Introduction to MIDI Sequencing with Cubase SX

Section 14 - Creating an Intro

Briefing

So far we haven't talked about the intro, but now it's time to reveal the hidden secret: the Intro is actually a chorus with notes chopped out of it!

If you listen to the intro again, you'll hear this progression:

• Strings starting in bar 1
• Synth Bass joins in bar 4, starting with a fanfare
• Drums join in bar 5 with a Cymbal crash
• Electric Piano fades up slowly, starting at bar 6
• The Harpsichord fades up slowly, starting at bar 9

The Intro sounds very effective and yet it is simply achieved by just re-using the parts we already have.

Muting Channels

You have already muted some channels so that you can use them for scratch storage; however, being able to mute channels is quite useful when building up the intro.

Since the intro starts off with most tracks silent, it's difficult to hear the effect of your edits as the parts you've not yet touched will be playing at full volume; however, if you mute all the parts you have yet to edit, you can get a better impression of how the intro is building up.

Solo Button

Each track has a "Mute" ('M') and "Solo" ('S') button (circled on the figure below):

The Mute button mutes for each track mutes (silences) that particular track.

The Solo button unmutes the current track and mutes all others. This has the effect of making the current track play Solo.

Step 1 - Creating the Copies for the Intro

Since the Intro is created from the existing chorus parts, then you need to drag copies of these to bar 1, so you can make a start.

What To Do

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

• In the Arrange window, use the mouse to select all the instrumental parts for the chorus (which now starts at bar 35). Don't select the actual melody for the verse.
• Copy and drag all these parts to bar 1.
• Rename the parts to "EPIntro", "StrIntro", etc.
• Mute all the instrumental tracks for the Electric Piano, Harpsichord, Bass and Drums by clicking in the 'M' column for each one.

Step 2 - Synth Bass Intro

The first few bars of the Synth Bass Intro should look like this:

Bar 4 is slightly different, bars 5 onward are not changed.

What To Do

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

• Unmute the track for the Synth Bass.
• Use the Score Editor to edit the Synth Bass Intro part.
• Delete all the notes in bars 1-3.
• Use the Glue tool to glue together some of the semiquavers in bar 4 to produce the version of bar 4 shown above.
• De-select the Glue tool and exit the editor.

Step 3 - Drum Intro

This is almost as easy as the Synth Bass..

What To Do

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

• Unmute the track for the Drums.
• Use the Drum Editor to edit the Drum intro part.
• Delete all the notes in bars 1-4
• Put a Crash Cymbal at the very beginning of bar 5.

Step 4 - Electric Piano Intro

The significant feature of the electric piano intro is that it slowly fades up from bar 6, reaching full volume at the end of the part.

The fade up is achieved by using the line tool in the Key editor to adjust the velocity of successive notes.

What To Do

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

• Unmute the track for the Electric Piano.
• Use the Key Editor to edit the Electric Piano Intro part.
• Delete all the notes in bars 1-5.
• Use the Line tool to produce a gentle fade up of the note velocities from bar 6 to the end of the part.
• De-select the Line tool and exit the editor.

Step 5 - Harpsichord Intro

The harpsichord is treated in exactly the same way as the piano, except that the fade up starts from bar 9

What To Do

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

• Unmute the track for the Harpsichord.
• Use the Key Editor to edit the Harpsichord Intro part.
• Delete all the notes in bars 1-8.
• Use the Line tool to produce a gentle fade up of the note velocities from bar 9 to the end of the part.
• De-select the Line tool and exit the editor.

You're ready to proceed to the next section.