Hello there, welcome to this video! Let's get a general and basic
overview on the newest Studio One 4 by PreSonus.
Leave us tips and suggestions below this video to improve our next
video tutorial dedicated to Studio One!
PreSonus Studio One is a professional Digital Audio Workstation
software, used to realize Songs and Compositions with advanced tools,
features and effects to adjust and edit audio as you like most. In this
video we will show everything you need to know to start as a beginner
with the Professional version of this software. If you use another,
you may find some differences in the features and the tools available.
When opening Studio One, the Start page opens, with everything you need
to start: you can browse for your existing projects, include online
accounts such as SoundCloud, or access to the latest news and tutorials
from PreSonus.
On the left side you find all your existing compositions made on Studio
One, which are divided in Songs and Projects. A Song is an independent
composition made by several audio Tracks (or channels) with different
instruments, such as drums, beats, melodies or vocals, in order to
realize the output sound.
A Project is a full audio compilation made of multiple Songs or audio
samples. In this beginner tutorial video, we are going to see just
the Songs.
To open an existing Song or Project, just click on it. In the top right
corner, you can use the Start button to return to the previous page;
the Song button to open and show the Songs, and the Project button to
show projects. You can use the down arrow next to these buttons to
shuffle between the documents loaded.
To start with a new Song, just click on Create a new Song on the Start
page, and choose a ready template from the list on the left side. On
the right, choose the Song title, where to save it, and other options
below, such as Sample Rate, bit depth, and Song length. To see how to
use Studio One, we just start from an Empty Song, and confirm with OK.
At this point, the Song workspace shows up, with the main editing tools
on top, the main player at the bottom, and several useful panels
collecting features, samples and effects available. You can open and
close these by using the buttons in the bottom right corner.
The central part of the workspace is dedicated to the main timeline,
where all your samples and instruments are imported and placed in time,
on independent Tracks called channels.
There are two main kind of channels. The Audio channels are dedicated
to audio samples, with a defined instrument and a rendered sound
waveform. These show a waveform icon on the left.
The Instrumental (or MIDI) channels collect sequences of notes that can
be composed and edited as you like. Their output sound is given by
these notes and rendered by a chosen audio instrument, called
synthesizer. These channels show a keyboard icon on the left.
Let's start importing and working with Audio samples!
To add audio samples, just click and drag these files from your computer
into the main workspace, or directly from the Browse panel, under Files
or Cloud. Once an audio sample is imported, a new Audio channel is
created on the workspace, containing a single clip (or event) on it.
This shows the sample name and its full audio waveform. When importing
another sample, you can add it into a new Audio channel, or on the
existing one as a new event.
To check your Song content in detail, you can hover over the timeline
above and use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
To playback and pause the Song, use the player at the very bottom, or your
spacebar key. The time placement is rappresented by a white marker on the
workspace, and described through the timer at the bottom, measured in Bars,
Beats and Ticks. You can also change its format in seconds by clicking on the
Bars below. This won't change the format of the timeline as well. This can be
adjusted from Timebase at the top.
Next to the timer, you can set the Time Signature under Timing, to fix
the number of Beats per Bar; and the Tempo, measured in Beats Per Minute
(or BPM), which sets the conversion between beats and seconds.
Check out our links in the video description to know more about the
Time Signature and the Tempo!
Next to the Tempo, you can click and drag on the volume bar to adjust
the volume of the entire Song. Just make sure to check the volume level
from the deciBel meter above. This should never get any red color, or
you risk distortion on the sound.
To adjust the general options of your Song, just click on the Sample
Rate on the left side of the timer.
Now, let's see how to edit Audio events with the Arrow Tool.
When you click on an event, you will select it, and this shows several
nodes on it. Click and drag the central one to adjust volume, or use
the nodes on the corners to add volume transitions. These increase or
decrease the volume level in a smooth way, which can be set through
the squared node in the middle.
Moreover, if you double-click on the event, you will open the Edit panel
at the bottom, showing the interested audio channel enlarged with a
deciBel meter on the left.
Now, let's see how to work with MIDI channels and events.
MIDI events can be imported from existing .mid files or created from
scratch on the workspace. To import ready MIDI files, just drag and
drop these on the timeline from your computer, or from the Loop section
inside the Browse panel. At this point, a new Instrument channel is
created, with a new event showing the notes just imported, which do
not have any sound until a synthesizer is defined on the MIDI channel.
To add sound to the MIDI channel content, open the Instruments section
of the Browse panel, and drag your favorite one on the MIDI channel.
Whereas, to compose a MIDI event from scratch, just import a synthesizer
and create a new MIDI channel. Then, double-click on the channel to
create a new event, and double-click on this to open the Edit panel.
This time the Edit panel shows a Piano Roll, used to add and modify
the notes inside any MIDI event on the interested channel that is open.
Click on the keyboard on the left to check out each note (or row), and
then, with the Paint Tool enabled, click and drag on the Piano Roll to
add the note and define its time duration. To remove notes, just click
once on these. To change the synthesizer to use, just drop another on
the MIDI channel.
Moreover, you can also adjust several properties on each note or on the
whole event selected by using the Paint Tool right below the Piano Roll.
As you define notes on the MIDI event, it can be useful to playback
these in loop continuously. If you click and drag on the top line above
the timeline, you create a Loop Region that selects a part of your
Song. Then, when enabling the Loop Active button, you will playback the
selected region in loop.
You can also render a MIDI event into an audio event by moving it into
an Audio channel, getting waveform and editing tools seen on samples.
You can always turn it back into a MIDI event by placing it into a MIDI
channel. This won't work with rendered audio samples imported.
The Tempo sets the speed rate of all the MIDI events in your Song, since
their notes are defined in Bars and Beats. So an higher tempo plays all the
MIDI notes faster, but no audio events will be affected, since audio
waveforms are defined and rendered in time.
Audio and Instrumental channels have several options on the
left side of the workspace. Use the M button to mute the whole Track
with its content, and the S button to playback the interested channel
solo, muting all the others.
To remove or duplicate the Track, just right-click on its options.
Let's see how to edit Audio and MIDI events on the timeline with the
Arrow Tool.
To move an event, just click and drag it in time or in another Track.
To cut, copy, paste or delete the event, just right-click on it. These
modifications affect the entire event selected, unless you define a
part of it. If you hold down the CTRL key and click and drag on the
event, you will select a limited part, that will be affected when you
cut, copy or paste.
In case you make a mistake, use CTRL+Z to undo your latest actions.
To stretch or shorten an event in time, click and drag from its edges.
This affects just the event duration rather than its content.
The Arrow Tool can also be used to move, stretch or shorten each MIDI
note on the Piano Roll.
To edit multiple events or notes in the same way, you have to select all
of them before applying any modification. If you enable the Arrow Tool
and click and drag on the workspace, you will create a selection area
that selects all events touched.
In addition, you can use the Split Tool to split events or notes in
multiple pieces by clicking on these.
For advanced modifications such as time stretch, transpose and more,
just right-click and go to Event and to the options below.
The Mix (or Mixer) panel is also a very important panel to realize your
Song, since it is used to equalize volume between all the Audio or MIDI
channels, and add effects and adjustments to improve their output.
Use the Mix button to open the Mix panel. This shows each Audio or MIDI
channel on the left, and the Main (or Master) channel on the right,
which represents the total output of your Song. Each of these channels
is complete with a dB meter, a volume bar, the Mute and Solo buttons,
and the Panning bar above to balance the volume between the left and
the right stereo channels.
Moreover, at the top of each channel you have its input and output
specified. For example, audio channels send their output directly to
the Main channel; whereas a MIDI channel has its own synthesizer as
input, and the Main channel as output. You can change the synthesizer
properties by clicking on its name here.
To apply effects to channels you have to use the Inserts and the Sends,
that show when clicking on the Expand button. Inserts is used to
apply effects directly on the channel selected; whereas Sends is used
to apply the effect on multiple channels. We won't see the Sends in this
beginner tutorial.
You can find all the audio effects inside the Effects section of the
Browse panel. Once you have chosen the right ones, just drag and drop
these into the Inserts section of the interested channel. These effects
affect the channel before it is sent to the Main channel, and are
applied from the top to the bottom in order.
You can enable and disable each effect by using its blue button, and
edit its properties by double-clicking on it. To remove the effect,
just right-click on it and go to Remove.
Now, let's see how to export your work! First of all, create a Loop
Region on the timeline, selecting the part of the Song to export. Then
go to Song, and then to Export Mixdown.... Here, set the file name and
where to save it under Location; choose the file format and its settings
under Format; and adjust other options with Export Range and Options.
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