These two audio file examples demonstrate various elements of the arpeggio building process using Cubase 14’s Pattern Editor, as described in the main article published in SOS May 2025. The content of each is outlined below.
www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-14-pattern-editor-arps
Cubase 14 Pattern Editor Arps Audio Example 01.wav
This example demonstrates the initial development of the arpeggio pattern, the pattern variations, and the addition of some randomisation/probability elements into the patterns. a simple synth pluck sound has been selected in Retrologue for the purpose of demonstration. a touch of compression and delay have been added to give the sound a little extra character, but no other processing has been added. The audio example is split into three sections as follows:
1) The first pattern created (using notes from a Cmaj7 chord) is played through four times (four bars in total) with no adjustments to note velocity or probability/randomisation options applied.
2) The first pattern has been duplicated three times and, while sticking with notes from Cmaj7, some changes have been made to the pattern of notes contained in each of these copies to add some melodic variety. Each pattern can be heard twice, with the four patterns played in order, giving a total of eight bars.
3) As described in the main article, some note velocity and probability variation has been applied to selected notes towards the end of each pattern. The patterns can then be heard in sequence with four bars of pattern one, four bars of pattern two, etc. giving a total of 16 bars, allowing the randomisation settings to be heard as each pattern repeats on playback.
Cubase 14 Pattern Editor Arps Audio Example 02.wav
This example demonstrates the steps described in the latter stages of the main article. It is split into three sections, each featuring a 16-bar chord sequence that includes the synth-based arpeggio patterns configured in the Pattern Editor. The three sections are as follows:
1) a 16-bar chord sequence has been configured in the Chord Track using four-note extended chord types in C major. The four different Pattern Editor arpeggio patterns have been placed along this 16-bar timeline. They have then been converted to MIDI Parts and then, in the Inspector, the Chords panel has been used to force the MIDI notes to follow the Chord Track. This pitch shifts the notes from the original pattern to fit in the notes of the appropriate Chord Track event.
2) This is identical to the first section but, after the track has been configured to follow the Chord Track changes, in every second bar in the sequence, the MIDI Editor’s Chord Editing tools have been used to create different inversions of the chord voicings using the Inversions and Drop Notes options.
3) In this section, instances have Drum Machine and a Retrologue bass synth have been added to the arrangement. In both cases, the Pattern Editor was used to create multiple patterns, and these were then arranged on the same 16-bar timeline as the earlier synth arpeggio. The bass synth patterns were converted to MIDI Parts as done for the arpeggio synth and were also set to follow the Chord Track. However, and just for the fun of it (and to demonstrate how easy it is to do), in the Chord Track, the chords themselves were adjusted to a Cmin based sequence. Both the arpeggio synth and bass synth MIDI notes automatically followed these changes on the Chord Track, allowing you to easily experiment with different chord sequences. While this is in no way a ‘finished’ mix, some additional reverb and delay treatments have been added in this final section to generate some additional sonic interest.