I use bluetooth headphones most of the time to make beats in Cubase. The Asio4all audio driver is set to 2048 buffer size/max – although there is a bit a latency – it runs good. I switch the driver to Yamaha Asio USB to record real instruments and vocals/use my audio interface. I have AQ/auto quantize enabled so the timing is perfect.
Template
I usually start with a template – all the instruments are ready to go. Any project can be a template if you click save as, put in a new name in and delete all of the recordings. I might find a project from the past that turned out good and use it as a template.
Recording Midi
I like to start with piano chords and use keyzone classic. Play the chord pattern in 3 rhythms and record a B section. After the piano I might record a bass on it. I’ll get all drum parts separately, with 8 bar variations, record lead instruments and add some percussion tracks.
Recording Guitar
I record 3 guitar channel tracks – the first is the rhythm guitar and it’s like the piano chords. The second is guitar channel 2 – a 2-3 string rhythm section and the 3rd is lead guitar.
Effects on Guitar
I put a gate on there first to remove any noise when the guitar isn’t playing. Go to eq on the channel strip and remove some high frequencies if there is any noise there too. Check the volume levels and add some compression/parallel compression if needed.
Structure
It might start with the kick, bass and chords. There could be some dynamic changes to make the song interesting. So some parts might have less instruments and some might have more.
Mixing and Mastering
Finally, all tracks should be gain staged to get the best quality and once the mix put ozone mastering on the output bus to finish the track. So thats how I make beats in cubase.
