Setting Up an Audio Interface – Cubase

As mentioned in the start up items I’m going to record our audio through a Yamaha audiogram six interface. If you’ve got another type of audio interface or recording equipment that’s fine but for this tutorial we’ll use the Yamaha audio gram six.

This particular audio interface costs between $100 and $150 brand new for a double  input. Cheaper for a single input.

This particular interface allows you to use two mics or instruments at the same time and you can see the 2 channels. It probably doesn’t matter if it’s second hand so long as it works.

This audio interface uses cubase recording software, which is one of the most respected recording software on the market. It is powered by your computer through a USB cable meaning it doesn’t require an external power supply.

All you do is install the cubase software which comes with the unit and you’re ready to go. Make sure you have a good mic and headphones and you’re ready to start recording.

To set up the unit in terms of what to set the recording levels at, simply follow the instructions and experiment to find what works best for you.

One point to ensure you get consistent high quality with every recording is to get a good mic, work out the right level settings and then stick with the same mic at the same levels for every recording you do. This will guarantee consistency.

Ok let’s do a recording to see how it works. Once you have installed the cubase software click on the cubase  icon on your desktop and open up cubase.

So here we are in cubase. We have this moveable control panel but first we must open a new project. So we go up to the top left hand corner hit “file” and “new project”.

This is going to open up this table. Just hit ok leaving the setting on empty. What these other settings are or what they do, at this point in time who cares.

Next we need to set up a folder where our audio recordings are going to be saved.

Since I work with a lap top I do recommend saving video clips on an external hard drive due to the size but with audio files which aren’t that big I’d recommend saving them in your laptop. This has advantages down the track when we look at business in a box ideas and the convenience of not having to take an external hard drive when you’re out recording customers.

You can see here I’ve just created an audio folder in my C drive. You can make this folder anywhere just remember where it is and always save recordings in this folder.

So we click ok. Next we go up and click on the “project” tab, down to “add track” and across to “audio”. You can check out the other settings at your leisure.

Next we leave this next window at mono and click ok.

Next we want to name our audio track and we do this in this window in the top left hand corner. So we’ll name this recording testaudio.

Before actually recording, and assuming you have you mic plugged in, we need to do a quick sound test to get our levels right. With practice you’ll quickly work out the best recording levels and how far to place the mic in front of your mouth for optimum results. Again, if you use the same mic at the same settings each time you record, you’ll guarantee consistency.

So we’ll just do a few test 1,2, test 1,2 to make sure our levels are right. What we want is the levels getting as close to this horizontal line as possible. If they go over into the red, it’s not such a big deal but try and keep it as close to the line as possible.

Once the settings are done we’re ready to record. Simply hit the red circle, either in the top toolbar or in the moveable panel and you are recording.

Depending on what you’re recording, you may either wing it, ie just talk at lib (if you have the ability) or if it’s something important, you may want to prepare a written script. I don’t have the ability to just wing it so I always prepare a script. In this example we’ll use a script about Dolphins in the wild. So we just open up the script, in this case in Word and read away, remembering we can edit the audio in Power Director later. Meaning, if you or the person you’re recording makes a mistake, just read it again without stopping the recording and just delete the mistakes out in Power Director.  

When finished recording hit the stop button. And here’s our recording.

Next, as per instructions we go up and click on the “audio” tab, then down to “process” and then “normalize”. This is going to open up this window.

Now you can leave this at 0 or put in any settings you like. I’ve been told by a sound expert to set it at 2 or maybe 3, I just forget now why that is. And whether it makes a huge difference is unknown, just try different levels to see what you think sounds the best. I’m going to enter 2 then hit  process and cubase will process (whatever that means) the audio.

Another trick I was taught by a sound expert is to go to this panel, then spread it out and click on the e button. This will open up this window which looks like some sort of equalizer. Then we want to click on the line and bend it round to make this cruisy bend down to the bottom left hand corner.

Again, whether this makes any huge difference (for the better) is something you’ll have to decide, so try different approaches to find the best levels for your situation.

So that’s pretty well it. Lastly we just need to save the audio so click File, then Save As. This will automatically save the file as a wave file with the name testaudio which is what we want to use with our video and save it as a Cubase project file or .CPF that we can come back and reedit in Cubase at a later date.

So we just name the CPF file and we’re done.

So the next thing to do is open up Power Director. I’d always recommend laying the video tracks first then the audio but if you want to do it different that’s fine. Ordinarily we’d open up our video project but in this example we’ll just use the Power Director default page. So we want to click on the Import Media folder then Import Media Files not folder (as it’s only 1 file in the audio folder that we want).

Navigate to where our audio folder is, then scroll down to the file we’re after, in this case  testaudio.

Click on the file and it will be pulled into the media room. Then just drag the file into the audio time line for editing.

As you can see you can move the file along the time line which makes it very convenient for editing.

To get right into the nitty gritty for precise editing we can stretch the time line out.
This enables you to precisely edit or cut out parts that you don’t want including mistakes and even breathing between sentences.

Click on the audio track then use the vertical line to position, then split and delete what you don’t want.

If for example this section contains a mistake or dead time that we want to delete, we simply position the vertical line as close to the split points as possible, stretching the audio track out as far as necessary, then hit the split button, then delete.  We can then rejoin the audio track minus the mistake part back together for smooth continuation.

We can leave a gap in the audio to insert a new piece of audio or insert a piece of music.