Introduction to MIDI Sequencing with Cubase SX

Section 13 - Pasting Up a Complete Song

Briefing

The full song has the following structure:

• Intro
• Verse 1
• Chorus
• Verse 2
• Chorus
• Chorus
• Chorus

Each verse is 18 bars long, whilst the Intro and Chorus are each 16 bars long.

So far, you only have one copy each of the verse and chorus. When you want to listen to the song, you could just set it running in a loop, but that quickly gets boring as there is no development as the song progresses. For a better final result, you need to be able to add and change things later in the song - you can't do that as it stands.

To solve this problem, you must now arrange the sequence so that you really do have two copies of the verse and four of the chorus. To do that, you must copy and drag our existing parts around the Arrange window. You also need to leave space for the intro, too!

Normally, most copies you create will be shared/ghost copies.

Step 1 - Consolidating the Drum Parts

So far, the drum parts for the verse and chorus consist of the ghost copies of the same two bar pattern. This step consolidates the separate drum parts into two larger parts: one for the verse and one for the chorus

What To Do

Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:

• In the Arrange window, select the Glue tool.
• Use the Glue tool to glue together the drum parts for the verse only.
• Name this part "DrVerse".

• Use the Glue tool to glue together the drum parts for the chorus only.
• Name this part "DrChorus".

• De-select the Glue tool when you've finished.

Step 2 - Making Multiple Shared Copies

So far, you have one verse and one chorus. You need to create shared/ghost copies of every part and drag them to the correct places.

What To Do

Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:

• In the Arrange window, type [CONTROL-A] to select ALL the parts.
• Put the mouse on the first drum part (in bar 1)
• Press and hold down the [ALT] and [SHIFT] keys simultaneously.
• Still holding down these keys, drag the mouse to the right until it reaches bar 35.
• Release the mouse button (whilst still holding the keys).
  This should create ghost copies of every part.
• You don't need copies of the parts in tracks 11 to 16, so delete them whilst keeping the originals.

This simple step has produced the initial Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus structure in the song. You need to produce the final two Choruses.

• Click the mouse in the Arrange window to de-select all the parts.
• Drag the mouse to draw a box touching all the chorus parts beginning in bar 53.
  You'll probably find it easier to start the mouse at track 11 and drag it upwards.
• Create shared copies of the chorus parts and drag them to bar 69.
• Create yet another set of shared copies and drag them to bar 85.

Step 3 - Making Space for the Intro

You almost have your complete song structure. You just need to make space at the beginning for the Intro.

What To Do

Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:

• In the Arrange window, type [CONTROL-A] to select ALL the parts.
• Grab one of the parts at bar one and drag them across to the right so they all start at bar 17.

You're ready to proceed to the next section.