practice, this means that your external hardware always controls the plug-in that is currently in
Focus.
Certain parameters cannot be Focus-mapped, including Track controls such as fader, pan, and mute.
Touch Sensitivity
Various automation modes are discussed in the Automation Modes section of the Automation chapter. These modes directly relate to
the specific capability of your hardware controllers. Touch automation mode is most effective if the hardware control is touch-sensitive.
However, you can use Touch automation with hardware controls that are not touch-sensitive.
Grouping Units
Function Overview
Mixer Layout
The channel order follows the Remote Bank in the Studio One Pro Mixer Bank pane. Here you can show and hide channels for the
remote banks.
Channel Controls
l Record Arms the assigned audio track of the Channel.
l Solo Solos the Channel (with Momentary mode).
l Mute Mutes the Channel (with Momentary mode).
l Select Sets the Channel to the Select state.
l V-Pot Changes the assigned parameter. Push to set the default value. For more infomation, see Assignment Buttons.
Pan Modes
Press Pan repeatedly to toggle between pan overview and pan focus mode.
l Pan Overview Mode Shows the track names in the LCD strip and assigns V-Pots to Channel Pan.
l Pan Focus Mode
l Strips show pan parameters (name + value)
l Last strip shows selected track
l Select buttons: select focus track
l “FLIP” off:
l Pots control pan parameters
l Faders control channel volume
l Last strip pot selects pan mode
l “FLIP” on:
l Faders control pan parameters
l Pots control channel volume
l Last strip fader selects pan mode
The Pan Mode syncs across multiple devices in a device group and each device can control Pan Modes.
Each Mackie Control Universal and Mackie Control Extender is a separate Control Link device.
Transport
The Play, Rec, Stop, FF, and RW buttons control the transport.
With the Marker button enabled, FF and REW jump between markers, and the REC button inserts a marker at the cursor position.
Function Keys
Function keys are predefined but can be modified using the Mackie Control device editor.
l F1 Show Inputs
l F2 Show Track
l F3 Console
l F4 Open Channel
l F5 Add Insert
l F6 Add Send
l F7 Show Channel Editor
l F8 Toggle Floating Window
Other Functions
l Cursor Keys navigate the arrangement (depending on current window focus).
l Wheel jumps to the nearest bar in the Arrangement (no scrub support).
l SMPTE/Beats button toggles the time display.
l Name/Value button toggles the value and track name in the display when the assignment is Send 1-8 or Control Link Mode.
l Momentary mode for Solo and Mute:
l Press the button to quickly toggle the state.
l Press and hold the button to switch momentarily.
l Press the V-Pot to set the default parameter.
Mastering is the process of preparing and transferring the final mix to a master copy from which all distribution copies are made. In the
mastering process, the source material is usually processed using equalization, compression, and so on. Editing, level adjustments,
fades, noise reduction, and other signal restoration and enhancement may also be done during mastering. Individual Songs are put into
their final order at this stage, a process commonly called “assembly” or “track sequencing.” The mastered material is then ready for
CD/DVD replication, vinyl pressing, web distribution, etc.
Studio One Pro features the Project page, a complete integrated mastering solution. This creates a tight, easy-to-manage creative work-
flow that spans all the way from recording to mastering.
The Studio One Pro Project page redefines this process into one that is smart, simple, and efficient. In the Project page, your Songs can
be mastered and arranged on a single timeline and then published to many professional formats. The following chapter describes the
mastering process, Project workflow, and how Songs and Projects are integrated to provide a total solution not available in any other
DAW.
Many of the capabilities of the Song page are available in the Project page, such as Control Link. As such, you should become familiar
with the Song page. The following section describes the Project page workflow in detail.
Mastering 414
Project Setup
In the New Project dialog, you can specify a Project Title and save a location, as well as the Project sample rate. Click on OK to create
the New Project.
Audio Import
If you have any audio files to import to your project, drag and drop them to the Drop Zone in the New Document window.
DDP Import
If you'd like to base your new Project on an existing DDP image, do the following:
1. Enable the "Import Tracks from DDP Image" option in the New Project window.
2. Click OK to create the new Project, and navigate to your DDP image in the file browser that appears.
3. Select the folder that contains your DDP image, then press [Open], and the image is imported, with all metadata and media
intact.
This ability to import, edit, and export DDP images, often reserved for high-end standalone CD mastering systems, helps to make Studio
One Pro a powerhouse mastering tool. For information on exporting DDP images, see DDP Export.
You can enter a title for the album in the Album field, and an artist name (if applicable) in the Artist field. A drop-down arrow below these
fields gives you access to a variety of additional metadata fields (such as EAN, songwriter, and genre) that you can fill out as needed.
Meta-information is used when publishing your Project to any medium. You should fill in this information so your production is accurately
labeled when published and distributed to your adoring fans. When selecting artwork, the image size is limited to 512 x 512 pixels, and
can be automatically scaled to fit.
You can use the right-click context menu to copy the metadata to all tracks.
The Project Page Toolbar provides quick access to some of the Project Page’s most important tools.
l Update Click this button if you would like to update the tracks in your mastering project to their most recent mixes.
l Burn Click here to burn your finished project to CD.
l Image Click this button to create a Disk Image of your Project.
l DDP This creates a Disc Description Protocol (DDP) image of your Project.
l Digital Release Select this release option to publish your Project to a single folder containing all Tracks in your Project, properly
tagged with the appropriate meta-information.
For more information about these options, check out the Publishing Your Project page.
Beside the release options, you'll find the Macro button, Time Display, and Info View button:
l Macro This button opens the Macro Toolbar. From the Macro Toolbar, you have easy access to often-used functions and cus-
tom command combinations.
l Time Display The Time Display specifies the exact run time of your project.
l Info View Click the question mark icon to open the Info View bar. It shows which options are available depending on where you
hover the cursor.
The Paint Tool being used to draw a Clip Gain Envelope in Freehand mode.
Adding Tracks
The first step in the mastering process is to place the desired source material into a Project.
The Browser
Just as on the Song page, the Project page has an integrated Browser, allowing you to browse for audio effects and files to add to your
mastering Project, including files in the current Browser Pool. Press [F5] on the keyboard, or click on Browse in the lower right hand
corner of the Project page interface, to open the Browser.
Add a Song
Any Song created in Studio One Pro can be added directly to a Project by importing the Song file into the Project. There is no need to cre-
ate a mixdown of the Song first, as this process is automated.
By default, your Song files are contained in the Content/Songs folder of the File Browser, with each Song file contained in its own Song
folder. To add a Song to your Project, browse to the desired Song in the File Browser and then click-and-drag the Song file to the Track
column or Track Lane.
Adding the Song to your Project places it in the Track column. If no master file exists for the Song, you are asked if you would like to cre-
ate a mix of the current state of the Song, which can then be rendered and added to the Track Lane.
When Studio One Pro renders a mix of the Song you added, the length of the mix is determined by the Song Start and End markers, as
seen in the Marker Track of the Arrange view. Be sure these markers are set to the desired locations in the Song.
As you edit Songs within your Project, it is useful to be able to keep track of where you are in time within each Song, as well as the
entirety of your Project. When you place the cursor along the timeline, the Track Time display in the transport shows you the position of
the cursor within the current Song, and the main time display shows the cursor position within the whole Project.
Track Column
All Songs and audio files in your Project are listed vertically in the Track column, with the name of the Song or audio file clearly displayed.
Meta-Information
At the top of the Track column, you can see Album and Artist meta-information fields. To edit these fields, click in the space next to the
field, type your text, and then press Enter. If you want to enter further metadata for the album as a whole, click the small triangle button
below the Artist field, and enter your information as needed.
Beneath the color-coding bar to the left of each Track in the Track Column, there is a down-arrow button. Click on this button to reveal all
other meta-information fields for that Track. These fields may be edited on a Track-by-Track basis, or multiple Tracks may be selected
and their fields edited simultaneously.
To copy meta-information from a single Track to all Tracks in your project, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Track and choose "Copy Meta-inform-
ation to All Tracks" from the pop-up menu.
Pause
The timing between Tracks is an important creative part of the mastering process. In Studio One Pro, this is managed by your Tracks’
Pause settings.
To change a Track’s Pause setting, click in the Pause field for a Track in the Track Column and type in a value or click-and-drag the audio
Events in the Timeline. You can also group-select by Shift-clicking multiple Tracks to quickly apply a consistent Pause setting to several
Tracks. If the pause field is not visible on the Track Controls, extend the Track height from "Small" to "Normal" with the buttons on the bot-
tom right.
CD Time Display
This display shows the CD Length of your Project based on the total length of all included audio materials.
Track Sequencing
To sequence the Tracks in your Projects, simply click on the file-type icon for any Track and drag the Track above or below the other
Tracks in the Track column.
Notice that the Tracks are automatically relocated in the Timeline of the Track Lane, with all other Track sequencing still intact, including
Track pauses.
Editing Tracks
Sizing Tracks
Tracks in the Track Lane can be sized with the Arrow tool, as described in the Size an Event section of the Editing chapter. The relative
sequencing of all other Tracks in the Project is maintained when any Track is sized. Note that a Track cannot be sized to less than four
seconds in length, per the Red Book CD standard.
When a Track is manually moved across the Timeline so that it overlaps in time with another Track, it is possible to crossfade the two
Tracks so that one fades out as the other fades in. To crossfade overlapping Tracks, select the two Tracks and press [X] on the key-
board. A linear crossfade is drawn that can be edited by clicking-and-dragging on each Track’s fade handle.
Any Track that begins after another Track in time is normally the beginning of a new track on a CD or other medium. Its starting position
serves as the beginning of the track, regardless of the timing of crossfades. If you want to change the point at which the new CD track
begins, simply drag the song marker to a new location within the overlapping range.
Splitting Tracks
To split any Track, set the playback cursor where you want the split and press [Alt]+[X] on the keyboard. The resulting two Tracks can
now be edited like any other, including editing meta-information in the Track column. Splitting a Track for a Song does not adversely
affect the ability to automatically update that Song's mastering file, so it is possible, for instance, to split a long recording into many
Tracks in a Project and still edit the related Song normally.
Note it is not possible to split a Track where the resulting two Tracks would not be at least four seconds in length, per the Red Book CD
standard.
Track Markers
All Tracks in a Project automatically have a Track marker attached to the beginning of the Event in the Timeline. It is possible to manually
insert other Track Markers by positioning the playback cursor at the chosen spot in the timeline, then [Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking in the Track
Marker lane and choosing Split Track at Cursor from the drop-down menu.
Manually inserted Track Markers are green in color, while automatically placed markers are blue in color. Track Markers can be moved
across the Timeline by clicking-and-dragging left or right. Track Markers can be placed anywhere on the timeline, so long as they're in
numerical order, and are not tied to the limits of any single Event. This lets you create a single Track that encompasses multiple Events,
create hidden tracks, and a variety of other mastering magic tricks.
Note that Track Markers are only used when burning a CD, or exporting an image file or DDP file. When exporting a digital release, manu-
ally placed Track Markers are ignored, and separate files are only rendered for actual Tracks, as listed in the Track column.
Check Preserve Realtime State if you would like to be able to transform back to the original Track. It is then possible to switch between
Automatic Tail Detection, with a Max Length property, and a fixed tail of a given length by toggling the Auto Tail option. Auto Tail is useful
if there is a reverb or other effect that you want to render beyond the Event length on the Track.
Click OK, and the Audio Track is bounced with its Insert effects and Automation applied; then the original Audio Track is replaced with the
newly bounced audio. If Auto Tail was engaged, or a Tail amount was specified, fade-outs are applied automatically across the specified
Tail duration for each Event. The Insert effects are removed, as they have been rendered into the audio on the Track.
If you check Preserve Original Track State, it is possible to transform back to the original Track, with effects inserted on the cor-
responding Channel, by [Right]/[Option]-clicking on the Track Header and selecting Transform to Realtime Audio from the contextual
menu.
The effects of Volume settings (including automation) and Clip Gain Envelopes are applied to the Track as it is bounced, so the value of
those settings and their automation data is set to its defaults in the resulting bounced Track.
Note that it is possible to group-select and Transform multiple Tracks at once, in which case they are all rendered simultaneously—
unless you’re running external hardware via Pipeline, in which case renders will occur sequentially in real-time.
Related: The Song Page’s Track Transform feature is covered in greater detail here.
Click-and-Drag Features
l Move Events Click and drag on the beginning or end of a Track Marker while holding [Alt]/[Option], to move all Events at or after
that Track Marker across the timeline as one. This allows for easier mass-editing of track position and spacing.
l Move only Start/End Marker Click and drag on the beginning or end of a Track Marker while holding [Ctrl]/[Cmd], to set a
pause period between the two Tracks at that split point.
l Note: Any audio that exists in the pause zone you create between two Tracks will still continue to play during the pause.
If you want silence during a pause, you'll want to accomplish that by editing your Track to suit.
l Move Track Click and drag in the center portion of a track marker to move Track marker and its related Track to a new location.
This is analogous to dragging tracks up and down the Track List.
l Duplicate Track Click and drag in the middle of a track marker while holding [Ctrl]/[Cmd] to duplicate that Track Marker and its
primary Track to a new location on the timeline
l Add (Index) Marker Hold [Alt]/[Option] while hovering over the middle portion of a Track Marker to enable the Add Marker tool,
used for placing additional Index markers within the current Track Marker.
Clip Gain Envelopes in the Project Page behave identically to their counterparts in the Song page, and can be edited using the same
tools and instructions found on this page.
Note that the Project Page does not support Clip Versions.
Loudness Detection
At the top of the Track Device Rack, a Loudness Information dropdown menu is available. When you first click this menu on a Track, a
Loudness Detection process runs on that Track. Once the detection process finishes, you're provided with readings for EBU-R128 Integ-
rated Loudness (INT) and Loudness Range (LRA), as well as True-peak readings, RMS, and DC levels for the left and right channels. All
measurements are shown both pre-FX and post-FX. This information can help when making level balance decisions from Track to Track
across the Project.
If you make changes to a Song and later wish to re-calculate its loudness, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the song in the Track column or lane, and
choose Detect Loudness from the pop-up menu. To detect loudness for multiple Tracks at once, select the desired Tracks and [Right]/
[Ctrl]-click one of the selected Tracks, then choose Detect Loudness from the pop-up menu.
Track Editor
Each Track in your Project has a Track Editor, in which you can create a variety of advanced effect configurations, with assignable Macro
Controls. You can open the Track Editor for a Track by clicking the knob-shaped Editor button in its Track Device Rack. For more inform-
ation, see Channel Editor, which explains the equivalent function in the Console in Song view.
Bouncing Tracks
If you feel the need to free up computer resources or external processors (used through Pipeline), you can bounce a Track in place,
retaining the effects of any plug-ins or external gear in use. To do so, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the Track in the Track Column, and choose
"Bounce Track" from the pop-up menu. If an external hardware effect is in use on the Track (via Pipeline), the bounce must occur in real
time.
Automation Lanes
The Project Page provides two Automation Lanes: the top Lane is for Track Automation, and the bottom Lane for the Master Automation.
Metering
High-quality metering is critical during the mastering process. The Project page offers three types of meters, each visible at all times, to
help you make creative and technical decisions while processing your material.
Metering 426
Spectrum Meter
The Spectrum Meter is a flexible audio-spectrum meter that offers octave, 1/3-octave, 12th-octave, FFT, Waterfall (WF), Sonogram
(Sono), and Segments display modes. The Spectrum Meter displays standard peak levels and can be adjusted to display Peak Hold
levels for Short, Medium, and Long time intervals, as well as average (RMS) levels within Fast, Medium, and Slow time intervals. As you
move the cursor around the frequency display, the note value of the current frequency is displayed.
The visible range of the meter can be changed in any mode, to help focus in on the range you're interested in. Do this by setting the Level
and Frequency Range controls, or simply by clicking and dragging vertically within the meter.
To disable the Spectrum Meter, click the "power" button under the upper left corner. Click again to re-enable the meter. To temporarily
"freeze" the current state of the Spectrum Meter, click the snowflake button below the meter.
Metering 427
Level/Loudness Meter
The Level/Loudness Meter is located directly beneath the Spectrum Display and is capable of displaying high-resolution Peak/RMS
levels, three K-System scales (as described in K-System Metering), as well as the more recent EBU R128 standard. To choose a stand-
ard to view, click the selector below the Level Meter or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click within the meter and make your selection from the drop-down
menu.
Nowhere is it more important to accurately meter levels than at the mastering stage of production. It is critical to be sure that the levels
across all Tracks are as consistent as desired and that the signals are never clipped. When any amount of clipping occurs in your Project,
a red clip indicator illuminates at the bottom of the Level Meter display, which can only be cleared by clicking on the indicator.
When Peak/RMS mode is selected, you can [Right]/[Ctrl]-click on the meter display to show additional metering options, such as RMS
Length, VU Hold, and Hold Length.
When EBU R128 mode is selected, note that the top bar represents the “short term” level value while the bottom bar represents the
“momentary” value. The short term values measure loudness every 1 second on an audio block of 3 seconds, providing information
about the loudest audio passages. The momentary values give instantaneous feedback, measuring loudness every 100 ms.
To disable the Level Meter, click the "power" button under the lower left corner. Click again to re-enable the meter.
Loudness Display
Real-time numerical loudness information for the final output is displayed here, in LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale, for absolute loud-
ness measurements), or LU (Loudness Units, for relative loudness measurements). In either mode, you can see the Integrated loudness
(INT), Loudness Range (LRA), and True-peak (inter-sample peak meter) reading. To reset the measurements, click [Reset].
The Level/Loudness meter will be quickly reset every time the Play button is pressed or if a new Track is selected during playback of
another. This ensures that the Loudness values of one track are not taken into account when measuring another.
Phase Meter
The Phase Meter, located to the right of the Level Meter, is helpful when checking stereo playback issues and mono compatibility. There
are two components to this meter: a Goniometer at the center of the plug-in window and a Correlation Meter at the very bottom.
The Goniometer displays left- versus right-channel amplitude on an X/Y oscilloscope. A vertical line in the Goniometer represents a
mono signal. The horizontal Correlation Meter compares the amount of in-phase and out-of-phase audio signal in the left and right chan-
nels. The parameters of the Correlation Meter range from +1 (mono signal) to -1 (reversed-phase mono signal), with 0 indicating the pres-
ence of totally independent signals (true stereo).
For more information about Studio One Pro's metering tools, check out the Analysis and Tools page.
Metering 428
Publishing Your Project
When your Project has been mastered, the next step is to publish it. The Project page offers many options, categorized into three main
operations, including burning an audio CD, making a disc image file, and making audio files.
Burn an Audio CD
You can burn your mastered Project to a standard Red Book audio CD directly from the Project page. Red Book is the most widely adop-
ted technical standard for audio CDs, and it includes specifications for minimum and maximum track durations, maximum number of
tracks, and how audio is encoded to the CD. Since the Project page adheres to this standard, you can be sure your audio CDs are com-
patible with almost any CD player.
To burn your Project to an audio CD, click on the [Burn] button at the top of the Project page. In the Burn Audio CD dialog, you can select
the device you wish to use to burn the CD, as well as the speed of the burning process. In general, using slower speeds in the burning
process reduces the chance for errors.
Burn Options
Several options in the Burn Audio CD dialog are intended to prevent common CD-burning errors: Test Write, Use Burnproof, and Use
Temporary Imagefile. These options usually increase the time it takes to burn a CD in the Project page but they help to prevent wasting
time and blank CDs on failed attempts.
The Test Write option runs tests before attempting to burn the CD in order to be sure the necessary computer resources are available.
Burnproof is a technology capable of preventing buffer under-run errors with some CD burners, in which the CD-writing process is inter-
rupted, and the CD writer is forced to stop burning the CD before it is finished.
The Use Temporary Imagefile option changes the burn process so that an image of the CD to be burned is created before attempting to
burn the CD. This helps to eliminate potential problems related to data not being made available fast enough while writing to the CD.
DDP Export
DDP images are quickly becoming the standard method of getting a disc image from mastering to disc manufacturing. The DDP image
contains all the contents of your master disc, plus formatting information that ensures your replicas exactly match your master. To create
a DDP image of your Project, click on the [DDP] button at the top of the Project page.
All of the DDP image data is exported to a single folder with the name of the Project appended with "DDP." This folder can be delivered to
a duplicator.
Digital Release
It is possible to publish your Project to a single folder containing all Tracks in your Project, properly tagged with the appropriate meta-
information. A common use for this would be to quickly create an MP3 album in one folder and then upload it to a Web site or online
retailer for distribution. This process is similar to creating a mix on the Song page, as described in the Create a Mixdown section.
Click on the [Digital Release] button at the top of the Project page to open the Digital Release dialog. In this dialog, you can choose from
several formats:
l Wave
l AIFF
l FLAC (16-, 24-, and 32-bit integer)
l CAF
Publishing
Studio One Pro provides options to directly publish your finished project either by uploading to SoundCloud, TuneCore, or Studio One
Pro+ for sharing and collaboration. To publish your project after exporting the Project, select Upload to Studio One Pro+, Upload to Tun-
eCore or Upload to SoundCloud in the Publishing section.
SoundCloud Integration
PreSonus has partnered with the popular SoundCloud Web service to make it possible for you to upload your music to SoundCloud from
within Studio One Pro. This integration is the first of its kind.
Upload to SoundCloud
Once Studio One Pro is connected to SoundCloud, you can
upload music from your Project to SoundCloud directly from Stu-
dio One Pro. To do this, create a digital release from any Project
and choose Upload to SoundCloud in the options, or open the Stu-
dio One Pro/SoundCloud Client dialog.
If creating a digital release, the Tracks from the digital release are
added to the SoundCloud Client window automatically, with the
appropriate meta-information already filled in. If accessing the cli-
ent directly, click on Add Tracks to add any audio file to the list.
SoundCloud supports the upload of any audio file from Studio
One Pro, at any resolution, and at any file size. Any number of
Tracks can be uploaded at once, added from a digital release or
manually.
After adding your Tracks, select any Track in the list to edit its
information in Track Info and More Info. If you want the Track to
be available publicly, meaning any SoundCloud user can see it,
select this option under Track Info. If you want the uploaded file
for Track to be downloadable or streamable, select the corresponding option under More Info.
When finished editing Track information, click on Upload to upload the Tracks to SoundCloud. The Tracks appear in your SoundCloud
account once the upload has completed.
TuneCore Integration
PreSonus has partnered with the popular digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service, TuneCore, making the process of
music distribution as seamless as possible within StudioOne.
3. After the export is processed, the TuneCore Client window will appear. Click “Connect to TuneCore”.
4. Once TuneCore connects, a web browser link will appear where you will be able to sign into TuneCore. After signing in, you’ll be
redirected to Studio One Pro and the TuneCore client window, with your new track included, will appear:
Here, you will be able to Add or Remove Tracks and prepare your upload. Once the Song Info / Album Info are included, click
“Upload”.
l Note, there are two “upload modes” you can choose from: upload singles or upload an album. As you might expect,
choosing “upload singles” will set each song apart as separate single releases after uploading; on the other hand,
choosing “upload album” will group the songs together into one release.
To expand the Micro View for any built-in effect, open the Console and click once on the effect in the Insert Device Rack. The Micro View
expands downward, revealing certain parameters of the effect. Not all parameters of each effect are available in the Micro View, only
those you are likely to change frequently.
In the large Console view, notice the arrows at the very top and bottom of the Insert Device Rack. Click on these arrows to scroll up and
down in the Insert Device Rack to view any number of open Micro Views. To collapse any Micro View, click once on the effect name at
the top of the Micro View.
A right-click/drop-down menu is available from every Plug-in Micro View. Options include:
l Edit: Opens the Plug-in Editor.
l Expand: Expands the Micro View to reveal parameters.
l Rename: Re-name the Plug-in.
l Bypass: Bypasses the Plug-in.
l Favorite: Tags the Plug-in as a Favorite in the Browser.
l Store Preset: Saves the current parameters as a Plug-in Preset.
Phase Meter
Spectrum Meter
Spectrum Meter is helpful when determining the frequency content of an audio signal. For instance, you might know that a drum loop
needs some EQ, but you might not be sure what frequencies to bring up or down. Or there might be an annoying ring in a guitar part that
you want to get rid of but you do not know the frequency of the ring. Spectrum Meter can help diagnose these problems, and many oth-
ers.
Spectrum Meter is fully adjustable using the following parameters at the bottom of the plug-in window:
Channels
When Spectrum Meter is inserted on a stereo Track, you can choose from the following channels to be analyzed in the meter:
l L Left channel only
l R Right channel only
l L+R Sum of left and right channels
l L-R Difference between left and right channels
When Spectrum Meter is inserted on a multichannel source, the Channel Modes you can choose to analyze from will vary, depending
upon the source material. If inserted on an Audio Channel, the Channel Mode options are based on the Channel’s selected format (5.1,
7.1.2, etc.). If inserted on the Main Out of a Song using Dolby Atmos, the Channel Modes available are determined by the Bed Format
selected in the Dolby Atmos Renderer.
Analysis Mode
Tuner
The Tuner proves invaluable when inserted on guitar, bass, and other instruments that require frequent tuning. The Tuner features a
switchable standard/strobe display, with exact Frequency and Difference readouts in the lower left corner. A Calibration knob enables cal-
ibrating the Tuner to a center frequency from 415 Hz to 465 Hz. Click on the [Strobe Mode] toggle switch to enable the strobe display, in
which the rotation speed is a measure of the amount you need to tune.
Level Meter
The Level Meter plug-in is a level meter that can be sized as a horizontal or vertical display type. The following parameters are available
in the Level Meter:
l Mode Select True Peak, K-20, K-14, K-12, or R128 (Loudness) metering mode.
l Corr Engage to display phase correlation.
l RMS Len Click the field and select an RMS length value from the menu.
l Hold Len Click the field and select a Hold length value from the menu.
When Level Meter is inserted on a multichannel source, the number of individual channel levels displayed is dependent upon the source
material. If inserted on an Audio Channel, the levels displayed are based on the Channel format. (5.1, 7.1.2, etc.). If inserted on the Main
Out of a Song using Dolby Atmos, the channel levels displayed are determined by the Bed Format selected in the Dolby Atmos Ren-
derer.
Scope
Tone Generator
Tone Generator is capable of generating noise, frequency sweeps, and other signal types commonly used for signal-path testing and cal-
ibration. The Scope would commonly be used in conjunction with Tone Generator to analyze return signals at the end of the signal path
being tested or calibrated.
The following parameters are available in Tone Generator:
l Waveform Choose from sine, saw, square, white noise, and pink noise.
l Anti-Alias The saw and square waveforms have Anti-Aliasing engaged by default in order to prevent aliasing artifacts
from appearing.
l Frequency Set the tone frequency from 1 Hz to 22 kHz.
l Modulation
l Wobble Engage this to make the tone frequency move from the set frequency to the modulation Target Frequency,
according to the Modulation settings.
l Log. Sweep Engage to make the frequency sweep logarithmic instead of linear.
l Length Set the length in time of the sweep from Frequency to Target Frequency; range is from 10 ms to 60 seconds.
l Phase Shift Set the phase shift that occurs over the chosen Length of time, from 0° to 180°.
l Target Frequency The end frequency to which the tone is swept during modulation.
l Gated Gated allows the output to be turned on via a note played on a Keyboard (set the output of an Instrument Track to Tone
Generator).
l Off/On The default setting is Off. On activates the Tone Generator.
l Level The output level of Tone Generator, from -144 dB to +24 dB. (Use caution!)
IR Maker
Mixtool
Analog Delay
Analog Delay emulates a one-head tape delay with optional tempo sync, LFO, filtered feedback, and other features. It can be used to cre-
ate deteriorating echoes, echoes with changing delay and pitch, and flanging/chorus effects. These types of sounds are often used in
Dub Music or ’70s rock.
The following parameters are available in the Analog Delay:
Delay
l Time The base delay time.
l Sync Optional Sync mode for Time.
l Sync disengaged results in speed expressed as time from 1 ms to 3 s.
l Sync engaged results in time expressed as beats from 4/1 to 1/64, with triplets.
l Feedback Feedback percentage; that is, the amount of delayed signal to be fed back into the delay input. Variable from 0 to
100%.
l Boost Enable this parameter to boost feedback levels.
LFO
l Speed The base LFO speed.
l Sync Optional Sync mode for LFO Speed.
l Sync disengaged results result in Speed expressed as frequency, from 0.01 Hz to 5 Hz.
l Sync engaged results in Speed expressed as beats, from 4/1 to 1/64, with triplet and dotted-time variants.
l Amount Modifies the effect of the LFO on delay speed. Variable from -50% to 50%.
l Type The shape of the LFO waveform; select from triangle, sine, sawtooth, and square.
Color
l Low Cut Filters frequencies below this value from the delayed signal. Variable from Off to 20 Hz to 3.2 kHz. Filter is 6 dB per
octave.
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l High Cut Filters frequencies above this value from the delayed signal. Variable from 400 Hz to 16 kHz to Off. Filter is 6 dB per
octave.
l Drive Emulates tape saturation with State Space Modeling. Variable percentage from 0 to 100%.
l Reso Adjusts the mix of resonance. Resonance boosts the frequencies that are right around the cutoff frequency. Variable from
0.3 to 3.0.
Motor
l Factor Modifies tape speed. Variable from 0.5 (double the delay length) to 2 (half the delay length).
l Inertia Modifies speed of changes over time, based on Factor. Variable from 0 to 5.
Note: Synced LFO and synced delay with LFO slower than delay means that modulation is not perceptible (except with high inertia).
Width
l Width Regulates the stereo width of the delay feedback. Variable from mono to full stereo width.
l Ping-Pong Mode
l Off Select this setting to shut off Ping-Pong Mode. This also can be used to freeze the delay effect to one side, for
example.
l Sum Select this setting to feed a mono-summed mix of both channels into the delay. Try higher settings of the Width
control to achieve the full ping-pong effect.
l 2-Ch This option feeds the stereo mix into the delay. Try lower settings of the Width control to "monoize" the delay
effect.
l Swap Click this to swap the left and right sides of the Ping-Pong effect. If Ping-Pong Mode is Mono and Width is 100%, for
example, this determines whether the delay effect starts on the left or right sides.
Global
l Dry/Wet Adjusts the mix of processed signal and the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 100%. A setting of 100% is likely to
increase feedback.
l Locked Engage this switch to prevent changes to the Dry/Wet balance.
Beat Delay
The Beat Delay is a tempo-synced delay with optional cross-delay and filtered feedback. Use this effect for adding/changing the feel of
rhythmic parts (e.g., adding off-beats) or “spatially doubling” parts (for instance, slap-back echo). Beat Delay has the following para-
meters:
Beats Delay time expressed as beats. Variable from 4/1 to 1/64, with triplet and dotted-time variants.
Offset Adjusts a time offset from -30 to +30% of the specified Beats value.
Feedback Percentage of delayed signal added back into the delay input. Variable from 0 to 99.99%.
Modulation
l Ping-Pong
l Off Select this setting to shut off Ping-Pong Mode. This also can be used to freeze the delay effect to one side, for
example.
l Sum Select this setting to feed a mono-summed mix of both channels into the delay. Try higher settings of the Width
control to achieve the full ping-pong effect.
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l 2-Ch This option feeds the stereo mix into the delay. Try lower settings of the Width control to "monoize" the delay
effect.
l Swap Click this to swap the left and right sides of the Ping-Pong effect. If Ping-Pong is Mono and Width is 100%, for
example, this determines whether the delay effect starts on the left or right sides.
l Width Regulates the stereo width of the delay feedback. Variable from mono to full stereo width.
l Cross Delay When not set to Off (center), the input is sent, in mono, to the left or right channel, with a delayed signal sent to the
other channel. Variable from L 50 ms (right channel dry, left channel delayed 50 ms) to R 50 ms (left channel dry, right channel
delayed 50 ms). Extreme left or right settings create a pronounced stereo effect.
l In Pan Sets the ratio between the left and right channels of a stereo input signal. When it is set to full Left, for example, only the
left channel of the input signal is delayed.
l Pong-Factor Applies a multiplier to the delayed signal, with a variety of rhythmic subdivisions.
Color
l Low Cut Scoops out the low end of the delayed signal using a 6 dB/octave filter. Variable from 20 Hz to 1 kHz.
l Hi Cut Rolls off the high-frequency content of the delayed signal using a 6 dB/octave filter. Variable from 1 kHz to 20 kHz.
Global
l Mix Adjusts the blend of the processed signal and the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Lock Engage this switch to prevent changes to the Dry/Wet balance.
Groove Delay
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within the display.
l Filter Controls Click this to show/hide the bottom area of the Groove Delay. This is where the Filter settings and Cutoff LFO
Amount controls are located.
l Level, Pan, Cutoff, Swing, LFO Click on these buttons to display and edit the respective parameter for each tap in the Grid dis-
play.
l Level Adjusts the output level and timing for each tap.
l Pan Adjusts the pan and timing for each tap.
l Cutoff Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency for each tap.
l Swing Adjusts the Groove parameter for all taps that fall on off-beat positions between straight and dotted values, while
simultaneously adjusting Tap 4 and possibly Tap 2 levels (for all on- or off-beat positions). Helps achieve “swing”
grooves.
l LFO Adjusts the Cutoff LFO Amount for each tap.
Beatlength
Select one of the note icons to adjust the Grid subdivisions by note value. Options range from 1/2 to 1/64.
Tap Parameters
l Beat Position Adjusts the delay length for the currently select tap, in beats. Variable from one beat to two bars. The number of
positions within a bar is determined by the Beatlength: when set to 1/2 Beats, only 4 positions exist; when set to 1/32 or 1/64, 64
positions exist.
l Tap Groove Adjusts the delay time relative to the Beat setting as a percentage. Variable from Triolic (= 66.67%, the last note of
the previous triplet) to Dotted (= 150%).
l Tap Feedback Adjusts the amount of signal fed back into the delay effect.
l Tap Output Level Adjusts the level of the currently selected tap as a percentage of the input level. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Tap Output Pan Adjusts the pan of the currently selected tap. Variable from Left to Center to Right.
Global
l Feedback
l Dry/Wet Adjusts the mix of processed signal with the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 99%. A value of 100% could
cause runaway feedback, so that value cannot be reached.
l Mix
l Effect Depth Adjusts the mix of processed signal with the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Lock Locks the Effect Depth control position in place.
Filter Controls
The following controls become available when the Filter Controls button above the display is engaged.
l Filter Click on the [Filter] button to engage the filter for the currently selected tap.
l Type Mix Drag the red dot around the X/Y grid to adjust the character of the filter (X axis: low-pass to high-pass; Y axis: band-
pass to peak).
l Cutoff/Reso. These controls adjust the cutoff frequency and resonance of the filter.
l Cutoff LFO Amount Drag the horizontal fader to adjust the relative amount that the Cutoff Mod LFO can affect the cutoff setting
for the filter. Variable from -1 to 1. (Negative values differ from positive only in phase.)
l Cutoff LFO The Cutoff LFO is a modulation source that can affect the cutoff value of the filter for each tap, depending on each
tap’s Cutoff LFO Amount setting.
l LFO Speed-[Beats/Frequency] Adjusts the speed of the LFO. Beats variable from 4/1 to 1/64 with triplet and dotted
time variants. Frequency variable from 0.10 Hz to 30 Hz.
l Sync Click to engage Cutoff LFO sync. This enables LFO speed adjustment in beats (synced to Song position).
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Surround Delay
The Surround Delay is an eight-Tap, tempo-synced delay with surround panning per-Tap and a variable beat grid. Based on the classic
Groove Delay in Studio One Pro, Surround Delay lets you create tempo-synced delay patterns that echo all across the surround spec-
trum—including vertically!
The Surround Delay has the following parameters:
Surround display (top left)
Each bubble in the Position Display represents the surround position of a Tap in the delay chain.
l Click on any one of the bubbles to display and edit the respective parameter for each Tap in the Grid display.
l Click and drag the bubbles to place their panning position in the surround image.
l Double click to mute/unmute the chosen bubble.
Hint: these indicator directions, as well as Level and Elevation, are all automatable. Go nuts.
Grid Display (top right) This display shows the current value for each Tap for either Level, Direction, or Elevation, based on the selected
view across a grid of beats. The current value for each Tap is color-coded and can be edited with the mouse directly within the display.
Grid Display Views include:
l Level Click and drag the nodes vertically to adjust the output level and timing for each Tap.
l Direction Click and drag the nodes vertically to adjust the horizontal surround location for each Tap.
l Elevation Click and drag the nodes vertically to adjust the vertical surround location for each Tap.
In all Grid Display Views, clicking and dragging the nodes horizontally will adjust the Tap’s placement in time across the grid.
Beneath the Grid Display are the Tap controls. These settings can be adjusted for each Tap individually.
l Tap Selectors Click the Tap 1-Tap 8 button to choose the Tap you wish to configure. Click the bubble icon inside the Tap
Selector to toggle Bypass status for the desired Tap.
l Position Adjusts the delay length for the currently selected Tap. If Sync is activated, the delay length is measured in beats, vari-
able from one beat to two bars. The number of positions within a bar is determined by the Beats control: when set to 1/2 Beats,
Delay 450
only 4 positions exist; when set to 1/32 or 1/64, 64 positions exist.
l Fine Adjusts the Beat Position with a finer degree of control.
l Feedback Adjusts the amount of signal fed back into the delay effect for the selected Tap.
l Level Adjusts the level of the currently selected Tap as a percentage of the input level. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Direction Adjusts the direction of the currently selected Tap.
l Elevation Adjusts the height of the currently selected Tap.
Time controls (lower left)
l Sync Mode Optional Sync mode for Time.
l Free results in time expressed in milliseconds, independent of your Tempo setting.
l Sync results in time expressed by the Beats control and node placement on the Grid, synced to the set Tempo.
l Modulation Controls
l Amount Adjusts the depth of modulation applied to the Taps.
l Speed Adjusts the modulation speed.
EQ (lower center)
l Low Cut Filters frequencies below this value from the delayed signal. Variable from Off to 20 Hz to 18 kHz. Filter is 6 dB per
octave.
l High Cut Filters frequencies above this value from the delayed signal. Variable from 20 Hz to 18 kHz. Filter is 6 dB per octave.
l Reso Adjusts the mix of resonance. Resonance boosts the frequencies that are right around the cutoff frequency. Variable from
0.3 to 3.0.
Global (lower right)
l Feedback Feedback Percentage of delayed signal added back into the delay input. Variable from 0 to 99%.
l Drive Adjusts the amount of saturation applied to each Tap.
l Size Adjusts the size of each Tap in the surround image.
l Mix Adjusts the mix of processed signal with the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Lock Icon Locks the Mix control position in place.
Distortion
Distortion effects focus on the creation of a range of audio clipping artifacts that can add character and attitude to sounds—or destroy
them completely. Studio One Pro includes the following distortion-oriented processors:
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Ampire
Ampire is a powerful and versatile collection of guitar- and bass-amplifier models based on our proprietary State Space Modeling tech-
nology, with precise emulation of every component in the signal path. Convolution-based speaker cabinets and microphones play a vital
role, with variable mic positioning and phase. Signals can be processed pre- and/or post-amplifier by a bevy of effect stompboxes, some
of which employ State Space Modeling of their components. Use Ampire with guitars, basses, or any audio signal to create spot-on emu-
lation of guitar amps and cabinets and a rougher, harmonically-enriched sound.
The Ampire window is divided into four main sections:
l Toolbar This runs along the top of the Ampire window, and provides the basic functions such as input / output levels, window
configuration, amp / cabinet selectors, and access to the microphone settings and a tuner.
l Gallery The first section under the toolbar allows visual selection and display of the amps and cabinets models. It can be hidden
to reduce the overall size of the Ampire window.
l Edit section The next section houses the controls for the selected amplifier model. It is always visible.
l Pedalboard The bottom of the Ampire window is home to the Pedalboard, which allows you to add up to eight effects units to
the signal path and configure them however you want. These effects units are also known as Stomps.
Note that the Pedalboard is also available as an independent effects plug-in, which can also contain up to eight Stomps. More
about that later.
Each of these four sections is described in the following paragraphs.
Toolbar
The gateway to Ampire is the toolbar, where component selections are made and basic levels are set. Viewing options are available here
too, along with access to a handy tuner and other features.
l Input Level Trim the input level directly at Ampire’s input to pull up weak instrument signals or to attenuate loud, processed sig-
nals. With a good input level, the signal is in the optimal range for dynamic distortion within Ampire. Variable from -12 dB to 24
dB. This parameter is not saved with each preset. It stays at a static setting for each instance of Ampire until you change it.
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l
Show / Hide Views This button ( ) hides or reveals different sections of the Ampire window so you only see what you
want. Click above the button to toggle the Stage view; click below the button to toggle the Stomps view.
l Amplifier Model Select an amplifier model by clicking on the Amp name in the toolbar and choosing an amplifier from the
Gallery. Move the cursor over the Gallery images to read a brief description of each amp. You can also use the up / down arrows
in the toolbar or on the left side of the Stage view to select an adjacent amplifier.
Changing the amp model changes the characteristics of the entire amplifier, including preamp and power amp distortion and
amplification, the differences between channels 1, 2, and 3 (where applicable), and tone stack behavior. Select "None" if you
want to bypass the amp head and run the signal directly through the cabinet.
l Cabinet Model Click the Cabinet Model selection box to choose a cabinet from the Gallery. Move the cursor over the Gallery
images to read a brief description of each cabinet. You can also use the up / down arrows in the toolbar or on the left side of the
Stage view to select an adjacent amplifier. If you want to take the direct output of the amp head, choose the Bypass icon (
).
You can also drag and drop Impulse Response files into the Mic A, B, and C slots for the User Cabinet (see IR Maker). WAV and
AIFF files are supported.
l Mic Edit Controls Click the Mic Edit Controls button to access the settings for the microphones that were used to capture the
sound of each cabinet.
l Mic Mix Link Activate this button to link the microphone channel levels. When linked, moving one fader adjusts all
three proportionately, for a combined level of 100%. If a mic level is at 0, moving the other faders adjusts only those
channels. Disengage this button for independent control of each microphone level.
l Mic A/B/C Mix Adjust these faders to achieve the desired level for each mic. When linked (as described above), adjust-
ing one adjusts all three.
l Mic Mute Each channel has a Mute button. Use the appropriate button to mute only that microphone. Note that this
does not affect the Link status of that channel.
l Mic Polarity Each channel has a Polarity switch. Use the appropriate button to invert the phase of that microphone.
l Mic B/C Delay These controls simulate moving Mic B and Mic C further from the cabinet. Variable from 0 to 2.9ms.
l Show / Hide Tuner This button reveals or hides the Tuner window.
l Frequency/Difference When a pitched input signal is detected, several things happen:
l The name and octave number of the nearest fundamental pitch is shown below the tuning meter (i.e., D#2), with arrows
on either side to indicate whether the note is flat, sharp, or in tune (both arrows lit)
l Frequency The fundamental frequency of the input signal is displayed in Hertz (Hz)
l Difference The amount of deviation from center is shown as a positive number (sharp) or a negative number (flat).
l Strobe Click this switch to toggle the tuner between the standard and strobe tuner views.
l Calibration Click and drag the knob to set the tuning reference frequency, or enter a value manually in the number
field. [Ctrl]/[Cmd]-click to reset the value to A=440.00.
l Mute Activate the Mute switch to defeat the input signal temporarily while the instrument is being tuned. The signal is
restored when the Tuner window is hidden. However, if the Ampire Editor window is closed while the Mute switch is still
engaged, the input signal is not restored.
l Output Level Distortion and amplifier emulation may result in massive level changes. Use Output Level to adjust the signal to
normal levels. Unlike the Input Level setting, the Output Level value is saved with each preset. Variable from -24 dB to 12 dB.
PreSonus used our State Space Modeling technology to perform a component-level analysis of every circuit in these sought-after amp-
lifiers. This enables Ampire to recreate the dynamic behavior and non-linearities that are critical to the distinctive tone and character of
tube and semiconductor-based analog circuits.
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After an amplifier is selected its controls appear in the middle of the Ampire window (the Edit section). Here's a description of each con-
trol.
MCM 800
l Tone Controls Presence controls the amount of negative feedback; increasing the value changes the high frequencies and
harmonics. Bass, Middle, and Treble are basic tone controls for their respective frequency ranges.
l Gain Controls Master Volume controls the final output volume. Pre-Amp Volume controls the level of the input signal before
it enters the amplifier circuitry.
l Sensitivity Click one of the connectors to route the signal into the High sensitivity input or the Low sensitivity input.
Dual Amplifier
The channels of the Dual Amplifier model are numbered from right to left. They have similar EQ and tone controls, but each has different
gain and circuit characteristics.
l Channel selector This knob selects channel 1, 2, or 3. You can also use the small selector buttons between the toggle switches
to select a channel. The channel indicators have different colors (green, orange, and red) to help you see which is active. The
green channel is "clean", while the orange and red channels are more distorted.
l Main Power There are two options for the power supply characteristics: Spongy or Bold.
l Tone Controls These are identical for channels 1-3. Bass, Mid, and Treble are basic tone controls for their respective fre-
quency ranges.
l Gain Controls These are identical for channels 1-3. Presence controls the amount of negative feedback; increasing the value
changes the high frequencies and harmonics. Master controls the final output volume for the channel. Gain controls the pre-
amp input level.
l Mode switch: Channel 1 Two positions: Clean and Pushed, each with different sound characteristics. Pushed has a boost, so
the tone controls contribute less to the sound of Channel 1 in that position.
l Mode switch: Channels 2 and 3 Three positions: Raw, Vintage, and Modern. Each provides sound characteristics that were
modeled after different amplifiers from the same manufacturer.
l Rectifier switch: All Channels Two positions: Diode and Tube. These determine the basic character of the selected channel,
which changes the output volume, the harmonic response, and the amount of headroom for that channel.
VC30
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l Channel Inputs The VC30 has three channels: Vib-Trem, Normal, and Brilliant. Each channel has two inputs on the front
panel, arranged vertically. The low-sensitivity inputs are on the top row, and the high-sensitivity inputs are on the bottom row.
Each channel corresponds to a section of controls on the right side. The active channel is determined by which input is used.
l Vibrato The controls in this channel are used when one of the Vib-Trem inputs is connected. Use the Speed selector to choose
one of the three speeds. The Vib-Trem selector also has three settings (Vibrato, Off, or Tremolo). Adjust the level with the Vib-
Trem control in the Volume section.
l Volume Adjust the gain of each channel with the corresponding control in the Volume section. Usually only one channel is act-
ive, depending on which input is connected. But when the Vib-Trem and Brilliant channels are "jumpered" as shown below, the
gain controls for both channels can be used to achieve the perfect blend.
l Tone The Treble and Bass controls are dedicated to the Brilliant channel. The Cut control attenuates the high frequencies, and
is active for all three channels. 0% = no cut, 100% clockwise = maximum cut.
l Vib-Trem > Brilliant The Vib-Trem and Brilliant channels can be patched together and used at the same time. To do this, click
input 2 of the Vib-Trem channel, then click it again and a patch cable appears between Vib-Trem input 1 and Brilliant input 2.
This shows that the connection has been made.
This "jumpered connection" sends the signal through both the Vib-Trem and Brilliant circuits, so you have the dirt and tone con-
trol from the Brilliant channel and the vibrato / tremolo effect from the Vib-Trem channel available. The relevant controls in each
channel can be used to modify and blend the two outputs.
Blackface Twin
This well-known amp has two channels (normal and vibrato). Each channel has two input jacks that differ in input volume, as well as a
Bright switch.
l Normal Channel A simple channel with three EQ knobs and a Bright switch. The EQ knob range is from 1 (maximum cut) to 10
(maximum boost); 5 is neutral (no change). With Bright switched on, high frequencies can pass through the volume stage more
easily. The effect depends on the Volume setting; when the volume is low, the Bright switch makes a bigger difference.
l Vibrato Channel The features are identical to the Normal Channel, with the addition of Reverb and Vibrato controls. The
Reverb knob controls the amount of spring reverb, with a setting of 1 shutting off the reverb. The Speed and Intensity knobs
control the "Vibrato" effect (it's actually tremolo), with a minimum to maximum range of 1 to 10. An Intensity setting of 1 shuts off
the Vibrato. The Reverb and the Vibrato Intensity can be toggled between their current value and "Off" by clicking below the
appropriate knob.
Distortion 455
Amp STV
This amplifier was designed for bass instruments. It has two independent channels, with two inputs per channel (Bright and Normal). The
difference between the Normal and Bright inputs is that the Bright input attenuates the low and mid frequencies.
l Channel One Standard volume and boost/cut EQ controls (treble, midrange, bass), with a set of selector switches that influence
the results in each EQ range. Click the desired switch to change its setting.
l ultra hi is a two-position switch: flat (0) or boost (+). It has a significant impact on the high frequencies, especially in
combination with the other tone controls.
l mid frequency is a three-position switch: 220 Hz, 800 Hz, or 3000 Hz. This sets the center frequency of the midrange
EQ band.
l ultra lo is a three-position switch: cut (-), flat (0), or boost (+). It has a significant impact on the low frequencies, espe-
cially in combination with the other tone controls.
l Channel Two Identical to Channel One, only without the midrange controls.
The Ampire Pedalboard features a wide variety of Stomp Box effects, including distortion and modulation of all sorts. Up to eight Stomps
can be used at once and placed in any order you like (pre- or post-amplifier). Several have sync-to-tempo capabilities. You can even use
the same Stomp in several slots if you want.
For added flexibility, the Pedalboard is available as an independent effects plug-in inside the Browser/Effects/PreSonus folder. That way,
you can use it as an insert or send effect on any Channel without needing to bypass the amplifier and cabinet models. You can even drag
a favorite Stomp between instances of Ampire and the Pedalboard, and vice versa, as long as there's an empty slot available.
Note that when used with Ampire, all Pedalboard effects are placed prior to the cabinets in the audio chain.
Now let's take a look at the row of buttons beneath the Stomps window. The numbered slots show the names of the selected Stomps in
the order they appear in the window above them. An unused slot has no name. Each slot has an on/off switch, and on the far left is one
switch to rule them all: it toggles the entire Pedalboard on and off.
Mirrored actions
Many of the actions performed in the Stomps window are mirrored in the Stomps tray, and vice versa. For example:
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l Click-drag the silver switch in the Stomps window and the blue line moves too.
l Click-drag a Stomp to a new location and its numbered slot does the same below. Remember that this works both ways.
l Toggle the foot switch of an effect in the Stomps window and the on/off switch in the Stomps tray does it too.
l Hover over a number in the Stomp tray to identify that effect in the Stomps window. Hover over the top of a Stomp to see its num-
ber.
This is useful if you're using more than one instance of the same Stomp, for example, and you want to know which is which. It
also helps if the Stomps are not located directly above their position numbers in the Stomp tray. Some of them are fat in more
ways than one.
Distortion 457
l Equalizer
l Guitar/Bass Selects the appropriate style, which adjusts the frequency values for each band of the graphic EQ.
l Band Sliders Adjusts the level of each EQ band up or down to achieve the desired EQ setting. Click-drag across them
to set a quick curve.
l Fat
This is one of the PreSonus State-Space Modeling effects.
l Distortion Turn to the right to increase the amount of distortion.
l Filter With this control fully to the left, the Filter is open and high frequencies can pass; fully to the right, the high fre-
quencies are attenuated. Tone control is post-Distortion.
l Volume Controls the final output level.
l Gate
The gate pedal completely removes unwanted noise in your signal. No more buzzing and humming in your signal chain! This
One-Knob model has the following control:
l Threshold Adjusts the lower limit at which the Gate starts to work. Variable from -96 dB to 0 dB. All signals above the
threshold setting are passed through unaffected, whereas signals below the threshold are muted (e.g., pickup hum or
noise).
l Modulation
l Chorus/Flanger/Phaser Selects the type of modulation.
l Chorus
l Delay Adjusts the delay of the chorus signal from 2 to 20 ms.
l Speed Adjusts the chorus speed from 0.01 to 10 Hz.
l Width Adjusts depth of delay line modulation, from 0 to 100%.
l Depth Adjusts the chorus depth from 0 to 100%.
l Flanger
l Delay Adjusts the delay of the flanged signal from .2 to 4 ms.
l Speed Adjust the flanger speed from 0.01 to 10 Hz.
l Sync Engage this if you want to sync the flanger speed to tempo.
l Beats Selects a beat value for the synced flanger speed.
l Feed Adjusts the amount of feedback from 0 to 100%.
l Width Adjusts the flanger LFO width from 0 to 100%.
l Depth Adjusts the flanger depth from 0 to 100%.
l Phaser
l Phase Adjusts the frequency of the phaser from 240 Hz to 8 kHz.
l Speed Adjusts the speed of the phaser from 0.01 to 10 Hz.
l Sync Engage this if you want to sync the phaser speed to tempo.
l Beats Selects a beat value for the synced phaser speed.
l Feed Adjusts the amount of feedback from 0 to 100%.
l Width Adjusts the phaser LFO width from 0 to 100%.
l Depth Adjusts the phaser depth from 0 to 100%.
l MP Ninety
l Speed Controls the phaser speed.
l PAE Chorus 1
l High/Low Selects the input sensitivity.
l Level Control Adjusts the input level.
l Chorus Intensity Controls the rate and depth of the Chorus effect for Chorus mode.
l Vibrato Depth Controls the depth of the Vibrato effect for Vibrato mode.
l Vibrato Rate Controls the rate of the Vibrato effect for Vibrato mode.
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l Normal/Effect This foot switch toggles the effect on and off.
l Mode: Vibrato/Chorus This foot switch toggles the effect between Vibrato and Chorus modes.
l Pan
l Speed Adjust the pan speed from 0.01 to 10 Hz.
l Sync Engage this if you want to sync the pan speed to tempo.
l Beats Selects a beat value for the synced pan speed.
l Depth Adjusts the pan depth from 0 to 100%.
l Reverb
l Size This control affects several parameters to approximate an overall room size. It adjusts the size of the reverberated
signal from 0 to 100%, with lower percentages representing smaller rooms and therefore shorter reverb tails and higher
percentages representing larger rooms and longer tails.
l Mix Adjusts the mix of the reverberated signal with the original signal from 0 to 50%.
l LC Sets the frequency of the low-cut filter from 20 Hz to 1 kHz.
l HC Sets the frequency of the high-cut filter from 1 kHz to 20 kHz.
l Damp Adjusts the dampening of the reverberated signal from 0 to 100%.
l Tremolo
l Speed Adjusts the tremolo speed from 0.01 to 10 Hz.
l Sync Engage this if you want to sync the tremolo speed to tempo.
l Beats Selects a beat value for the synced tremolo speed.
l Depth Adjusts the tremolo depth from 0 to 100%.
l Tube Dreamer
This is one of the PreSonus State-Space Modeling effects.
l Drive Turn to the right to increase the Drive amount.
l Tone Turn to the left to attenuate high frequencies. The tone control is post-Drive.
l Level Controls the final output stage.
l Tube Driver
l Amount Adjusts the amount of drive from 0 to 11.
l Wah-Wah
l Type Selection Box Selects the type of wah-wah desired.
l Amount Adjusts the amount of the wah-wah effect from 0 to 100%, equivalent to rocking a traditional wah-wah pedal
forward and backward.
Bitcrusher
Perfect for audio abuse, Bitcrusher combines overdrive, bit-depth reduction, downsampling and clipping into a single plug-in. Bit depth
reduction and down-sampling are both digital resolution-reduction techniques, but each has its own sonic effect. When used in com-
bination, they create a wide variety of tonal options.
The following parameters are available in Bitcrusher:
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Wreck
l Bit Depth Lets you specify the level of Bit Depth reduction to apply, from 24-bit to 1-bit.
l l Dirt Enable this to introduce a high-frequency instability in the Bit Depth reduction effect. Good for creating aggressive
sounds.
l Downsample Lets you specify the level of downsampling to apply.
l l Zero Enable this to emphasize the high-frequency ringing effects added by the downsampling process. When disabled,
a smoothing interpolation process is applied to the signal, lessening audible artifacts.
Color
l Overdrive Lets you apply a warm distortion effect, ranging from clean to fuzzy.
l Clip Lets you set the threshold for the signal clipping effect. At 0 the signal is unaffected, and at settings below 0 the signal is
clipped in your choice of the following ways:
l l Digital Standard digital clipping. Squarely clips the peaks of the waveform at the chosen threshold.
l Overflow Inverts and offsets peaks at a faster interval.
l Fold Introduces harmonics by inverting waveform peaks at the chosen threshold (and at zero).
Display The central waveform display shows a rough representation of the wave-shaping effects currently being applied.
l Sine Click this to switch to a real-time view of the Bitcrusher audio output.
Global
l Gain Adjusts Bitcrusher output gain. Variable from -24 dB to +24 dB.
l l Auto Enable this to set Gain automatically, to match the gain changes created by other Bitcrusher processors.
l Mix Lets you blend between the dry (0%) and effected (100%) signals.
Red Light Distortion is an analog-distortion emulator with several selectable distortion models.
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The following parameters are available in Red Light Distortion:
l In Input gain to the distortion. Variable from -12 dB to 24 dB.
l Distortion Only for Hard and Bad Tube types, this is the tube working-point adjustment (bias). Variable from 0 to 10.00.
l Low Freq Filters frequencies below this value from the distorted signal. Variable from 20 Hz to 5 kHz, depending on the High
Freq setting.
l High Freq Filters frequencies above this value from the distorted signal. Variable from 800 Hz to 16 kHz.
l Drive Amplification during overdrive. Variable from 0 to 11; drive increases a lot between 10 and 11 for really distorted sounds.
l Out Adjust the output gain of Red Light Distortion. Variable from -12 dB to 24 dB.
l Stages Number of overdrive stages used serially in the signal path (including filters). Select from 1, 2, or 3 with the horizontal
fader.
l Type Select the type of distortion emulation by clicking on the display and selecting Soft Tube, Hard Tube, Bad Tube, Tran-
sistor, Fuzz, or OpAmp from the list.
l Mix Lets you set a mix between the wet (effected) and dry (unaffected) signals running through the plug-in, allowing for parallel
processing effects.
Dynamics
Dynamics processing is a key aspect of mixing and mastering. Studio One Pro features very high-quality dynamics processors that give
you complete control. The following sections contain fundamental details on the shaping of audio dynamics, as well as the functions of
Studio One Pro’s dynamics processors.
Compressor
The Compressor is a full-featured, RMS-based mono/stereo compression processor with internal and external sidechains. Use this
effect to reduce the dynamic range (signal peaks) of any signal.
The following parameters are available in the Compressor:
l Threshold Adjusts the lower limit for compression. Variable from -48 dB to 0 dB.
l Ratio Adjusts compression range. Variable from 1:1 (no compression) to 20:1.
l Knee Adjusts the soft-knee width. (Width refers to the distance from the threshold to the end of the soft knee.) Variable from 0.1
dB to 20 dB.
l Look Ahead Click to engage/disengage 2 ms Look Ahead function.
l Channel Link Click to engage/disengage Stereo Link. Stereo Link sums a stereo input signal to mono for signal-power detec-
tion.
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l Display
l Input Level Displays input level + RMS.
l Reduction Displays level of compressor attenuation (-60 dB to +3 dB) and the maximum reduction amount. The
highest peak is held until surpassed by another peak or until parameters are adjusted or clicked on.
l Compression Curve Click the handles in the display to control the curve settings.
l Ratio Click the top right handle to adjust the Ratio when Auto-Gain is not engaged.
l Threshold Click the middle handle to adjust the Threshold when Auto-Gain is not engaged.
l Knee Use the mouse wheel while floating the cursor over the middle handle to adjust the Knee when Auto-
Gain is not engaged. If you don’t have a mouse wheel, use the Knee knob.
l Gain Click the bottom left handle to adjust the Makeup gain when Auto-Gain is not engaged.
l Auto-Gain Engaged Click on the middle handle to adjust the Threshold and Ratio parameters. The X axis con-
trols the Ratio, and the Y axis controls the Threshold. Hover over the handle to control the Knee, as described
above.
l Output Level Displays output level + RMS.
l Envelope
l Attack Adjusts attack time for dynamics processing. Variable from 0.1 ms to 400 ms.
l Auto Engage Auto to automatically set varying attack and release settings based on signal content.
l Adaptive Engage to automatically vary attack and release times in order to avoid pumping. This results in less-aggress-
ive but smoother compression.
l Release Adjusts release time for dynamics processing. Variable from 1 ms to 2s.
l Gain Attenuates or amplifies the compressor input. Variable from -12 dB to 24 dB.
l Input Gain The name of the Gain control when the Compressor is in Int. Sidechain mode.
l Side Gain The name of the Gain control when the Compressor is in Ext. Sidechain mode.
l Makeup When Auto is not engaged, this allows you to control the output gain manually. It is variable from 0 dB to 48 dB.
l Auto Engage to automatically fix the 0 dB input level to the 0 dB output level (guarantees that a 0 dB input level results
in a 0 dB output level). This button cannot be activated when in Ext. Sidechain mode or when the Filter is engaged.
l Sidechain (internal)
l Filter Click to activate internal sidechain filtering (for frequency-dependent gating). Uses 48 dB/octave filters.
l Listen Click to listen to the filtered control signal of the internal sidechain. Helps find specific target frequency for control
signal when de-essing, transient damping, etc.
l Low Cut/High Cut Frequency selection for internal sidechain filters. Low Cut variable from Off to 20 Hz to 16 kHz; High
Cut variable from 20 Hz to 16 kHz to Off.
l Swap Click to swap the frequencies used for Low Cut and High Cut.
l Sidechain (external) Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow other sources to control
the Compressor. When engaged, you can use the Filter, Listen, Low/High Cut, and Swap controls as described above in the
Sidechain (internal) section.
l Sources Click to display a list of external sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Mul-
tiple selections can be made.
l Mix This parameter lets you set a mix between the wet (effected) and dry (unaffected) signals running through the plug-in, allow-
ing for parallel processing effects.
De-Esser
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The De-Esser is a full-featured, dynamics processor used to selectively reduce the sibilance (S-sounds) of recordings by selectively com-
pressing only the problematic frequencies. It’s particularly useful for layered vocal recordings, where undesirable sibilance can add up
across multiple tracks — and it’s also a suitable choice for taming harsh frequencies in high-hats and cymbals.
The following parameters are available in the De-Esser:
l Frequency - Adjusts the center frequency used to target sibilant sounds for reduction. Variable from 2 kHz - 12 kHz.
l Listen - Similar to the key-listen function on the Compressor. When activated, it allows you to listen to the frequencies being tar-
geted for reduction.
l Solo - Activate to hear only the signal being reduced by the De-Esser.
l Meter - This combination meter displays both the input level (blue) and the amount of gain reduction (yellow.)
l S-Reduction - Controls the threshold point at which the De-Esser begins to reduce the selected frequency. Variable from 0 dB
to -60 dB.
l Shape
l Narrow - 3-band mode. Compression is only applied to a narrow band. Signal below and above the active band remain
untouched.
l Wide - 2-band mode. Compression is applied to the entire high-frequency signal, while the lower-frequency range
remains untouched.
l Range
l Full - Compression may cover the entire dynamic range of a signal.
l Gentle - Prevents the compression from reducing the signal beyond -6dB.
Expander
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Expander is a fully variable downward expander with range control. It features sidechain capability, including an internal sidechain filter
with variable low-cut and high-cut. Expanders increase the dynamic range of a signal such that low-level signals are attenuated while the
louder portions are neither attenuated nor amplified. This is effectively the opposite of compression. Use Expander to decrease the levels
of unwanted noise or bleed from other sources in the desired signal or to restore dynamic range to a compressed signal.
The following parameters are available for the Expander:
l Threshold Adjusts the maximum amplitude at which processing occurs. Variable from -60 dB to 0 dB.
l Ratio Adjust the ratio of the Expander. Variable from 1:1 to 1:20.
l Display
l Reduction Meter Displays the maximum reduction amount (-72 dB to +0 dB).
l Expansion Curve Click the handles in the display to control the curve settings.
l Threshold Drag the top handle to adjust the Threshold when Auto-Gain is not engaged.
l Ratio/Range Drag the bottom handle to adjust the Ratio and Range simultaneously.
l Look Ahead Click to engage/disengage 2 ms Look Ahead function.
l Reduction Range Adjust the maximum amount of attenuation applied to the signal. Variable from -72 dB to 0 dB.
l Envelope
l Attack Adjusts attack time for dynamics processing, reaction speed to falling signal. Variable from 0.1 ms to 500 ms.
l Release Adjusts release time for dynamics processing, reaction speed to rising signal. Variable from 50 ms to 2 s.
l Sidechain (internal)
l Filter Click to activate internal sidechain filtering (for frequency-dependent gating). Uses 48 dB/octave filters.
l Listen Click to listen to the filtered control signal of the internal sidechain. This helps find a specific target frequency for
the control signal when de-essing, transient damping, etc.
l Low Cut/High Cut Frequency selection for internal sidechain filters. Low Cut variable from Off to 20 Hz to 16 kHz; High
Cut variable from 20 Hz to 16 kHz to Off.
l Swap Click to swap the frequencies used for Low Cut and High Cut.
l Sidechain (external) Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow other sources to control
the Expander. When engaged, you can use the Filter, Listen, Low/High Cut, and Swap controls as described above in the Side-
chain (internal) section.
l Sources Click to display a list of external sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Mul-
tiple selections can be made.
l Ducking Engage this button at the bottom of the effect window to invert the external sidechain source signal.
Gate
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Gate is a noise-gate processor with range control. It features a large display with grid lines to indicate the Threshold setting relative to 0
dB.
It also has sidechain capability with an internal sidechain filter that includes variable low cut and high cut. Gating is an extreme form of
expansion that severely attenuates the processed signal or silences it entirely. Use Gate to eliminate unwanted noise or low levels in any
Track or to creatively control the level of a given Track using another Track via the sidechain.
The following parameters are available for the Gate:
l Threshold Adjusts the signal level threshold at which the Gate switches between closed and open. You can also click and drag
the dot in the Gate display to adjust the Threshold value. Variable from -60 dB to 0 dB.
l Reduction Range Adjusts the maximum amount of reduction. Variable from -72 dB to 0 dB.
l Display
l Reduction Meter Displays the amount of reduction, from -72 dB to 0 dB.
l Gate Curve Click and drag the handle in the display to adjust the Threshold.
l Look Ahead Click to engage/disengage the 2 ms Look Ahead function.
l Envelope
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time it takes for the gate to open and let signal through. Variable from 0.05 ms to 500 ms.
l Hold Adjusts the amount of time the gate is held open once the signal has dropped below the Threshold setting. Vari-
able from 1 ms to 1 s.
l Release Adjusts the amount of time it takes for the gate to close after the Hold period. Variable from 50 ms to 2 s.
l Trigger
l Send Trigger Notes Click to engage sending a trigger when the gate opens. Select the gate as an input on any Instru-
ment Track.
l Note Click the field and enter a note name, or click-drag the field to adjust the MIDI note to send.
l Velo Click the field and enter a number, or click-drag the field to adjust the MIDI velocity value to send.
l Sidechain (internal)
l Filter Click to activate internal sidechain filtering (for frequency-dependent gating). Uses 48 dB/octave filters.
l Listen Click to listen to the filtered control signal of the internal sidechain. Helps find specific target frequency for control
signal when removing narrow-band noise.
l Low Cut/High Cut Frequency selection for internal sidechain filters. Low Cut variable from Off to 20 Hz to 16 kHz; High
Cut variable from 20 Hz to 16 kHz to Off.
l Swap Click to swap the frequencies used for Low Cut and High Cut.
l Sidechain (external) Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow other sources to control
the gate. When engaged, you can use the Filter, Listen, Low/High Cut, and Swap controls as described above in the Sidechain
section.
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l Sources Click to display a list of external sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Mul-
tiple selections can be made.
l Ducking Engage this button at the bottom of the effect window to invert the external sidechain source signal.
Limiter²
Limiter² is a brickwall limiting processor with optional K-System Metering. Use it to prevent your output signal from clipping or to max-
imize signals with very dynamic peaks.
The following parameters are available for Limiter²:
l Input
l Gain Adjusts the input level into the limiter. Variable from 0 dB to 18 dB.
l Ceiling Adjusts the maximum output of the limiter. Variable from -12 dB to 0 dB.
l Threshold is relative to Ceiling. Variable from Ceiling value to 12 dB below Ceiling value. Automatic make-up gain is
applied as the Threshold is lowered.
l Mode Toggles between Modes A and B. With Mode A the limiter is always clean with no distortion. However, in Mode A
the limiter response is a bit slower. With Mode B the limiter reacts more quickly to the signal, but depending on the set-
tings a small amount of distortion may occur.
l Envelope
l Attack Select Fast, Normal, or Slow attack for the limiter.
l Release Adjust the amount of time it takes for the limiter to stop processing once the input level falls below the Ceiling
setting. Variable from 1 ms to 3 s.
l Metering
l Peak/RMS Click to engage Peak/RMS metering.
l K-14, K-20, K-12 Click one of these to select a K-System metering option.
l Reduction Displays the amount of signal reduction, from -36 dB to 0 dB.
l True Peak Often the sample that represents the "peak" of a waveform is not truly at the peak, but rather just near it. This can cre-
ate inter-sample peaks, in which the true outputted amplitude can surge past the limiter threshold. Enable True Peak to detect
and protect from these inter-sample peaks.
l Soft Clip Reduces square wave clipping characteristics when the limiter is clipped. Click to engage Soft Clip.
l Sidechain Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow other sources to control the limiter.
l Sources Click to display a list of potential sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Multiple
selections can be made.
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Pro EQ3
Pro EQ3 is an eight-band parametric equalizer1 with optional spectrum metering; variable low-cut, high-cut, low-frequency, and high-fre-
quency multimode filters; band soloing; dynamic mode controls; and an optional Auto-Gain output gain setting. Use Pro EQ3 on any
mono or stereo Track to accurately apply highly musical equalization to any signal.
The following parameters are available for Pro EQ3:
l Input Meter Peak/RMS meter shows the unmodified input signal level. The RMS level is represented by a white horizontal line.
l Display Click-and-drag frequency-band handles in the display to edit Gain (up/down) and Freq (left/right) parameters. If you
click on a handle, the mouse wheel edits the Q. (If you don’t have a mouse wheel, adjust the desired Q knob or type in a value
below the knob.) Note that LLC frequency must be selected with the buttons. Holding [CTRL/CMD] before clicking and dragging
a handle will allow you to adjust the dynamics Range by using the mouse.
l Band Controls Click to show/hide the bottom half of the Pro EQ3 window. This is where all controls, buttons, and options for
each EQ band are located.
l Dynamics Click to show/hide the Dynamics controls (Thresh/Range) for all frequency bands.
l Level Range Click this field to select one of three Level Range options for the Pro EQ3 display: 6 dB, 12 dB, or 24 dB. Below
these options, the max and min dB of the Analyzer Range can be adjusted as well (from -120dB to 24 dB). This affects the ver-
tical scale within the display only; it does not affect the audio output.
l Show Curves Click to display all EQ curves or only their combined curve, which is white. When the individual curves are hidden
you can hover over a band-handle to view its curve, and as any band is adjusted its curve is displayed temporarily.
l Spectrum Display Type Click this field to select one of four output-spectrum metering modes: Third Octave, 12th Octave, FFT
Curve, or Waterfall. Select None to deactivate spectrum metering.
1A filter or group of filters that adjusts the volume level of a frequency, or range of frequencies, within an audio signal. Studio One includes the Pro EQ native
effect.
Mix Engine FX are a unique category of Native Effects within Studio One Pro. Rather than being applied to a single Channel or Event like
more typical plug-ins like Compressor or Pro EQ, Mix Engine FX can be applied to a Bus to cross-process multiple channels sim-
ultaneously—using only a single plug-in instance. The Mix Engine FX will then cross-apply to all of the Channels that flow into the Bus.
Mix Engine FX allow for robust emulation of vintage console characteristics like Crosstalk. In the analog realm, channels could bleed into
one another laterally across a console—much unlike a modern digital console. It’s this sort of cross-channel interaction that makes Mix
Engine FX special, allowing for more analog-style “glue” to bind your mixes together.
Furthermore, Mix Engine FX leverage PreSonus’ proprietary State Space Modeling technology, which has allowed us to digitally re-cre-
ate the sonic behavior of analog circuits on a per-component basis—including specific tolerances and nonlinearities. Thanks to State
Space Modeling, we’ve been able to create incredibly authentic-sounding digital models of venerated analog console behavior including:
drive, crosstalk, noise, saturation, and more!
It’s as true to analog as digital can get.
Adding a single Mix Engine FX plug-in to the Main Out of Studio One Pro is the equivalent of adding multiple instances of the same plug-
in to all of the channel inserts, as well as the bus insert.
Note that Mix Engine FX are intended for use on Songs in the stereo 2-channel format. Mix Engine FX applied to multichannel songs will
render their processing in the Left and Right channels only.
In this example, Passthrough is set to On. Mix Engine effects are active on the Main bus. The vocals are processed by Mix Engine FX at
their Channel source and the vocal bus is ignored.
Console Shaper
Console Shaper is a Mix Engine Effect included in Studio One Pro that offers quick, easy-to-manage console emulation. Quality analog
mixing consoles are revered for their depth and richness of tone, forgiving gain staging, and for a number of charming technical "flaws"
that are unseen in digital mixers. These issues, such as circuitry self-noise and crosstalk (a low-level bleeding of signals between a con-
sole's channels and busses) were once the bane of console designers. Ironically, they are now thought to contribute to the euphonic
nature of analog summing.
Console Shaper is well-qualified to provide these sought-after analog attributes for your own mixing within Studio One Pro.
Multiband Dynamics
Multiband Dynamics is a compressor/expander with five completely independent compression/expansion bands, optional simultaneous
adjustment over all bands, and multiband metering. Use it to reduce unwanted signals or banded noise and to emphasize or limit instru-
ments. In practice, this effect can function as a dynamic equalizer or can be used for mastering compression on a complete mix.
This type of compression is regarded by many as an art form, and it can be difficult for beginners to use. We recommend you load the
factory presets as a starting point and learn how Multiband Dynamics works by using it.
The following parameters are available for Multiband Dynamics:
l Global Display Float mouse in display to view parameter-editing Tooltips above the display.
l Input Horizontal lines represent Low and High Threshold for dynamics processing.
l Output Horizontal lines represent transformation of the High and Low Thresholds using Gain and Ratio. A signal at the Low
Threshold on the input would be at the low level on the output.
l Color Coded Output Gain Red means attenuation, green means amplification.
l Mix This control lets you set the mix between effected and non-effected (dry) signals, allowing for parallel processing.
Dynamic changes occur only between Low/High Threshold and Low/High Gain. If the signal is above or below these settings, only linear
gain is applied.
l Bands
l L, LM, M, HM, H Low, Low Mid, Mid, High Mid, High.
l Frequency Knob Adjust crossover frequency between bands. You must have at least one octave between
adjacent bands.
l M, S, Bypass Mute, Solo, and Bypass engage buttons for each band.
Editing the crossover frequencies in the display moves other bands when the bandwidth is below one octave. Editing using automation is
limited to a one octave bandwidth. Moving the crossover to limit frequencies disables bands.
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l Metering
l Range Low This is the lowest amplitude to be displayed in band meters. Click to select from -120 dB, -80 dB, -48 dB, -
24 dB, or -12 dB.
l Range High This is the highest amplitude to be displayed in band meters. Click to select from +12 dB, 0 dB, -12 dB, -24
dB, or -48 dB.
l Metering On/Off Click to engage/disengage metering for all bands.
l Edit All Relative Click to engage/disengage relative dynamics-settings editing for all bands. When engaged, changing dynam-
ics settings for the selected band changes the same settings for all bands by the same amount.
l Auto Speed Click to engage/disengage Auto Speed for the dynamics for all bands. Sets adaptive Attack and Release times for
all bands globally.
l Dynamics Click on any band to select it and view/edit dynamics settings for that band.
l Dynamics Display Click on handles in display to adjust dynamics settings.
l Thresholds No dynamics processing occurs for signals outside of the Threshold settings—only gain amp-
lification/attenuation.
l Low Threshold Adjusts the lower limit for signal to be processed. Variable from -60 dB to 2x the knee length.
l High Threshold Adjusts the upper limit for signal to be processed. Variable from 0 dB to 2x the knee length.
l Ratio Adjusts dynamics processing ratio. Variable from 1:10 (gating) to 20:1 (limiting).
l Gain Adjusts output gain. Variable from -36 dB to 36 dB.
l Attack Adjusts attack time for dynamics processing. Variable from 1 ms to 200 ms.
l Release Adjusts release time for dynamics processing. Variable from 4 ms to 200 ms.
Dynamics speeds are adapted to provide a comparable smoothness at the same setting for expansion and compression, so expansion is
slightly slower than the shown length.
l Sidechain Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow specific sources to control the Mult-
iband Dynamics processor.
l Sources Click to display a list of potential sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Multiple
selections can be made.
Tricomp™
Tricomp is a three-band compressor. It provides automatic threshold and ratio settings for all three bands and relative control for the low
and high bands, as well as switchable automatic attack and release controls. Tricomp can be used to finalize your mix or to add brilliance
or punch to frequency-rich signals.
The following parameters are available for Tricomp:
l Input Gain Set overall Input Gain to the compressor.
l Mix Adjust the mix between dry (unaffected) and wet (effected) signals, for parallel compression effects.
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l Low Adjusts the relative amount of compression to be applied to the Low compression band. Variable from -5 to 5 depending on
the Compress setting.
l High Adjusts the relative amount of compression to be applied to the High compression band. Variable from -0.50 to 0.50,
depending on the Compress setting.
l Low Freq Adjusts the upper corner frequency of the Low compression band. Variable from 80 Hz to 480 Hz.
l High Freq Adjusts the lower corner frequency of the High compression band. Variable from 800 Hz to 12 kHz.
l Input Meter Displays Tricomp’s input level.
l Reduction Meter Displays the amount of signal reduction.
l Compression Amount The relative amount of compression to be applied to all three compression bands. Variable from 0 to 10.
l Output Meter Displays Tricomp’s output level.
l Knee Adjusts the distance/curve of the compressor knee. Variable from 0 dB (hard knee) to 6 dB (soft knee).
l Gain Set overall output Gain. Variable from -18 dB to +18 dB.
l Attack When Auto is not engaged, these buttons select the compressor attack time. Fast Attack is 0.1 ms; Slow Attack is 10 ms.
l Release When Auto is not engaged, this adjusts the compressor release time. Release is variable from 1 ms to 300 ms.
l Auto Click to engage adaptive settings for the compressor attack and release times, based on signal content.
l Saturation Saturation recreates the saturation sound of famous leveling amplifiers using State Space Modeling. Variable from 0
to 100%.
l Sidechain Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow specific sources to control the
Tricomp processor.
l Sources Click to display a list of potential sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Multiple
selections can be made.
Mixing
Many tools can help to achieve proper balance and create space for the various parts of your mix. The following effects can help you craft
your mix with precision and excellent sound quality.
Binaural Pan
The Binaural Pan is a panning effect that employs mid/side processing to manipulate the perceived width of stereo signals, from mono to
double the normal width. Use the Binaural Pan on any stereo Track to tightly control its stereo width and pan, as well as to check for
mono compatibility using the Mono switch.
The following parameters are available for the Binaural Pan:
l Pan Adjusts the balance in the left and right channels for the stereo Track. Variable from 100% L to 100% R.
l Mono Switch to mono playback of the stereo Track.
l Width Adjusts the stereo width of the stereo Track. Variable from 0 (mono) to 200% (double stereo width).
The Binaural Pan can only be used on stereo Tracks. If loaded onto a mono Track, the plug-in display shows “MONO CHANNEL.”
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Channel Strip
Channel Strip features three processors in one, including a low-cut filter, dynamics processor, and three-band parametric EQ. Channel
Strip optionally applies automatic gain correction to the EQ so that the input-signal power matches the output signal power. Use Channel
Strip on any mono or stereo Track that needs basic channel processing.
The following parameters are available for Channel Strip:
Low Cut
l Low Cut Active Click on the Low Cut Active button to engage/disengage the Low Cut filter.
l Frequency Adjusts the Low Cut Frequency to change the filter cutoff frequency. Variable from 40 Hz to 400 Hz.
Compressor
l Compress Adjusts the compression amount. Variable from Off to 100%. Simultaneously adjusts threshold (0 dB to -20 dB) and
ratio (2:1 to 10:1).
l Expand Adjusts the expansion amount. Variable from Off to 100%. Simultaneously adjusts threshold (-64 dB to -24 dB) and
ratio (1.5:1 to 2.5:1).
l Active gain reduction is indicated by a red “LED"-like indicator.
l Slow, Medium, Fast Adjusts the RMS averaging speed. Slower speeds may reduce artifacts with some audio material. The
default is Medium, and Studio One Pro version 1 presets open set to Fast.
Display Displays low-cut filter and parametric EQ settings. Click on handles to adjust gain (up/down) and frequency (left/right).
l Adapt Q Enable to change band Q depending on the level of boost or cut applied.
EQ
l Low, Mid, High Adjusts gain and frequency for each band of the parametric EQ. Each band has fixed Q.
Global
l Gain Adjusts the output gain of the Channel Strip. Variable from -12 dB to 12 dB.
l Auto Click to engage automatic output-gain setting. This guarantees that a 0 dB input signal equals a 0 dB output signal.
Dual Pan
Dual Pan is a fully variable stereo panner with input balance control, selectable pan law, and independent left/right panning. The fol-
lowing parameters are available for Dual Pan:
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l Input Balance Adjusts the balance of the stereo input signal from full left to full right.
l Pan Law Select a pan law, choose from -6 dB Linear, -3 dB Constant Power Sin/Cos, -3 dB Constant Power Sqrt, 0 dB Balance
Sin/Cos, and 0 dB Linear.
l Pan
l Left Adjusts the pan of the left input signal from full left to full right.
l Right Adjusts the pan of the right input signal from full left to full right.
l Link Link the Left and Right panning.
Fat Channel XT
Fat Channel is a complete virtual version of the channel strip found on the PreSonus StudioLive III line of mixers, which allows you to use
all Fat Channel XT presets in both Studio One Pro and on StudioLive III. With gate/expander, compressor, parametric EQ and limiter
functions, Fat Channel combines many essential processing functions into one easy-to-use tool. Along with its "clean" modern dynamics
and EQ processors, Fat Channel XT gives you a selection of high-quality emulations of vintage compressors and EQs to suit your needs.
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StudioLive AI mixers do not have the ability to use the non-standard EQ and compressor models in Fat Channel XT. If you wish to send a
Fat Channel XT preset to your StudioLive AI mixer, be sure to use the standard processor models only.
Header
l
Stacked Mode Click this option to toggle the display state of Fat Channel XT. When disabled, only the currently selected
processor (such as Gate or Compressor) is displayed. When enabled, all four processors are displayed at once, in a stacked
arrangement.
l Processor Select Buttons (HPF/Gate, Compressor, Equalizer, Limiter) When Fat Channel XT is not in Stacked Mode, click
these buttons to display the processor block of your choice.
l Processor Enable/Disable Click the round button next to the processor name of your choice to toggle the on/off state
for that block of processing. Each processor also has its own enable/disable switch within the module interface.
l Compressor and Equalizer Model Selectors Click the menu next to the name of the Compressor or Equalizer processors to
open a Gallery view, from which you can choose the desired Compressor or EQ model. Hover the cursor over each image to
view a brief description, then click to select the one you want.
l Compressor offers the following choices:
l Standard A flexible, modern compressor, with a clean, hi-fi sound.
l Tube A model of one of the best-loved vintage tube-based opto-compressors. Excels at vocal smoothing and
at making bass instruments sound larger-than-life.
l FET A model of one of the most-used vintage FET-based compressors. Great for adding an aggressive edge
and accentuating room sound for drums, guitars, and other highly transient signals.
l Equalizer offers the following choices:
l Standard A flexible, full-featured modern EQ, with a clean, hi-fi sound.
l Passive A model of the "rolls-royce" of vintage tube-based passive EQs. Deceptively simple controls and a
rich, thick sound make it perfect for gentle tone shaping or adding vintage character.
l Vintage A model of what some call the "final word" in vintage solid-state EQs. Combines an "everything
sounds better through it" quality with musically-chosen EQ frequencies for quick, reliable tonal magic.
l Swap Comp/EQ Order Click this button to swap the places of the Compressor and Equalizer processors in the signal chain.
l Sidechain Engage by clicking the [Sidechain] button at the top of the effect window to allow other sources to control the limiter.
l Sources Click to display a list of potential sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Multiple
selections can be made.
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l Enable/Disable Click the "HPF" legend to enable or disable the high-pass filter module.
l High PassSets the frequency of the high-pass filter. Turn all the way left to disengage the filter.
Gate
l Enable/Disable Click the "Gate" legend to enable or disable the Gate module.
l Threshold This knob sets the level at which the gate opens. Essentially, all signals above the threshold setting are passed
through unaffected, whereas signals below the threshold setting are reduced in level by the amount set by the range control. If
the threshold is set all the way to the left, the gate is turned off (always open), allowing all signals to pass through unaffected.
You can set the threshold from 0 to -84 dB.
l Range This adjusts the amount of gain reduction the gate produces. The range can be set from 0 to -84 dB. The Range control
is not available when using the expander.
l Key Filter This knob adjusts the frequency at which the gate opens. Setting a specific frequency, in addition to a specific decibel
level, provides more sonic shaping. The key filter can be triggered by the selected channel or bus’s signal or by sidechaining a
channel and using its signal as the source.
l Attack (Att) This adjusts the rate at which the gate opens on the selected channel or output. You can set the attack time from
0.02 to 500 ms.
l Release (Rel) Adjusts and displays the rate at which the gate closes on the selected channel. The release time can be set from
0.05 to 2 seconds.
l Key Listen This button engages and disengages the Key Listen function, which lets you hear how the gate Key Filter is set.
l Expander Switch the gate into expander mode.
l Interactive Graph This graph provides a visual representation of the settings and current activity of the gate. You can also
adjust the setting by moving the blue dots to adjust Threshold and Range.
l Enable/Disable Click the "Compressor" legend to enable or disable the Compressor module.
l Threshold This knob adjusts the compressor threshold for the selected channel. The compressor engages as soon as the sig-
nal level (amplitude) exceeds the threshold value. Moving this control to the left lowers the threshold so that compression begins
at a lower amplitude value. The threshold can be set from -56 to 0 dB.
l Ratio This knob adjusts the compression ratio (or slope). The ratio is a function of the output level versus the input level. For
example, if you have the ratio set at 2:1, any signal levels above the threshold setting are compressed at a ratio of 2:1. This
means that for every 2 dB of level increase above the threshold, the compressor’s output only increases by 1 dB. The ratio can
be set from 1:1 to 18:1 or “limit” which is the equivalent of infinity:1.
l Gain This sets and displays the makeup gain of the compressor for the selected channel. Compressing a signal usually results
in an overall reduction in level (gain reduction), and the Makeup Gain control lets you increase the volume to make up for this
gain loss, if desired. You can adjust the Makeup Gain from 0 dB (no gain adjustment) to +28 dB.
l Attack This adjusts the speed at which the compressor acts on the input signal. A slow attack time (moving the slider to the
right) allows the beginning component of a signal (commonly referred to as the initial transient) to pass through, uncompressed,
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whereas a fast attack time (fully to the left) triggers compression immediately when a signal exceeds the threshold. You can set
the attack from 0.2 to 150 milliseconds.
l Release This determines the length of time the compressor takes to return the gain reduction back to zero (no gain reduction)
after crossing below the compression threshold. Release can be set from 2.5 to 900 milliseconds.
l Key Listen This button engages and disengages the Key Listen function, which lets you listen to the signal that is being fed to
the compressor's detector.
l Auto This enables Automatic Attack and Release mode. When Auto mode is active, the Attack and Release controls become
inoperative, and a pre-programmed attack and release curve is used that sets the attack to 10 ms and the release to 150 ms.
Meanwhile, all other compressor parameters can still be adjusted manually.
l Soft This engages soft-knee compression. In normal operating mode, the compressor is set for hard-knee compression, mean-
ing the gain reduction applied to the signal occurs as soon as the input signal level exceeds the threshold value. When the Soft
Knee button is engaged, the ratio increases gradually as the signal reaches the threshold.
l Interactive Graph This graph provides a visual representation of the settings and current activity of the compressor. You can
also adjust the setting by moving the blue dot to change the Threshold and Ratio values.
l Enable/Disable Click the power switch to enable or disable the Tube Compressor module.
l Comp/Limit Toggles the Tube Compressor between its compressor and limiter modes. When in compressor mode, it acts with
a variable ratio of 1:1-10:1. When in limiter mode, it acts with a variable ratio of 10:1-20:1, more aggressively limiting peaks.
l Gain Sets input gain to the compressor. Because this type of compressor operates in a different way than a standard com-
pressor, much of the way that it affects signals is based on the input level. Try different settings to see what suits your needs.
l Peak Reduction Sets the amount of peak reduction to apply to the signal. Higher settings result in more gain reduction and
more pronounced compression effect.
l Key Filter Sets the frequency of a high-pass filter that sits in the compressor sidechain. The higher the setting, the more fre-
quencies are excluded from reaching the compressor's detector, with a variety of useful dynamic results. Ranges from "Off" to
16 kHz.
l Key Listen This button engages and disengages the Key Listen function, which lets you listen to the signal that is being fed to
the compressor's detector, after it has passed through the Key Filter.
l VU Meter (Gain Reduction) This vintage-style VU meter shows a smoothed representation of gain reduction applied by the
compressor over time.
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Compressor Module - FET Mode
l Enable/Disable Click the power switch to enable or disable the FET Compressor module.
l Input Sets input gain to the compressor. This setting affects the action of the compressor, so feel free to try various settings to
find the optimal effect for your needs.
l Output Sets the amount of "makeup gain" to apply to a signal. Once a signal is compressed, its overall level is often reduced.
This gain control lets you bring it back up to the proper level after compression occurs.
l Attack This adjusts the speed at which the compressor acts on the input signal. A slow attack time (moving the slider to the
right) allows the beginning component of a signal (commonly referred to as the initial transient) to pass through, uncompressed,
whereas a fast attack time (fully to the left) triggers compression immediately when a signal exceeds the threshold. Attack
ranges between 0.8 to 0.02 milliseconds.
l Release This determines the length of time the compressor takes to return the gain reduction back to zero (no gain reduction)
after crossing below the compression threshold. Release ranges between 1.1 second to 50milliseconds.
l Ratio Selector Buttons These buttons let you choose a compression ratio: 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1, or "All."The ratio is a function of
the output level versus the input level. For example, if you have the ratio set at 4:1, any signal levels above the threshold setting
are compressed at a ratio of 4:1. This means that for every 4 dB of level increase above the threshold, the compressor’s output
only increases by 1 dB. The "All" setting recreates the "all buttons pushed in" setting that helped make this compressor type a
legend, providing massive punch and crunch when driven hard.
l Key Filter Sets the frequency of a high-pass filter that sits in the compressor sidechain. The higher the setting, the more fre-
quencies are excluded from reaching the compressor's detector, with a variety of useful dynamic results. Ranges from "Off" to
16 kHz.
l Key Listen This button engages and disengages the Key Listen function, which lets you listen to the signal that is being fed to
the compressor's detector, after it has passed through the Key Filter.
l VU Meter (Gain Reduction) This vintage-style VU meter shows a smoothed representation of gain reduction applied by the
compressor over time.
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Equalizer Module - Standard Mode
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l Enable/Disable Click this On/Off switch to enable or disable the Passive Equalizer module.
l (Low) Boost Sets the level of boost applied around the chosen low frequency. This control interacts nicely with the Low Atten-
uation control, allowing for boosts in apparent bass energy while keeping overall bass energy within optimal limits.
l (Low) Attenuation Sets the level of attenuation applied around the chosen low frequency. This control interacts nicely with the
Low Boost control, allowing for boosts in apparent bass energy while keeping overall bass energy within optimal limits.
l Low Frequency Sets the center frequency of the band covered by the Low Boost and Low Attenuation controls.
l (Hi-Mid) Boost Sets the level of boost applied around the chosen high-mid frequency.
l (Hi-Mid) Bandwidth Sets the Q (or width) of the effect of the high-mid EQ band.
l (Hi-Mid) FrequencySets the center frequency of the high-mid EQ band.
l (High) Attenuation Sets the amount of attenuation applied in a shelving fashion to frequencies at and above the chosen high
frequency.
l (High) Attenuation Selector Sets the frequency at and above which the High Attenuation control attenuates treble content.
l Enable/Disable Click the power button to enable or disable the Vintage Equalizer module.
l Low Frequency Sets the corner frequency of the low-frequency shelving band of this EQ. Choose from 35, 60, 110, or 220 Hz.
l Low Gain (LF) Sets the amount of boost or cut to apply the to low-frequency band of this EQ. Range of plus or minus 16 dB.
l Low-Mid Frequency Sets the center frequency of the low-mid-frequency band of this EQ. Choose from 360 Hz, 700 Hz, or 1.6
kHz.
l Low-Mid Gain (LMF) Sets the amount of boost or cut to apply to the low-mid-frequency band of this EQ. Range of plus or minus
16 dB.
l High-Mid Frequency Sets the center frequency of the low-mid-frequency band of this EQ. Choose from 3.2, 4.8, or 7.1 kHz.
l High-Mid Gain (HMF) Sets the amount of boost or cut to apply to the high-mid-frequency band of this EQ. Range of plus or
minus 16 dB.
l High Gain (HF) Sets the amount of boost or cut to apply the high-frequency shelving band of this EQ. Range of plus or minus 16
dB.
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Limiter Module
l Enable/Disable Click the "Limiter" legend to enable or disable the Limiter module.
l Threshold Sets and displays the threshold of the limiter on the selected channel. The limiter engages as soon as the signal
level (amplitude) exceeds the threshold value. Moving this control to the left lowers the threshold so that limiting begins at a
lower amplitude value. The threshold can be set from -28 to 0 dB.
Splitter
While not technically an effect in itself, Splitter is a special routing module that lets you split signals and process them through multiple
parallel effects paths. These split signals are then mixed back into a single signal. You can add an instance of Splitter by dragging and
dropping it to a Channel from the Effects section of the Browser, or by clicking-and-dragging from the [Splitter] button to your choice of
location in the Channel Editor’s Routing view.
Splitter is enhanced for use with multichannel audio. When using Splitter on a Channel containing a multi-channel Audio Event (like a 5.1
multichannel WAV file), the Channel Split option will provide the appropriate number of splits.
For more on how to use Splitter, see Routing View in the Channel Editor section.
Modulation
Modulation processors are great tools for creating interesting and innovative sounds. Studio One Pro features the following modulation
processors:
Modulation 486
Autofilter
Autofilter features two resonant filters with six selectable filter models. The filter cutoff frequency and resonance can be modulated by an
LFO using standard waveforms, a 16-step sequencer, and an envelope. Use Autofilter to create filtered effects from basic filter sweeps to
complex tempo-synced rhythmic filter patterns.
The following parameters are available for Autofilter:
l Filter Type
l Filter 1 and Filter 2 Select from 8 filter emulation types, including Ladder LP 12 dB, 18 dB, and 24 dB; Analog SVF 12
dB and 24 dB, Digital SVF 12 dB, Comb, and Zero Delay LP 24 dB (as found in the Mai Tai and Presence instruments).
Note that Filter 2 also has a Bypass option.
l SVFs State Variable Filters can blend between low-pass, bandpass, and high-pass. Click-drag the vertical Fil-
ter Mix fader on the right to blend the filter types.
l Chained/Parallel Switch the two filters between chained in series (Filter 1 followed by Filter 2; good for adding peaks,
creating band-reject filters, etc.) and parallel (Filter 1 and Filter 2 process and output the same signal simultaneously;
good for creating wide bandpass filters).
l Filter
l Cutoff Adjusts the cutoff frequency for both filters. Variable from 30 Hz to 16 kHz. Can be modulated by the envelope
and LFO.
l Resonance Adjusts the resonance of the filters. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l ENV/LFO Adjust the modulation amounts for each filter using the Env and LFO vertical faders. Variable from -100% to
100%. Negative values are phase-inverted. The LFO modulates around the value.
l Speed
l LFO Speed Can be synced to tempo or run free.
l Sync Click to engage/disengage LFO tempo sync. When tempo is synced, the speed is variable from 4/1 to
1/64, with various triplet and dotted-time variants.
l ENV Attack adjusts the attack time of the volume envelope, affecting the beginning of cutoff and resonance mod-
ulation.
l ENV Release adjusts the release time of the volume envelope, affecting the end of cutoff and resonance modulation.
l Auto Click to engage/disengage automatic envelope-length selection.
l LFO Steps Display This area shows the amplitude for each step in the LFO. A vertical line sweeps through the display to indic-
ate the current position in the selected waveform. The LFO runs freely when Sync is disengaged; with Sync engaged, the line
starts and stops with Song playback.
l LFO Type Five LFO types are available along the bottom of the display. Click the buttons to select one of the following types:
l 16 Steps Click in the LFO display to adjust each step. The steps divide the current Speed/Beats time value. The LFO is
bipolar: the value of each step represents amplitude at that step from maximum negative to maximum positive, with the
mid-point as the zero-crossing frequency (no modulation). Click-drag to draw unique shapes.
l Waveforms Select triangle, sine, sawtooth, or square.
l Flip inverts the phase of the waveform.
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l Color
l Drive Adjusts the filter’s feedback overdrive, which features State Space Modeling. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Cutoff 2 Shift Adjusts the offset of Filter 2 Cutoff frequency. Variable from -2 octaves to 2 octaves.
l Global
l Gain Adjusts Autofilter output gain. Variable from -24 dB to +24 dB.
l Auto Click to engage Auto-Gain, to keep input and output signals at equivalent levels.
l Mix Adjusts the mix of the Autofilter-processed signal with the original dry input signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Sidechain Click the Sidechain button at the top of the effect window to engage sidechain for envelope detection. This allows
you to use another Track to control the envelope.
l Sources Click to display a list of potential sidechain channel sources. A checked box indicates the current source. Mul-
tiple selections can be made.
Chorus
The Chorus is a 1-3-voice chorus processor with optional LFO delay time modulation and stereo width control. Chorus processing is
often used on vocal tracks to help create a more full vocal sound so the track fits better in the overall mix. Guitar and synth parts some-
times feature chorus processing for similar reasons.
The following parameters are available for the Chorus:
l Delay Adjusts the delay of the Chorus voices. The value you set is the delay time between voices.
l LFO Shape Choose between the four waveforms for the LFO: Triangle, Sine, Sawtooth, or Square.
l Voices Adjusts the number of added voices in the Chorus; select from 1, 2, or 3.
l LFO The LFO modulates the Spacing parameter.
l Depth Adjusts the mix of the processed Chorus output with the dry input signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l St. Width Adjusts the spreading of the Chorus voices in the stereo field. Click the Spread button to engage/disengage the Ste-
reo Width feature.
l LFO Speed Adjusts the speed of the LFO.
l LFO Width Adjusts the range of the LFO modulation of Spacing. Variable from 0 to 100%. A value of 100% would modulate the
Spacing parameter from 0 to 2x Spacing.
l Low Freq Sets the corner frequency of the low-cut filter.
l High Freq Sets the corner frequency of the high-cut filter.
l Mode Choose between Doubler mode (equivalent to the Chorus effect in Studio One Pro 2.5 and earlier) and Chorus mode,
which employs inverse all-pass movement, for truer chorus effect.
Modulation 488
Flanger
Flanger creates spatial depths, swirls, timbre shifts, and percussive effects. Flanging is often used on guitar tracks to create interesting
shifts in timbre and tone, and it can help create lush synth sounds, as well. It works by splitting an audio signal into two identical signals;
applying a varying, short delay to one signal; feeding its output back to its input by varying amounts; and mixing the processed and unpro-
cessed signals. You can modulate Flanger’s delay time with an LFO, which can be tempo-synced.
The following parameters are available for Flanger:
l Feedback Adjusts the amount of delayed output to be fed back into the input. Variable from -90% to 90%. Negative value results
in inverted feedback.
l Delay Adjusts the delay time for the copied input signal. Variable from 0.25 ms to 10 ms.
l Modulation This section uses an LFO to modulate the Speed/Beats parameter.
l LFO-Amount Adjusts the range of the LFO modulation on delay time (speed). Variable from 0 to 100%. A value of
100% would modulate the Speed parameter from 0 to 2x Speed.
l Sync Click to engage LFO tempo sync. Time is expressed as Beats.
l Speed/Beats Adjusts the speed of the LFO.
l Speed Variable from 0.01 Hz to 10 Hz.
l Beats Select from 4/1 to 1/64 with triplet and dotted-time variants.
l Global
l Mix Adjusts the mix of the processed Flanger output with the original dry input signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
Flanger is enhanced for use with multichannel audio. When assigned to a multi-channel source, the following parameters are added to
Flanger:
l Surround Distribution changes the modulation offset amount among the output channels.
l Spatial Mode Choose from Circular, Left/Right, or Front/Rear to affect the dynamic movement of the Flanger effect.
l Stereo Spread Select the desired amount of stereo width.
Phaser²
Modulation 489
Phaser² applies a variable number of allpass filters in series (one fed into the other), along with one overall feedback loop, to the input sig-
nal. Phaser² features an LFO to modulate the center frequencies for each all-pass filter.
The allpass filters function as frequency-dependent delays, so that when the filtered output is added to the original input signal, certain
frequencies can be attenuated or amplified as the result of phase shifting. Phasers are commonly used on many types of signals, includ-
ing synths, guitars, and even vocals, to create a distinctive frequency-shifting effect.
The following parameters are available for Phaser²:
l Stages Adjusts the number of allpass filter stages in Phaser². Variable from 2 to 20.
l Speed/Beats Adjusts the speed of the LFO.
l Speed Variable from 0 Hz to 10 Hz.
l Beats Select from 4/1 to 1/64, with triplet and dotted-time variants.
l Sync Click to engage LFO tempo sync. Time is expressed as Beats.
l Color Modulates the frequency for the allpass filters within the limits set by the Range control, with the Center frequency as the
mid-point.
l Center Adjusts the center frequency for the allpass filters. Variable from 10 Hz to 8 kHz.
l Range Sets the range of Phaser² modulation from 0 to 100%.
l Log. Sweep Changes the LFO behavior so that it operates on a logarithmic scale.
l Soft Selects a triangle wave as the Phaser² modulation shape. When this is disengaged, a sine wave is used as the
modulation shape.
l Feedback Adjusts the amount of the filtered output signal to be fed back into the input. Variable from 0 to 95%.
l Global Adjusts the speed of the LFO.
l Stereo Spread Adjusts the spread of each allpass filter in the stereo field from 0 to 100%.
l Mix Adjusts the blend between the processed Phaser² output and the original dry input signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
Phaser² is enhanced for use with multichannel audio. When assigned to a multi-channel source, the following parameters are added to
Phaser²:
l Surround Distribution changes the modulation offset amount among the output channels.
l Spatial Mode Choose from Circular, Left/Right, or Front/Rear to affect the dynamic movement of the Phaser effect.
l Stereo Spread Select the desired amount of stereo width.
Rotor
Rotor is a rotary speaker effect that simulates the sound of a tube-powered amplifier with independently rotating high-mid horn and bass
woofer, as you might find attached to a classic electric organ. Rotor excels at adding a sense of motion and unique tonal character to
Modulation 490
organ sounds, guitars, or anything you want to try. Each speaker's rotation can be set to a range of speeds, with realistic braking and
acceleration effects when changing speeds.
The following parameters are available for Rotor:
l Off/On Toggles the rotating action of the virtual speakers on and off, with a smooth speed transition between states.
l Slow/Fast Toggles between the two preset speeds for the woofer and horn, with a smooth transition between speeds.
l Amp
l Drive Add the desired amount of amp drive to the tone using State Space Modeling technology. Lower settings are
cleaner, higher settings are more overdriven.
l Horn Q Blends in a midrange peak that emulates the resonance of rotating horn speakers. Lower settings are more flat,
higher settings have a more pronounced resonance.
l A/B Toggles between two amplifier models that are recreated using State Space Modeling technology.
l Position
l Distance Lets you choose the position of the virtual microphone that picks up the rotating speaker. At low settings, the
mic is close to the speaker, and the stereo sweeping effects are more pronounced. At higher settings, the mic is further
away from the speaker, and the effect is subtler and more diffuse.
l Balance Lets you blend between the woofer and horn, to achieve the desired tonal balance. Fully down, you mainly
hear the woofer. Fully up, you mainly hear the horn.
l Spread Controls the stereo width of the rotating speaker elements. At low settings, the part of the signal signifying the
front of each rotating element moves in a tight, distinct band across the stereo spectrum. At higher settings, the rotating
element appears wider and more diffuse.
l Trim
l Woofer Speed and Horn Speed These dual-slider controls let you set the speed at which the woofer and horn spin at
slow and fast speed settings. You can set them to identical values for more coordinated rotation between woofer and
horn, or to differing values that set up contrasting rotations.
Vocoder
Vocoder is a creative effects processor that combines two input signals to create an entirely new sound. One signal is the modulator,
and the other is the carrier.
Vocoder works by splitting the sound of the modulator signal into 20 frequency bands, each with its own bandpass filter and envelope fol-
lower. The carrier signal is sent through the filterbank, and the levels adjust to match the frequency of the modulator. The resultant
sound is that of the carrier signal being filtered in such a way that its harmonic content resembles that of the modulator signal. When you
start manipulating the mapping of frequency band Inputs and Outputs… that's where the real fun starts!
While typically used to give the human voice the texture (and polyphony!) of a synthesized instrument, Vocoder is by no means limited to
this application. You’ll find Vocoder to be highly rewarding of experimentation.
Modulation 491
Fun fact: hardware vocoders were originally created to encrypt radio transmissions, way back in 1928. They didn’t find use in creative
musical applications until the 1970s.
Modulator Envelope
l Attack controls the attack speed of the modulator envelope.
l Release controls the release time of the modulator envelope.
Carrier
Carrier Source - This section is used to set up Vocoder for use with an external (sidechain) carrier signal or an internal carrier signal gen-
erated by Vocoder itself. The LEDs will reflect whether a side chain is assigned or not.
l Source select (power button) toggles between sidechain and internal carrier sources. Sidechain must be enabled at the
top of the Instrument Inspector for this feature to be available.
The following options apply only when using the Internal carrier.
l Waveform: Select Noise, Saw or Rect waveform. This is for the internal carrier generator only.
l Frequency controls the frequency of the internal carrier signal. When the carrier source is set to Noise, Frequency controls a
blend between pink noise (left) and white noise (right).
l Follow controls modulation amount of the internal carrier pitch as determined by following the input (modulator) level. Essen-
tially an envelope follower that can be used to add some pitch movement to an artificially static voice.
Patch Matrix
The patch matrix is a creative tool which allows you to specify routing from the vocoder’s analyzer section into the synthesizer section.
Doing so can help to improve intelligibility of a vocoded voice, or it can be used to push sounds from natural to more unnatural. The pos-
sibilities are almost endless!
The outputs of the 20 analyzer bands, identified at the bottom of the matrix, can be patched using “pins” to the inputs of the 20 syn-
thesizer bands, identified on the left of the matrix. The default mapping is a diagonal (1:1).
Routings can be clicked in one at a time, or click and drag to draw a routing configuration quickly.
There are two modes (X and Y) for these routings:
X mode: there is one pin per output band, thus it is possible to assign for example one input band to one or more output bands. Click to
activate X mode.
Y mode: there is one pin per input band, thus it is possible to assign or merge multiple input bands into one output band. Click to activate
Y mode.
l Flip toggles between X and Y modes (see above).
l Reset resets all pins and volume sliders to the 1:1 (diagonal) configuration.
l Bypass bypasses the patching matrix.
l Freeze: when activated, the contour of the synthesizer bands will be frozen (sample & hold) until the button is disengaged.
When you store a preset with Freeze activated, the structure will be stored and reloaded with the preset.
l Volume: Click to toggle the matrix display to show the volume of each of the 20 synthesized output bands. Click or click-and-
drag within the matrix to set pins at the desired volume level of each band.
l Analyzer LEDs indicate the level per analyzer band on the left of the matrix.
l Synthesizer LEDs indicate the level per synthesizer band at the bottom of the matrix.
Modulation 492
Unvoiced Replacement
Mode: Vocoding of unvoiced speech sounds (f, s, etc.,) is often unsatisfactory. Vocoder offers a function to detect these unvoiced
sounds and then replace them with other signals, including noise or a mix of the direct signal.
l Off: No replacement is performed.
l Noise: Unvoiced parts are replaced by a noise signal.
l Direct: A filtered portion of the original carrier signal input is directly mixed into the output.
Speech intelligibility is increased significantly with Noise or Direct mode active.
l Level: Controls the level of the replacement signal.
l Voiced: Indicates whether the input signal is rated as voiced or unvoiced.
Output
l Mix: Wet / Dry mix balance of the carrier input signal and the synthesized output signal.
l Volume: Overall output volume.
X-Trem
X-Trem is a tremolo effect that applies amplitude modulation at a varying amount and rate over time. The X-Trem features tempo sync
and a variable LFO with selectable 16-step and 16-gate sequencers, as well as auto-pan capability. Use X-Trem on any Track to create
anything from subtle shifts in amplitude to tempo-synced, glitchy, gated drums; trancy, gated pads; panned hi-hats; and other popular
sounds.
The following parameters are available for X-Trem:
l LFO Steps Display This area shows the amplitude for each step in the LFO. A vertical line sweeps through the display to indic-
ate the current position in the selected waveform. The LFO runs freely when Sync is disengaged; with Sync engaged the line
starts and stops with Song playback.
l LFO Type Six LFO types are available along the bottom of the display. Click the buttons to select one of the following types:
l Waveforms Select triangle, sine, sawtooth, or square.
l 16 Steps Click in the LFO display to adjust each step. The steps divide the current Speed/Beats time value; the value of
each step represents amplitude/pan at that step from 0/hard left to 100%/hard right. Click-drag to draw unique shapes.
l 16 Gates Click in the LFO display to open/close the gate at each step. The steps divide the current Speed/Beats time
value. For each step, no color fill means the gate is closed, and total color fill means gate is open.
l Flip This button above the display flips the phase of the selected waveform. It is grayed out and can't be selected when the
LFO mode is "16 Steps" or "16 Gates".
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l Modulation This section controls the depth, speed, and destination of the LFO.
l Depth Adjusts the relative amount of maximum amplitude modulation. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Pan/Trem Click to switch the mode of the X-Trem to affect overall amplitude (Trem) or the left- and right-channel bal-
ance (Pan). Pan is only selectable on stereo Tracks.
l LFO Speed Adjusts the speed of the LFO. With Sync disengaged, the speed is expressed in frequency (rate); with Sync
engaged, the speed is expressed in rhythmic values (beats).
l Rate Variable from 0.01 Hz to 30 Hz.
l Beats Select from 4/1 to 1/64 with triplet and dotted-time variants.
l Sync Click to engage LFO tempo sync.
Reverb
Reverb effects are used in almost all music productions and for a variety of purposes. In everyday life, reverberation is the result of the
many reflections of sound that occur in a given room or other space. In an ambient space, sound may travel directly to your ear and also
be reflected many times off the walls and ceiling of a room before again reaching your ear. With each reflection, the sound is attenuated
as sound energy is absorbed by the reflecting surfaces and dissipated by traveling through a medium (usually air). This collection of
reflected and attenuated sounds is what we know as reverb.
Reverb provides essential aural cues about the nature of any given space. As such, reverb is commonly used in music production to cre-
ate virtual spaces in which the various parts of a mix can interact.
Studio One Pro features two built-in reverbs: Mixverb and Room Reverb. three built-in reverbs: Mixverb, Room Reverb, and OpenAIR.
The following describes these reverb effects.
Mixverb™
Mixverb is a simple and efficient reverb that is meant to be used as an Insert on mono or stereo Tracks. Mixverb features adjustable size,
pre-delay, and damping, as well as an adjustable gate and stereo width control.
Mixverb offers the following parameters:
l Pre-delay Adjust the predelay time. Variable from 0 ms to 500 ms. Predelay is the amount of time before the first reverberated
signals are heard.
l Size Adjusts the relative size of the reverberating space. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Damping Adjusts the relative amount of damping (attenuation of the upper frequencies) of the reverberated signal. Variable
from 0 to 100%.
l Gate The gate is applied to the reverb output signal.
l Gate Tail Click to engage/disengage the gate.
l Gate Threshold Adjusts the threshold of the gate. Variable from -36 dB to 12 dB.
l Gate Release Adjusts the release time of the gate. Variable from 10 ms to 250 ms.
l Global
l Width Adjusts the width of the stereo field. Variable from 0 to 100%. Only for stereo Tracks.
l Mix Adjusts the mix of processed signal with the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Lock Mix Level Locks the Mix control in place.
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Open AIR2
Open AIR2 is a highly efficient convolution reverb plug-in capable of delivering ultra-realistic reverberation based on impulses captured
from both real spaces and classic hardware reverbs. Open AIR2 includes a 4-band EQ and supports mono, stereo, or multichannel
impulse responses.
Open AIR2 provides three views with multiple parameters. These views are Image, IR, and EQ, and each view can be selected by click-
ing the navigation icons at the top of Open AIR2 or the IR and EQ icons at the bottom, within the Global section.
Global Controls
l Impulse Name Click on the Impulse Name field to load your own impulse response
l Prev/Next Switches the impulse response to the previous or next file in the same file location as the existing impulse response.]
l Channel Configuration Displays the channel format of the currently loaded impulse response.
l Pre-delay Defaults to 0 ms; adds pre-delay to the impulse response with a positive value, or truncates existing pre-delay in the
impulse response with a negative value. Values range from -150 to 300 ms.
l Size For values smaller than the original impulse response length, this cuts the end (that is, shortens the reverb). For larger val-
ues, the range between the ER/LR (early reflections/late reflections) crossover point and the impulse response end gets time-
stretched. The beginning (up to the ER/LR crossover point) is not stretched, so the room impression created by the early reflec-
tions stays intact. [Ctrl]/[Cmd]-click restores the length to the impulse response length.
l View selectors Choose IR or EQ View.
l ER/LR Scales volumes before and after the ER/LR crossover point, from 0 to 1.00.
l Gain Sets the overall output volume.
l Mix This is the wet/dry mix, from 0 to 100%.
IR View
This view contains a visualization of the loaded Impulse Response and Envelope and Processing controls.
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l Envelope
l Fade-In Fades in the impulse response, from 0 ms to 2.0 s.
l ER/LR Crossover Sets the crossover point in time for early and late reflections; affects the impulse response pro-
cessing. Range is from 0 to 500 ms.
l Fade-Out Fades out the impulse response, from 1 ms to the length of the impulse response.
l Shorten with Stretch When this is activated, and the length is smaller than the original impulse response, the impulse
response is not cut and is instead timestretched between the ER/LR breakpoint and impulse response end. The content
of the impulse response before the ER/LR breakpoint is not stretched or compressed, preserving the character of those
reflections and thus a large part of the reverb character.
l Processing As Open AIR2 does not feature true stereo processing, channel cross-feed and cross-delay is built-in.
l Cross-Feed Adjusts the amount of the delayed “other” channel that gets fed into the left and right IR channels, from 0 to 100%
l Cross-Delay Adjusts the delay of the cross-fed channels, effectively acting as stereo distance, from 0 to 25 ms.
l Asymmetry Adjusts delays and the mix of cross-feed to simulate an asymmetric recording setup, from full left to full right.
l Stretch with Pitch When this is activated, time-stretching is not used for length changes, and re-sampling is used instead. This
scales the early reflections as well.
EQ View
EQ View contains a four-band EQ to shape the sound of the impulse response.
l Gain controls Low Shelf, Low Mid, High Mid, and High Shelf boost/cut controls from -36 to +12 dB.
l Frequency controls Low Shelf, Low Mid, High Mid, and High Shelf frequency controls
You can also click and drag any of the nodes in the EQ display to adjust Gain and Frequency simultaneously for any band.
Image View
Image View allows you to store a photo for easy reference of your impulse response source.
Click the [...] menu to select an image to import, or drag and drop one from your OS’ file browser. To see your photo full-size, just click the
photo. Click the “x” button in the top-right corner of the display to remove the current photo.
Images are saved and recalled with OpenAIR Presets.
Room Reverb
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Room Reverb is a room simulator reverb that adjusts its internal reverb parameters based on virtual-room models. It is meant for use as
a send effect or as a Main Output Channel effect. Room Reverb features variable room parameters and geometry, selectable room mod-
els, and population, damping, and surface-smoothness controls.
Room Reverb provides the following parameters:
l Pre Adjusts the offset for room-derived natural predelay amount. Variable from 0 ms to a higher value determined by current
Room settings.
l Length Adjusts the offset for room-derived natural reverb tail length. Value range is variable based on current Room settings.
l Reverb Mix Adjust the mix of the reverb tail and early reflections. Variable from 0 to 1. Reverb display is updated to indicate this
mix.
l Room
l Type Select one of four Room Type models: Small Room, Room, Medium Hall, or Large Hall.
l Size Adjusts the geometric average of the width, depth, and height of the virtual-room model. Variable from 1 m to 20 m.
l Width Adjusts the width relative to size. Variable from 0.1 to 2.
l Height Adjusts the height relative to size. Variable from 0.1 to 1.
l Display Displays the overall reverb characteristics across a self-adjusting time scale. Early reflections are represented by ver-
tical lines, and the reverb tail is represented by a colored envelope.
l Character
l Population Adjusts the relative population of people in the virtual room. Variable from 0 to 1.
l Value of 0 results in enhanced bass, “static” tail.
l Value of 1 results in attenuated bass, “moving” tail.
l Reflexivity Adjusts the relative smoothness of the surfaces of the virtual room. Variable from 0 to 1. Higher values
evoke a more echo-like reverb tail.
l Dampness Adjusts the relative humidity of the air in the room. This has the effect of attenuating the upper frequencies
of the reverberated signal. Variable from 0 to 1.
l Geometry
l Dist Adjusts the relative distance between the source and the listener position within the virtual room. Variable from 0.1
to 1.
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l Asym. Adjusts the left and right asymmetry between the source and the listener position. Variable from -1 (listener pos-
ition far right) to 1 (listener position far left).
l Plane Adjusts the relative height of the stereo source and listener position within the virtual room. Variable from 0 (half
the height of the room) to 1 (ceiling).
l Room Model Select a synthetic reverb model: Small Room, Room, Medium Hall, and Large Hall.
l W, D, H Display Displays approximate room dimensions based on current Room settings.
l Global
l Eco/HQ Mode HQ mode (High Quality) is selected by default. Engage Eco (economy performance mode) to use fewer
CPU resources by disabling floor and ceiling reflections and reducing the calculation accuracy for the reverberation.
Eco Mode is available for all speaker setups, ranging from mono to stereo (up to 9.1.6 spatial audio). While Eco Mode
improves CPU performance, keep in mind this benefit comes with the cost of a lower grade of detail.
l Mix Adjusts the mix of the Room Reverb signal with the original dry signal. Variable from 0 to 100%.
l Lock Mix Level Locks the Mix control in place.
Pipeline
As mentioned in the Removing Inserts section, Pipeline allows hardware processors to be inserted on Audio Channels in much the
same way that virtual effects are inserted. This feature is commonly called a “hardware insert.”
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Automatic Audio Routing Latency Compensation
For practical purposes, analog hardware processors do not introduce latency (aside from the latency introduced by the interface), as
their processing takes place at close to the speed of light. However, a few other sources of latency may affect the signal, including
DA/AD-converter latency and digital signal processing (DSP) latency.
This latency is not compensated for automatically, which could result in the signal being delayed very slightly, altering its phase rela-
tionship to the rest of the mix. To compensate for this, tap the Auto button. This sends a "ping" signal through your external processor,
then measures the time it takes for that signal to return, and automatically compensates for this latency.
Before clicking Auto, set the hardware processor to be in Bypass, if possible, so that no processing is done on the signal. You also want
the send and return signal levels to match as closely as possible.
To make manual timing adjustments, manipulate the Offset control. The Offset value is added to the total roundtrip latency. Setting a pos-
itive value increases the latency-compensation time, and setting a negative value decreases the latency-compensation time.
As you move the knob or set a value, the signal path is automatically pinged again, and the scope updates to provide instant feedback on
the calibration.
You can also click on the [Difference] button to see the difference between the send and return signals. The smaller the waveform
becomes (less amplitude), the more aligned the signals are. This is also helpful for matching send and return levels.
Once you have the correct Offset value established, you should store a preset, as described in the next section. You can get back to the
normal mode by clicking the wrench-shaped button.
Once you do this, the real-time send and return signals are displayed. Using the Sensitivity fader, it is possible to trigger the display to
only update based on detected transients. For instance, you may want to see how the kick and snare drums are lining up from a drum-
bus channel, and you’d want to avoid having the scope display the entire signal all of the time. To do this, move the Sensitivity fader to
the right until the only the transients you want to see—in this case a kick or snare hit—are displayed.
Pipeline Controls
l Setup Mode Shows or hides the "Ping" signal overlay.
l Auto Automatically "pings" your external processor send/return chain and compensates for any latency induced by AD/DA con-
verters and hardware processors.
l Offset Set an offset value in samples to account for the latency induced directly by AD/DA converters and hardware processors.
l Label Click in the empty space to type in a label. This is used to clearly identify the inserted hardware.
l Send Selection Select the output Channel that is used to route audio from Studio One Pro to your hardware processor.
l Return Selection Selects the input Channel that is used to route audio from your hardware processor into Studio One Pro.
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Realtime Display Controls:
l Signal Scope Displays an oscilloscope view of the send and return signals, overlaid on one another for easy comparison.
l Sensitivity Controls the update rate of the signal scope.
l Difference Displays an oscilloscope view of the difference between input and output signals.
l Zoom Displays a detailed view of the current signal.
To the far left and right of the Pipeline interface are Send and Return meters with separate clip indicators, enabling you to accurately mon-
itor send and return levels.
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Built-in Virtual Instruments
Studio One Pro has five built-in virtual instruments: SampleOne, Presence, Impact, Mai Tai, and Mojito. These instruments provide a
solid foundation for music production in any style. The following sections describe each instrument in detail. Additionally, this chapter
describes how to create Multi Instruments and include Note FX to plug-in instruments or external MIDI devices.
Presence
Presence is a virtual sample-player instrument that enables you to play an endless variety of sounds. Presence uses a generic multis-
ample format (also supported by Bitwig Studio) packaged into Sound Sets, and can also load and play presets in EXS, Giga, Kontakt (ver-
sion 4 and below), and SoundFont formats. You can shape your sounds with the provided filter, LFOs, envelopes, mod matrix, and
effects. Make sure to download the sound sets that came bundled with your edition of Studio One Pro. The bundled Sound Sets
include a variety of high-quality instruments, and Presence requires the sound set download for sounds and presets to work as intended
within the virtual instrument.
While Presence is limited to playing sounds from existing libraries, by using the Presence Editor Option, you can upgrade it to a full-fea-
tured sampler. With this option, you can create your own sample-based instruments, with powerful layering and scripting features. For
more information, see Presence Editor.
Presence employs a high-performance disk-streaming sample playback system, enabling the use of presets that use very long samples.
Up to 128 sample voices can play simultaneously. One voice is often equivalent to one note. However, some sounds have elements
(such as layers and articulations) that can consume more than one voice per note played.
The central preset display shows the number of sample voices being used at any moment, as well as the name and size of the loaded
preset. The Voice Limit parameter lets you set the level of polyphony you want (1-128, 64 by default).
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l Create a new Instrument Track with Presence and your choice of preset already loaded, by dragging the preset between two
Tracks (or next to the top or bottom Track) in the Arrange view.
Once loaded, the preset is immediately playable with your MIDI controller, or by clicking the virtual keyboard at the bottom of the plug-in
window.
Script Controls
Some sounds offer additional controls that interact with a control script built into the sound. When Script Controls are available in a
loaded sound, they appear in the central display. You can tweak and automate these special controls just as you would the built-in con-
trols in Presence.
In some cases, Script Controls can replace the functionality of one or more of the standard controls (such as envelope settings). When
working with sounds such as these, use the provided Script Controls to affect those parameters.
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When Articulation Key Switches are available in a sound, the name of the currently selected articulation is shown at the upper-right
corner of the central display of Presence. Click this name to toggle a list of available articulation switches and their places on the key-
board. These keys are also marked with red bars on the virtual keyboard.
When you play one of these keys, the new articulation is shown in the central display, and the character of the sound changes according
to the way the sound was designed.
Controls Overview
The main control panel lets you control the Filter, LFOs, Envelope Generators, and sample playback parameters. These are the primary
controls you'll use to sculpt your sound. To the right of these controls are the Global parameters: Volume, Velocity, and key mode (Poly,
Mono & Glide).
Along the bottom of the window, you'll see the Mod/FX section (which gives you access to the modulation matrix and effects) and the vir-
tual keyboard. You can hide or show each of these elements by pressing the [MOD/FX] and Keyboard Icon buttons.
LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator, and Presence has two of them. LFOs create slow-moving regular cycles of control signal that
are useful for modulating other parameters over time. One common example is the way many keyboard patches respond when you
move the Mod Wheel up from zero; the pitch of the oscillators wavers up and down in an expressive manner, much like the sound of
vocal vibrato. This is simply an LFO modulating oscillator pitch to a degree set by the position of the mod wheel.
LFO 1 and 2 have identical controls, so the following explanations apply to both:
l Bypass Click the [LFO 1] or [LFO 2] button to turn the selected LFO on or off.
l LFO Type Choose between Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Square, and Random shapes for the oscillation of the LFO.
l Rate Sets the rate at which the LFO oscillates, from inaudibly low (0.01 Hz) for long, sweeping changes, all the way to higher
ranges (up to 8 kHz) useful for FM and AM techniques. When the LFO's [Sync] button is engaged, Rate can be set in terms of
rhythmic values relative to Song tempo, such 1/8th-note and 1/4-note.
l Sync Engage this option to enable setting LFO Rate to a rhythmic value (such as 1/8th-note or 1/4-note) relative to Song tempo.
Disengage to set Rate by Hz.
l Key Engage this option to bind LFO speed to incoming note pitch. Higher notes result in higher LFO speeds, while lower notes
result in lower LFO speeds.
l Free Engage this option to let the LFO run continuously, resulting in a differing LFO start point for each note played. Disengage
to restart the LFO waveform at the start of each note.
l Delay This control lets you specify an amount of time (in milliseconds) for the LFO to wait before becoming active after a note is
played. This lets you do things like adding a bit of expression to held notes, or creating layers of modulation that start at different
points in each note by setting distinct Delay values for each LFO.
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This set of controls lets you manipulate the way that Presence plays the samples in the currently loaded preset.
l Sample Start Mod Lets you specify an amount of negative or positive velocity-controlled offset, applied to the point in the
sample at which playback begins. At settings above and below the default of 0, lower-velocity notes trigger a smaller amount of
sample offset, and higher-velocity notes trigger a larger amount of offset.
l Pitch Fine Tune Lets you tune sample pitch in a range of -100 to +100 cents (equaling one semitone up or down).
l Sample Shift Lets you manipulate sample playback speed with no change in pitch. While pitch is not affected, the range of
Sample Shift is -36 to +36 semitones, which references the amount of transposition that would normally be needed to shift a
sample's speed the specified amount. When playing one-shot (non-looping) samples, this control varies the length of the
sample. When playing looped samples, this control enables useful textural and harmonic changes.
l Transpose Lets you transpose incoming note pitch in a range of -12 to +12 semitones.
Filter
Presence offers a versatile multi-mode Filter, which lets you shape and enhance your sounds. The filter is often one of the most import-
ant defining elements to the sound of an analog synthesizer, and likewise, this filter's unique characteristics have much to do with the
sound of Presence. The Filter offers the following controls:
l Bypass Click the [Filter] button to turn the filter on or off.
l Filter Mode Choose from the following filter modes, each with its own sound-shaping characteristics.
l LP 24 dB Ladder This mode emulates a classic 24-dB-per-octave low-pass filter based on a transistor-ladder con-
figuration, as found in many classic synthesizers. This type of filter allows frequencies below the chosen Cutoff fre-
quency to pass through, which cutting frequencies above Cutoff at a rate of 24 decibels per octave—a fairly aggressive
slope.
l LP 24 dB Zero This is a 24-dB-per-octave low-pass filter, based on a zero-delay-feedback architecture that closely
models the tone and modulation behavior of analog filters.
l LP 12 dB Ladder This is a low-pass filter with a 12-dB-per-octave curve, which cuts frequencies less aggressively than
the 24 dB filters.
l BP 12 dB Ladder This is a high-pass and low-pass filter in series, known collectively as a band-pass filter. It allows a
selected band of frequencies to pass through, then cuts frequencies above and below that band at a rate of 12 decibels
per octave.
l HP 12 dB Ladder This is a high-pass filter with a 12-dB-per-octave slope. This lets frequencies above the chosen
Cutoff frequency pass through, while cutting frequencies below Cutoff at a rate of 12 decibels per octave.
l LP 12 State, BP 12 State, HP 12 State, Eco Filter These are a set of simple, clean digital filter models, in low-pass,
band-pass, high-pass, and eco (low-CPU low-pass) modes. You can access these filter types in the drop-down menu at
the end of the row of Filter Mode switches.
l Cutoff This lets you set the corner frequency of the filter—the point in the slope of the filter at which the filter cuts incoming audio
by 3 dB. In the case of the Band-Pass filter, this sets the center frequency of the passed frequency band.
l Soft This control lets you switch between two differing analog-modeled processing circuits within the filter. Engage Soft for a
mellower, darker tone. Disengage it for a brighter, more aggressive sound.
l Drive This lets you specify an amount of filter overdrive, to add fullness and saturation artifacts to your sound.
l Punch This control lets you add a range of percussive attack to the start of each note. At the lowest setting, dynamics are
unchanged. At higher settings, the sound becomes more aggressive and more readily pops through the mix.
l Resonance (Res)This lets you set the amount of resonance in the filter, which is an emphasis centered on the chosen cutoff fre-
quency. At lower settings, the filter cuts frequencies smoothly. As you increase Res, the emphasis at the cutoff frequency
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becomes more pronounced, able to mimic resonances such as those in voices or acoustic instruments, as well as many classic
synthesis effects. At the highest settings, the filter can self-oscillate, emitting a pitched tone at the current cutoff frequency. This
filter oscillation can be treated somewhat like an extra oscillator, especially in conjunction with the Key parameter.
l Velocity (Vel) This control sets the relationship between incoming note Velocity and filter Cutoff. When set at the center, velo-
city does not affect cutoff. When moved to the right, cutoff rises as note velocity increases. When moved to the left, cutoff lowers
as note velocity increases.
l Key This control sets the relationship between incoming note Pitch and filter Cutoff. In physical instruments, higher notes tend to
produce higher harmonics, brightening slightly as you go up the scale. On a synthesized instrument, if the filter stays static, set-
ting the proper tone in the lower note ranges may cause inappropriate dullness in the higher notes. So, with the Key parameter,
we can compensate for this, and create a more natural-sounding range of timbres up and down the keyboard.
l When Key is set all the way to the left, the filter is unaffected by note pitch. In the middle, cutoff follows note pitch subtly,
allowing high notes to shine. When set all the way right, filter cutoff follows note pitch closely in a relative fashion, mov-
ing upward and downward in semitone values as notes are received. This lets you use the filter as an additional pitched
oscillator or resonator when filter Res is set high.
Envelopes
Envelope generators are a vital part of sound synthesis, giving us the ability to shape the amplitude and timbre of our sounds within the
time-scale of each note. Presence has two envelope generators, labeled Amp Env (so named because it is hard-wired to amplitude), and
Env 2 (which is often routed to filter cutoff, for timbral shaping).
Both Env modules are triggered when a note is played. Each Env then outputs a control signal that follows the shape set by the following
controls:
l Attack (A) This control lets you set the time required for the envelope to go from zero (silence) to full amplitude, in a range from
0 ms to 20 seconds.
l Decay (D) This control lets you set the time required to drop from full amplitude to the sustain level, in a range from 0 ms to 20
seconds.
l Sustain (S) This control lets you set the signal level that is maintained from the end of the decay period, until the key is
released, in a range from -∞ dB (silence) to 0.0 dB (full amplitude).
l Release (R) This control lets you set the time required to fall back to silence after the key is released, in a range from 0 ms to 30
seconds.
l Delay (△ - Env 2 only) This control lets you specify a length of time (in ms) for the Env to pause before starting its attack phase
after a note is played. This can assist in creating evolving sounds, where cycles of modulation occur at differing times over the
length of a note.
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Envelope Graphical Display
Each envelope has a corresponding graphical display that represents the shape created by the settings of its parameters. There are
handles on the corners and slopes of each envelope that you can click and drag, letting you shape the ADSR envelope and the curve
between its points visually. If you wish to lengthen any phase of the envelope beyond the time limits of the current display, simply drag
the point toward the right of the graph, and the time scale adjusts to properly display the new setting.
Global Settings
The following Global parameters let you configure Presence's overall behavior and capabilities, to meet your needs.
l Volume This control lets you set the total output volume, in a range from -∞ dB (silence) to +10.0 dB (ten decibels above unity
gain).
l Velocity This control lets you set the degree to which Presence's volume is affected by note velocity, from zero (no velocity
sensitivity) to 1.0 (full velocity sensitivity).
l Poly, Mono, and Glide Enable Poly mode to allow polyphonic playing (more than one note at a time). Enable Mono mode to
play just one note at a time. When in Mono mode, you can enable Glide to cause the pitch to sweep smoothly from that of the cur-
rently held note to that of the next note, when played legato (one note played while the previous note is held). The Glide knob
lets you set the rate of pitch change over time, from 1 ms to 1 second.
Effects
Presence offers seven built-in effects processors to add dimension to your sounds. They are arranged in two banks: FX A (Modulation,
Delay, and Reverb) and FX B (Gater, EQ, Distortion, and Pan). You can enable or disable each effect by clicking its name. You can show
or hide the Mod/FX section of the plug-in window by clicking the [Mod/FX] button.
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Modulation
This processor creates time-based modulation effects. Choose from the following modes by clicking the [Chorus], [Flanger], or [Phaser]
button:
l Chorus This processor creates effects similar to that of multiple identical instruments playing the same part simultaneously. The
synth signal is fed through a short, modulated delay, which is then mixed with the dry signal. Chorus offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Delay This control lets you set the length of the modulated delay. Higher settings create full-bodied chorusing effects,
while lower settings create more pronounced harmonics, akin to the effects of a Flanger.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings create slow, sweeping
effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings produce subtler chor-
using effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the chorused signal (all the way right).
l Flanger This processor creates resonant, hollow-sounding sweeping effects. The synth signal is fed through a short, modulated
delay, which is mixed with the dry signal. While similar to the workings of a Chorus effect, Flangers get their signature sound by
employing smaller delay times than those used in chorusing, combined with a feedback system that can add extra resonance to
the sweep. Flanger offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Delay This control lets you set the length of the modulated delay (in ms), which changes the pitch of the resultant res-
onance. Higher settings create lower-pitched resonance, while lower settings create resonances at a higher pitch.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings create slow, sweeping
effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings produce subtler flanging
effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of output signal to feed back into the Flanger. Higher amounts of
Feedback add to the resonance of the sweeping effect.
l Sync Engage this option to enable setting Flanger modulation speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/8th-note or 1/4-
note) relative to Song tempo. Disengage to set Rate on a continuous scale.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the flanged signal (all the way right).
l Phaser This processor creates dreamy, otherworldly sweeping effects. The synth signal is fed through a series of all-pass filters
that alter its phase. When mixed with the dry signal, this creates a series of peaks and valleys in the frequency response that
changes depending on the degree of phase shift applied. Phaser offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Shift This control lets you specify the amount of phase shift to apply. Lower settings focus the phasing effect in the
lower frequencies, while higher settings focus the effect in higher frequencies.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed of modulation applied to the phase shift amount. Lower settings create slow,
sweeping effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the phase shift amount is modulated. Lower settings produce
subtler effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of output signal to feed back into the Phaser. Higher amounts of
Feedback add to the resonance of the sweeping effect.
l Sync Engage this option to enable setting Phaser modulation speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/8th-note or 1/4-
note) relative to Song tempo. Disengage to set Rate on a continuous scale.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the phase-shifted signal (all the way
right).
Presence 508
Delay
This processor creates an echo effect, either as a single delayed repeat of the input signal or a trailing series of echoes. The Delay effect
offers the following controls:
l Low and High These controls let you set the cutoff frequencies of the provided high-pass and low-pass filters, which effect only
the delayed signal.
l Delay Time This control lets you specify the length of the delay effect, in rhythmic values (such as 1/8th-note or 16th-note) rel-
ative to the tempo of the Song.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of effected signal that is fed back into the Delay effect. At zero, there is just
one repeat. As you increase the value, the trail of repeats grows.
l Mix This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the delayed signal (all the way right).
l Ping-Pong Mode This menu lets you enable and configure the stereo Ping-Pong delay mode. You can choose from the fol-
lowing modes:
l Off The delay works as normal, without ping-pong functions.
l Panned Using a multi-tap delay structure, this mode pans each delay repeat to the right or left, in sequence.
l Dotted and Double These modes work similarly to Panned mode, but employ staggered spacing of the delay taps to
produce a dotted-note or syncopated straight rhythm in the delay repeats.
l Reverb Enable this option to route the output of the Delay effect to the Reverb effect, enabling further diffusion and abstraction
of the delay signal.
Reverb
This effect places the synth signal within a synthesized reverberant physical space, ranging from short reverbs that emulate smaller
rooms, to long reverbs that evoke the sounds of large spaces, such as halls and cathedrals. Reverb offers the following controls:
l Pre-Delay (Pre) This parameter lets you specify an amount of delay applied to the reverb-processed signal, in a range between
zero and 500 ms. This emulates the delay inherent in large spaces between the impact of a sound and its audible reverberation.
Lower settings are best suited to shorter reverb times, and longer settings with longer reverb times, but let your own taste be the
judge.
l Damping (Damp) This control lets you set an amount of high-frequency attenuation to apply to the reverb signal. Spaces with
soft surfaces tend to lose treble quickly as the sound reverberates, resulting in a short bright reverb followed by a progressively
darker tail. Spaces with harder surfaces retain high-end more efficiently over time. Set Damp to its lower range to emulate hard
surfaces, and to the higher ranges to enable further damping, to emulate softer surfaces.
l Size This control lets you set the length of reverberation from the moment a sound starts, in a range between 100 ms and 10
seconds. The larger the size, the longer the tail of the reverb, and the larger the emulated space sounds.
l Low and High These controls let you set the cutoff frequencies of the provided high-pass and low-pass filters, which effect only
the reverb signal.
l Mix This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the reverb signal (all the way right).
Gater
Presence 509
This is a rhythmic gating effect, able to create a series of syncopated breaks in the synth signal. A variety of presets are provided, each
with a different rhythmic gating pattern. However, the fun really begins when you create your own. Gater offers the following controls:
l Beats This control lets you set the length of the gating cycle, in rhythmic values (such as 1 bar or 1/2-note) relative to Song
tempo. For example, at a setting of 1 bar, the 16 steps in the cycle repeat every bar, effectively representing 16th-notes. At a
1/2-note setting, the 16 steps repeat each half-bar, representing 32nd-note values.
l Beat Steps This grid lets you specify which steps in the cycle let signal pass through, and which gate the signal to silence. Click
on a step to enable or disable gating for that step.
l Stereo Engaging this option creates a separate beat grid for each side of the stereo field. When engaged, you'll see two rows of
beat steps, the top row specifying gate steps for the left channel, and the bottom row gating the right channel.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the gated and dry signals, allowing for rhythmic gating effects while retaining the con-
tinuity of the synth sound.
EQ
This is a graphic equalizer effect, perfect for quick tonal shaping. Set the EQ bands to emphasize or attenuate bands of frequencies to
suit your needs. When a band is in the center of its range, it neither adds nor subtracts. When moved above the center, it emphasizes the
chosen frequency. Moved below the center, it attenuates that frequency.
Choose between Lead mode, with frequencies chosen to suit aggressive, up-front sounds, or Bass mode, with wider-ranging fre-
quencies that work better for basses and mellower chordal parts.
Distortion
This is a variable distortion effect, which adds grit and character to your sounds. Choose from a variety of distortion types, from fizzy tran-
sistor fuzzes to thick, warm tube overdrives. Set the amount of distortion with the Drive knob.
Pan
This is an auto-pan effect, which pans the synth signal left and right over time. Pan offers the following controls:
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the signal is panned left and right.
l Sync Enable this option to set pan speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/4-note or 16th-note) relative to Song tempo. Disable
this option to set pan speed along a continuous range.
l Depth This control lets you set the degree to which the signal is panned. Lower settings give a subtly panned effect, while higher
settings pan the signal more radically, all the way to fully left and right in each cycle.
Modulation Matrix
Presence 510
Presence provides 16 configurable modulation routings, in two banks of eight (Mod A and Mod B). Modulation signals can be routed from
a selection of incoming MIDI controller signals including MPE data (such as Pitch Bend, Mod Wheel, Aftertouch, Poly Pressure, Note
Timbre, and Pitch Control), modulation generators (such as the LFOs and envelopes), or the pitch or velocity of played notes.
These modulation signals can be used to vary most of the parameters throughout Presence, including modulation sources themselves
(such as LFO 2 modulating the rate of LFO 1, or the Decay of Env 2).
Each modulation slot has a bypass button at the top, which lets you enable or disable the flow of modulation signal. Below that are the
input selector and modifier selector. If you assign a modulation source to the input selector only, that signal is routed directly to the
chosen destination. In some cases, you’ll want to govern the flow of one mod source before it reaches its destination, using the signal
from another mod source. For example, you may want to control the output level of LFO 1 (routed to a parameter such as oscillator pitch)
with the Mod Wheel. In this case, you'd choose Mod Wheel with the input selector, and LFO 1 with the modifier selector below.
Below that is a slider that controls the amplitude and polarity of the modulation signal. Set at its center, no modulation occurs. Move the
handle right of center to send an increasing amount of the modulation signal, at its normal (positive) polarity, to the chosen destination.
Move it left of center to send the signal to its destination with a negative value.
If the parameter you wish to modulate is set to a high value, you may want to send a negative modulation signal to it, driving the setting
downward and causing more audible effects. Positive-going modulation signals are more efficient when modulating parameters set to
low values.
A selector at the bottom of each modulation slot lets you choose the destination of the chosen modulation signals.
Virtual Keyboard
The virtual keyboard lets you easily click to play notes or manipulate the Pitch and Mod wheels, while auditioning or editing patches when
you're away from a MIDI keyboard. The keyboard display also shows you which notes are currently being played.
Note that for a more playable keyboard experience when away from your MIDI controller, you can also use Studio One Pro's QWERTY
Keyboard Device to play notes using your computer's keyboard.
Next to the virtual keyboard is the Bend parameter, which lets you set the pitch bend range of the Pitch wheel, in semitones. The upper
value sets up-bend range, and the lower value sets down-bend range.
Presence Editor
By default, Presence is a sample player, which lets you play (and tweak) sounds from existing libraries. The Presence Editor upgrades
Presence to full sampler functionality, with powerful scripting and layering features.
This editing function can also be used to deeply change and further optimize programs from imported sound libraries (such as those in
EXS or Giga format), or Presence libraries created by other users. Commercial Presence libraries (such as those included with Studio
One Pro or bought separately) are protected, and cannot be edited.
When you open a Presence window, you'll see a new button marked "Editor." This button is located above the global volume knob. Press
it to open the editing interface:
To return to the normal view, click the [Player] button. You'll notice there are four main sections in the editing interface:
Program
This area shows you the saved name and disk size of the program you're editing. If you click the menu button next to the [Program] but-
ton, a pop-up menu appears. Choose from the following functions:
l New Program Resets Presence to a default state, with a blank program loaded. If you've begun to create a program and have
not yet saved it, you'll receive a warning, telling you that your samples and parameter settings will be lost if you go through with
creating a new program.
l Pack Program Lets you package your program, with all its samples and settings, into a single file, for easy storage and sharing.
Packed programs are created with a ".soundx" file extension.
The first button shows or hides an information drawer at the top of the editor window. Here, you can edit the program's name, set its cat-
egory, and add a description and information about yourself, as author of the program. The information you enter here is shown in the
Player view when your program is loaded, so we recommend you always fill in these fields.
The second and third buttons arrange the Layers and Zones areas either side-by-side, or vertically stacked, according to your pref-
erence.
Finally, you'll see the [Script] button, which opens the scripting view, in which you can write scripts in JavaScript, for greater creative con-
trol and interface flexibility in your programs. For more information on working with JavaScript in Presence, see Scripting.
Layer
This area deals with Layers, which are entire sample sets, arranged in Zones (as discussed below) across the range of MIDI key and
velocity values. These layers can be combined to create fuller sounds and textures, or to set up one or more MIDI-switchable
variations for a given sound.
For example, a layer could be a single variation, such as "Pizzicato," in a string sound (made up of many layers), with multiple sample
zones spread across the keyboard, horizontally. Alternatively, a layer could be a single drum instrument, such as a snare drum, con-
taining multiple velocity zones, stacked vertically on a single MIDI note. For more information on working with the layer functions, see
Layers.
Zones
This area deals with Zones, which are areas in which a single sample is placed across the range of MIDI key and velocity values. These
sample zones are the pieces that make up a layer (as discussed above), letting you decide exactly how your samples are placed, played,
and processed.
For example, a high-quality piano sound may have a group of separate samples for every note on the piano, arranged to be played at
low, mid, or high velocity. In the Zones area, you can make decisions like this with your own samples, setting up the range of the key-
board and key velocity in which each sample plays, along with many other options. For more information on working with zones, see
Zones.
Parameters
This area gives you access to a wide variety of modulation, tonal, and behavioral options for each layer and the zones within them. The
parameters available in this area can pertain to the program as a whole, to the currently selected layer, or the currently selected zone.
Clicking the [Program], [Layer], or [Zones] button changes the focus of the Parameters area to address each of those categories, as
needed. You can also switch the mode of the parameters area between these three settings by clicking the [Parameters] button. You can
easily keep track of which mode you're in, because the Parameters area is color-coded: Program mode is blue, Layers is red, and Zones
is turquoise.
For more information, see Parameters.
Layers
The Layers area of the Presence editor window is used to establish sound layering in your program. Layers are entire sound sets, with
samples placed in zones, and most of the necessary sample-by-sample decisions already made (such as key and velocity ranges, pro-
cessing details, and so on). You can add multiple layers to your program, to create hybrid sounds that play together, or provide MIDI-
selectable variations on a given sound, such as different bowing and plucking styles in a violin sound.
If you're just getting started creating a new program and you want to import samples and get them placed and configured, you'll be doing
most of that work in the Zones area of the Presence window. See Zones for more info to get you started.
Once you've added and configured your first set of samples in the Zones area, you've put together your first layer. If you look at the Layer
area in the Presence editor window, you'll see "Layer 1" listed, along with a set of editable parameters for that layer. For more info on
parameters available when editing layers, see Layer Parameters.
Managing Layers
To add a new layer, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click in the layers list or click the menu button next to the [Layers] button. Choose "Add Layer" from the
pop-up menu. A new layer is created and added to the layers list. This pop-up menu also offers the following options:
l Remove Layer Removes the currently selected layer from the program. This also removes all samples placed in zones within
that layer.
l Duplicate Layer Creates a duplicate of the currently selected layer, with all sample placements and parameters the same.
l Merge Layers Combines the sample placements and related parameter settings for all selected layers, into one new layer.
l Copy Page Parameters Copies the parameter settings shown on the current visible page for the currently selected layer, so
that they can be pasted to a different layer.
l Paste Page Parameters Pastes the copied parameter settings to the currently selected layer.
If you select more than one layer at a time, you'll see all of the zones in all selected layers shown in the Zones area below, whether in list
or grid mode.
Layer Parameters
Each layer in your program has several pages of parameters available for editing, to help you shape the sound to your liking. By default,
the Main page of parameters is shown. When navigating through a layer's parameters, you can use the cursor keys on your keyboard to
move between them, as well as up or down from layer to layer. To edit a selected parameter, press [Enter] on your keyboard, then edit
the parameter, and press [Enter] again to lock in the new value.
The Main page contains the following parameters for each layer:
l Title Lets you set the title for the layer.
l Variation Lets you designate a layer as a key-switched variation of the sampled sound set (such as different styles of picking or
strumming on a guitar sound). If enabled, this layer becomes active when the MIDI note specified in the Trigger parameter
Zones
The Zones area is where you do most of the work when sound designing with Presence. You drag samples here from the Browser for
inclusion in your program, and then, you set the parameters for each sample zone. This lets you place the sample in the desired area of
the MIDI key and velocity range and make all the necessary decisions about sample behavior, modulation, and processing.
By default, the sample zones you create by adding samples are shown in a list. This shows the name and parameters for each sample.
You can search for a zone by name within the currently selected layer by typing into the Search bar above the Zones display.
Managing Zones
You add zones to a layer by selecting that layer and dragging samples into the Zones area. If you click the menu button next to the
[Zones] button, a pop-up menu appears with the following functions:
Zone Parameters
Looking at zones in list view, you see the list of samples in the currently selected layer, and several columns of parameters with values
for each zone. By default, the Main page of parameters is shown.
When navigating through the parameters for a zone, you can use the cursor keys on your keyboard to move between them, as well as up
and down, from zone to zone. To edit a selected parameter, press [Enter] on your keyboard, then edit the parameter, and press [Enter]
again to lock in the new value.
The following parameters are available in the Main parameter page:
l Root Sets the root note for the current sample zone. Generally, it's best to set this to the actual note at which the sample plays,
ensuring that it plays at the proper pitch when triggered by MIDI notes.
l Tune Fine-tunes the pitch of the sample, in cents.
l Fix Lets you set a defined pitch at which the sample plays, regardless of what MIDI note triggers it. This can be helpful for per-
cussion kits or other non-pitched sample sets, where MIDI notes should not transpose a sample from its intended pitch.
l Key Low & Key High Lets you set the low and high limits of the MIDI note range in which a sample zone should play.
l Fade K-Low & Fade K-High Lets you specify the degree to which a zone fades down in volume as you play notes closer to the
top or bottom of its note range. This can be helpful when you want a smooth transition between two zones, each blending into
the other.
l Velo Low & Velo High Lets you set the low and high limits of the MIDI velocity range in which a sample zone should play.
l Fade V-Low & Fade V-HighLets you specify the degree to which a zone fades down in volume as you play notes closer to the
top or bottom of its velocity range.
l Start & End Lets you specify the point within a sample that playback begins and ends.
l Loop Mode Lets you choose the loop mode for a zone. Off disables looping, Sustain enables looping while a MIDI note is held,
and Release enables looping when a MIDI note is released, and the release portion of the sound is playing.
l Loop Start & Loop End Lets you specify the start and end of the looping range of the sample (if applicable).
l Loop XFade Lets you specify a length of fade to apply at the transition point between the end of a loop and its subsequent begin-
ning. This is often helpful when working with sustained sounds, which may need some smoothing.
l Gain Lets you set gain for an individual zone.
When you look at zones in grid view, you see them as labeled regions, filling a certain space within the range of MIDI notes (horizontally)
and velocity values (vertically). You can click and drag the top, bottom, and side edges of each zone to select the desired range in which
that zone will play. If you select multiple zones (by holding [Shift] or [Cmd]/[Ctrl] and clicking the desired zones), you can edit their ranges
or move them as a group.
If you click one of the "keys" in the keyboard display at the bottom of the grid, all zones triggered by that note are selected.
There are a great many available layer and zone parameters that you can access in the Layer and Zones areas of the editor window.
While editing in this "spreadsheet" style can be fast and precise, sometimes it can be helpful to use the type of knobs, buttons, and dis-
plays you're used to in the Player mode to help set and visualize these parameters. The Parameters area of the editor window lets you
set many of the available parameters in this way.
The Parameters area can show controls for the program as a whole (all layers and zones, together), or for one or more selected layers
(and the zones they contain), or for one or more selected zones. You can choose to display parameters for each by clicking the [Pro-
gram], [Layer], or [Zones] button, or cycle through them by clicking the [Parameters] button. You can easily keep track of which mode
you're in, because the Parameters area is color-coded: Program mode is blue, Layers is red, and Zones is turquoise.
Whatever mode is selected, parameters pertaining to modulation, filter, and mode-specific settings for that level in the program are
shown
When the Parameters area is in Zones mode, a [Wave] button appears. Clicking this brings up a waveform display for the sample in the
selected zone. Click and drag along the top edge to set the loop range for the displayed sample. Click and drag at the beginning or end of
the sample to move the play start or end point for the displayed sample.
While loop editing is possible in this fashion, it lacks the control and accuracy of a dedicated wave editor. As a result, clicks and pops may
appear when changing loop start and end points in this display. Adding a loop crossfade may solve this problem. This waveform display
is mainly meant for monitoring or reference. If in-depth loop editing is required, a dedicated wave editor software should be used.
If you want to replace the sample in a zone with a new sample, simply select the zone, and drag the new sample onto the waveform dis-
play. This retains any parameter settings you made for the previous sample.
Scripting
Presence offers powerful scripting functions, based on JavaScript. We chose this language because it is well supported and doc-
umented, and known by many. Scripting can be used to affect many functions in a program, most notably to assign macro knobs and but-
tons to your choice of parameters. Once script controls are assigned here, these controls appear in the central display in the Player mode
of the Presence window.
You may have seen these sorts of controls in some of the included Presence programs. Scripting is the way to make this happen.
To access scripting for a program, click the [Script] button in the editor view. This brings up a window in which you can enter your
JavaScript code, with some helpful structure added by default. To return to the editor view, press the [Edit] button. There are two buttons
at the top of the Script view, that look like this:
The first button shows or hides a drawer that displays the eight scriptable control knobs and buttons for the program. By default, it looks
blank. To enable a control, click the dot-shaped button in its lower left corner. To rename a control, click the pencil-shaped button that
appears when you hover the mouse cursor over the control. The functions that these controls relate to are set in the script that you cre-
ate.
The second button opens our documentation for the JavaScript structure you can use to script within Presence. It goes through the vari-
ous entry points, objects, and parameters that you can use to interface with Presence's engine.
Between this information and the wide range of info resources available on the internet, you can soon dig into scripting for your pro-
grams, unlocking many useful functions.
Impact
Impact features a grid of pads into which samples are loaded and played back independently, as with many popular hardware drum-
sample players. Each pad has its own pitch, amplifier, and filter controls with accompanying envelopes. There are multiple stereo and
mono outputs for each pad, making sophisticated output busing simple.
Make sure to download the sound sets that came bundled with your edition of Studio One Pro. Impact requires the sound set down-
load for sounds and presets to work as intended within the virtual instrument.
Interface Overview
Impact is arranged as a 4x4 grid of pads, with controls for each pad. There are eight selectable banks of 16 pads, labeled A through H.
Below each pad are Solo and Mute controls, as well as an Output Channel assignment. Click on any pad to select it and view its para-
meters, located on the right side of the interface. At the top of the window is the waveform display, which shows the currently selected
sample along with controls for setting start and end points. To the right of the waveform display are the sample controls, which let you set
playback behavior for the samples on each pad.
Impact 519
l Replace Sample Replace the currently loaded sample with a new one.
l Add Sample Add a sample to the pad.
l Rename Pad Assign a new name to the pad.
l Copy Pad Copy a pad to the clipboard.
l Paste Pad Paste a copied pad from the clipboard.
l Paste Parameters Paste copied pad parameters from the clipboard.
l Clear Pad Clear all samples from the pad.
l Clear Bank Clear all samples from all pads in the current bank.
l Play One Shot Change the Trigger mode for the pad to One Shot.
l Play Loop Change the Trigger mode for the pad to Loop.
l Play Normal Change the Trigger mode for the pad to Normal.
l Insert Matched Instrument Part Choosing this option will insert a matched instrument part of the selected pad sound to the
nearest bar position (relative to the cursor position).
Impact 520
Once you drop the file into Impact, it is spread across multiple pads, and an Instrument Part is also created. The Instrument part will trig-
ger the Instrument’s virtual keyboard as if it was consecutive audio.
After dropping, the new Instrument Part will be placed at the nearest bar position to the time cursor. The notes will be stretched according
to the current song tempo if the track's timebase is beats, and the part length will always be 1, 2, 4, 8, etc. bars.
You can edit the new instrument part just as you would with any drum pattern you make in the note editor. This feature may be especially
useful if you would like to split audio drum loops in order to modify them. The same option to create a matched instrument part from a
loop is available when you use SampleOne.
Waveform Display
When you select a pad, its currently loaded sample is shown in this display. Here, you can set sample start and end by moving the tri-
angle-shaped markers. If more than one sample is loaded in the pad, you can switch between them by clicking the numbered buttons
above the waveform display. You can click-and-drag the demarcations between the sample selector buttons to set the velocity-switching
values (for use with the Velocity Layer Mode).
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l Add Sample (+) Choose this option to add an additional sample to this pad.
l Reverse Enable this option to reverse the current sample.
l Normalize Enable this option to boost the amplitude of the current sample until its highest peak reaches a point just below full
scale.
l Load Next/Previous Sample in Folder These buttons let you quickly swap the current sample for its neighbor in the enclosing
folder. This allows for quick auditioning of a range of samples, to find just the right candidate.
l Start and End Sets the sample start and end, in samples.
Sample Controls
These controls let you fine-tune sample behavior for each pad:
l Color Choose a color with which to mark the pad.
l 1st and 2nd Note Assignment Choose two MIDI note values to trigger this pad.
l Trigger Choose One Shot to play the loaded sample once when a pad is struck, no matter how long it is held. Chose Loop to
continuously loop the sample as long as the pad is held. Choose Toggle to begin playing the sample when the pad is struck,
and continue playing it (even if looped) until the pad is struck a second time. Select Normal to begin playing the sample when the
pad is struck and held down, and continue playing it until the pad is released.
l Layer Mode This parameter lets you choose how multiple samples are treated if loaded onto a single pad. Choose Velocity to
switch between the samples depending on pad velocity. Choose Round Robin to step through the samples one by one each
time the pad is struck. Choose Random to choose a sample at random each time the pad is struck. Choose Stack to play all
loaded samples simultaneously.
l Choke This parameter lets you specify the relationship between different pads, such as those set up to play closed and open hi-
hat cymbals. Choose Self to allow a pad's playback to be stopped when the pad is played a second time (rather than continue to
ring out). Choose a Choke group (1-32) to tie the playback of this pad to all other pads also assigned to that choke group.
l Quantize This parameter lets you limit your ability to play a pad to a preset rhythmic value. Choose from Off (no rhythmic limits),
Bars (once at the start of each bar), Beats (once per quarter note), 1/2-Beats (once per eighth-note), and 1/4-Beats (once per
16th note).
l Follow Tempo Enable this option to automatically timestretch the current sample to fit the tempo of the Song. This is most
effective when using rhythmic loops, such as drum samples.
l Offsets Introduce a playback offset of up to 2.5 seconds at the start or end of the loaded sample.
l All Notes Off Press this button to end playback for all currently playing samples.
l Edit Sample This button lets you specify individual settings for the currently selected sample, rather than changing those para-
meters for all samples, as done by default. If after you've made custom alterations to one sample, you wish to reunify all samples
under the same settings, press Reset.
Impact 522
Pitch Controls
You can modify the pitch for each pad’s sample using the Pitch controls.
l Transpose Adjusts the transposition in semitones for the selected pad. Variable from -48 to +48.
l Tune Adjusts the tuning, in cents, for the selected pad. Variable from -100 to 100 cents.
l Pitch Envelope (One-Shot Trigger Mode Only)
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time from when the pad is triggered to when the envelope value is reached. Variable from
0 s to 20 s.
l Hold Adjusts the amount of time the envelope value is held after the attack period and before decay begins. Variable
from 0 s to 20 s.
l Decay Adjusts the amount of time it takes after the hold period to return to the envelope value. Variable from 0.98 ms to
20 s.
l Pitch Envelope (Loop and Normal Trigger Modes Only)
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the Env value from the original pitch of the sample once a sample
has been triggered. Variable from 0 to 20 s.
l Decay Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the sustain level after reaching full volume. Variable from 0 to 20 s.
l Sustain Adjusts the Sustain level. Variable from -∞ dB to 0 dB. The sustain period continues until the sample trigger
stops.
l Release Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the original pitch after sample trigger has stopped. Variable from 0
to 30 s.
l Env Adjusts the detune range of the pitch envelope in cents. Variable from -4 to +4 octaves. (The default value is 0, meaning the
pitch envelope has no effect.)
l Vel Adjusts the maximum detune value, in cents, that pitch is affected by velocity (the maximum detune value when triggered
note velocity equals 127). Variable from -4 to +4 octaves.
Filter Controls
Each pad features a variable filter to allow anything from subtle tonal shaping to heavily processed filter sweeps.
l Cutoff Adjusts the cutoff frequency of the filter. Variable from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
l Res Adjusts the resonance of the filter. Variable from 0 to 100.
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l Filter Env (One-Shot Trigger Mode Only)
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time it takes for the filter cutoff frequency to move from the frequency value to the envel-
ope value once a sample has been triggered. Variable from 0 s to 20 s.
l Hold Adjusts the amount of time the envelope value is held after the attack period and before decay begins. Variable
from 0 s to 20 s.
l Decay Adjusts the amount of time it takes to return to the cutoff level after reaching the envelope value. Variable from 0
s to 20 s.
l Filter Env (Loop and Normal Trigger Modes Only)
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time it takes for the filter cutoff frequency to move from the frequency value to the envel-
ope value once a sample has been triggered. Variable from 0 to 20 seconds.
l Decay Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the sustain level after reaching the envelope value. Variable from 0 s
to 20 s.
l Sustain Adjusts the sustain level, which is the mix of the signal filtered at the envelope value with the signal filtered at
the frequency value. Variable from -∞ to 0 dB. The sustain period continues until the sample trigger stops.
l Release Adjusts the amount of time it takes the filter to reach the frequency value after the sample trigger has stopped.
Variable from 0 to 30 seconds.
l Env Adjusts the range of the filter envelope in octaves, relative to the cutoff value. Variable from -8000 to +8000. (The default
value is 0, meaning the filter envelope has no effect.)
l Vel Adjusts the maximum value in octaves affected by velocity . Variable from -100 % to + 100 % (the maximum value when
triggered note velocity equals 127).
l Filter Type Selects the filter type. Choose from LP24 Ladder, LP24 Zero-Latency, LP12 Ladder, BP12 Ladder, HP12 Ladder,
LP12 State, BP12 State, HP12 State, and Eco Filter (lowest CPU use).
l Drive This lets you specify an amount of filter overdrive, to add fullness and saturation artifacts to your sound.
l Punch This control lets you add a range of percussive attack to the start of each note. At the lowest setting, dynamics are
unchanged. At higher settings, the sound becomes more aggressive and more readily pops through the mix.
l Soft This control lets you switch between two differing analog-modeled processing circuits within the filter. Engage Soft for a
mellower, darker tone. Disengage it for a brighter, more aggressive sound.
Amplifier Controls
To adjust the amplitude for each pad, use the following parameters:
l Gain Attenuates or boosts the amplitude, in dB, of the sample assigned to the selected pad. Variable from -144 to 20 dB.
l Pan Adjusts the sample’s stereo pan for the selected pad. Variable from fully left to fully right.
l Amp Env (One-Shot Trigger Mode Only)
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time from when the pad is triggered to when maximum amplitude is reached. Variable
from 0 s (no attack, sample starts at maximum amplitude) to 20 s.
l Hold Adjusts the amount of time the maximum velocity is held after the attack period, before decay begins. Variable
from 0 s to 20 s.
l Decay Adjusts the amount of time it takes after the hold period to reach an amplitude of -∞ from the maximum amp-
litude. Variable from 0 s to 20 s.
l Amp Env (Loop and Normal Trigger Modes Only)
l Attack Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach full volume once a sample has been triggered. Variable from 0 to 20
seconds.
l Decay Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the sustain level after reaching full volume. Variable from 0 to 20
seconds.
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l Sustain Adjusts the sustain level. Variable from -∞ to 0 dB. The sustain period continues until the sample trigger stops.
l Release Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach a level of -∞ after the sample trigger has stopped. Variable from 0
to 30 seconds.
l Vel Adjusts the maximum amplitude value, in dB, affected by velocity (the maximum amplitude value when triggered note velo-
city equals 127). Variable from 0 to 1.
Pad Focus
By default, the Pitch, Filter, and Amplifier controls act on the pad you most recently selected. To make editing easier when working on
multiple pads, you can enable Pad Focus by clicking the [Pad Focus] button at the top of the plug-in window. When this mode is enabled,
"focus" shifts to whatever pad you most recently played, letting you edit parameters for that pad.
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By default, when multiple samples are dropped onto a pad, they are all assigned to that pad and are played interchangeably, according
to the current Layer Mode. To distribute multiple samples across multiple pads, press and hold [Shift] before dropping them. The first
sample is assigned to the selected pad, and each subsequent sample is assigned to subsequent pads in ascending note order.
Note: Dragging your sample to editor or into empty space in the drum control list loads the sample into the first free pad. Alternatively,
dropping your sample into the pitch lane replaces the previous sample.
Color Themes
Looking for a little personalization? Try clicking the PreSonus logo at the top right corner of the Impact window for a selection of new color
themes.
After clicking this icon, the in-place editor will appear to the right of the Editor grid. To have access to all of the available parameters at
once, you must adjust the width and length of the Editor until it is large enough to display each feature:
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If you would like to take up less space while using the in-place editor, you can reduce the size of the Editor and toggle between Pad Con-
trols and Drum Pad views.
Click the Pad Controls button to view to the waveform editor and pad parameters:
To open Impact in a separate window, click onto the “Instrument Editor” button located at the top right corner of the In-Place Editor.
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Note: For this feature to work as intended, you must select Impact as the output virtual instrument on a new instrument track.
SampleOne
A sampler is a bit like a synthesizer. However, instead of generating sounds using oscillators or operators, samplers start with an audio
clip, or “sample,” and then play and process that sample based on how the instrument is configured.
SampleOne is a full-featured sampler that builds on the strengths of our original SampleOne instrument. It features triggered sampling,
automatic time-stretching, a full range of tone-shaping tools, and flexible onboard effects. The following section describes how to use
SampleOne.
Interface Overview
The main display features four "tabs" along the top, each of which gives you access to a distinct set of tools and parameters:
l Wave is where you do the bulk of your sample and loop editing.
l Mapping is where you map the loaded samples across the span of the MIDI range.
l Envelopes gives you access to graphical representations of the Pitch, Filter, and Amp envelopes, for easy shaping.
l Record lets you record audio directly into SampleOne from nearly any audio input, send, output, or Instrument track, including a
mode where samples are split automatically based on amplitude.
To the right of the tabbed interface is the Samples list, which shows the samples that make up the current patch. In the lower half of the
plug-in interface, you'll see controls for sample Pitch (playback frequency), Filter (tone shaping), Amp (amplitude shaping), LFO (mod-
ulation), and effects. Rounding things out are the global settings in the Master module, and a playable onscreen keyboard.
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Wave View
Wave view is where you do the bulk of your sample and loop editing. To select the range of the sample that plays when you trigger it,
click-and-drag the blue triangles below the waveform. To fine-tune the start-and-end points, you can click-and-drag or click and type a
value into the Start and End fields.
Trigger
Open the Trigger menu to choose the method by which to play the currently selected sample, from the following choices:
l Normal In this mode, the sample starts playing when you trigger it, and stops when you let go of the key (or when the recorded
note that triggers it ends).
l One Shot In this mode, the sample plays through in its entirety when triggered. This is often used for drum sounds.
l Toggle In this mode, the sample begins playing when triggered, and stops playing when triggered a second time. This is most
useful for loops and continuous, droning sounds.
Reverse Enable this option to reverse the current sample.
Normalize Enable this option to boost the amplitude of the current sample until its highest peak reaches a point just below full scale.
Load Next/Previous Sample in Folder These buttons let you quickly swap the current sample for its neighbor in the enclosing folder.
This allows for quick auditioning of a range of samples, to find just the right candidate.
Root, Low, and High These selectors let you set the root note and note mapping for the current sample. You can also set these para-
meters in the dedicated Mapping view.
Loop a Sample
To loop playback of a sample, open the Loop selector and choose a looping mode:
l Sustain In this mode, when a note ends, playback continues beyond the selected loop range until the end of the release phase
of the Amp envelope.
l Release In this mode, when a note ends, playback continues to loop until the end of the release phase of the Amp envelope.
l Ping-Pong In this mode, loop playback proceeds to the end of the loop range, then the sample is played in reverse until it
reaches the beginning of the loop range, and so on.
When a looping mode is selected, the Loop Range bracket appears above the sample waveform, indicating the section of the sample to
be looped. If the loop range begins after the initial playback range begins, the sample plays from the beginning of the playback-range pos-
ition to the end of the loop-range position; then it plays from the start of the loop range to the end of the loop range and back for as long as
the sample is triggered.
X-Fade Click-and-drag or click and type in this field to specify a number of samples of crossfade to apply to the loop points, to assist in
removing audible clicks.
Follow Song Tempo Enable this option to automatically timestretch the current sample to fit the tempo of the Song. This is most effect-
ive when using rhythmic loops, such as drum samples. The sample must be tempo-tagged to enable this feature. Note that timestretched
stereo samples will replay in mono.
All Notes Off Click this button to stop playback of all currently enabled voices.
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Mapping View
Mapping view shows each currently loaded sample as a Keymap Range selector that occupies a certain range of MIDI notes. The bright
mark within each selector shows the current root note of the sample.
To change the root note of a sample, click-and-drag the sample's root-note handle left or right across the keyboard display. The notes on
your keyboard that trigger the sample are indicated in the Keymap Range selector, which is the blue bar extending to the right and left of
the note handle. To restrict the range of notes that can trigger the sample, click-and-drag the left or right edge of the Keymap Range
selector.
Envelopes View
Envelopes view gives you graphical representations of the Pitch, Filter, and Amplitude envelopes that you can freely shape using the
mouse. Click-and-drag the handles on each envelope to change the shape. The Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release values are shown
as numeric selectors below each envelope. These can also be changed by click-and-drag or click-and-type. Below them are the curve
controls for each applicable envelope value ("AC" for "Attack Curve," "DC" for "Decay Curve," and so on), which let you precisely set the
curve of each envelope segment.
Record View
Record view lets you record audio directly into SampleOne, for immediate use as new samples. To do this, first select the Input to
record, which can be any hardware audio input, send, output, or Instrument output. The Monitor selector lets you choose which bus
should receive the cue signal for monitoring as you record.
There are two main ways you can record:
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l Record Press Record to begin recording immediately. Press the button again to conclude recording. The resulting audio is
shown in the Samples list, and is then available for use.
l Gate Record Press Gate Record to enable amplitude-based recording, in which each distinct region of audio (as specified by
the Gate Threshold controls) is recorded as a separate sample. This is a great way to record a set of drum samples, for
example.
Gate Threshold The Open setting specifies the signal level at which recording begins while in Gate Record mode. The Close setting
specifies the signal level at which recording ends. You can also set these ranges by clicking-and-dragging the triangle-shaped markers in
the signal level display.
Name This field lets you specify the name of the next recorded sample. If more than one sample is recorded before the name is changed,
the samples will share the specified name, followed by a numeric identifier.
Resolution This selector lets you set the bitrate of the recorded samples.
Insertion Key This selector lets you choose the initial root note of the recorded samples. If more than one sample is recorded before the
Insertion Key is changed, the samples are assigned to the next-higher note each time.
Samples List
To add a sample to SampleOne, drag any audio clip from the Browser, or any Audio Event or selected range from the Arrange view, into
the Samples list. The waveform for the audio clip appears in the main display. If you drag in a selected range from the Arrange view, the
range is bounced to a separate audio file and then added to SampleOne.
Note you can quickly access samples that are in the same file location as a loaded sample by using the [Previous] and [Next] button to
switch to the previous or next sample in that file location.
By default, the keymap range is set from C0 to B5, with C3 set as the sample’s root note. With the SampleOne instrument Track properly
set up, and Monitor engaged, press any key within the default keymap range on your keyboard to play the loaded sample. C3 is set by
default as the sample’s root note, so playing the C3 (middle C) key on your keyboard plays the sample at its original pitch and speed.
Playing the keys above C3 shifts the sample pitch higher, and playing below C3 shifts the sample pitch lower and slows down playback
speed.
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[Right]/[Ctrl] - click onto any of the samples within the sample list to access the sample context menu:
l Add Sample Add a sample from your Finder or File Explorer to the sample list.
l Remove Sample Remove selected sample file.
l Show in Explorer Show location of sample in your computer’s local folder.
l Create Slices Extracts slices from loop and places them in the samples list.
l Trim Sample Truncates sample, removing whatever is outside of sample start/end range. Note that this is not “destructive,” as a
new file is written after selecting Trim Sample.
l Remove All Remove all samples from sample list.
l Copy External Samples Copies sample files that are not located in the song folder to the song folder.
l Insert Matched Instrument Part Choosing this option will insert a matched instrument part of the selected sample to the
nearest bar position (relative to the cursor position).
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When adding a REX file to SampleOne from the Browser with the Send to New SampleOne command, the REX file’s individual slices are
mapped across the keymap (starting at C3 by default, dependent on number of slices), with each slice given its own note.
Note: REX files don’t work well with sustained sounds, like a guitar riff with lots of repeating delays or a rich harmonium drone. Files with
fast attack time (like a drum beat, guitar chord progression, or synth bass melody) are ideal.
Once you drop the file, the spliced sample is spread across multiple keys of the virtual keyboard and an Instrument Part is also created.
After dropping, the new Instrument Part will be placed at the nearest bar position to the time cursor. The notes will be stretched according
to the current song tempo if the track's timebase is beats, and the part length will always be 1, 2, 4, 8, etc. bars.
On SampleOne’s virtual keyboard, the keys tied to sample splices will have a bar above them:
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This feature may be especially useful if you would like to split audio drum loops in order to modify them. The same option to create a
matched Instrument Part from a Loop is available when you use Impact.
Replace a Sample
To replace a sample in SampleOne, select the sample that you wish to replace in the Samples list. Then drag any audio clip from the
Browser, or any Audio Event from the Arrange view, into the main display. The sample replaces the previous one in the sample list, and
the previously displayed sample waveform updates to reflect the new sample.
Edit Sample This button lets you specify individual envelope settings for the currently selected sample, rather than changing those para-
meters for all samples, as done by default. If after you've made custom alterations to one sample, you wish to reunify all samples under
the same settings, press Reset.
Pitch
The Pitch controls modify the pitch characteristics of the audio output. Click the button in the upper left corner of the module to activ-
ate/deactivate the effects of the Pitch controls.
l Transpose Transposes the pitch of the sample in semitones. Variable from -48 to +48 semitones.
l Tune Adjusts the tuning of the sample. Variable from -100 cents to 100 cents.
l LFO Adjusts the range within which the LFO affects pitch. Variable from -4 octaves to +4 octaves.
l Env Adjusts the range within which the envelope affects pitch. Variable from -4 octaves to +4 octaves.
l Attack (A) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the Env value from the original pitch of the sample once a sample has
been triggered. Variable from 0 to 20 seconds.
l Decay (D) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the sustain level after reaching full volume. Variable from 0 to 20
seconds.
l Sustain (S) Adjusts the Sustain level. Variable from -∞ dB to 0 dB. The sustain period continues until the sample trigger stops.
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l Release (R) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the original pitch after sample trigger has stopped. Variable from 0 to 30
seconds.
Filter
The Filter parameters modify the frequency characteristics of the audio output. Click the button in the upper left corner of the module to
activate/deactivate the effects of the filter.
l Cutoff Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency. Variable from 20 Hz to 20 KHz.
l Vel Adjusts the maximum range, in octaves, within which note velocity can affect the maximum filter range (the value
used when velocity equals 127).
l Press Adjusts the amount that Note Controller Pressure affects the filter cutoff. Positive values will raise the cutoff fre-
quency as pressure increases. Negative values will lower the cutoff frequency as pressure increases.
l Mod Adjusts the range, expressed as distance in octaves, within which the modulation wheel on your Keyboard can
adjust the instantaneous filter cutoff frequency (the value used when the mod wheel value equals 127).
l LFO Adjusts the range within which the LFO affects the cutoff frequenecy. Variable from -8 octaves to +8 octaves.
l Env Adjusts the range within which the envelope affects the cutoff frequency. Variable from -8 octaves to +8 octaves.
l Res Adjusts the relative resonance of the filter. Variable from 0 % to 100 %.
l Type Selects the filter type. Choose from LP24 Ladder, LP24 Zero-Latency, LP12 Ladder, BP12 Ladder, HP12 Ladder, LP12
State, BP12 State, HP12 State, and Eco Filter (lowest CPU use).
l Attack (A) Adjusts the amount of time it takes for the filter cutoff frequency to move from the frequency value to the envelope
value once a sample has been triggered. Variable from Variable from 0 to 20 seconds.
l Decay (D) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the sustain level after reaching the envelope value. Variable from Vari-
able from 0 to 20 seconds.
l Sustain (S) Adjusts the sustain level, which is the mix of the signal filtered at the envelope value with the signal filtered at the fre-
quency value. Variable from -∞ dB to 0 dB. The sustain period continues until the sample trigger stops.
l Release (R) Adjusts the amount of time it takes the filter to reach the frequency value after the sample trigger has stopped. Vari-
able from Variable from 0 to 30 seconds.
l Drive This lets you specify an amount of filter overdrive, to add fullness and saturation artifacts to your sound.
l Punch This control lets you add a range of percussive attack to the start of each note. At the lowest setting, dynamics are
unchanged. At higher settings, the sound becomes more aggressive and more readily pops through the mix.
l Key This control sets the relationship between incoming note Pitch and filter Cutoff. In physical instruments, higher notes tend to
produce higher harmonics, brightening slightly as you go up the scale. On a synthesized instrument, if the filter stays static, set-
ting the proper tone in the lower note ranges may cause inappropriate dullness in the higher notes. So, with the Key parameter,
we can compensate for this, and create a more natural-sounding range of timbres up and down the keyboard.
l Soft This control lets you switch between two differing analog-modeled processing circuits within the filter. Engage Soft for a
mellower, darker tone. Disengage it for a brighter, more aggressive sound.
Amp
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The Amp controls modify the amplitude characteristics of the audio output. Click the button in the upper left corner of the module to activ-
ate/deactivate the effects of the Amp controls.
l Gain Adjusts the maximum volume of the audio output. Variable from -144 to +20 dB.
l Vel Adjusts the relative amount that note velocity affects the maximum amplitude. Variable from 0 to 1.
l Press Adjusts the amount that Note Controller Pressure affects the maximum amplitude. Positive values will raise the
volume as pressure increases. Negative values will lower the volume as pressure increases.
l Mod Adjusts the relative amount that the modulation wheel on your Keyboard can adjust the instantaneous amplitude
at any time. Variable from -1 to 1.
l LFO Adjusts the range with which the LFO affects playback volume.
l Pan Adjusts the stereo pan of the audio output. Variable from full L to full R.
l Attack (A) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach full volume once a sample has been triggered. Variable from 0 to 20
seconds.
l Decay (D) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach the sustain level after reaching full volume. Variable from 0 to 20
seconds.
l Sustain (S) Adjusts the sustain level. The sustain period continues until the sample trigger stops.
l Release (R) Adjusts the amount of time it takes to reach a level of -∞ after the sample trigger has stopped. Variable from 0 to 30
seconds.
LFO
Various parameters of SampleOne can be modulated, or varied over time, with the LFO. The following describes how to use the LFO to
modulate parameters.
l LFO Click the Activate button to activate/deactivate.
l Sync/Free Choose to sync the modulation speed to tempo (variable from 1/64T to 4 bars), adjust the speed freely as frequency
(variable from 0.01 Hz to 500 Hz), or sync to note-on by selecting neither Sync nor Free (variable from 0.01 Hz to8 KHz).
l Rate Set the modulation speed of the LFO, in either rhythmic subdivisions of the Song tempo (Beats), or milliseconds (Speed),
depending on Sync/Free status.
l Type Click to select, from top to bottom, the sine, saw, triangle, square, or sample and hold LFO waveform.
l Delay Adjusts the amount of time before the LFO affects anything once a sample is triggered. Variable from 0 to 2 seconds.
l Mod Adjusts the peak amplitude amount with which the modulation wheel controls the LFO signal strength (LFO strength when
mod wheel value equals 127). Variable from -1 to 1.
Master
The Master controls act on a global level, affecting all samples in the current patch.
Master Sets master volume for the entire patch. Variable between -∞ and +10 dB.
Mono Turn on this option to enable monophonic playing (one voice at a time only).
Glide Enable this option to introduce Glide, and adjust the relative amount of Glide using the Glide Time knob below. Glide creates
gradual shifting over time between consecutive notes, as opposed to the usual immediate switch from one note to the next.
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Polyphony By default, up to 32 voices can play simultaneously, meaning you can play 32 separate notes before the first note you played
are cut off to allow more voices to play. Click and drag on the blue number to add or subtract total voices. 64 voices is the maximum.
FX A
Modulation
This processor creates time-based modulation effects. Choose from the following modes by clicking the [Chorus], [Flanger], or [Phaser]
button:
l Chorus This processor creates effects similar to that of multiple identical instruments playing the same part simultaneously. The
synth signal is fed through a short, modulated delay, which is then mixed with the dry signal. Chorus offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Delay This control lets you set the length of the modulated delay. Higher settings create full-bodied chorusing effects,
while lower settings create more pronounced harmonics, akin to the effects of a Flanger.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings create slow, sweeping
effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings produce subtler chor-
using effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the chorused signal (all the way right).
l Flanger This processor creates resonant, hollow-sounding sweeping effects. The synth signal is fed through a short, modulated
delay, which is mixed with the dry signal. While similar to the workings of a Chorus effect, Flangers get their signature sound by
employing smaller delay times than those used in chorusing, combined with a feedback system that can add extra resonance to
the sweep. Flanger offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Delay This control lets you set the length of the modulated delay (in ms), which changes the pitch of the resultant res-
onance. Higher settings create lower-pitched resonance, while lower settings create resonances at a higher pitch.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings create slow, sweeping
effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings produce subtler flanging
effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of output signal to feed back into the Flanger. Higher amounts of
Feedback add to the resonance of the sweeping effect.
l Sync Engage this option to enable setting Flanger modulation speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/8th-note or 1/4-
note) relative to Song tempo. Disengage to set Rate on a continuous scale.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the flanged signal (all the way right).
l Phaser This processor creates dreamy, otherworldly sweeping effects. The synth signal is fed through a series of all-pass filters
that alter its phase. When mixed with the dry signal, this creates a series of peaks and valleys in the frequency response that
changes depending on the degree of phase shift applied. Phaser offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Shift This control lets you specify the amount of phase shift to apply. Lower settings focus the phasing effect in the
lower frequencies, while higher settings focus the effect in higher frequencies.
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l Speed This control lets you set the speed of modulation applied to the phase shift amount. Lower settings create slow,
sweeping effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the phase shift amount is modulated. Lower settings produce
subtler effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of output signal to feed back into the Phaser. Higher amounts of
Feedback add to the resonance of the sweeping effect.
l Sync Engage this option to enable setting Phaser modulation speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/8th-note or 1/4-
note) relative to Song tempo. Disengage to set Rate on a continuous scale.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the phase-shifted signal (all the way
right).
Delay
This processor creates an echo effect, either as a single delayed repeat of the input signal, or a trailing series of echoes. The Delay effect
offers the following controls:
l Low and High These controls let you set the cutoff frequencies of the provided high-pass and low-pass filters, which effect only
the delayed signal.
l Delay Time This control lets you specify the length of the delay effect, in rhythmic values (such as 1/8th-note or 16th-note) rel-
ative to the tempo of the Song.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of effected signal that is fed back into the Delay effect. At zero, there is just
one repeat. As you increase the value, the trail of repeats grows.
l Mix This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the delayed signal (all the way right).
l Ping-Pong Mode This menu lets you enable and configure the stereo Ping-Pong delay mode. You can choose from the fol-
lowing modes:
l Off The delay works as normal, without ping-pong functions.
l Panned Using a multi-tap delay structure, this mode pans each delay repeat to the right or left, in sequence.
l Dotted and Double These modes work similarly to Panned mode, but employ staggered spacing of the delay taps to
produce a dotted-note or syncopated straight rhythm in the delay repeats.
l Reverb Enable this option to route the output of the Delay effect to the Reverb effect, enabling further diffusion and abstraction
of the delay signal.
Reverb
This effect places the synth signal within a synthesized reverberant physical space, ranging from short reverbs that emulate smaller
rooms, to long reverbs that evoke the sounds of large spaces, such as halls and cathedrals. Reverb offers the following controls:
l Pre-Delay (Pre) This parameter lets you specify an amount of delay applied to the reverb-processed signal, in a range between
zero and 500 ms. This emulates the delay inherent in large spaces between the impact of a sound and its audible reverberation.
Lower settings are best suited to shorter reverb times, and longer settings with longer reverb times, but let your own taste be the
judge.
l Damping (Damp) This control lets you set an amount of high-frequency attenuation to apply to the reverb signal. Spaces with
soft surfaces tend to lose treble quickly as the sound reverberates, resulting in a short bright reverb followed by a progressively
darker tail. Spaces with harder surfaces retain high-end more efficiently over time. Set Damp to its lower range to emulate hard
surfaces, and to the higher ranges to enable further damping, to emulate softer surfaces.
l Size This control lets you set the length of reverberation from the moment a sound starts, in a range between 100 ms and 10
seconds. The larger the size, the longer the tail of the reverb, and the larger the emulated space sounds.
l Low and High These controls let you set the cutoff frequencies of the provided high-pass and low-pass filters, which effect only
the reverb signal.
l Mix This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the reverb signal (all the way right).
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FX B
Gater
This is a rhythmic gating effect, able to create a series of syncopated breaks in the synth signal. A variety of presets are provided, each
with a different rhythmic gating pattern. However, the fun really begins when you create your own. Gater offers the following controls:
l Beats This control lets you set the length of the gating cycle, in rhythmic values (such as 1 bar or 1/2-note) relative to Song
tempo. For example, at a setting of 1 bar, the 16 steps in the cycle repeat every bar, effectively representing 16th-notes. At a
1/2-note setting, the 16 steps repeat each half-bar, representing 32nd-note values.
l Beat Steps This grid lets you specify which steps in the cycle let signal pass through, and which gate the signal to silence. Click
on a step to enable or disable gating for that step.
l Stereo Engaging this option creates a separate beat grid for each side of the stereo field. When engaged, you'll see two rows of
beat steps, the top row specifying gate steps for the left channel, and the bottom row gating the right channel.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the gated and dry signals, allowing for rhythmic gating effects while retaining the con-
tinuity of the synth sound.
EQ
This is a graphic equalizer effect, perfect for quick tonal shaping. Set the EQ bands to emphasize or attenuate bands of frequencies to
suit your needs. When a band is in the center of its range, it neither adds nor subtracts. When moved above the center, it emphasizes the
chosen frequency. Moved below the center, it attenuates that frequency.
Choose between Lead mode, with frequencies chosen to suit aggressive, up-front sounds, or Bass mode, with wider-ranging fre-
quencies that work better for basses and mellower chordal parts.
Distortion
This is a variable distortion effect, which adds grit and character to your sounds. Choose from a variety of distortion types, from fizzy tran-
sistor fuzzes to thick, warm tube overdrives. Set the amount of distortion with the Drive knob.
Pan
This is an auto-pan effect, which pans the synth signal left and right over time. Pan offers the following controls:
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the signal is panned left and right.
l Sync Enable this option to set pan speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/4-note or 16th-note) relative to Song tempo. Disable
this option to set pan speed along a continuous range.
l Depth This control lets you set the degree to which the signal is panned. Lower settings give a subtly panned effect, while higher
settings pan the signal more radically, all the way to fully left and right in each cycle.
Virtual Keyboard
The virtual keyboard lets you easily click to play notes or manipulate the Pitch and Mod wheels, while auditioning or editing patches when
you're away from a MIDI keyboard. The keyboard display also shows you which notes are currently being played, as well as the root note
SampleOne 539
and pitch mapping span of the currently selected sample. You can show or hide the virtual keyboard at any time by pressing the [Keys]
button.
Note that for a more playable keyboard experience when away from your MIDI controller, you can also use Studio One Pro's QWERTY
Keyboard Device to play notes using your computer's keyboard.
Next to the virtual keyboard is the Bend parameter, which lets you set the pitch bend range of the Pitch wheel, in semitones.
Color Themes
Looking for a little personalization? Try clicking the PreSonus logo at the top right corner of the SampleOne window for a selection of new
color themes.
Mai Tai
Interface
The central control panel contains controls for the Oscillators (Osc 1 and 2) and Noise generator, the Character processor and Filter, and
the LFOs and Envelope Generators. These are the primary controls you'll use to sculpt your sound. You can enable or disable each of
these modules by clicking the module's name. To the right of these controls are the Global parameters, which let you tune the overall
behavior and capabilities of the synth to your needs.
Along the bottom of the window, you'll see the Mod/FX section (which gives you access to Mai Tai's modulation matrix and effects) and
the virtual keyboard. You can hide or show each of these elements by pressing the [MOD/FX] and Keyboard Icon buttons.
Oscillators
Noise Generator
The Noise section is a noise generator that can add texture and character to your sounds. The Noise module offers the following con-
trols:
l Bypass Click the [Noise] button to turn Noise on or off.
l Level Lets you set the volume level for the noise generator.
l Pan This control lets you position each oscillator separately in the stereo field, from left to right.
l Color Lets you set the timbre of the noise from dark to bright.
Character
Filter
Mai Tai offers a versatile Filter, which lets you shape and enhance your sounds. The filter is often one of the most important defining ele-
ments to the sound of a subtractive synthesizer, and likewise, this filter's unique characteristics have much to do with the sound of Mai
Tai. The Filter offers the following controls:
l Bypass Click the [Filter] button to turn the filter on or off.
l Filter Mode Choose from the following filter modes, each with its own sound-shaping characteristics.
l LP 24dB Ladder This mode emulates a classic 24dB-per-octave low-pass filter based on a transistor-ladder con-
figuration, as found in many classic synthesizers. This type of filter allows frequencies below the chosen Cutoff fre-
quency to pass through, which cutting frequencies above Cutoff at a rate of 24 decibels per octave—a fairly aggressive
slope.
l LP 24dB Zero This is a 24dB-per-octave low-pass filter, based on a zero-delay-feedback architecture that closely mod-
els the tone and modulation behavior of analog filters.
LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator, and they work very much like Osc 1 and 2 in Mai Tai, only slower. Standard oscillators are
used mainly to create audible pitched tones, LFOs create slow-moving regular cycles of control signal that are useful for modulating
other parameters over time. One common example is the way many synth patches respond when you move the Mod Wheel up from
zero; the pitch of the oscillators wavers up and down in an expressive manner, much like the sound of vocal vibrato. This is simply an
LFO modulating oscillator pitch to a degree set by the position of the mod wheel.
LFO 1 and 2 have identical controls, so the following explanations apply to both:
l Bypass Click the [LFO 1] or [LFO 2] button to turn the LFO on or off.
l LFO Type Choose between Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Square, and Sample & Hold shapes, for the oscillation of the LFO.
Envelopes
Envelope generators are a vital part of sound synthesis, giving us the ability to shape the amplitude and timbre of our sounds within the
time-scale of each note. Mai Tai has three envelope generators, labeled Amp Env (so named because it is hard-wired to amplitude), Env
2 (which is often routed to filter cutoff, for timbral shaping), and Env 3.
All three Env modules are triggered when a note is played. Each Env then outputs a control signal that follows the shape set by the fol-
lowing controls:
l Attack (A) This control lets you set the time required for the envelope to go from zero (silence) to full amplitude, in a range from
0 ms to 20 seconds.
l Decay (D) This control lets you set the time required to drop from full amplitude to the sustain level, in a range from 0 ms to 20
seconds.
l Sustain (S) This control lets you set the signal level that is maintained from the end of the decay period, until the key is
released, in a range from -∞ dB (silence) to 0.0 dB (full amplitude).
l Release (R) This control lets you set the time required to fall back to silence after the key is released, in a range from 0 ms to 30
seconds.
Global Settings
The following Global parameters let you configure Mai Tai's overall behavior and capabilities, to meet your needs:
l Volume This control lets you set the total output volume, in a range from -∞ dB (silence) to +6.0 dB (six decibels above unity
gain).
l Velocity This control lets you set the degree to which Mai Tai's volume is affected by note velocity, from zero (no velocity sens-
itivity) to 100% (full velocity sensitivity).
l Poly, Mono, and Glide Enable Poly mode to allow polyphonic playing (more than one note at a time). Enable Mono mode to
play just one note at a time. When in Mono mode, you can enable Glide to cause the pitch to sweep smoothly from that of the cur-
rently held note to that of the next note, when played legato (one note played while the previous note is held). The Glide knob
lets you set the rate of pitch change over time, from 1 ms to 1 second.
Effects
Mai Tai offers seven effects processors to add dimension to your sounds. They are arranged in two banks: FX A (Modulation, Delay, and
Reverb) and FX B (Gater, EQ, Distortion, and Pan). You can enable or disable each effect by clicking its name. You can show or hide the
Mod/FX section of the plug-in window by clicking the [Mod/FX] button.
Modulation
This processor creates time-based modulation effects. Choose from the following modes by clicking the [Chorus], [Flanger], or [Phaser]
button:
l Chorus This processor creates effects similar to that of multiple identical instruments playing the same part simultaneously. The
synth signal is fed through a short, modulated delay, which is then mixed with the dry signal. Chorus offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Delay This control lets you set the length of the modulated delay. Higher settings create full-bodied chorusing effects,
while lower settings create more pronounced harmonics, akin to the effects of a Flanger.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings create slow, sweeping
effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings produce subtler chor-
using effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the chorused signal (all the way right).
l Flanger This processor creates resonant, hollow-sounding sweeping effects. The synth signal is fed through a short, modulated
delay, which is mixed with the dry signal. While similar to the workings of a Chorus effect, Flangers get their signature sound by
employing smaller delay times than those used in chorusing, combined with a feedback system that can add extra resonance to
the sweep. Flanger offers the following controls:
l Mono Engage this option to sum the wet (effected) signal to mono.
l Delay This control lets you set the length of the modulated delay (in ms), which changes the pitch of the resultant res-
onance. Higher settings create lower-pitched resonance, while lower settings create resonances at a higher pitch.
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings create slow, sweeping
effects, while higher settings create faster, more aggressive modulation.
l Width This control lets you set the degree to which the delay line is modulated. Lower settings produce subtler flanging
effects, while higher settings produce more pronounced changes in timbre over time.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of output signal to feed back into the Flanger. Higher amounts of
Feedback add to the resonance of the sweeping effect.
l Sync Engage this option to enable setting Flanger modulation speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/8th-note or 1/4-
note) relative to Song tempo. Disengage to set Rate on a continuous scale.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the flanged signal (all the way right).
Delay
This processor creates an echo effect, either as a single delayed repeat of the input signal, or a trailing series of echoes. The Delay effect
offers the following controls:
l Low and High These controls let you set the cutoff frequencies of the provided high-pass and low-pass filters, which effect only
the delayed signal.
l Delay Time This control lets you specify the length of the delay effect, in rhythmic values (such as 1/8th-note or 16th-note) rel-
ative to the tempo of the Song.
l Feedback (FB) This control lets you set the amount of effected signal that is fed back into the Delay effect. At zero, there is just
one repeat. As you increase the value, the trail of repeats grows.
l Mix This control lets you blend between the dry signal (all the way left) and the delayed signal (all the way right).
l Ping-Pong Mode This menu lets you enable and configure the stereo Ping-Pong delay mode. You can choose from the fol-
lowing modes:
l Off The delay works as normal, without ping-pong functions.
l Panned Using a multi-tap delay structure, this mode pans each delay repeat to the right or left, in sequence.
l Dotted and Double These modes work similarly to Panned mode, but employ staggered spacing of the delay taps to
produce a dotted-note or syncopated straight rhythm in the delay repeats.
l Reverb Enable this option to route the output of the Delay effect to the Reverb effect, enabling further diffusion and abstraction
of the delay signal.
Reverb
This effect places the synth signal within a synthesized reverberant physical space, ranging from short reverbs that emulate smaller
rooms, to long reverbs that evoke the sounds of large spaces, such as halls and cathedrals. Reverb offers the following controls:
Gater
This is a rhythmic gating effect, able to create a series of syncopated breaks in the synth signal. A variety of presets are provided, each
with a different rhythmic gating pattern. However, the fun really begins when you create your own. Gater offers the following controls:
l Beats This control lets you set the length of the gating cycle, in rhythmic values (such as 1 bar or 1/2-note) relative to Song
tempo. For example, at a setting of 1 bar, the 16 steps in the cycle repeat every bar, effectively representing 16th-notes. At a
1/2-note setting, the 16 steps repeat each half-bar, representing 32nd-note values.
l Beat Steps This grid lets you specify which steps in the cycle lets signal pass through, and which gates the signal to silence.
Click on a step to enable or disable gating for that step.
l Stereo Engaging this option creates a separate beat grid for each side of the stereo field. When engaged, you'll see two rows of
beat steps, the top row specifying gate steps for the left channel, and the bottom row gating the right channel.
l Depth This control lets you blend between the gated and dry signals, allowing for rhythmic gating effects while retaining the con-
tinuity of the synth sound.
EQ
This is a graphic equalizer effect, perfect for quick tonal shaping. Set the EQ bands to emphasize or attenuate bands of frequencies to
suit your needs. When a band is in the center of its range, it neither adds nor subtracts. When moved above the center, it emphasizes the
chosen frequency. Moved below the center, it attenuates that frequency.
Choose between Lead mode, with frequencies chosen to suit aggressive, up-front sounds, or Bass mode, with wider-ranging fre-
quencies that work better for basses and mellower chordal parts.
Distortion
Pan
This is an auto-pan effect, which pans the synth signal left and right over time. Pan offers the following controls:
l Speed This control lets you set the speed at which the signal is panned left and right.
l Sync Enable this option to set pan speed to a rhythmic value (such as 1/4-note or 16th-note) relative to Song tempo. Disable
this option to set pan speed along a continuous range.
l Depth This control lets you set the degree to which the signal is panned. Lower settings give a subtly panned effect, while higher
settings pan the signal more radically, all the way to fully left and right in each cycle.
Modulation Matrix
Mai Tai provides 16 configurable modulation routings, in two banks of eight (Mod A and Mod B). Modulation signals can be routed from a
selection of incoming MIDI controller signals, including MPE data (such as Pitch Bend, Mod Wheel, Aftertouch, Poly Pressure, Note
Timbre, and Pitch Control), modulation generators (such as the LFOs and envelopes), or the pitch or velocity of played notes.
These modulation signals can be used to vary most of the parameters throughout Mai Tai, including modulation sources themselves
(such as LFO 2 modulating the rate of LFO 1, or the Decay of Env 2)
Each modulation slot has a bypass button at the top, which lets you enable or disable the flow of modulation signal. Below that are the
input selector and modifier selector. If you assign a modulation source to the input selector only, that signal is routed directly to the
chosen destination. In some cases, you’ll want to govern the flow of one mod source before it reaches its destination, using the signal
from another mod source. For example, you may want to control the output level of LFO 1 (routed to a parameter such as oscillator pitch)
with the Mod Wheel. In this case, you'd choose Mod Wheel with the input selector, and LFO 1 with the modifier selector below.
Below that is a slider that controls the amplitude and polarity of the modulation signal. Set at its center, no modulation occurs. Move the
handle right of center to send an increasing amount of the modulation signal, at its normal (positive) polarity, to the chosen destination.
Move it left of center to send the signal to its destination with a negative value.
If the parameter you wish to modulate is set to a high value, you may want to send a negative modulation signal to it, driving the setting
downward and causing more audible effects. Positive-going modulation signals are more efficient when modulating parameters set to
low values.
A selector at the bottom of each modulation slot lets you choose the destination of the chosen modulation signals.
Virtual Keyboard
Mojito
Mojito is a simple, monophonic, subtractive synthesizer with effects that is capable of generating a wide range of sounds. It models a clas-
sic analog synthesizer and features a low-aliasing oscillator and a 24 dB filter emulation. Mojito can generate killer bass sounds, lead
sounds, and special effects.
Make sure to download the sound sets that came bundled with your edition of Studio One Pro. Mojito requires the sound set download
for sounds and presets to work as intended within the virtual instrument.
Interface
Mojito is organized into Oscillator (OSC), Amplifier (AMP), Filter (FLT), and FX sections, with easy-to-use, yet powerful controls.
Oscillator
Mojito’s Oscillator section is on the upper left of the plug-in window. Here you can set up the harmonic content of the sound source. The
basic controls are the three large knobs on top: Pitch, Wave, and Width.
l Pitch Adjusts the frequency from one octave below to one octave above the played note. Note that this affects the cutoff fre-
quency only via key tracking. Pitch is modified by the pitch-bend wheel (± 2 semitones).
l Wave Selects between a sawtooth wave and a pulse wave. These two waveforms have a rich and regular harmonic content,
making them classic sources for subtractive synthesis. Sawtooth waves contain the fundamental and all harmonics whereas
pulse waves have only the fundamental and odd harmonics. Mixed settings effectively adjust the level of the even harmonics.
l Width Adjusts the pulse width of the pulse wave from almost zero to square. This adjusts the balance between the fundamental
and the higher and lower harmonics.
Below the three main OSC controls is a smaller row of knobs that adjust how much the oscillator settings are modulated. The speed of
the modulation is adjusted using the LFO Speed controls, located to the right of these knobs. The LFO can be synced to tempo or it can
oscillate with a freely adjustable period. Use the modulators to create chorus-like or string-like sounds, vibrato, and other familiar mod-
ulated sounds.
There is also a Sub Oscillator knob, which can be adjusted from 0 to 100% to add more low frequency content to the sound.
The Portamento section lets you control pitch slewing between notes. Using the mode selector, you can choose between three modes:
l Off A note that is played while another note is playing silences the previous note and trigger the new one.
l Legato An overlapped note does not trigger a new envelope but the pitch slowly changes to the pitch of the new note.
l Retrigger An overlapped note retriggers the current envelope, starting at its volume at the moment it is retriggered. This also
slowly changes the note’s pitch. Note velocity is not applied or updated for overlapped notes.
The Time knob adjusts the glide speed (that is, the duration of the pitch change) when using portamento. The range is from 5 ms to 1 s.
Mojito 551
Amplifier
Below the Oscillator section is the Amplifier section. This consists of a Gain control, which responds to MIDI Volume messages, and a
Velocity-to-Volume control, which modulates the volume of a note in response to key velocity.
The most important part of this section is the ADSR envelope. (“ADSR” stands for “Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release.”) With these four
sliders, you can adjust the amplitude characteristics over time. These characteristics play a huge role in defining the overall sound. The
ADSR envelope can control the volume of a played note and can also control the filter cutoff.
l A Adjust the attack time, which is the time required for the sound’s amplitude to go from zero (silence) to full amplitude. The
range is from 2 to 500 ms.
l D Adjusts the decay time, which is the time required to drop from full amplitude to the sustain level. The range is from 2 ms to 1 s.
l S Adjusts the sustain level, which is the level that is held from the end of the decay until the key is released. The range is from -
96 dB (silence) to 0 dB (full amplitude).
l R Adjusts the release time, which is the time required to fall back to silence after the key is released. The range is from 2 ms to 2
s.
Filter
The section on top of the right side of Mojito only affects the resonant 24 dB low-pass filter.
l Reso Controls the resonance of the filter, which is an amplification, or emphasis, of the signal at the cutoff frequency.
l Note: If the amount of resonance of a filter is raised high enough, the filter begins oscillating at the cutoff frequency, thus
generating its own waveform. Be careful: this can be loud!
l Drive Controls the amount of filter drive from 0 to 100%.
l Cutoff Knob Controls the corner, or cutoff, frequency, which is the point above which frequencies are attenuated. The range is
from 20 Hz to 16 kHz.
The other controls affect the modulation of the cutoff frequency.
l Key Controls how much the played note scales the cutoff frequency.
l Velo Controls how much the velocity of the played note shifts the cutoff frequency up or down.
l Envelope Controls how much the ADSR envelope shifts the cutoff frequency up or down.
l LFO Controls the amount of shifting that the filter LFO applies to the cutoff frequency. The LFO can either be synced to tempo or
it can oscillate with an adjustable period.
FX
On the bottom right is a small effects section where you can apply a modulation effect to enliven or broaden the sound. Mod Depth con-
trols the amount of this effect. Using Mod Color, you can adjust the timbre from a flanger-like to a chorus-like effect. The modulation util-
izes an LFO that has the same speed as the filter LFO.
Finally, there is an Overdrive, the amount of which is controlled by the Drive control.
Multi Instruments
Sometimes, just one instrument isn't enough to get the sound or functionality you're looking for. You might want each half of the keyboard
to trigger a different instrument, or to create powerful layered sounds with multiple instruments responding to your touch simultaneously.
Creating flexible, playable instrument configurations with multiple plug-ins, keyboard splits, layers, and real-time Note FX processing is
easy using the Multi Instrument function in Studio One Pro.
To simplify the process of controlling multiple instruments and effects at once, we've included a page of Macro Controls you can assign
to parameters in any plug-in hosted in the Multi Instrument, giving easy access to vital parameters without the need to open multiple plug-
in windows.
Each instance of Multi Instrument can host multiple plug-in instruments and Note FX processors. Before any devices are added, the rout-
ing matrix in the center of the main control window is empty. To add an instrument, click the [Add Instrument] button and select the instru-
ment of your choice from the menu. Once the instrument is loaded, its editor window is displayed. You can also simply drag instruments
from the Instruments tab of the Browser directly into the routing matrix.
The chosen instrument appears as a module in the routing matrix, with a line leading to it, signifying the flow of note and control data to
that instrument. If you add additional instruments, the line splits, to show the flow of data to each instrument.
To bypass or enable an instrument or Note FX module, press its Activate button.
To open the editing interface for an instrument, double-click on its name, or click the small triangle on the right of the module and choose
Edit... from the pop-up menu. To rename an instrument or Note FX module, choose Rename... from its pop-up menu. To remove an mod-
ule, choose Remove from its pop-up menu.
By default, each instrument in a Multi Instrument receives note data from the full range of the keyboard. If you want to split the keyboard
into distinct ranges (such as synth bass on the left side, and piano for the right hand), or simply specify an instrument's playable range,
you can use the range sliders, just above the virtual keyboard display.
Each instrument in a Multi Instrument has a range slider that specifies the range of keys in which that instrument is allowed to play. Click-
and-drag the ends of each range slider until the desired range of keys is selected for each instrument.
If two or more instruments overlap in their ranges, those sounds are layered when keys in overlapping ranges are played. Layering can
be useful for building rich, complex tones from multiple sources.
Given that a Multi Instrument may contain several instruments and a selection of Note FX and audio effects, we've included a set of
assignable Macro Controls in each Multi Instrument (much like the Channel Editor and Macro Controls controls you'll find in the Con-
sole). This lets you assign often-used parameters throughout all devices in your Multi Instrument to a single page of knobs, buttons, and
X/Y pads.
To show the Macro controls, click the Instrument Macro button in the Multi Instrument editor window. To assign an instrument or effect
parameter in your Multi Instrument to an Instrument Macro control, [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the control element in the plug-in, and choose Con-
nect [parameter name] to Instrument Macro Control [control of choice]. Your choice of assignments is displayed next to each Macro con-
trol.
[Right]/[Ctrl]-clicking a control that is already assigned to a Macro gives you the option to break that connection.
For more on the use of Macro Controls, see Channel Macro Controls.
CV Instrument
For Studio One Pro users with a hybrid (software and hardware) studio workflow and analog (modular or integrated) synthesizers, CV
Instrument provides a way to control these directly using analog control voltages and trigger/gate signals.
Control Voltage (CV) is a means of controlling analog synthesizers and drum machines. While MIDI is used to control many modern
synthesizers, drum machines and controllers digitally, many modular systems require CV. Whether your setup is semi-modular or you’re
working with a full 48U wall of modular synthesizers, CV Instrument enables you to easily control your analog gear in Studio One Pro.
When combined with a compatible, multi-out audio interface, the CV Instrument can translate note trigger and pitch information from
Instrument Tracks to analog triggers and control voltages, which are sent from the assigned interface outputs directly to the synthesizer’s
control voltage inputs.
Additionally, the output signal from the external instrument can be monitored directly from the Studio One Pro's mixer. The CV Instru-
ment even provides a calibration option to tune the connected oscillator and eliminate pitch drift.
The following sections will further detail each of the CV Instrument features and requirements.
Audio In
The Audio In section is used for more than just monitoring. Similar to Studio One Pro’s Pipeline plug-in, the CV Instrument is a door to the
external world.
With the CV Instrument, users can play external Synthesizers and include them into a song as if they were software instruments. The
external synthesizer will listen to CV signals as inputs and will output audio. CV signals are generated and sent to the synthesizer hard-
ware, and you receive the audio from it as an input.
The Audio In section has the following features:
CV Instrument 556
l Audio Input: From the Audio In drop-down menu, select the appropriate hardware audio input where the audio is coming from.
The Audio Input is used for both calibration and for monitoring the external instrument output through the Studio One Pro mixer.
After calibration, make sure to connect the main output of the instrument (rather than the oscillator direct output).
l Level Meter: The level meter displays the audio signal level.
CV Pitch
In the CV Pitch box, you can choose between two modes: 1V/oct (commonly used in modern synthesizers, including Eurorack modular
systems) and Hz/volt (used for vintage synthesizers such as Korg MS-20 or Yamaha CS-10). Additionally, you can calibrate the con-
nected oscillator pitch, ensuring your notes are properly tuned prior to recording. As an additional benefit, calibration may extend the
pitch tracking range of an oscillator. For more information about these features, see the definitions below.
l CV Pitch Output: From here, select the output channel of your audio interface that is routed to the Voltage or Octave input of
your Synthesizer. The CV Pitch Output should be sent to the pitch control input of the synth. That's either 1V/Oct or Hz/Volt,
depending on your synth. Make sure to use an audio interface with DC-coupled outputs. The selected channel will be exclusive
for this signal.
l 1V / Oct Mode: In 1V/oct mode bipolar, DC voltages are supported. The possible voltage range (and thus the max. frequency
range in octaves) depends on the used audio interface (e.g. -8V … +8V). Make sure to check if your audio interface is capable of
sending analog control voltages (DC-coupled outputs). For a list of compatible PreSonus interfaces, refer to the list below.
l Hz / Volt Mode: In Hz/volt mode, the supported range is only positive by definition.
l Calibration: The calibration button initiates the calibration process between the CV instrument and your external oscillator.
When calibrating, keep the following in mind:
l Press the button once to start the calibration. It will take a few seconds. Failure or success is indicated after the cal-
ibration is complete.
l While the button is illuminated and flashing, the calibration process is in progress. While the calibration process is act-
ive, you can monitor the signal (if desired). There is also a level parameter to control the monitor level while calibration
is active. In calibration mode, the CV Instrument will not react on keyboard inputs.
l When calibration is finished, keyboard inputs will be active again. After successful calibration, the usable pitch range is
evaluated. Usable in this context means that the tuning of each key is within a small tolerance. The usable range is
defined by a lowest and a highest key. For example, your usable range may be from A1 to C#5. Keys that are out-of-
tune are excluded. When you connect a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that has a limited pitch range, the cal-
ibration will automatically seek the range that is suited best for your equipment.
l Note: We recommend coarse tuning to center (C3), particularly if the oscillator has an octave switch. Additionally, to
ensure the best calibration results, avoid adding modulation to the signal and calibrate with a sine waveform.
l Monitor Volume: With the monitor volume knob, you can adjust the monitor volume in case you would like to hear the test sig-
nals while calibration is in progress. Adjusting the monitor volume knob will not change the "standard" audio signal level that will
be active after calibration, and it does not change the strength of any signal routed to the hardware or back.
CV Instrument 557
CV Gate
In the CV Gate box, you can send gate or trigger signals to your external synth. A trigger is started when a note is started, and it ends
after the selected time. The CV Instrument supports both polarities, V-Trig and S-Trig. For more information about each of the CV Gate
features, see the list below:
l CV Gate Output: From here, select the output channel of your audio interface that is routed to the Gate or Trigger input of your
Synthesizer. Route the audio output (e.g. the oscillator output of your synthesizer) to your soundcard and select the appropriate
output channel. Make sure to use an audio interface with DC-coupled outputs. The selected channel will be exclusive for this sig-
nal.
l Gate: A gate is a signal that indicates if a note is on or off on a modular synth. Gate is related to a Trigger, but sustains the sig-
nal. A gate signal is initiated when playing a note and stopped when the note is released.
l Trigger: A trigger is a pulse with a given time length, controlled by the trigger time parameter.
l Trigger Modes: The trigger modes are called V-Trig and S-Trig, but they apply not only for trigger signals but also for gate sig-
nals. V-Trig is the most common format, while S-Trig was used on the original Moog modular systems, such as the Minimoog
Model D (S-Triggers are rarely used nowadays). See precautions below for more information about S-Trig.
l V-Trigger (voltage trigger), or "positive trigger", holds voltage low (around 0 v), and at trigger, produces a fixed pos-
itive voltage to switch a note on. Note that the trigger voltage level differs among brands (from 2 V to 10 V). Most analog
synthesizers use V-Trigger.
l S-Trigger (short circuit trigger), or "negative trigger", holds voltage high, shorting the trigger to ground when the note
should play.
l Trigger Time: Active when mode "Trigger" is selected. The trigger time defines the fixed pulse length of the trigger signal and
can be selected from 1ms ... 1s.
l Retrig: When Retrigger is activated, a Moog style retrigger is sent.
Glide
The Glide knob lets you set the rate of pitch change over time, from 1 ms to 1 second. Turn Glide on or off by pressing the button under-
neath the Glide knob.
CV Instrument 558
Virtual Keyboard
The virtual keyboard lets you easily click to play notes or manipulate the Pitch and Mod wheels, while auditioning or editing patches when
you're away from a MIDI keyboard. The keyboard display also shows you which notes are currently being played.
Note that for a more playable keyboard experience when away from your MIDI controller, you can also use Studio One Pro's QWERTY
Keyboard Device to play notes using your computer's keyboard.
Next to the virtual keyboard is the Bend parameter, which lets you set the pitch bend range of the Pitch wheel, in semitones. The upper
value sets up-bend range, and the lower value sets down-bend range.
Additional Information
l For CV Instrument to work properly, you must use an audio interface with DC coupled outputs. Various PreSonus interfaces, like
the Quantum series, has this feature included. Please check your hardware documentation to ensure your interface has DC
coupled outputs.
l There are some audio interfaces that have a software mixer built in with default routing. If there is an internal mixer, this will have
to be bypassed in most cases. This is the case with PreSonus interfaces: the mixer within Universal Control is on by default. If
you use a PreSonus interface, open Universal Control and select Mixer Bypass while using CV Instrument.
Precautions
l Eurorack signals are up to five times louder than line-level audio! Never send CV directly to your speakers. Before con-
necting your modular system to your audio interface, make sure to reduce the signal down to line level using a dedicated output
module. Remember that direct voltage can cause damage to your speakers and hearing.
l S-trigger is not compatible with conventional gate circuits. If you are unsure which trigger mode to use, please consult your
hardware documentation.
l Analog oscillators require some time to warm-up. Give your equipment some time to avoid temperature drift.
Note FX
Note FX are real-time effects processors that change and reinterpret incoming note data before it reaches your choice of plug-in instru-
ment or external MIDI device. Arpeggiator, Chorder, and Repeater are most useful for creative expansion and adaptation of note data.
Input Filter is a utility processor that limits note output to a selected range of note and velocity values. You assign Note FX to Instrument
Tracks in the Note FX section of the Track Inspector. For more information, see Track Inspector.
Once you've loaded one or more Note FX processors onto an Instrument Track, you can quickly access the related settings by clicking
the Note FX Editor button on the control area for that Track in Arrange view. You can also access these settings by double-click-
ing one of the processors in the Note FX section of the Track Inspector.
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You can save and load Note FX settings as presets, just as you can with other instruments and effects. For more information on saving
and loading presets, see the Signal Routing chapter.
Rendering Note FX
If you wish to make the effects of Note FX processing permanent (part of the note data, rather than a real-time process), select the Track
and navigate to Event/Render Instrument Tracks, or [Right]/[Ctrl]-click the desired Part in Arrange view and choose Instrument
Parts/Render Instrument Tracks from the pop-up menu.
This also makes permanent any transposition or velocity changes you've made within the Inspector view for the track.
Arpeggiator
Arpeggiator turns chords (as well as single notes) into arpeggios—rhythmic cycles of single notes, derived from the notes currently held.
Like the arpeggiator functions found in many synthesizers, Arpeggiator creates repeating patterns of notes that can travel upwards in
pitch, downwards, up-and-down, down-and-up, or in a randomized pattern. You can also use Arpeggiator to play repeated patterns of
whole chords, or note patterns that follow the order in which notes are played.
Going beyond the basics, you can use the Pattern function to create rhythmic patterns of velocity and note length that the arpeggio fol-
lows as it plays, opening many creative options for repeating musical articulations.
The following parameters and functions are available in Arpeggiator:
l Arpeggio Direction Choose the note direction that creates the pattern you want, from the following options:
l Up The arpeggio starts at the lowest held note and travels upward through the held notes, then returns to the lowest
note as the arpeggio begins again.
l Down The arpeggio starts at the highest held note and travels downward through the held notes, then returns to the
highest note as the arpeggio begins again.
l Up/Down The arpeggio starts at the lowest held note, travels upward to the highest, then travels back down to the low-
est note, and the arpeggio begins again.
l Down/Up The arpeggio starts at the highest held note, travels downward to the lowest, then travels back up to the
highest note, and the arpeggio begins again.
l Random The arpeggio plays the currently held notes in a random pattern.
l Chord Mode The currently held chord (or single note) is repeated as long as it is held.
l From Input The arpeggio pattern is derived from the order in which notes are played and held.
l Octave Range Lets you extend the range of the arpeggio by mirroring the currently held notes an octave above (at a setting of
2), the two octaves above (at 3), or the three octaves above (at 4). At 1, no mirroring occurs and the arpeggio plays according to
the held notes. Setting Octave Range above 1 when in Chord Mode causes an upward-rising cycle of repeated chords, an
octave apart, its length determined by the Octave Range setting.
l Rate Lets you select a rhythmic value, determining the length of each arpeggio step. Range is from a bar to a 64th-note, in all
triplet and dotted varieties.
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l Swing Lets you add swing to the timing of the arpeggio, creating a range of rhythmic feels. For more information on swing tim-
ing, see Swing.
l Gate Acts as an overall note-length control. Lower settings create shorter notes, and higher settings create longer notes. When
a Pattern is active, Gate works relative to the gate settings in the Pattern.
l Hold Enable this to hold all currently played notes. Each new chord or single note that you play replaces the previous memory
and holds until the next note input is received.
l Velocity Acts as an overall note-velocity control. When a Pattern is active, Velocity works relative to the velocity settings in the
Pattern.
l Pattern/Fix Switches Choose Pattern to allow Velocity data from the Pattern to control note velocity (in tandem with the Velo-
city control). Choose Fix to set a fixed velocity for all notes, with the Velocity control.
l Pattern This is a 32-step pattern sequencer you can use to create repeating patterns of note velocity and gate (length) that are
applied to the control output of the Arpeggiator. The Pattern area contains the following controls:
l Activate Pattern Toggle this on or off to enable or disable the Pattern sequencer.
l Pattern Sequencer This series of sliders is where you'll create your velocity/gate pattern. You can click and drag each
step in the sequence vertically (to set velocity) and horizontally (to set gate length). 16 steps are shown at any one time.
To reach the second set of 16 steps, click the right-arrow to the right of the pattern. To return to steps 1-16, click the left-
arrow to the right of the pattern.
l Pattern Length Lets you choose the length of the pattern.
Chorder
Chorder is an intelligent chord generator that lets you trigger chords by playing single notes. You can specify intervals in the chord manu-
ally, or capture chord shapes played on the keyboard. Each key can trigger a different chord of your choice, or you can choose a single
chord shape, to play across multiple keys. You also have control over the area of the keyboard that triggers these chords, letting you, for
example, trigger chords in the upper part of the keyboard, while playing single-note bass parts in the lower half.
The central interface shows two rows of piano-style keys. The lower row is used to audition chord shapes; click and hold a key to play. In
Learn Mode, the lower row lets you select a keyboard key for chord assignment (selected key turns orange). The upper row displays the
notes being played (both by MIDI input and the chord generator), and which keyboard keys have been assigned chord shapes (small
square at the bottom of each key turns orange). In Learn Mode, the upper row displays the currently assigned chord shape for the selec-
ted key (chosen notes turn orange).
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1. Press the [Learn Mode] button to put Chorder into Learn Mode.
2. Select a keyboard key for chord assignment by clicking it in the lower row of keys. The selected key turns orange. C3 is selected
by default.
3. Build the chord shape of your choice by selecting notes in the upper row of keys with the mouse, or by playing notes on a con-
nected MIDI controller. Selected notes turn orange. Click or play a note a second time to deselect it.
4. If you want to assign custom chord shapes to other keyboard keys, select each chosen key in the lower keyboard, and assign
chord shapes to each, as described in step 3.
5. Press [Learn Mode] again to disengage, and begin playing.
The following parameters and functions are available in Chorder:
l Learn Mode Enables Learn Mode. When Learn Mode is active, the following controls appear:
l Clear All Clears all chord assignments for all keyboard keys.
l Clear Clears chord assignments for the currently selected keyboard key.
l Copy Copies the currently shown note pattern, for pasting into other keys.
l Paste Applies copied note pattern data to the currently selected key.
l Selected Keyboard Key Shows the pitch of the currently selected keyboard key. To specify a particular note value,
click this field to select it and type in the note name and octave number (such as C3). You can also click-and-drag in the
note field, or click on the note field and select with your mouse's scroll wheel.
l Chord Range Drag the ends of this slider to select the portion of the MIDI keyboard that triggers chords.
l Transpose Lets you transpose the chord output, in a range of -12 to +12 semitones. Notes outside the Chord Range are unaf-
fected.
l Auto Fill Enable this to automatically assign any unassigned keyboard keys in the Chord Range to the chord shape mapped to
the lowest keyboard key. Disable to ensure that only assigned keyboard keys trigger chords.
l Filter Outside Enable this to stop all notes that fall outside of the Chord Range. Disable to allow playing notes outside the
range.
Repeater
Repeater works just like it sounds—it creates rhythmic repetitions of the notes you play. These repetitions can be simple copies of incom-
ing notes, or can change in velocity, gate length, and pitch as the pattern plays.
The following parameters and features are available in Repeater:
l Individual Velocity & Gate Engage to enable individual setting of note velocity and gate length for each step.
l Individual Pitch Engage to enable individual setting of note pitch for each step.
l Sequencer This lets you specify velocity, gate, and pitch values for each step in the sequence of repetitions. The following con-
trols are available for each step:
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l Level/Gate Slider With Individual Velocity and Gate enabled, you can click and drag the upper edge of this slider up or
down to set note velocity for the current step. You can also click and drag the right edge of the slider left or right to set
note gate length for the current step. With Individual Velocity and Gate disabled, moving velocity or gate sliders manip-
ulates that setting for all steps (equivalent to turning the Velocity Level and Gate knobs).
l Pitch With Individual Pitch enabled, you can click and drag this slider up or down to apply a positive or negative pitch
transposition to the current step. With Individual Pitch disabled, moving a pitch slider changes pitch transposition for all
steps simultaneously. At 0, no transposition occurs.
l Rate Lets you set the rate of repetition. When Sync is enabled, you can choose a tempo-synced rhythmic value between one
bar and one 64th-note, in all triplet and dotted varieties. When Sync is disabled, you can choose a repetition frequency between
2 and 25 Hz (repetitions per second).
l Sync Enable Sync to snap the Rate control to rhythmic values, in sync with Song tempo. Disable to set repetition speed in Hz.
l Steps Select your desired number of repetitions (and sequencer steps), from just two steps, to 32.
l Velocity Level Acts as an overall velocity level control, scaling every step's velocity, relative to its custom setting.
l (Velocity Relative to) Input Enable this to derive overall repetition velocity from note input, attenuated or boosted by the set-
ting of the Velocity Level control.
l Velocity Scale Turn this to introduce a sloping change in velocity in the sequence over time, relative to each step's setting. At
center, no slope is added. Turned left of center, a downward slope is introduced. Turn to the right for an upward slope.
l Gate Acts as an overall gate length control, scaling every step's gate length, relative to its custom setting.
l Gate Scale Turn this to introduce a sloping change in gate length in the sequence over time, relative to each step's setting. At
center, no slope is added. Turned left of center, each step in the sequence is shortened more than the last. Turn to the right, and
each step is lengthened more than the last.
l Pitch Scale Turn this to introduce a sloping change in pitch in the sequence over time, relative to each step's setting. At center,
no slope is added. Turned left of center, you get a range of downward pitch shift slopes. Turn to the right for upward slopes.
Input Filter
Input Filter lets you filter out unwanted notes before they reach your instrument or MIDI device. You can specify a range of note pitches to
allow, and a range of note velocities to allow, and all notes that fall outside of either of those ranges are stopped. The following para-
meters are available in Input Filter:
l Key Range (Low and High) Set the low and high limits for note pitches. This can be done by moving the ends of the slider
above the keyboard graphic, or by manipulating the Key Range displays by typing in values or scrolling through values with your
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pointing device's scroll function. Any incoming notes that fall outside of the chosen Key Range are stopped.
l Minimum and Maximum Velocity Set the low and high limits for note velocity. This can be done by moving the sliders to the
left and right of the keyboard graphic, or by manipulating the Min Velocity and Max Velocity displays by typing in values or
scrolling through values with your pointing device's scroll function. Any incoming notes that fall below the Min Velocity per-
centage or above the Max Velocity percentage are stopped.
Found in the Inspector (F4), Note FX Input Mode controls whether Note Events are recorded before or after they are passed through the
Note FX plug-ins on a given Instrument Track. This allows for rendering of processed Note Events to an Instrument Track while recording
through Note FX. The default setting is off.
On: incoming note events are recorded to the Instrument Track before they pass through the Note FX plug-in
Off: incoming note events are processed first, and then the output of the Note FX plug-in is recorded to the Instrument Track.
An example: turning Note FX Input Mode On would allow you to record Note Events as processed by the Arpeggiator — and allow you to
edit each individual note by hand after recording.
Collaboration
What you can do with Studio One Pro's Collaboration Tools
Collaboration tools allow Studio One Pro+ users to work collaboratively with other users on Songs, Projects, and Shows (collectively
referred to as “documents”) via online file sharing in MyPreSonus or Studio One Pro.
With Studio One Pro’s Collaboration tools, there’s no need to zip up your work and upload it to Studio One Pro or a cloud drive from a
web browser — the tools are built right into Studio One Pro.
Some ideas for online collaboration include:
l Send a Song full of instrumental tracks to a singer for them to record their vocal tracks and send the Song back to you
l Send a mastering Project full of mixed songs to a mastering engineer who owns plug-ins and hardware you may not have
access to
l Send a Show to your worship team leader to collaborate on the the Setlist and backing tracks for the next performance
While these are perhaps the most obvious use cases for Collaboration, we’re sure you will come up with new and exciting ways to col-
laborate that we never even dreamed of!
Collaboration Workflow
Collaboration in Studio One Pro begins as follows:
l Choose and prepare a document for sharing
l Share your document via the Share menu ( File/Collaboration/ Share…) to an existing Workspace (or a new Workspace)
l Invite a Collaborator (or get invited to collaborate)
l Upload your Shared files to Studio One Pro
As the collaborative process unfolds, you will:
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l Make edits to your document and navigate to File/Collaboration/Send… to upload your changes to your shared Workspace
l Receive edits to the document made by collaborators, by using File/Collaboration/Receive to download their changes to your
local computer.
Details of this process are outlined in Collaborating with Others.
Sharing a Document
From your open document, (Song, Project, or Show) navigate to File/Collaboration/Share…
Studio One Pro will start by saving the current document, then display a window with your Studio One Pro+ workspaces.
Here you can select an existing Workspace from the list on the left or create a new one. To choose an existing workspace, simply click on
the Workspace on the left and the desired folder (if any) on the right.
If you’d like to create a new Workspace, enter the desired name in the field (default name is “Collaboration” and click "Create").
You can also create and manage Workspaces within Studio One Pro. Workspaces in Studio One Pro+
When a Workspace is selected, the right side of Studio One Pro’s Share menu displays existing Folders in that Workspace (Click
“Refresh” to display any new Folders you just created). A new name for the shared document folder is automatically suggested. You can
also select any other existing folder if it does not contain a shared document already.
Collaboration invites
To invite another user to collaborate:
First, you'll need to be a Studio One Pro+ member. Non-members can be invited to Collaborations, but cannot initiate them. A MyPreSo-
nus account is required for non-Studio One Pro+ members.
In the field at the bottom left of the Share window, enter the email address of your collaborator and click “Invite.” The user will receive an
email invitation to the collaborative Workspace. If they do not yet have a MyPreSonus account, they will receive the option to create one
with the email invitation. Once they’ve accepted the invitation, they will appear in the “Collaborators” list for this Workspace.
You can optionally add/invite collaborators from within Studio One Pro+ in your web browser by choosing a Workspace, and then choos-
ing “Manage Collaborators” followed by “Add Collaborator.”
Once you have added collaborators to your Workspace, click “Select” to confirm the target Workspace and Folder. This will take you to
the confirmation window where you can check and confirm the target location for files. Expand the “Details” section to see a complete list
of included files and the individual actions performed. Click “Remove Unused Files” if you’d like to remove any files that are no longer
linked to the document; this can help with file sizes and transfer times.
Any collaborators added to the workspace will receive an email notification that a new file has been shared.
You’re ready to begin your collaboration. Move on to “ Sending and Receiving Documents” if you’re initiating a collaboration, or read
below if you’ve been invited to one.
First: congratulations! If you were invited to collaborate, that means a Studio One Pro+ user believes you to be talented, creative, or both.
When invited to a collaboration Workspace, you’ll receive an email from Studio One Pro+.
l If you already have a Studio One Pro+ or MyPreSonus account, you’ll receive a link to log in to your account to accept the invit-
ation.
l If not, you’ll receive a link to create a new account.
To Join the Collaboration, you’ll first need to accept the invitation by accessing your Studio One Pro+ /MyPreSonus account in your web
browser. You’ll find it under Workspaces >> Invitations.
Next, in Studio One Pro, Join the collaboration using one of these options.
Upon clicking “Join,” Studio One Pro will open the Join menu, displaying the Workspaces and Folders you have access to.
Navigate to the Workspace and Folder you’ve accepted the invitation to and Click “Select” to confirm.
Studio One Pro will automatically create a new local folder for the document. If the document type can not be determined automatically,
you will be asked to select a location manually.
Next, you will see the confirmation window where you can check and confirm the local and remote locations for files. Expand the “Details”
section to see a complete list of included files and the individual actions performed. Click “Remove Unused Files” to remove any files that
are no longer linked to the document; this can help with file sizes and transfer times.
Click “Start” to initiate the download:
Once the download is complete, you will find the shared and synchronized document listed inside the “Shared” folder of the files browser
on the Start Page.
You’re now ready to begin your collaboration. Sending and Receiving Documents
Once you’ve made some changes to a shared document, you can upload these changes to Studio One Pro+ for your collaborators.
To Send updates of your document to your collaborators, Use File >> Collaboration >>Send… to upload your changes to your shared
Workspace. Your Collaborators will be notified of the update in their Notification Center.
If one of your collaborators has made a change to a shared document and committed their changes by Sending them to Studio One Pro+
, you can download these updated files to your local workstation.
To receive edits to your document made by collaborators, use File >> Collaboration >> Receive to download their document changes to
your local workstation. Alternatively, you can download these changes by clicking Receive on the appropriate Notification in the Noti-
fication Center.
If you would like to exit a Collaboration, choose File >> Collaboration >> Unlink.
l Unlinking removes the local link to the shared document. The formerly shared content in Studio One Pro+ will remain there.
l You will no longer be able to Send updates to it.
l You will no longer be able to Receive updates from other collaborators.
l Existing collaborators can still Send and Receive updates to each other.
You can rejoin a Collaboration at any time using File >>Collaboration >> Join, assuming you still have the required permissions.
Overwrite protection
It’s possible that you and a collaborator could make different changes to local copies of the same file around the same time. Col-
laboration Tools have some systems in place to prevent conflicting file versions or accidental overwrites.
For example, let’s say you make a local change to a Shared file, (for example, a .song file) around the same time that your collaborator
does, and your collaborator Sent the Song to the Workspace — but you have local changes to your version of the Song that are not yet
Sent to the Workspace.
When you run a Receive operation, your collaborator’s version of the file will not overwrite your work. Instead, your file will be re-named
during the Receive operation and saved alongside the newly-received version.
Additionally, If you attempt to re-share a document to its original shared Folder after an Unlinking operation, you won’t be able to save to
the original Folder. A new Folder name will be suggested instead.
Available from your User Profile icon at the top right of Studio One Pro, the Notification Center keeps you informed of changes to your
Collaboration Workspaces. Here, you’ll be notified of updates to your Studio One Pro+ Collaborations, including collaboration invites,
new/departed collaborators, changed files, synchronization updates, Workspace Messages, workspace deletion, and more.
If you receive a Notification informing you of an update to a Collaboration, you can click Receive to download the changed collaboration
files directly from Notification Center.
You’ll also be notified of updates from the Studio One Pro+ Community, including post replies, comments, likes, and mentions.
About Workspaces
Workspaces are a special area of Studio One Pro+ that allow users to exchange files and discuss them collaboratively.
Files
Click the Files tab to see the Folders in your currently selected Workspace.
Folders that have been shared to Studio One Pro+ and synced via Studio One Pro are flagged with the ( ) icon.
Managing Workspaces
Creating Workspaces
Managing folders
Creating Folders
Deleting Folders
Folders can be deleted from your Studio One Pro+ account. Click the three dots icon (...) on the right of any folder. From the pop-up
menu, choose “Delete Folder.”
Collaborator Permissions
In Studio One Pro+, Collaborator permissions can be set via the “Manage Collaborators” button in your Studio One Pro+ Workspace in
Studio One Pro+.
File Options
In Studio One Pro+ , Click the [...] icon to the right of any File in Studio One Pro+ to open a menu of file options. From here, you can:
l Change the file description
l Download the file
l Rename the file
l Move the file
l Share the file in Community
l Delete the file
Deleting files directly from a Shared Folder in Studio One Pro+ will not delete your local copies.
Note that Renaming, Moving, or Deleting files from a shared folder for Collaboration features can introduce file versioning
problems. It’s best to let Studio One Pro’s Collaboration features handle the file management of collaboration-shared folders.
The Timeline
In Studio One Pro+, the Timeline tab provides a log of document shares and updates, and also allows for exchanging messages
between collaborators. Enter your message in the field at the bottom and click “Send” to share a message. You can also upload a file via
the upload icon to the left of the Send button.
Workspace Settings
In Studio One Pro+, click the yellow Settings button on the top left of the Workspaces page to update your Workspace settings.
From here you can:
l Create/edit the Workspace name
l Create/edit the Workspace description
l Configure your email notifications
l Delete the Workspace
l Video Options (wrench icon) Choose to display the video as Tiny, Small, Normal, Medium or Large.
l Timecode Display Click to toggle the display of timecode on the bottom right of the Video Player. Available timecode
formats include Video Frames, Bars, Seconds, Samples, and Frames. Note that “Video Frames” refers to the framerate
of the video itself, while “Frames” refers to the frames of the Global Ruler Track.
l Stop/Play Click to stop or start video playback independent of the Song.
l Mute This is engaged by default and mutes the audio output from the video. Click to disengage if you want to hear the audio out-
put from the video.
l Size Click-and-drag the lower right corner of the video player to freely size the window.
In the upper right corner of the video player, there are buttons to maximize the video player window and to close the video player.
Video Track
Audio Sub-track
Click the waveform icon at the track header to display the video’s Audio Sub-track. You’ll also find a dedicated Channel for this Sub-track
in the Console. This special Audio Track will always stay aligned with the position and editing of its host video, and cannot be time-
stretched or have Event FX applied to it. If you require this sort of functionality applied to this audio data, drag an Audio Sub-track Event
down into the Arrange Window to create a new Track from this audio.
Video Editing
Studio One Pro’s primary focus is audio production, of course, but rudimentary video editing is possible within Studio One Pro’s Video
Track by use of the same commands and tools used to edit Audio Events, including:
l Trim
l Cut/copy/paste
l Slip
l Nudge
l Time locks and edit locks
l Ripple Edit
l Duplicate
l Replace (Useful if a newer edit of the same video becomes available and the current timecode position of the clip needs to
remain unchanged.)
Note that Video Events cannot be split into segments shorter than one second.
Right-click the Video Track Header for a contextual menu of the following options:
l Hide Audio Track toggles visibility of the Video Track
l Link Audio Track Editing toggles the link between the Video and it’s associated Audio Sub-track, allowing you to edit them
independently or together
l Remove Audio Playback Track lets you remove the Audio Sub-track altogether
l Use Video Frame Rate in Timeline lets you set your Song to match the Frame Rate of the Video
The Video Track’s Inspector also gives you one-click access to some of the above features, plus:
l Show Thumbnails Hide/unhide the video thumbnail images in the Video Track
l Show Frame Numbers Hide/unhide the frame number displays in the Video Track
l Show Audio Track Hide/unhide the Audio Sub-track
l Link Audio Track Editing toggles the link between the Video and it’s associated Audio Sub-track, allowing you to edit them
independently or together
Video Metadata
Video metadata, including pixel dimensions, framerate, codec, and more, can be found atop the contextual menu when right-clicking a
Video Event, or at the bottom of the Browser when the video clip is selected in the Pool.
Import Video
The simplest way to import a video file is to drag-and-drop it from the File Browser into the arrangement. Supported video files appear in
the browser with a Film Strip icon. You can also use the Import Video menu in the Video Player to import any supported video file.
l Drag a video file from the File Browser or your OS’ Finder/Explorer to the arrangement to import the video file to the Video
Player.
l Hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] while dragging to only extract the audio from the video and place it in the position to which you drag. Hold [Alt]
while dragging to simultaneously import the video file to the Video Player and extract the audio from the video and place it on an
audio Track.
Supported filetypes are based on your Operating System and as such will vary between Mac and Windows.
We recommend that all videos imported to the Video Track in a single Song be of the same format and framerate. Using various video
formats and filetypes may lead to unexpected results.
QuickTime x x x x
MPEG-4 x x
M4V x x
*.MKV are not recognized by Quicktime, and therefore not recognized by Studio One Pro.
Windows
Supported Codecs by container format:
MPEG-PS x x
MPEG-4 x x
M4V x x
Hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] while dragging to only extract the audio from the video and place it in the position to which you drag. Hold [Alt] while
dragging to simultaneously import the video file to the Video Player and extract the audio from the video and place it on an audio Track.
Sync to Video
Once the video has been imported, as long as the Online button in the Video Player is engaged, Song and video playback will be in sync.
When you locate the timeline cursor while stopped or during playback, the video adjusts to the correct frame.
When video playback starts, a small amount of data needs to be pre-loaded. Should there be a resulting timing offset between the video
and Song playback, Studio One Pro syncs the video during playback. This may cause the picture to jump a little after start, which is nor-
mal. For a smooth start of video playback we recommend that you stop, locate, and then start.
In common practice, it is good for you to know the frame rate of the video you are working with, and to set that frame rate in the
Song/Song Setup/General menu. You may choose from the thirteen Frame Rates shown above. Ideally, you should have a reference
timecode burned into the video itself so that you can compare the Song frame position with the video timecode position and ensure accur-
ate frame sync.
Video Metadata
Video metadata, including pixel dimensions, framerate, codec, and more, can be found atop the contextual menu when right-clicking a
Video Event or at the bottom of the Browser when the video clip is selected in the Pool.
The process of importing a video and extracting its audio track is described in the Video Playback and Sync chapter. Extracting the
audio from the video file is an important step because otherwise the audio from the video will not be exported with the Song.
To export the Song to a Video file, follow the directions below:
Saving Options
Studio One Pro offers you multiple ways to save the work in progress of your documents (Songs, Shows, or Projects), backup your files,
automate your work saves, and export to multiple formats. Each is a different tool for a different job.
Save
Saves the active document, overwriting it with the original name and filepath. All related media (Audio clips, MIDI, etc.) are stored in the
document’s Media subfolder and linked to the .Song, Show, or Project file.
Save As…
Saves the current document with the options to choose a new file path and/or a new filename. Save As… only saves the .Song,
.Show, or .Project file to a new location, and does not create a new Media subfolder or copies of linked media like Audio clips and MIDI.
Media is linked from this new document to its original file path location. This new document file becomes the active working document in
Studio One Pro.
The Save As… command can also be used for exporting your document to various formats including:
l AAF File - Advanced Authoring Format. More details here.
l Capture Session - A proprietary PreSonus format for use with PreSonus Capture.
l MIDI File - a .MID file. More details here.
l OpenTL - Tascam’s Open Tracklist format.
l Zip File - Compresses your entire document and all of its related media into a single Zip file for easy sharing and backup.
Unused files are excluded from the Zip, as are alternate Song Versions. More info on Zip Export here.
Incremental version:
l Tick this box to save your document as an incremental version and update your document file and continue to work on the new
incremental version.
l Leave unticked to save your document as an alternate version located in your documents History subfolder and continue work-
ing on the original document.
Use the “Restore Version” option from the File menu to access previously saved Versions of a currently open document.
Save as Template
Saves your .Song, .Project, or .Show file to Studio One Pro’s “templates” subfolder, causing it to appear in the New Song or New Show
menus under the “User” tab. Media subfolders are not copied to this location.
Convert To
Convert To allows you to quickly save your currently-opened Studio One Pro document (Song, Show, or Project) to another file format.
Options include:
l AAF File - Advanced Authoring Format. More details here.
l Capture Session - A proprietary PreSonus format for use with PreSonus Capture.
l MIDI File - a .MID file. More details here.
l OpenTL - Tascam’s Open Tracklist format.
l Zip File - Compresses your entire document and all of its related media into a single Zip file for easy sharing and backup.
Unused files are excluded from the Zip, as are alternate Song Versions. More info on Zip Export here.
Autosave
Autosave is located in Studio One Pro’s Preferences under Locations >> User Data. You can set the frequency with which it auto-
matically runs a typical Save command as described above. Note that Autosaves are not performed during playback to avoid producing
any audible artifacts or interruptions.
Options include:
l Used cached plug-in data on save Tick this box if you would like to avoid Studio One Pro requesting to save your plug-in set-
tings on each Autosave. When this box is ticked, Studio One Pro will refrain from querying plug-ins to for all of their settings on
each Autosave, and instead their last state will be used from thecache. When using plug-ins that have a lot of parameters, this
There are many situations in which importing data from one Song to another can be useful. Whether you want to create an alternate ver-
sion, re-use musical content in a new composition, or bring in useful non-musical content, you can make that happen with the Import
Song Data function. Apart from Audio and Instrument tracks, you can also import the Tempo Track, Marker Track, and Chord Track from
one Song to another.
Once the Export Stems dialog opens, you can see two tabs labeled Tracks and Channels in the “Sources” section on the far left. The list
of Tracks reflects the Tracks in the Arrange view, while the list of Channels reflects the list of Channels in the Console. Muted Tracks and
Channels are unchecked by default, and can be identified by a (Muted) indicator. Select the Tracks and Channels you wish to export by
checking each Track or Channel in the list.
You can easily select all Tracks, select only active Tracks, or deselect all Tracks, by pressing the Select All/Active/None buttons below
the Track list.
Note that the audio file created for any selected Track or Channel is the equivalent of soloing the Track or Channel in the Console and
listening to the result. The audio file includes the results of all Inserts and Sends on the Track or Channel. If you don’t want the Inserts or
Sends included in the exported audio, disable them before exporting.
Location
You can select a location and name for the exported files in the top section of the Export Stems menu. Click on the [...] button to choose a
file location. Click on the file name, type in a new name, and press [Enter] to choose a name for the file. The name of each Track in the
Song that is being exported is appended to the user-specified file name.
Format
Choose from the Wave, AIFF, FLAC, CAF, Ogg Vorbis, M4A, AAC/ALAC, or MP3 file formats, and then choose the desired resolution
and sample rate. The MP3 format allows the additional option to export at a Constant or Variable bit rate.
Export Range
l Choose the Between Loop option to only export the range of your Song between the Left and Right Locators.
l Choose Between Song Start/End Marker to export the range of your Song between the Song Start and End Markers, as seen
in the Marker Track.
l Choosing Between Each Marker exports separate audio files for the range between each marker in the Song for each Track,
placing them in folders named after the markers.
l Choosing Between Selected Markers lets you choose a pair of Markers to export the range between. The duration of the range
to be exported is displayed in the Duration field. Note that when Between Each Marker is selected, the Duration field still shows
the full length of the Song, signifying the total length of audio to be exported rather than the length of any one section as dictated
by the Markers.
l Check Overlap and specify a duration if you would like to add an overlap to the exported range so you can create crossfades
between them later on.
Options
The bottom section of the Export Stems menu has several options that affect how the files are created:
l Check Split Mono exports all multichannel output to separate mono files.
l Check Keep Speaker Format to keep the channel/track speaker format even if the track is connected to a bus/output that has a
different speaker format.
l Check Use Realtime Processing if you wish to export your Tracks in real time. This option should be used if your Song
requires external MIDI instruments or external hardware processing, so that note data and audio flow to and through those
external sources in real time during the export process.
l Check Write tempo to audio files if you would like to write the tempo information to the audio files.This is useful if you want to
retain the stem’s tempo information for use in another project.
l Check Import to Track if you would like the exported Tracks to be imported to new Tracks in your Song.
l Check Close After Export if you would like to close the Export Tracks as Audio Files menu after exporting your Tracks and
open the Export path in Finder/Explorer.
Audio Batch Converter is a versatile audio file conversion tool. It provides a wide range of features to process audio offline while working
hand in hand with the powerful audio editing and mixing functions available in Studio One Pro. Additional help and information are avail-
able here.
Overview
Audio Batch Converter is available as a new page inside Studio One Pro, allowing you to easily switch back and forth between file con-
version and working on a Song or Project. Audio Batch Converter supports real-time preview and offline batch processing of audio files,
using a variety of different audio processes, PreSonus Studio One Pro Native Effects, and compatible VST/AU plug-ins from other
vendors.
Processing audio with Audio Batch Converter is non-destructive; meaning that although files are processed and written to your hard disk,
it will never delete or overwrite your original source files, even if you use the source folder as output location. Having said this: it is always
recommended to back up the files you’re working on before performing any type of processing.
l Alternatively, if you have any audio events in a song you wish to convert using the Audio Batch Converter: select these events in
the Arrangement, then press [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[B] to bounce, then [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[C] to copy the bounced events. Switch to Audio
Batch Converter and press [Ctrl]/[Cmd]+[V] to paste the events into the Source files list.
Format Conversion
Once your Process Rack is set up with a chain of Processes, Native Effects and VST/AU plug-ins, you can set the output format for the
newly generated processed audio files. If you do not want the file format to change, do not check any of the Output Format options.
Click the “FX” button to apply the Process Rack to the playback signal. The Stop and Play buttons allow you to start/stop playback,
resume playback from the current cursor position, and reset the playback cursor to the beginning of the audio file.
The waveform preview inside the Preview Player not only provides an overview of the entire audio file, it also allows you to position the
playback cursor anywhere within the file and start playback from there. You also reposition the playback cursor while playback is in pro-
gress.
Keyboard shortcuts are provided to control playback from a computer keyboard (Spacebar to pause and resume playback. NumPad 0 to
stop. NumPad Enter to play.)
You’re now ready to convert your files! Click on the “Process” button at the bottom of the Process Rack to initiate the conversion process.
Audio Batch Converter will convert all files from the Source Files list from the top-down, applying all of the processes in the Process Rack
from the top-down.
You can follow the process by watching the Source Files and Result Files lists. Each processed source will show “Success” after pro-
cessing is finished. The newly created audio file will appear in the Result Files list. If the “Show Peak/RMS/R128 option was checked, the
output files peak and loudness values are automatically added to the output file information.
Once the process is finished, you may want to check the output folder in the Browser for verification. Right-click on any of the output files
in the Browser and select “Show in Finder/Explorer” to bring up the folder in Finder/Explorer – in case these files need more work outside
of Studio One Pro.
What’s Next?
You may want to check your output files. Select a file in the Result Files list and press Play in the Preview Player.
l If you’re unhappy with the results, you may use the “Remove all” or “Delete all” options and start over. Keep in mind that “Delete
all” will physically remove the files from the file system. This action can’t be undone.
l If you want to apply the same processing to other files, click “Remove all” in the Source Files list and add new source files.
l If you want to use the output files as source files, simply empty the Source Files list (Remove all), select all files in the Result
Files list and click “As Source.” You can now process these files again using the same processing or a new processing chain.
Exporting AAF
To export a Song in AAF format, navigate to File/Save As... or File/Convert To... and choose "AAF File (*.aaf)" from the [Save as type:]
selector. Select a target location and choose a name for your new AAF file, then press Save. Then, you have a few useful options to
choose from:
l Embed audio Store WAV and AIFF files from your Song within the exported AAF file. If disabled, references to files are used
instead.
l Split stereo tracks Convert stereo tracks to mono pairs. This ensures compatibility with applications which do not support
import of stereo tracks.
l Convert audio files Create copies of all audio data in a different format for export.
l Trim audio files Discard silent regions in audio files to reduce the file size of your AAF project.
l Export pan Include pan automation in your AAF export. Some DAWs do not accept pan automation in AAFs, so if you have
trouble importing your AAF, try re-exporting it with this option disabled.
l Legacy mode Enable to improve compatibility with older applications.
Note that AAF only recognizes standard audio files, so you may want to render your Audio and Instrument Tracks as continuous audio
files before exporting the AAF. One easy way to do this is to save a copy of your song to use for export, then select all of your Song con-
Importing AAF
To import an AAF into Studio One Pro, open or create a Song, then simply drag-and-drop the AAF file onto the timeline. You can also
import an AAF by navigating to File/Open and choosing the AAF file, or by double-clicking the AAF file in your file system. Any available
audio tracks and one video track referenced in the AAF are added to your Song.
Note that only one video file can be imported, so if the source project contains multiple video clips, they should be consolidated in the ori-
ginal NLE or DAW before the AAF is exported. Only the raw video is imported, without any filters or VFX.
Export to Zip
From the File menu, you’re able to export Studio One Pro documents—Songs, Shows, and Projects—with all of their referenced media
files to a Zip file for easy backup and sharing. In addition, all unused files are removed from the exported Zip to keep it as small as pos-
sible. You can access this via either the “Save as” or “Convert to” options.
When doing so, you’ll be presented with this dialogue box:
#
64-bit mix engine 44
A
Advanced Options 35, 38
Audio Effects
Analog Delay 446
Auto Filter 487
Beat Delay 447
Binaural Pan 477
Bitcrusher 459
Channel Strip 478
Chorus 488
Compressor 461
Console Shaper 469
Dual Pan 478
Expander 463
Fat Channel 479
Flanger 489
Gate 464
Groove Delay 448
IR Maker 442
Level Meter 440
Limiter 466
Mixtool 443
MixVerb 494
Multiband Dynamics 475
OpenAIR 495
Phase Meter 437
Phaser² 489
Pipeline 498
Pro EQ² 467
Red Light Distortion 460
Room Reverb 496
Rotor 490
Scope 440
Spectrum Meter 438
Tone Generator 442
Index 597
Tricomp 476
Tuner 439
X-Trem 493
Audio Loops 119
Audio Track
Input/Ouput Selection 73
Monitoring 75
Record-Enabling 75
Tempo Mode 73
Automatic Delay Compensation 46
Automation 395
Envelopes 397
Hardware Controllers 408
Modes 401
Part 402
Track 395
Auto-Save 65
B
Bend Panel 129
Bouncing 279, 284
File Management 281
Browser 213
Audio Effects 221
Cloud Tab 234
Importing Files 227
Plug-in Manager 224
PreSonus Exchange 234
Virtual Instruments 219
Burn an Audio CD 429
C
Control Link 404
Focus Mapping 407
Global Mapping 407
Cue Mix 89
D
DDP Export 429
Delay Compensation 336
Digital Release 429
Disc Image 429
Index 598
Duplicating Events 252
Duplicating Tracks 253
E
Editing 93
Arranger Track 255
Audio Editor 139
Bend Markers 128
Clip Gain Envelopes 107
Comping 124
Create an Instrument Part 103
Detect Transients 127
Drum Editor 152
Drum Maps 153
Edit Groups 120
Event Volume Envelopes 100
Events 93
Explode Pitches to Tracks 112
Lock 117
Macro Toolbar 187
Note Editor 139
Nudge 111
Scratch Pad 257
Slip 110
Snapping 93
Sound Variation 157
Split at Grid 143
Strip Silence 112
Timestretching 122
Tools 99
Transient Detection and Editing 127
Transpose 110
Export
Export a MIDI File 232, 588
Export a Video File 582
Export Stems 587
F
FaderPort 23
Folder Tracks 281
FX Chain 315
Copy FX chain between channels 310
Index 599
G
Global Tracks 253
Arranger Track 254
Chord Track 254
Global Track Visibility button 253
Global Tracks in Audio/Music Editors 255
Marker Track 254
Ruler Track 254
Signature Track 255
Tempo Track 255
Groove Extraction 130
Groups 324
I
Inserts 308
Inspector 132
Event Inspector 135
Track Inspector 133
Instrument Track
Configuring an Instrument Track 77
Creating an Instrument Track 76
Monitoring 80
K
Key Commands 47
Locate a Channel or Track 47
Mapping 48
Recall a Scene 47
Key Signature 269
M
Macro Controls 318
Marker Track 336
Mastering 414
Automatic Update of Mastering Files 434
Splitting Tracks 421
Track Markers 421
Track Sequencing 420
Meta-Information 342
Index 600
Mixing
Automation Modes 297
Bus 298
Channel List 306
Channel Types 298
Console Options 299
Copy/Paste Channel Settings 297
Detach Console 307
External Devices 304
Faders 294
Find a Channel 297
FX Channel 299
Inputs and Outputs 303
Instrument Editor 306
Instruments 305
Listen Bus 332
Metering Mode 296
Mix Engine 44
Mute/Solo 296
Narrow Mode 302
Panners 294
Remote Banks 307
Show Groups 306
Show Scenes 306
Small Console 301
Solo Safe 296
Music Loops 120
N
Note FX 559
Arpeggiator 560
Chorder 561
Input Filter 563
Repeater 562
P
Pages
Project 71
Quick Switch 71
Show 70
Song 67
Start 62
Index 601
Peak Meter 334
Performance Monitor 16
Pitch Correction 183
Presets
Use and Create Presets 73
Project 414
Q
Quantize 129
Swing 109
Quantize Panel 109
R
Recording
Activating Recording 81
Audio Tracks 72
Auto Punch 81
Input Quantize 85
Loop Recording 84
Loop Record Takes and Mix 85
Metronome 82
Note Erase 87
Note Repeat 86
Precount and Preroll 81
Record Mode 85
Record Takes to Layers 85
Takes 84
Undo All 86
Undo Last Loop 86
Unpack Takes 84
Retrospective Recording 43
S
Scenes 327
Recall a Scene 328
Score Editor 195
Action menu 197
Autoscroll 199
Editing the Score 204
Layout Style 199
Note / rest values 198
Notehead symbols 198
Index 602
Overview 195
Print the Score 199
Step record / undo 199
Symbols panel 200
Toolbar 196
Transpose Notes 197
Setup 12
Audio Device 12
Audio IO 16
Control Surfaces 22
MIDI Devices 19
System Requirements 12
Show Page 367
Add a Player 375
Add a Song 369
Add Content 369
Assigning Macro Controls 385
Backing Tracks 376
Control Link 387
Controls Preview window 385
Controls View 383
External Instruments 377
Inspector 372
Introduction 367
Live Instruments 376
MIDI Devices 377
Overview window 378
Patch Automation 378
Patch selection 379
Patches 377
Performance Controls 390
Performance Mode 387
Player lanes 379
Players and Patches 373
Real Instrument Player 376
Select a Show 368
Setlist Inspector 372
Setlist Item columns 378
Show Setup 369
Start the Show 393
Templates 369
Toolbar 378
Index 603
Transform Window 386
Virtual Instruments 376
Sidechain 313
Signature Track 268
Song
Creating a New Song 25
Sound Sets 24, 226
SoundCloud 342, 432
T
Tempo Track 270
Time Signature 268
Track Layers 88
Track List 283
Find a Track 283
Track Visibility button 283
Track Transform 130
V
VCA Channels 329
Video
Import Video 579
Sync to Video 580
Video Playback and Sync 577
Virtual Instruments
Add a Virtual Instrument 78
Articulation Key Switches 503
Impact XT 519
Mai Tai 540
Mojito 551
Multi Instruments 552
Multiple Virtual Instrument Outputs 78
Presence XT 501
SampleOne 528
Z
Zoom 185
Index 604
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Be sure to check out www.presonus.com for the latest feature lists, compatibility, and computer requirements.
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